Bob Buckhorn

Personal life and education

Born in Evanston, Illinois, the eldest of three sons, Buckhorn grew up in Falls Church, Virginia. He graduated in 1980 from Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Political Science, where he was on the college lacrosse team. He is married to Dr. Catherine Lynch Buckhorn and they have two daughters.

Political career

Previously, Buckhorn was the Director of Governmental Affairs for the Builders Association of Greater Tampa, and in 1987, became the Special Assistant to Mayor Sandra Freedman. In 1995, Buckhorn was elected Tampa City Council and was reelected to the Tampa City Council for a second term with 75% of the vote.

Tampa mayoralty

Having previously come third in the 2003 mayoral election, Buckhorn announced his intention to run again in the Mayoral election, and received an endorsement from outgoing incumbent Pam Iorio.

As Tampa's mayor, Buckhorn has stated he is committed to continuously looking for ways to reduce costs while improving efficiency in city government. In June 2011, he formed the Economic Competitiveness Committee (ECC) to review the City of Tampa’s permitting and regulatory processes and to look for ways to improve the system. The ECC made several recommendations, and the City of Tampa is in the process of instituting those, including the implementation of Accela to allow for permitting to be done online.

Through the Invision Tampa plan, Buckhorn outlined his commitment to creating a more connected, livable city by focusing on the city's underutilized riverfront, generating a strong mix-use pedestrian environment, building links between neighborhoods, and developing an urban pattern that supports transit. He has also invested in the urban core, working to restore the street grid, foster new retail opportunities, and tried to work to attract new high density residential development such as the Residences on the Riverwalk and Skyhouse Tampa.

Buckhorn also secured a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to complete the Tampa Riverwalk, which has been in the molding process by city officials for more than 40 years. Once complete, the Riverwalk hopes to generate new possibilities for economic development along the Hillsborough River.

He has also supported the expansion of mass transit and bike share.

Buckhorn came under fire for aiming a twin .50 caliber machine gun at journalists and pretending to shoot them during a military parade and joking about it afterwards. Buckhorn later apologized to the military journalists for his joke.

Buckhorn has come under criticism for approving of the arrest of group of volunteers "Tampa Food, Not Bombs" on January 7th, 2017 for feeding the homeless.