Theatre Beat — “Dreamgirls,” “Spelling Bee,” “Ember” & “Broadway!” 

Christan McLaurine stole the New Tampa Players’ production of “Dreamgirls” as James “Thunder” Early. (Dreamgirls Photos by Charmaine George)

When I grew up and later lived in New York in and near Manhattan, I was fortunate to be able to see dozens of Broadway and Off-Broadway shows and although musicals may not necessarily be everyone’s cup of tea, I came to appreciate musical theatre, as well as stage comedies and dramas, and the incredibly talented people who performed in all of those shows. 

What I will admit that I never expected is that there also could possibly be so many talented people performing in local community theatre. I also have no problem admitting that I probably should have attended at least a few more local theatre performances in the years leading up to the opening last year of the New Tampa Performing Arts Center (NTPAC) on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. 

So, Jannah and I have kind of gone on to sit in the audience of several shows since I was a bit player in the New Tampa Players (NTP)’s opening performance at NTPAC of “Grease.” We were in the audience for the fun and adorable “Shrek the Musical,” but we didn’t stop there. Here is a rundown of the other shows that we either recently saw or plan to see in the coming weeks…and I think you should, too. 

“Dreamgirls” 
The “Dreamgirls” were (l.-r.) Patty Smithey as Lorrell Robinson, NaTasha McKenzie as Effie White & Caron Davis as Deena Jones.

The first stop on our post-”Shrek” theatre journey was the New Tampa Players’ production of “Dreamgirls” at the NTPAC. Like “Grease” and “Shrek,” this award-winning Broadway hit that also spawned a successful movie, also ran for two weekends and six performances and the entire second weekend of the show’s run was fully sold out, while the first weekend had probably fewer than 20 total unsold tickets. 

And, for good reason. While NTP’s “Dreamgirls” couldn’t possibly match the Broadway talent or the voices in the film starring “American Idol” winner Jennifer Hudson, the cast and show were nonetheless super-impressive and talented, especially for community theatre. 

And, although the women who portrayed the Dreams singing group — NaTasha McKenzie as Effie White, 

Caron Davis as Deena Jones and especially, Patty Smithey as Lorrell Robinson — were all excellent singers, dancers and actors, for our money, the dynamically talented Christan McLaurine as James “Thunder” Early stole the show. 

Up next for the Players are auditions for “Singin’ in the Rain,” the song-&-dance musical based on the classic 1952 film starring Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. The show runs July 19-28 at NTPAC. 

The show combines the talents of director Nora Paine, musical director G. Frank Meekins and choreographer Sarah Walston, the trio who also led the production of “Grease.” 

If you know any talented male or female singers and tap dancers, auditions for “Singin’ in the Rain” will be held in April. Look to these pages for additional information or visit NewTampaPlayers.org. 

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” 
(L.-r.) Richard Brown (William Barfee), Gabrielle Ray (Olive Ostrovsky), Chris Cordero (Chip Tolentino), Jillian Koehn (Marcy Park), Taylor Skolnick (Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre) & Dylan Fidler (Leaf Coneybear) made MAD Theatre of Tampa’s “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” a blast from beginning to end. (Photo provided by Mad Theatre)

If you were looking for a fun, hysterically funny and light-hearted musical theatre experience, I hope you got to check out MAD Theatre of Tampa’s “Spelling Bee” at the Shimberg Playhouse at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Tampa. This tiny playhouse was the perfect setting for this Spelling Bee, which was chock full of amazing, talented characters, including Chris Cordero and Dylan Fidler, who played the title roles in NTP’s “Shrek” and “Grease” (Danny Zuko), respectively. 

But, it wasn’t just the six young actors portraying the pubescent spellers who gave amazing performances. The entire cast, led by director Casey Vaughn, music director Megan Zeitler and choreographer Evan Lomba (who played Donkey in NTP’s “Shrek”) all deserve big kudos for a show that truly was a laugh riot. 

