IRAQ:
ICC to Get Evidence of 'Illegality' of War
Sanjay Suri
LONDON, Jan 20 (IPS) - A strong case arguing the illegality of the invasion of Iraq will be handed soon to the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
The report prepared by eight leading international lawyers and professors of law drawn from four countries makes a strong case against the illegality of the way British and U.S. troops fought the war.
The professors came together for the study within an independent group Peacerights. The study was funded largely by shows done last year by British comedian Mark Thomas in a campaign he called White Ribbon.
”We will be presenting the report first to the Attorney-General in Britain,” solicitor Phil Shiner from Peacerights said at a meeting called by the group Tuesday.
The Attorney-General is not expected to respond, given his official advice to the government last year that it would be legal for Britain to join an invasion of Iraq. The ICC will be given a copy of the report but asked formally to proceed only after the Attorney-General in Britain turns down the request to prosecute British leaders.
The dossier prepared by the experts is expected to be handed to prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno Ocampo next month in The Hague, capital of the Netherlands.
Since his appointment as prosecutor in April last year Ocampo has received around 500 requests from 66 countries, but has asked for a full inquiry in only one case relating to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
But there are indications that the prosecutor will study the law professors' report seriously. ”The prosecutor knows what we are doing, and his office is waiting for the information we are sending,” Bill Bowring who headed the panel of law experts told IPS. ”We know there is interest in the prosecutor's office.”
The prosecutor will have to study the professors' report and can take it to the ICC to demand a full inquiry if he finds merit in it. A full inquiry could mean that British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his senior ministers could be called to face charges.
If the prosecutor orders a formal investigation, then the ICC would have wide-ranging powers to interview people. ”As a strong supporter of the ICC, Britain would be under enormous obligation to cooperate,” Bowring said. And given the precedent from Serbia that has brought former president Slobodan Milosevic to The Hague to face trial, British leadership would not be exempt, Bowring said.
The United States has stayed away from the ICC and can therefore claim immunity from any ICC procedures. ”But there remains the question of complicity in a joint enterprise,” Bowring told media representatives Tuesday. ”If Britain and the United States acted together, and if war crimes were committed, then there is a real question of war crimes committed by the United States that would be before the ICC.”
The legal team plans to make the United States liable by association by focusing its inquiries on the role of Britain, which played a strong role in supporting creation of the ICC.
The eight law experts gathered evidence from a wide range of sources, and also spoke directly to witnesses over two days in London in November. Evidence was gathered from witnesses on the ground such as Spanish medical teams, and from weapons experts.
The experts' report focused particularly on cluster bombs used by the British. The Ministry of Defence in London has admitted to dropping 70 cluster bombs from the air, each of them containing 147 'bomblets'. In addition, British artillery fired more than 2,000 shells, each containing about 40 smaller bombs.
The report, a full version of which is due to be released about two weeks from now, also takes a close look at the targeting of media by way of attacks on the offices of Al Jazeera and Abu Dhabi TV, and on Palestine Hotel in Baghdad.
”We want to make it clear that we are not levelling accusations,” Shiner said. ”We are pointing to questions that need answers, and we are demanding an investigation into these.”
The Peacerights group did not have access to all the information that would be needed in order to make a charge against the government, Shiner said. ”We would need to know what the military objectives were, who took the decision to risk civilian casualties, what the targeting data was before those who took the decisions and other such information. We do not have that information but the prosecutor could ask for it.”
The lawyers who carried out the study include William Schabas, professor of human rights law at the national University of Ireland, Christine Chinkin, professor of international law at the London School of Economics, Bill Bowring, professor of human rights and international law at London Metropolitan University and Reni Provost, associate professor at the faculty of law at the McGill University in Canada.
Other lawyers are Paul Tavernier, professor at the Faculti Nean Monnet in Paris, Nick Grief, professor of law at the University of Bournemouth in Britain, Guy Goodwin-Gill, senior research fellow at All Souls College in Oxford and Upendra Baxi, professor of international law at Warwick University in Britain. (END/2004)
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Tuesday, February 27, 2007
NON attempt on Cheney
Cheney safe after deadly blast at Afghan base
By ALISA TANG
Associated Press
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News from Pakistan
Breaking news sketch by Nick Anderson
NewsWatch: White House -- Target: Cheney
Cheney safe after deadly blast at Afghan base
U.S.-Pakistan tensions on display after Cheney visit
Cheney target of Afghan suicide attack BAGRAM, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber attacked the entrance to the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan today during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney, killing up to 23 people and wounding 20.
Cheney was unhurt in the attack, which was claimed by the Taliban and was the closest that militants have come to a top U.S. official visiting Afghanistan. At least one U.S. soldier, an American contractor and a South Korean solder were among the dead, NATO said.
Cheney said the attackers were trying "to find ways to question the authority of the central government." A Taliban spokesman said Cheney was the target.
About two hours after the blast, Cheney left on a military flight for Kabul to meet with President Hamid Karzai and other officials, then left Afghanistan.
The vice president had spent the night at the sprawling Bagram Air Base, ate breakfast with the troops, and met with Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez, the commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
He was preparing to leave for a meeting with Karzai when the suicide bomber struck about 10 a.m., sending up a plume of smoke visible by reporters accompanying him. U.S. military officials declared a "red alert" at the base.
"I heard a loud boom," Cheney told reporters. "The Secret Service came in and told me there had been an attack on the main gate."
He said he was moved "for a brief period of time" to a bomb shelter on the base near his quarters. "As the situation settled down and they had a better sense of what was going on, I went back to my room," Cheney added.
Asked if the Taliban were trying to send a message with the attack, Cheney said: "I think they clearly try to find ways to question the authority of the central government."
"Striking at Bagram with a suicide bomber, I suppose, is one way to do that," he said. "But it shouldn't affect our behavior at all."
Maj. William Mitchell said it did not appear the explosion was intended as a threat to Cheney. "He wasn't near the site of the explosion," Mitchell said. "He was safely within the base at the time of the explosion."
There were conflicting reports on the death toll. Karzai's office said 23 people were killed, including 20 Afghan workers at the base. Another 20 people were injured, it said.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force said initial reports were that three people were killed, including a U.S. soldier, an American contractor and a South Korean soldier. U.S. officials indicated they planned to update that death toll.
Associated Press reporters at the scene saw 12 bodies being carried in black body bags and wooden coffins from the base entrance into a market area where hundreds of Afghans had gathered to mourn.
Friends and relatives cried and moaned as they took the bodies away from the base. Two men came to the base entrance crying and wringing their hands, one of them screaming, "My brother!"
