HART Welcomes Ronrico “Rico” Smith to the Board of Directors

HART is pleased to announce the appointment of Ronrico “Rico” Smith to the HART Board of Directors, representing Hillsborough County.

A third-generation Tampa native, Rico brings deep community roots and a steadfast commitment to public service. With several years of successful experience in sales and product management, he has effectively advocated on behalf of medical device companies before federal, defense, and state officials on critical healthcare issues. His professional background reflects a strong understanding of policy, strategy, and stakeholder engagement—skills that will serve HART and the community well.

Rico also brings valuable board-level leadership experience in both government and healthcare. He currently serves on the Corporate Board for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Tampa Bay and previously served as Board Treasurer for the Hillsborough County Hospital Authority. During his tenure, he played a key role in overseeing land use at Tampa General Hospital and approving a transformative $550 million capital improvement plan—demonstrating his ability to guide complex initiatives with long-term community impact.

Committed to service beyond the boardroom, Rico enlisted in the U.S. Air Force Reserves in 2016 and was commissioned in 2022 as a Finance Officer. In this role, he assists with formulating program policy, allocating manpower resources, and managing budgeting efforts for Total Force Integration. He earned his associate’s degree from the Community College of the Air Force and his bachelor’s degree from Trident University.

Rico remains actively involved in the community, volunteering with local veterans’ organizations and serving on the Congressional Veterans’ Advisory Committee for Congressman Gus Bilirakis. He also mentors junior investors in real estate and retirement planning. In his free time, he enjoys golfing and traveling with his family and friends.

HART looks forward to Rico’s leadership and perspective as the agency continues advancing safe, reliable, and innovative public transportation solutions for the residents of Hillsborough County.

Please join us in welcoming Ronrico “Rico” Smith to the HART Board of Directors.

HART Welcomes Councilman Alan Clendenin to the Board of Directors

HART announces that Councilman Alan Clendenin has been appointed to the HART Board of Directors, representing the City of Tampa. His appointment follows the unexpected passing of Councilwoman Gwen Henderson, who previously represented the City of Tampa on the Board.

Councilman Clendenin brings decades of public service and operational experience to the HART Board. He served 32 years with the Federal Aviation Administration as an air traffic control specialist, gaining extensive labor-management experience in a safety-critical environment.

He is Chairman of the Tampa City Council representing District 1 (citywide) and serves on the Hillsborough Transportation Planning Organization (TPO), Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, Tampa Sports Authority, and the Tampa Bay Committee on Foreign Relations, with prior service on the City of Tampa Civil Service Board.

A Tampa resident since 1985, he and his partner raised two children in the city’s public schools.

HART welcomes Councilman Clendenin to the Board of Directors and looks forward to his stewardship!

Councilman Clendenin

HART Welcomes Commissioner Cameron-Cepeda to the Board of Directors!

Commissioner Donna Cameron-Cepeda

Please join us in welcoming Commissioner Dr. Donna Cameron-Cepeda to the HART Board! Commissioner Cameron-Cepeda was appointed by the Hillsborough County BOCC and will represent Hillsborough County on the Board.

Commissioner Cameron-Cepeda is an Army Veteran, and Author. She has worked as a Financial Analyst for a multi-billion-dollar corporation.

She has also served as an Associate Professor at Life Christian University. Dr. Donna has touched many lives through her life of service as a licensed and ordained minister, pastoral counseling people that have life trauma, PTSD, drug and alcohol addictions and other spiritual issues. She has a great love for people and is involved in the community extensively.

Commissioner Cameron-Cepeda will replace Commissioner Patricia "Pat" Kemp, who has served on the HART Board since 2018.

HART would like to thank Commissioner Kemp for her service on the HART Board of Directors and her commitment to the Agency during her tenure.

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The HART Board is responsible for setting policy and making decisions for the Authority on matters ranging from system operations, service planning, fare structure, finance, customer service, and is made up of 14 volunteers who are appointed to represent Hillsborough County (seven seats), City of Tampa (four seats), State of Florida (two seats) and City of Temple Terrace (one seat). Officers of the HART Board (chair, vice-chair and secretary) are elected every year.

HART Board Appoints Scott Drainville as Permanent CEO

HART CEO Scott Drainville

The HART Board of Directors appointed Scott Drainville as the Authority's new Chief Executive Officer at the November 6, 2023, Board Meeting.

Mr. Drainville has been serving as the HART Interim CEO since April 2023.

  

The decision to promote Mr. Drainville was announced after a vote by the HART Board of Directors to approve his contract as permanent CEO.

