Joseph Caetano
Joseph Caetano

By Matt Wiley

Nearly four years after losing his seat on the Tampa City Council, long-time New Tampa resident Joseph Caetano hopes to regain the District 7 seat at the 2015 City of Tampa municipal elections in March.

According to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections website, on June 27, Caetano officially filed to run against current Dist. 7 Tampa City Council member Lisa Montelione, who also has filed to run for re-election.

Caetano’s platform? More New Tampa money spent in New Tampa.

“I’m of the opinion that District 7 contributes about 13-14 percent of the city’s ad valorem taxes,” Caetano explains. “But, we get nothing up here (in New Tampa).”

Caetano, 80, previously served on the Tampa City Council from 2007-11, before being unseated by Montelione. He says that he is upset that for yet another year, the funding for the expansion of the nearly 20,000-sq.-ft. New Tampa Recreation Center (located on Commerce Park Blvd. in Tampa Palms) is absent in Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s proposed budget. The 14,000- sq.-ft., $1.5-million addition to the facility was first proposed in 2012, but was shelved due to a lack of funding.

“We’re being cheated,” Caetano says. “We’re a cash cow for downtown.”

Caetano has long had a passion for public safety. He says that he will rally for other issues that have gone unresolved in our area, especially along County Line Rd., which makes sense, as he is a resident of the Grand Hampton community. Caetano says that he has tried unsuccessfully to draw attention to the conditions along the road that separates New Tampa from Wesley Chapel. He has appeared at City Council meetings and remained in contact with representatives from both Hillsborough and Pasco counties, as each entity also has a stake in the road.

Most important, Caetano says that he wants to see streetlights added along the busy two-lane road.

“If you ever drive down County Line Rd. at night, there’s no where for people to walk, the grass is never mowed and you can’t see anything,” Caetano says. “It’s dangerous.”

Since the City annexed 148 acres of New Tampa land behind Paul R. Wharton High for a new Taylor Morrison housing community that will include an estimated 425 single-family homes with the only access point through The Hammocks community at County Line Rd., Caetano says that the problem will only get worse.

Another issue Caetano says he sees a problem with in the area is the lack of a new fire station along County Line Rd. “When I was on the Council, we spent $2 million in 2008 to buy land for a new fire station,” Caetano explains, adding that nothing has been constructed on the land since.

He says he also plans to address the flooding issues he’s noticed along Tampa Palms Blvd. near Olive Garden.

As far as not being re-elected in 2011, Caetano says that voter turnout hurt his chances most. “People in New Tampa didn’t vote,” he says. “That’s why I’m getting an early start. I’m planning on using the internet and Youtube a lot in my campaign.”

Caetano gathered just 1,149 votes (19.25 percent) in 2011, defeated by both Charles “Charlie” Perkins (31.8 percent of the vote) and Montelione with 35.89 percent of the ballots cast.

But, Caetano says he hasn’t wasted time since being unseated, even helping to get a 30-second pedestrian yield signal installed at the busy intersection of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and Cross Creek Blvd. “(If elected), I’m going to do something for the people of New Tampa,” Caetano says. “I’m not going to be down there for myself. I’m going to work hard to get things done. I love and enjoy (being on the City Council).”

Councilwoman Montelione could not be reached for comment.

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