Tampa City Mayoral Candidates At A Glance

After making it through the qualifying period, candidates for Tampa City Council are truly off and running now. Election Day is March 1 — just weeks away — with early voting running from Feb. 19-26.

This article is the final in a series of profiles on all the candidates affecting Seminole Heights Patch's coverage area.

Three of the candidates did not submit information, despite repeated contacts by Patch.

Bob Buckhorn
Age: 52
Professional background: Fomer City Councilman; President of Buckhorn Partners, a public affairs firm
Personal info: Married, two daughters
TOP ISSUES:

• Transportation:  In order to be competitive we have to have mobility options, which include mass transit. Clearly, we have capacity issues on our road system. Bus system must be timely and run more frequently. As mayor I’ve got an obligation to work on transportation in all forms and fashions. We need to continue discussion on light rail.

• Job creation: “Inevitably I hear that on porches all across. The government doesn’t and shouldn’t create jobs, but it should set the table for other people to be successful.” His two-part economic proposal includes restructuring government and creating a deputy mayor for economic opportunity.

• City department budgets: “We can’t cut our way out of this economic ditch. … The government I will inherit is fairly lean and mean. … My job will be to refocus and reenergize so Tampa is known as a place open for business, which is not what we are now.”

• Panhandling: Wants to ban panhandling immediately, but wants to work with opposing parties and the entire region to address the root cause — homelessness.

Rose Ferlita
(Information was not provided by campaign)

Dick Greco
(Information was not provided by campaign)

Thomas Scott
Age: 56
Professional experience: Current City Council Chairman; served as County Commissioner; for the past 30 years has served as the Senior Pastor of the 34th Street Church of God.
Personal information: Married with two sons, one daughter and 10 grandchildren.
Political Party Affiliation: Democrat
TOP ISSUES:

• Job Creation: As Mayor, my key priority will be to actively work to foster an environment which makes Tampa a favorable and competitive place to retain, expand and attract businesses, making it possible for job creation and small business development. My approach will be as follows:

• Transportation: As County Commissioner, I led this county’s effort on two occasions (1999 and 2003) for mass transit. I will seek the development of a comprehensive transit plan for Hillsborough that encompasses the City of Tampa. In order to establish a comprehensive mass transit policy, a strategy has to be developed in concert with county and our regional partners. I would proceed only after we have confirmed an alignment plan that is responsive to our community and its growth / density patterns, coupled with cost models that provide fiscal accountability. The key to community support – a clearly defined set of objectives, coupled with defined deliverables that removes the public from a “hope and pray” posture that they have been asked to assume in the past.
• City Budget-Revenue: As Mayor, I will preside over a complete review of our budget and consider all available options in balancing same, while ensuring minimal impact on delivery of critical services to our citizens and improving our aging infrastructure.

Ed Turanchik
(Information was not provided by campaign)