Primary 2020: Hillsborough Commission Candidates Vie For 2 Seats

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL —Hillsborough County voters will head to the polls Tuesday to choose a Hillsborough County Commission District 1 and District 3 candidate who will move on to the general election Nov. 3.

Vying for the Democratic nomination for the District 1 county commission seat are Harry Cohen, Jen McDonald and Republicans running for the post are Scott Levinson and Tony Morejon.

Democrats Ricardo "Rick Fernandez, Gwen Myers, Frank Reddick, Thomas Scott and Sky U. White.

They will face Republican Maura Cruz Lanz in the general election

Patch emailed a questionnaire to candidates and received the following responses:

Tony Morejon

Morejon graduated from Leto High School and obtained his associate's degree from Hillsborough Community College, where he was later recognized as a distinguished alumni. He earned his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

He began his government career in 1983 with the State of Florida working for the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services.

Morejon went on to serve as the community affairs liaison for the Hillsborough County Center from 1994-2018. He was responsible for establishing and maintaining relations between Hillsborough County government and its diverse community. Through the years, he developed a strong relationship with the various communities that make up Hillsborough County.

In 2005, he worked with the governor’s office to create the first bilingual hurricane/disaster preparedness conference event in the nation. Morejon was selected three times by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to serve on the National Hispanic Emergency Preparedness Forum.

A father of three children and two grandchildren, Morejon was a founding member of Hillsborough County’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Association as well as former president of the Sheriff’s Advisory Council. He has also been awarded the City of Tampa’s Matilda Garcia Award for Public service and was 2018 Hispanic Man of the Year.

His priorities include economic opportunity and smart growth.

"Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy. They are represented in our stores, restaurants, gyms, doctors' and dentists’ offices, law offices, industry, etc. We need a representative who understands this concept. I will always fight to make sure that local government does not regulate small business to the point that they are out of business. Let us make small business strong.

"Hillsborough County has 1.3 million residents with tens of thousands moving in every year. One of the most important jobs of a county commissioner is to create smart land use plan that improves economic development, but which is also beneficial to the people who live and work there. We need to encourage mixed land use. Mixed land use enables residential, commercial and industrial to be integrated in the same area. This allows people to take care of their daily needs without having to drive long distances. It also helps bring the necessities of life within easier reach of residents without having to build a lot of costly new infrastructure. You can always count on me to fight to do what’s right for the community and not the special interests."

Another of Morejon's priorities is eliminating government waste.

"We need to better prioritize the services that we provide. We will have to run leaner by looking at these budgets, see how the money is being spent and then determine where a better use of the money can be put. COVID-19 has changed everything. Businesses have figured out that they can be just as efficient by having their employees work at home. Government needs to be just as flexible. We need to save what is necessary by law and eliminate what is nonessential. We also need to revamp the public website and make it more user-friendly and transparent."

Morejon said is third priority is public safety.

"According to data from the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Hillsborough County saw its number of pedestrian fatalities nearly double in just six years, growing steadily year over year from 32 car-versus-pedestrian deaths in 2013 to 59 in 2019.

"Bay area roads also remained dangerous for bicyclists. Of the 160 people who lost their lives while riding a bike in Florida in 2019, 45 were killed on Bay area roads. Hillsborough saw the most fatal bicycle crashes in 2019 with 11 deaths. Our roads are too dangerous for pedestrians getting to work and children walking to school. Mixed land use and smart growth will make these neighborhoods safer for pedestrians and bike riders.

"We need to also make sure that our police and firefighters have the resources they need in order to keep businesses and citizens safe from random violence."

Jen McDonald

Jen McDonald hold a bachelor's degree in business administration and is a small business owner, entrepreneur and risk management and insurance professional.

McDonald is past president of the Historic Hyde Park Neighborhood Association, just completed a three-year term on the South Tampa Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, is vice chairwoman of the Citizens Advisory Committee of Hillsborough County and chairwoman of the Business Advisory Committee of Hillsborough Community College "where we are helping strong entrepreneurs develop and launch right here in Hillsborough County."

"I will bring the voice of the community to the commission. After years of working alongside leaders to move Hillsborough County forward, I am excited to bring these values with me when elected to serve on the commission. Smart, sustainable growth is a key piece. As this county continues to grow, we need to protect the diversity of lifestyle options while making sure the new growth is covering the cost it has to our resources.

"Safe transportation options are a priority I hear about in every part of the county. Wide, unobstructed, shade tree-lined continuous sidewalks are the first step in giving transportation options simply linking students to school or the playground and allowing neighbors to greet each other with a handshake at the sidewalk, not where the rubber meets the road. From there we need a variety of options — bus, trolley, train, ferry and, obviously, maintence of our roads. Transportation options allow all residents access to good-paying jobs and basic necessities.

"I have been working to move our economy forward through the development of strong entrepreneurs with my work with HCC and the ECC. These entrepreneurs provide quality jobs for residents in our county while giving access to goods and services. Having strong local businesses is the key to building economic prosperity in Hillsborough County for all families."

McDonald said she's running for the commission because "I was dissatisfied with the decisions being made by elected officials and was tired of being on the outside trying to get the change our community wants. After listening to the community and working alongside community leaders to make change, I realized we could get the change we need if we get a seat at the table. I am running to give the community and community leaders a seat at the table so we can move Hillsborough County forward.

