In March, Tampa voters will not only vote for a new mayor, but all seven city council seats are in play as well.
On Friday at the Tampa Tiger Bay Club, candidates from three of the city council races answered questions from club members. Two people are challenging Council member Charlie Miranda for the District 2 seat he holds. And the three shared their ideas for solving Tampa’s future needs for drinking water.
Joe Robinson:
“The first thing I would do is get with the Public Works director and find out how we could take 80 million gallons of water being dumped in (Tampa) Bay and make it a profitable, money-making venture for the City of Tampa. We’re dumping 80 million gallons of the Howard Curren (wastewater treatment plant) into the Bay.
“And that’s water — having served on SWFWMD — that’s an asset. Water is a problem: you can’t develop without water. So, we need to make sure we take that stormwater — not sewer to tap, because there’s problem with aquifer storage recovery — but to find a way by getting with SWFWMD, asking for cooperative funding grants …”
Charlie Miranda:
“We are working and we are very close with SWFWMD and others. However, we took one vote at Tampa Bay Water and we fell two votes short. Because I’ve got to depend on Pasco (County), Pinellas (County), Hillsborough County, the City of New Port Richey and the City of St. Pete and Tampa.”
John Godwin:
“Charlie, with all due respect, you’ve been with Council, off and on, since 1974. And you’re the longest-serving member of the water board. You haven’t solved it in those decades. I don’t know why we’d expect something different now.
“With that said, my platform is addressing transportation, addressing affordability, inclusivity in neighborhoods.”
Listen:
Candidates for Districts 1 and 5 also participated in the forum.
Watch the whole forum in four parts here:
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