Longtime Tampa City Council member, grandfather of Chill Bros owners, Joe Chillura, dies at 84

TAMPA, Fla. - Longtime Tampa City Councilman and Hillsborough County Commissioner Joe Chillura died Saturday. He was 84 years old. 

Family members say he hadn’t been well in recent weeks and passed away in his sleep of natural causes. 

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Friends say he was most proud of the Community Investment Tax that helped build Raymond James Stadium and raised millions for schools, police and fire protection, and infrastructure including roads. Hillsborough County voters passed the half-cent tax by a 6 percent margin in 1996.

"The Buccaneers were threatening to leave Tampa if they didn't get a new stadium," said friend and former news reporter Tony Zappone. "Everybody came up with this idea and that idea."

Many were against a tax on building a stadium, but Chillura envisioned a Community Investment Tax that would also raise money for other needs.

"He came up with the idea of blending schools together with it. I said ‘Joe, that’s great,’" said friend and former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco. 

Money collected from the tax would also go to public safety and infrastructure, which made it more palatable for some voters. 

"He loved Tampa and I think he saw a way to improve it," said Sol Fleischman, Jr. 

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Fleischman, an architect, said Chillura was his mentor. Chillura was an architect by profession and a graduate of the University of Florida. He had a passion for public service and the beauty and history of his hometown, sometimes drawing opposition from developers over Tampa’s strict ordinances protecting trees and historic buildings. 

"He was the godfather of the Landmark Ordinance, so historic buildings couldn't be torn down without the review of the Historical and Architectural Commission," said Fleischman.

Chillura could be fiercely passionate about the issues, but there was another side. Friends say he had a great sense of humor with a deadpan style. 

He was proud of his Sicilian roots. His ancestors came to New York in 1900 and then to Tampa. Chillura’s mother worked in a cigar factory when he was a small child. 

His grandsons own Chill Bros. Ice Cream Shops around Tampa. Chill is short for Chillura. Joe’s grandson Max says Joe preferred Italian flavors in his ice cream and his music. 

"He loved to listen to the Three Tenors," said Max. 

Even now, nearly 30 years after the passage of the Community Investment Tax, some say they would still vote against it. Others say that without it, Tampa would not be the city it is today. 

"I wish there were more people with his attitude in today’s world," said Greco. "Joe Chillura did a hell of a job."