A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said Cheney was the target of the attack, which Ahmadi said was carried out by an Afghan called Mullah Abdul Rahim, of Logar province.
"We knew that Dick Cheney would be staying inside the base," Ahmadi told AP by telephone from an undisclosed location. "The attacker was trying to reach Cheney."
Mitchell noted that Cheney's overnight stay occurred only after a meeting with Karzai on Monday was canceled because of bad weather.
"I think it's a far-fetched allegation," he said, referring to the Taliban claim. "The vice president wasn't even supposed to be here overnight, so this would have been a surprise to everybody."
White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said she could not confirm that the Taliban was behind the attack.
Perino said President Bush got an update this morning about the attack, but had not yet spoken to Cheney about it. Bush was not awakened to be told about the attack, she said.
"Of course, we're glad that he's OK," Perino said of Cheney.
The explosion happened near the first of at least three gated checkpoints vehicles must pass through before gaining access to Bagram.
The base houses 5,100 U.S. troops and 4,000 other coalition forces and contractors. High security areas within the base are blocked by their own checkpoints. It was unclear how an attacker could expect to penetrate the base, locate Cheney and get close to him without detection.
"We maintain a high-level of security here at all times. Our security measures were in place and the killer never had access to the base," said Lt. Col. James E. Bonner, the base operations commander. "When he realized he would not be able to get onto the base, he attacked the local population."
Khan Shirin, a private security guard, sobbed near the body of his relative, Farvez, a truck driver and the representative of transport association that hauls goods for the base. Shirin said many of the people killed were truck drivers waiting to get inside.
Ajmall, a shopkeeper, said the "huge" blast shook a small market where he has a stall about 500 yards from the Bagram base. Ajmall, who goes by one name, said those wounded were taken inside the U.S. base for treatment.
South Korea's Defense Ministry said one of its troops stationed in Bagram, Sgt. Yoon Jang-ho, 27, was killed in the explosion. South Korea has about 200 engineers and medics in Bagram.
Cheney later flew by plane to Kabul, 30 miles south of Bagram, to meet Karzai after a planned meeting on Monday was canceled because of bad weather that prevented the vice president making the trip to the capital.
Cheney was met by guards with guns drawn on the tarmac and was rushed by ground convoy to the presidential palace, where he and Karzai walked a long receiving line and past oriental rugs laid out on the wet, stone pavement.
Cheney and Karzai met privately for an hour and spoke about the "problems coming from Pakistan," said an Afghan government official, a reference to cross-border infiltration by militants who launch attacks in Afghanistan.
"We understand now that the U.S. government realizes that in order to stop terrorism in Afghanistan and to stop terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, there must be a clear fight against terrorism in Pakistan," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Five years after their fundamentalist regime was toppled, Taliban-led militants have stepped up their attacks and Afghan, U.S. and NATO forces are bracing for a fresh wave of violence in the spring.
Such an attack, the closest militants have got to a top U.S. official visiting Afghanistan, will likely have propaganda value for the resurgent Taliban movement.
In January 2006, a militant blew himself up in Uruzgan province during a supposedly secret visit by the U.S. ambassador, killing 10 Afghans.
There were 139 suicide bombings last year, a fivefold increase over 2005, and Rodriguez has said he expects the number of suicide bombs to rise even further in 2007.
In the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, meanwhile, a suicide attacker targeting police blew himself up, wounding three people, said police officer Abdul Nafai.
NATO-led troops patrolling the city also fatally shot a civilian who drove too close to their convoy, police said, the third such fatal shooting this month. Squadron Leader David Marsh, a military spokesman, said soldiers had signalled for the car to stop, but it kept approaching.
———
Associated Press reporters Amir Shah in Bagram and Noor Khan in Kandahar contributed to this report.
By ALISA TANG
Associated Press
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NewsWatch: White House -- Target: Cheney
Cheney safe after deadly blast at Afghan base
U.S.-Pakistan tensions on display after Cheney visit
Cheney target of Afghan suicide attack BAGRAM, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber attacked the entrance to the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan today during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney, killing up to 23 people and wounding 20.
Cheney was unhurt in the attack, which was claimed by the Taliban and was the closest that militants have come to a top U.S. official visiting Afghanistan. At least one U.S. soldier, an American contractor and a South Korean solder were among the dead, NATO said.
Cheney said the attackers were trying "to find ways to question the authority of the central government." A Taliban spokesman said Cheney was the target.
About two hours after the blast, Cheney left on a military flight for Kabul to meet with President Hamid Karzai and other officials, then left Afghanistan.
The vice president had spent the night at the sprawling Bagram Air Base, ate breakfast with the troops, and met with Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez, the commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
He was preparing to leave for a meeting with Karzai when the suicide bomber struck about 10 a.m., sending up a plume of smoke visible by reporters accompanying him. U.S. military officials declared a "red alert" at the base.
"I heard a loud boom," Cheney told reporters. "The Secret Service came in and told me there had been an attack on the main gate."
He said he was moved "for a brief period of time" to a bomb shelter on the base near his quarters. "As the situation settled down and they had a better sense of what was going on, I went back to my room," Cheney added.
Asked if the Taliban were trying to send a message with the attack, Cheney said: "I think they clearly try to find ways to question the authority of the central government."
"Striking at Bagram with a suicide bomber, I suppose, is one way to do that," he said. "But it shouldn't affect our behavior at all."
Maj. William Mitchell said it did not appear the explosion was intended as a threat to Cheney. "He wasn't near the site of the explosion," Mitchell said. "He was safely within the base at the time of the explosion."
There were conflicting reports on the death toll. Karzai's office said 23 people were killed, including 20 Afghan workers at the base. Another 20 people were injured, it said.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force said initial reports were that three people were killed, including a U.S. soldier, an American contractor and a South Korean soldier. U.S. officials indicated they planned to update that death toll.
Associated Press reporters at the scene saw 12 bodies being carried in black body bags and wooden coffins from the base entrance into a market area where hundreds of Afghans had gathered to mourn.
Friends and relatives cried and moaned as they took the bodies away from the base. Two men came to the base entrance crying and wringing their hands, one of them screaming, "My brother!"
A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said Cheney was the target of the attack, which Ahmadi said was carried out by an Afghan called Mullah Abdul Rahim, of Logar province.
"We knew that Dick Cheney would be staying inside the base," Ahmadi told AP by telephone from an undisclosed location. "The attacker was trying to reach Cheney."
Mitchell noted that Cheney's overnight stay occurred only after a meeting with Karzai on Monday was canceled because of bad weather.
"I think it's a far-fetched allegation," he said, referring to the Taliban claim. "The vice president wasn't even supposed to be here overnight, so this would have been a surprise to everybody."