Up next for MAD Theatre, which is celebrating 25 years as a performance troupe, are performances of “Urinetown The Musical,” with performances June 14-30, also at the Shimberg Playhouse at the Straz Center. 

For tickets and more information, visit MadTheatre.com.

“Ember: A New Musical” 

One show that I have no idea what my expectations are or should be is the World Premiere of “Ember: A New Musical,” written by Kyle Griffin Fisher, the young man who gave local audiences memorable performances as Kenickie in NTP’s “Grease” and the hysterical Lord Farquaad in NTP’s “Shrek The Musical.” 

According to Kyle’s Facebook page: 

“Discover the dark allure of desires in ‘Ember,’ a spellbinding musical that explores the boundaries between dreams and damnation. In a world where the mundane meets the magical, farm boy ‘Guy’ yearns for adventure. When the enigmatic demon ‘Sequins’ offers to fulfill his deepest desires in exchange for his soul, Guy plunges headfirst into a Faustian bargain. 

“‘Ember’ is a captivating journey of redemption and unexpected alliances. Can a demon, driven by ambition, rediscover forgotten compassion and love? Will Guy, armed with newfound powers and a heart full of hope, conquer the challenges laid before him? In ‘Ember,’ the stakes are high, the magic is potent, and the battle for the soul takes center stage.” 

In addition to Fisher, the “Ember” cast features fellow NTP performers Dylan Fidler, Makayla Raines, Heather Rich, Kristin Nelson, Zachary Smith, Tripp Peavyhouse and Zane Sarsour. 

Although “Ember” is not an NTP production, all performances will be at NTP’s Uptown Stage in University Mall. This production is recommend for audience members ages 14 and up due to adult language and situations. 

Performance Dates: Saturday, March 2, 6:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 3, 1 p.m. For tickets & more info, visit NewTampaPlayers.thundertix.com. 

“Broadway Through The Decades: Contemporary Era” 

The Wesley Chapel Theater Group (WCTG) presents Part 2 of its Broadway musical revue series. The show will feature songs from popular musicals of the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s performed in a cabaret-style show. WCTG has teamed up with the Zephyrhills Lions Club to bring new entertainment to the Zephyrhills and Wesley Chapel areas. 

Proceeds from the show will go to help WCTG continue to produce performing arts for our community and to the Zephyrhills Lions Club’s sight program. 

“Broadway Through The Decades” will be performed Sat., Mar. 9, 7 p.m., and Sun., Mar. 10, 2 p.m. The Sat. show includes dinner at 5:30 p.m. and the Sun. matinee includes coffee and dessert at intermission. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased at the Zephyrhills Lions Club (5827 Dean Dairy Rd.) or at WesleyChapelTheaterGroup.org.

Massive Two Rivers Development Taking Shape 

 Is The Two Rivers Development Expanding Both Wesley Chapel & New Tampa To East Of Morris Bridge Rd.? 

Research by Joel Provenzano 

This map of Two Rivers shows the portions that are currently under development, as well as the future plans in both Hillsborough & Pasco counties. (Two Rivers map modified by NN) 

 If you haven’t taken a ride on S.R. 56 eastbound past Morris Bridge Rd. recently, I believe you probably should do so. 

While Wesley Chapel and New Tampa residents online complain about how every remaining shred of land in our communities is being developed, adding to our ever-increasing traffic at the expense of open space and a more pastoral way of life, it seems that others outside of any known boundary of Wesley Chapel (as I presented in our Oct. 3 issue) are now creating new communities that may ultimately finally move what even I call Wesley Chapel (and, to a lesser extent, New Tampa) well to the east, too. 

Before the creation of the huge 6,000-acre Two Rivers Master-Planned Unit Development (MPUD), the only community in Zephyrhills that pretty much anyone would confuse with being Wesley Chapel-like was Lake Bernadette, which has fewer than 1,000 total households with entrances on both Eiland Blvd. and S.R. 54, all in zip code 33541. 

