Tag: Luis Viera

Done Deal: Ground Broken On New Tampa Rec Center Expansion

Tampa City Council member Luis Viera (left) and Tampa Palms resident Tracy Falkowitz, who led the effort to get funding for the New Tampa Rec Center expansion approved, are assisted by some of the facility’s preschool kids at the expansion’s Apr. 12 groundbreaking. (Photo: John C. Cotey)

When the official groundbreaking for the expansion of the New Tampa Recreation Center (NTRC) was held on April 12, and a gaggle of local dignitaries and preschoolers dressed as construction workers wearing pink hard hats sent shovelfuls of dirt flying through the air, there was probably no one happier than Heather Erickson.

For the City of Tampa’s manager of aquatics, athletics and special facilities, the 7,285-sq.-ft. expansion of the NTRC is a long-awaited dream come true.

As the gatekeeper of the city’s immensely popular and successful gymnastics and dance programs, which currently includes more than 1,200 students at NTRC, Erickson has had to delay the enrollment of more children than she’d care to remember.

The expansion, however, should allow Erickson to admit roughly 300 additional kids into NTRC programs.

“We’re pretty happy,” Erickson said. “This is going to let us do even more than we already do.”

Those attending the groundbreaking included outgoing Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn (in perhaps his final official act as mayor), City Council members Luis Viera, Mike Suarez, Harry Cohen and Guido Maniscalco and Tampa Palms resident and activist Tracy Falkowitz.

All offered praise for the results the gymnastics and dance programs have produced, and noted the long road to getting the NTRC expanded.

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn. gets a helping hand at the NTRC groundbreaking. (Photo: John C. Cotey)

Buckhorn, who leaves office in a few weeks, acknowledged the struggle finding the full amount needed — $2.6 million in all — for the project in the years following the 2008 recession.

Viera and Falkowitz, along with others in the New Tampa community, however, worked doggedly together to finally convince the city to put — and keep — the rec center expansion in the fiscal year 2018 budget.

“Thanks, particularly to the advocacy of Luis Viera, who was relentless,” Buckhorn said. “He was like a pitbull on my leg to make sure New Tampa was going to be taken care of. And, Tracy was absolutely right, that this journey had gone on too long, and the demands were too great and the quality of the programming was too superb that (why) shouldn’t and couldn’t we expand this to give more kids the opportunity to enjoy the amazing mentorship of our Parks & Recreation, and give New Tampa the amenity that it so rightly deserved. We got it through.”

The NTRC expansion is expected to be completed by February of 2020, which is good news for many on the waiting list of 1,400 — 960 waiting to get into gymnastics, the rest waiting to get into the center’s dance programs.

There are three basic components of the expansion, the first of which is adding a room specifically for children ages 5 and under, who currently share space with older kids in the 12,500-sq.-ft. gymnastics area.

By giving them their own 50’ x 40’ room, it allows for more older students to be added to the program, and also provides more of a focus on the younger pre-schoolers.

Another 50’ x 40’ all-purpose room for dance also will be added.

And lastly, the expansion will include a 1,760-sq.-ft. “training box,” which will offer a wealth of possible training exercises for a variety of sports, like retractable batting cages, and offer small group fitness classes. The new addition to the NTRC also will have more windows so parents and family can watch the gymnastics and dance programs, as well as six new bathrooms.

One of the bathrooms will even have an electromagnetic lock, so it can be open on the weekends for those using the outdoor areas when the NTRC is closed.

Elections: Viera Cruises; Castor & Straz Advance To Run-Off For Mayor

Tampa City Council member Luis Viera (center) celebrates his win on March 5 with Heritage Isles’ retired Colonel Mike Escudie (left) and Jon Fletcher, president of Vietnam Veterans of America of Tampa.

While no winner for Tampa mayor could be declared following the March 5 elections — Jane Castor and David Straz are headed to a run-off election on Tuesday, April 23 — it was abundantly clear who New Tampa wanted to represent our area on Tampa City Council in District 7.

Luis Viera, running for his first full term after finishing the remaining two years of Lisa Montelieone’s term following a 2016 special election, trounced opponent Quinton Robinson 76.2 percent to 23.8 percent at the Tampa Municipal Election on March 5.

