{"id":262184,"date":"2026-05-07T16:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T16:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/262184\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T16:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T16:02:08","slug":"tampa-city-council-re-elects-alan-clendenin-as-chair-signaling-stability-after-last-years-fiasco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/262184\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa City Council re-elects Alan Clendenin as Chair, signaling stability after last year\u2019s fiasco"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alan Clendenin<\/a> will continue to wield the gavel as Chair of the Tampa City Council after members voted to re-elect him to the role, extending a tenure that began last year after a contentious leadership shake-up.<\/p>\n

Clendenin\u2019s selection came as City Council members appeared apprehensive about stepping into leadership roles, particularly after a public spat between former Chair Guido Maniscalco and Council Member Bill Carlson<\/a> \u2014 who recently launched a bid for Tampa Mayor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Clendenin, who represents the citywide District 1 seat, first assumed the Chair position in May 2025 after Carlson successfully moved to reconsider Maniscalco\u2019s reappointment to the role \u2014 and subsequently swinging his vote to select Clendenin as Chair.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s vote, by contrast, was a far less dramatic process and signaled continued support for Clendenin\u2019s leadership heading into another year of major city issues, including redevelopment negotiations, infrastructure planning, public safety discussions, and high-profile discussions over a proposed Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> ballpark.\u00a0<\/p>\n

No other Council member was nominated, nor appeared eager to be.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI just thank you. It\u2019s been a very interesting a little less than a year being Chair. We have so much good work to do for the city of Tampa, and I\u2019m happy to be a part of it to move the city forward,\u201d Clendenin said after the vote.<\/p>\n

Council Member Lynn Hurtak<\/a> was also re-elected as Chair Pro Tempore following similar hesitation by other members. Hurtak \u2014 who is also running for Mayor<\/a> \u2014 told members she would continue serving in the role if no one else would relieve her of the duties, and explained that the role requires additional effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf no one else will do it, I will do it,\u201d Hurtak said. \u201cSo I have to say, Chair and Chair Pro-Tem: It\u2019s work. It\u2019s work on top of work you already do. I\u2019ll fill in if I have to, but if anyone else wants it, I\u2019m happy to \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Council members interjected before Hurtak finished her thought, but indicated various reasons for declining the role themselves.<\/p>\n

Asked for a few words about the appointment, Hurtak simply turned to Clendenin and said \u201cdon\u2019t be absent,\u201d eliciting a chuckle from the crowd.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think we make a good team, so I appreciate that you\u2019re still sitting here. Thank you,\u201d Clendenin said in response.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Council did select its youngest member, Naya Young<\/a>, as Chair of the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), and a highly experienced but term-limited Luis Viera<\/a> \u2014 who is set to leave office in about six months as he runs for House District 67<\/a> to succeed term-limited House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell<\/a> \u2014 was selected to serve as the CRA\u2019s Vice Chair for the remainder of his tenure.<\/p>\n

Carlson\u2019s decision to withdraw support for Maniscalco after initially backing him for another term as Chair came after learning of a March 2025 letter from Mayor Jane Castor<\/a> to Maniscalco criticizing what she described as a lack of civility<\/a> from some Council members toward city staff. The political fallout escalated further after Maniscalco briefly appointed Carlson to lead the Public Safety Committee before reversing course and instead naming Viera to the role following objections from the Tampa Police Benevolent Association.<\/p>\n

Born in Sanford, Clendenin has lived in Tampa since 1985 and spent 32 years as an air traffic control specialist with the Federal Aviation Administration before entering city politics. In addition to serving on the City Council, he also sits on the Transportation Planning Organization, Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and Tampa Sports Authority, according to his city profile.<\/p>\n

Despite the political drama surrounding his initial rise to the position, Clendenin has become a lynchpin for the Tampa City Council. His re-election keeps continuity atop the seven-member board and keeps the drama (potentially) at bay.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Janelle Irwin Taylor of Florida Politics contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alan Clendenin will continue to wield the gavel as Chair of the Tampa City Council after members voted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[28772,52111,12665,113144,5756,28776,28777,609,135,3815,137,104083,136],"class_list":["post-262184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-alan-clendenin","tag-bill-carlson","tag-fentrice-driskell","tag-house-district-67","tag-jane-castor","tag-luis-viera","tag-lynn-hurtak","tag-naya-young","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-rays","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-mayor","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262184","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=262184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}