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Ethics panel asks council to delay vote

The Tampa Ethics Commission wants to weigh in on the council's plan to ease ethics restrictions.

By JANET ZINK
Published October 20, 2005

TAMPA - The city's Ethics Commission wants Tampa City Council to postpone its Nov. 3 vote on changes to the ethics code.

The Ethics Commission, at a special meeting Wednesday, decided to study the proposal and make recommendations to the council, which has proposed easing restrictions on accepting pricey gifts.

City attorneys drafted revisions to the code at the council's request.

Mayor Pam Iorio had suggested changing the Tampa Code of Ethics 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.

The revisions would allow the council and mayor to accept free admission to football and hockey games, concerts, fundraising galas and other activities as long as the event sponsor is not a lobbyist.

But the council went a step further Oct. 6, voting to allow gifts of any amount for any reason, which parallels state law.

"The state statute is a joke," said Ethics Commission member Ron Cacciatore, a Tampa attorney. "We might as well not have an ethics code."

The proposed changes to the city ethics code still prohibit gifts from lobbyists worth more than $100 and requires disclosure of any gift valued at more than $100.

Other suggested changes tighten portions 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.

Another section would require former city employees to wait two years before taking a job that involves lobbying city officials.

After the council's Oct. 6 vote, the Tampa Ethics Commission, headed by former city attorney Fred Karl, called a special meeting to discuss the council's loosening of the gift provision.

Iorio created the five-member commission to administer the city's ethics laws. The commission's duties also include advising the City Council.

In addition to Karl and Cacciatore, members include Lynn Cole, an adjunct law professor and former federal prosecutor; Dr. John Belohlavek, a USF history professor; and Marion Rodgers, a former Hillsborough School Board member.

City Council member Linda Saul-Sena, who had suggested that Tampa's ethics code be changed to mirror state law, said Wednesday she did so for simplicity's sake. But she is open to going back to the proposal put forward by Iorio and her administration.

Council member John Dingfelder was absent the day of the vote, and Rose Ferlita cast the lone dissenting vote against the relaxed standards.

Janet Zink can be reached at 813 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 20, 2005, 01:18:04]