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Zephyrhills Council Leader Resigns, Heads For Law School

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By GEOFF FOX

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 16, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - Danny Burgess was elected to the Zephyrhills City Council at 18.

Now 22, he will leave as council president.
Burgess announced his resignation in an e-mail sent to Mayor Cliff McDuffie and fellow council members Monday. He said he plans to start classes at Barry University School of Law in Orlando next month and would not be able to fully commit himself to his duties on the council and as council president.

"There are a couple things I'll remember most," the Zephyrhills High School graduate said. "Obviously, there were some controversies, like with the residency issue. The governor of the state of Florida got caught up in that one. That might ring a bell. But, I'm so glad it happened, because it helps you as a person to overcome adversity."
Burgess made waves in 2006 when news surfaced that 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.

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. He moved back to Zephyrhills full time in July 2007.

"At the time, I didn't enjoy it," Burgess said. "It was a tough experience you can't trade for the world. It helps you survive the world you live in. Sometimes you get beat up a little bit, but I'm proud to say I overcame it and went through it."

Because Burgess resigned more than six months before the next election, a special election will be held to determine who fills his seat, City Manager Steve Spina said. That election will be on the November ballot. Qualifying will begin at noon Aug. 12 and end at noon Aug. 19.
Burgess said the July 28 council meeting would be his last.

Mayor Cliff McDuffie said he was initially concerned about Burgess' age when he took office in 2005.

"He's a very smart boy, very outgoing and knows what he's doing," McDuffie said. "I have only seen a couple times where I thought his lack of maturity came out. He's done a good job, and I've been very pleased that he wanted to do this. There have been times when I disagreed with him, but that's true of anybody who sits up here."

Spina said Burgess had a good rapport with other council members, some of whom had known him since he was an elementary school student.

"We just wish him well," Spina said. "He really matured. You could see the difference in how he understood issues and the whole process of working through a budget.

"I think it was a positive experience for him, and it gave the city a different perspective," Spina said.

Until he starts classes at Barry, Burgess will continue working as a legal assistant at Hudgins Law Firm in Zephyrhills.

Leaving the city council is bittersweet, Burgess said.

"I've learned more from this than I could have learned in a classroom," he said. "The thing I look back on as a memorable achievement was giving the scholarship I gave in April. I and another council member voted against a pay raise for the city council, but it passed.

"The money I was given I gave toward a leadership scholarship to a well-deserving student at Zephyrhills High School who is going to the Air Force Academy. I'm very proud to have been able to do that."

Editor Jeff Scullin contributed to this report. Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613.

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