“The name is Bond.” Bond Ratings.
Last Friday Standard & Poor’s raised Tampa’s general credit from AA+ to AAA, its highest rating for municipalities. It’s a pretty big deal. “We view the city’s management conditions as very strong, with strong financial practices,” wrote S&P. The mayor said the upgrade “affirms the disciplined budget decisions we’ve made as our community recovers from the recession.”
In many cities, this could have been banner, quote-and-gloat news. In this town, at this moment, the S&P shout-out was a one-graph, one fraction-of-a-news-cycle, business short in local dailies. It was that kind of workweek for Mayor Bob.
Earlier he had unveiled ambitious plans to overhaul Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park on the West Bank of the Hillsborough River. Later came the announcement that a developer plans to build a 300-unit, 8-story apartment complex in the Channel District. Then Tampa City Council gave unanimous initial approval to a major piece of downtown’s “Vinikville”: a 400-room hotel with 50 luxury condos on top.
Politically trumping the S&P upgrade on Friday was the official announcement that the mayor had, indeed, filed papers seeking a second term in the March 3 election. He’ll likely go uncontested.
“This is the only job that I ever really wanted,” Buckhorn, 56, acknowledged. And he’ll have four more years of it.
Notable among the mayor’s well-wishers: Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Mark Sharpe. “We are really lucky to have him as mayor and I’m very supportive,” lauded Sharpe.
For those who have followed the County Commission/City Hall contretemps over the years, this was no perfunctory praise, but a sign that regionalism as a Buckhorn priority has taken root.
It was that kind of a week for unrelentingly upbeat Mayor Bob. No wonder the S&P upgrade seemed downplayed.