The one detail you sense right away when you sit down with Mayor Bob Buckhorn, after noticing the den-like ambience of his office, is that what you see is what you–will continue to see. Whether it’s a one-on-one at City Hall or a one-on-1,000 in front of a Tampa Bay Partnership or a Florida Economic Development Council luncheon. The same enthusiasm. No less animation. No fewer quotable lines. Only with a cigar–and a backdrop of Irish-politico snapshots, Penn State football memorabilia, photographic-arts depictions of iconic Tampa scenes and proud-parent, little-kid art. And in lieu of a flat-screen TV–an oversized, framed photo of Jack and Jackie Kennedy waving to a Camelot crowd.
You get the palpable sense that this guy at this moment knows it’s his time. And it was a long time coming–from campaigning for John Glenn and trouble shooting for Sandy Freedman to serving on city council, losing to Brian Blair and not making the mayoral run-off in 2003. These days nobody gives a Dewey Square about Buckhorn’s political pilgrimage, including the year he made the Democratic Leadership Council’s “100 To Watch” list. However circuitous his career route, he is now Tampa’s CEO-Advance Man-Salesman-in-Chief.
And by all accounts, it’s been a well-received 15 months of whirlwind pro-activity.
“I’m totally liberated,” explains Buckhorn. “Nobody thought I’d be here. I’ve waited so long, I don’t want to waste a minute.”
As a result, a major portion of Buckhorn’s identity is ubiquity.
His ever-ratcheting profile is seemingly everywhere. From a “Mayor’s Food Truck Fiesta” at Lykes Gaslight Square Park to a ribbon-cutting Segway tour of new Channel District businesses to introducing the president of the United States at Hillsborough Community College. From a public signing of the domestic partnership registration ordinance and the opening of an East Tampa playground to the hosting of the first-ever Gasparilla Music and St. Patrick’s Day Festivals. From grant-pursuing, Washington treks to trade mission sorties to Israel and Panama. He’s somehow part of every news cycle.
“It’s glaringly obvious that he’s having fun and enjoying being mayor,” assesses Bob Rohrlack, the president and CEO of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce. “People want to be a part of that.”
“He’s engaged, he’s involved and he’s the brand,” says University of Tampa political scientist Scott Paine.
“This is the only job I’ve ever wanted,” underscores Buckhorn, 53. “I’ve been training for it for 20 years. I’m as prepared as anybody could be. To me this is pure joy. Being a (strong) big city mayor is the toughest job, as well as the best. You can change the ship of state. I chose this to DO–not to BE. My job is to be seen, to inspire, to energize and give hope.”
Indeed, later in the day he would be seen announcing the winner of the first city-sponsored Hack-A-Thon, where coders and designers competed to create an internet-based application benefiting Tampa. For Buckhorn, it was a lot more than showing the mayoral flag.
It was a way of interacting with stakeholders and underscoring his commitment to more accessible government, new media and Tampa’s nascent technological potential. “I think our tech sector is emerging but is still under the radar,” acknowledges Buckhorn.
Another community-media interaction is the city’s “What’s Your Vision?” video contest, where residents and business owners submit videos showcasing what’s special about their communities. Outtakes will complement the work of the InVision Tampa team that is creating a master plan for Tampa’s city center. The well-publicized contest is also another way of highlighting that Tampa has a lot going on that has nothing to do with a service-sector reputation. Tampa’s future is more M2Gen and Syniverse Technologies than call-center central.
“I’m not surprised by anything I’ve seen so far,” notes former Mayor Dick Greco. “This is something Bob’s aspired to do his whole life. Now that he’s mayor, he’s putting everything he can into it. I mean, he’s all over the place. From 22nd and Lake to West Tampa to Hyde Park. On a local level, people need to know their mayor. He’s doing a good job.”
Have Pitch, Will Travel
A key part of that job, as Buckhorn defines it, is maxing out on any scenario that has the potential for positive, local economic impact.
