For years, frustration mounted in New Tampa.
As the population boomed, some residents say, services lagged.
One sore point was the long waiting list for gymnastic and dance programs at the New Tampa Recreation Center in Tampa Palms. In recent years, kids have had to wait for up to more than a half-decade for a chance to walk the balance beam or learn how to plie.
"It's an obscene number," said Tracy Falkowitz, a Tampa Palms resident and mother of two children who participated in the programs. Falkowitz moved to New Tampa 20 years ago and her kids waited for about a year before getting a spot in dance and gymnastics.
But the growing logjam at the rec center bothered her.
"It's a sense of fairness. These are my friends and neighbors. It's part of our neighborhood, it's a part of what keeps New Tampa such a family-friendly place to live," Falkowitz said.
Falkowitz found an ally in council member Luis Viera, who had just won a tight special election in December 2016 after Lisa Montelione resigned her seat to run for the Florida House of Representatives.
Viera organized a town hall and brought along Mayor Bob Buckhorn's chief of staff Dennis Rogero to hear residents' complaints. That proved to be the first step in an intense lobbying effort that resulted in an allocation of 99,800 for design costs. The expanded center should be open by next summer, cutting the long waiting list. Currently, the waiting list is approaching 2,200 with wait times up to five years for older children, according to the city's Parks and Recreation Department.
The story of the expansion reveals much about the problems facing suburban New Tampa, an area checkered with gated communities of mostly affluent homes. A common refrain among residents? New Tampa is a victim of political apathy, which allows the area to be a cash cow for Tampa, enriching municipal coffers while getting short shrift on services.
Lately, such feelings have begun to change. Buckhorn cut the ribbon on a new fire station to serve the area earlier this month. Viera also won funding for an autism-friendly park.
The rec center expansion represents a political coming-of-age for New Tampa.
"There are issues that are symbolically significant to a community. We had been promised (funds) year after year," Viera said.
The difference this time around was organization, he said.
New Tampa, annexed to the city in pieces beginning in the mid-1980s, needed a new civic organization. A community council folded in 2009. So Viera helped form a new group, which brought a few dozen red-shirted supporters to city budget discussions.
In short, Viera said, New Tampa started to act like other assertive parts of the city.
"You look at South Tampa. Whenever there is an issue that affects their area, they show up," he said.
Located well north of most of the city, New Tampa can feel like a place apart, Falkowitz said.
"We're sort of like Hawaii - out there on our own," she said. "So for a long time, New Tampa was neglected. But it's our own fault. If you want to get what you need, you have to show up."
Now, optimism reigns, she said. And Viera says New Tampa's newfound attention is sign of a welcome shift of City Hall attention and money that had been focused downtown.
"It's something we've seen in the last two years," Viera said. "We are investing more and more in our neighborhoods. We've had years of investing in downtown and I'm all for that.
"You need a vibrant downtown to be a 21st century city. But you have to balance that with addressing the needs of our neighborhoods."
Contact Charlie Frago at cfrago@tampabay.com or (727)893-8459. Follow@CharlieFrago.
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