Politics not invited to party, judge says

Chief Judge F. Dennis Alvarez says his political ambitions were not discussed at a party a friend threw for him last year.

By KATHRYN WEXLER

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 6, 2001

TAMPA -- Hillsborough Chief Judge F. Dennis Alvarez has made no secret of his interest in running for another office someday. State attorney, perhaps, or mayor of Tampa.

But moving from the bench to another elected position is fraught with peril. The Code of Judicial Conduct forbids a sitting judge to announce a run for any office other than judicial re-election.

Even the appearance that a judge is politicking can be a problem. Take, for instance, the way attendees of a party held in Alvarez's honor last year tiptoe around what exactly was said over cocktails.

The invitations went out in March to a couple dozen prominent Tampa residents, the kind who would be great assets to someone running for office.

The place: The Palma Ceia Golf & Country Club, a bastion of old money and privilege in South Tampa. The host: Bert Grandoff, a well-connected construction attorney and former county attorney who is a longtime friend of Alvarez.

The purpose?

That depends on whom you ask.

"Just for no purpose at all," Alvarez said recently.

Hillsborough Tax Collector Doug Belden remembers the March 28 party in the club's Augusta Room a bit differently.

"That was done by Bert Grandoff to see if (Alvarez) could consider running for mayor," Belden said. "They probably called him over to say they would be in support of him if he decided to do that."

Much has happened since then. A grand jury investigation of judicial conduct released a partial report Thursday questioning Alvarez's effectiveness as chief judge. The report suggested term limits for the job, an administrative post that Alvarez has held for 12 years, elected by his fellow judges.

In November, Mayor Dick Greco's supporters failed to end term limits so Greco could run again. That has political circles abuzz over who might run for the powerful, non-partisan job.

City Council members Bob Buckhorn, Rose Ferlita and Charlie Miranda are potential candidates. So are Belden and Elections Supervisor Pam Iorio. And Alvarez's name also keeps surfacing, even as the courthouse has been rocked by scandals involving other judges. Alvarez, 55, has said he hasn't ruled out a run for mayor in 2002. He hasn't ruled it in, either.

Some think Alvarez's prospects for mayor have been tarnished by the courthouse scandals. Last year, one judge resigned over allegations of sexual harassment, another quit after an extramarital affair with a bailiff became public and yet another is under scrutiny for going into the darkened chambers of another judge.

"I think all the circumstances at the courthouse, the stuff that's been going on, has already done some damage to his image that he'd have to work to overcome," said political consultant Wayne Garcia.

But as a Tampa native who has held public office for nearly two decades and who is well-liked in political circles, Alvarez would still be a "top candidate," said Mike Scionti, Hillsborough Democratic Party chairman who has been friends with Alvarez for 40 years.

"He's a Tampa boy; he's been here all of his life," Scionti said. "His friends are very, very longstanding friends, and I guarantee, if he agrees to run, those people will be there."

The grand jury's poke at Alvarez won't make him back down, Scionti predicted: "He is not the kind of person who will walk away from a battle."

The muzzle faced by any judge with political aspirations puts him or her in a tight spot, said Margie Kincaid, chairwoman of the Hillsborough Republican Party. Judges would be smart to put out feelers to see whether a candidacy has promise, yet they can't campaign.

"What a quandary," said Kincaid. She said she has not spoken to Alvarez, a Republican, about any plans to campaign for mayor. Grandoff's invitations read: "I have known Dennis for many years and know him to be one of the most highly respected public servants in the community. . . . If you have not met him, you are in for a treat."

Alvarez had no intention, Grandoff said, of using the event as a hush-hush, mayoral coming-out among potential contributors.

"(It was) a kind of get-acquainted thing to shake a few hands and introduce him to a few people," Grandoff said of the party. "No funds were raised. We were there about an hour and then everyone went home."

Was the topic of a campaign for mayor broached? "It wasn't discussed," Grandoff said.

When told that Belden said the party was essentially held to support Alvarez in the event that he decides to run, Grandoff reconsidered. "If that's what Doug said, I certainly wouldn't dispute that," Grandoff said.

Joe Little, a University of Florida law professor, said that only an outright declaration to run would violate the judicial canon. Still, he said, judges should be leery of events with political agendas.

"If the judge is knowledgeable about what's going on, and the idea is to drum up support for the judge from this group of people, there is a potential for conflict (of interest) if these people have some interest in litigation and might then come before the court," Little said.

Alvarez said he could not remember who was at the party, though he also said no one there has a pending case before him. He said there was some talk about whether he would try to replace Greco, but he quickly squelched it.

"It was not a political party, it was not a fundraiser," he told a reporter. "It was a get-together given to me by a friend."

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