Tensions between Tampa City Council member Lynn Hurtak and Mayor Jane Castor flared at a meeting Thursday.<\/p>\n
Hurtak, who announced her campaign for mayor<\/a> in February, said Castor told her during a recent briefing that council members could no longer join city workers like police officers and firefighters for ride-alongs during \u201ccampaign season.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe decision by this administration to block our access to city government is anti-democratic, and, I believe, personally targeting me as someone who has taken these responsibilities seriously,\u201d Hurtak said. \u201cThis policy was not put in place during the last election cycle, so it\u2019s clear that it\u2019s arbitrary and capricious.\u201d<\/p>\n City spokesperson Adam Smith confirmed that the administration \u201cexpect(s) to limit ride-alongs during this campaign year.\u201d He said Hurtak was not singled out.<\/p>\n \u201cSeparately, the administration is formulating a policy for ride-alongs and informational meetings for candidates for city office, given the well over a dozen people who have announced campaigns or potential campaigns,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWe want to be fair to everyone and be mindful of employees\u2019 time, as they are busy serving the public.\u201d<\/p>\n Hurtak said from the dais that she often shadows law enforcement and other city teams to better inform her decisions.<\/p>\n \u201cWe, as a body that determines how money is spent, should be able to see how money is spent,\u201d she said, adding that she does not publicize the visits for political gain.<\/p>\n Hurtak is the first elected official to join the mayoral contest. In a video announcing her campaign last month, she said she joined the City Council four years ago and \u201cimmediately got busy figuring out how this city really works, doing ride-alongs with departments like code enforcement, police, solid waste and fire rescue, to see how those who serve us can be better served.\u201d<\/p>\n Several other candidates<\/a> have filed their paperwork, with prominent names \u2014 including former Mayor Bob Buckhorn<\/a> and Tampa City Council member Bill Carlson \u2014 expected to join the race soon. The election is on March 2, 2027.<\/p>\n Council member Guido Maniscalco said he has followed police and fire workers during two fatal incidents.<\/p>\n \u201cIt sticks with you,\u201d he said. \u201cIt gave me greater appreciation for what police and fire go through.\u201d<\/p>\n Council member Luis Viera, who is campaigning for a seat in the Florida House, said he has visited \u201cGod knows how many fire and police stations\u201d since announcing his bid last April.<\/p>\n \u201cSo long as there\u2019s no abuse of it, I fail to see the reason for such a rule,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Smith said the mayor told Hurtak \u201cthat council members need be more cognizantof city employees\u2019 time, and city staff members no longer can spend hours in council meetings or writing memos about issues council members\u2019 aides can research themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n After several minutes of discussion, the council unanimously approved a motion requesting that the administration \u201crescind their position.\u201d<\/p>\n Access to city facilities and workers, they said, \u201censures fiscal responsibility and transparency amongst the decision-makers in the city of Tampa.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tensions between Tampa City Council member Lynn Hurtak and Mayor Jane Castor flared at a meeting Thursday. Hurtak,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180883,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[62065,832,2153,5756,28777,85437,135,610,137,136],"class_list":["post-180882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-adam-smith","tag-city-council","tag-council-members","tag-jane-castor","tag-lynn-hurtak","tag-ride-alongs","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-city-council","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}