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Tampa Sports Authority General Counsel Steps Down

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 24, 2008

TAMPA - The general counsel for the Tampa Sports Authority has stepped down amid a cloud of conflict of interest claims involving a former board member and his law firm.

In a letter to authority executive director Henry Saavedra, attorney John Van Voris asked to be withdrawn from a short list of candidates for the job and said his firm, GrayRobinson, will no longer represent the authority. He offered to stay until a replacement is selected.

At a Monday meeting of the authority's board, Van Voris wasn't one of the three attorneys chosen by the selection committee, but the full authority board voted 6-5 to add his name back to the list. The selection process limited the short list of candidates to three, he said.

"Therefore, in our opinion, expanding the short list to four candidates runs a significant risk that someone will file a formal protest to the selection process," Van Voris wrote.

GrayRobinson and Saavedra have come under fire for not disclosing that former board member Sue House did consulting work for the firm while serving on the authority.

Van Voris didn't refer directly to the allegations, but cited "the controversy our continued representation of the authority is causing within the board itself" as one of the reasons his firm was withdrawing from the short list and will no longer serve the board.

Van Voris has represented the taxpayer-funded sports authority for more than a decade for GrayRobinson and for the Shackleford, Farrior, Stallings and Evans law firm.

House served on the board from 1995 to 2007, including a stint as chairwoman.

Financial disclosure records show that she claimed income from GrayRobinson as a part-time marketing consultant for several years while also serving on the board.

Neither Saavedra nor Van Voris said they saw a conflict of interest in the business relationship and never informed the 11-member board about her employment with GrayRobinson.

Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean has asked staff to look into the allegations.

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

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