Janelle Irwin Taylor
Tampa City Council Chair Guido Maniscalco will no longer serve as Chair after his colleague, Bill Carlson, successfully moved to reconsider his appointment.
In a subsequent vote, City Council member Alan Clendenin was named Chair.
Carlson had originally voted for Maniscalco as Chair, but changed his vote Thursday to Clendenin.
Carlson said he changed his mind based on a letter sent by Mayor Jane Castor to Maniscalco in his previous term as Chair — in March — that Carlson was not made aware of until after he supported Maniscalco to remain Chair for another one-year term.
But Carlson’s motion also came the same week Maniscalco reneged on an appointment of Carlson as Chair of the Public Safety Committee. Maniscalco had appointed Carlson to lead that committee Monday, and then rescinded it in favor of City Council member Luis Viera after the Tampa Police Benevolent Association complained that Carlson was not a good fit for the role.
Maniscalco told Florida Politics that he decided to keep appointments the same as they had been in the previous term, and did not mention the PBA’s objection in his rationale.
Clendenin had been appointed by majority vote as Chair Pro-Tempore. After Thursday’s vote, City Council member Gwendolyn Henderson was voted in as Chair Pro-Tempore.
While Carlson claimed his rationale for reconsidering the Chair vote was related to the letter from Castor, Maniscalco directly accused Carlson of seeking revenge.
“The basis of this motion today, I don’t think has anything to do with the letter,” he said. “It’s not about punishment, it’s about revenge.”
Maniscalco, in a heated back-and-forth with Carlson about the reason for the motion, called Carlson’s timing suspicious.
Castor had sent a letter to Maniscalco in his capacity as Council Chair on March 13 outlining concerns about a lack of civility and respect from certain City Council members toward city staff and excessive staff time needed for Council’s many requests for staff reports.
Carlson claimed Maniscalco did not inform Council of the letter, and that they only learned of it when the Tampa Bay Times reported on the letter May 8. That was after Carlson voted to reappoint Maniscalco as Council Chair, on May 1.
Henderson nominated Maniscalco as Council Chair at the May 1 meeting, with Carlson, Miranda and Maniscalco himself joining her in support. With Carlson changing his vote, Maniscalco no longer had the support necessary to maintain his leadership role.
Maniscalco, at the May 1 meeting, had nominated Carlson as Chair Pro-Tempore. But he declined to move forward with that nomination, deferring instead to the majority support for Clendenin.
It’s unclear whether Clendenin, now that he is Chair, will rename committee leadership. Even if he did, it seems unlikely Clendenin would remove Viera from the Public Safety Commission Chairmanship given that Viera supported him as Chair in both votes.
Clendenin, meanwhile, nominated Carlson as Chair Pro-Tempore, though he did not have enough support.
While Carlson denied that his motion to reconsider who would Chair the board was related to the earlier snub, he lamented during comments Thursday that the police had been used as a “political football.”
Carlson pointed to “desperate people” with “crazy allegations.”
“I’m really offended that some political people have tried to use the police as a political football,” he added.
His comment is tinged with at least some irony, as Tampa Police Benevolent Association President Brandon Barclay, in an interview with Florida Politics about his concerns with Carlson earlier this week, directly called Carlson out for doing exactly what Carlson had lamented.
“I don’t want our cops as props,” Barclay said at the time, arguing Carlson often would say he supported law enforcement, but his votes suggested otherwise.
And he wasn’t alone. Former Tampa Chief of Police Brian Dugan said it seemed like Carlson was attempting “to drive a wedge between (law enforcement) and the community.”
“Bill Carlson as a Public Safety Chair is a slap in the face to anyone who puts on the uniform,” Dugan added.