But, it seems that you could fit all of Lake Bernadette inside Two Rivers, which is being developed by Eisenhower Property Group, due east of Morris Bridge Rd. in both Pasco and Hillsborough counties. In fact, Two Rivers is actually larger than the 5,000-acre Wiregrass Ranch development to its west. 

And, like Lake Bernadette, the zip code for the Pasco portions of Two Rivers that began being developed in December of 2023 is 33541. That means that if I decide to start mailing the Neighborhood News there, I will be expanding our all-direct-mail distribution east of Wesley Chapel for the first time. 

More About Two Rivers 

Although I had heard of Two Rivers before now, I didn’t really take notice of it until I saw a billboard on S.R. 54 near mine and Jannah’s apartment (which has a Land O’Lakes address) that proclaimed Two Rivers as a “New Community — Wesley Chapel.” What? Did I somehow miss that Two Rivers was actually west of Morris Bridge Rd.? 

The answer is a resounding “No,” but the community is being marketed as basically an extension of Wesley Chapel — and who could blame the developer or the home builders? 

According to its promotional materials, Two Rivers is “near Wesley Chapel” and will “give residents a best-of-both-worlds living experience.” Two Rivers will feature more than 7,500 planned residential homes, townhomes, apartments and villas: “Those who make their home here will enjoy access to clubhouses, pools, parks, trails, sports courts and shared green spaces…and plans include K-12 schools, as well as retail space, future options for dining, cafés, groceries and beauty services, fitness and more.” 

One of the first two villages already selling homes in Two Rivers is Childers by Lennar Homes, with “447 total homesites, about 100 sold and 65 closed or moved into,” according to new home consultant Brooke Politano. Homes in Childers start in the mid-$300,000s. 

The other village now selling is Northwater by D.R. Horton, with 360 total homes, also starting in the mid $300s, with about 30 homes already with residents. Both subdivisions are north of S.R. 56. 

When Wayne Thomas purchased the first portion of the Two Rivers Ranch in the 1930s, he couldn’t possibly have known that his cattle ranch would expand to more that 17,000 acres stretching from northeast Hillsborough through Pasco and even reaching to Hernando counties. 

A little more than 500 acres of that property was located in Crystal Springs, sort of between Thonotosassa and Zephyrhills and which today is home to Poland Springs waters, the large company now bottling and selling Zephyrhills Natural Spring Water. 

But, the Thomas family has been good stewards of their land since before World War II, so much so that in 2014, Two Rivers Ranch was honored as one of seven regional Environmental Stewardship Award Program (ESAP) winners. The award, which is sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the National Cattlemen’s Foundation, is presented to farmers and ranchers “who work hard to protect America’s natural resources.” 

Two Rivers Ranch began as a cow/ calf operation that has now been owned and managed by Robert Thomas’ family for more than 90 years. 

“The Hillsborough River supplies approximately 90 percent of the city of Tampa’s drinking water, so it’s very important for the city,” said Wayne Thomas, Executive Vice President, Two Rivers Ranch, and himself a fourth-generation cattle rancher. 

“We have a very high profile here as a result of the importance of our natural resource,” added his father Robert Thomas, who is the CEO of Two Rivers Ranch. 

The ranch was honored with the ESAP award for its proven land management techniques to enhance their operation. “The Thomas family keeps their herd size limited so as not to negatively impact wetlands, water quality of the adjacent river bodies, native vegetation or wildlife populations,” was part of the reason the family received the award. 

Today, as explained on this issue’s front page, the Thomas family is no allowing Two Rivers to be developed as another huge Master Planned Unit Development, but which promises to have more than 3,000 acres of wooded landscapes, with lots of open space, parks, walking trails, dog parks, passive parks, court and lawn space and more. 

