Ferlita makes it official: She's running for Tampa mayor

Hillsborough County Commissioner Rose Ferlita formally acknowledged Wednesday what most local political observers already knew -- that she will be a candidate for mayor of Tampa in the March 1 election.

Her candidacy adds to a race already ripe with long-time city politicians -- current City Council Chairman Thomas Scott and former councilman Bob Buckhorn, along with former Tampa police officer Marion Lewis, and Arthur Richardson, a mortgage company manager.

Ferlita may not be the last well-known Tampa name to file to succeed Mayor Pam Iorio -- others mentioned as possible candidates include former U.S. Rep. Jim Davis and former Mayor Dick Greco.

A former city council member and third-generation Tampa native, Ferlita filed papers Wednesday morning at the county Supervisor of Elections Office and announced her candidacy on her Facebook page and on her Website, http://roseformayor.com.

Ferlita said Wednesday she will campaign on a record of integrity and business acumen, earned both in the public and private arenas. She has helped balance budgets at the city and county government levels and for years ran a small business, Rose Drugs, in Southeast Seminole Heights.

"It's going to be a healthy debate from now until March," Ferlita said, "but I've given it a lot of thought and in my heart of hearts, I think I've got what it takes."

An energetic -- some would say frenetic -- politician, the 64-year-old Ferlita has a reputation for bluntly challenging other public leaders when she thinks they cross ethical boundaries.

Last year, after Commissioner Kevin White lost a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former aide, Ferlita asked White to repay the county's legal fees incurred as a co-defendant in that legal action. On three different occasions, Ferlita asked White to reimburse the county and got no answer.

White later said he could not afford to pay anything toward the county's $450,000 legal bill. The commission, led by Ferlita, voted to sue White for the money. White later counter-sued the county.

Ferlita also became one of former County Administrator Pat Bean's harshest critics after learning Bean had approved a 1 percent pay increase for herself and County Attorney Renee Lee without commissioners' knowledge. Later, when it was revealed that Bean had gained possession of hundreds of internal e-mails from the county auditor's office, Ferlita asked the administrator to resign. Bean refused and was later fired.

As a city council member, Ferlita often crossed swords with Iorio and, unlike her council colleagues, refused to rubberstamp the mayor's agenda. The two put aside their differences after Ferlita was elected to the county commission in 2006, and they began working toward better city-county cooperation on economic development and other issues.

If she is elected, Ferlita would face probably the greatest challenge of her political career. Last year, Iorio was forced to plug a $50 million budget deficit using service cuts, layoffs and a pay freeze. Another $30 million budget shortfall is looming in 2011, and more layoffs and service cutbacks are expected. With a full-fledged economy rebound increasingly unlikely, Tampa's next mayor could face years of tight budgets and labor strife.

"It's not going to be a good time to be mayor," Ferlita conceded, "but it is going to be a good time to be qualified to be mayor. I'm not afraid to make hard decisions."

Ferlita represents commission District 1, which stretches from Town 'n Country, through South Tampa to Ruskin in South County. She is in the last year of her first four-year term on the commission, following service on the city council from 1999-2006.

As a practicing pharmacist, Ferlita became alarmed at the spread of prescription drug abuse and played a key role in persuading state lawmakers to pass a drug monitoring program.

She also created Bully Busters, a program to prevent school-yard bullying. Ferlita said constituents asked her to do something about bullying after students at Charlie Walker Middle School were charged with sexual battery of a classmate in March and April 2009.

Ferlita was raised in Ybor City, and her family's bakery is now home to the Ybor City State Museum.