Policy Wonks Need Not Apply to Tampa Mayor's Race

I find it rather troubling that Tampa mayor frontrunner Dick Greco does not have an issues page on his web site. It suggests that Greco hasn't thought about policy or his so cocky that he feels he doesn't have to outline his positions.

Republican candidate has a poorly designed web page that allows to scroll over her positions. Under public safety: it seems clear that Ferlita disagrees with Gov. Rick Scott's decision to eliminate the Office of Drug Control.

As a pharmacist and Commissioner, I worked with the Governor’s Office of Drug Control to implement legislation instituting a prescription drug monitoring program. Given that Governor Scott has eliminated the Office of Drug Control, and because of the ongoing understaffing at the State level with regards to drug issues in our State, I intend to redirect more of the City's resources to enforce state and local laws. Additionally, I intend to reassign more officers to exclusively focus on tackling this epidemic. I will continue to work with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's office, Hillsborough County government, other regional county governments, drug task forces, a multitude of committees, neighborhoods and citizens who want to share in this war against drugs. Collaborative efforts will be our strength and our success.

Having spoken with our Attorney General, Pam Bondi, she clearly understands that I am eager to assist her office, and specifically, Mr. Dave Aronberg, in Florida's war against drugs. As a pharmacist and as a local elected official, I have always been front and center against this epidemic. My position will be the same as Mayor of Tampa. As Mayor, I will make sure that the message is clear: "The Ferlita Administration will have zero tolerance for this horrible drug epidemic that leads to deaths of our youth due to overdoses. This is a huge public safety issue and it will be addressed under my watch."

Ferlita wants to eliminate excessive regulations and form public and private partnerships. This places the Republican Ferlita is the same position as President Obama on regulations.

Ferlita supports green initiatives such as electric cars and reclaimed water.

Candidate Tom Scott has an issues page with no information on it. I wonder if Scott was hoping no one would click the link at the top of his homepage.

Bob Buckhorn as been running for mayor forever and still doesn't have a issues page on his web site. Buckhorn didn't even bother to outline his anti-lap dance platform.

Ed Turanchik wants buses to have WIFI internet access. Turanchik is the king of goofy ideas. Turanchik lobbied to bring the 2012 summer Olympics to Tampa. Never mind that Tampa wasn't feasible for holding the Olympics. The rest of Turanchik's policy page is talking points.

Think about it: of all the transportation problems Tampa has who but Turanchik would place WIFI access on Hartline buses on the top of the agenda?

Conclusion: with the exception of Ferlita, none of the other candidates have articulated what they want to do as mayor. The reason there has been a lack of media coverage about the race is because the candidates aren't really saying anything. Bob Buckhorn's two years of campaigning is about to be crushed by Greco and he is still playing it safe on policy. These candidates make Alex Sink look like a bold policy candidate.

Correction: Bob Buckhorn has a lengnthy policy plan. I will write a post on Buckhorn's plan when I get the chance. Thanks to Buckhorn to pointing out my mistake.

If any other candidates have plans feel free to email me.