Police gunning for Dingfelder, Saul-Sena over denied raises

Police union members have declared political war on two Tampa City Council members seeking Hillsborough County Commission seats because they voted against a step-pay raise for police officers.

Greg Stout, president of the Tampa Police Benevolent Association, said the union will use all means at its disposal to defeat Linda Saul-Sena and John Dingfelder, both of whom are running for county commission seats in November.

"I'd say we're going to do what it takes," Stout said. "It's clear to us they haven't appreciated what we've done for them for however long you want to look back."

On Dec. 2, Saul-Sena and Dingfelder joined three other council members in opposing step raises - awarded to officers as they rise through the ranks - that would have increased pay for roughly 500 eligible officers. Council members cited the city's recession-wracked budget in voting against the raise.

On Tuesday, PBA members retaliated by picketing Saul-Sena's campaign kickoff, carrying signs that branded the five-term city councilwoman a friend to criminals.

Saul-Sena said she was surprised by the union picketers.

"I've got a great record of supporting police," she said. "I've always been a proponent of public safety."

Police and firefighter unions have long been seen as political powerbrokers, capable of putting hundreds of volunteers on the streets and manning phone banks in support of their chosen candidates. Some political observers believe the unions' support or opposition has been pivotal in local races, including Tampa Mayor Sandy Freedman's loss to Jim Davis in a 1996 congressional race.

Freedman, a two-term mayor, had earned the police union's enmity when she stopped officers from taking their police cars home. She said the union could be especially critical in Saul-Sena's race for a countywide commission seat.

"They'll have the bodies that a campaign needs," Freedman said.

What is not clear is whether the police union's opposition will resonate in the current economy. Thousands of county residents are unemployed; thousands more have seen their pay cut. For those voters, it may be hard to commiserate with a union whose main issue is a pay raise.

But police will not frame their opposition to Saul-Sena and Dingfelder in terms of the pay raise, said Scott Paine, a government professor at the University of Tampa and former Tampa City Council member.

"If you are presumed to be against law enforcement, then you are often presumed to be against public safety," Paine said. "Whether that's fair or not, that's the card the PBA and other law enforcement unions play."

The police and firefighters' unions opposed Paine in 1999 when he lost his city council re-election bid to Rose Ferlita by just 14 votes. Paine won't say the unions' opposition was a game-changer, but he agrees with Freedman that they are politically formidable.

Dingfelder said he plans to meet with PBA officers in an effort to regain the union's support. But Dingfelder said he won't renounce his vote against the step-pay raise.