Bob Buckhorn easily won the Tampa mayoral election this week, and he hasn't lost his easygoing sense of humor ... yet.
"I'm barely the mayor of my own house," the Democrat told Sunshine State News on Thursday -- eight days before he formally takes office. "I feel like I've been drinking water of out a fire hydrant. It's all somewhat intimidating."
Tampa residents obviously feel that Buckhorn is up to the job. They elected him in a landslide over Republican Rose Ferlita.
An assistant to the mayor back in the early '90s, Buckhorn has served on the City Council and predicts a "seamless" transition in leading the city of 400,000.
"I've been friends with [outgoing mayor] Pam [Iorio] for 25 years," he notes.
Job One is jobs, says Buckhorn, as he channels Gov. Rick Scott in a determination to expand private-sector employment opportunities in the port city that has been hammered by unemployment and foreclosures.
"We have to clean up some of the permitting process and some regulatory things," he says. "That's the internal stuff. Externally, it's how we are branded outside the region."
Buckhorn said he expected to meet Scott for the first time Thursday ... at an economic-development gathering, naturally.
Reach Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews or at (772) 801-5341.
