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Ex-Tampa Police Captain Continues Fight For Job

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 16, 2008

Marion Lewis

TAMPA - Former police Capt. Marion Lewis lost his appeal last month to get his job back, but he hasn't given up the fight.

Lewis, who was forced to quit when he ran against Mayor Pam Iorio last year, filed court documents this week seeking a hearing of the case before Florida Supreme Court.

In court papers, Lewis' attorney, Matt Fenton, argues the mayor's authority to hire and fire is limited to the police chief and that Iorio had violated that chain of command. He suggests that the denial of Lewis' appeal by the 2nd District Court of Appeal sets a bad precedent for law enforcement officers across the state who want to get into politics.

"Every police officer in Florida most now decide whether to run for municipal office against the backdrop of losing employment," Fenton wrote in the documents.

The motion asks the same court that denied his appeal to declare the issue a "question of great public importance" – the first step in requesting a hearing before the high court.

After Lewis filed to run for mayor in the 2007 elections, the city forced him to resign his $100,000 city job because of a state law that says subordinates must resign if the opponent has the "authority to appoint, employ, promote or otherwise supervise that person and who has qualified for re-election to that office."

Lewis sued, and Circuit Judge Marva Crenshaw ruled in his favor, saying that the city's reading of the law was overly broad. Crenshaw said in her ruling that the mayor does not have the authority to employ, promote or supervise classified employees such as Lewis.

The city appealed, and the appellate court ruled in the city's favor.

City attorneys argued the city charter clearly gives the mayor authority to supervise city employees, including police captains. The 2nd Court of Appeal sided with the city.

"The mayor's direct control and supervision extends over all departments; nothing in the city charter limits that to department heads," the three-judge panel wrote in the ruling.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (813) 259-7679.

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