The Political Whore

From CL intern Jason Kushner:

Racing downtown to a Tampa City Hall conference room before coffee and amid stormy weather warnings isn’t normal hump-day protocol at the Creative Loafing Intern Affairs Desk. But Mayor Pam Iorio had called for an informal budget meeting with key staff  and members of the Tampa City Council, so Florida’s Sunshine Law allowed us local media to sit in. As Council members John Dingfelder and Charlie Miranda shuffled in to join Gwen Miller, Tom Scott, Linda Saul Sena and Mary Mulhern, Iorio waited along with Revenue and Finance Director Bonnie Wise to outline 2008’s post-Amendment 1 budget.

Her message was optimistic: Tampa will fare better than many cities during this period of economic downturn and property tax cutting mania. By creatively transferring a portion of spending from smaller capital projects to operating funds, the city plans to eliminate $8.9 million from a possible $16.8 million deficit without further stressing public services such as parks and recreation. For example, shifting the city’s “Clean City” program to the Solid Waste Department alone could save up to $3.2 million (albeit by increasing garbage fees by 2.2 percent to cover those news costs, rather than increasing property taxes).

“It’s gonna take a lot more than Amendment I to stop us from making progress,” Iorio said.

Of course, progress is subjective. Dingfelder clearly disagreed with some elements of Iorio’s approach. He favored retaining about 100 threatened janitorial and security jobs slated for elimination-by-outsourcing by reducing a $15 million  plan for a new Curtis Hixon Park downtown.

Iorio diffused Dingfelder’s confrontational inquiries and suggestions by reminding the Councilman that he could reflect his opinion when it comes time to vote on the contracts for the Hixon Park or outsourcing agreements for the janitorial and security jobs. He continually fired back with extended sighs and eye-rolling. It was, no doubt, jolting for the politically naïve to witness tangible friction in such an intrinsically mannered environment. Iorio and Dingfelder exchanged arguments, cameras rolled and press pens scribbled until Wise emerged from the Mayor’s corner with concrete figures that torpedoed one of Dingfelder’s fiscal proposals.

Meanwhile, resident old-timer Miranda diplomatically took everybody on a nostalgic tour of Tampa’s previous developments (Channelside, the elimination of the “skid row” label from Franklin Street, etc.). His simple declaration: “This is like putting together a puzzle…some pieces are still missing.”

Final budget numbers typically aren’t available until the late summer as the city adopts its 2008-2009 spending plan by Oct. 1. The Tampa City Council agreed to meet with Iorio again in three weeks to look at other parts of next year’s budget.
(photo credit: Wayne Garcia) 

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