Tell me about your most recent experience with public service.
My most recent experience was last Thursday at my son’s public school. After I dropped him off at class, another Mom stopped me and asked if I could spread mulch in the schoolyard. I spent 3 hours with pitchfork, wheelbarrow and rake spreading mulch on the dirt that covers their outdoor play and lunch area. I am a workhorse who has always been active where and when needed in the community.
I currently serve on the Citizens Advisory Committee to the School District of Hillsborough County, the Tampa Downtown Partnership’s Arts and Culture Committee, City of Tampa’s Friends of Public Art, Lights on Tampa, and the Board of Directors for the Freedom Playground Foundation.
Why do you want to be commissioner of Hillsborough County?
To bring vision, integrity and fairness to the Hillsborough County Commission. I will lead with civility, cooperation and common sense. I will speak for the public values we all share, not divide us over private issues.
If you were the King of Hillsborough County, what change would you make immediately?
I would be Queen, not King.
I would implement planning for sustainable growth, so that we retain and improve our quality of life in Hillsborough County.
I would adhere to the clause in the Hillsborough County Charter that bars discrimination and the United States Declaration of Independence that states that all men are created equal.
What is the Number one important issue facing Hillsborough County?
Responsible planning for growth.
How do you plan to address that?
Spend current revenues responsibly on public essentials – safety, schools, roads, and the environment – not on pet projects such as $40 million sports complexes. Adjust impact fees to fair and reasonable levels. Enforce concurrency regulations so that growth does not happen if there is not infrastructure to support it. Implement the plans that this commission has been ignoring for years. Plan for public transportation. Push for purchasing right of ways now before costs go up even more, for transportation corridors.
Does Hillsborough County need a County Mayor?
I absolutely believe that the people of Hillsborough County should have the right to vote on the issue. But as a candidate for county commission, the only ballot issue I can recommend now is to vote for Mary Mulhern for the Hillsborough County Commission, District 1 on November 6, 2006. If we were electing good commissioners, the issue of a county mayor would not have even been raised. We can’t keep electing the same people and expect different results.
How do decisions made by the city of Tampa effect Hillsborough County?
We have to work together, and this commission cannot even work with each other. I will bring cooperation and civility to county commission, so that we can work with the City of Tampa.
The city is within the county. We share roads, water, schools, parks. The overlap is obvious. Both city and county oversee the Community Investment Tax which funds major projects for city and county.
Four of the first five priorities listed on your website indicate you prefer slower growth and higher impact fees. What steps would you take to reach this?
I am not against growth. We have healthy economic growth in this county right now – low unemployment, slightly higher paying jobs, and a building boom. What we need to do is make sure that the growth pays its fair share. It is a question of fairness. The school impact fees had not been raised in 20 years. This is an appalling example of lack of leadership and that is why I have made it a priority. But as I outlined above there are other ways to plan for responsible growth that will save us money.
We can’t stop the growth – we just need to plan and implement our planning. That is what this commission has failed to do for too long.
It’s been recently reported that the school board has not been overly cautious about spending tax dollars for real estate. where else can we find cutbacks from schools?
This is an issue that school board candidates need to address. I can only tell you where we can look for savings in county spending:
We can make sure that the county is doing due diligence when purchasing real estate and awarding contracts.
We can enforce the policy of never awarding contracts without competitive bidding.
We can make the priorities in spending to be for schools, public safety, health and the environment before spending on sports complexes and projects that do not benefit everyone in the county.
You seek input from neighborhood associations. Would you say these associations are currently active in county issues?
Yes they are very active. But the neighborhood associations are not getting an equal say to the special interests from this Commission. I will regularly meet with and listen to these associations and make sure there is open dialog about changes to their neighborhoods.
How would you “promote local businesses?”
I would seek any incentives we can give to keep and promote locally owned and run businesses currently in Hillsborough County. All of the economic research shows that it is the Mom and Pop stores, the small locally-run businesses that provide more jobs at better wages and put money back into the local economy.
The Republican candidate for District 1 has raised over $370,000. You have less than $40,000 as of March 31. Does the amount of money matter? Can you catch up?
I am running against the big money. Yes, money means a lot. Not only do candidates need it for advertising, we can’t get the media to even notice us if we haven’t raise a competitive amount. The good news is that my Republican opponents are going to spend that money fighting each other in the primary. I am the front-runner in the Democratic race so I can save my money for the general election. When I made my first campaign finance report, I had been in the race for less than 3 months. If I continue to collect money at this pace, I will be raising money at the same rate as Swanson.
I plan to have lots of contributors giving smaller amounts. I have an easy online donation link on my website: www.marymulhern.com.
Can you win the election?
I will.
