Miranda even had Carlson’s back when he told a personal story about his son being accosted by someone protesting a movie on the Cuba embargo at Tampa Theatre.Ĭouncil will again take up the contract at the Nov. But Guido Maniscalco and John Dingfelder joined a now-united Carlson and Miranda to approve the continuance.Ĭarlson and Miranda were able to come together at the end of the meeting. Luis Viera, Joe Citro and Orlando Gudes voted no on the continuance. “I resigned a client that was one of our longest clients, that I had about three years left on the contract,” Carlson said.Ĭouncil members remained split. He had a choice to recuse himself from water projects or drop the client. When he became a Council member, he said he still had a contract with the organization worth nearly a quarter-million dollars. “In fact, I named Tampa Bay Water.”Ĭarlson said his firm worked with the organization for about 15 years. My firm, which is a PR firm, worked with Tampa Bay Water,” he said. “I’ve made it public to this Council, to the public and any organization that talks to me. He blocked, taking the hit enough to feel something, but siphoning some of the power away as he countered.
Miranda didn’t have to wait for an investigation. “I’m gonna send them a letter and I’m gonna ask the good people of the Children’s Museum, from 1998 to now, who brought that in, how they got it in, who’s paid who, who did they pay? I’m gonna ask a bunch of questions about that.” Even making a $7.5 million accounting error an intern caught.īut he also asked a bonus of $200,000 be included if the EDC meets certain guidelines. He said the EDC has failed the city for the last 10 years. In his letter, Carlson asked for more frequent and more detailed reports to the City Council, including penalties for botched reports, closer monitoring of the EDC’s efficacy, a requirement to share the “Tampa Bay” brand and stricter ethical guidelines. The move frustrated other area EDCs that had been working to establish Tampa Bay as a regional draw. Carlson has been talking about cutting ties with the EDC since it changed its name from the Tampa-Hillsborough Economic Development Corp. He’s not been shy with his criticism of the organization. He wanted more stipulations in the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council’s contract before it was approved.Ĭarlson had asked for a 30-day continuance in approving the EDC’s new contract. Tampa City Council member Bill Carlson had pulled an item from the consent agenda of the board’s Thursday meeting. In August, the Tampa Water Department began using chlorine to treat water instead of liquid oxygen. Tampa and Orlando are ending water emergencies now that COVID-19 hospitalizations have declined in the state. Even virtually, the words flew across the dais and landed like a Tyson Fury uppercut between the ribs. The Tampa Water Department switched to chlorine from liquid oxygen, which was being diverted to area hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients.