After Iorio, Who’s Next?
Recently, Janet Zink, one of my favorite St. Pete Times Staff Writers wrote a post for tampabay.com. Like myself, Janet is wondering who is heir to the throne to become
Tampa’s next Mayor. While Iorio has drawn much criticism for her laid back leadership style, who will be next in line and what challenges will they face? What Iorio policies will be left to clean up, complete or continue? While I must admit, some of her “could be” heirs scare the heck out of me, some are tolerable. Read her thoughts below.
Tampa Mayor Pam Ioriowill finish her second term in office in 2011. Who’s best-suited to assume the mantle when she moves on? That’s the question posed in a new robo-call. The potential candidates listed in the survey: Hillsborough County Tax Collector Doug Belden, Hillsborough County Commissioner Rose Ferlita, former Tampa City Council member and one-time mayoral candidate Bob Buckhorn, City Council members Tom Scott, Linda Saul-Senaand John Dingfelder; and developer Ed Turanchik. Let the speculation begin…
I tell you. I am as giddy as a kid in a candy store when I think about Iorio leaving office. However, I think the heir will have huge challenges cleaning up the mess she left behind. Iorio has added 100 of thousands of dollars in useless payroll, created closed door deals that we will pay for for years. While I agree her laid back style let her stealth-like approach help her fly under the radar, it will take years to realize all of the money she has wasted for the city of Tampa. Hopefully, the predecessor will have vision for the future and not just downtown.
Let the countdown to begin!
I like Rose Ferlita. She appears to me to be a no nonsense lady who can be fair minded with both sides of any issue.
Linda Saul-Sena? That would be the last straw for me.
Remember Greco’s quote leaving office. “Don’t look for any money, I spent it all”
I guess politicians are like crack heads, if any money is left at the end of the day they must have screwed up.
#5 if that is true, Iorio must be one big crack head. She has left the city more broke than any other mayor. What pisses me off most, is we have nothing to show for her efforts. We have a larger police department, but crime is on the rise. We have a new art museum, but it is ony 50 yards from the prior. We have a riverwalk, but no ammenaties. We have a local government staff much larger than any other administration, but no one is accountable.
Meanwhile, our neighborhood may have gain about 100 yards of new sidewalks, no new curbs, no new lighting. All of our parks are normally unkept.
We can only hope that the next mayor will truly be dedicated to ALL citizens of Tampa.
Instead of the Tampa slogan “I am Tampa”, Iorio should have used “Tampa First” She seems to have no backbone to stand up for the needs of all citizens before she spends the budget. - Sue
Doug Belden is not electible after his drunken sex scandal. Ed Turanchik has way too much bagage. Dingfelder is a Dingbat. I don’t think he could pull votes from North Tampa. That Leaves Rose Ferlita and Saul-Sena. Rose is a no BS Republican and would do very well. Saul-Sena, the sterotypical, liberal democrat that really does have an exceptional vision for Tampa. Both of these would be very viable candidates. For years, Rose has been seen as the heir apparent. I think you may also see others such as Charlie Miranda (another career politian kook) and maybe even Jim Davis, very viable and great name recognition.
Whoever it is, lets hope that they do have vision, leadership skills and follow through ability. I had high hopes for Iorio when she began her first term with the community events touting her plan and commitment to neighborhoods. However, once she drove south of Kennedy, she has been pretty much absent. She has been very disappointing with regards to neighborhood; sidewalks, code enforcement, community policing, commitment to evironmental issues. Unfortunatley, the only thing one can say she has done is replacing a large portion of the storm water.
Saul-Sena is a fuc%ing nut.
What is wrong with Saul-Sena. She is one of the few that works her ass off for every citizens, for every neighborhood. She is HUGE on historic preservation–something Tampa has totally failed on. As a result we have lost many of our historic beautys.
Saul-Sena will be another Iorio. Just because she throws a few bones north of Kennedy don’t be fooled. She has great ideas but she is south Tampa to the core. Don’t expect her priorities to reach further north than Kennedy, downtown, and Channelside unless there is a historic building involved.
I would like to see Bob Buckhorn if he can get over that moralizing bent he went on thinking it would help him countywide. Bob was Sandy Freedman’s neighborhood point man and he was great on neighborhood issues.
Rose Ferlita, tough call. She would likely reign in the outrageous Iorio spending habits. But her track record for neighborhoods leaves a hell of a lot to be desired. While she may be less beholden to south Tampa, she would be a lighting rod for the radical right element and will flop with the Saul-Sena types in south Tampa.
John Dingfelder, is certainly not beholden to the south Tampa crowd. They tried very hard to knock him out when he ran for re-election and failed. He has been fairly well received by the south of Gandy constituency. Their issues are much like ours and the folks SOK don’t think of south Tampa as south of Gandy. He might be an ideal candidate for forgotten neighborhoods citywide.
Thomas Scott (Rev. when it’s politically expedient) would draw from east Tampa and the anti-gay crowd. Bad news for Rose Ferlita because the conservatives would have an alternative. Scott has never run in a race where he needed to appeal to a non-African-American constituency. I don’t think he could do it.
Ed Turanchik, no way. Baggage from his In-Town homes sweetheart arrangement would be campaign fodder. He might draw attention to our serious need for light rail but beyond that has nothing else to offer. He has shown little political ambition for elected office since he left the County Commission.
Doug Beldon. Not worth a commentary.
Wild card: Shawn Harrison. He raised boatloads of money. Popular with the New Tampa crowd. As a Republican he would appeal to the non-Democrats in south Tampa. Not as extreme as Scott. He may even pull some of the conservative elements in west Tampa away from Ferlita. If you are a developer or live in a gated, deed restricted neighborhood he is your guy. The rest of us are just screwed (but hey, much of south Tampa would be in the same boat with us).
The good thing with Rose is she owns property in the hood.
I live in South Tampa… My best friend lives in SH and sends me “updates” from the hood via this site. I can say, everyone here hates Iorio. First, she is a democrat and she tends to put too much energy into downtown. Most are pissed about her endless spending. (What makes it worse is that the money isn’t going to “south tampa”
I think Mary Mulhern would be great - especially for Seminole Heights. But I think her biggest obstacle would be her newness. She’s new to City Council (first term) and doesn’t have a long term track record. IMO she’s the best hope for our future!
In the meantime, I really think Linda Saul-Sena is a friend to Seminole Heights, and is our best hope in the near future.
The one person who has consistantly been a friend of neighborhoods was Buckhorn. I know he rubbed some folks the wrong way but the guy was always there for the community and if Iorio had not jumped in at the last moment, he probably would have won. Ferlita is about as welcome as a mosquito at a nudist colony. Anybody ever been on the receiving end of her purple faced rages???
I love the way Iorio jumped in at the last minute. That was brilliant. People did not have time to see that she had no substance, experience and had nothing to offer. By the time the elections hit, she was the only one that did not have any mud slung on her. I feel she has done more harm for this city than good. All at the taxpayers expense.
I am very envious of your blog.