![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Dr-Neil-Manimala-campaign-crop.png\")
Dr. Neil Manimala Credit: Courtesy<\/p>\nDr. Neil Manimala Credit: Courtesy<\/p>\n
Dr. Neil Manimala<\/a>, 35, has watched Valrico grow from orange groves and two-lane roads to an area with nothing but golf courses for greenspace. He learned to drive on the congested stretch of State Road 60 that runs through Brandon. Now, the University of South Florida-graduate and urologist wants to join the county commission to address the sprawl and the traffic that has become emblematic of east Hillsborough County.<\/p>\n \u201cI can only do so much as a urologist,\u201d Manimala told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. \u201cPeople can\u2019t even make it to their appointments, because they missed the bus in south county by a minute. If they\u2019re worried about keeping a roof over their head, they have to decide between that versus making it into surgery the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n The public transit and affordable housing advocate has raised over $100,000 in his bid to unseat Donna Cameron Cepeda, a Republican elected in 2022<\/a> who has since voted to reduce affordable housing<\/a> and lobbied for reduced public transparency<\/a> of county commission activities. She was also among the commissioners who did not sign a 2024 Tampa Pride proclamation<\/a>.<\/p>\n The two will fight for the District 5 seat in November.<\/p>\n Manimala, a Catholic and a Democrat, said he first learned bipartisanship in church where he worshiped alongside Republicans with whom he shared the common ground of faith. He wants to bring that attitude to the county commission, where he views three of the five Republicans in office as reasonable moderates. \u201cAt the end of the day, the fundamental heart of our politics has still got to be kindness, still got to be service. Still got to be putting yourself in the shoes of the other.\u201d<\/p>\n Manimala told CL he wants to collaborate with the other members of the county commission without sacrificing his values. \u201cWhen you see something wrong in front of you, you have got to speak up about it. Yes, you build consensus, yes, you find ways to compromise, but there\u2019s a certain point where you\u2019ve also gotta be an unequivocal voice to truth and be an unyielding force for justice.\u201d<\/p>\n Manimala said he believes in the dignity of every person and that he operates from a place of compassion. \u201cThere are issues like traffic, affordable housing and healthcare coverage that ensure citizens are taken care of and aren\u2019t fundamentally partisan issues.\u201d<\/p>\n During CL\u2019s interview, Manimala routinely circled back to public transit. Congestion, he said, could be helped by fewer cars on the road. If the county continues to grow as expected, roads will only get worse unless more people can be transported with less space.<\/p>\n CL spoke with Manimala as his wife neared her due date for the birth of his first child. \u201cRight now, if my wife calls me and I need to get to the hospital, I\u2019m not going to be taking HART,\u201d Manimala said. \u201cBut my dream is that perhaps in 35 years, when my daughter\u2019s my age, if she ever wants to have kids, maybe she\u2019ll be able to take HART and make it to the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n County commission decisions have consequences decades down the line, Manimala said, and he wants to think beyond the next budget cycle.<\/p>\n Manimala is inspired by the work of Phyllis Busansky, a former Hillsborough County Commissioner who he said was \u201cinstrumental in advocacy for those on the margins\u201d in Hillsborough County.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the 1990s, Busansky helped create the Hillsborough County Health Care Plan, which provides health insurance to people who don\u2019t qualify for Medicaid. Manimala got his start in county government as a member of the board that oversees the plan. Her ability to reach across the aisle with compassion is a model of leadership Manimala wants to follow.<\/p>\n Manimala\u2019s parents were farmers in south India before they moved to the United States. He lived in Chicago until he turned four years old, when his parents relocated to Valrico.<\/p>\n When asked his go-to Wawa order, Manimala said he sticks to black coffee. If he\u2019s going to buy food, he\u2019s always preferred to patronize a local restaurant like the now-defunct Mirro\u2019s Pizza, Lucky Tigre, or Curry Leaves, which he says is the only Indian restaurant his Indian parents are willing to eat at.<\/p>\n Manimala doesn\u2019t view his limited political experience as an inherent negative. \u201cI have not had some carefully-engineered path into politics,\u201d he told CL. He made the distinction between good experience and bad experience. Some politicians have political experience, Manimala said, but it\u2019s experience maintaining the existing political machine that churns out the same old results. \u201cWe need something refreshing, we need something new, and we need to find a way to do things differently.\u201d<\/p>\n Ultimately, Manimala said he wants to make sure the county is looking out for the best interest of everyone, especially marginalized people. \u201cAll of us, in so many ways, have the capacity to look out for our brothers and sisters. Economically, there\u2019s a return on investment for that. \u2026 But beyond that, it\u2019s also just the right thing to do,\u201d Manimala said.<\/p>\n Change is possible, Manimala said, and the political stalemates common in Hillsborough\u2019s county commission shouldn\u2019t be a reason to give up on politics: \u201cI don\u2019t think that we can afford to put our hands up and give in to defeatism and cynicism and despair when it comes to this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n Manimala asks people from the community to share their voice and ideas with him. He wants to hear ideas and feedback, not just during the campaign, but after the election too. Reach out to him @VoteManimala<\/a> on most social media platforms.<\/p>\n Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0BlueSky<\/a><\/p>\n This article appears in Dec. 04 \u2013 10, 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t