White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said she could not confirm that the Taliban was behind the attack.
Perino said President Bush got an update this morning about the attack, but had not yet spoken to Cheney about it. Bush was not awakened to be told about the attack, she said.
"Of course, we're glad that he's OK," Perino said of Cheney.
The explosion happened near the first of at least three gated checkpoints vehicles must pass through before gaining access to Bagram.
The base houses 5,100 U.S. troops and 4,000 other coalition forces and contractors. High security areas within the base are blocked by their own checkpoints. It was unclear how an attacker could expect to penetrate the base, locate Cheney and get close to him without detection.
"We maintain a high-level of security here at all times. Our security measures were in place and the killer never had access to the base," said Lt. Col. James E. Bonner, the base operations commander. "When he realized he would not be able to get onto the base, he attacked the local population."
Khan Shirin, a private security guard, sobbed near the body of his relative, Farvez, a truck driver and the representative of transport association that hauls goods for the base. Shirin said many of the people killed were truck drivers waiting to get inside.
Ajmall, a shopkeeper, said the "huge" blast shook a small market where he has a stall about 500 yards from the Bagram base. Ajmall, who goes by one name, said those wounded were taken inside the U.S. base for treatment.
South Korea's Defense Ministry said one of its troops stationed in Bagram, Sgt. Yoon Jang-ho, 27, was killed in the explosion. South Korea has about 200 engineers and medics in Bagram.
Cheney later flew by plane to Kabul, 30 miles south of Bagram, to meet Karzai after a planned meeting on Monday was canceled because of bad weather that prevented the vice president making the trip to the capital.
Cheney was met by guards with guns drawn on the tarmac and was rushed by ground convoy to the presidential palace, where he and Karzai walked a long receiving line and past oriental rugs laid out on the wet, stone pavement.
Cheney and Karzai met privately for an hour and spoke about the "problems coming from Pakistan," said an Afghan government official, a reference to cross-border infiltration by militants who launch attacks in Afghanistan.
"We understand now that the U.S. government realizes that in order to stop terrorism in Afghanistan and to stop terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, there must be a clear fight against terrorism in Pakistan," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Five years after their fundamentalist regime was toppled, Taliban-led militants have stepped up their attacks and Afghan, U.S. and NATO forces are bracing for a fresh wave of violence in the spring.
Such an attack, the closest militants have got to a top U.S. official visiting Afghanistan, will likely have propaganda value for the resurgent Taliban movement.
In January 2006, a militant blew himself up in Uruzgan province during a supposedly secret visit by the U.S. ambassador, killing 10 Afghans.
There were 139 suicide bombings last year, a fivefold increase over 2005, and Rodriguez has said he expects the number of suicide bombs to rise even further in 2007.
In the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, meanwhile, a suicide attacker targeting police blew himself up, wounding three people, said police officer Abdul Nafai.
NATO-led troops patrolling the city also fatally shot a civilian who drove too close to their convoy, police said, the third such fatal shooting this month. Squadron Leader David Marsh, a military spokesman, said soldiers had signalled for the car to stop, but it kept approaching.
———
Associated Press reporters Amir Shah in Bagram and Noor Khan in Kandahar contributed to this report.
restore old rules for insurrection act
Press Release
Davis Introduces Legislation to Return National Guard Authorities to Governors
Bill would restore old rules for invoking Insurrection Act
February 7, 2007
Contact: Brian McNicoll (202)225-5074
WASHINGTON , D.C. – Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, introduced legislation that would repeal a new law that makes it easier to federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement purposes during emergencies, even over governors’ objections.
Davis is the lead Republican co-sponsor, and Rep. Timothy Walz, D-Minn., is the lead Democratic sponsor of the bill, which also was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo. The legislation would address concerns that have arisen among the nation’s governors and the National Guard community since the legislation was approved late last year over what lawmakers say is a dangerous re-centering of power in the federal branch.
“This usurpation of power by the executive branch is unhealthy, unwise and unworkable,” said Davis. “Governors know best when and where and how to deploy the Guard within their borders, and only in the most extreme cases should this power be abridged.”
At issue is the Insurrection Act, which governs when the president can declare martial law. When the Act is invoked, the military, including the National Guard, can carry out law-enforcement functions without the consent of a governor. The Posse Comitatus law, which prevents the military from engaging in domestic police activities, does not apply when the Insurrection Act is invoked.
Before late last year, the president could invoke the Insurrection Act during violent situations that deprived citizens of their rights. The language tilted against invoking the act except for clear cases of insurrection and promoted the notion that presidents consult with governors before they wrest control of the Guard. Under these rules, the Insurrection Act was invoked just three times in the last 50 years.
Under the new language, which was part of the FY 2007 National Defense Authorization Act the president can invoke the act and declare martial law in cases where public order breaks down as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, terrorist attack or “other conditions.” In short, the default position would go from governors deciding when to use the Guard troops under their command to the president – who is less familiar with the needs of the state or the capabilities of its Guard units – making these decisions.
No governor supported the change, and all governors support reverting to the previous language, which this bill would restore. “By granting the president specific authority to usurp the Guard during a natural disaster or emergency without the consent of a governor, [the new law] could result in confusion and an inability to respond to residents’ needs because it calls into question whether the governor or the president has primary responsibility during a domestic emergency,” the governors wrote to Rep. Davis and Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., who also focuses on Guard issues.
The potential for abuse is real, Davis said. He noted that, during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Department of Defense tried to foist its active duty commander on both Louisiana and Mississippi and tried to force another commander on New York after 9/11. The U.S. Northern Command also had no procedures for interaction with state and local officials, which would’ve been critical to response to Katrina and 9/11. Davis highlighted these findings as chair of the House Select Committee on Katrina.
“It’s been the National Guard’s job since the birth of the Republic to be the governors’ homeland response force.” Davis said. “The system we had in place has worked well for this entire time. There was no reason to change it, and now, there is no reason not to change it back.”
Davis Introduces Legislation to Return National Guard Authorities to Governors
Bill would restore old rules for invoking Insurrection Act
February 7, 2007
Contact: Brian McNicoll (202)225-5074
WASHINGTON , D.C. – Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, introduced legislation that would repeal a new law that makes it easier to federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement purposes during emergencies, even over governors’ objections.
Davis is the lead Republican co-sponsor, and Rep. Timothy Walz, D-Minn., is the lead Democratic sponsor of the bill, which also was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo. The legislation would address concerns that have arisen among the nation’s governors and the National Guard community since the legislation was approved late last year over what lawmakers say is a dangerous re-centering of power in the federal branch.
