Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn is cruising into a second term, with only a write-in candidate emerging by Friday's qualifying deadline to offer token opposition. The city is on the move, downtown is booming and Tampa has raised its international profile as a place to live, work and visit. Buckhorn has grown into the job over the last four years, and over the next four he should build on this solid foundation.
Buckhorn, 56, was the best choice in the five-person field to succeed Pam Iorio in 2011, and he has followed through on his major campaign goals. Tampa is attracting better jobs, expanding its port and airport, growing its downtown, reusing its historic landmarks and broadening its appeal by hosting events from a national political convention to the Bollywood Oscars. Though none of this happened overnight and Buckhorn didn't do it alone, he has brought an infectious optimism and energy as mayor that has helped the city push beyond the Great Recession.
The mayor can thank his predecessor for laying the groundwork and the recovering economy for creating more opportunities to invest in the community rather than cut services. Iorio responded to the economic meltdown by paring the city's payroll and building up its cash reserves, which Buckhorn used to cover his early budget deficits. Iorio also hired a talented staff, which Buckhorn largely kept, giving him stability at City Hall and an opportunity to pursue his own priorities. Buckhorn also rebuilt the city's relationship with county government, which helped Tampa sharpen its job development efforts. He reached across Tampa Bay to strengthen regional ties, which has created an environment that has paid off in many ways, from successfully hosting the Republican National Convention in 2012 to working in a regional fashion to promote the arts and tourism and prepare to make every effort to retain the Tampa Bay Rays baseball franchise.
Buckhorn, a former mayoral aide and City Council member, has benefited from the timing of the economic upswing. But he also has succeeded because of his strong personality, a methodical approach to governing and his ease in using the bully pulpit as mayor. He spent more on the neighborhoods than even the previous record set by Iorio. His budget for roads and other public works projects — even as the economic recovery was sputtering — was a confidence-building boost that signaled to the private sector that City Hall is a reliable partner. Buckhorn also lent the power and profile of his office to a host of meaningful civic causes. His use of city parks to enroll residents under the new Affordable Care Act didn't go unnoticed in Washington, and it could help the city as it competes for new federal housing money. He has made good policy good politics, and his clear enjoyment in the public eye has enlarged the office of mayor.
Buckhorn's hard-charging nature and unilateral decisionmaking have occasionally hurt him. He unnecessarily poked at the City Council early in his term, and he was blinded by dollar signs in pursuing a crafts museum that would have been a bad fit at Curtis Hixon Park (it fortunately fell through) and a residential tower that would be out of proportion and wedged into the downtown riverfront (which is still pending after months of no activity). But he has generally been more pragmatic, and he brought an openness to several key projects — from the design of downtown parks to the convention security plan — that improved his policies and disarmed critics.
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Explore all your optionsBuckhorn has laid a strong foundation for a second term, even as he faces a number of new challenges and a decision on what political office to pursue after two terms as mayor. He succeeded last week in urging the Tampa City Council to take the first step in working with Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik to remake the Channel District, a project that could bring billions to the city center. He announced an equally ambitious project for the coming years to rebuild the West River neighborhood into a mixed-use community on the banks of the Hillsborough River. Buckhorn also is exploring extending the streetcar farther into downtown, and he is leading a city-county debate on whether to send another transit package to the voters as early as next year. Buckhorn also will be a force if St. Petersburg and the Rays agree to allow the team to explore Hillsborough County for potential stadium sites, although he smartly dialed back his cheerleading for that expensive project as Vinik's redevelopment plans crystalized.
These are all front-burner issues with regional impact, but Buckhorn has shown he can juggle big ideas while running the city. He also will need to hire a police chief when Jane Castor retires this spring, and second terms are when senior administrators start shopping for new job opportunities. Buckhorn needs help from both a Democratic White House and a Republican-controlled state Legislature for his Channel District and West River plans to come to fruition. He will evaluate whether to run for governor in 2018, an expensive gamble even for a successful mayor because of his lack of statewide name recognition. And he will defend his policies and legacy as candidates line up to succeed him.
Many wrote off Buckhorn a decade ago after his back-to-back losses for mayor and for County Commission. And as a City Council member, he sometimes focused on smaller issues such as strip clubs and public loitering. But he moved far beyond that as a mayoral candidate, offering a broader, more compelling vision for the city that he has started to bring to fruition during his first term.
Buckhorn is raising Tampa's profile at a time when America's cities are hot destinations again. If the economic recovery continues, the next four years could find the city in a dramatically different place, competing regularly on a national level for new business and high-profile events. As mayor, Buckhorn will need to balance being mayor with his political ambitions and build on the progress from his first term. But the expectations he has raised should create opportunity and excitement — both for the city and its second-term mayor.