Hillsborough County To Swear In Historic Republican Commission

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — Hillsborough County will hold its Investiture Ceremony Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 9 a.m. to administer the oath of office to re-elected Commissioners Harry Cohen for District 1, Ken Hagan for District 2 and Gwen Myers for District 3; and to swear in Commissioner-Elect Michael Owen for District 4, Commissioner-Elect Donna Cameron Cepeda for Countywide District 5 and Commissioner-Elect Joshua Wostal for Countywide District 7.

The ceremony will be held in the second-floor boardroom of the Frederick B. Karl County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa.

Additionally, at 11 a.m., commissioners will hold their annual organizational meeting, where they will vote on a new chair, vice chair and chaplain. They also will determine commissioners’ assignments to various boards, such as the Tampa Port Authority, Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority and the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County.

The Hillsborough County Commission experienced a sweeping change during the Tuesday, Nov. 8, general election, when the historically Democratic commission turned Republican with the defeat of incumbent Democratic Commissioners Mariella Smith and Kimberly Overman by Republicans Cepeda and Wostal.

Along with re-elected Republican Commissioner Ken Hagan and newly elected Republican Commissioner Owen, who replaced Republican Commissioner Stacy White on the board when term limits prevented him from running again, the seven-member commission now has a four-member Republican majority.

The only candidate that managed to stave off a Republican challenger for the Hillsborough County Commission was Democratic candidate Harry Cohen, who held onto his seat against Republican challenger Scott D. Levinson by only .68 points.

See related story: Historically Democratic Hillsborough County Sees Republican Takeover

In the meantime, county government officials and staff bid farewell to outgoing Commissioners White, Smith and Overman.

White was elected to the board to represent District 4 in 2014, and Smith and Overman were elected in 2018 to represent Countywide District 5 and 7, respectively.

During the Nov. 16 Board of County Commissioners meeting, White, Smith and Overman were honored in a farewell ceremony.

During his tenure as a county commissioner, White served in leadership positions for seven of his eight years on the board — six as chaplain and one year as chairman. He championed environmental preservation, serving on the Tampa Bay Estuary Program Policy Board since taking office, among others. In his honor, the Board voted to rename 800 acres in rural South County that was purchased in 2020, also known as the Ag-Mart Property, the Stacy R. White Nature Preserve.

Smith, who served as vice chairwoman, has worked to tackle rising housing costs, stop urban sprawl, ensure smarter growth and provide better transit options. The board voted to rename the section of the South Coast Greenway Trail from Williams Park south to the Manatee County line in honor of Smith. It is now known as the Mariella Johns Smith Trail.

Overman, who served as chairwoman, is an advocate for economic growth, sustainable communities and education, and has worked to create more affordable housing and combat human trafficking. The board renamed the county's single-family mortgage revenue bond and down payment assistance program for first-time homebuyers the Kimberly Overman Down Payment Assistance Program in her honor.