WE NEED TO MOVE THE WHOLE CITY FORWARD AND I NEED YOUR SUPPORT
My priorities are our city and our neighborhoods not a lifelong political career
Key Issues
Improve Housing Affordability
Strengthen Citizens Review Board
Improve Transportation Options
More rental housing has to be part of the solution, but it cannot be seen as the magic bullet. There are areas of Tampa that still pay a very heavy price for past decisions to zone large areas with duplexes, quadplexes and large multi-family housing complexes. Take a look at the struggles that Sulphur Springs and the neighborhoods immed
More rental housing has to be part of the solution, but it cannot be seen as the magic bullet. There are areas of Tampa that still pay a very heavy price for past decisions to zone large areas with duplexes, quadplexes and large multi-family housing complexes. Take a look at the struggles that Sulphur Springs and the neighborhoods immediately south of Fowler have with the predominance of multi-family housing. Research has shown that concentrations of rentals hurts property values and leads to higher crime rates.
Though it has been presented that I am opposed to density that is not the case. However, higher density needs to be well thought out and the impacted neighborhoods need to have a seat in those discussions. While we can borrow ideas that have worked in other cities, we need to adapt them to fit our own infrastructure and geographical limitations.
I believe it may be necessary to revisit minimum lot sizes for single family homes. The "dirt price" for a lot has a considerable impact on both the size of the house and the final price in order for it to be profitable for developers/builders. Reductions in the lot size requirements can go a long way in improving affordability.
Rent control measures, while appealing to some, have been found to do more harm than good over the long term. In addition, Florida law creates a VERY high and not well-defined hurdle to enact such measures. It would be a poor waste of TAX DOLLARS trying to defend such an ordinance in court.
Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) are another option for expanding housing availability. I live in a neighborhood dotted with garage apartments from a by-gone-era. ADUs are not a bad thing but they are not something every neighborhood wants. However, if we are going to allow them by Ordinance, then we need to strengthen the Rental Certificate Program. This was a program that a former member of Tampa City Council wanted to eliminate. I disagreed with the idea of eliminating the program. It is one the few ways to document the 'grandfathered" status of existing units. In addition, if we are going to go forward with ADUs at the time of build or as a later addition we need to have a record to enforce the requirement that the primary structure is occupied by the actual homesteaded owner otherwise we are going to be blanketing whole areas a multi-family housing and there would be no point for single family zoning in code.
Improve Transportation Options
Strengthen Citizens Review Board
Improve Transportation Options
Unfortunately the recent sales tax referendum of a penny increase for transit failed. That leaves the County and City without the needed matching funds to draw down state or federal transportation grant funds to move some projects forward. We need to have a better discussion on the rationale and justification for non-passenger car trans
Unfortunately the recent sales tax referendum of a penny increase for transit failed. That leaves the County and City without the needed matching funds to draw down state or federal transportation grant funds to move some projects forward. We need to have a better discussion on the rationale and justification for non-passenger car transportation. Tampa is the largest city in the region and the county seat. It is the employment leader for the region; hundreds of thousands of cars come into the city every day. The larger region needs to recognize the urban centers need to be the focus of transit solutions if we are to fix our traffic woes. We must either need to have a system that brings a greater portion of daily commuters in by means other than individual passenger vehicles or we need a system that enables more city residents to forgo their cars for everyday trips.
I am struck by some of the old post card images of the trolleys moving people through Tampa. In some ways Tampa went backwards and still has not gotten to the future. Maybe one way that we can make progress as a city is to seek public-private partnerships to expand trolley options. The current limited trolley line had a pretty impressive ridership even before a grant allowed forwaving ridership fees. (https://www.tampabay.com/news/transportation/2020/12/18/could-a-streetcar-linking-tampa-with-the-airport-open-by-2026/) The idea in the article is certainly worth exploring. We have a great urban center but we cannot fully utilize those cultural and entertainment venues on the same day without gridlock. I remember one of those times where there was such gridlock that the performance I was attending was delayed for nearly 45 minutes because people could not even get off of the interstate into downtown. More than 5 or 6 years later our city is still in much the the same place.
Pedestrian and Mobility
Strengthen Citizens Review Board
Strengthen Citizens Review Board
I support efforts to expand both pedestrian sidewalks/pathways and curbs. People should not be forced to walk in our narrow residential streets to get to a store or a neighborhood destination. And our streets are quite narrow compared to other cities I have been in--literally parking on one side of the street makes it impossible for 2 car
I support efforts to expand both pedestrian sidewalks/pathways and curbs. People should not be forced to walk in our narrow residential streets to get to a store or a neighborhood destination. And our streets are quite narrow compared to other cities I have been in--literally parking on one side of the street makes it impossible for 2 cars to pass each other. This makes walkways/sidewalks and curbs all the more critical to mobility and safety.
