Some commissioners worried that allowing the measure would open the door to same-sex marriages, which several oppose.
By BILL VARIAN
Published April 8, 2004
TAMPA - To Hillsborough Commissioner Ronda Storms, extending health benefits to same-sex partners may work fine in the city.
But things are different in the county, she said.
Storms on Wednesday led a narrow majority of the commission to reject the idea of extending health benefits to the domestic partners of county employees. The vote was 4-3.
"Hillsborough County has not historically been supportive in this regard," Storms said afterward. "The institution of marriage has stood the test of time. I'm going to do my part to strengthen it, not weaken it."
The vote came a month after Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio extended benefits to domestic partners of city government employees, including those of the same sex.
"I see this as (leading) to gay marriage next," said Commissioner Jim Norman. "This is not going to be San Francisco east. That's the way I see it."
Storms and Norman were joined by Commissioner Ken Hagan and Chairman Tom Scott.
Storms said she brought the motion forward after learning from County Administrator Pat Bean that two separate employee groups had expressed an interest in having her consider extending benefits to domestic partners.
Bean had told the employee groups she must first address more pressing employee-benefits concerns.
Storms said she wanted to address the issue and be done with it.
"It's just that I don't want this slow, steady drumbeat to be out there," she said.
Commissioner Jan Platt said Storms was treading into a personnel issue that should be left to the county administrator under the rules of the county's charter.
Norman said it ultimately is a budget consideration, because extending the benefits would cost money, and that is within the commission's purview.
Commission Pat Frank, meanwhile, later said Storms' real motive was to make her take a stand on a controversial political issue.
Frank has acknowledged that she is considering leaving her seat to run for the Hillsborough Clerk of Circuit Court.
Frank, a Democrat, has historically drawn strong Republican crossover votes for her generally conservative fiscal stands. But she tends to be more of a social liberal.
One of her potential opponents in the clerk's race, Republican and former commissioner Chris Hart, announced shortly after filing for candidacy that he would uphold state laws banning same-sex marriage.
"I think she was trying to put me on record," Frank said. "She doesn't know if I might be on the ballot, and she wanted to set me up."
Storms denied that afterward.
"I would be surprised if there was any question where either one of us stand on this issue," Storms said. "I don't think anybody's going to pick up the paper (today) and say, "Oh, that's what Ronda thinks about that."'
Frank attempted to table the issue, but picked up only one other vote, from Platt.
She ultimately sided with the minority in opposition to Storms. She said extending benefits to domestic partners includes heterosexuals.
Storms called that "disingenuous."
"Don't try to table it because we want to pretend we don't know what this is about," Storms said. "Vote your conscience and deal with it."
Only Commissioner Kathy Castor directly stated the case for extending benefits to domestic partners. But she agreed with Storms that the issue shouldn't be allowed to linger.
"Ultimately, county government should not deny any employee benefits based on who they are," Castor said.
Like the city of Tampa, Hillsborough Commissioners in the early 1990s passed a human rights ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. Unlike the city, the county rescinded the ordinance four years later when the commission makeup changed.
