Clothes aside, Acton never in line for city job

County Attorney Emmy Acton looked like a strong contender to move to City Hall.

On the night Tampa elected its new mayor, Acton and her assistant, Jim Porter, attended Pam Iorio's victory party at Stumps Supper Club. Many pointed to Acton sitting in the courtyard, away from the crowd, and nodded.

But Acton was out of the running for the job early on. In fact, she may never have been in the running.

Even before revelations last week that Acton sold her old clothes to help secretaries dress better, she was not considered a candidate, said City Attorney Fred Karl, who is temporarily in the post. It wasn't clear why she wasn't a candidate, but Acton has said she likes her current job.

It had nothing to do with her wardrobe.

Last week, the public learned about how some secretaries on her staff say she treats them. Complaints came out that Acton sold her old clothes to raise money for office parties.

Of the $1,900 spent from the office fund, about $1,200 paid for an affair at Acton's home - to which secretaries were not invited.

Acton may not have been a good fit in the administration, anyway. The new mayor doesn't care that much about clothes.

A THORN FOR IORIO: When Iorio made her first appearance before City Council last week, council Chairwoman Linda Saul-Sena could not thank Iorio enough.

But as the rest of her colleagues gushed, council member Rose Ferlita looked down and twirled a pen.

Iorio had just told council members to send citizen complaints to new chief of staff Darrell Smith, who would track the issues.

Ferlita spoke up.

Ferlita said she would copy complaints to Smith, but the old system under former Mayor Dick Greco worked just fine. She would sent complaints directly to department heads.

"Just a point of information," she said. "That's how I'm going to continue."

Stay tuned.

WORKING FOR GRAHAM: Hillsborough Democratic Executive Committee chairman Henry Gill resigned last week so he could work for Bob Graham's presidential campaign.

Gill said the Florida senator called him and asked him to help. Gill couldn't do that as chairman of the party. The party boss is supposed to stay neutral in primaries - though that never stopped the late Mike Scionti from picking sides.

A new party chairman will be elected May 19.

SPEAKING IN THE SUNSHINE? When the region's main mayors met last week at a breakfast forum sponsored by a Tampa law firm, Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storms noticed.

Iorio and St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker both spoke at the public forum about legislation that affects Tampa Bay Water, the government agency that distributes water.

Both Iorio and Baker serve on the Tampa Bay Water board.

Friday, Storms called the board's lawyer to raise questions about the breakfast.

Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine Law requires public officials who serve on boards together to discuss public business in public.

Did the meeting violate the law?

"Probably not," said Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation.

The law allows public officials to talk about issues at public forums in response to questions. The mayors' comments were prompted by the audience. Reporters also covered the event, and Iorio's office sent out a notice about it.

"We don't want to thwart the public's opportunity to hear from their elected officials or appointed officials talking about issues," Petersen said. "It's not like they are doing this in secret."

Certainly not.

Gil Thelen, executive editor and senior vice president of the Tampa Tribune, moderated the event.

- Got a tip? Contact David Karp at 226-3376 or karp@sptimes.com

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