Hillsborough County Commission District 7

There are three candidates for this at-large seat on the County Commission. In keeping with my commitment to talk to people running in local elections, I’ve talked to Kimberly Overman and Todd Marks. I’m endorsing Kimberly Overman.

I think I might have endorsed Overman without talking to her after my conversation with Todd Marks. Marks is a local attorney, and boy are his ideas antithetical to most of mine. He wants to improve the transportation infrastructure, which to him means reallocating budget money to “shovel-ready” project (yes, he used that term). When I tried to pin him down on the programs he’d take money from…he’d never give a straight answer. He has no interest in improving the public transportation system because, as he says, no one would ride the bus anyway. He wouldn’t acknowledge that more people might ride were it more convenient. He believes our transportation woes are better served by building more roads and “high-density development.” (Not sure how those two fit together, but to him they do.) He believes and said that people should just live near where they work.

There is another candidate on the ballot, Kim “Klarc” O’Connor. O’Connor was previously on the Southwest Florida Water Management Board until she was thrown out of a hotel room while on “official business” for having a strong odor of pot coming from the room. For me, that’s not enough to disqualify her, but she immediately turned around to run for County Commission. That’s poor form and shows she is just trying to make a living as a politician. We already have enough of those.

Overman, on the other hand, has some solid ideas about expanding public transportation, bringing the out-of-control developers to heel and making them pay their fair share for the infrastructure to support their developments. A good example is her opposition to moving the Upper Tampa Bay Trail out from under a long-established tree canopy to allow a developer to build a bigger parking lot for more apartments. Marks made clear it was a terrible idea to not give that developer what he wanted.

Overman has been an activist for some time and has a number of accomplishments to which she contributed or spearheaded. She convinced me she fully supports the public education system. She is also endorsed by Equality Florida.

For these reasons, I’m supporting Kimberly Overman.