Two Rivers Today & Tomorrow 
The largest homes currently available in Two Rivers are the Trenton model from Lennar Homes (left) in the Childers community and (right) the Hayden model from D.R. Homes in the Northwater village. (Photos taken from Lennar.com & from DRHorton.com) 

Also expected to be part of the Pasco portion of Two Rivers is a central health, wellness and dining club for residents. This facility will include tennis, pickleball, pools, playgrounds, various interior and exterior gathering spaces and a bar and restaurant. There also is a planned regional district park as well as shopping, dining and office spaces planned. 

At Northwater village, D.R. Horton’s smallest home is the 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom Allex II model, with 1,560 sq. ft. of living area, starting at around $344K. The largest is the 5-bedroom, 3-bath Hayden model with 2,605 sq. ft. of living area, starting in the $424s. 

Meanwhile, in the Childers village, Lennar’s smallest home is the 3-bedroom, 2-bath Annapolis model, with 1,448 sq. ft. of living space starting at around $329K. The largest is the Trenton model, with 6 bedrooms, 3 baths and 3,326 sq. ft. of living area, starting at around $489K. 

Now that the first two villages are well under way, here are the plans for additional villages and home builders that are planned to arrive this year: 

• Tamarack Village (early 2024) – This gated village will include homes by Park Square Homes and William Ryan Homes. 

• Ryals Field Village (mid-2024) – Gated village featuring Homes by WestBay. 

• Delyle Village (mid-2024) – Offering Pulte homes. 

• Shortgrass Village (late 2024) – Offering M/I Homes. 

• Additional villages and phases will feature Casa Fresca, Meritage Homes and Taylor Morrison Homes. 

But Wait, There’s More! 

As we also mentioned on pg. 1, Two Rivers also is planned to expand into Hillsborough County by sometime next year. 

The first new section to be built across Morris Bridge Rd. from New Tampa is Flatwoods, described in Two Rivers’ marketing materials as, “Our luxury section (that) will be home to Flatwoods Golf & Country Club. This community will feature a private country club with a spa, recreational amenities and an 18-hole golf course. The course, designed by renowned Scottish golf course architect David McLay-Kidd of DMK Golf Design, is estimated to be completed in 2025. DMK Golf has designed several very prestigious resort and private golf courses in the world, including The Castle Course at St. Andrews Links in Scotland, and Nanea Golf Club in Kailua Kona, HI. 

Some Transportation Info 

Although Two Rivers’ Flatwoods village will be set back quite a bit from both Morris Bridge Rd. in New Tampa and U.S. Hwy. 301 in Thonotosassa, according to plans filed with Hillsborough County, there will be another future connection from Two Rivers to Morris Bridge Rd, which will be located basically on the county line, adjacent to a TECO-owned power substation and aligned with Camerton Rd. on the west side. 

There currently are plans for three future traffic signals along S.R. 56, all of which the developer will pay for and construct (under permit) when warrants are met. The locations will be for the intersections with Two Rivers Blvd., Widewater Way, and Lodge Grass Blvd., all where the existing full median openings are currently located. A fourth signal along S.R. 56 might be considered between Lodge Grass Blvd. and U.S. 301 (also a full median opening), depending upon the amount of traffic that portion of the development, which will be commercial, might generate. 

In addition, there also will be a connection to U.S. 301 in Hillsborough, which also will be signalized by full build-out. Two more signals for U.S. 301, at Lodge Grass Blvd., and Morris Bridge Rd. at Colston Ave., also are planned. The right-of-way along Morris Bridge Rd. is now 80’ but the MPUD conditions for Two Rivers requires the family to convey a 44’ wide strip of its property over to the county. 

The River Landing development on S.R. 56 west of Morris Bridge Rd. also was required to provide a similar strip, which will allow for the potential widening of Morris Bridge Rd. to four lanes in the future. 

In addition to the signals, the county also will require Two Rivers to construct left and right turn lanes along Morris Bridge Rd. at Colston Ave. The only other entrance/exit along Morris Bridge Rd. for Two Rivers will be a gated emergency-only access near the southern part of the development. 