“This usurpation of power by the executive branch is unhealthy, unwise and unworkable,” said Davis. “Governors know best when and where and how to deploy the Guard within their borders, and only in the most extreme cases should this power be abridged.”
At issue is the Insurrection Act, which governs when the president can declare martial law. When the Act is invoked, the military, including the National Guard, can carry out law-enforcement functions without the consent of a governor. The Posse Comitatus law, which prevents the military from engaging in domestic police activities, does not apply when the Insurrection Act is invoked.
Before late last year, the president could invoke the Insurrection Act during violent situations that deprived citizens of their rights. The language tilted against invoking the act except for clear cases of insurrection and promoted the notion that presidents consult with governors before they wrest control of the Guard. Under these rules, the Insurrection Act was invoked just three times in the last 50 years.
Under the new language, which was part of the FY 2007 National Defense Authorization Act the president can invoke the act and declare martial law in cases where public order breaks down as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, terrorist attack or “other conditions.” In short, the default position would go from governors deciding when to use the Guard troops under their command to the president – who is less familiar with the needs of the state or the capabilities of its Guard units – making these decisions.
No governor supported the change, and all governors support reverting to the previous language, which this bill would restore. “By granting the president specific authority to usurp the Guard during a natural disaster or emergency without the consent of a governor, [the new law] could result in confusion and an inability to respond to residents’ needs because it calls into question whether the governor or the president has primary responsibility during a domestic emergency,” the governors wrote to Rep. Davis and Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., who also focuses on Guard issues.
The potential for abuse is real, Davis said. He noted that, during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Department of Defense tried to foist its active duty commander on both Louisiana and Mississippi and tried to force another commander on New York after 9/11. The U.S. Northern Command also had no procedures for interaction with state and local officials, which would’ve been critical to response to Katrina and 9/11. Davis highlighted these findings as chair of the House Select Committee on Katrina.
“It’s been the National Guard’s job since the birth of the Republic to be the governors’ homeland response force.” Davis said. “The system we had in place has worked well for this entire time. There was no reason to change it, and now, there is no reason not to change it back.”
Sunday, February 25, 2007
hookers on the hook and ladder
Porno shoots at local fire station
By:Valerie Boey
Tampa, Florida - Tampa’s fire chief fired a high ranking captain and suspended four other firefighters, for allowing pornographic shoots to take place at a local fire station.
Captain Al Suarez was terminated. Firefighters Stephen Johnson, Michael Layton, Michael Campbell and Michael Berwald were suspended for various days from two weeks to one month.
It all started on December of 2004. That’s when the main fire station received an anonymous call saying, some kids were playing in the parking lot of fire station #13. They saw flashing lights and looked in the station window and saw a nude woman in the bay area. Men were taking pictures of her.
While investigators can’t prove that incident happened, they went to a pornographic website. It was there, that they read about a woman named Heather, who talked about taking pictures with a fire truck in Tampa.
With the help of FDLE and Tampa Police, other photographs were obtained and investigators were able to identify Tampa’s fire truck at station #21.
Tampa Fire Rescue interviewed all employees on duty at that time. All of them denied knowing anything occurred. Four people then recanted their testimony. They said Captain Suarez pressured them not to say anything.
According to investigators, Suarez had hired the two women for a bachelor party he threw last year at his home. The women are employed by a strip club called the Doll House.
The firefighters have 10-days to appeal.
Valerie Boey, Tampa Bay's 10 News
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More Local & State New
By:Valerie Boey
Tampa, Florida - Tampa’s fire chief fired a high ranking captain and suspended four other firefighters, for allowing pornographic shoots to take place at a local fire station.
Captain Al Suarez was terminated. Firefighters Stephen Johnson, Michael Layton, Michael Campbell and Michael Berwald were suspended for various days from two weeks to one month.
It all started on December of 2004. That’s when the main fire station received an anonymous call saying, some kids were playing in the parking lot of fire station #13. They saw flashing lights and looked in the station window and saw a nude woman in the bay area. Men were taking pictures of her.
While investigators can’t prove that incident happened, they went to a pornographic website. It was there, that they read about a woman named Heather, who talked about taking pictures with a fire truck in Tampa.
With the help of FDLE and Tampa Police, other photographs were obtained and investigators were able to identify Tampa’s fire truck at station #21.
Tampa Fire Rescue interviewed all employees on duty at that time. All of them denied knowing anything occurred. Four people then recanted their testimony. They said Captain Suarez pressured them not to say anything.
According to investigators, Suarez had hired the two women for a bachelor party he threw last year at his home. The women are employed by a strip club called the Doll House.
The firefighters have 10-days to appeal.
Valerie Boey, Tampa Bay's 10 News
Most Popular
More Local & State New
Maybe THIS is why Aria Ray Green really got fired
Chief seeks investigation of Tampa firefighters' response to alarm
It took two alarms to get an engine company to put out a fire at an apartment complex.
By BABITA PERSAUD
Published July 10, 2003
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TAMPA - A red hydrant sits outside Building 7 at Camden Bayside apartments on West Shore Boulevard, but firefighters didn't use it Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. when responding to a fire alarm.
Instead, they left.
An hour later, three apartments were on fire.
Now, Tampa Fire Rescue Chief Aria Green is calling for an investigation.
He wants to know why the captain of Engine 19 didn't check the fire alarm.
"We have to determine if his actions were appropriate or not," Green said Wednesday. "At first blush, I would think that they were not appropriate."
Firefighters are supposed to get out of the truck when checking an alarm. It is believed these firefighters did not.
They are supposed to check out the alarm panel, Green said, and "Try to find out what is causing the system to go into alarm."
They are also supposed to talk to residents and see if they smell smoke.
The officer in charge of Engine 19, whose name is not being released, could face disciplinary action, Green said.
But he might not be totally at fault.
Residents say that when Engine 19 arrived on scene, Camden maintenance worker Joe Hailey told them everything was under control. The firefighters left shortly afterwards, they said.
When reached at Camden's leasing office Wednesday, Hailey declined comment.
Green said he is researching the maintenance worker's involvement, but said Engine 19's personnel still should have checked out the alarm. He said the investigation should be finished by Friday.
The fire likely started with a loud lightning clap around 6:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Carli Segelson, 26, was in her third floor apartment at Camden Bayside, 6301 S West Shore Boulevard, with her friend and next door neighbor, Elizabeth Malm, 24.
Segelson was trying on a suit she bought at Ann Taylor. A studio operator at WTSP Ch. 10, she wants someday to be a reporter and was working on a studio tape.
Then, she became news.
After the loud clap, the lights went off in her bedroom. She flipped a switch in the fuse box "and it was fine, or so we thought," she said.
Instantly, she smelled smoke and sulfur, she said.
