Commission revotes on suing White so he could abstain

Hillsborough County Commissioners reaffirmed today their January decision to spend up to $25,000 on a lawsuit against their colleague, Commissioner Kevin White, in hopes of recouping legal fees associated with his sexual harassment lawsuit.

This second vote on the action was taken so White could abstain. When the commission voted on the lawsuit Jan. 21, White cast a no vote. He shouldn't have voted because the matter affected his personal finances.

After that vote, Republican consultant Chris Ingram filed an ethics complaint against White, a Democrat, saying the commissioner had violated state law that prohibits a public official from voting on any matter in which he or she has a financial stake.

County Attorney Renee Lee said at the time that a second vote on the lawsuit would correct the record and probably render the ethics complaint moot. But Ingram said he will not drop the complaint.

"I think he knew what he was doing before or should have known," Ingram said. "It shows there are no ramifications for your actions but a chance to do them over until you get them right, and that's just wrong."

White was allowed to vote on the preliminary motion to rescind the commission's January approval of the lawsuit. Lee said the motion to rescind the past vote was procedural, so White could participate. He joined the 7-0 vote to rescind.

"We were setting up the new vote," Lee said.

Several residents who spoke before the vote asked that the commission abandon the lawsuit. Dianne Hart, who identified herself as president of the Hillsborough County Democratic Black Caucus, said residents in White's district have collected 1,000 signatures on petitions to drop the lawsuit.

"We need to put a stop to this and put those dollars to use for something else," Hart said.

The county has spent about $425,000 in legal bills as a co-defendant in Alyssa Ogden's sexual harassment lawsuit against White.

Ogden filed suit in May 2008, saying White harassed her when she was his 22-year-old aide, then fired her when she rebuffed his advances. In August, a jury awarded her $75,000 and attorney fees. The presiding judge held that the county was jointly liable because it had no effective sexual harassment policies in place at the time.