TAMPA, Fla. — 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 your district?
Answer: Our most pressing issue facing District 5 is Housing. I have worked diligently on trying to bring attainable housing to the City of Tampa. I tried to pass a Rent Stabilization Program for the City, but it failed with a lack of votes from my colleagues. We created a Tenant's Bill of Rights to deal with landlord/tenant issues and evictions. We mandated that the CRAs spend at least 30% of their unused TIF dollars on attainable housing. Also, in the Mayor's past 2 budgets, we had them increase dollars for housing.
Question 2: How do you plan to address the affordable housing crisis in your district? What is your stance on rent control?
Answer: I will monitor the Tenant's Bill of Rights to make sure it is working for the people of the City of Tampa. I will also review what the CRAs have done with their 30% and see if it is enough or if it needs to be modified. I will also fight to make certain that housing is included in every budget brought forth by the Mayor. We also need to address the Salary Crisis that we have within the City. There is housing stock available, but the people who need it can't afford it. When we look at attracting businesses to the City, we need to look at businesses that offer living wages and higher. And we need to provide incentives for companies to provide living wages for employees.
I do not support Rent Control, but do support Rent Stabilization. I do not support Rent Control because you can't have a base rent stagnant for years. You end up with landlords who refuse to fix up their properties because the rent is not keeping up with inflation. However, with the mandates that have come down and future legislation that is pending, that might not ever be possible.
Question 3: What is your position on development projects in your district?
Answer: I believe that development can be good when it is intentional and community focused. That is why we have the Community Benefits Ordinance that I fought to get approved. When the City provides incentives for development, the community has a say-so in the development going on.
Question 4: How do you plan to address the growing issue of traffic congestion and pedestrian safety?
Answer: Although it effects the residents of the City of Tampa, it is not an issue that is in the purview of Council. Transportation is an issue because the areas of the City that struggle financially, do not house most of the jobs within our City. Thus, a lower income person must have reliable transportation to reach reliable work. The MPO dictates any transportation initiatives within the County. We can work to expand the street car to the most needed areas of the City. We can also work to make more bike friendly areas to allow more people to bike around the City.
Question 5: How do you balance the need for economic growth while protecting our natural resources?
Answer: You balance the need by being intentional with your development. I will work with organizations such as the Sierra Club and work with local ordinances and zoning to make certain we are not over developing and stripping away our natural resources.
Question 6: Crime and public safety are issues of concern for your constituents. How do you plan to address them?
Answer: Many of the public safety concerns in the City are being committed by our youth. We need to develop more ways to reach this demographic. We've seen efforts attempted in the past but these efforts haven't been fruitful. We need fresh new ideas. We also need to address the growing gang presence within our City. For too long, we have kept quiet about gangs and have refused to call it what it is. Once we can publicly admit that we have problems with local gangs, we can increase our gang task forces and make the residents more aware. When the kids are identified, we need to place them in alternative programs to learn life skills to be progressive. And then, allow the youth into programs where they can earn money and want to do better in life.
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 do better in reaching our teens. Many of these teens have dropped out of school which makes it harder to reach them. We need more centers focused on teens to provide them with more healthy outlets. We also need to work to teach these teens a trade early on and provide them with a source of revenue. These teens need positive role models and a true second chance. We can't expect these teens to turn their lives around with the stigma of their past on their record for life.
Question 8: Is there anything else you would like to say that your constituents should know about your run for mayor?
Answer: When I ran for office in 2019, I made promises to the people of things that I would fight for. I am proud to report that I have attempted every single thing that I ran on. Once in office, I hit the ground running on fulfilling campaign promises to the people. This was important to me because I've seen so many politicians over the years make promises to get elected and then renege on every single one of the promises once elected. I wanted to be different. I recognize that I was elected by the people and will always stand with my constituents.
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