At last week’s Tiger Bay Club of Tampa luncheon, Mayor Pam Iorio was notably adamant about three issues:
*She will go to the mattresses to sell light rail.
*She won’t be visiting Cuba any time soon.
*She won’t be publicly addressing her political future for a while.
If Iorio could choose her legacy, it would likely be “light rail visionary and initiator.”
Not that the Riverwalk won’t be in the mix, but others, notably her predecessor, had a major role in securing requisite waterfront land. But if next year’s referendum vote – and accompanying tax hike – get passed, it will be in large measure because Tampa’s two-term mayor mustered all her remaining political capital and maxed out on her bully-pulpit forum. And as she reminded Tiger Bay attendees, her podium skills, engaging repartee and powers of persuasion are formidable.
“We have it all,” said Iorio. “The only thing we don’t have is light rail. It’s the missing link. I mean, Detroit (currently the only other major market sans light rail) is now working on it. We also need a more robust bus system.”
According to Iorio, much will ride on how light rail is “presented.”
“It’s not a frill,” she noted. “It’s not ‘icing on the cake.’ We have to get past the ‘It doesn’t just help me’ mentality. The demographics are changing. Mass transit is not just for people who can’t afford a car.
“To not consider rail seriously is not 21st century thinking,” stressed Iorio. “It will set us back as a region. We can’t say: ‘If you move to Tampa, you better own a car.’ No more. We can’t afford to have nothing more than a HARTLine bus system. I can’t be a part of it.”
She also referenced the Interstate system begun by the Dwight Eisenhower administration in the 1950s. “We need this just as much as we needed the interstate system,” she said. Indeed, Iorio also pondered the viability of the interstate system had it been subject to regional referenda.
And she’s obviously heard her share of cost-benefit ratio and subsidy arguments proffered by small-government advocates.
“All transportation is subsidized,” underscored Iorio. “Dale Mabry is subsidized. And why do we subsidize things? Because we think it’s for the community good. If we only have HARTLine buses, we’ll be so far behind – and pay for it in so many ways.”
Cuba: Todavia No
Even though Florida – and Tampa – are uniquely positioned to take advantage of normalized relations between Cuba and America, Iorio is not about to be any bolder than the Obama Administration when it comes to making it happen. She can see the incremental changes occurring in the Cold War-relic relationship between America and Cuba, but sees no need to get out in front on this one. She’s certainly not about to emulate the plans of some other locals, including at least one Tampa City Council member, who hope to visit Cuba this summer.
“If the private sector sees opportunities, it should act on it,” said Iorio. “But I could go and make a big splash, and it will change nothing. This is a federal issue. It’s not appropriate for me to embark on my own foreign policy.”
No Post-Mayor Talk
Now is not the time for Iorio to be musing in public about where her post-mayoral, public-service career may take her. There are too many political subplots beyond her control next year and too much on her lame-duck plate to entertain such speculation.
“I don’t know what my future holds,” stated Iorio. “I don’t worry about it. I don’t want to short-shrift this job.
“The county-mayor? There is no county-mayor position. It doesn’t exist.”