In politics, every free lunch has a price. Eventually, the politician being wined and dined will be asked for a favor.
Of course, the politicians don't see it that way.
Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio thought Tom Cruise, superstar and prominent Scientologist, just wanted to hang with her and her husband last May. Their dinner at a political consultant's house in Clearwater was just a gathering among friends, Iorio said.
"What would Tom Cruise be lobbying me about?" Iorio said.
For starters, try the Church of Scientology's plans for expansion in Tampa.
Indeed, the church has hired a lobbyist to represent its interests before city government. The church needs city approval to use its center on Habana Avenue for some church purposes.
Lobbyist Todd Pressman, who filled out a lobbyist registration form to report a meeting with city officials on the project, said he doesn't consider his work lobbying.
"That's not really lobbying," Pressman said. "Obviously, we have to have interaction with those officials for obvious reasons."
He said city officials aren't treating the church differently from any other property owner.
A PLACE FOR GRECO HOLDOVER? Just before he left office, former Mayor Dick Greco introduced Iorio to his trusted secretary, Dolores Fernandez.
Fernandez, who worked with Greco at the Edward J. DeBartolo Corp., kept the former mayor's calendar, screened his calls and kept his confidences. She was paid more than $68,000 a year for her work - at the rate of a senior manager rather than a secretary.
Fernandez had been out sick for most of last year, fighting cancer. Greco was leaving, but Fernandez, 61, still needed to work two more years to qualify for a pension.
But when the music stopped at the end of the Greco administration, Fernandez, still out sick, was left without a chair.
This month, Fernandez wrote the city a letter reminding Iorio about the meeting that Greco arranged.
"Mayor Iorio assured me that when I was fully recovered from both of my surgeries a position with the City could be found for me," Fernandez wrote.
"Based upon the feedback that I have received thus far, this does not appear to be the case."
Tuesday, after we called about her status, Fernandez's phone rang. It was Sarah Lang, human resource director, saying there might be a spot for her after all.
"We have been trying to work with her," chief of staff Darrell Smith told us. "The jury is still out."
Iorio has found room for Wendy Brill, the aide and campaign worker for City Council member and mayoral candidate Bob Buckhorn. Buckhorn attacked Iorio throughout the campaign, but then endorsed her when he didn't make a March city run-off.
Brill is working as an executive aide to the chief of staff. She will make about $49,000 a year.
LOOKING FOR A RAISE: Iorio wasn't so pleased with the City Council's proposal for a 23-percent pay raise.
She liked the standard practice of passing raises before city elections, so voters know what candidates will make when they elect them.
But some council members, who make $28,900, grumbled. They want the raise, which would boost their salaries to $35,600. Now, Iorio is not taking sides, even though she has power to approve the raise or veto it. She said recently she'll leave the issue in the council's hands.
MORE ISSUES ABOUT ACTON: A potential dustup on the dais was averted Wednesday when Hillsborough commissioners postponed yet another discussion about County Attorney Emmy Acton.
In a memo earlier this week, Acton noted her plans to hire a consultant to help address "transitional issues" upon her anticipated return from medical leave.
The curiously worded memo inspired angst among her office workers about what she intends and prompted commissioner Ronda Storms to speculate that she plans a bloodletting.
The embattled attorney went on leave shortly after a series of anonymous allegations surfaced alleging she ran a hostile workplace and misused sick leave and an office fund. After spirited debates, a sharply divided commission has since voted twice not to spend any more money on a private consultant that is investigating the charges.
However, Acton's own request to hire a consultant has again piqued the curiosity of commissioners on the losing side of that vote.
Commissioners also now have an outside law firm's opinion that concludes, in short, that County Administrator Dan Kleman has a supervisory role over Acton, a role she has frequently denied.
Commissioners postponed a discussion for two weeks while they wait for the law firm to file a second opinion on whether Kleman can appoint an acting county attorney while she is on sick leave. Acton has left a deputy of her choosing in charge of day-to-day operations but has said she still is running the show and is available to commissioners if they need her. She hasn't, however, been available to the media, so we couldn't ask her about all this.
ASKING FOR ANSWERS: Storms has crafted her own memo in response to Acton's most recent missive, the one that mentions those "transitional issues."
Storms' memo to Acton, her current deputy Don Odom, her soon-to-be deputy Jennie Tarr and Kleman, asks a series of questions that vary slightly by recipient.
The gist of the memo is to ask Acton, and the others who may have insight, to enumerate the transitional issues, how much time she plans to take addressing them, how the consultant will help and how much he'll cost.
She also wants to know from Kleman that if the county can find money to pay Acton's consultant whether the same pot can be used to continue the investigative review of Acton's office.
