Term: April 1, 2003 - March 31, 2011
Pam Iorio is the 57th Mayor of Tampa, the nation's 55th largest city. Sworn into office on April 1, 2003, for a four-year term, Mayor Iorio established five strategic goals to guide Tampa throughout the decade. These areas of focus are: investing in neighborhoods, economic development of our most challenged areas, creating a residential community downtown, efficient city government focused on customer service, and establishing Tampa as a city of the arts.
Pam Iorio was committed to improving the quality of life in Tampa. Since her first month in office there had been a crack down on street level drug dealing. The chief of police implemented aggressive community policing, which resulted in a dramatic improvement in the crime rate. The city was cleaned up through invigorated code enforcement and there was an emphasis on neighborhood improvements.
Tampa had continued to grow, attracting new businesses in a highly competitive environment. Mayor Iorio had made the attraction of new business a priority. In 2004, working with the Tampa Chamber of Commerce, the county and the state, Tampa was selected for the expansion of Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, a major Wall Street firm. 2004 also saw AACSB, the international association responsible for accrediting college and university business schools, select Tampa as their new home.
As mayor, Pam Iorio served on the Aviation Authority, the Port Authority, Tampa Bay Water, and the Board of Trustees of the University of Tampa.
Iorio began her political career at age 26, when she became the youngest person ever elected to the Hillsborough County Commission (1985-1992). A year later her fellow commissioners elected her chairman. After serving two terms on the County Commission, Iorio was elected three times to the office of Supervisor of Elections for Hillsborough County (1993-2003). In 2000, she was elected President of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections, becoming the spokes person for the supervisors during the 2000 presidential election. Pam Iorio ushered in the electronic age of voting, managing the highly successful transition from punch card to touch-screen voting technology in 2002. Also in2002, for her work in the area of election reform, she was presented the Leadership Florida Distinguished Alumnus Award, which recognizes statewide leadership in bettering the lives of Floridians.
Iorio attended Hillsborough County public schools and graduated from American University in Washington D.C. with a BS Degree in Political Science. Iorio also earned a Master's Degree in History from the University of South Florida in Tampa in 2001. She has published several articles on Tampa's civil rights and political history.
Iorio is married to Mark Woodard. They have two children, Caitlin and Graham.