Critics wonder whether discussions went on off the record that led to a contract offer for the interim director.
By STEVE HUETTEL
Published June 23, 2004
TAMPA - A week after the Tampa Port Authority's abrupt, and ill-fated, decision to abandon a national search for a director and offer the interim director a one-year contract, many in the port community still suspect that a deal was cooked up behind closed doors.
The item wasn't on the agenda for last Tuesday's meeting. Port commissioners and interim director Zelko Kirincich said they didn't know beforehand that anyone was even considering the idea.
But critics, such as Hillsborough County commissioner Ronda Storms, say their skepticism is fueled by an editorial published in the Tampa Tribune the day before the vote that predicted commissioners "would be tempted" Tuesday to pick Kirincich.
"It seems to me there was some conversation I was not privy to," said Storms, who along with Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio lost a 3-2 vote against three commissioners appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush. "That (idea) didn't just pop into their heads."
Kirincich declined the offer of a one-year contract last Wednesday. He said he looked forward to competing against a national field of port professionals and hoped to gain the support of Iorio and Storms.
Storms said she heard that Kirincich was "making rounds" among influential people before Tuesday's meeting, including members of the Tribune's editorial board.
Deputy editorial page editor Joe Guidry said Tuesday the newspaper was tipped off that commissioners might forgo the search and give Kirincich the director's job. The information did not come from a port commissioner, he said.
Guidry declined to say whether the newspaper talked to Kirincich or identify anyone else as the tipster. He did receive a tour of the port from the interim director before Tuesday's meeting, Guidry said.
Kirincich did not return telephone messages for comment.
Commissioners Joseph Diaz and Gladstone "Tony" Cooper, who voted with Port Authority chairman Lance Ringhaver to offer the one-year contract, repeated Tuesday that they didn't talk with anyone about Kirincich or the position. Florida's Government in the Sunshine Law prohibits members of a governing body from discussing official business in private.
Port staffers faxed commissioners the Tribune editorial last Monday. Cooper didn't give it a second thought, he said. Diaz said he was "totally taken aback" by the editorial, which urged commissioners to proceed with the national search they approved in March.
Diaz changed his mind on abandoning the search the day after the vote and now says he understands that taking the action without advance notice could lead people to suspect the existence of a behind-the-scenes deal.
"It may look that way, but I flat guarantee you that's not what it was," Diaz said. "It was the wrong action at the wrong time."
George Williamson announced in February that he was leaving as port director after five years to take an executive position with Rinker Materials, a construction materials company headquartered in West Palm Beach.
Commissioners named Kirincich, Williamson's No. 2, as interim director and directed staff to prepare a solicitation for executive search firms to help find a new director.
A final draft of the request for proposals, however, never came before the board. Storms asked Kirincich to put the item on the June 15 agenda, but the published agenda listed only "New Business/Commissioners Comments."
Storms told commissioners last Tuesday that a potential candidate called her office the day before, suggesting that the decision on a new director had already been made. "Did I miss the memo?" she asked.
Diaz then said a national search could stop progress Kirincich had made repairing relations with port tenants and businesses during his 21/2 months as interim director. Cooper then made a motion to offer him a one-year contract as director.
- Times staff writer Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or 813 226-3384.
