Commissioner Murman mentioned in this Tampa Tribune commentary by Luis Viera:
COMMENTARY
Luis Viera: Local leaders avoid mean-spirited partisanship
Published: January 31, 2016
I have always liked to think that in Tampa we are blessed with local leaders — Republicans and Democrats — who buck a nasty growing tide.
I refer to the growing tide of blind partisanship, where one’s political opponent is not only one with whom you disagree, but is evil. And in this process, nothing in one’s background — be it one’s religious faith or even one’s military service (as seen in recent attacks on Sen. John McCain’s service) — is sacred. When the opposition is perceived as evil, the ends in beating that opponent — no matter how shameful — are thought to justify the means.
Thankfully, local politics here in Tampa marches to a different tune.
Take Mayor Bob Buckhorn. Mayor Buckhorn is a proud Kennedy Democrat but gladly works with Republicans in promoting Tampa. Mayor Buckhorn — like his predecessor Pam Iorio — sees Republicans as partners in “giving Tampa its wings.” On the City Council there is Mike Suarez — a middle-of-the-road Democrat who gets Republican and Democratic support and is just as comfortable in a union hall as he is at a Chamber of Commerce meeting. County Commissioner Sandy Murman — a Republican — is heralded by Republicans and Democrats for her work with children and those with developmental disabilities.
But there is one relationship that is particularly telling on our local politics, and where our national future should lie: That of former political adversaries and now friends, former Congressman and Democrat Jim Davis and former Hillsborough County Commissioner and Republican Mark Sharpe.
These two men once knew each other as aggressive adversaries. In 1996, Mark Sharpe was ready to try again for Congress after having just barely lost in 1994 to then-Congressman Sam Gibbons. Sharpe was a proud soldier in Newt Gingrich’s army of idealistic conservatives. And the only thing standing in his way was then-state Rep. Jim Davis. Davis — a respected centrist Democrat — had won a vigorously contested Democratic primary against Pat Frank, Sandy Freeman and the late, great Phyllis Busansky.
In this election, passions inevitably flared. Davis would prevail by 16 points, and went on to serve with distinction for five terms as a consensus builder in Congress. Mark Sharpe would regroup and find a passion on the Hillsborough County Commission as one of its most respected members and an energetic advocate for transportation reform and development in the University of South Florida area.
And in the process, the Tampa Democrat Davis and Tampa Republican Sharpe became political allies: In 2010, the two worked closely in the failed transportation initiative, Moving Hillsborough Forward. Mark Sharpe — a Republican who balances Ronald Reagan’s distrust of Big Government with Dwight Eisenhower’s productive pragmatism — became an energetic partner with Jim Davis in promoting transportation reform. Both saw transportation as the great unfinished challenge and chapter in local government.
And though Moving Hillsborough Forward failed, these two one-time political opponents found that they were not only allies on some critical local issues, but that they could be very good friends too. And they remain friends to this day, as well as political partners in productive pragmatism. And both men view one another through a lens that Republicans and Democrats rarely view one another in politics today: with genuine respect and admiration.
Tampa is blessed with some local leaders who resist the national trend to demonize political opponents.
And we need to work hard at keeping that local bipartisan character. Issues like transportation reform, stormwater investment, standing up for our firefighters and law enforcement personnel, and keeping local government responsive to local neighborhoods is not derived from a partisan ideology. Being a Republican or a Democrat should not be seen as a character enhancement (or a character blemish) but, instead, as a chosen means to the end of strengthening one’s community and country through advocacy.
Let Washington continue with its embarrassing mudslinging. Here in Tampa, we should continue to cling to productive pragmatism.
Luis Viera is a Tampa attorney.
