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Iorio To Pitch Tampa Rail Plan In Tallahassee

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 10, 2009

TAMPA - Mayor Pam Iorio will meet with Gov. Charlie Crist's chief of staff on Wednesday to make her pitch for a Tampa-centric rail plan, a project that will require state funding.

Iorio will be joined by Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe and former Gov. Bob Martinez, both of whom will attend the meeting in Tallahassee with Crist's chief of staff Eric Eichenburg, according to Liana Lopez, Tampa's public relations director.

Lopez said the mayor will be making a presentation to Crist on the proposed rail system, but couldn't say why Martinez, a Tampa-based lawyer and lobbyist, was participating.

"The mayor wants to keep Gov. Crist abreast of the city's rail plans," Lopez said.

Iorio wants to bring the issue to Hillsborough voters in 2010 to ask for a 1-cent sales tax increase. Funding also would need to come from the federal and state governments.

A member of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority board member, Iorio said the plan dovetails with efforts to create a regional transportation plan for seven counties: Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota.

The mayor was criticized by TBARTA board members a few months ago when she proposed that its rail program should focus on Tampa and Hillsborough County.

The Tampa-Hillsborough County plan would have trains running from the University of South Florida to downtown, the West Shore business district and Tampa International Airport. The system's first leg would be an 11-mile line between USF and downtown.

Iorio said the system's first leg could be built in five or six years if approved by voters.

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