The approval comes after a tumultuous four years for the city of Tampa under Castor that included her pick for police chief resigning last year after a video of her flashing her badge to avoid a ticket. There’s also the Department of Justice investigation into Tampa Police Department’s “crime free multi-housing” program that Castor and her administration kept quiet for months. More recently, Senator Janet Cruz, mom of Castor’s partner Ana Cruz, failed to unseat council member Lynn Hurtak in one of the gnarliest election cycles to date.
Council member Bill Carlson said moving forward he wants staff to stay out of politics. Municipal elections are, in theory, nonpartisan, but Carlson notably ran against local McDonald’s heir Blake Casper, with Mayor Castor, a Democrat, endorsing the Republican mega donor Casper instead of the incumbent.
“I want to try and hit the reset button and move forward,” Carlson said at the meeting. “Please don’t get involved in politics anymore. We’re all on the same team.”
Before the vote, Hurtak said the council received emails with concerns about reappointing Adam Smith as communications director.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t say I was concerned about the direction of communications because, to me, that’s the lynchpin of the city,” Hurtak said.
Smith was political editor for the Tampa Bay Times for almost 20 years and left the paper in 2019 to work for a public affairs firm, Mercury, where he worked as a consultant on Castor’s successful first campaign for mayor. In June 2021, he replaced Ashley Bauman—Communications Director for the City of Tampa, Castor and former Mayor Bob Buckhorn—who resigned a month before citing personal reasons. Bauman is now Managing Director at Mercury.
The resolution was for a blanket approval of Castor’s recommendations, but Hurtak said she would’ve voted to not approve Smith’s appointment.
“I’m not alone, I’ve spoken with other department heads that are also concerned,” Hurtak said. “Frankly, I’m concerned that the rest of council isn’t concerned.”
Recently elected council member Gwen Henderson said she also saw the emails Hurtak mentioned, but didn’t think they warranted blocking Smith’s re-appointment.
Chief of Staff John Bennett said Mayor Castor’s “theme” for the next four years is “communication.”
“If one branch of the administration is struggling, we’re all struggling,” Bennett said. The list of reappointments were the same as last administration, but didn’t include water department director Chuck Weber, who left earlier this month.
It isn’t yet known what the emails about Smith’s reappointment said. Carlson noted that he’s concerned about Smith’s appointment as well but was assured by Castor that things would be different moving forward.
“We have a bully pulpit we can use here if we see staff turning city resources against us,” Carlson said. “It’s not ethical to do that.”
UPDATED: 05/23/23 10:10 a.m. Updated with comments made by Councilwoman Gwen Henderson and to make clear that Janet Cruz is the mother of Castor’s partner, Ana Cruz.
This article appears in May 18-24, 2023.