Two Democrats are challenging Republican County Commissioner Mark Sharpe in the November 2010 election.
Linda Wilcox, a former optician who has managed night clubs in Ybor City, and Neil Cosentino, a retired fighter pilot and consultant, have announced they will seek Sharpe's District 7 seat. The position is elected countywide.
Cosentino led the effort to save the old Gandy Bridge from being demolished in 1997. A non-profit group he helped form used $7 million in state money earmarked for the bridge's demolition and converted it into a linear parkway for bicyclists, pedestrians and anglers.
Cosentino said he favors consolidating Tampa and Hillsborough County governments to form a "super county" like Miami-Dade and Jacksonville-Duval.
"Hillsborough County is the leading county in this region," Cosentino said, "so I think having a countywide voice for the citizens is better than a more narrow voice."
Cosentino also opposes the 1 cent sales tax initiative Sharpe is championing. If approved by voters, the additional penny tax would be used for a light rail system as well as road improvements throughout the county. Cosentino said the rail won't work because the county doesn't have a high enough population density.
Instead, Cosentino said he favors consolidating the Hillsborough Regional Transit Authority with the Pinellas Suncoast Transportation Authority.
Wilcox could not be reached for comment Monday. She is a Tampa native who has owned several nightclubs in Ybor City. She was in the news in 2004 as the landlord of an Ybor building that housed Club Bling, a hip hop club where complaints of unruly teenagers brought first a police crackdown and later an 11 p.m. curfew for anyone under 18.
Sharpe has held the seat since 2004. He has raised $67,425 so far for his re-election campaign.
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