Avis Harrison says she had no idea what she was getting into when she decided to run for the Tampa City Council District 7 seat, which represents New Tampa.
On a Thursday morning in front of the New Tampa Regional Library on Cross Creek Blvd., where she has stood and waved to visitors every day since early voting began on Oct. 24, Harrison was nursing a sore throat and was exhausted from previous days holding signs asking for votes.
“It’s hard, but it has also been rewarding,’’ Harrison says. “I have met so many nice people. They have been very open, very receptive to this campaign. But, it’s also been hard, and (campaigning) can really wear on you.”
Harrison, an Arbor Greene resident for the past 17 years, is one of six candidates running for District 7 seat, along with Hunter’s Green residents Luis Viera and Dr. Jim Davison, Cory Lakes Isles’ Dr. Cyril Spiro, Tampa Palms resident Gene Siudut and former Tampa police officer Orlando Gudes, the only non-New Tampa resident who lives in the Copeland Park area south of Busch Blvd.
With the presidential election seemingly sucking the air out of everything else politically, it is more difficult than ever to stand out. In this election, there haven’t been television commercials or debates, and because it is a special election to replace Lisa Montelione — who resigned the Dist. 7 seat midway through her four-year term to run against incumbent Shawn (no relation to Avis) Harrison for the Florida House Dist. 63 seat, the whole city council election process has been compressed into six months.
So, how does this group of virtual unknowns get noticed by enough people in a six-person race without the benefit of time and mass media to win?
Lots of shoe leather.
“Hard work,’’ Viera says. “The harder you work, the luckier you get.’’
Viera adds that endorsements, money and optimism help as well, but at the end of the day the key might be being seen — every candidate has published an op-ed and advertised in this publication, which reaches every home in the 33647 zip code.
Like the other candidates, Viera spent last week waving to passersby at the busy library or voting stations in Temple Terrace and North Tampa. Despite a sizable advantage in money raised and endorsements over his opponents, Viera has found there is no replacement for old-fashioned pavement pounding. A regular day in the final weeks of his campaign would include dropping his son off at school, waving at voters for two hours, getting in a few hours of work at his law firm then walking neighborhoods and making phone calls for another 4-5 hours.
All of the candidates have attended various forums, hoping to discuss policy and ideas. But, the forums aren’t always well attended and the questions many times have little to do with their actual district.
“If you add them all up, I’d be surprised if there were 100 voters from our district at all of them,’’ Davison says. “You just try to make a good impression on the ones that are there, and hopefully they tell some friends who are district voters.”
Because the City Council race is non-partisan, candidates can’t even rely on picking up votes from people who vote their party line. So, sign placement, eye-catching mailers, ads in this publication –— anything that helps with name recognition — becomes a vital tool.
Davison, a 6-foot-3 emergency room physician with a simple, white sign with red letters on a 3-foot-stick who is not shy about walking long distances, has been a fixture on Cross Creek Blvd. During his campaign, Davison has walked down Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., from the corner of County Line Rd. all the way to Hunter’s Green, roughly four miles.
“It’s a lot of time, and a lot of sweat,” says Davison, whose also gets lots of help from his wife Diane (treasurer), daughter Ashley (media and digital) and daughter Allie, who despite living in Charlotte, NC still makes calls on her dad’s behalf. “Without a lot of help from my family, I couldn’t have a campaign,” he admits.
All of the candidates lean heavily on their families. Some are more fortunate than others. Harrison, widowed in 2014, has a son in the military, a daughter at Florida State University in Tallahassee and another who is a flight attendant. Most of the time, “It’s just me,’’ she says, and a solid group of friends to help her out.
For Harrison, she hopes that group grows a little larger with each wave and smile. “It’s been fun, the people have been great, and I’ve gotten so many invites for Thanksgiving and Christmas,’’ Harrison says. “So, that’s good.”
Election Day is Tues., Nov. 8!
Hillsborough’s Public Works Dept.’s project manager David Vogel says that while he understands your frustration, the perception that work is not being conducted as quickly as possible is wrong. Much of the work is done underground, he says — with utilities, electrical and water — and is not visible to the everyday passerby.
Local residents have been waiting more than 20 years for the main thoroughfare through New Tampa to be widened from a four- and six-lane divided roadway to an eight-lane divided roadway to relieve the area’s infamous traffic congestion. And, while it may be premature to say there’s a light at the end of the, well, Boulevard, local residents are a step closer to Bruce B. Downs (BBD) finally being “Bruce B. Done.”
The same night that work began on Segment D, the county held a pre-construction meeting in the Paul R. Wharton High auditorium about widening BBD. If you think New Tampa is tired of talking about the traffic on BBD, consider this: the county set up three stands showing the area of construction, but the meeting was attended by only a dozen or residents.