            

HART hired Mr. Drainville in 2018 as Deputy Chief of Maintenance, overseeing the Authority's core business in maintenance, facilities, inventory control and the communications/electronics divisions and responsible for directing the overall funding, environmental, design, permitting, construction, and project close-out of capital construction projects. He would go on to serve as Chief of Maintenance and Transportation.

 

“Scott Drainville is a partner with our Board in bringing more transparency to HART, said HART Chair Councilman Luis Viera. "I and our Board of Republicans and Democrats enthusiastically gave Mr. Drainville a unanimous approval for a reason - because he is the right person with the right values and for the right time for HART.”

 

"I appreciate the confidence the Board of Directors has placed in my ability to lead HART," said HART CEO Scott Drainville. "My focus is on bringing stability to the organization and continuing to maximize our resources to deliver the best possible transportation service for Hillsborough County."

      

Mr. Drainville is a native of East Providence, Rhode Island who brings more than thirty years of public transportation and fleet maintenance experience to the organization. He started his career as a diesel technician in the late '80s.

Before coming to HART, Mr. Drainville served as the Director of Transportation and Maintenance for CitiBus located in Lubbock, Texas. He has also held transit leadership positions at the D.C. Circulator in Washington D.C. and served as a Mechanical Foreman with the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority for more than eighteen years.

BOCC Appoints Two New Board Members; Reappoints One

Please join HART staff in welcoming Gary Hartfield and John King Jr. as newly-appointed HART Board members, representing Hillsborough County. We are also excited to announce that Director Marvin Knight was reappointed for another term and will continue his tenure on the Board.

Gary T. Hartfield is an award-winning serial entrepreneur, leader, author, and philanthropist. He is the president and CEO of six Residential Group Homes throughout Florida, delivering personalized and therapeutic healthcare services for the elderly and developmentally disabled. Gary is also the founder and CEO of Serenity Village Insurance & Consulting, a full-service agency providing insurance solutions to clients throughout Florida and Georgia. Mr. Hartfield's key business roles and accomplishments extend to the nonprofit realm, where he serves as the CEO and Chairman of Empower Florida, Inc., an association representing the needs of more than 20,000 business owners who serve the intellectually and developmentally disabled throughout Florida. He also serves on multiple boards and councils, including the Tampa Bay Chamber, Career Source Tampa Bay, the CEO Council, the Nonprofit Leadership Center, The Skills Center, Live Tampa Bay, and the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs.

Gary T. Hartfield

John King, Jr., is a native Floridian and resided in Hillsborough County since 2008. Mr. King graduated from Florida State University and retired from the United States Navy after serving for 22 years as a military intelligence officer. Prior to his military service, Mr. King worked as a risk management consultant for MG Consulting in Atlanta, Georgia, restructuring Commercial General Liability, and Commercial Property and Casualty loss portfolios and reinsurance contracts. Mr. King currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Carrollwood Village Homeowners Association. Mr. King is a former aide to Congressman Charles E. Bennett of Florida.

John King, Jr.

Marvin Knight, a current HART Board member, has been reappointed for his third term on the HART Board of Directors. Mr. Knight has a degree in electronic technology and computer electronics. Mr. Knight is very active in the community; he is Hillsborough County Honorary Deputy, a member of NAACP, and Freddie Solomon Boys and Girls Club. Marvin Knight has been a member of the HART Finance and Audit, Operations and Safety Committees, and Revenue Alternatives Ad Hoc Committee.

Marvin Knight

We are looking forward to your input and active involvement in support of HART’s mission “to take people to the places that enhance their lives”.

New appointees replace the previous Hillsborough County appointees Rena Frazier and Eric Johnson. HART would like to thank them for their service on the HART Board of Directors and commitment to the Agency during their tenure.

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The HART Board is responsible for setting policy and making decisions for the Authority on matters ranging from system operations, service planning, fare structure, finance, customer service, and is made up of 14 volunteers who are appointed to represent Hillsborough County (seven seats), City of Tampa (four seats), State of Florida (two seats) and City of Temple Terrace (one seat). Officers of the HART Board (chair, vice-chair and secretary) are elected every year.

HART Board Statement on the Vote to Suspend HART CEO Adelee Le Grand with Pay

Official statement of the HART Board regarding the board action on Monday, March 27, 2023, to suspend HART CEO Adelee Le Grand with pay:

"The HART Board voted on Monday to suspend CEO Adelee Le Grand with pay following the final report of the investigative attorney David Adams. The Board is expected to make a decision on Ms. Le Grand’s future with the agency at a special board meeting to be determined in the near future. We remain as a Board committed to transparency and the expectations of taxpayers who fund our mission.  In the meantime, Scott Drainville, Chief of Maintenance and Transportation, has been named as Interim CEO.