This will bring the grand total of traffic signals for Two Rivers to potentially eight: four on S.R. 56, two on Morris Bridge Rd. and two on U.S. 301, subject to meeting warrants and final approval by the transportation departments of the local and state governments. 

Gabe Hassan Passes Away After Graduating From Wharton

On the cover of our Feb. 6 New Tampa issue, we told the story of Gabriel Hassan, the Wharton High senior who received his diploma for graduating from the New Tampa high school with a 4.7 GPA on Jan. 22, despite suffering from terminal leukemia. 

It was with heavy hearts that we learned yesterday that Gabe had succumbed to his cancer a few days ago and was buried on or the day before Valentine’s Day. We also learned that his specific form of leukemia is called Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome, or SDS.

Out of respect to the Hassan family, we didn’t try to contact them, but we did want to at least acknowledge his tragic passing here, as well as post the story we published about him in the paper.

To help those afflicted with SDS, please search “Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome Alliance” on Facebook.

Cancer Society’s Relay For Life Moves To Raymond James Stadium! 

For many years, New Tampa’s annual “Relay For Life” would bounce back and forth between Freedom and Wharton high schools, raising funds and awareness for the American Cancer Society. (ACS). 

Coming out of Covid, when the event had to be held virtually, organizers have had to consider new ways to make the event exciting and increasingly successful. 

Last year, New Tampa joined forces with other areas to host the North Tampa Relay For Life, and this year, North/New Tampa has combined with South Tampa, East Hillsborough, and the Fishhawk/ Bloomingdale area to form one giant event. 

Called the “Relay For Life of Greater Tampa Bay,” this year’s event will be held at Raymond James Stadium beginning at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 2, carrying on throughout the night, and ending at 5 a.m. on Sunday, March 3. 

Relay for Life is always a free event to attend, where the community comes together to celebrate cancer survivors, remember loved ones lost and fight back against this dreaded disease. 

While this year’s Relay will be a large combination of people and events that have previously taken place all over the Tampa Bay area, New Tampa still will be well represented. 

“We have 19 schools from North Tampa participating, plus businesses, churches and community partners,” says Tori Millington, one of the event leads. 

Tori is a 2017 graduate of Freedom High. She has been participating in Relay For Life since she was just a kid. It was 12 years ago when she first walked alongside her mom, Carol, whose childhood best friend was battling cancer at that time. 

“I fell in love with the event,” says Tori. “And more and more people in my life were affected by cancer.” 

Unfortunately, Carol’s best friend, Claire, ultimately lost that battle, as did Tori’s grandfather. 

Those events — and the influence of Relay For Life — have touched Tori deeply. So much so, in fact, that she is now a medical student at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, studying to be an oncologist. 

“We say we Relay for a world with more birthdays,” says Tori. “Right now cancer is a big deal and scary, and holds a lot of meaning. But one day, we’ll live in a world where cancer is in the history books.” 

She says money raised from the event not only funds research, but also services for patients, such as transportation to appointments, wigs and makeup, and even hotels for family members while they are undergoing treatment. 

“Participating in Relay has made me realize how much work needs to be done and how it takes every dollar we’re raising to help every single person along the way,” says Tori. “They don’t need to worry about treatments while they’re going through them.” 

As an undergraduate honors student at UCF, she started doing research to fight cancer in new and innovative ways. In April, she’ll present that research in San Diego, CA, at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research. 

She explains that her research looks at a molecule that has a high level of cancer cells and identifies the genes that transport it. Hopefully, this could lead to a therapeutic drug that would block the transport system, depleting the cells of that molecule. 

“I’m very proud of Tori,” says Carol. “She’s always known that she wanted to be a doctor and she’s followed through and become so involved.” 

