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County Mayor Not Likely To Make Ballot

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By ELLEN GEDALIUS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 2, 2008

Updated: 08/02/2008 01:11 am

TAMPA - Barring a successful appeal, voters will not decide in November whether to create an elected county mayor position in Hillsborough County.

A circuit judge on Friday struck the county mayor referendum from November's ballot, a potential death knell for the effort.

The judge's decision came down to the petition's wording, which called for the county mayor to be elected in the general election in November this year.

That can't happen because the voters have yet to approve even creating the position.

"I'm terribly pleased," said James Shirk, who filed the 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, Glenn Burhans, said he would file a motion Monday for expedited treatment.

"This is just another hurdle in three years of hurdles," Stiles said.
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 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."

She didn't. By September 2006, she had gathered enough signatures to put it on the November 2008 ballot. However, the wording of the petition was never changed, and still called for electing the mayor in 2008.
Stiles continued raising money, collecting almost $250,000, according to the most recently filed records. Several weeks ago, Shirk filed his lawsuit.

Timing Wrong, Lawsuit Claims

Shirk, a Democratic activist, had signed the petition in favor of the county mayor but has since changed his mind.

In his suit, he argued the timing was wrong. He said 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 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.

No organized opposition ever developed on the county mayor issue, though former 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, the current county administrator, also was opposed, and county commissioners had given her permission to educate voters on how a change could affect county government.

Document Had 'A Lot Of Flaws'

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."

Commission Chairman Ken Hagan also was opposed.

"I'm not surprised by the judge's ruling because I think there were several constitutional and legal issues with the initiative," Hagan said. "Yet it's somewhat disappointing because I wanted the voters to have the opportunity to defeat a proposal that I feel is inherently a bad system of government."

Other opponents had argued that minorities could be disenfranchised because the countywide vote for mayor would dilute the voting power of minority neighborhoods.

Even if she loses on appeal, Stiles promised to get the question on the ballot in another election.

Reporter Mike Salinero contributed to this story. Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius @tampatrib.com.

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