Viera won 26 of the 29 precincts in Dist. 7 (which includes the Busch Gardens and Copeland Park areas, Forest Hills, USF and the city-based areas of New Tampa), compared to when he won just one precinct on his way to defeating fellow Hunter’s Green resident Jim Davison by only 65 votes in the 2016 run-off.

“When I ran in 2016, I ran against an individual in the run-off who a lot of people knew out here,” said Viera, referring to Davison, a long-time local activist on transportation issues and a twice-failed candidate for the Hillsborough County Commission (in 2002 and ’04). “I was a first time candidate. Things went my way. But, I stayed humble and knew I had to prove myself to people.”

Viera received the largest percentage of the vote among the other 23 candidates running for any of the seats in races for City Council Districts 1-6.

Buoyed by his record of founding the New Tampa Council and North Tampa Veterans Association and creating the Warrior Games Promotion Committee to promote attendance at the Warrior Games (which are coming to Tampa in June), as well as hosting a number of local town halls, with guests like Hillsborough County Dist. 2 County Commissioner Ken Hagan, Hillsborough Dist. 3 School Board member Cindy Stuart and outgoing Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s chief of staff, Dennis Rogero, Viera established himself as someone intent on raising the civic profile of New Tampa.

He also spearheaded support for the city’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget, which included nearly $2 million for the expansion of the New Tampa Recreation Center, and the design of a new sensory-friendly park in Tampa Palms.

“There were a lot of people who didn’t know me in New Tampa,” Viera says, “and I wanted to prove to them I was the right person for the job. I held their interests close to my heart, like the results showed.”

Robinson’s main argument was that Viera was too focused on New Tampa, but in precincts not located in New Tampa, Viera still won 66 percent of the vote, or 1,744 votes cast, to 901 for Robinson.

In New Tampa’s precincts, Viera received 82 percent of the vote, with a ballot advantage of 4,062-910. In Hunter’s Green precinct No. 361, where Viera lives and a precinct he had lost handily to Davison, he had his biggest margin of victory, with 687 votes (or 88 percent) cast for him, compared to only 95 for Robinson.

Another local candidate, Pebble Creek’s Vibha Shevade, ran for the citywide District 3 City Council seat, but finished fourth with 11 percent of the vote. Top vote-getters John Dingfelder (with 48.96 percent; see ad below) and Stephen Lytle (20.26%) finished first and second, respectively, to advance to the April 23 run-off election.

Castor, the former Tampa Police Chief, won 52 percent of the vote and every precinct in New Tampa, but couldn’t pass the 50-percent threshhold citywide (48%) and will take on Straz, who was second with 15 percent of the citywide vote

In New Tampa, Straz garnered 16 percent of the vote, while Harry Cohen had 12.5 percent. The other four candidates all finished in single digits.

david straz election jane castor Luis Viera luis vira

Hunter’s Green Elem.’s New Marquee Sign Attracting Attention On Cross Creek Blvd.

This year’s school re-zoning brought a slew of new students to Hunter’s Green Elementary, as well as some cosmetic changes to the school.

Because of the influx of students, the school’s old drop-off line on Highland Oak Dr. in front of the school was no longer going to be sufficient, so the line had to be moved to the school’s rear entrance on Cross Creek Blvd.

That meant the school’s marquee, which is used to notify parents of upcoming events and recognize the accomplishments, and birthdays, of students, had to move as well, so that the majority of parents picking up or dropping off their children could now see it.

However, the original marquee was put up when the school was first built, in 1992. It did not age well.
“It was literally falling apart,” says PTA president Emily Milam. “The bottom was completely rusted out, the faux brick was completely rotted. Moving it wasn’t going to be an option.”

Because having a marquee is so valuable to the PTA, Milam said they asked that a new marquee be located on Cross Creek Blvd.

And not just any old marquee, with the interchangeable letters that you see at most schools. Instead, Hunter’s Green Elementary went all-in with a new, eye-catching digital board that can’t be missed by passing traffic (while also keeping its original marquee for traffic on Highland Oak Dr.).

“Because we use that marquee for so many things, we had a vested interest (in making it) as good as possible,” Milam said. “We thought an electronic one was the way of the future and thought in the long run it would be better for the school.”

The cost of the new marquee was $43,741.98, plus the of the additional electrical power that has to be run to the new signboard.

