Dr. Neil Manimala, 35, has watched Valrico grow from orange groves and two-lane roads to an area with nothing but golf courses for greenspace. He learned to drive on the congested stretch of State Road 60 that runs through Brandon. Now, the University of South Florida-graduate and urologist wants to join the county commission to address the sprawl and the traffic that has become emblematic of east Hillsborough County.
“I can only do so much as a urologist,” Manimala told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “People can’t even make it to their appointments, because they missed the bus in south county by a minute. If they’re worried about keeping a roof over their head, they have to decide between that versus making it into surgery the next day.”
The public transit and affordable housing advocate has raised over $100,000 in his bid to unseat Donna Cameron Cepeda, a Republican elected in 2022 who has since voted to reduce affordable housing and lobbied for reduced public transparency of county commission activities. She was also among the commissioners who did not sign a 2024 Tampa Pride proclamation…