Despite our current circumstances, HART remains fully committed to our mission.  And we remain committed to the hard-working men and women who give all they have on the job for our mission."

HART Board Elects New Leadership for 2022

HART Chair Pat Kemp

At its January 10 meeting, the HART Board elected Commissioner Patricia "Pat" Kemp as Chair, Commissioner Kimberly Overman as Vice-Chair and Director Melanie Williams as Secretary of the HART Board of Directors for 2022.

Commissioner Kemp takes over as HART Chair from Commissioner Mariella Smith, who served in the role for the last two years. Chair Kemp will serve a 1-year term.

"It is a great privilege to be elected as HART Board Chair and continue working alongside the dedicated Board members to serve our customers, employees and the community, said Chair Commissioner Kemp. "I look forward to working together to operate a safe, reliable, efficient and fiscally sound transit system that contributes to the economic success and quality of life of this region and Hillsborough County." 

Commissioner Kemp has been a Board member since November 2016 and served as Chair of the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioner in 2021.

Commissioner Kemp has more than three decades of public service in Hillsborough County. As an attorney, she worked both in private practice and for Bay Area Legal Services, providing civil legal services for low-income clients.

Commissioner Kemp has long been an advocate for improving transportation in the county and the region.

Commissioner Kemp also serves on the following County and Regional Boards and Councils:

• Election Canvassing Board
• Environmental Protection Commission (Vice-Chair)
• Museum of Science and Industry
• Southwest Florida Water Management District Liaison
• Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority (TBARTA)
• Transportation Planning Organization (TPO)
• Vale Adjustment Board

In other business, the HART Board appointed HART CEO Adelee Le Grand to serve as the organization's representative on the Hillsborough TPO Board.

The HART Board is responsible for setting policy and making decisions for the Authority on matters ranging from system operations, service planning, fare structure, finance, customer service, and is made up of 14 volunteers who are appointed to represent Hillsborough County (seven seats), City of Tampa (four seats), State of Florida (two seats) and City of Temple Terrace (one seat). Officers of the HART Board (chair, vice-chair and secretary) are elected every year.

 

HART Board Approves FY2020 Budget

Every $1 invested in transit provides $4 return!

The HART Board of Directors voted unanimously to adopt the Authority's FY2020 Budget, which will take effect on October 1, 2019.

The $121.5 million spending plan is comprised of capital program and operating tactics that focus our HART's to deliver those Outcomes.

The FY2020 Budget is The Starting Line of the TRANSitFORMATION of HART, focusing on excelling in four key areas:

• Customer Experience: Customer-centric initiatives, increasing customer satisfaction
• Key FY2020 Projects: Service improvements, Bus Shelter Improvements and Expansion, Farebox Technology Upgrades, Vehicle Safety Surveillance Modernization & Expansion, Computer-Aided Dispatch/ Automated Vehicle Locator (CAD/AVL) Solution for Paratransit
• Community Value: Community sentiment, partnerships
• Key FY2020 Projects: Fleet expansion (including the purchase of 10 electric buses, Compressed Natural Gas buses, Vans, etc.), InVision: Tampa Streetcar Project Development & Engineering / Phase IV Study, Marion Transit Center Facade Repair
• Employee Success: Organization realignment, engagement, talent development

• Key FY2020 Projects: Marion Transit Center Renovation, Replacement of Immersion Washing System, Expanding HART Auto Body Capabilities, Administrative Policy Modernization
• Financial Performance: Financial sustainability, improving service productivity

• Key FY2020 Projects: Wheel Alignment Equipment, Vehicle Fluid Tracking Software, Diagnostic Technologies for Vehicle Repair, HVAC Replacement

"HART is building a Culture of Excellence," said Benjamin Limmer, HART CEO. "This budget reflects the beginning of that transformation, with an over $121 million investment in public transportation in Hillsborough County".

The Adopted FY2020 Budget does not include All for Transportation Sales Tax Funding. Once AFT funds become available, HART can amend the FY2020 Budget to reflect the additional funding.

Adopted FY2020 Budget "By the Numbers"

• 8.9% growth in Ad Valorem = $3,970,378
• Operating Budget is $83,491,758
• $4,564,016 or 5.8% higher than FY19 Adopted Budget
• Capital Budget is $37,961,026
• $5,333,853 or 16.3% higher than the FY19 Adopted Budget 

If you are unable to attend any of the meetings, they now can be viewed live on HART YouTube channel.

Click here to view video recordings from recent HART Board/Committee meetings. 

