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Features
City Council To Conduct
Groups Protest Mayor’s Executive Order On Citizens Review Board
Workshop On Citizens
Review Board Process
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
When the Tampa City Coun- cil first heard about Tampa Po- lice officers targeting African American bicycle riders by is- suing them citations, Council Chair Frank Reddick de- manded something be done about the disparity.
Since that time, the Depart- ment of Justice has gotten in- volved, and through the Virginia Center for Policing In- novation, a team was sent down to listen to citizens tell their stories of how police in- tentionally targeted African Americans.
The suggestion came that a Citizens Review Board be es- tablished to deal with issues concerning mistreatment by police. It was felt before that with the police department policing itself, nothing was being done to correct what the community considered a seri- ous problem.
With Council Chair Red- dick bringing the suggestion of setting up a Citizens Review Board to his colleagues, they were scheduled to discuss how it would be set up, and get some input from Police Chief
of protesters stood outside City Hall in full support of Council Chair Reddick.
The group, called ‘Tampa For Justice,’ was led by Laila Abdul Aziz, Government Af- fairs Director for CAIR (Coun- cil On American-Islamic Relations). The group is part of a coalition that consist of the Tampa-Hillsborough NAACP, ACLU, and the Council of Christian Churches.
The agenda for the group is to get a complete civilian re- view board with subpoena power, and they said all of this is in light of the disparity in the issuing of bicycle citations by Tampa Police.
“It’s truly beautiful to see how many people have united on this issue,” said Community Organizer Connie Burton.
“The City Attorney got ex- posed and I’m shocked Coun- cil Chair Reddick stood up and held them accountable. It was obvious to all of us that the City Attorney has been in- structing the Mayor on how to manipulate the charter so he will have the power to set up the review board exclusively. According to the attorney for the Council, they can do the same thing.”
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
Last Thursday, the cham- ber of the Tampa City Council was packed with people, most of them wearing black tee- shirts with the message on the front, “Tampa For Justice.”
The large crowd was assem- bled to protest Mayor Bob Buckhorn issuing an execu- tive order for the selection of a Citizens Review Board (CRB).
The CRB was the idea of
Council Chair Frank Red- dick in response to complaints from citizens about the dispar- ity in bicycle citations by Tampa Police. The citations were primarily given to bicycle riders in Council Chair Red- dick’s district, and over- whelmingly to African American riders.
In a heated discussion in which Council Chair Red- dick repeatedly told City At- torney Julie Mandell that she can’t serve two masters. Ac- cording to Reddick, it was agreed that the Mayor’s execu- tive order would be modified, and that the CRB would be es- tablished by the Council, con- sisting of seven members selected by the Council, and four selected by the Mayor (2 regular, 2 alternates).
“What it all came down to was interpretation. The City At- torney (Mandell) thought we didn’t have the power to estab- lish the CRB. After a discus- sion, we decided to have a workshop on the 24th, and at that time we will decide who to include on the Board, term lim- its and a broader general view on how to set up the CRB.
“The Mayor wanted it all done by December, but that’s doubtful now, and I don’t think it will be taken care of this year.”
Council Chair Reddick said Atty. Mandell is going to get the advice of an outside at- torney to see if there is a con- flict of interest and that could delay the process even longer.
“The conflict is over the in- terpretation, and she’s giving opinions to the Mayor and to the Council. That’s the conflict.
“This all started with the Mayor’s total disrespect of the Council. We wanted to know how it was going to be done, and for him to report back to the Council before taking any action. Instead, he pushed us aside and made the decision himself. Right now, the Mayor’s executive order is on hold.”
Council Chair Reddick
said on the 24th, they will es- tablish an Ordinance on setting up the CRB.
“A draft Ordinance will be submitted to us by our Legal Department and we will review it and at that time we will talk about the term limits and who
COUNCIL CHAIR FRANK REDDICK
qualifies to be on the Board.”
Bishop Michelle B. Patty
said she was very disappointed with Mayor Buckhorn’s pre- emptive strike on the CRB.
“I’m elated Council Chair Reddick took a stand. We should all be proud. He stood his ground, and I’ve always felt the Council should make the appointees.
“The Mayor never thought the Council would have the nerve to go against him. They really stood in representation of their constituents, with the exception of Councilman Charlie Miranda who seemed upset that his col- leagues would attack the ad- ministration and the Mayor.”
Bishop Patty said she wants to encourage everyone to attend the upcoming work- shops, because the CRB is vital to the community.
“We need oversight, and I support Council Chair Red- dick admonishing the City At- torney and the Mayor. We really had a Council to be proud of Thursday, and I think Police Chief Eric Ward needs to be careful, because he really looked unprepared.”
Activist Michelle Williams addressed the Council and said the entire meeting was very in- tense.
“I’m happy Councilman Reddick stood his ground, es- pecially after he’s been targeted by the Mayor’s administration so many times. He was in rare form during the meeting, and this is the first time I’ve seen him so assertive.
“All of this is the fault of the Mayor and the City Attorney. She was asked only to give a legal opinion, and Mr. Red- dick was strong and didn’t’ allow her to make him lose his composure.”
Michelle said she thinks the workshop is a good idea be- cause the public will have a chance to speak.
“The Mayor knows the racial disparities in Tampa. Some- thing promoted them to get the Department of Justice to come to Tampa, and that needs to be investigated. As it turned out, that meeting was a com- plete waste of time.
Protesters stand outside Tampa’s City Hall in opposi- tion of Mayor Buckhorn’s plan to appoint the members of the Citizens Review Board.
Eric Ward.
Council Chair Reddick
was adamant that in no way did he want the Police Chief or the Mayor to select who would be on this Board, and the issue was to be discussed during their September 3rd Council session.
Before the Council could ad- dress the issue, on Friday, Au- gust 28th, Mayor Bob Buckhorn used his executive power in announcing how the Board would be set up, and that he, along with the police chief, would decide who and how many would serve.
During a heated Council meeting last Thursday, a group
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