King Fields Funeral Home

The mayor is not a top-down position. Workers work with you, not for you,” Suarez said. “It’s not an adversarial relationship.”The city’s police union has yet to endorse a candidate. All three unions will be renegotiating their bargaining agreements within months of the next mayor taking office on May 1.Suarez was one of seven candidates to qualify for the mayor’s race. Former police chief Jane Castor, former county commissioner Ed Turanchik, retired banker and philanthropist David Straz, City Council member Harry Cohen, small businessman Topher Morrison and retired judge Dick Greco Jr. round out the field in a campaign that has already had seven forums, including a televised debate.Two candidates who had filed paperwork didn’t end up qualifying: LaVaughn King and Michael Hazard. King participated in several debates, while Hazard, an ex-felon who recently had his voting rights restored with Amendment 4, never appeared at a forum. Their exit from the race leaves a field without a black candidate.All seven council seats are also up for reelection and every race will be competitive. In District 6, council member Guido Maniscalco drew an opponent Friday — small businesswoman and first-time candidate Wendy Pepe.For months, council member Charlie Miranda toyed with the idea of running against Maniscalco in the district covering neighborhoods in West Tampa and Seminole Heights. But Miranda will seek reelection for his citywide seat in District 2. He will be opposed by John Godwin, a national security and technical innovation consultant, and Joe Robinson,a longtime community activist and engineering consultant. With term-limited council members Yolie Capin and Frank Reddick leaving office in May, their seats have drawn crowded fields.In District 3, a citywide seat being vacated by Capin, former city council member John Dingfelder, South Seminole Heights Civic Association president Stephen Lytle and energy market manager and commun...