Her friend Malm went outside in the rain with an umbrella. "We wanted to know if we should call the fire department," said Malm.
But Engine 19, responding to an automatic fire alarm, was already there.
So were several residents and Hailey, the maintenance worker. He showed the residents a light in the stairwell, which was charred and black, and told Segelson and Malm that the light blew and that's why they smelled smoke.
The women saw Hailey talking to firefighters and then the residents saw the firefighters drive off.
"From what we saw, they never got off the truck," said Malm.
Segelson, who said she still smelled smoke, went back to her apartment. Twenty minutes later, "I heard a crackling sound." She went outside and looked up "and I could see flames going all across."
She knocked on her neighbor's door. "The building's on fire," she said. "We need to get out of here."
Segelson called 911. This time, Engine 15 came out within seven minutes, at 7:40 p.m. "They were awesome," she said. "They helped us out a lot."
Damage is estimated at $200,000, most occurring to Segelson's living room and kitchen and the roof of Building 7. Two lower level apartments had water damage. About half a dozen residents spent the night at a hotel Tuesday.
"It is disturbing that firefighters didn't check out anything the first time," said Segelson, standing among the rubble in her apartment Wednesday. "The whole thing could have been prevented."
[Last modified July 10, 2003, 01:48:31]
Hillsborough County headlines
# A 'cop's cop' gets 3-mayor tribute
# City pitches for British trade office
# Hospital cuts fake trend to the quick
# Kids size up creepy, slimy creatures
# Truck crumples car, killing 3 on CR 674
# Chief seeks investigation of Tampa firefighters' response to alarm
# Officer shoots armed man, 80, outside bank
# Longtime USF professor in coma
# Tips lead to arrests in shooting
It took two alarms to get an engine company to put out a fire at an apartment complex.
By BABITA PERSAUD
Published July 10, 2003
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TAMPA - A red hydrant sits outside Building 7 at Camden Bayside apartments on West Shore Boulevard, but firefighters didn't use it Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. when responding to a fire alarm.
Instead, they left.
An hour later, three apartments were on fire.
Now, Tampa Fire Rescue Chief Aria Green is calling for an investigation.
He wants to know why the captain of Engine 19 didn't check the fire alarm.
"We have to determine if his actions were appropriate or not," Green said Wednesday. "At first blush, I would think that they were not appropriate."
Firefighters are supposed to get out of the truck when checking an alarm. It is believed these firefighters did not.
They are supposed to check out the alarm panel, Green said, and "Try to find out what is causing the system to go into alarm."
They are also supposed to talk to residents and see if they smell smoke.
The officer in charge of Engine 19, whose name is not being released, could face disciplinary action, Green said.
But he might not be totally at fault.
Residents say that when Engine 19 arrived on scene, Camden maintenance worker Joe Hailey told them everything was under control. The firefighters left shortly afterwards, they said.
When reached at Camden's leasing office Wednesday, Hailey declined comment.
Green said he is researching the maintenance worker's involvement, but said Engine 19's personnel still should have checked out the alarm. He said the investigation should be finished by Friday.
The fire likely started with a loud lightning clap around 6:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Carli Segelson, 26, was in her third floor apartment at Camden Bayside, 6301 S West Shore Boulevard, with her friend and next door neighbor, Elizabeth Malm, 24.
Segelson was trying on a suit she bought at Ann Taylor. A studio operator at WTSP Ch. 10, she wants someday to be a reporter and was working on a studio tape.
Then, she became news.
After the loud clap, the lights went off in her bedroom. She flipped a switch in the fuse box "and it was fine, or so we thought," she said.
Instantly, she smelled smoke and sulfur, she said.
Her friend Malm went outside in the rain with an umbrella. "We wanted to know if we should call the fire department," said Malm.
But Engine 19, responding to an automatic fire alarm, was already there.
So were several residents and Hailey, the maintenance worker. He showed the residents a light in the stairwell, which was charred and black, and told Segelson and Malm that the light blew and that's why they smelled smoke.
The women saw Hailey talking to firefighters and then the residents saw the firefighters drive off.
"From what we saw, they never got off the truck," said Malm.
Segelson, who said she still smelled smoke, went back to her apartment. Twenty minutes later, "I heard a crackling sound." She went outside and looked up "and I could see flames going all across."
She knocked on her neighbor's door. "The building's on fire," she said. "We need to get out of here."
Segelson called 911. This time, Engine 15 came out within seven minutes, at 7:40 p.m. "They were awesome," she said. "They helped us out a lot."
Damage is estimated at $200,000, most occurring to Segelson's living room and kitchen and the roof of Building 7. Two lower level apartments had water damage. About half a dozen residents spent the night at a hotel Tuesday.
"It is disturbing that firefighters didn't check out anything the first time," said Segelson, standing among the rubble in her apartment Wednesday. "The whole thing could have been prevented."
[Last modified July 10, 2003, 01:48:31]
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FINALLY THE SILENCE ENDS .... WITH A BIG huge butt kissing of mayor iorio
Cleanup Marks Iorio's 1st Term
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By ELLEN GEDALIUS The Tampa TribunePublished: Feb 25, 2007
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TAMPA - Basking in victory four years ago, newly elected Mayor Pam Iorio met with outgoing Mayor Dick Greco in a city hall conference room.
Greco laid out the city's financial problems. The parking fund was short; wastewater and solid waste accounts were in the red.
Beyond that, the city was on the hook for millions of dollars for the struggling Centro Ybor retail complex, and a kickback scandal had rocked the housing department.
"There was some cleaning up to do after eight years of the Greco administration," said former city Councilman Scott Paine, now a government professor at the University of Tampa.
Iorio set out to make the administration her own.
She replaced Greco's top administrators, found fault with an art museum deal well in the works, and told her staff to make neighborhood concerns a priority.
As she heads into the final days of her campaign for a second term, Iorio defines her success in terms of responding to neighborhood concerns and practicing fiscal responsibility.
"She's a breath of fresh air for neighborhoods," said Bill Duvall, president of Tampa Homeowners, an Association of Neighborhoods. "She pays attention."
Unlike her predecessor, she won't commit financing to projects until she's certain they will succeed.
But that fiscal responsibility is sometimes at odds with taxpayers.
Despite property tax windfalls the past four years, she has refused to recommend a lower rate, and she ultimately lost a battle to prevent the city council from cutting the rate. She has raised fees on almost every city service.
She also stumbled with communications gaffes, both in her pursuit of a new art museum site and in imposing an impact fee on developers to improve aging water pipes.
As for major projects that could be her legacy, she can't yet point to one - although late in her term she has tried to lead the region with a push for mass-transit solutions.
Overall, though, Iorio's political defeats have been few.