“Wherever I go, I never forget that I’m there to make the case for Tampa,” emphasizes Buckhorn. “I use any and all opportunities to make the case for my city. If you don’t go and get the business, it’s not coming to you. It’s one thing to hire lobbyists, but it makes a big difference when you’re there personally. Emails don’t cut it. You have to make the case yourself. So much of this is relationship driven. And I try to keep the politics, especially the partisanship, out of it.”
If that means going to Tel Aviv to leverage CAMLS into wooing (medical-training simulator manufacturer) Simbionix , he’s there. If it means personally lobbying the Feds for a $10.9-million TIGER grant to complete the 2.6-mile, downtown-defining Riverwalk, he’s there. If it means teaming up with Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Ken Hagan to forge a united front in pitching this area, he’s already been there.
“He’s created a new vibe, a new level of cooperation with the county and city council,” says former city council member Linda Saul-Sena. “In these days of limited resources, we need all the cooperation we can get.”
“It makes a difference when the mayor and county commission chairman show up for a presentation,” points out Kelly Miller, the president/CEO of Tampa Bay & Co. “That impresses prospects. I’ve seen it.”
So also has Stu Rogel, chairman of the Tampa Bay Partnership.
“When he was candidate Bob, he was up and on point and advocating for economic development,” recalls Rogel. “It was his mantra. And he has not strayed from that. He puts out a very, very strong message–and then backs it up. He tells the Tampa and Tampa Bay story very effectively. He shows up–whether it’s Panama or Pasco County–and people notice. Presence is power.”
Defining Convention
And no Buckhorn presence, arguably, will ever again be as powerful as the one he will project at next month’s GOP Convention. It will say as much about the mayor as it will about his city.
“This will be the defining moment in Bob Buckhorn’s career,” says UT’s Paine. “I’m sure he’s conscious of it. If not nightmares over it. It’s much more complicated than free-speech zones. He’ll be on the scene and on camera. That’s the kind of mayor he is. This will be defining for him as a leader. He has an opportunity to exploit this moment as to where Tampa will be going.”
Buckhorn acknowledges the stakes.
“It’s the biggest thing we’ve ever undertaken,” he says. “The sheer amount of moving parts are amazing, especially for a mid-sized American city. It’s a high-wire act with no net. Sure, it’s fraught with risk, but the upside is tremendous. Those millions of media mentions. And we can manage this. I have ultimate faith in (Tampa Police Chief) Jane Castor.”
Speaking of security and anarchists not exactly cut from Sacco and Venzetti cloth, Buckhorn is unflinchingly confident and adamant. Tampa has more than 60 Florida law enforcement agencies providing up to 4,000 officers to help maintain security. They will all wear the same uniforms–tan–and carry the same radios. Communication and coordination won’t, he promises, be the issues they were for St. Paul four years ago.
Buckhorn wants to protect residents, businesses, convention attendees, media and those legally exercising their legitimate First Amendment rights. He’s neither a card-carrying ACLU member nor a reincarnation of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.
“I believe in overwhelming force,” he states unequivocally. “But I also believe in acting respectfully. We’re talking about a small (anarchist) minority here. We’ll extract them respectfully. I’m Irish, but there’ll be no shoot-to-kill orders.”
Reality Check
However the convention plays out, the core issues will remain after all the delegates, media, corporate VIPs, First Amendment protestors and mayhem meisters have flown home or made bail. The challenge of a $26.7 million deficit and depressed ad valorum revenue will be back in context.
It helps, of course, to know that Tampa is among this country’s 15 fastest-growing major cities at 3.1 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It also helps that the city’s urban core now has a population–increasingly skewed toward the 30-something market–in excess of 3,000. Affordable housing and quality-of-life amenities–from restaurants to concerts in the park to joggers on the Riverwalk are key, post-ghost town factors. The near completion of phase 1 of the Zack Street “Promenade of the Arts,” the ongoing Encore construction, a Channelside makeover under Jeff Vinik, an upcoming Aquarium expansion and plans to morph the old federal courthouse into a La Meridien hotel are also illustrative.
