The mayor has ordered a reorganization, but she praised Bob Harrell for improving morale.
By DAVID KARP
Published March 24, 2004
TAMPA - City housing chief Bob Harrell resigned Tuesday, saying he had failed to improve the public image of the beleaguered housing department.
Harrell told his boss about his decision two days after the St. Petersburg Times reported that housing officials had awarded contracts to a company that wasn't supposed to do business with the city.
Mayor Pam Iorio had vowed that the city would not award contracts to the company again, not after its president was charged with bribing city housing officials.
But a month later, the company was back in business with the city. Housing officials approved new contracts when the company changed its name and the indicted president became a consultant.
Iorio learned about the contracts from a Times reporter Thursday, and she promptly ordered a reorganization of the department.
Sunday, Harrell called his boss, economic development administrator Mark Huey, and told him he was resigning.
"It's my responsibility," Harrell said in an interview Tuesday.
Sitting at a conference table at City Hall, Harrell looked exhausted. His face was flushed.
Harrell had been hired in November 2001 to restore public confidence in the housing department after the reign of former housing chief Steve LaBrake.
LaBrake left after federal prosecutors began investigating his use of city contractors to build a luxury house in South Tampa.
In November, prosecutors charged LaBrake with fraud, conspiracy and bribery. They say LaBrake awarded city contracts in exchange for bribes. Dean Ryan, president of Ryan Construction, was also charged.
Tuesday, Harrell said it was his job to turn the department's image around.
"I have had 21/2 years to do that," Harrell said. "It's time to let someone else take a shot at it."
Harrell declined to say what he knew about the recent contracts. That would come out "later," Harrell said.
"It's all a matter of public perception," he said. "That is part of my job."
Harrell met Tuesday with the mayor, who accepted his resignation.
"He felt he had to shoulder a great deal of the responsibility with what occurred," Iorio said. "I respect his wishes."
Iorio said she told Harrell that he had accomplished a great deal as director of housing and business services. When Harrell, a 20-year veteran of City Hall, took over, employees were demoralized.
"I know Bob turned that around," Iorio said. "He cares about the employees very much, and they care about him."
Former Mayor Sandy Freedman said Harrell was probably putting too much blame on himself.
"He's being way too hard on himself," she said. "But he is a very good soldier. He has always been a very good soldier."
Even before last week's news, Harrell, 52, had looked stressed on the job. He was regularly at his desk well after 5 p.m. He worked Saturdays, too, his friends said.
"There is much about government work that is frustrating," Harrell said Tuesday.
In other businesses, those frustrations "don't make the newspaper above the fold," he said.
Public accusations of wrongdoing particularly pain Harrell, said Freedman, who is a close friend. "Bob is so above board," she said.
Harrell treated reporters warmly, often inviting them out for a drink. And even though he spoke easily with reporters, he didn't enjoy the scrutiny that comes with holding government power, he has said in the past.
Early this year, Harrell said he was startled when the Times obtained a draft memo he had written to Iorio about his intention to sell his interest in property to a developer. Even before Harrell finished the memo, the Times had obtained it and a reporter was questioning him about it.
In it, he told the mayor he was worried that doing business with a developer while working for the city would lead some to question his integrity.
"My concern for adverse reflection on the City and my professional reputation and integrity is profound," Harrell wrote in the memo.
Later in the letter, he apologized to Iorio for troubling her with his conflict. He ended the memo by writing:
"Lest someone who one day sees this public document be concerned about the time devoted to its creation, please know that it was written on my own time, on my own computer and using my own paper."
- Times staff writer David Karp can be reached at karp@sptimes.com or 226-3376.
