Scott Levinson thinks “politics” is a bad word, which is one reason why he’s never previously had the desire to run for public office. But he says a combination of frustration and aggravation compelled him to compete for the Hillsborough County Commission District 1 seat this year.

“It’s not necessarily the decisions they make, it’s the decisions they don’t make. It’s the commitments they don’t make,” Levinson says.

The 55-year-old Republican from the Dana Shores area says he’s tired of how local government doesn’t work for regular folks. 

“An issue will come up at a Board of County Commission (BOCC) – so now we’re going to take three months to hire a consultant. We’re then going to wait another six to ten months for the consultant to come back. Then we’ll review what the consultant said. Then we might have a public hearing,” he laments.

“Then we’re two years down the road, and we’re still dealing with the problem.”

While Levinson is an outsider trying to shake up the system, he’s running against Tony Morejon, who worked for Hillsborough County in a number of positions for more than 30 years, most prominently as the county’s liaison to the Hispanic community.

“I know what levers to pull, what buttons to push. And I know how to get people to do things,” says Morejon, who was born in the Bronx but has lived in West Tampa since he was a child. “I have forgotten more about Hillsborough County than most people know, and I’m proud of that. There are streets that have stop lights because of me. There are streets that have stop signs because of me. These are things that I’ve done.” 

Levinson says he applauds Morejon’s work with the community. But he says that working for any form of government is different and not as challenging as working in the private sector.

“You’re sort of insulated from the real world,” he says. “You know you’re getting a paycheck whether business is good or bad…you don’t necessarily have the same worries that you might have with your family,” he says

“I think he’s wrong,” Morejon fires back. “I think, for the first time in the history of Hillsborough County, they’re going to have a candidate who’s going to be a commissioner who has over 30 years of government experience. I know the good. I know the bad. I know the pretty, and I know the ugly of the county government. I didn’t survive five different administrations by not knowing the system.”

When it comes to funding transportation, both men say that, while they don’t support raising taxes, they do support the will of the people as expressed by the passage of the All for Transportation referendum in 2018. That was the one-cent sales tax approved by the voters, which is in jeopardy of being tossed aside due to a legal challenge now in the Florida Supreme Court.

When asked if they supported the current commission’s decision to reject placing another sales tax referendum on the November ballot as a backup plan if the high court rejects the transit tax, Morejon was noncommittal, while Levinson said that he opposes “kicking anything down the road.”

Both men also are generally supportive of the BOCC’s moves on increasing impact and mobility fees this year, though Morejon says the fees were excessive.

“Impact fees need to be related to inflation,” he says. “We are behind everybody else when it comes to impact fees. But you don’t want to put it to the point where it gets passed on to the homeowner. Because what happens is that affordable housing goes out the window. How can you afford housing if that’s all going to be put on the taxpayer?”

As the outsider, Levinson admits that it’s been difficult at times to get his name and message out during this year of COVID-19.  He’s raised by far the least amount of campaign cash of the four candidates in both parties vying for the seat.

“I’m a people person. I don’t do well on Zoom,” Levinson says. “Someone like me? Yeah, the virus hurt. I want to be out there talking to people and see what‘s going on.”