Pam Iorio
 |
Pam Iorio, at her inauguration in April 2003. |
Pam Iorio (born
April 27,
1959 in
Waterville, Maine) is the 54th and current (as of
2006)
mayor of Tampa, Florida. She moved with her family to
Temple Terrace, Florida as an infant.
She was sworn in on
April 1,
2003, succeeding
Dick A. Greco. Her campaign was notable in that she decided to run for mayor fairly late, yet still managed to win by a 2-to-1 margin over her opponent. Iorio's administration was seen as breaking down the
good ol' boy system that was in place for years; as the second female mayor of the city, she hired many more minorities and women for staff positions than her male predecessors.
Her platform deals largely with renovating the downtown area, as well as creating economic confidence for poorer citizens of the city. Iorio is also a big supporter of the arts, and she wishes to make Tampa a major arts center in the
South. Iorio has also been credited with a sharp drop in
drug trafficking in the city limits.
In
1985, she became the youngest person ever elected to the Hillsborough County Commission. For a decade before her successful run for mayor, she served as Supervisor of Elections for
Hillsborough County. During the
2000 presidential election recount, she was the president of the State Association of County Elections Supervisors.
She earned her bachelor's degree from
American University and followed up with her master's at the
University of South Florida, while she was Supervisor of Elections.
Iorio has been married to Mark Woodard, assistant county administrator for
Pinellas County, since
1987 (she did not take her husband's last name), and they have two children, Caitlin and Graham.
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Mayor's website, features a pictorial called "Going Places with Pam!"
