Official delivers public apology

Not to constituents, but to his wife - for having an affair.

By S.I. ROSENBAUM
Published July 11, 2007

PLANT CITY - Robert P. Brown sat through the City Commission meeting with a dozen red roses stashed below his desk and a burden on his heart.

When it was his time to speak, the vice mayor started off with mundane matters, like installing a new turn signal.

Then he asked the audience to bear with him. He talked about choices. He said he had made some bad ones.

"I chose the easy way. I chose the fun way," he said. "I chose poorly."

He said he took up with another woman.

In June, Brown, 48, moved out of the house he shared with his wife of 25 years, Wendy.

At first, things went fine with the woman Brown calls "the other gal." But inside him, a feeling was building.

He tried to ignore it.

It wasn't like a voice spoke to him, he says. "It just didn't feel right."

This month, he and Wendy met at the house. They talked for a long time.

Then Brown sat down with the other gal and told her it was over.

But in a town like Plant City, everyone knows each others' secrets.

That's why, on Monday, Brown bought the roses before he headed to the meeting.

And there - in front of fellow commissioners, the mayor and his wife - he read a statement he'd written.

"I apologize for my behavior and for any hurt I have caused," he said. He asked the town to pray for him. Then he gave his wife the roses.

On Tuesday, Wendy Brown didn't want to answer questions about the affair. Instead, she talked about her faith, about God's love and the importance of forgiveness.

"The roses were beautiful," she said. "I know my husband loves me. And that's enough, for now."

S.I. Rosenbaum can be reached at 661-2442 or srosenbaum@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 11, 2007, 00:05:22]