TAMPA — For the first time since 2022, Tampa City Council is about to hand someone a seat on the dais without an election.
After 10 years representing District 7, Councilman Luis Viera is leaving to run for the Florida House District 67 seat, which opens up because House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell is term-limited, Creative Loafing reported. Viera filed his resignation under Florida's resign-to-run law, and it takes effect just before midnight on Nov. 2, the day before the general election, according to Florida Politics.
Voters won't pick a permanent replacement until the city election in March. Until then, the six remaining council members will appoint someone. The city charter requires that appointment within 30 days of the seat going empty.
Who can apply
District 7 runs north of Busch Boulevard and covers Forest Hills, Terrace Park, University Square and up through New Tampa.
Under the city's appointment guidelines, applicants must have lived in Tampa and been a registered voter in the city for at least a year, and must have lived in District 7 for at least six months. You'll need the city's official application form, signed, plus a business resume of no more than two pages.
The timeline
- Tuesday, Nov. 3, 9 a.m.: The City Clerk's Office starts accepting applications. Nothing submitted before then counts.
- Monday, Nov. 9, noon: Hard deadline. The city says late applications won't be accepted and the deadline won't be extended.
- Tuesday, Nov. 17, 1:30 p.m.: At a special council meeting, applicants who show up get two minutes to make their case. Council members can ask questions, then vote by ballot.
- Thursday, Nov. 19: The new member is sworn in as the first order of business and takes the seat.
Applications can be dropped off at the City Clerk's Office at City Hall, 315 E. Kennedy Blvd., third floor, or emailed. Details and the form are on the City Council page.
It takes four votes to win. If nobody gets four on the first ballot, council runs another round.
Who's already interested
Three people have already filed to run for the District 7 seat in March, and all three told Creative Loafing they plan to apply for the appointment too: Dr. Patricia Alonzo, retired investigative journalist Alan Cohn, and Morris Lopez III, a division chief with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.
Gene Siudut, editor of Tampa's tri-lingual newspaper La Gaceta, also told CL he'll apply, pointing to a decade coaching more than 70 basketball teams at the New Tampa YMCA and his service on the New Tampa Performing Arts Center board, city CRA boards and the county's Human Relations Board. “I am taking this one step at a time and have made no concrete decisions yet,” he said about running in March.
The last time this happened
In April 2022, council appointed Lynn Hurtak to the citywide District 3 seat on a 4-2 vote over 23 other applicants, including some reportedly favored by Mayor Jane Castor. Hurtak went on to win the seat outright in 2023.
“What separated me is that council knows me,” Hurtak told CL after that vote. If history is a guide, applicants who are already familiar faces at City Hall may have the edge.