Carol and Tori (photo, above left) emphasize that the Relay is not a race — it’s more like an all-night party. While some team members do walk the track throughout the event, for the community, it’s a free event with performances, games and food, plus a free dinner for survivors and their caregivers and a ceremony to honor those who have been lost. 

Survivors and their caregivers also walk the first lap (top photo), and a luminaria ceremony is held at 9 p.m. 

While the Relay will run all night, there are security checks as it gets later into the evening, so it’s recommended that the general public come out to experience all the fun from 3 p.m.-11 p.m. on Saturday. 

(L.-r.) Abby, Natalie & A.J. Glass at the 2023 Relay for Life at Freedom High. All photos provided to the Neighborhood News.

One of the many team members who will be out at the event is Freedom High senior A.J. Glass, who is heading up the school’s team sponsored by its Math Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta. 

Like Tori, A.J. has been involved with the event for years, first participating when he was just nine years old. 

Back then, his aunt Kimberly Gonzalez led a team of participants at Clark Elementary, so he joined her team. Now, Kimberly and A.J.’s mom, Natalie Glass, lead a team at Freedom together, and A.J. is the captain of the team.

“The event itself is so fun and exciting,” says A.J. “It really is a celebration and [the goal is] to fundraise as much as possible. It brings people back year after year. This year, being at RayJay, it will be on a much larger scale and hopefully it will be that much more fun.” 

He says that while some high school students only show up because they are looking for service hours, they can’t help but leave with an appreciation for both survivors and caregivers and a better understanding of the ultimate goal of all the fund raising. 

Relay For Life of Greater Tampa Bay is free and open to the public. For more information, visit RelayforLife.org/tampabayfl. 

Water & Traffic Highlight Viera’s Latest Town Hall Meeting In Tampa Palms! 

District 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera (at podium), with representatives from the Tampa Water Dept. at the Jan. 24 Town Hall meeting Viera hosted at Compton Park in Tampa Palms. (Photos by Charmaine George).

On Jan. 24, at Compton Park in Tampa Palms, District 7 Tampa City Council member and New Tampa resident Luis Viera held what he says is about his 70th Town Hall meeting in the seven years he has served on the Council, and although there were a variety of questions asked, many of his answers referred to the “current political will” in the City of Tampa. 

Viera brought along representatives from the City of Tampa Water Department, including director Rory Jones, to this latest Town Hall, to provide updates on and answer questions about the city’s current watering restrictions, the smell and taste of City of Tampa water and more. 

But, following short presentations by Viera, Jones and Water Dept. environmental specialist Julia Palaschak, the crowd of about 50 or so people asked a number of questions about parks, sidewalk cracks, funding for mass transit and other transportation projects and what Tampa is doing to bring more affordable housing within the city limits. 

In other words, it was a pretty typical Town Hall event for Viera, who started the meeting by going over his recent accomplishments in New Tampa, including getting our area $10 million worth of recreation improvements — the expansion of the New Tampa Recreation Center, the addition of the city’s first-ever All Abilities Park and the recent opening of the new City Park facility located between Freedom High and Liberty Middle School that is a partnership with the Hillsborough School District. 

Viera also discussed his intent to put a modular medical-only emergency unit in K-Bar Ranch in order to improve slow response times in the only area of New Tampa that is still growing. 

Julia Palaschak of the Tampa Water Dept. 

He also talked about his public safety master plan to study the needs and potential cost of adding more police officers and firefighters throughout the city. And, he also mentioned being happy that the resurfacing of Tampa Palms Blvd. was finally finished and that his next 33647 road resurfacing project to get done is New Tampa Blvd, in West Meadows, although he admitted that it will be hard to get that project funded without a proper revenue source. 

After his introductory message, Viera turned the floor over to Jones, who basically said he brought his team of water experts, including Palaschak, to the meeting to give a status update on the city’s new outdoor watering restrictions that went into effect on Dec. 1, 2023, which limits home irrigations to one day per week. 