It is great that we are going through a mobility study, but it is a vision peering 25 years into the future. How does a mobilty challenged individual navigate sidewalks with utility poles in the middle of the side walk today? Look at this problem on Florida Ave., Armenia Ave., etc. as examples of long term indifference. Or a related matter that gets very little attention on the subject of mobility is the impact of the lack of curbs. If you are a mobility impaired individual, how do you utilize the sidewalk with multiple cars parked on the sidewalk. This problem seems almost non-existent where there is curbing along the road that inhibits parking on the sidewalk.
While the Tampa budget has GROWN 1.1 BILLION in just 10 years we as a city have earmarked just 11 Million for sidewalks and street resurfacing. That is 0.0058% of a 1.9 BILLION dollar budget.
I know cost always go up but seriously, I see the same needs that I saw 30 years ago. The cost of one mile of sidewalk in Tampa is $800,000. At that price we are not going to make much headway in pedestrian safety. The city can resurface a mile of roadway for $160,000. Maybe we need to explore other options. One option: use of asphalt in place of concrete. I was surprised to discover that it can have the color altered and stamped for a bit more of an upgraded appearance. (http://asphaltmagazine.com/asphalt-sidewalks-yesterday-and-today/?fbclid=IwAR3lBbv5HRwjtViMmIf_o2F2PfItPLjzp5cVVEEmMFXv8P7g4cGpQilxYz0) It is worth an exploration because from what I have been able read concrete is about 50% more expensive than asphalt. But 4x as much? Maybe another barrier is overly costly vendor contracts?
Strengthen Citizens Review Board
Strengthen Citizens Review Board
Strengthen Citizens Review Board
I support efforts to give the Tampa Citizen Review Board (CRB) access to independent legal counsel and subpoena power. I applaud that the current City Council agreed to let we the people vote on independent legal council but they should have done the same regarding subpoena power.
The CRB was set up to review situations of police miscon
I support efforts to give the Tampa Citizen Review Board (CRB) access to independent legal counsel and subpoena power. I applaud that the current City Council agreed to let we the people vote on independent legal council but they should have done the same regarding subpoena power.
The CRB was set up to review situations of police misconduct, largely to deflect political heat surrounding high profile incidents. There are those that say it is demoralizing to officers to have a CRB at all. While others say it improves community and police relationships by enhancing transparency. Our mayor’s spokesperson wants to dismiss those who want to strengthen the CRB as those who want to “defund the police”, I am hoping that is not the position of the mayor because it would not reflect a genuine desire to rebuild faith and community trust where it is needed most. That would be unfortunate, because rather than seeking to find common ground for the greater good of the community it seeks to polarize. The Tampa Police Department is the city’s largest department, but it has been plagued by numerous controversies over the past several years which indicates the need for more community oversite. Even with the CRB, officers themselves are still shielded by Florida Statute so we are not speaking of them being subjected to a subpoena from the CRB.
I think more transparency is the answer. The current City Council defeated a measure put the question of giving the CRB subpoena power on the ballot. What is the fear of letting the voters decide? What is wrong with greater transparency, accountability, and citizen oversight? It will build trust that is very lacking in some parts of our city between the community and Tampa Police Department. Furthermore, a limited study of CRBs as a research project of a Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) intern found more that two thirds of officers and citizens found CRBs to be a positive for improving community relationships between the public and law enforcement..
Smart use of limited Tax Dollars
Address water needs without threatening the aquifer
Address water needs without threatening the aquifer
First, I want to say I don’t believe most tax dollars are being wasted. As I often say, “taxes are the price of civilization, and I don’t want to live in Mogadishu”. However, I don’t believe the budget gets the scrutiny to make sure we are getting the best bang for the buck. The City Charter gives City Council the responsibility of approv
First, I want to say I don’t believe most tax dollars are being wasted. As I often say, “taxes are the price of civilization, and I don’t want to live in Mogadishu”. However, I don’t believe the budget gets the scrutiny to make sure we are getting the best bang for the buck. The City Charter gives City Council the responsibility of approving the City Budget and for approving contracts that obligate city revenue. So, how does a 10 million dollar contract for demolition of a building become a 110 million dollar contract to build a new City Service Center without being put out to bid? Or seeing the city reallocating funds to cover credit card fees charged to the city because of people paying their utility bills by credit card was shocking. Most government agencies charge a service fee to cover that type of expense. In this case, it was $500,000. I was shocked that somehow it cost more than 4 times as much to construct 1 mile of sidewalk as it does to pave a mile of road surface. I remember a few years back when City Council voted a small millage reduction over the objection of some council members and the mayor at that time. We heard it was a “bare bones budget” and the 3-million-dollar reduction in revenue would be critical. A few weeks later it was discovered that the actuarial calculations for pensions were overstated by approximately 1.5 million dollars. My point is Council has control of the budget approval process and I intend to look carefully to make sure we are spending those tax dollars respectfully and not frivolously.
