Bay area mayors join forces

There was a time not too long ago when the mayors of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater wouldn't just ignore each other, they would practically pretend each area didn't exist.

But a prominent women's commercial real estate organization, CREW Tampa Bay, was able to bring the current mayors -- Bob Buckhorn of Tampa, Rick Kriseman of St. Petersburg and George Cretekos of Clearwater -- together. The event that got it done: CREW Tampa Bay's annual economic summit, held June 2 in the Hilton Tampa Downtown.

The biggest bump in creating regional unity among mayors comes from lack of viable transportation options between the cities. That's been a recurring theme the last few years. “Some say it's quicker to get from Europe to Tampa airport, than from Tampa airport to Clearwater Beach,” Cretekos jokes.