Palaschak said, “The great news is that although no one wanted to go into the holiday season with a water shortage, all of you have responded and we can clearly see that our daily water use has come down. That is a very good sign to us that our customers listened to us and have done a good job of protecting the Hillsborough River and all of our water resources. And of course, you’re surrounded by such great water resources here, with all the wetlands and wellfields.” 

She added, “And of course, with El Niño being here now, this is a great time to turn your irrigation system off. But, if you’re struggling with that, I just want to tell you that one of our specialties is to come to your house. We do a very thorough job of looking at your water use history, at your property and especially, how to use your seasonal irrigation settings.” 

About Parks & Sidewalks 

Viera then turned the meeting over to questions from the audience. He mentioned that it was not intentional that all of the recent parks and recreation projects he got the city to build in New Tampa happened to be located in Tampa Palms. 

Resident Leslie Morris (in red pants) asks Councilman Viera about sidewalk cracks left behind by the contractor who resurfaced Tampa Palms Blvd. 

“I have had people in other parts of New Tampa say to me, ‘Why does Tampa Palms get everything?’ And, I’ve also had people on one side of Tampa Palms asking, ‘Why does everything go on the other side?’ But the truth is, it just happened that way, both the side of Tampa Palms that it’s all on and where all of the projects are located in New Tampa.” 

Viera also touted the completion of the Tampa Palms Blvd. resurfacing project, but at least two Tampa Palms residents mentioned that the contractor left behind a number of cracked sidewalks. 

One of those was resident Leslie Morris, who said she was told that because the sidewalks were cracked but weren’t “displaced,” there was nothing that could or would be done about the cracks. 

Viera responded that, “Unfortunately, a lot of times, contractors do shoddy work,” and although he hadn’t really heard any complaints about the Tampa Palms Blvd. project before, “Sidewalk cracks are usually the type of collateral damage you get with those types of projects.” 

On Affordable Housing 

Up next was a question about affordable housing in Tampa, to which Viera responded that, “Affordable housing is one of the biggest questions, not just in Tampa but in all of Florida. Inflation is even worse here in Florida because everybody is moving here and increasing that demand, causing an explosion of housing costs. I voted ‘No’ in City Council on rent control. I would love it if I could wave a wand and say, ‘That’s it, you’re not going to put rents up higher than this,’ but it’s not going to work. We’ve seen to it that 30% of our Tampa CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) budget goes to affordable housing. And, I’m working right now to try to get veteran housing in East Tampa and accessible housing for people with disabilities, but we also need market incentives. We never really did anything on affordable housing in the city outside of the CRA but now we’re doing that, which is a big change because we do have an affordability crisis here in Tampa.” 

On The ‘Political Will’ 

When asked about funding for things like light rail and additional police and firefighters and transportation, Viera’s response to many of the questions was that in order to fund those important public safety items, “There has to be a funding source and I don’t think that, with the kind of inflation we’ve got, that the political will is there to raise taxes to fund them.” 

One of the funding sources for transportation Viera mentioned was the twice-passed-and-twice-struck-down penny transportation sales tax. He mentioned that there currently is more than $500 million being held in Tallahassee that was raised from the first transportation tax passed by voters countywide in 2018. That tax ultimately was declared to be contrary to Florida law by the state Supreme Court, so the legislature is deciding what to do with that tax money. 

“I hope at least a portion of it will go to fund transportation projects,” Viera said. “But I’m sure there’s going to be some kind of compromise where the legislature will want to use a lot of it for tax breaks, too. But, nearly three out of every five voters in the county voted for the tax. How do we get that money back? We probably have to wait until the political climate is right.” 

Viera also said he was happy to finally get funding for his public safety master plan in this year’s budget. 

“I know we need a significant increase, for example, in the number of police officers in the city. The public safety master plan will show what our needs are for police and fire and what it will cost to fund them. Then, we have to have a very frank talk about that.”