"Sometimes she might come on a little strong," Councilwoman Mary Alvarez said. "She has conviction - she wants people to buy into what her ideas are. It's a hit or miss, but most of the time, it's a hit."
Iorio As Mayor
Iorio's staff says she is cranking by 6:30 a.m., often sending e-mail.
Her official calendar brims with appointments, usually starting at 8 a.m. She meets regularly with administrators and government officials and attends ribbon-cuttings, groundbreakings and speeches.
Several evenings a week she appears at neighborhood meetings, dines with some of the area's most powerful people, gives speeches and attends receptions. Her Saturdays can be booked with three or four appointments: parades, community events and the like.
Iorio, 47, saves Sundays for watching football with her son and bicycling with her husband.
Her speeches are off-the-cuff.
"She grasps complicated concepts quite readily, but she makes it a point to speak in a way that's understandable," City Attorney David Smith said. "She tells you what she thinks. She won't sugarcoat it for you. You kind of have to respect that honesty."
Parks And Potholes
Iorio said she focuses on the basics: neighborhood concerns that improve quality of life.
She has put money into street-level improvements, spruced up many city parks and created a stormwater fee in an attempt to fix flooding problems. She created the Clean City division to focus on picking up litter.
In fiscal year 2003, the city spent about $2.6 million on neighborhood improvements such as street resurfacing and sidewalks. When Iorio took office, she bumped up that spending to $4.2 million. The city now spends about $6.2 million on neighborhoods.
Neighborhood leaders are pleased.
"We find we're getting most of the things we're asking for," said Gary Ellsworth, president of the South Seminole Heights Civic Association. "The quality of life in the neighborhood has certainly improved."
Ask Iorio to list her accomplishments, and many of them focus on neighborhood concerns.
She talks about a decrease in crime and about the Heights project to redevelop a blighted part of the city. She talks about investing in east Tampa and Drew Park, areas long neglected.
And she talks about downtown redevelopment, the redesigning of Curtis Hixon Park, the Riverwalk, and the explosion of proposed condo towers there and in the nearby Channel District.
"What I would like to do is leave a better Tampa, a well-rounded Tampa," Iorio said.
Art Museum And Property Taxes
Although her political setbacks have been few, they were quite public: a long squabble over where to put the new art museum and a fight with the city council over lowering the property tax rate.
The Greco administration and the Tampa Museum of Art board hired architect Rafael Vinoly to design a building along Ashley Drive and the Hillsborough River. The price reached $76 million, including a $30 million commitment from the city.
After Iorio took office, the museum board couldn't secure the loans to finance the project with deadlines set by Iorio. Iorio extended the deadlines, but frustration mounted. The deal collapsed, and museum leaders blamed the mayor.
Weeks later, Iorio proposed locating the museum in the old federal courthouse downtown. Art museum leaders didn't hide their disdain for the plan, and before long Iorio did an about-face and sought yet another site.
She should have lined up support for the courthouse plan before announcing it publicly, said Paine, the former council member.
"When you're mayor, you can't do trial balloons that often," Paine said.
Iorio accepts the criticism.
"I probably underestimated the ill will that had been generated by the fall of the Vinoly," Iorio said. "I think nothing I had suggested at that point would have been accepted. Nothing."
Although she failed politically on the art museum issue, Iorio is generally praised for handling it well financially. She didn't move forward with a project that taxpayers could have had to bail out in years to come.
But when the city council wanted to lower the property tax rate, Iorio refused to go along.
Iorio presented a budget that kept the tax rate stable for the 18th consecutive year. The city council balked and cut the tax rate by 2 percent, saving the owner of a $200,000 home about $23 a year.
Iorio was forced to retreat and find ways to trim about $3 million from her budget, in part by reducing the funding for nonprofit agencies. The city council protested again and found other areas to cut.
Councilman John Dingfelder called the process unhealthy and said the mayor should have taken a more collaborative approach.
"At a certain point, when she saw the council wanted to reduce the millage rate, she should have met with us and got onboard," Dingfelder said. "She needed to respect that it's council's role to reduce that millage."
Iorio said the property tax cut wasn't significant enough to be meaningful, and she hears time and again from residents who want more city services, which cost money. True property tax reform, she said, must come from the state.
Paine said Iorio was right from a financial perspective, but he, too, said she should have handled it differently.
"You have to look at it as a failure," Paine said. "It came out as a loss, and that just hurts politically."
Money Matters
Iorio's reluctance to move forward with the art museum project - and her more recent demand that the museum have a healthy endowment before she releases tax money for the building - exemplifies what she describes as her fiscally conservative style.
She socks money away in emergency reserve funds, terrified of the literal rainy day and how devastating a hurricane could be on the city's finances. She wants to build a $15 million emergency reserve to help cover costs during storms or other disasters.
Yet despite a windfall in property tax revenue, average taxpayers pay more for city services than they did before Iorio took office.
She has raised rates and fees for parking, trash pickup, wastewater and water, some by as much as 20 percent. She has created at least two fees - a stormwater assessment and an impact fee to some developers to finance a water pipeline.
Iorio said she has done what she needs to do to keep finances on track and to pay to fix and replace aging infrastructure. But she pushed through a $15,000 raise for the mayoral position, boosting the salary to $150,000, effective in April. She gave bonuses to some of her top administrators, some as much as $6,000.
She negotiated 9 percent raises for the police union but angered Amalgamated Transit Union employees when she proposed slashing their raises in half.
"We are the stepchildren of the city," said Martha Stevens, president of the union that represents about 2,500 city employees. "I don't know the reason."
Development Interests
In contrast to neighborhood leaders, developers have had their complaints with Iorio. Since she took office, developers have said the permitting process is slow.
"We're still challenged there," said Joseph Narkiewicz, executive vice president of the Tampa Bay Builders Association. "It's a tough nut to crack. It's still slow. It's still not quite up to where it needs to be."
Nevertheless, the association is endorsing Iorio in her re-election bid, pleased with her regional approach to land-use and transportation issues.
John Lum, co-owner of LIST Group, a development group, is less satisfied. Permitting and other development tasks take at least twice as long as they should, he said.
"It's frustrating," Lum said.
Developers, too, were outraged when the mayor proposed a $1,500-per-unit fee to help finance the distribution of more water in some parts of Tampa. They said they were blindsided by the fee.
Iorio said she regrets the poor communication.
Ybor City
Iorio wants to rid Ybor City of its wild reputation and replace it with a family-friendly atmosphere with lively restaurants and strong retail shops. She points to the increase in residential development as a success.
She reopened Seventh Avenue to traffic on weekend nights to remove partiers from the street. She created a curfew to keep youths away from the Ybor City party scene late at night and pushed through a tougher noise ordinance to rein in loud music.
