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Hillsborough County Mayor Ballot Question Off November Ballot
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Published: August 1, 2008
Updated: 08/01/2008 05:52 pm
TAMPA - Barring a successful appeal, voters will not decide in November whether to create an elected county mayor position in Hillsborough County.
A circuit court judge struck the county mayor referendum from the November ballot, a move that could be a death knell for the elected county mayor effort, which began more than three years ago.
The judge's decision came down to the wording of the petition, which called for the county mayor to be elected in 2008. That can't happen because the position's creation is yet to be decided by voters.
"I'm terribly pleased," said James Shirk, the man who filed a lawsuit questioning the appropriateness of the county mayor referendum. "I'm glad our concerns were recognized."
Mary Ann Stiles, the leader of the pro-mayor group, vowed to appeal. Her attorney said he would file a notice to appeal and a motion for expedited treatment on Monday.
Circuit Court Judge James Arnold's ruling, for now, means Hillsborough will continue having an appointed county administrator running the day-to-day functions of county government. The county administrator – currently Pat Bean – answers to a board of seven elected county commissioners.
Stiles, a lawyer and former HART lobbyist, tried to change that government structure. She created the Elected County Mayor Political Committee and argued that local government would be more effective with an elected executive.
She worked ardently to collect the tens of thousands of signatures required to put the issue on the ballot. Her initial goal was to put the question on the ballot in November 2006.
At first she fell short, but she vowed at the time that she was "not going away."
And she didn't. In September 2006, Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson validated the signatures needed to put it on the November 2008 ballot.
Stiles continued raising money, raising almost $250,000, according to the most recently filed records. But that wasn't enough to stave off a lawsuit from Shirk, a Democratic activist who in 2006 had signed the petition in favor of the county mayor and has since changed his mind.
Shirk argued the timing was all wrong. He argued that the ballot language that calls for the election of the mayor beginning in 2008 makes the referendum invalid because the earliest an election for a county mayor could be held is 2010.
Arnold agreed, ruling that because the county mayor position hadn't been created, the election for the mayor couldn't be held in 2008. That invalidates the referendum, he ruled. He described it as "a self-imposed limiting condition that cannot occur in 2008."
"It's the right decision," said Jennifer Blohm, Shirk's attorney. "I thought we were right on all the issues. When you put in a date certain, you are stuck with a date certain."
Stiles had argued that the 2008 language was meant to be a starting point.
Shirk also argued that the ballot language and summary were unclear and misleading, though Arnold ruled otherwise.
No organized opposition developed on the county mayor issue, though former Hillsborough County Commissioner Jan Platt was vocal in her disapproval.
"The ballot language is so flawed it really is doing the public a service by taking it off the ballot," Platt said. "This is an opportunity to start from scratch and do it right."
Platt remains opposed to the concept of a county mayor. She was on the commission when three commissioners were arrested and accused of taking bribes on a zoning case. The arrests prompted the county to rewrite the charter to disperse power rather than centralize it.
Having an elected county mayor, Platt argues, concentrates too much power in one person, which could lead to corruption.
Bean also was opposed, and county commissioners had given her permission to educate voters on how a change could affect county government.
On Friday, Bean cited her 32 years with Hillsborough County and said the existing form of government works.
"I believe strongly in the form we have," Bean said. "That document they had put together had a lot of flaws in it."
Other opponents had argued that minorities could be disenfranchised because the countywide vote for mayor would dilute the voting power of minority neighborhoods.
Shirk filed his lawsuit in July, and a hearing was held this morning.
Stiles' attorney, Glenn Burhans, said he immediately would file an appeal and is confident the appeals court will expedite the matter.
Election Day is Nov. 4.
Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com.
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