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Judge postpones union recall election

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published May 18, 2005

TAMPA - The suspended president of the union representing Hillsborough County firefighters won a partial victory in court Tuesday, when Hillsborough Circuit Judge Rex Barbas postponed a two-day recall election scheduled to begin today.

Instead, it will be June 16 and 17, Barbas ordered.

But Karl Schmitt, first elected to lead the union in late 2000, must wait until today to hear Barbas' decision on his request that the court reinstate him to his second term as president.

Barbas will hear attorneys' final arguments this morning before ruling on the reinstatement.

After a daylong hearing, Barbas agreed Tuesday evening with Schmitt's contention that the recall, scheduled April 26, gave Schmitt inadequate time to campaign to voting union members.

Not only was the recall scheduled just three weeks ago, but union leaders changed the rules for how candidates mail out campaign literature after the recall date was set, Barbas concluded.

Schmitt's attorney, Robert Goldsmith, said Schmitt was not offered the chance to mail his campaign materials out from union headquarters until Thursday, a day before Goldsmith told union attorneys he planned to file the injunction seeking to delay the recall.

"I don't want to deprive anybody of their right to vote, and I don't want to deprive anybody of their right to be heard," Barbas said. "The changing of the rules might be alright, but the timing concerns me." Schmitt was suspended from his position April 4, the second time this year, after union leaders told him he owed more than $4,112.50 in legal fees. Schmitt accrued the fees while consulting with union attorney Jeffrey Carnes about a candidate contesting the late 2004 elections.

Schmitt maintains he should not have to pay the fees because he was tending to union matters. But he went to a union meeting April 4 and offered to pay the fee "in protest" in exchange for reinstatement, knowing his appeal of the fee to international union leaders was to be considered in coming months.

Union leaders refused to accept the check, and escorted him from the union hall.

Tuesday, acting president Richard Sawyer testified via conference call that the union did not take the check because leaders were still trying to determine how much Schmitt owed from the contested election investigation.

Later, Barbas told union attorney Robert Miles it could be argued Schmitt's suspension is "doubtful," given that it was based on him owing fees that have yet to be determined.

Besides reinstatement to the president's post, Schmitt is seeking back pay. He makes $23,720 a year as union president, but has not been paid since he was first suspended in January, when the legal fee issue first came up. He also maintains union members have defamed him, and he seeks compensatory damages.

Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at 813 226-3373 or svansickler@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 18, 2005, 00:49:11]