But ginning up enthusiasm for a viable downtown is no guarantee of long-term economic growth. The critical keys to Tampa realizing its considerable potential, points out Buckhorn, lie in the big picture–not just an upgrade in coolness and aesthetics. He continuously talks jobs of the future and what it takes to recruit them–from modern infrastructure to red-tape scissoring. It means, for example, getting more aggressive with international marketing and staying pro-active–and politically pragmatic–when it comes to mass-transit rail.
“We need to be better at promoting ourselves around the world,” says Buckhorn. “We need to continue to find ways to better utilize our airport, port and diversity. We have to go get the business–and that includes containers at the port. Maybe parlay (Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade and Tampa native) Frank Sanchez better up there. We have all the parts in place; now let’s market it. To much of the world, Florida is Orlando and Miami. We need to be part of that trifecta.”
Tampa also needs more than good intentions and enlightened self-interest when it comes to light rail, underscores Buckhorn.
“It comes up all the time: infrastructure and transportation,” he says. “It’s one of our goals. It has short- and long-term impact. It’s an ongoing issue, and we’ll have to solve it. You can’t grow the economy if transportation is a glaring deficiency. I had (Detroit Mayor) Dave Bing thanking me for their light rail made possible with our (re-allocated high-speed rail) money. Now it will no longer be Detroit and us among the major cities without mass transit. Just us.”
Buckhorn, however, is not without a short-term mass-transit strategy. He expects to join four other Florida mayors (St. Petersburg, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville) to petition the Legislature next session to allow an exemption to the county-only referendum law. One that would permit cities of a certain size to hold their own referenda–for things such as light rail.
“If you could, and it passed in Tampa and St. Pete, then ultimately you could connect the two,” he points out. “Cities are the hubs of business. I’d be shirking my responsibility to not continue this cause.”
But given the political climate where any referendum proposal can be spun as little more than a big-government tax hike, how would he assess the chances in Tallahassee? How would a Legislature that lionizes Grover Norquist respond to Bob Buckhorn or Buddy Dyer?
“Not well,” concedes Buckhorn. “But we need to start that conversation. Let me take the heat. It’s a vote for our kids.”
And he will be where he should be. On site, making news and making the pitch in person. And knowing full well that he’s not just on the right track–but that presence is, indeed, power.
Outtakes
*Tropical Storm Debby: “We were lucky. Not a lot of damage. It was a good practice run for both a hurricane and the convention. An opportunity to work the kinks out of the system.”
*Gov. Rick Scott: Chances are Scott makes the same Buckhorn short list as Jerry Sandusky, but the mayor is not about to go out of his way to badmouth the governor. For the record: “I don’t personalize it. He is the governor. I’m going to respect the office. You need to know his hot buttons. He would, for example, call five companies for me that I was looking at.”
*St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster: “He’s my partner. Our success is linked.”
*A possible swap involving a cruise liner port and a baseball stadium: “Those two projects need to be looked at separately. There’s no linkage. I’m befuddled by such talk.”
*Baseball-stadium scenarios involving Tampa: “I’ve been nuanced in my comments. My role is to be prepared. Let’s not wake up one day and find out the Rays are leaving for Las Vegas.”
*The downtown trolley: “It’s a short-term burden, but we’ll get through it. We are going to fix it. But don’t cut service. That’s a death spiral.”
*The Port of Tampa: “There’s a huge upside to expanded containerization. And the I-4 Connector is a big factor because the port business is speed-to-market driven.”
*Big government “pork” projects: “I’m not bashful about going after grants. We’re a donor state in taxes. It’s our money being re-invested in our community. The government investment in the I-4 Connector is not pork. It’s a necessity. For those who think infrastructure investments are pork, I challenge them to be a mayor for one day. It creates jobs and builds infrastructure that is crumbling around us.”
*His first 15 months in office: “I really appreciate how excited people are for me and for Tampa. Even those who didn’t support me. We have a unique opportunity. There’s been just about a complete changing of the (key municipal) guard here. I couldn’t be here at a better time. Everyone is on the same page. It’s been hugely invigorating for me.”