City of Tampa Mayor Jane Castor to Serve on HART Board

PHOTO: City of Tampa

We are honored to welcome our newest member of the HART Board of Directors, newly elected Tampa Mayor, Jane Castor!

HART CEO Benjamin Limmer announced, "I am honored to welcome Mayor Castor to our Board of Directors. Mayor Castor's presence and leadership will shape the opportunity HART has to provide innovative and sustainable transportation solutions for decades to come.  Mayor Castor will be an asset to the HART Board of Directors and to the organization as a whole."

Mayor Castor's commitment to connect businesses large and small with the communities they serve through increased walkability, bike-ability, rapid-transit buses, and an extension of streetcar routes and innovative solutions are all key to providing our citizens with the frequent, reliable, and convenient public transportation they deserve.

"With the passage of the All For Transportation sales tax, HART has an unprecedented opportunity to invest in our future now" said Mayor Castor. "Our communities in West Tampa, East Tampa, and Sulphur Springs need reliable bus service they can count on. As Mayor, I will use my seat on the HART board to fight for every neighbourhood to have the dependable bus system they deserve through upgrading existi0ng transfer stations and building multi-modal hubs with fixed transit lines that connect riders from Westshore to New Tampa."

HART taking System Redesign to the Community

HART is now in the midst of redesigning its transit system in time for FY2018 in October.

Recognizing that a one-size-fits-all approach to transit does not meet every community's needs, HART began working with Hillsborough County residents last year to identify transportation options that are more cost effective and better meet their needs.

Employment centers and commuting patterns have changed quite a bit since the last time a Comprehensive Operations Analysis of HART service was done in 2003. This service redesign takes that into account with new proposed connections, such as Brandon and the University area to WestShore and Tampa International Airport.

In the first phase, we collected community feedback on travel preferences and with this next phase, we are taking the result of those conversations (a redesigned network) to the public.

In the short-term, the service redesign will provide better travel times and more direct service to roughly 80% of current riders.

Long-term, HART is preparing for the future. The proposed network hits the "reset button" on HART service, providing a solid foundation for the future expansion of the HART network, as laid out in our 10-year Transit Development Plan. The proposed redesign provides the right mix of services and connections to get people where they need to go as our communities grow.

Plenty of opportunities to comment on the proposed redesign!

HART is Seeking Input 

HART will be hosting a series of public meetings beginning June 14 for residents and riders to give feedback on the proposed network redesign. HART staff will be on hand to gather feedback and answer any questions. A public hearing will be held on July 26.

Following extensive community outreach throughout June and July, HART staff will present the plan to the HART Board of Directors at the August meeting.

Your ideas are encouraged at any of the following public meeting opportunities.

In addition, you can visit www.goHART.org/TDP for more information on this important plan, including an interactive map of the proposed network redesign.

Comm. Lesley "Les" Miller Named New HART Board Chairperson

Commissioner "Les" Miller named HART Board Chair

At its January 9 meeting, the HART Board of Directors elected Hillsborough County Commissioner Lesley "Les" Miller as the new Chairperson for the year 2017, succeeding Tampa City Councilman Mike Suarez.

"I am honored to be chosen by my peers to lead an agency that is dedicated to enhancing transportation services in Hillsborough County," Miller said. "I'm looking forward to serving as chairperson on the HART Board of Directors and will continue our initiatives to improve mobility for all who live, work and visit this county. HART is transforming transportation in the Tampa Bay area."

Other officers elected were Karen Jaroch as Vice Chairperson, Tampa City Councilman Mike Suarez as Secretary.

"I am very excited about this new Board leadership. All of the new officers have made many contributions to the success of HART and public transportation in Hillsborough County," said Katharine Eagan, HART Chief Executive Officer. "Their leadership within the HART Board of Directors will continue to be key to delivering the kind of high-quality public transportation customers rely on every day, and continue to better address current and future transportation needs in the Tampa Bay Area."

Commissioner Les Miller was elected to represent District 3 in 2010. Miller previously served as a member of the Florida Senate from 2000-2006 and a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1992-2000. During his time in the Florida Legislature, he served as the Minority Leader for both the House and the Senate. He also was appointed to the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission from 2007-2008 and as a member of the Florida Board of Regents from 1977-1979. Miller also previously served as Associate Vice President and Dean for Students for the University of South Florida, and as the manager of Minority Business Development and Governmental Relations for Tampa General Hospital. Commissioner Miller was appointed to the HART Board of Directors on on July 30, 2014.

The HART officers are elected annually by the Board of Directors and can serve up three consecutive terms. Commissioner Les Miller and the new officers assumed office as of January 9, 2017.