Following victories in two uncontested races, long-serving City Commissioners Michael Sparkman and William Dodson were sworn into new terms during the June 12 City Commission meeting. Commissioners in Plant City serve at-large and are elected to three-year terms. During the meeting, Dodson was also selected to serve as vice-mayor for one year.
Mayors and vice-mayors have no added authority on the commission, serving in a more ceremonial role as spokespersons of the commission. All commissioners also serve on other county and regional boards as representatives of Plant City.
What do you think the City Commission’s proudest moment has been since you’ve been serving?
Personally, the thing I have enjoyed and been honored by is the City Commission named the new police station after me. That’s important because my father was a sergeant with the Plant City Police Department for 24 years.
What has your greatest personal moment as a commissioner been?
The things I was able to accomplish when I was Mayor. We built the new city hall. It’s great to have something concrete that you know is still going to be here in 100 years. Being a part of that is something special.
Why did you run again?
I had such a following of people — city staff, voters and residents of the city — who asked me to come back and sought to get me back on the commission.
When I complete my next term I’ll be 75 years old. I don’t know that I’d want to stay any longer. I think I’d want to have someone take my place.
What do you hope to accomplish in your new term?
We’ve been struggling real hard as a whole nation and locally with the economic downfall of 2007-to-2008 era. I hope to see good economic growth and good housing. All the things the community needs, I hope to see that come through.
We continue to do industrial development. I’d like to see the housing market improve. We’re working on Midtown and other accents. I hope to see some accomplishments on those things we have in progress.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing Plant City?
We’re concerned about what the legislature is doing to the cities and counties. I’m very disappointed in the Florida Legislature this year in allowing the homestead exemption to go up. That’ll make it harder for us to balance a budget and provide services. We’re charged with the health and safety of our citizens. They’re making it harder for us to do that.
I’m disappointed in the speaker of the house (Richard Corcoran). I’ve never seen a bigger jerk in my 40 years in the political arena.
What do you think the City Commission’s proudest moment has been since you’ve been serving?
When we got that agreement signed by Hillsborough County for solid waste pick up, that was a big accomplishment because it took three administrations. It took equal effort to get the court house built. Those are moments you can be proud of because they took so much effort over such a long period of time.
We’re also getting to the point, after ten years of woking on the Midtown development, where we are about to begin to see some bricks and mortar going in. That’ll be very rewarding when we get to see that. I could go on.
What has your greatest personal moment as a commissioner been?
(When the Coronet factory closed) I went to the State of Florida and got a nearly $1 million grant to get water to that area of the city so the residents would have potable drinking water. That was a big accomplishment and something I take great pride in.
Why did you run again?
I enjoy what I’m doing. Being a city commissioner has always been a pleasure to me. It’s what I aspired to be since I was in school. It’s all part of a commitment to public service.
What do you hope to accomplish in your new term?
There’s a lot happening on the east side of County Line Road. We’d like to explore all possible avenues of growth coming out of that area and we want to back that up with housing in the northeast. It’s all an effort to create prosperity and provide opportunity for our residents. It’s all within a vision of embracing the future while preserving the past.
Growing the local economy is what we are hoping to do, that helps the citizens and that helps the city. We are always trying to be mindful of the need to get the local economy going.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing Plant City?
There’s always the issue of supply and demand. There’s always a great deal of demand, but limited funding. It’s about prioritizing needs with limited resources. That’s always a difficult thing in public policy. It’s a challenge because you want to do everything, but you can only do a limited amount. You do the best you can with what you have. That will always be a challenge that will never change.