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Safety Harbor mayor resigns over turmoil

Pam Corbino, mayor since 1999 and the subject of a Florida Commission on Ethics complaint, resigned Monday.

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published July 17, 2006

SAFETY HARBOR — Embattled Safety Harbor Mayor Pam Corbino resigned Monday.

Corbino, 57, a city commissioner since 1992 and the mayor since 1999, is the subject of a Florida Commission on Ethics complaint filed by a fellow city commissioner. In recent weeks, she also has been the target of a recall petition circulated by residents.

But in a two-page letter to City Manager Wayne Logan and city commissioners, Corbino wrote that neither the ethics complaint nor the recall petition played a role in her decision.

Rather, Corbino wrote that she has concluded her resignation would be in the best interests of residents. It also said the resignation would be “effective immediately.”

“Due to the agenda of some City Commissioners and the direction they want to take our city, I believe my continuation as mayor would have a negative effect on the city, rather than the positive effect I have always strived for,” the letter states. She did not elaborate.

Corbino added that her resignation should not be construed as an acknowledgement or admission of wrongdoing, or interpreted as fear of any investigation into her conduct as mayor.

Further, Corbino’s letter states she is not tendering her resignation because she believes any efforts to recall her would be successful.

Corbino is the subject of a complaint filed last month with the Florida Commission on Ethics. In the complaint, City Commissioner Kathleen Earle alleged Corbino asked a City Hall employee to obtain Earle’s Social Security number. Corbino has denied the accusation.

In her letter, Corbino again pointed to a legal opinion from Safety Harbor City Attorney Alan S. Zimmet.

In that opinion, Zimmet concluded that it would not violate the city charter for a commissioner to ask a city staff member for another commissioner’s Social Security number. But, he noted, the city staff could not honor such a request because Florida’s public records law makes Social Security numbers confidential.

Last month, a local group calling itself the Concerned Safety Harbor Citizens for Integrity Within Our Government began collecting signatures supporting an election to recall Corbino.

Corbino’s departure follows two other City Hall resignations in the city of 17,800 residents. City Manager Wayne Logan and assistant city manager Ron Pianta announced their resignations last month.

Corbino holds a bachelor’s degree in business and office education from the University of North Louisiana and a master’s degree in management, leadership and organizational effectiveness from the University of South Florida, according to city’s Web site.

[Last modified July 23, 2006, 13:46:52]