On Thursday, Tampa City Council members spent more than two hours discussing whether or not the leftover RNC security cameras should stay in downtown. By the end of the meeting, the only conclusion was to have the Council’s attorney sit down with the city attorney to craft a potential ordinance for how the cameras will be used.
Last March, the Council voted to approve a $2 million contract for the Tampa Police Department to purchase 78 cameras to be used for security purposes during the RNC. There was little room for discussion, as Police Chief Jane Castor rushed the item onto,l the agenda, claiming it was urgent. At the time, city attorney Jim Shimberg said that after the convention he would be prepared to introduce an ordinance for future camera use.
But Shimberg has done nothing of the sort, alienating members of the Council. Two weeks ago, the issue went before the board for the first time since the conclusion of the convention, and neither Shimberg nor Castor were in attendance, angering council members (the two apologized this morning).
The bigger problem for council members is that they are essentially impotent. Last winter, after they approved the purchase of the cameras on a 6-1 vote — Mary Mulhern dissented, as she again reminded everyone today — they gave up their power to control what happens to the cameras.
This article appears in Oct 4-10, 2012.
