TAMPA, Fla. — There's a new member on the Tampa City Council. Amanda Lynn Hurtak, who goes by Lynn, was sworn in Thursday as an interim council member.
She replaces John Dingfelder, who resigned last month as part of a settlement over a lawsuit accusing him of public records law violations.
Currently, she is the only woman serving on the city council. When asked if she intends to run for the same city council seat after this term ends, Hurtak said she would.
Hurtak is a former member of the Charter Review Commission and currently sits on the Tampa Variance Review Board. She beat out 22 other candidates for the seat and received four council votes. Two other council members had voted for local attorney Meredith Freeman.
“I’m going to do the right thing,” Hurtak said Tuesday after the vote, “That’s just who I am. That’s the way my parents raised me. And giving back to the community is a big part of who I am.”
Hurtak might not be known to most, but she’s a very familiar face for Tampa City Council members who’ve worked with her for years on the city’s Charter Review Commission and Tampa Variance Board.
“When we say hit the ground running your application speaks for itself,” Councilman Guido Maniscalco said Tuesday. “And your service to this community does.”
“I am deeply ethical, and Council knows that,” said Hurtak. “I think that was a huge point in my favor.”
Hurtak has also promised an even-keeled approach in a time of turmoil for Tampa’s City Council.
“I’m a former elementary school teacher,” said Hurtak. “So, I know how to, you know, get everybody together and bring order without being you know, harsh about it.”
Hurtak was immediately advised about Florida’s sunshine laws, which require any discussions with other council members to be made in public from this point forward.
Dingfelder's resignation wasn't the only recent change to the council.
Last week, Tampa Council Chairman Orlando Gudes announced he would step down from leadership amid numerous sexual harassment allegations against him. District 6 Council Member Guido Maniscalco was chosen to replace him as chairperson. Gudes has stressed he is not resigning from the city council.
“It’s best to say that we are still waiting for all of the documents,” Gudes said after Tuesday's vote. “And once my legal team gets all of the documents, we will be able to really show what was going on here in the City of Tampa.”