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Council Chairman 'Appalled' By Workshop Cancellation
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Published: May 23, 2008
TAMPA - It was supposed to be a discussion about the most important aspect of the city council's job: the budget.
But four of the seven council members were absent Thursday afternoon and the council was forced to cancel its budget workshop because of the lack of a quorum.
Council Chairman Tom Scott said he was "appalled."
"I am embarrassed by the lack of participation and presence of my colleagues this afternoon, given the single most important item that council deals with is the budget," he said.
Absent were council members Gwen Miller, John Dingfelder, Joseph Caetano and Charlie Miranda.
Reached later Thursday, Caetano said he left the council meeting when it recessed for lunch because his wife, who has been bedridden with a serious illness for the past two years, took a bad turn and he wanted to be with her. He went back for the 6 p.m. session, which was a series of public hearings.
Miranda said he had injured his sciatic nerve and was in pain, so he also left early, but went back for the evening meeting after taking some medicine.
Dingfelder's mother-in-law died three weeks ago and he has been traveling back and forth to Boston for the funeral and to settle her estate. On Thursday, he needed to settle affairs at his law firm, he said, but also attended the 6 p.m. meeting.
Miller could not be reached for comment. Miller's aide said the councilwoman had been planning for at least a month to go out of town. Miller attended the morning session.
Last month, the council had to briefly pause when a council member left the chamber, leaving the group without a quorum. But Deputy City Clerk Sandy Marshall said she hasn't seen a meeting canceled because of lack of a quorum in the 21 years she's worked for the city.
The council needs at least four of the seven members to be present for a quorum.
The city council meets most Thursdays. The six-month budget update was originally scheduled for a Tuesday but members voted to hold it on a regular council meeting day to make sure council members could attend.
The city's budget gurus weren't planning to deliver shocking news.
The city's hiring freeze is expected to continue and department heads will have to strictly adhere to overtime budgets, Bonnie Wise, director of budget and finance, told reporters after the meeting was canceled.
The city's general revenue fund dropped by $2 million, sales taxes fell by $3 million, and increasing fuel and energy costs delivered a hit to the city's wastewater and solid waste divisions.
Reporter Nicola M. White can be reached at (813) 259-7616 or nwhite1@tampatrib.com.
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