This week council sit during the day for a workshop with land use cases, including an alcohol license suspension hearing, on the evening agenda.
A reminder the version of the agenda the Tampa Monitor publishes includes a map with the land-use applications so you can take a quick look if there’s anything in your neighborhood on the agenda that week. Clicking the location on the map shows the agenda item and related info.
Looking over the morning agenda, this month’s workshop is a more traditional meeting where items will be discussed and potentially brought back for further action. In lieu of previewing these items, wanted to take a step back and catch up on a few other things the Tampa Monitor has worked on and some articles of interest to regular readers. These are republished through our participation with the Tampa Bay Journalism Project. More on that come.
First up, city redistricting. Maps and data were at the heart of how this site came to be and what I initially focused on. Any opportunity to dig in I jump at so took a look at the redistricting options and how the demographics break down. A few thousand voters here, a few thousand there with a slight shift in demographics in municipal elections that rarely rise above 25% turnout, it could matter in a council district election. Jasmin Parrado with Creative Loafing took a closer look at the redistricting process using some of the research. I’ve added an interactive map with the districts highlighted.
Speaking of elections, it’s getting harder and harder to avoid discussions about the next Tampa municipal elections. I think folks need to be more concerned with who is in Tallahassee when the next city election happens than who will be on the ballot 13 months from now. Or it might not really matter as home rule is further gutted.
That said, on the mayoral front, The Tampa Monitor also helped Creative Loafing take a closer look at contributions to the Friends of Bob Buckhorn political action committee (PAC). I’m not sure anyone is surprised the majority of the $1.4 million comes from a small core of local developers and investors but Jasmin does a great job breaking down who the major contributors are and capturing Buckhorn leaning into the support.
An item the Tampa Monitor didn’t contribute to but in the same vein, Ray Roa with Creative Loafing broke the news that Council member Naya Young has followed through with her commitment to run for her seat in the next election.
I shared I was voting for her in the special call election to finish Council member Gwen Henderson’s term and I think she’s handled the pressure and demands of her time gracefully. Every new council member goes through an adjustment and I think she’s starting to get her footing. Everyone wants to hear the strong confident voices they hear on the campaign trail but there’s a big difference between a meeting room in a library and sitting up on the dais with cameras rolling, taking heat from both sides on almost every decision. 13 months is plenty of time for any council member to demonstrate to the people who elected them they made the right choice.
And finally, I would like to take an opportunity to thank everyone who has supported Tampa Monitor; particularly the folks who have contributed to the operational costs of the site. Your direct investment in the continuing growth has allowed me to continue this journey and try and help bring awareness — and transparency — to our little part of the world.
Council will return in March with a special call workshop the evening of the 3rd to begin discussions and planning for the FY27 budget. A regular meeting on the 5th will include the first update on the land development code. There will also be a public meeting at 6:30pm on the 2nd at the Hanna Ave City Center for the LDC update. There’s also a special call CRA workshop scheduled for February 6th to specifically discuss housing and commercial grants.
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