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Tampa Councilwoman Away Again On City Business

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 24, 2008

Gwen Miller

TAMPA - When the city council met Thursday morning to vote on several ordinances and approve year-end budget transfers, one chair sat empty.

In a memo to fellow council members, Gwen Miller explained that she would be absent from the Sept. 18 meeting "due to an out-of-town engagement."

What Miller didn't elaborate on was that out of town was actually out of country. She went to Spain for a week as part of the city's sister city program.

In the past five years, Miller has missed several meetings - including two votes on the city's annual budget and setting property tax rates - because she was visiting the northern Spanish municipality of Oviedo as Tampa's unofficial "sister city ambassador."

This was her third trip to Oviedo, one of Tampa's sister cities.

The city paid for Miller's airline ticket, and the remaining costs were covered by the Tampa Sister Cities Committee Inc., which arranged the excursion for Miller and a delegation of about 80 trade, business and cultural representatives.

Her ticket cost about $1,000, according to the city. Her husband, Les Miller, a former state senator and congressional candidate, went with her but paid his own way.

Miller did not return several telephone calls to her office, home and cell phone Tuesday seeking comment. Her legislative aide also could not be reached.

This year, it seems, she will be back in time to vote on the budget and property tax rate, both of which are scheduled for final consideration by the council tonight at City Hall.

"We haven't received notice that she'll be absent," Deputy City Clerk Sandra Marshall said.

Generally, the mayor is invited to represent the city on sister city trips. But Pam Iorio declined this year's Oviedo invitation, so the offer was again extended to Miller.

Miller did the same in 2004 and 2006, both times missing budget votes.

In the mayor's absence, the role of representing the city typically falls to the council chair, a position Miller held in the past but no longer does. Council Chairman Tom Scott said he was informed by the mayor's office that Miller was going, but he didn't object.

"It was the mayor's decision," Scott said. "She has the right to send who she wants."

Liana Lopez, the mayor's spokeswoman, said Miller was the only council member to express an interest in representing the city for the overseas cultural exchanges.

"That is why when this trip came up, Mayor Iorio offered her the opportunity," Lopez said.

Tampa has sister city arrangements with seven international cities. Besides Oviedo, they are Agrigento, Italy; Barranquilla, Colombia; Le Havre, France; Izmir, Turkey; Veracruz Boca Del Rio, Mexico; and Ashdod, Israel.

Tampa Sister Cities, a private group with about 200 members, organizes trips once a year to one city.

Vince Pardo, a member of the sister cities committee, said the overseas trips benefit the city by promoting international tourism, trade and commerce, and cultural exchanges.

"We've opened a lot of doors," he said, "both culturally and economically."

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or cwade@tampatrib.com.

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