Dick A. Greco
| Dick A. Greco | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Tampa, Florida | |
|
In office 1967–1974, 1995–2003 |
|
| Preceded by | Nick Chillura Nuccio, 1st term; Sandra Freedman, 2nd term |
| Succeeded by | Richard L. Cheney, 1st term; Pam Iorio, 2nd term |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 14, 1933 Ybor City, Tampa, Florida |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Linda F. McClintock-Greco |
| Alma mater | University of Tampa (B.A.) |
Dick A. Greco (born September 14, 1933) is a politician, businessman, and civic activist from Tampa, Florida.
Dick Greco was born in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa, where his Italian-American father owned a hardware store. He graduated from Hillsborough High School and the University of Tampa where he obtained his B.S. in Education (1956). After obtaining his degree, Greco took over his father's hardware store and became increasingly active in many civic programs and organizations.
In 1963, Greco used his growing community support to successfully run for a seat on the Tampa city council.
In 1967, Greco ran a successful campaign to be Tampa's youngest mayor (and one of the youngest mayors in the United States) by beating incumbent and fellow Ybor City native Nick Nuccio in an election that was seen as a transfer of power from one generation to the next
In his first term, Greco balanced issues such as simmering racial tensions, crime, and extremely limited tax revenue. In 1971, Greco again beat Nuccio in a mayoral election rematch, but resigned in 1974 to accept a job with Edward J. DeBartolo Corp., a mall development company.
After over two decades in the private sector, Greco successfully returned to Tampa politics in 1995 when he ran for and regained the mayor's office. Greco's wide popularity won him another term with no opposition in 1999.
During his fourth term as mayor, Greco's administration was involved in controversy when the city's housing director, Steve LaBrake, was accused of improperly awarding city contracts and taking bribes. Despite mounting criticism, Greco refused to fire LaBrake until after the director was indicted in federal court. LaBrake eventually served time in prison for his actions. Greco was also criticized for regularly backing private redevelopment projects with city money, leaving the city with large debt repayments when the developer of Centro Ybor defaulted. Due to term limits limiting Tampa mayors to two consecutive terms, he could not run again in 2003 and was succeeded by Pam Iorio.
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