Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 4-15-16 Edition

Feature
Citizens Outraged Over Election Of New City Council Chair
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
It is customary for the Tampa City Council to elect a Chair every four years. There’s nothing in the City Charter that says the person who has served as Chair previously, can’t be retained in that posi- tion.
Last year, Councilman Frank Reddick suggested to his colleagues that at the end of the four-year period, through rotation, another Chair be elected by the Coun- cil.
“That idea was rejected in favor of what happened last Thursday.
“What happened was I served my first four years on the Council under one Chair. But, when I wanted to see the Chair seat again, the issue of my request to rotate the seat was raised again.”
Last Thursday, a vote was taken 13 times to elect a new chair, and each time Council- man Reddick got only three votes.
“On the 14th vote, Council- man Mike Suarez made a motion to have Harry Cohen remain as Chair Pro Tiem (Vice Chair) and that was ac- cepted.
“It’s strange that you come
in with the idea of campaign- ing for Chair, and wind up in the same position.
The vote was finally taken, and Councilman Suarez was elected to serve as Chair.
Councilman Reddick
said there were a lot of things going on behind the scenes, especially with the PBA (Police Benevolent Association).
“I think the entire effort was to keep me from running for Chair. It was obvious discus- sions were held prior to that action taking place.”
As disappointed as Coun- cilman Reddick was over the process, citizens were out- raged, and these are some of the things they had to say.
Joe Robinson: “When African Americans don’t stick together and take a stand, these type of things will occur. We need to show unity and until that happens, I don’t ex- pect anything to change.
“This should be a wake-up call that nothing has changed; it’s just wearing a different face.”
Michael Randolph: “I think Councilman Reddick was just thrown to the side. He wasn’t even given a spot on the CRA Board. Now, he’s just sit- ting there and it seems all the good work he’s done, and his leadership, has just been
COUNCILMAN FRANK REDDICK
DEE JACKSON
tossed aside.”
Dee Jackson: “What I saw
last Thursday was embarrass- ing and appalling. I just wish Councilman Reddick could have done something to stop the conspiracy.”
Orlando Gudes: “One word describes what hap- pened Thursday, and that’s travesty. There was an ulterior motive and agenda separate
JOE ROBINSON
GERALD WHITE
from what everyone else was reading.
“The entire process was pre- planned and plotted on by a lot of people. The whole thing was flawed and all communities should be outraged. We all can now see the ugly side of poli- tics, because that was a cor- rupt act.”
Gerald White: “I think it’s unacceptable behavior on the
MICHAEL RANDOLPH
ORLANDO GUDES
part of our elected officials. I’m disappointed over their lack of leadership.
“I don’t approve of the ex- isting charter that permits these kind of acts to take place. We need to have a much stronger governmental body than what we have now. The delegation of power has been pre-ordained, and that’s no way to run a city.”
FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-B