Ricardo “Rick” Fernandez

Correction: The mother of Fernandez's son, Michael, is Fran Garcia Prockop.

A second-generation Tampa resident of Hispanic/Sicilian heritage, Ricardo "Rick" Fernandez and his domestic partner of 10 years, Connie Rose, and have lived in Tampa Heights since 2012.

Fernandez is a 1972 graduate of Jesuit High School, a 1975 graduate of the University of South Florida and a 1978 graduate of Stetson College of Law.

Fernandez's background includes serving as a Navy JAGC attorney. He's a former board-certified civil trial attorney and has been a hiring partner, office managing partner, chief recruiting officer and partner/shareholder at various law firms.

He's served as president of the Hillsborough County Bar Association; a member of the Florida Bar Board of Governors; president of the Tampa Heights Civic Association; vice chairman of the Metropolitan Planning Organization, a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee and a member of the Independent Oversight Committee Transportation Surtax.

The pillars of Fernandez's campaign are detailed on his website.

They include: (1.) enhance and protect neighborhoods, (2.) deliver robust public transit and transit-oriented development and (3.) weave the neighborhoods of District 3 together in a common cause.

Fernandez said he wants to "create an intra district council to bring together stakeholders from all neighborhoods, identifying issues of common interest and neighborhood-specific issues needing districtwide support; connect neighborhoods through a network of multimodal transportation."

To that end, he said he wants to "execute the vision of Boulevard Tampa, converting of I-275 north of the downtown interchange into a grand boulevard and multimodal transit spine, removing the interstate wall that has divided us for decades and reconnecting us to the historic street grid. Boulevard Tampa would return dozens of acres to the city for transit-oriented development and contribute to our sustainability and resiliency. (note: Boulevard Tampa can only be viable after we have established a 21st-century public transit system. That said, the plan has been approved for feasibility study by the MPO Board.)"

Other areas of focus detailed on his website include affordable housing, access to jobs paying living wage, quality food, health care, education, social and environmental justice, an emphasis on locally owned businesses and historic preservation, safe streets, parks, recreation facilities, a lush tree canopy, bike/ped paths, houseless outreach services with attention to the dignity of both clients and host communities, combating sex trafficking and the clustering of sex offenders."

Frank Reddick

After being appointed as an interim Tampa City Council member in 2006, elected to the council in 2011 and re-elected unopposed in 2015, Frank Reddick is now turning his attention to the county commission.

A 1973 graduate of King High School, he received his bachelor of science degree in educational/psychology from Paine College.

His resume include president and CEO of the Sickle Cell Association, past vice chairman of the Hillsborough County Charter Review Board, past president of the Northview Hills Neighborhood Association, past chairman of the Community Health Charities of Florida Board of Directors, past board member of the Tampa Hospital Authority Board at Tampa General, past member of the Executive Board of East Tampa Partnership (CRA), past member of the Hillsborough County Civil Service Board, past chairman of the Lee Davis Neighborhood Center Advisory Board, past vice chairman of the Sports Authority Board of Directors and past member of the Hillsborough County Human Relations Board.

His priorities include:

• Body cameras for law enforcement
• Utilizing county-owned properties to be converted into affordable and attainable housing units for Hillsborough County residents.
• Fair distribution of county funding in the urban neighborhoods.
• Working with the administration to increase minority business participation in county government.
• Developing and exploring more transportation options and increases in HART bus routes in urban communities.
• Safer streets, LED lights and sidewalks for District 3 residents.
• Better recreational facilities and programs for senior citizens and youth.
• Creating a youth advisory council.

"I am running because, after serving eight years on the city council, I believe that I am the best candidate to represent the constituents in District 3 on the Hillsborough County Commission," Reddick said. "I will continue to be the voice that will bring positive changes to District 3. My passion for this county and its residents will help me be a strong voice and advocate as I was on the city council to get the results they deserve to improve their quality of life for neighborhood improvements, workforce development, affordable housing and safer streets for bicycles and pedestrians. I have a proven track record from the city council of delivering results for my constituents."

Gwen Myers

Gwen Myers was the first candidate to qualify by petition and be placed on the August primary ballot to replace retiring Hillsborough County Chairman Les Miller thanks to citizen signatures.

Myers collected more than 2,000 signatures and submitted them to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections office before the May 11 noon deadline.

“Being the first to be on the ballot thanks to the signatures of the voters of District 3 speaks the broad, grassroots appeal of my campaign,” Myers said. “I have spent my entire life serving this community, not as politician, but as a county housing and health care official and I think that experience along with my willingness to listen and help others is a big reason I’ll win this race.”

The 1992 Hillsborough County Volunteer of the Year, Myers was an early and strong advocate for the All for Transportation plan overwhelmingly passed by voters in 2018.

Myers has served on Tampa Mayor Jane Castor’s African American Advisory Council, the Hillsborough County Health Care Advisory Board, The Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center Council, the Corporation to Develop Communities (CDC) of Tampa, as well as civic organizations like the League of Women Voters and the West Tampa Chamber of Commerce.