Council abolishes $100 limit on gifts
The old ceiling would still apply to lobbyists, but council members could take any amount from anyone else.
By JANET ZINK
Published October 7, 2005
TAMPA - The City Council on Thursday voted to make it okay for elected Tampa officials to accept more expensive gifts from people who do business with the city.
Proposed revisions to the Tampa Code of Ethics would allow the council and mayor to accept free admission to football and hockey games, concerts, fundraising soirees and other community events as long as the event sponsor is not a lobbyist. The new policy would match state law regarding gifts, but be less strict than the city's current policy, which barred gifts valued above $100.
The council voted 5-1 in favor of the change, with John Dingfelder absent and Rose Ferlita casting the dissenting vote.
The policy won't become law until two more votes of the council and approval of the mayor.
It's scheduled for consideration again Nov. 3. At that meeting, residents can comment on whether they agree with the council's move.
"Let's take the pulse of the people, and we'll make a decision after that," said council member Shawn Harrison.
Mayor Pam Iorio had suggested changing the city's current ethics policy to allow elected officials to accept gifts and admission tickets worth more than $100 if they were for "community events" and attendance was part of governmental duties.
For example, she might be invited as mayor to greet team owners at the Super Bowl set to be played in Tampa in 2009, where an admission ticket would be far more than $100.
But the council went a step further Thursday, allowing gifts of any amount for any reason, which parallels state law. The proposed code still prohibits gifts from lobbyists worth more than $100 and requires disclosure of any gift valued at more than $100.
The Hillsborough County Commission raised the same issue in January after the St. Petersburg Times detailed how Tampa Sports Authority members gave free luxury box tickets for Tampa Bay Buccaneers football games at Raymond James Stadium to themselves and other public officials, including the mayor, City Council members and city employees. The tickets were worth $457 each.
Commissioner Kathy Castor wanted to prohibit board members from taking gifts valued at more than $100 from residents or groups with business before the county, but her proposal got no support.
Ferlita said the vote of fellow council members to give "carte blanche" on gifts was "absurd."
"Just because the state allows it, I don't think it's the same standard we should set for ourselves," she said after the meeting.
If elected officials want to attend an expensive event, they should pay for it, she said. The nearly $30,000 annual salary paid to City Council members should help cover those costs, she said.
The council did vote to tighten other parts of the ethics code.
A provision was added to require that lobbyists disclose discussions with city officials if the topic discussed is brought to the city for a decision within one year of the conversation.
They also added a requirement that former city employees wait two years after leaving the city before taking a job that involves lobbying city officials. The point is to keep former employees from taking advantage of city policies they helped create, said City Attorney David Smith.
Janet Zink can be reached at 813 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com