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Will the men Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio annihilated in last year's mayoral race consider runs for the County Commission?
Former City Council member Bob Buckhorn and businessman Frank Sanchez said supporters have urged them to do so.
Commissioner Jan Platt is term limited, leaving the District 6 seat up for grabs. If District 7 Commissioner Pat Frank runs for clerk of the Circuit Court, that would create another vacancy. Sanchez, a Clinton White House aide who now works for a business consulting firm called CMPartners, said, "I gave my word to people who are running that I would not run for" Platt's seat.
However, he added, he has had "a number of people call me and encourage me to look at that (Frank's) seat should she decide to pursue other things." Frank is close friends with Sanchez's mother, Delia.
"I'm listening to them, and I would consider it because of my interest in public service," he said Saturday.
Frank declined to comment on Sanchez's qualifications, only saying that he is "a good person." She said the earliest she would decide her political future is mid or late April.
Buckhorn, who faded into family life and the private sector after a 16-year political career, said he doesn't know whether he will run, let alone which district.
"The County Commission is going to be playing a very important role over the next 10 years as we shape our future," said Buckhorn, a principal with the Dewey Square Group, a public affairs company. "This county is one of the fastest growing in the state of Florida and potentially one of the most economically powerful. With those challenges comes a need for people who are experienced, who are qualified, who want to stand up and do the right thing."
Is Buckhorn that man?
While he said he's flattered, "as a family, we haven't decided."
"I'm loving what I'm doing now, but I also know I spent 16 years trying to make a difference in the lives of the people I represented. Hopefully, that means something."
COMPUTERS FOR COUNTY USE ONLY: Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean sent an e-mail to all county employees Friday explaining the rationale of her surprise investigation of the Water Department last week.
The memo comes with a warning to county employees about using their county computers and e-mail for private business.
The investigation was launched Tuesday by Bean, with the blessing of commissioners. It is being conducted by the Ernst & Young accounting firm, which raided water offices immediately following the authorizing commission vote. Ernst & Young, along with county technology workers, seized computers and documents.
Bean said in the memo that she is reminding employees to use computers for county business only "due to questions that have arisen regarding the firm's review of electronic data on County computers." She reminds employees that electronic messages are public records and subject to records requests from the media, the public, their bosses and even their co-workers. And she warns them against destroying or failing to disclose all such messages.
Bean also notes that the investigation may find no wrongdoing, and that employees should not presume that others interviewed have done anything wrong.
"It is my hope that the outcome of the investigation is that everything is fine, that nothing inappropriate has occurred," Bean wrote. "However, if that is not the case, we will address the issues and move on with our journey to become the best County government in the nation."
-Times staff writers Bill Varian and Rodney Thrash contributed to this report.