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Features
City Council Districts 5:
City Council Candidates Qualify For District 5
City Council Districts 6 & 7:
City Council Candidates
ELLA K. COFFEE
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Voters will be
called on to select
one of five candi-
dates competing for
the District V seat
on City Council.
They come from
varied backgrounds and all have something to bring to the table. However, none have served on City Council in the past.
District V is one of four single districts with an at- large seat, while District IV is district specific. There is not an incumbent so all candi- dates are on even standing in the election. All five candi- dates are Black. Among them, one woman is vying for the District V seat.
Frank Reddick, the cur- rent District 5 representative must vacate the seat due to term limits. He has decided not to seek another seat on the City Council.
Ella K. Coffee brings to the race, years of experience she gained being involved in the political arena working in the background.
In addition to her electoral work, Coffee has served on the Board of the Hillsborough County Branch NAACP, the Hillsborough County Con- sumer Protection Board, and the East Tampa Community Revitalization Partnership.
Todd Cole was born and raised in District 5 and wants to continue serving his com- munity. He is the former Boys & Girls Club Vice President, and has a long history of working with children at the national Youth Sports Pro- gram (USF), Hillsborough County Parks & Recreation, and more than 20 years with the Boys & Girls Clubs.
Orlando Gudes is a re- tired Tampa Police Officer. This marks his second time attempting to be chosen to represent District V. He is co-
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
The date of March 5th, is going to be a very important date for the candidates seek- ing office in the City of Tampa. When voters cast their ballots, they will have a variety of candidates from which to choose in District VI with two candidates and District VII with two candi- dates.
Guido Maniscalco is the incumbent candidate for the District VI seat. He is a Tampa native and was first elected in 2016. He serves on numerous boards and com- mittees as a member of the Council.
He currently serves as trustee chairman of the Sons of Italy lodge, member of the West Tampa Optimist Club, Ybor City Round Table, and
GUIDO MANISCALCO
QUINTON ROBINSON
LUIS VIERA
TODD ‘TC’ COLE
ORLANDO GUDES
RALPH ‘THE COMPUTER GUY’ SMITH
owner of Gudes Funeral Home.
Gudes plans to carry the torch and continue the work of Councilman Reddick while expanding to reach more projects and more resi- dents.
This is the first time Jef- frey Rhodes will enter the race to win an elected office. Rhodes is a lifetime Tampa native, a licensed Funeral Di- rector and Co-owner of Ray Williams Funeral Home, Inc.
Rhodes is involved in several professional, civic, community and social organ- izations. He is a long time board member of Tampa Or- ganization of Black Affairs (TOBA), where he is the polit- ical chair. He participated and helped organize Souls to the Polls, Voter Registration and several Political Forums along with the NAACP.
In 1997, Ralph Smith founded Computer Mentors to improve computer literacy among East Tampa students by putting computers in their homes. That mission was ac- complished, with Computer Mentors giving away more than 700 computers. Over the years, the nonprofit has ex- panded its focus to include teaching students to code, ob- taining industry standard cer- tification like Microsoft MOUS and MTA certifica- tions.
In addition to serving as Executive Director of Com- puter Mentors, Smith is an avid volunteer and active member of the Tampa Bay community.
This is Smith’s first ven- ture into the political area.
member of the Hillsborough County Human Rights Coun-
cil.
Wendy Pepe is the only
woman competing for the District VI seat. She has qualified to compete against incumbent Guido Manis- calco for the seat.
In District VII, Quinton Robinson is a Tampa na- tive and graduated from Florida A & M University. He also studied Ministerial Studies and Divinity at
Luther Rice University & Seminary. He is a commu- nity activist and former pres- ident of the Hillsborough County Democratic Black Caucus.
Luis Viera is the incum- bent in District VII. He com- pleted his first term as a City Councilman. He won the 2016 campaign in a runoff with 65 votes. He is an attor- ney and the founder and President of Lawyers Autism Awareness Foundation.
Qualify For Districts 6 And 7
JEFFREY L. RHODES
TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3