The PTA, which Milam says has done some robust fundraising at school events, contributed $3,800 towards the costs.

According to Tanya Arja, who does media outreach for Hillsborough County Schools, electronic marquees, which cost between $20,000-40,000 plus electrical power, aren’t widespread throughout the county, but some schools like Wharton, Durant and Brandon highs schools have them, and newer schools like Franklin Boys Prep Academy also have the newer electronic marquees.

The possibilities of its value make the cost of the marquee well worth it, says Milam.

“We feel like there is an upside to it,” she says. “It’s a great communications tool. We can communicate to our community, and it reaches so many people now that it is on Cross Creek.”

Milam says things like spirit nights, where the school receives proceeds from a local restaurant for advertising it, will be more fruitful, and it will benefit other school partners in the community.

Student birthdays, which are always popular, will be displayed (for a small fee), and events at the school will reach a much wider audience.

Instead of going out to manually replace letters on a marquee, which was done by a team of three volunteers, the sign can now be refreshed with a few taps on a computer keyboard inside the school.

“There’s a lot of potential,” Milam says.

WALK-N-BIKE: You can already see the effects of the larger population at Hunters Green Elementary due to re-zoning, as the school had its biggest Walk & Bike to School Day yet on October 10.

Roughly 300 students and parents participated, compared to around 50 in previous years, according to Ken Lewis of the Hunter’s Green Elementary PTA.

The re-zoning, and lack of busing options, have led to many more students biking and walking to school from Arbor Greene, Cory Lake Isles, Misty Creek and other neighborhoods along Cross Creek Blvd. that may have previously attended Pride Elementary off Kinnan St.

Cross Creek Blvd. hunter's green Hunter's Green Elementary Luis Viera

Viera Files For Re-Election

Luis Viera is only a little more than a year removed from his first political campaign, and is already looking forward to his second one.

Viera, who represents District 7 (which includes the portions of New Tampa within Tampa’s city limits) on the Tampa City Council, has officially thrown his hat in the ring for the March 2019 City Council election.

Viera, who defeated fellow New Tampa resident Jim Davison by only 65 votes in a runoff election on Dec. 6, 2016, filed his re-election papers with the city on March 1.

“We have an election about a year away, and I wanted to get started,” Viera says. “I’m very optimistic and very proud of our accomplishments for District 7. We’ve done a lot in a short time.”

Viera cited his work organizing both the North Tampa Veterans Association and the New Tampa Council, as well as his partnerships with community leaders when it came to Tampa city budget issues involving the New Tampa Recreation Center and his pet project — a proposed autism park in Tampa Palms.

“I think those are the some of the greatest things we can be proud of in the last one-and-a-half years,” Viera says. “We’ve worked hard on the rebirth of civic engagement in New Tampa, and I think we’ve seen results. It’s one of the things I want to continue to champion.”

Viera says that Gene Siudut, Orlando Gudes and Arbor Greene’s Avis Harrison, all opponents in the 2016 primaries, have already endorsed his re-election efforts.

BIG START FOR DRISKELL:

Tampa attorney Fentrice Driskell, who has filed to run against incumbent Shawn Harrison for his State House District 63 seat (as we reported last issue), raised $40,805.18 in the first 22 days after announcing her bid. Driskell says that total is from more than 200 donors.

“I truly appreciate the outpouring of community support,” Driskell says. “We are focused on common-sense solutions to the challenges we face every day in Hillsborough County and throughout Florida, from investing in education and transportation, to protecting our children with sensible gun laws.”

Luis Viera

New Tampa 2017 Year in Review: MAN OF ACTION

New Tampa Resident Luis Viera Has Stayed Busy Since Being Elected To The Tampa City Council

Thanks to Town Hall meetings organized by New Tampa resident and Tampa City Council member Luis Viera, City of Tampa officials are paying more attention to the people of New Tampa.

In December of 2016, New Tampa resident Luis Viera won a special run-off election for the Tampa City Council District 7 seat by only 65 votes.

He spent 2017 proving he was the right man for the job.

“I didn’t vote for him,” said Tampa Palms lawyer Tracy Falkowitz, a lifelong Republican who voted instead for Viera’s opponent (and fellow Hunter’s Green resident) Jim Davison). “But I’ve already told Luis I’ll be first in line to campaign for him next time.”

