Iorio: County's gay rights stance sinks merge deal

TAMPA — A pair of Hillsborough county commissioners are using passage of the Amendment One property tax measure to pitch merging some government services with the city of Tampa.

Mayor Pam Iorio’s reaction: A very firm no, at least when it comes to parks, an area the commissioners cited as an example.

Iorio said she has no interest in letting the county shape recreation programs in light of the county's nearly three-year-old ban on gay pride displays at libraries.

"We should not merge any services where our values are not compatible," Iorio said in an e-mail responding to reporters' questions. "The county's lack of tolerance towards a segment of our community cannot be allowed to affect the services provided by Parks and Recreation."

Iorio cited the city's co-sponsorship of an annual Winter Pride event at Al Lopez Park as an example of a program that could be affected by such a merger. She further expressed reluctance at having the city's neighborhood parks system being swallowed by a larger bureaucracy.

Commissioners Rose Ferlita and Al Higginbotham said they were merely offering Parks and Recreation as an example. They expressed disappointment with Iorio's immediate dismissal of the idea because of past board actions led by former commissioner Ronda Storms, now a state senator.

"For Mayor Iorio to base her response on what any commission did before is not a good place to start in terms of looking at examples to better serve our citizens," Ferlita said.

Higginbotham, likewise, said Tuesday's overwhelming vote in support of lowering property taxes means no proposal to meet that demand should be discounted.

"I'm just simply responding to what I know the voters have told all of us," said Higginbotham, who plans to offer the proposal at Wednesday's commission meeting. "I'm not in any way telling the city of Tampa how to run its business.”

Bill Varian, Times staff writer

Here is the e-mail Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio sent to reporters after being asked about two Hillsborough County Commissioners' proposal to merge some services:

>>> Pam Iorio 2/1/2008 10:33:23 AM >>>

No, I do not believe it is practical. i will not support any move in that direction.  City Parks and Recreation performs a great job serving our citizens.  Parks are neighborhood based and the city can respond easily to requests for improvements or complaints. Our programming and facilities reflect the neighborhoods they serve.  Parks and Recreation is also responsible for co-sponsoring over 800 special events a year. The city is totally responsible for the proper conduct of these events- ranging from Gasparilla to various festivals.  If our well run department were to be merged into the larger bureaucracy of county government which serves its residents throughout the unincorporated area we would lose out in determining the quality of our parks and programming as well as responsiveness to our citizens.

On another note, the county took over the library system many years ago. (It has its own county-wide millage rate) This worked well until a few years ago when the BOCC decided not to allow any Gay pride displays at the libraries.  This I very much disagreed with and thought it sent the wrong tone for the entire community.  The City co-sponsors through our Parks and Recreation Department many special events as I mentioned above.  One for example is Winter Pride at Al Lopez Park.  We should not merge any services where our values are not compatible.  The County’s lack of tolerance towards a segment of our community cannot be allowed to affect the services provided by Parks and Recreation.

In short, we do a great job with our Parks and Recreation department and a bigger less responsive  bureaucracy would definitely not be the answer.  The government closest to the citizens it serves is the best.

Pam