One of the local races Tuesday’s primary will decide is the City Commission seat currently held by Nancy Miller. Miller’s Seat Three challenger, Steve Stewart, has been critical of her focus on economic development and the downtown area.
Stewart is a third-time local candidate challenging four-year incumbent Commissioner Miller. One of the more contentious issues between the two has been the amount and type of investment by Tallahassee’s Downtown Community Redevelopment Agency. On WFSU’s “Political Perspectives” show in late July, Stewart said it’s time to do away with the downtown board altogether to focus on other areas of town, “like where the Harvey’s just closed on the Southside, which has just become a food desert down there. We need to refocus our CRA mentality on the areas that actually need it.”
Miller countered that offering economic incentives for developments like College Town generates tax revenue that can be used for a wide variety of purposes including addressing homelessness.
By phone Monday, she said she hopes when voters look at the primary ballot, they think “about how much ribbon-cutting we’ve done over the past four years when most communities were in terrible financial straits. I want them to think about the fact that life is pretty good here in Tallahassee.”
Miller long served on citizen advisory boards before becoming a commissioner in 2010. She was among the architects of the Blueprint 2000 program that uses a penny sales tax to fund a variety of projects.
Stewart, who could not be reach for comment for this story, has been a longtime outspoken critic of the City Commission. He has recently been a consultant for the group Citizens for Ethics Reform, which is trying to place an amendment on November’s ballot.