She also wants to restrict reduced-price alcohol sales but has met resistance at the state level.
Ybor City business owners often complain about Iorio's priorities there.
Thomas Kopian, who runs Creatures of Delight art studio, said Iorio is hurting Ybor.
"The whole district is suffering because she might be antibar," Kopian said. "The bars are suffering. The restaurants are suffering. We are suffering."
Looking Ahead
Iorio knows she has a strong shot at being re-elected.
Her challengers are former fire Chief Aria Green and former police Capt. Marion Lewis, both mounting their first campaigns for public office.
She won't talk about what she might do beyond another term in the mayor's office. Her name has been floated as a likely contender for a proposed county mayor position, but Iorio said the position doesn't exist, and if it is created, she's not sure she would be interested.
Her name also is mentioned as someone who might make a statewide run, but again, Iorio won't speculate.
If she is re-elected, pushing the region to develop a mass-transit plan will be among her priorities. She has asked local agencies to dust off old rail studies to assess how rail could be constructed here.
She hopes to see more progress on the Riverwalk and the redesign of Curtis Hixon Park. And she wants to see the art museum move into a new home.
Bob Buckhorn, a former councilman, predicts Iorio will fare well in her second term.
"In the beginning, she had to pay attention to the details," Buckhorn said. "Now that she is comfortable in the job, you're going to see more legacy-type projects in the second term than in the first term."
Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com. Keyword: Politics, for the Road To City Hall blog.
WHAT IORIO HAS DONE
Since becoming mayor in 2003, Pam Iorio has:
•Extended health benefits to unmarried partners - homosexual and heterosexual - of city employees.
•Angered some Ybor City business owners by reopening Seventh Avenue to traffic on weekend nights, creating a curfew to keep youths away from the party scene, pushing through a tougher noise ordinance and trying to outlaw reduced-price alcohol sales.
•Hired the city's first black fire chief, then ousted him 15 months later.
•Defended gay rights after the Hillsborough County Commission voted to refuse to promote, acknowledge or participate in gay pride events.
•Developed a $60 million stormwater plan to fix flooding problems.
•Oversaw a master plan design for the Riverwalk, which will link Tampa Heights with the Channel District.
•Moved forward with a redesign of Curtis Hixon Park.
•Bickered with art museum board members over where to locate a new building.
•Lost her effort to prevent the city council from lowering the property tax rate.
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Skip directly to the full story.
By ELLEN GEDALIUS The Tampa TribunePublished: Feb 25, 2007
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More from this channel:
Search for more information:
Site Search Archives Keyword
TBO.com Site Search | Tribune archive from 1990
TAMPA - Basking in victory four years ago, newly elected Mayor Pam Iorio met with outgoing Mayor Dick Greco in a city hall conference room.
Greco laid out the city's financial problems. The parking fund was short; wastewater and solid waste accounts were in the red.
Beyond that, the city was on the hook for millions of dollars for the struggling Centro Ybor retail complex, and a kickback scandal had rocked the housing department.
"There was some cleaning up to do after eight years of the Greco administration," said former city Councilman Scott Paine, now a government professor at the University of Tampa.
Iorio set out to make the administration her own.
She replaced Greco's top administrators, found fault with an art museum deal well in the works, and told her staff to make neighborhood concerns a priority.
As she heads into the final days of her campaign for a second term, Iorio defines her success in terms of responding to neighborhood concerns and practicing fiscal responsibility.
"She's a breath of fresh air for neighborhoods," said Bill Duvall, president of Tampa Homeowners, an Association of Neighborhoods. "She pays attention."
Unlike her predecessor, she won't commit financing to projects until she's certain they will succeed.
But that fiscal responsibility is sometimes at odds with taxpayers.
Despite property tax windfalls the past four years, she has refused to recommend a lower rate, and she ultimately lost a battle to prevent the city council from cutting the rate. She has raised fees on almost every city service.
She also stumbled with communications gaffes, both in her pursuit of a new art museum site and in imposing an impact fee on developers to improve aging water pipes.
As for major projects that could be her legacy, she can't yet point to one - although late in her term she has tried to lead the region with a push for mass-transit solutions.
Overall, though, Iorio's political defeats have been few.
"Sometimes she might come on a little strong," Councilwoman Mary Alvarez said. "She has conviction - she wants people to buy into what her ideas are. It's a hit or miss, but most of the time, it's a hit."
Iorio As Mayor
Iorio's staff says she is cranking by 6:30 a.m., often sending e-mail.
Her official calendar brims with appointments, usually starting at 8 a.m. She meets regularly with administrators and government officials and attends ribbon-cuttings, groundbreakings and speeches.
Several evenings a week she appears at neighborhood meetings, dines with some of the area's most powerful people, gives speeches and attends receptions. Her Saturdays can be booked with three or four appointments: parades, community events and the like.
Iorio, 47, saves Sundays for watching football with her son and bicycling with her husband.
Her speeches are off-the-cuff.
"She grasps complicated concepts quite readily, but she makes it a point to speak in a way that's understandable," City Attorney David Smith said. "She tells you what she thinks. She won't sugarcoat it for you. You kind of have to respect that honesty."
Parks And Potholes
Iorio said she focuses on the basics: neighborhood concerns that improve quality of life.
She has put money into street-level improvements, spruced up many city parks and created a stormwater fee in an attempt to fix flooding problems. She created the Clean City division to focus on picking up litter.
In fiscal year 2003, the city spent about $2.6 million on neighborhood improvements such as street resurfacing and sidewalks. When Iorio took office, she bumped up that spending to $4.2 million. The city now spends about $6.2 million on neighborhoods.
Neighborhood leaders are pleased.
"We find we're getting most of the things we're asking for," said Gary Ellsworth, president of the South Seminole Heights Civic Association. "The quality of life in the neighborhood has certainly improved."
Ask Iorio to list her accomplishments, and many of them focus on neighborhood concerns.
She talks about a decrease in crime and about the Heights project to redevelop a blighted part of the city. She talks about investing in east Tampa and Drew Park, areas long neglected.
And she talks about downtown redevelopment, the redesigning of Curtis Hixon Park, the Riverwalk, and the explosion of proposed condo towers there and in the nearby Channel District.
"What I would like to do is leave a better Tampa, a well-rounded Tampa," Iorio said.
Art Museum And Property Taxes
Although her political setbacks have been few, they were quite public: a long squabble over where to put the new art museum and a fight with the city council over lowering the property tax rate.
The Greco administration and the Tampa Museum of Art board hired architect Rafael Vinoly to design a building along Ashley Drive and the Hillsborough River. The price reached $76 million, including a $30 million commitment from the city.
