Name: Richard “Rich” Glorioso
Age: 68
Residence: Plant City
Occupation: colonel (Retired) U.S. Air Force 27 years
Political experience: completing 8th year as a State Rep. Vice chair and chair of the Infrastructure (Transportation) Committee
Office being sought: Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections
Why are you running for this office?
I am running to put transparency, integrity and confidence back into the system. I want to insure all citizens eligible to register are registered and those that want to vote can easily do so. When people call the supervisor’s office, their questions should be answered in a timely manner and the caller not shuffled from one person to another. The voter rolls need to be pure to insure yours and my vote counts.
What are your top three priorities?
Integrity, Competency and Transparency.
The office must be run with integrity, and mine was proven when I answered my country’s call during the Vietnam War.
I will establish a complete top to bottom review of all processes within the organization. It will be employee and customer driven, using principles of continual process improvement. For excellent people to excel, they must have excellent processes to work with. That’s how you improve morale and outcomes.
I believe a valid review of the voter registration lists should be a continuing process. Ask yourself why do our local voter rolls list dead people, felons and non-citizens?
Why should voters choose you?
Integrity, Competency and Leadership. Integrity is not something you turn on and off; it starts as a youth and continues throughout you life. Mine was proven from answering my countries call for the Vietnam War, through my distinguished 27 year military career as a colonel and commander, to my time as a State Representative. My ability to lead in both routine and crisis situations has been tested over and over as a senior AF officer and as a State Representative. My education and experience has allowed me to take minimally performing organizations and lead them to excellence.
What qualifications do you bring to the job?
Besides the ethic and integrity qualities I will bring to Supervisor of Elections office, I bring a new set of eyes, energy and ideas to that office. I also bring world wide education and experiences in many areas including; Computer/Information Technology, Logistics planning and execution, and Leadership experience in Commanding a Logistics Group consisting of five squadrons. We need to clean up our voter rolls. There is no excuse for the rolls to include dead, felons or non-citizens. If current processes or laws are restricting us from keeping the rolls pure, we need to fix it. I will work with employees and customers alike to change those local processes. If it’s the laws that need changing, I know the process and have the contacts to instigate those changes. I am the most qualified candidate in this race to lead and get the job done.
Name: Thomas Scott
Age: no response given
Residence: Tampa
Occupation: senior pastor, Thirty-Fourth Street Church of God
Political affiliation: Democrat
Political experience: elected to Hillsborough Commission for 10 years and served as chairman three times. Elected to Tampa City Council four years while serving three terms as chairman.
Office being sought: Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections
Why are you running for this office?
The Supervisor Elections’ office has undergone strong management challenges over the past 7 years. With my proven capacity to lead County and City growth, I believe I am that person called to this job. Not only do I bring strong public trust, but I bring elements needed in this office: integrity, transparency, fairness, practical business experience and knowledge of County planning. Having served residents of this County and City of Tampa for 14 years and having those residents hire me to these positions proves my effectiveness as a public servant.
What are your top three priorities?
a. To protect the integrity of the voting process.
—Ensuring a voter process where all votes are counted
—Review and streamline election process where needed
b. To provide excellence customer and voter experience.
—Less cumbersome registration and voting process
—Customer friendly environment
—Improve selection and relationships with precinct workers.
c. To promote education and outreach in all parts of the county.
—Through a strong high school voter education program
—General Public education by partnering with non-government organizations to promote voter education and registration
—Use all social media networks to involve young voters in the election process
—Target Community outreach in precincts with low voter turnout.
Why should voters choose you?
I have a proven record of public service of integrity serving. I know the county, having traveled it and worked with its residents for 10 years. Also, I have had the opportunity to manage a Commissioner’s Office and a City Council Office for 14 years. While managing those offices, I had to manage an annual budget totaling as much as $4 billion. Serving on the Hillsborough Canvassing Board providing oversight of the election process and the Supervisor of Elections, I have the experience needed to insure integrity of the voter process, provide voter education and provide excellent voter experience.
What qualifications do you bring to the job?
My experience as an elected official and the knowledge of what is required in the Supervisor of Election office. My experience of working on the Hillsborough Canvassing Board for four terms and working with the former Supervisor of Elections Pam Iorio for 10 years. My leadership on the County Commission streamlining the budget process of $4 billion dollars. I have addressed many needs in our community such as transportation, water, affordable housing, public safety and growth.
