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Burgess Leaving Zephyrhills Council To Attend Law School

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By JEFF SCULLIN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 15, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - Councilman Danny Burgess is resigning his seat and moving out of town to attend Barry University's law school in Orlando.

Burgess announced his resignation in an e-mail sent to Mayor Cliff McDuffie and his fellow council members Monday. He said he plans to start law school in August and wouldn't be able to fully commit himself to his duties on the council and as council president.

"It would be unwise and unfair to those who put their trust in me if I were to continue to serve in a minimal capacity," he said in the e-mail. "It is my sincere hope that those I serve with and those I serve for will understand my reasoning and my attempt at doing what is best for all."

Burgess, 22, said the July 28 council meeting would mark his last day on the job.

He made history when he was elected in 2005 at the age of 18, then made waves the following year when news surfaced the University of South Florida student was spending most of his time at an off-campus apartment in Tampa, not at his parents' house in Zephyrhills, his official home address. The city charter requires elected officials to live in the city, but the city attorney backed Burgess' position that his parents' house was his permanent address. Even still, he moved back to Zephyrhills full-time in July 2007.

Burgess' e-mail indicated he didn't want to entertain similar questions as a law school student:

"This commitment will require all of my time and effort in order for me to do my very best. There is no question that this graduate level of study will require me to live within close proximity of the Orlando based campus and would have an adverse effect on other aspects and commitments within my life. I would therefore be unable to give my very best to the City of Zephyrhills and the citizens who elected me, which is a commitment that deserves nothing less than 110 percent every day."

Jeff Scullin can be reached at (813) 779-4614 or jscullin@tampatrib.com.

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