Recently elected mayor settles in — and overcomes naysayers

Since taking office in early May, after a landslide victory over businessman David Straz, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor has been making the rounds, as expected, citywide. She needs little in the way of introduction, of course, having served in the Tampa Police Department since 1984, eventually becoming chief of police in 2009, a post she held until her retirement in 2015.

Castor seems keenly aware of how important it is to promote an environment in which businesses can flourish. One of her first initiatives is dubbed Bridges to Business — a program designed to open up the City of Tampa’s procurement process to a wider range of businesses, particularly minority- and LGBT-owned firms. And she’s placed two issues that vex the business community — transportation and affordable housing — at the top of her list of problems to attack.