Stephanie Poynor at WMNF in Tampa, Florida on Oct. 17, 2024, Credit: Photo by Ray Roa / Creative Loafing Tampa Bay
Tampa’s City Council is set to discuss a new ordinance that would revise existing lobbying regulations, expanding them beyond just those who lobby for pay. Rules that have historically applied to those paid to advocate for both real estate developers and large civil rights organizations could now be applied to volunteers for local activist groups and neighborhood associations, requiring them to register as lobbyists, file expenditure reports and follow some other restrictions around communication with city officials.
The ordinance, proposed by the Tampa Ethics Commission at the direction of Mayor Jane Castor, would change the current ethics code, which defines lobbyists as individuals who discuss city business with officials outside of public meetings in exchange for compensation. The proposed definition removes language that limits the definition of lobbyist to those who receive compensation for their communication, and adds language stating that the communication must be on behalf of a person or entity to be considered lobbying.
Anyone the city defines as a lobbyist is subject to certain regulations in their communications with city officials and must pre-register as a lobbyist with the city before engaging in any lobbying. Violations are punishable by fines and by banning violators from engaging in lobbying for up to 12 months at a time. An exception exists for people advocating only for themselves as an individual, but representatives of community organizations like Tampa Homeowners Association of Neighborhoods would likely be considered lobbyists.
Stephanie Poynor, President of Tampa Homeowners Association of Neighborhoods, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay she opposes the change and believes it would limit neighborhood leaders’ ability to interface with city staff. Poynor said that last year, residents in the South of Gandy neighborhood were left without water. As a neighborhood leader, Poynor said that she immediately knew which city employee to reach out to and notified them of the issue.
“[Under the proposed ordinance], I would have ended up with, ‘Oh, you didn’t file this report beforehand,’” Poynor said. “And so we would have had thousands of people continue to be without water, because I had to file this report first, and it doesn’t make any sense.”
It’s not clear whether the proposed ordinance would limit such communication with city staffers, as the ethics code says lobbying is related to communication with elected officials or employees with “authority to make final decisions.”
Tampa communications director Adam Smith told CL that the change was not intended to obstruct communication between neighborhood associations and the city, and that city council is welcome to modify the ordinance to ensure it meets transparency goals while maintaining the rights of these groups.
“It’s always been a very clear cut dividing line between who’s a lobbyist and who is just a regular citizen representing their neighborhood,” Former Hillsborough County Commissioner Mariella Smith told CL. She believes that the change as proposed upends an established system that has kept lobbying rules functioning as-intended: limiting secretive interference by paid lobbyists while giving constituents access to local officials.
“While the intentions of the committee might have been one thing, what I see is something that could, in places, be twisted by paid lobbyists to work against citizens who are coming to speak to their elected representatives in any way,” Smith added.
Lobbyists, Smith said, are used to the red tape and have training in advocating within local lobbying regulations. She believes this may give them an advantage over untrained volunteer representatives of smaller organizations, which is the opposite of the code’s current impact.
The proposal (File No. E2025-8 CH 2) says the reason for the change is a request Mayor Jane Castor made in a letter to the ethics committee dated Apr. 6, 2022. This letter came in the wake of the resignation of former council member John Dingfelder.
Dingfelder resigned as a condition of a legal settlement after he was sued by real estate business consultant Stephen Michelini for allegedly obscuring public records. In the lawsuit, Dingfelder was shown discussing city business with Poynor and other community leaders via personal communication platforms. In response to Dingfelder’s resignation, Castor publicly directed the Tampa Ethics Commission to reevaluate the language surrounding lobbying in a letter cited by the ordinance, which reads in part:
“I would like to formally request that the Ethics Commission conduct a comprehensive review of the following: City of Tampa lobbyist disclosures and registrations, ethics enforcement processes, and conflict of interest disclosure requirements for all elected city officials. Given the difficulties at City Council over the past few weeks, there is rising public concern about conflicts of interest and whether current disclosure requirements provide the clarity and transparency that is needed to protect the public interest.”
Following this letter, the ethics commission proposed several revisions to the ethics code, including removing the “for compensation” stipulation in the lobbyist definition.
The agenda item is set to be discussed at the Tampa City Council meeting this Thursday, Oct. 23. Council Member Bill Carlson filed a memo Tuesday declaring his intent to push discussion of the ordinance to a Feb. 26 workshop meeting.
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This article appears in Oct. 23 – 29, 2025.
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