Saul-Sena Makes It Official

It’s now official. Press-conference-at-Union-Station official.

Tampa City Council fixture Linda Saul-Sena is formally in the race for the District 5 countywide Hillsborough County Commission seat being vacated by the term-limited Jim Norman. Her main opposition will be Commission Chairman Ken Hagan, now in his third term, who will resign his District 2 seat. Some outtakes and observations:

*Conventional wisdom took a beating after Kevin Beckner’s historic win over Brian Blair. In effect, all liberal-vs-conservative/city-vs-county bets are off. Saul-Sena, a Democrat and five-term Council member, will be formidable. She’s more than the avatar of the arts, the patron saint of preservation, the goddess of green and the personification of perkiness.

*Her themes, as she underscored them at her press conference, were those that can resonate county-wide. Growth management and transportation will be prominent. She trotted out a line that we’ll be seeing often. It’s no longer about “Build, build, build,” she declared, but “Jobs, jobs, jobs.” Expect to see her play up her Metropolitan Planning Organization experience – especially in response to those inevitably portraying her as a South Tampa elite out to advance a liberal agenda.

Saul-Sena deplored the “lack of collaboration between city and county.” For too long, she stressed, too many have seen the city as the “doughnut hole” and the county as “the doughnut.” It’s in everyone’s interest, she said, to keep the focus on “a more prosperous and sustainable future” for the county.

*It speaks volumes that she has Mitch Kates, the street-smart, take-no-prisoners strategist in her corner. That’s how serious Saul-Sena is. Recall that Kates is the same campaign advisor used by Beckner – as well as Mary Mulhern, who upset incumbent, up-county Republican Shawn Harrison for a Tampa City Council seat. Saul-Sena is not a negative campaigner, but Kates will take the gloves off. That means less-than-flattering references to Hagan’s take on the environment/wetlands and developers, as well as a reputation for eschewing debates.

*Saul-Sena faces a major financing challenge. She hasn’t had to raise serious money in years. When she was re-elected to her citywide District 3 Council seat in 2007, she was unchallenged. Now she faces a Republican opponent who is sitting on more than $200,000 in contributions. She said she’ll be tapping into her sizable support network and expects to raise about $300,000.

But it could be worse, she said with a smile and a shrug. “Alex Sink has to raise about $30 million. Now that’s daunting.”

*Everyone certainly “got” the Union Station press-conference venue. All the history and all the implications for the future. And Saul-Sena doesn’t mind reminding listeners that she “led the effort to save it.” But some media types wondered if something out in the county – in effect, Ken Hagan’s backyard – would have made more strategic sense.

*Saul-Sena seemed genuinely taken aback by the two dozen or so supporters of the Tampa police union picketing outside Union Station before and during her indoor press conference. Tampa Police Benevolent Association members were saying she was no friend of the TPD because of her vote against a police step-pay raise. The wording, “Linda Saul-Sena: The Criminal’s Best Friend,” was the cheapest of shots. “Yes, I was surprised,” said Saul-Sena. “I have a great record in supporting the police.”

*For what it’s worth, the media – both electronic and print – seemed to take a dim view of the picketers. The sign-carriers came across, as one prominent columnist labeled it, as “cheesy.” Saul-Sena is hardly anti-cop and voted with the City Council super majority because all city employees — including police and fire — were being asked to take one for Team Tampa by foregoing raises during a ravaging, budget-slashing recession. One of the acknowledged ripple effects of deferred raises: fewer layoffs.

*I spoke with one picketer, who was polite, 50-something, and direct. There was nothing nuanced about the protest or his take. “It’s like George Bush said: ‘You’re either with us or against us,’” he explained. “You can’t have it both ways.”

*Imagine, Clueless Joe Cataeno, who cast the lone pro-union vote, is the police union’s only “friend.” Please.