By Gary Nager
I can honestly say that I am proud to have been able to call Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn my friend and colleague since not long after I purchased the Neighborhood News in early 1994, when Buckhorn was the special assistant to then-Mayor Sandy Freedman.
Mayor Bob and I became even better acquainted as he ran for and won an at-large seat on the Tampa City Council in March of 1995 and I came to count on him as a trustworthy, no-nonsense source of good information about the decisions in city government that affected life in New Tampa — info I always shared, with his blessing, with thousands of my closest friends in these pages every four weeks.
So, when Buckhorn, who has been the Mayor of Tampa since 2011, made his most recent speaking appearance in our area — at the New Tampa Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Hunter’s Green Country Club on April 8 — I surely had a lot to talk to him about. What I wasn’t expecting was how much hizzoner had to say about yours truly.
After he was introduced by Chamber president Neil Heird, Buckhorn recognized two people in the audience of about 50 — his fellow former City Council member and long-time New Tampa activist Joseph Caetano…and me.
“Gary and I have been through a lot of battles together and we almost always seemed to be on the same side of those battles,” Buckhorn said before he began his captivating speech about not only the history of, but the future of Tampa. “For example, we both remember well all the people in Tampa Palms and West Meadows who opposed the New Tampa Blvd. bridge before it was built, people who have since told us they were sorry for fighting it.”
Buckhorn also recalled the negotiations in the 1980s with original Tampa Palms developer Ken Good and original Hunter’s Green developer Markborough Florida a few years later.
He also noted that although the New Tampa area continues to be the only neighborhood in the city that is growing in terms of single-family homes, “The downtown area is actually on fire right now. When I moved to Tampa in the 1970s, there were 600 people living in downtown Tampa and 300 of those were in the Morgan St. Jail. Today, there are five new residential towers being built downtown and new boutique hotels.”
He added that if those who live here want our young people — “our intellectual property” — to want to stay here when they finish school, “we have to have a vibrant downtown where those young people will want to live. They want to live in an urban environment. And it’s happening.”
He also said that in order to improve public transportation, especially for the urban core, “we have to embrace rail. And no, it probably won’t pay for itself, but I think we have to get past that.”
Buckhorn also noted that one of his greatest pleasures as Tampa’s mayor has been recruiting businesses to move to our area and making trips abroad (including recently to Brazil) to enhance Tampa’s image overseas.
He also applauded the city’s effort to revitalize Channelside and the Riverwalk area. “It’s been a tough process,” he said. I’m the sixth mayor who has tried to make something happen in that area, but we’re getting closer. All I know is that the (2.5) miles of riverfront property the city owns is the best asset we have.”
Could that revitalization be centered around a stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays? Buckhorn said that although Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeffrey Vinik also owns 20 acres between Channelside and the Tampa Bay Times Forum, “he isn’t trying to build a stadium there. He wants to build big parking lots near what could still be a downtown Tampa public venue. I didn’t say for baseball. (wink). But, we think it’s the best location in the region for it.”
In the meantime, Buckhorn said he is excited about a new upscale chop house restaurant by the Gonzmart family (of Columbia Restaurant fame) coming soon at the north end of the Riverwalk.
Great job, Mayor Bob!
Visit NewTampaChamber.org for more information about the New Tampa Chamber of Commerce and its upcoming events.
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