He knew it was a long shot. Closer to no shot.
But Mayor Bob Buckhorn was obviously still disappointed that the referendum-expanding proposal he supported–as well as other mayoral members of the Urban Partnership (St. Petersburg, Orlando, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville and Hialeah)–“never saw the light of day” in the recent legislative session. Buckhorn and his municipal counterparts were pushing for an exemption to the county-only referendum law for cities of a certain population. The mayors wanted permission to run their own referenda among their own residents as a way to move ahead on priorities–such as modern mass transit–that might not resonate in non-urban parts of their counties.
Through its political prism, however, the GOP-dominated Legislature never saw beyond the red-flag implications of “raising taxes.”
How ironic that this ideologically simplistic take, which panders to the usual “no-taxes-for-anything-ever-again” suspects, in essence downgrades the role of self-government, dismisses the notion of self determination and diminishes the priority of local government. Hardly a shining Founding Fathers moment.
But rest assured, Buckhorn will be back. He will utilize any and all means to the end of (literally) fast forwarding Tampa and this region into the 21st century of transit.
“Cities are the hubs of business,” explains Buckhorn. “I’d be shirking my responsibility to not continue this cause.”
Count on it