City leaders have chosen Jay Hollenkamp to represent Plant City on Hillsborough County’s Charter Surtax for Transportation Improvements Independent Oversight Committee.
Mayor Rick Lott was tasked with the job of finding a representative for the city and he chose to extend the duty to his fellow commissioners. The committee is being formed due to an amendment to the County Charter to include a surtax to fund transportation improvements throughout Hillsborough County by the passing of “All for Transportation” during the midterm elections. The committee will oversee the distribution of the 1% surtax proceeds.
“I have talked to quite a few people,” Lott said. “Every single person I spoke with was definitely qualified. We have strong leadership here in Plant City. One person, though, that I’d like to bring up for consideration is Jay Hollenkamp. He’s part of the new, young group that is wanting to get involved in the city and one of the things they have a passion for is transportation. The leader of that group is Jay.”
Lott referenced Hollenkamp’s dedicated spirit and impressive resume before opening the conversation up to his fellow commissioners. With a background in law as well as co-managing Cocktail Caviar, a company started by his brother, Hollenkamp has spent years putting his business and law degrees to use.
He has been immersing himself in the city’s politics and roots for years. He said he wanted to meet with commissioners for quite some time but was waiting for the appropriate moment. He began attending every commission meeting, poured into local groups dedicated toward the betterment of downtown, lives downtown and purchased a building in the heart of historic downtown.
“I’m now a business owner,” Hollenkamp said. “We employ downtown, we work downtown, we’re soon to have a second business downtown and we live downtown, by we I mean my brother and I. I was a little slow at reaching out to the commissioners because I wanted them to see that I was fully invested in the prosperity and future of Plant City.”
When Lott approached the group following a commission meeting asking if anyone would be interested in throwing their hat in the ring, Hollenkamp was the immediate nomination. He began diving into as much research on local transportation as he could find.
“Public transit is very nuanced and it’s something that is, from my impression, difficult to dabble in,” Hollenkamp said. “I wanted to start getting as broad an understanding as possible. Not just for this potential position, but generally in turns of Plant City and its future longterm I thought it would be helpful to have a working understanding.”
He made it his mission to meet with every city commissioner and said their opinions were frank, thoughtful and honest. Some were supportive. Some were not. Those sentiments were shared Monday during the conversation at the dais prior to a vote.
Commissioners Bill Dodson and Mary Mathis were quick to lob their support toward Hollenkamp. Before the other commissioners even had the chance to share their comments Dodson made a nomination to move to a vote. Mathis seconded the motion stating she was impressed with both his persistence in reaching her to discuss his interest in the position and the amount of research he completed in such a short time on the issues.
Vice Mayor Nate Kilton voiced his hesitation with the nomination. While he said he liked and supported Hollenkamp and admired his passion for downtown, he believed they should consider looking at someone with “more tenure and experience” considering the importance of the role. Despite his hesitations, he agreed to support the group’s decision.
Those hesitations were echoed in Commissioner Mike Sparkman. To him, the job was too important to put in the hands of someone with “so little experience.” Motioning to his fellow commissioners he listed the years of intensive background each had prior to pursing a political role.
“I felt like this job was a big jump for a person to make and also this is a political job whether you like it or not and we need to have somebody that’s got some political background that can go to this board and be able to stand up for Plant City,” Sparkman said. “I admire Jay tremendously, we had a great conversation and hopefully I’ve made a real great friend and somebody I can support and watch grow in our community… I think it’s too much to ask Jay to take this important role at this time and stage. He needs to be proven and to prove himself to the citizens of Plant City and he also needs to grow into Plant City, which I’m sure he’s going to do and he’s going to do great. But I think it’s a mistake.”
Hollenkamp said he respected all of the commissioner’s opinions and was looking forward to fighting for Plant City while serving. He said the plan is to continue to grow his knowledge, to learn from other counties and cities that have successfully passed similar referendums and to find the best way to appropriate the funds.