Last month, MPO Chair Commissioner Les Miller tapped Tampa City Councilman Harry Cohen to chair the MPO’s Transportation Disadvantaged Coordinating Board (TDCB). This is the Councilman’s second year as TDCB Chair.
The TDCB elected Gloria Mills as its Vice Chair, and Becki Forsell as its Officer at Large. Ms. Mills, in her fourth year as a member, holds the seat representing HART, and Ms. Forsell holds the seat representing seniors. Both of these tireless volunteers refuse to let disability slow them down. “You have to look at a limitation as a challenge rather than a limitation,” said Ms. Mills.
Also in January, the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) re-elected Ed Austin as Chairman. Appointed by Commissioner Sandra Murman, Mr. Austin has served on the CAC since September 2005, guiding the drafting of two long-range transportation plans with major investments in multimodal transportation. An assistant vice president with St. Leo University, he was born in Glasgow, Scotland and had a major league soccer career playing forward on the championship Tampa Bay Rowdies. “Citizens of Hillsborough County have a big stake in our transportation system,” said Mr. Austin. “They use it every day, pay for it at the pump and sometimes live in the path of future projects … It’s our job to make sure that members of the Metropolitan Planning Organization engage with the citizens before adopting plans. Serving the transportation needs for this and future generations is vital to the continued growth and quality of life for our great community.”
The CAC also elected Connect Tampa Bay’s Brian Willis as Vice Chair and Carver City/Lincoln Gardens neighborhood’s Maurice Harvey as Officer at Large.