Tampa’s Paean To Inclusion

What a contrast.

After a runoff campaign that had turned Ferlita-fueled mean-spirited, the inauguration of Mayor Bob Buckhorn was an exercise in inspiring inclusiveness.  Political yin and yang: from partisans swearing at each other to a mayor (and city council members) being sworn in. And thanks to Chief Judge Manuel Menendez Jr., the oath to council members was administered with good humor–as well as comic relief.

The master of ceremonies was USF president Judy Genshaft, a less-than-subtle symbol of one of Tampa’s foremost assets, one that Buckhorn has invoked often as a key to future job-growth scenarios.    

In his Channelside victory speech, Buckhorn had alluded to his campaign’s inclusive, “big tent” strategy. From East Tampa to South Tampa. From Tom Scott to Ed Turanchik. From police-union to fire-union support. To erstwhile Dick Greco supporters. He had referenced Tampa’s ethnic roots and contemporary demographics.

This political dignitary-dotted gathering at the Tampa Convention Center–about 1,000 strong and responsive–looked it. African-American, Anglo and Hispanic. White collar and blue collar. Young and formerly young. The uplifting performance of the Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church Choir. The stirring processional led by the Tampa Fire Rescue bagpipe and drum corps. The moving version of “God Bless America” by the UV Rays a cappella group. A Catholic priest. A Muslim imam. A Baptist minister. A Jewish rabbi.

“Tampa is literally a city of culturally unique minorities,” underscored Rabbi Richard J. Birnholz of the Congregation Schaarai Zedek.

As a city and a society too often and too easily polarized,  we needed all of it last Friday.

Buckhorn, this city’s 58th mayor, spoke with passion and polish. His predecessor, the front-row sitting Pam Iorio, had set the podium bar at a nearly unapproachable height. Buckhorn, 52, proved a worthy rhetorical successor.

He touched a lot of bases–from Tampa’s immigrant roots in “Cuba, Italy, Spain and Africa” to the “building blocks” provided by previous mayors to the “common destiny” of regional partners to the debt owed to those in public safety. He emphasized “thinking bigger” and the necessity of “investing in our city and in ourselves.”

He put the focus on Tampa–not the changing of its guard. “Today is not about the first day of a new mayor or the last day of another,” he noted pointedly. “It’s about the next day for our city.” It’s also about the choice to “tread water or fly,” he stressed. “Circumstances are not destiny.”

And in Kennedy/Sorensen-like cadence, he ended with soaring rhetoric. “This is our time. This is our place. … Let’s fly, Tampa.”

God speed, Mayor Buckhorn.

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