Volume 27 Issue 5
Inside:
Gary Names His 2018 Restaurant Favorites!
February 22, 2019
See Neighborhood Magazine!
Now Celebrating 25 Years As New Tampa & Wesley Chapel’s Primary News Source! The Direct-Mail News Magazines Serving New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Since 1993! For the complete list of the neighborhoods that receive this publication by direct mail in New Tampa (zip code 33647), see page 46!
Sneak Peek: (L.-r) Jane Castor, David Straz, Dick Greco Jr., Harry Cohen, Mike Suarez, Ed Turanchik and Topher Morrison.
It’s Time To Vote, New Tampa By JOHN C. COTEY
Tampa Palms’ Maggie Wilson remembers the days when Pam Iorio, the City of Tampa’s mayor from 2003-11, would visit New Tampa on a frequent basis to address our area’s concerns and meet with residents. Wilson remembers Iorio visiting women’s clubs, the Taste of New Tampa and other events, as well as holding public meetings at Heritage and Tampa Palms elementary schools, Benito and Clark middle schools and Freedom High, to name a few. Current mayor Bob Buckhorn did not share Iorio’s attentiveness to New Tampa, Wilson says. And, when it comes time to choose a new mayor from a large field of candidates on Tuesday, March 5, Wilson says she will likely cast her vote for whomever she decides will pay the most attention to the area in which
she has lived in since 1989. “The next Tampa mayor will be in a key position to lead on several issues,” Wilson says. “New Tampa cannot afford to be left out.” On Municipal Election Day, voters in Tampa will choose between seven candidates to succeed Buckhorn. Former Tampa police chief Jane Castor currently has a big polling lead over the rest of the field, which includes local philanthropist David Straz, businessman Topher Morrison, former Hillsborough County Commissioner Ed Turanchik, current Tampa City Council members Harry Cohen and Mike Suarez, and Dick Greco Jr., the son of former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco. Most of the candidates have been campaigning at a series of mayoral forums held across the city, including the one held in New Tampa on Feb. 19 (after we went to press with this issue, but you can find coverage at NTNeighborhood-
News.com and our Facebook page), but prior to the New Tampa forum, no one had been able to distinguish themselves enough to put a dent in Castor’s edge. According to a poll conducted Feb. 4 by St. Pete Polls, 45.3 percent of the 429 registered voters polled said they would vote for Castor. Straz was second with 12.9 percent, followed by Greco Jr. at 9.3 percent, Cohen at 7.5 percent, Turanchik at 6.7 percent, Suarez at 6 percent and Morrison at 1.4 percent. If Castor (or whoever comes in first on March 5) is kept below 50 percent of the vote, that makes the much-closer race for second the one to watch, as the top two candidates would advance to a runoff election, which will be scheduled for Tuesday, April 23, if it is necessary. New Tampa voters like local activist and lawyer Tracy Falkowitz have been See “Mayor” on page 4.
While New Tampa Waits For Sprouts, Earth Fare Opens Up By JOHN C. COTEY
For those in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel who are not wowed by new restaurants, fast food chains, big retail outlets or fancy new intersections, this one might just be for you: Say hello to the area’s first green grocer — Earth Fare. The popular and quickly-growing organic food franchise opened its doors on S.R. 56 in what is technically Lutz (but we call it Wesley Chapel) on February 20, or after we went to press with this issue. For more coverage of Earth Fare’s opening day, make sure you check out our Facebook page at Facebook.com/Neighborhood News. It seems that virtually everything new that opens in our distribution areas gets Hope Allen, the CEO of the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce, excited. But this, she says, is a different kind of buzz. An all-natural, organic kind of buzz, perhaps? “It’s our first one, the first organic grocery
store to land in Wesley Chapel,” Allen says. “There’s been a big demand for it. It’s going to be pretty exciting.” The Wesley Chapel and New Tampa area does boast Publix and Winn Dixie supermarkets offering organic selections, as well as the Nutrition Smart on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., which currently offers the area’s widest range of organic foods, vitamins and supplements. But, Earth Fare is bringing 24,000 sq. ft. worth of the stuff — and roughly 100 jobs — to its new location in the Cypress Creek Town Center on S.R. 56 (at 25535 Sierra Center Blvd., across from the Tampa Premium Outlets). The Wesley Chapel location will be Earth Fare’s third in the Tampa Bay area, joining stores in Oldsmar and Seminole. Overall, it will be the 12th Earth Fare supermarket in Florida. The most recent Florida opening took place in Viera, FL on Jan. 9, and there are See “Earth Fare” on page 12.
Dist. 7 Seat On The Line
Challenger Quinton Robinson says incumbent Luis Viera (above) has helped New Tampa, but not all of Tampa’s District 7.
Page 6
Familiar Faces
At Children’s Dentistry, patients get to know the faces of Dr. Greg Stepanski and office manager Melanie Phillips.
Pages 22-23
Nom Nom Nom
Publisher Gary Nager has once again tried virtually every restuarant in the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel area, and reveals his favorites from 2018.
Pages 35-39
Frank Scorpiniti, president/CEO of Earth Fare