Address water needs without threatening the aquifer
Address water needs without threatening the aquifer
Address water needs without threatening the aquifer
With projected growth of upwards of 750,000 new residents to the region over the next decade, we need to plan for the water demands that a growing city needs. Tampa may get a substantial portion of our drinking water from the river and its wellfields but the on-going proposals to look at ideas of incorporating treated water for drinking
With projected growth of upwards of 750,000 new residents to the region over the next decade, we need to plan for the water demands that a growing city needs. Tampa may get a substantial portion of our drinking water from the river and its wellfields but the on-going proposals to look at ideas of incorporating treated water for drinking water (so called Toilet to Tap) or injecting treated water is unacceptable. The idea of injecting treated waste water into the aquifer indicates an awareness that our fresh water supply is a finite resource. We can not afford to continue to squander our fresh water supply. But it is also driven by legislation that would require the city to eliminate treated waste water discharge into the bay. This would remove a significant flow of fresh water to Florida's largest open water estuary. It would seem prudent to seek the legislature to modify the recent bill with it's unintended concequences. But sadly it appears that this Adminstration lobbied the Florida Legislature for its passage as written.
We need to allow the science to guide our water policy, not lobbyists.
I have concerns about injecting treated water into the aquifer because once it is ruined, we can’t un-ring that bell just as over-pumping ground water can lead to salt-water intrusion. The PURE system (so called Toilet to Tap) has been utilized in several locations out west but with the large number if improperly disposed of drugs/pharmaceuticals I am concerned that there would never be adequate testing and filtering for these chemicals.
Build a Greener Tampa
Address water needs without threatening the aquifer
Build a Greener Tampa
We as a city have taken some steps toward being a greener community. However, I believe we can and should be moving more aggressively in that direction. I would support initiatives that expand Tampa’s use of renewables. A prime example is the plan to draw down federal grants to retrofit two small hydroelectric turbines on the Hillsborou
We as a city have taken some steps toward being a greener community. However, I believe we can and should be moving more aggressively in that direction. I would support initiatives that expand Tampa’s use of renewables. A prime example is the plan to draw down federal grants to retrofit two small hydroelectric turbines on the Hillsborough River dam which Mayor Caster announced last June. https://www.fox13news.com/news/hillsborough-river-dam-becomes-tampas-next-green-energy-project-to-generate-hydroelectric-power But I believe we should also expand solar, utilize wind turbines, and even explore the feasibility of tidal energy. Recycling is another issue we need to better at. The accounts of contamination of recyclables vs non-recyclables indicate a communication failure. That contamination also reflects a waste of tax dollars due to the additional processing. We have not done enough as a city to educate all Tampa residents. Not everyone is going to grab their smart phone to check if the city program accepts a particular item. I will also advocate that city contracts mandate an increasing level of recycled content versus virgin materials. Recycling on works if you require re-used material in what is being purchased.
Neighborhoods Matter
Address water needs without threatening the aquifer
Build a Greener Tampa
Too often, it seems as though neighborhoods are not heard. For nearly 30 years I have taken my time to come before various public bodies, including City Council and found myself asking "why I was even bothering." If neighbors are coming to be heard, they are volunteers and I believe their commitment should be respected. Maybe we can’t a
Too often, it seems as though neighborhoods are not heard. For nearly 30 years I have taken my time to come before various public bodies, including City Council and found myself asking "why I was even bothering." If neighbors are coming to be heard, they are volunteers and I believe their commitment should be respected. Maybe we can’t all agree on everything but there is a difference between being heard and dismissed. What will make an issue, a project, or a policy more broadly acceptable? Where is there common ground? I have sat through hour long hearings where there was not even an attempt to find a bridge by any of the decision makers. Good policy is about the "Greatest Good for the Greatest Number" not win-lose decisions.
“ I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.”
William Penn
