TAMPA \u2014 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera came into office nearly 10 years ago with a slight chip on his shoulder, promising to get New Tampa, part of the District 7 he represents, what he thought it deserved.<\/p>\n
He may end up leaving office the same way as well.<\/p>\n
Viera has compiled an impressive list of items over the course of a decade for residents in the 33647 ZIP code, who have often complained over the years about not getting the kind of bang they expect for their tax-paying buck.<\/p>\n
Now, Viera is hoping to add a City of Tampa Police Department substation to his list.<\/p>\n
The Hunter\u2019s Green resident will be termed out of his city council seat this coming fall and is running for House District 67, but he would like to get the ball rolling for whoever succeeds him.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy plan is to try to find money in the budget for this, as a place-setter, for $150-200,000 whatever it may be, to get this thing started,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Viera raised the idea of a police substation, which has been circulated by residents and community activists for years, last month.<\/p>\n
However, Chief of Police Lee Bercaw responded to the request for a feasibility study by signaling the department has more pressing priorities.<\/p>\n
In a memo to council chairman Alan Clendenin, Bercaw noted the department already utilizes Tampa Fire Rescue Station 22 on Cross Creek Boulevard for administrative functions like writing reports, and \u201cthe department\u2019s most critical infrastructure priorities remain the construction of a new Forensic Facility and the development of a new Police Headquarters.\u201d<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s current headquarters, known as \u201cBig Blue\u201d, was listed for sale back in December and has yet to be sold.<\/p>\n
But Viera said the city can \u201cwalk and chew gum\u201d at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I am talking about is not new infrastructure,\u201d he said. \u201cI’m cognizant of costs and all that stuff. But what I’m saying is that we ought to look at renting out a space so the police officers can go and have somewhere where they can write their reports, meet with the public.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Tampa is currently served by the department\u2019s District 2 office on North 30th Street, near Busch Gardens.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe pay our taxes and we shouldn’t have to drive 40 minutes when we want to go talk to a cop.\u201d Viera said. \u201cIt just makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
While New Tampa isn\u2019t considered a high crime area, Viera said his constituents have consistently asked for a stronger police presence, particularly to address issues like traffic and speeding concerns, topics that comes up at nearly every town hall.<\/p>\n
Viera says the police officers he has spoken to favor the idea as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a matter of respect for New Tampa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The idea of expanding law enforcement presence in the area is not limited to the city.<\/p>\n
Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan, who represents New Tampa, has floated the possibility of a sheriff\u2019s office substation as part of the second phase of the Branchton Park development on Morris Bridge Road near Cross Creek Boulevard.<\/p>\n
For Viera, however, the goal is simple: give the next council member a headstart on a project that he believes residents have waited long enough to see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA \u2014 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera came into office nearly 10 years ago with a slight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[28,2161,276,1598,3746,103161,135,610,137,136,3793],"class_list":{"0":"post-229885","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-government","10":"tag-hillsborough-county","11":"tag-law-enforcement","12":"tag-new-tampa","13":"tag-police-chief-lee-bercaw","14":"tag-tampa","15":"tag-tampa-city-council","16":"tag-tampa-headlines","17":"tag-tampa-news","18":"tag-tampa-police-department"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}