Next Tampa mayor not likely to match Iorio's push for light rail

In her final years as Tampa's mayor, Pam Iorio has made mass transit a pillar of her administration, becoming one of region's most vocal backers of a light rail system.

Despite that, Iorio said she "wasn't surprised" that voters on Tuesday soundly rejected increasing the county's sales tax to pay for light rail and other transit improvements.

"The burden of this terrible economy has really taken a toll on people, and voters were simply not willing to make the investment," she said. "I understand and respect that."

She said it will be up to future leaders whether to pick up the ball and keep running.

"It may not be the same plan and it may not the same funding proposal," Iorio said. "But whoever the next mayor is, they'll have to continue to be an advocate for mass transit."

But the person who takes over the city's helm in March, when Iorio ends her final term in office, may not be as vocal. At least, not any time soon.

Some mayoral candidates say they support improved mass transit for the city, but don't think that now is time to ask taxpayers to dig into their pockets to pay for it.

"The voters have spoken," said Bob Buckhorn, a former Tampa council member and candidate for mayor. "I don't know if it was the message or the messengers, but clearly the voters didn't buy it. They said 'now is not the time.'"Fellow candidate Tom Scott, council chairman, said he believes mass transit will be an important issue for Tampa's next leader, but cautioned that the Republican-controlled Hillsborough County Commission will be reluctant to approve another tax referendum.

"I don't see it going back on the ballot anytime soon," he said. "The dust needs to settle."

He thinks city and county leaders need to sit down and come up with a better plan.

Making mass transit a central campaign platform so soon after the failed referendum likely would hurt a mayoral candidate's chances of getting elected, said Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida political science professor. "They've got to be nervous about making it an issue, given the results of the transit tax referendum," she said. "With the economy, voters are rejecting any tax increases."

In retrospect, Iorio said she isn't concerned that she may have squandered her political capital by devoting much of her last term as mayor to the mass transit campaign.

"I was fighting for something I believed in - that's what politics and public policy should be about," she said. "You raise issues, you put together a plan, and ask voters' opinion on it. The voters aren't always going to say yes, but that's how our system works."

Political observers say they don't think Iorio's legacy has been irreparably tarnished by her advocacy on the transit tax referendum - at least among voters within the city.

"Remember, she was advocating for light rail and transit improvements as mayor of Tampa, not Hillsborough County," said Scott Paine, a political science professor at the University of Tampa. "And overall what we know is that it failed mostly in the county."

But if Iorio does decide to run for higher office in the future, her support of the transit tax would likely become a campaign issue among voters and her political opponents.

"I think voters will remember, some favorably, others not," Paine said. "And her opponent would label her an advocate for raising taxes, which seems to be an inherent negative."

Regardless, Paine, a former Tampa city council member, said Tampa's next mayor needs to keep the issue on the burner.

"The region needs a better mass transit system," he said. "If I was the new mayor, I would be saying 'we have to solve the problem - we can't just ignore that it exists.'"But Buckhorn said the biggest issue awaiting Tampa's next mayor is job creation.

"We need to jump-start the local economy," he said. "That is vital to the city's future."

One candidate, however, does plan to make mass transit a key campaign issue.

"Mass transit is essential for us to compete in the 21st Century," said Ed Turanchik, a former Hillsborough County Commissioner and longtime advocate for high-speed rail and other transportation upgrades. "We need better mobility to remain competitive."

One of the reasons voters rejected the sales tax referendum, Turanchik suggests, is because the light rail plan was too Tampa-centric, ignoring the needs of the county.

"I think we need a stronger regional approach," he said. "And even more importantly, we need to have something that costs much less, does more and can be built faster."

Turanchik said he believes a majority of Tampa residents want more transportation options, and would be willing to pay for them if presented with a workable plan.