Ahead of the 2023 municipal elections, ABC Action News reached out to candidates running for office in Hillsborough County. The following statements have been submitted to ABC Action News by the candidate. Every candidate was given the same set of questions. These are their responses, unedited, in his/her own words.
Question 1: What is the most important issue facing the city of Tampa?
Answer: Some of the important issues my administration is tackling include housing affordability, safety on our roadways, workforce development, sustainability, and resilience.
Question 2: What more can be done to address the affordable housing crisis in the city? (You can include what you have accomplished). What is your position on rent control?
Answer: Affordable housing access is a multi-dimensional issue with many solutions. These include increasing federal, state, and local funding for affordable housing, promoting mixed-income developments, and providing incentives for developers to build more affordable housing. Rent control may help some renters in the short term, but it can also have negative effects on housing supply and quality. The city is pre-empted from taking local action on rent control by the state government.
When I took office in 2019, I committed to bringing 10k affordable housing units on line by the end of my term in 2027 and we are on track to do that. I also included the largest amount of funding for affordable housing initiatives in the City's history, $26 million.
I've also allocated funding and championed the process of modernizing the City's antiquated zoning code to create more opportunities for missing middle housing and mixed-use development.
Question 3: How do you plan to balance development with issues that come with rapid development (parking, traffic congestion, strains on resources)?
Answer: I agree with development projects as long as the residents have a voice on what impacts their quality of life as it pertains to housing, businesses, and environmental friendly attributes.
Question 4: What more can be done to address the growing issue of traffic congestion and pedestrian safety?
Answer: When I took office, I signed the Vision Zero pledge with an aspirational goal of zero pedestrian deaths in our city. I hired a vision zero coordinator, and we developed a vision zero action plan to make it safer to walk and bike to work and school. My administration just received a $20 million-dollar federal Safe Streets for All grant from the Biden Administration to help implement safety measures like new crosswalks, more protected bike lanes, more sidewalks. I also worked with City Council to close the developer sidewalk loophole forcing developers to build sidewalks near elementary schools.
Question 5: How do you balance the need for economic growth while protecting our natural resources?
Answer: We are continuing the work of sustainable growth in the City of Tampa. When I became Mayor, I appointed the city’s first sustainability and resilience officer. We also…
- Released the Resilient Tampa Roadmap - a comprehensive plan of 58 actions to address issues like stormwater, transportation, climate, and housing through the lens of resilience - 70% of those actions have launched and are on track.
- Will soon release Tampa's first Climate Action & Equity Plan, including a path towards running all municipal operations off renewable energy. We also worked with the woman and minority lead non-profit CLEO Institute to ensure marginalized and frontline communities had a proportionate and fair say in the development of the plan.
- Allocated more than $15 million for solar energy and renewable energy projects
- Are studying how to grow in coastal areas of the city, including stronger infrastructure, appropriate growth, and transportation/evacuation concerns.
Question 6: Crime and public safety are issues of concern for your constituents. How do you plan to address them?
Answer: Tampa is one of the safest cities of its size in the nation. We are continuing the work of keeping it that way by implementing community policing programs, increasing funding for law enforcement agencies, and promoting crime prevention through education and outreach.
Question 7: Specifically, there has been a uptick in shootings involving teens, what are some of your solutions to reduce teen crime?
Answer: We need to continue our investment in education, job training, and after-school programs to provide teens with opportunities and positive outlets for their energy and creativity. That's why I established the Mayor's Workforce Council who will partner with our Parks and Recs department to bolster important programs like Stay and Play. Stay and play keeps our parks open exclusively for teens during the summer to help keep them safe and busy with award-winning programing.
Question 8: Is there anything else you would like to say that your constituents should know about your run for council?
Answer: Tampa is going to change more in the next 10 years than it has in my entire lifetime, and I believe over the last 3.5 years— with the foundation laid by my predecessors, we have rapidly and aggressively implemented and activated plans to make this City the best in America. By focusing on housing affordability, transportation solutions, important infrastructure projects, and building a workforce of the future, we’re well on our way to transforming Tampa’s tomorrow.
WEBSITE: https://www.tampa.gov/mayor
