
Pam Iorio, 48, is the mayor of Tampa, the nation’s
55th largest city. Sworn into office for a second four-year term on
April 1, 2007, Mayor Iorio has established six strategic goals to
guide Tampa throughout this decade. These areas of focus are:
investing in neighborhoods, economic development of our most
challenged areas, creating a residential community downtown,
efficient city government focused on customer service, establishing
Tampa as a city of the arts, and making regional mass transit a
reality.
Mayor Iorio is committed to improving the quality of
life in Tampa. Under her leadership there has been a commitment to
the basics of city government including public safety, parks and
recreation, neighborhood road improvements, and improved drainage
and pipe systems. For the first time in Tampa’s history, the city
has a five-year stormwater plan to address long-neglected flooding
and drainage issues and the city has also embarked on a plan that
begins to address Tampa’s aging water and wastewater pipes.
Since her first month in office there has been a
crackdown on street level drug dealing and a renewed commitment to
community policing. This has resulted in a dramatic decline in
Tampa’s crime rate. In 2006, the crime rate dropped another 9.4%
bringing the total decrease in crime to nearly 36% over the last
four years. The city is being cleaned up through invigorated code
enforcement and the establishment of a Clean City division dedicated
to reducing litter in neighborhoods throughout the city.
From New Tampa and East Tampa to West Tampa and
South Tampa nearly every part of the city is experiencing new
development. Downtown is transforming into a residential community
and the city continues to attract new businesses. Recognizing the
emerging global economy, the Mayor’s Global Business Committee was
established to support the expansion of trade in the Tampa area.
Iorio is also dedicated to working with governments,
businesses and civic leaders throughout the region to make a quality
mass transit system in our area a reality. Under her leadership,
Tampa hired its first transit manager in order to more effectively
move the city’s mass transit initiative forward.
As mayor, Pam Iorio serves on the Aviation
Authority, the Port Authority, the Board of Trustees of the
University of Tampa and the recently established Tampa Bay Area
Regional Transportation Authority. She also serves as a member of
the advisory board for the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global
Solutions at the University of South Florida.
Iorio began her political career at age 26, when she
became the youngest person ever elected to the Hillsborough County
Commission (1985-1992). A year later her fellow commissioners
elected her chairman. After serving two terms on the County
Commission, Iorio was elected three times to the office of
Supervisor of Elections for Hillsborough County (1993-2003). In
2000, she was elected President of the Florida State Association of
Supervisors of Elections, becoming the spokesperson for the
supervisors during the 2000 presidential election.
Iorio attended Hillsborough County public schools
and graduated from American University in Washington D.C. with a BS
Degree in Political Science. Iorio also earned a Master’s Degree in
History from the University of South Florida in Tampa in 2001. She
has published several articles on Tampa’s civil rights and political
history.
Iorio is married to Mark Woodard. They have two
children, Caitlin and Graham.