Tampa mayor: Mass transit 'the big issue of our time'

Mayor Pam Iorio, in her annual state of the city address today, urged support for a mass transportation system she said will allow Tampa to retain a competitive edge in attracting companies and jobs.

"This is the big issue of our time. This is the big issue of our generation," she said of mass transit, including high-speed rail, boosted by a $1.25 billion federal grant for Florida to start it with a Tampa-Orlando line.

Efficient, economical mass transit "will define how we grow and prosper and bring jobs to this community in the future," she told an overflow crowd of government officials and residents who turned out at the Tampa Convention Center for the final "state of the city" address of her administration, which began in 2003.

Urban planning errors of the 20th century, if repeated, will continue to encourage sprawl and keep people dependent on cars, Iorio said. "I see a lot different view of how we can grow and prosper. We are not defined by our problems; we are defined by how we solve our problems."

Conceding the first rail line might not open until 2018, Iorio likened the long-range transportation project to President Eisenhower's push to create an interstate highway system in the 1950s and, in the 1800s, construction of the transcontinental railroad.

"We must continue to make those investments for us to be a first-class community," Iorio said. She said she wants residents and leaders in 2070 to be thankful for the rail line: "In the great tradition of the United States of America, thank you for thinking about the future instead of just thinking of the here and now."

A referendum on the Nov. 2nd ballot will ask Hillsborough County voters to consider a 1-cent sales tax increase to help pay for light rail and other transportation improvements.

In her 15-minute speech, and in a video of equal length preceding it, the mayor cited companies that chose Tampa during the past year, including Ikea. The Swedish retailer in May opened a 335,000-square-foot store near Ybor City that employs 400 workers.

Addressing the economy and reduced tax revenues, Iorio thanked city employees who went without annual raises while still providing the core services residents need.

"It's been a tough time economically; there's no doubt about that," she said. "We'll beat these challenges and we'll get through it just fine," she said.