Throughout the last year and a half, some members of the Tampa City Council have privately expressed at one time or another anger regarding a lack of respect from Mayor Bob Buckhorn. That anger went public today at City Hall.
The reason was that the mayor, Police Chief Jane Castor, City Attorney Jim Shimberg, and other high-ranking members of the administration weren't present to discuss what to do with the surveillance cameras purchased with a federal grant for last month's Republican convention.
At the end of the lengthy discussion, Councilman Harry Cohen erupted in frustration, saying that even if members from the administration weren't available at 11 a.m., there was no good reason why they didn't show up by 1 p.m. (City Attorney Shimberg contacted Councilwoman Lisa Montelione to say he was in Clearwater on city business, not aware he was needed for the discussion.)
"Our input is not wanted, our input is not welcome," Cohen said.
Earlier, Councilman Mike Suarez called the lack of a top-ranking officials at the meeting, "unconscionable."
Perhaps their frustration was also due to the fact that they have limited say about what happens to the cameras. Buckhorn stated that he wants the cameras to remain, though he suggested he would be amenable to moving some of them to different parts of the city.
This article appears in Sep 20-26, 2012.