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: Housing affordability
Question 2: How do you plan to address the affordable housing crisis in your district? What is your stance on rent control?
Answer: Provide fair and balanced solutions to the housing crises in Tampa. Tampa Bay's housing market is reported as the 'hottest' for some, and a crisis for others. And while we are arguably amid a housing crisis, and the hot housing market will likely raise rents even higher. We need to continue to address rent stabilization efforts, even if that means looking at it from a different angle or altogether a completely different lens, but the residents of Tampa’s most vulnerable need not their voices heard and ignored but heard and acted upon. Alarmists raise the concerns that developers will flee, however, in studies of other cities, that has not been the case. Evidence from some of America's largest and most successful cities shows rent stabilization efforts help protect renters, and development doesn't disappear.
The purpose of these types of laws are to keep rent reasonable and to ensure tenants aren’t subjected to unexpected large increases that could destabilize their financial security. When your residents are unstable, your city becomes unstable down the line. Additionally, unlike with actual rent control, the legislation doesn't set a hard maximum on how much a landlord can charge. In some cases, the limit is tied to economic markers, like inflation. In others, it's a specific percentage or other metric outlined in the law.
Because of the lofty appreciation values, less than half of Tampa's population owns a home. In light of that, with the high price to rent ratio, more than half of the Tampa population are renters. Despite economists' anxiety, demand for rent stabilization policies are growing, in particular in high cost of living cities where a greater share of rent burdened tenants are becoming higher income young people with political power. As higher-income professionals stay renters for longer, renters in America’s biggest cities are gaining in political power. Should higher income earners have a bigger political voice than lower income renters?
We cannot idly stand by and watch our residents be thrown on the streets because their wages are not keeping up with rising rents until they are ultimately unhoused and treated as common criminals because of a lack of understanding of the microeconomics of supply and demand.
Question 3: What is your position on development projects in your district?
Answer: Revitalization initiatives are designed to improve neighborhood conditions so that all city residents, particularly those historically and presently excluded, have fair and just access to opportunities for good health and wellbeing, and the resources to shape vibrant, inclusive communities. I want to see the residents that live in these development opportunity zones to have a voice in the decision rooms to bring about smart and equitable growth.
Question 4: How do you plan to address the growing issue of traffic congestion and pedestrian safety?
Answer: Change is constant and constant improvement is a must. The City of Tampa is the economic hub of west central Florida. Our economy is founded on a mixture of tourism, health care, finance, insurance, technology, construction, and maritime industry. We are experiencing unprecedented growth in both development and population and need to make sure that our residential diversity is also inclusive. Our transportation system is lacking in strategic planning and ill prepared for our growth. In addition, according to the Tampa Hillsborough Homeless Initiative, there were more than 1,500 homeless people in Hillsborough County in 2022, it's a 4.2% increase from 2020. The group's research found the increased costs of housing will continue to exacerbate this growing number.
Question 5: How do you balance the need for economic growth while protecting our natural resources?
Answer: We need to hold our developers accountable by requiring pre-approval of projects that address environmental safety and preservation with phase-gate initiatives. If their research does not sufficiently address environmental impact-protection measures, they are not approved until there is one. Then insure promises are not broken by using the aforementioned phase-gates.
Question 6: Crime and public safety are issues of concern for your constituents. How do you plan to address them?
Answer: Tampa is not unlike many police departments across the U.S. in fact, the Tampa Bay Times did a review on Tampas recent racial bias training and found experts who reviewed the online training for the Tampa Bay Times stated that it failed to teach officers to understand bias, shifted blame from police onto people of color and actually encouraged conduct that could lead to discriminatory policing such as pretextual traffic stops. Its a nationwide problem far from solutions until we learn to address the gaps in emotional intelligence, mental health awareness, deescalation skill training and uncovering secret membership affliates with hate groups.
I also support an alternative emergency number where people can call during a benign low level incedent or a mental health crisis where well trained agents and staff will assist with non criminal, non-violent assistance.
Question 7: Specifically, there has been a uptick in shootings involving teens, what are some of your solutions to reduce teen crime?
Answer: There needs to be a collabrative effort of the school system to implement a comprehensive conflict resolution skills course in elementary, middle school and lastly in high school. Another possible solution could be similar to what the City of San Jose proposed: require gun owners to pay a yearly fee and carry Liability insurance. This can shift the financial burdens from taxpayers and victims, back to gun owners.
Question 8: Is there anything else you would like to say that your constituents should know about your run for mayor?
Answer: I will bring checks and balances back to local government and aid in serving the community with fair practical solutions to economic development and housing affordability. The residents of Tampa want leaders who will reinforce the voice of the many and not the pockets of the few.
WEBSITE: https://greattampabay.org
