Eighteen Apply for Luis Viera's Open Tampa City Council Seat, and the Pick Could Decide the Rays Stadium's Remaining Votes

Eighteen people have applied to fill the Tampa City Council seat left open by Luis Viera, and whoever the council chooses on Nov. 17 is likely to hold the deciding vote on the Tampa Bay Rays ballpark deals still in front of the city. With Viera gone, the six remaining members are split 3-3 on paying for the stadium, WUSF and FOX 13 reported.

The city released an unofficial list of applicants on Monday, Nov. 9, after the application window closed. City staff were scheduled to vet the field by Tuesday to confirm each person meets the qualifications to serve.

Why the seat is open

Viera, a Democrat who represented District 7 for about a decade, resigned from the council under Florida's resign-to-run law to seek a seat in the state House. His resignation took effect Nov. 2, the day before the general election. On Nov. 3 he won House District 67 with about 66% of the vote, defeating Republican Lisette Bonano, according to Florida Politics. He succeeds Democrat Fentrice Driskell, who was term-limited in the House and was elected to the state Senate.

Viera first won the seat in a 2016 runoff decided by 65 votes, then was reelected in 2019 and returned without opposition in 2023. District 7 covers the northern part of the city, including New Tampa, Forest Hills, Terrace Park and the area around the University of South Florida.

Viera was a reliable yes vote on the Rays stadium, so his departure upset the council's balance on the project.

Who applied

The unofficial list of applicants, as published by WUSF, includes:

• Erik Edward Morris
• Clifford Maurice Allen
• James P. Davison
• Robin Lockett
• Kamolika Batabyal
• Candice Monique Cowen
• Alan M. Cohn
• Joseph Silisavage
• Vickie Schandera
• Belinda Gail Quarterman Noah
• Nasrin Aldawoodi
• Patricia Altagracia Alonzo
• Darnell Eason
• Morris Lopez III
• Eyad John Gheith
• John M. Kelly
• Gene Siudut
• Jessica Parks

FOX 13 highlighted several of the better-known names: Robin Lockett, a community organizer and former state House candidate; Alan Cohn, a former broadcast news anchor; Pat Alonzo, a declared candidate for the seat in March; Morris Lopez, a Hillsborough County Fire Rescue division chief; and Gene Siudut, a longtime journalist at La Gaceta.

Alonzo, Cohn and Lopez have already filed to run for District 7 in the March 2, 2027, municipal election, WUSF reported. An appointment would let one of them campaign as the sitting council member.

How the appointment works

The selection follows a compressed schedule laid out by the city:

At the Nov. 17 meeting, each applicant will give a two-minute presentation and take questions from council members. Members then vote by ballot, and a candidate needs at least four of the six votes to win the appointment. With the board evenly divided on the stadium, reaching four votes may require at least one member to cross the stadium divide.

Voters will then choose a permanent District 7 member in the March 2 election. If no candidate tops 50%, a runoff would be held April 27, and the winner takes office in May.

The Rays votes that brought the council here

The council has approved two major pieces of the Rays' planned $2.36 billion ballpark on Hillsborough College's Dale Mabry campus in Drew Park, and both passed by a single vote with Viera on the winning side. The team aims to open the stadium for the 2029 season and leave Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

On Aug. 27, the council voted 4-3 to commit $80 million in city money toward construction, after an earlier attempt deadlocked 3-3 while Council member Bill Carlson was out sick. Then on Oct. 29, at a special meeting Viera requested before he left office, the council approved a $21 million community benefits agreement with the team, again 4-3. Council members Charlie Miranda, Lynn Hurtak and Guido Maniscalco voted no. Hillsborough County approved its share of public funding, about $796 million, in a 5-2 vote on Aug. 28.

Supporters pushed to finish the community benefits agreement while Viera's vote was still available, knowing the council would be deadlocked once he resigned.

What is still to come

Several stadium-related decisions remain before the city, according to FOX 13:

• Issuing bonds to cover the city's $80 million commitment, which would add tens of millions of dollars in interest
• Establishing a special taxing district
• Creating a community development district
• Approving specific site plans for the development

On each of those, the appointee could be the tiebreaker. That gives the Nov. 17 vote stakes well beyond a five-month caretaker term in a district that sits miles from the stadium site in Drew Park.

What council members are saying

Not every member wants the appointment framed as a stadium referendum. Council member Guido Maniscalco told FOX 13 he plans to judge applicants on their overall record. "I wouldn't look at it as where this applicant is on that one issue," he said.

Council member Charlie Miranda, who voted against both the ballpark funding and the community benefits agreement, said he wants a colleague focused on the city's core municipal needs. He told FOX 13 he would not favor someone with no broader knowledge who simply supports the stadium.

For applicants, that means the two-minute presentations and the questions that follow are likely to probe positions on the remaining stadium votes as well as on day-to-day issues in New Tampa and the USF area.

What's next

Council members received applicant materials on Tuesday and have a week to review them before the Nov. 17 special meeting. If a candidate wins four votes, that person would be sworn in Nov. 19 and serve through April 30. The appointment will set the council's lineup for the bond, taxing district and site plan votes on the Rays project, while the three applicants already running in March will be watching to see whether one of them gains the advantage of incumbency.