Her reasons are simple, and explain how Viera helped shape a productive year for New Tampa (while also fighting for changes in other parts of District 7, like Forest Hills, Terrace Park and the University of South Florida area).

In 2017, he mobilized hundreds of New Tampa residents in an effort to ensure the city budgeted money for Fiscal 2018 for the expansion of the New Tampa Recreation Center (NTRC). He also spearheaded the effort to build a sensory-friendly park in Tampa Palms — in part because he has a brother who is autistic — and was a strong proponent for a new fire station (Tampa Fire Rescue Station No. 23) that will be built on County Line Rd.

Viera founded the New Tampa Council, and filled its Board with leaders from as many different local communities as he could. He also started the North Tampa Veterans Council and has attended countless Home Owners Association (HOA) meetings.

Viera held town halls. Instead of telling New Tampa residents they needed to go downtown to argue and fight for what they thought they deserved — as so many city and county officials have told them before — he brought government officials from South Tampa here.

Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera hosted a town hall meeting at the New Tampa Recreation Center in Tampa Palms in June that attracted roughly 75 local residents who came to discuss a number of issues., especially those related to the traffic in our area.

It was at one of Viera’s first town halls, in June at the NTRC, that Falkowitz first met the guy she didn’t vote for. She was there to tell Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s Chief of Staff Dennis Rogero that it was ludicrous that the city wouldn’t expand the rec center, which had a waiting list of thousands hoping to get into the NTRC’s popular gymnastics and dance programs.

Falkowitz was angry and vocal. Afterwards, Viera spoke with her and they ended up forging a partnership that extended to the New Tampa Council and included the efforts of Tampa Palms’ Maggie Wilson and Warren Dixon, Cory Lake Isles’ Bob Parker, West Meadows’ Brad Van Rooyen, K-Bar Ranch’s Craig Margelowsky and David Burman of Cory Lake Isles, as well as others.

During the decisive and harrowing all-night City Council budget meeting in September, New Tampa had nearly 50 residents in attendance, many speaking in support of the NTRC expansion after years of failed attempts.

The budget passed — and the NTRC expansion, sensory park and Fire Station No. 23 will all begin to take shape in 2018.

Everyone involved says that without Viera, it wouldn’t have happened.

“I think that’s accurate,’’ says Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn. “Luis, through a variety of means, has made sure New Tampa’s voices are being heard, either with him advocating or facilitating those conversations between our staff and the people that live here. In both cases, it was a very, very effective means of communicating.”

Ultimately, that was Viera’s primary goal — to bring New Tampa together as one community, instead of a collection of fragmented neighborhoods. A Tampa Palms resident from 2006-12 and a Hunter’s Green resident since then, Viera says he felt New Tampa lacked an effectiveness cohesiveness.

A large contingent of New Tampa residents showed up in red shirts at both budget workshops to speak to the Tampa City Council about the importance of the New Tampa Recreation Center.

Hoping to stitch those communities together to help advocate for the area with one voice, Viera tried to be omnipresent.

“I tried showing up to as many New Tampa events as I could,’’ said Viera. “Ribbon cuttings, openings…I wanted people feeling like their elected official is accountable, and accessible.”

His efforts, which he balanced with being a father to 10-year-old son Luis and working as a trial lawyer, have been lauded.

“He invigorated a whole lot of residents,” says Wilson, a community consultant for Tampa Palms. “I’ve lived here since 1989, and never has anyone in government service been as boots-on-the-ground and as active and caring across a wide variety of issues as Luis.”

Viera also has taken up the fight to connect Kinnan St. in K-Bar Ranch to Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe, which the city and counties have so far failed to do. He has met with Pasco County officials, and discussed the matter with Hillsborough County commissioners.

Viera is quick to decline all the credit for his 2017 accomplishments, however, instead deferring to the community he is helping to spark. By connecting them to the right people, he knows he can continue to make a difference and produce results for New Tampa.

“I think he’s had a superb year,’’ Buckhorn says. “Since the day he was elected, he hit the ground running and has not stopped…he was a forceful advocate for New Tampa, and the results speak for themselves. He made sure in our budget process that the expansion of the New Tampa Rec Center was in the mix, the sensory park was very near and dear to his heart, and until the very end, he was up there fighting make sure New Tampa voices were heard.”

Luis Viera Top stories of 2017