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Editorial: Hillsborough Commission candidates should take a stand on transit tax

 
Published Aug. 21, 2018

It's no surprise that virtually every candidate running for Hillsborough County Commission has promised to make transportation their top priority. Yet few of them have firmly embraced or opposed a one-cent sales tax increase for transportation that Hillsborough voters will see on the November ballot. It's time for candidates to take a stand and embrace a viable plan for the future or defend the indefensible status quo of traffic congestion and inferior transit.

As the Tampa Bay Times' Charlie Frago reported, many of the 17 county commission candidates say they are still making up their minds about the Nov. 6 transit referendum. Nearly 51,000 voters in Hillsborough signed a petition to put the transportation referendum on the ballot. Many of the candidates identify transportation as Tampa Bay's top problem, a priority to address and a compelling reason they ran for office. Yet they can't tell voters whether they support or oppose the referendum? Those are hardly profiles in courage.

This is another example of Hillsborough's leadership void and the growing divide between residents and those seeking to represent them. It's also a bipartisan problem. Take the leading candidates for the District 5 countywide seat. Republican incumbent Victor Crist and Democrat Mariella Smith both say they are still deciding, even though the issue is clear-cut and both are more than capable of holding forth on policy issues. Smith's opponent in the Aug. 28 primary, Elvis Piggott, is not any better; like many candidates, he criticizes the transportation plan even while advocating spending for ferries, light rail and other modes of mass transit the county cannot afford now. Some candidates have declined to answer the question outright. Others have given it no serious thought.

The proposal would raise the county sales tax by a penny, to eight cents on the dollar for the next 30 years, with 45 percent going for mass transit and the rest to local governments to meet their own priorities, from fixing roads and bridges to improving intersections. The citizens' group All for Transportation placed the measure on the ballot with a well-organized petition campaign financed by several big donors.

Candidates should not be able to win elections by dodging the most serious issue this region faces. Embracing the tax increase carries risk, given that Hillsborough voters rejected a transportation plan in 2010, while commissioners kept another in 2016 off the ballot. But so does embracing inadequate roads and transit, and the political dynamics have changed as traffic congestion has worsened. The climate for a tax increase is still tough, but more conservative, suburban voters appear to be open; they may not use expanded bus service like urban residents would but they want sidewalks for their children and safer streets to bicycle. That's what voters in Plant City and other areas of conservative east county told canvassers for the petition drive. The measure made the ballot in part because of heavy support in east county; one in five voters who signed the petition are Republicans, and Republicans and independents accounted for nearly 46 percent of the petition's supporters.

Many candidates who are uneasy about embracing a tax increase also have acknowledged that the county needs a new, dedicated source of revenue to meet the backlog in its transportation needs. That is a nuanced approach that would appeal to voters, many of whom share the same mixed thoughts. But candidates who can't make up their minds now won't be leaders in public office later.