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Mayor chooses new real estate manager

Herbert S. Fecker Jr. replaces Jack Rodriguez, who was forced to resign in October after reports of violating the city's ethics code.

By JANET ZINK
Published December 20, 2005

TAMPA - Mayor Pam Iorio on Monday chose a new real estate manager to replace a city official who was forced out two months ago for violating city ethics policies.

Herbert S. Fecker Jr. will supervise 18 people and oversee the purchase and sale of city-owned property for the department of business and housing development's real estate division.

He'll start the $92,000-a-year position on Dec. 27.

"We are looking forward to having him join the city team. He has an extremely well-respected real estate background," said Cyndy Miller, director of the business and housing development department.

Fecker has 25 years of experience in the real estate industry, including running his own commercial-investment real estate company, Instate Realty Services. He'll close the business to join the city of Tampa.

Fecker replaces Jack Rodriguez, who was forced to resign in October after the St. Petersburg Times reported that he was moonlighting as a real estate broker in Tampa, a violation of the city's ethics code.

Iorio has taken a hard-line approach to city employees who don't follow ethics rules and personnel policies.

She dismissed a Tampa fire captain for bringing two strippers to a North Tampa fire station and allowing them to be photographed naked with fire trucks as a backdrop. The photos wound up on the Internet. Four other firefighters were suspended for lying about the incident.

She has fired five people for misusing city computers. Four parking division employees were ousted for sending e-mails with discriminatory references regarding sex, race and ethnicity, and with sexually explicit jokes and photographs. A construction services employee was forced to resign after it was discovered he spent a significant amount of work time on automobile trading and sexually explicit Internet sites.

"The bar is set very high with regard to compliance with personnel policies and procedures," said chief of staff Darrell Smith.

City officials have also tightened part of Tampa's 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 requires former city employees to wait two years before taking a job that involves lobbying city officials. The City Council preliminarily approved those changes Dec. 8.

City Council members have struggled, though, with how to rework the gift portion of the ethics code. Proposed changes initially would have increased the value of gifts that city officials could receive from lobbyists and people with contracts with the city. A decision at the state level to ban gifts from lobbyists altogether solves the lobbyist question. By law, city officials have to follow the lead of the Legislature.

Still up for discussion are gifts from contractors. The issue goes back to the City Council on Jan. 26.

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

[Last modified December 20, 2005, 01:49:07]