After Iorio took office, the museum board couldn't secure the loans to finance the project with deadlines set by Iorio. Iorio extended the deadlines, but frustration mounted. The deal collapsed, and museum leaders blamed the mayor.
Weeks later, Iorio proposed locating the museum in the old federal courthouse downtown. Art museum leaders didn't hide their disdain for the plan, and before long Iorio did an about-face and sought yet another site.
She should have lined up support for the courthouse plan before announcing it publicly, said Paine, the former council member.
"When you're mayor, you can't do trial balloons that often," Paine said.
Iorio accepts the criticism.
"I probably underestimated the ill will that had been generated by the fall of the Vinoly," Iorio said. "I think nothing I had suggested at that point would have been accepted. Nothing."
Although she failed politically on the art museum issue, Iorio is generally praised for handling it well financially. She didn't move forward with a project that taxpayers could have had to bail out in years to come.
But when the city council wanted to lower the property tax rate, Iorio refused to go along.
Iorio presented a budget that kept the tax rate stable for the 18th consecutive year. The city council balked and cut the tax rate by 2 percent, saving the owner of a $200,000 home about $23 a year.
Iorio was forced to retreat and find ways to trim about $3 million from her budget, in part by reducing the funding for nonprofit agencies. The city council protested again and found other areas to cut.
Councilman John Dingfelder called the process unhealthy and said the mayor should have taken a more collaborative approach.
"At a certain point, when she saw the council wanted to reduce the millage rate, she should have met with us and got onboard," Dingfelder said. "She needed to respect that it's council's role to reduce that millage."
Iorio said the property tax cut wasn't significant enough to be meaningful, and she hears time and again from residents who want more city services, which cost money. True property tax reform, she said, must come from the state.
Paine said Iorio was right from a financial perspective, but he, too, said she should have handled it differently.
"You have to look at it as a failure," Paine said. "It came out as a loss, and that just hurts politically."
Money Matters
Iorio's reluctance to move forward with the art museum project - and her more recent demand that the museum have a healthy endowment before she releases tax money for the building - exemplifies what she describes as her fiscally conservative style.
She socks money away in emergency reserve funds, terrified of the literal rainy day and how devastating a hurricane could be on the city's finances. She wants to build a $15 million emergency reserve to help cover costs during storms or other disasters.
Yet despite a windfall in property tax revenue, average taxpayers pay more for city services than they did before Iorio took office.
She has raised rates and fees for parking, trash pickup, wastewater and water, some by as much as 20 percent. She has created at least two fees - a stormwater assessment and an impact fee to some developers to finance a water pipeline.
Iorio said she has done what she needs to do to keep finances on track and to pay to fix and replace aging infrastructure. But she pushed through a $15,000 raise for the mayoral position, boosting the salary to $150,000, effective in April. She gave bonuses to some of her top administrators, some as much as $6,000.
She negotiated 9 percent raises for the police union but angered Amalgamated Transit Union employees when she proposed slashing their raises in half.
"We are the stepchildren of the city," said Martha Stevens, president of the union that represents about 2,500 city employees. "I don't know the reason."
Development Interests
In contrast to neighborhood leaders, developers have had their complaints with Iorio. Since she took office, developers have said the permitting process is slow.
"We're still challenged there," said Joseph Narkiewicz, executive vice president of the Tampa Bay Builders Association. "It's a tough nut to crack. It's still slow. It's still not quite up to where it needs to be."
Nevertheless, the association is endorsing Iorio in her re-election bid, pleased with her regional approach to land-use and transportation issues.
John Lum, co-owner of LIST Group, a development group, is less satisfied. Permitting and other development tasks take at least twice as long as they should, he said.
"It's frustrating," Lum said.
Developers, too, were outraged when the mayor proposed a $1,500-per-unit fee to help finance the distribution of more water in some parts of Tampa. They said they were blindsided by the fee.
Iorio said she regrets the poor communication.
Ybor City
Iorio wants to rid Ybor City of its wild reputation and replace it with a family-friendly atmosphere with lively restaurants and strong retail shops. She points to the increase in residential development as a success.
She reopened Seventh Avenue to traffic on weekend nights to remove partiers from the street. She created a curfew to keep youths away from the Ybor City party scene late at night and pushed through a tougher noise ordinance to rein in loud music.
She also wants to restrict reduced-price alcohol sales but has met resistance at the state level.
Ybor City business owners often complain about Iorio's priorities there.
Thomas Kopian, who runs Creatures of Delight art studio, said Iorio is hurting Ybor.
"The whole district is suffering because she might be antibar," Kopian said. "The bars are suffering. The restaurants are suffering. We are suffering."
Looking Ahead
Iorio knows she has a strong shot at being re-elected.
Her challengers are former fire Chief Aria Green and former police Capt. Marion Lewis, both mounting their first campaigns for public office.
She won't talk about what she might do beyond another term in the mayor's office. Her name has been floated as a likely contender for a proposed county mayor position, but Iorio said the position doesn't exist, and if it is created, she's not sure she would be interested.
Her name also is mentioned as someone who might make a statewide run, but again, Iorio won't speculate.
If she is re-elected, pushing the region to develop a mass-transit plan will be among her priorities. She has asked local agencies to dust off old rail studies to assess how rail could be constructed here.
She hopes to see more progress on the Riverwalk and the redesign of Curtis Hixon Park. And she wants to see the art museum move into a new home.
Bob Buckhorn, a former councilman, predicts Iorio will fare well in her second term.
"In the beginning, she had to pay attention to the details," Buckhorn said. "Now that she is comfortable in the job, you're going to see more legacy-type projects in the second term than in the first term."
Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com. Keyword: Politics, for the Road To City Hall blog.
WHAT IORIO HAS DONE
Since becoming mayor in 2003, Pam Iorio has:
•Extended health benefits to unmarried partners - homosexual and heterosexual - of city employees.
•Angered some Ybor City business owners by reopening Seventh Avenue to traffic on weekend nights, creating a curfew to keep youths away from the party scene, pushing through a tougher noise ordinance and trying to outlaw reduced-price alcohol sales.
•Hired the city's first black fire chief, then ousted him 15 months later.
•Defended gay rights after the Hillsborough County Commission voted to refuse to promote, acknowledge or participate in gay pride events.
•Developed a $60 million stormwater plan to fix flooding problems.
•Oversaw a master plan design for the Riverwalk, which will link Tampa Heights with the Channel District.
•Moved forward with a redesign of Curtis Hixon Park.
•Bickered with art museum board members over where to locate a new building.
•Lost her effort to prevent the city council from lowering the property tax rate.
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