BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor
The U. S. 2nd Court of Appeals recently ruled that a former Police Captain did not have to resign his post to run for mayor. Attorneys representing the City of Tampa will ask the panel of judges to review their decision.
City Attorney, Chip Fletcher said, “We will be taking action during the specified time frame. We are asking the Court to take another look at the case.”
Attorney Jerry Gerwirtz, Chief of Litigation with the City of Tampa said, “This is unusual for cases to take this long. It’s not unusual for a case to be appealed.
The case of Marion Lewis vs. the City of Tampa began in November 2006 when Lewis decided to run for the Office of Mayor. His supervisors said he had to resign as a Captain with the Tampa Police Department, under the “Resign To Run” law. The law contends that an employee must resign if he is going to challenge his boss during an election.
Lewis stated that he inquired at the Elections Office in Tallahassee and was told the law didn’t apply to him. “The law means that if I were a deputy, I would have to resign if I wanted to run for Sheriff. But in this case, the Chief of Police is my boss and not the Mayor.
After Lewis qualified in January 2007, he contends that he was forced into retirement.
In his first lower court appearance, Judge Marva Crenshaw ruled in favor of Lewis. However, the City filed an appeal and the trial court entered a partial [private]summary judgment in favor of the City. The trial court also denied Lewis’s motion for summary judgment on an amended counterpetition.
The Justices also wrote, “We conclude that the trial court erred in entering the final judgment that determined Lewis automatically resigned from his employment by filing his Oath of Candidate form. We therefore reverse the final judgment and remand with instructions that the trial court enter a final judgment on the City’s complaint consistent with this opinion and consider the remaining allegations of Lewis’s counterpetition.”
Lewis stated that the City has ten calendar days to respond to the ruling. He further stated that the three-member judicial panel had reached a unanimous decision and that they could review their decision or chose to allow the ruling to stand.
Prior to the ruling being handed down, Lewis withdrew from the 2011 Mayor’s race, stating that he wasn’t able to devote his undivided attention to the election because of the lawsuit.
Attorney Gerwirtz said that because the city is using in-house attorneys, the City has spent approximately $1,700 in legal fees on the case.[/private]
