TAMPA, Fla — Tampa city council members have 30 days to fill an open seat for District 3.
On Monday, now-former City Councilman John Dingfelder sent his resignation to the mayor.
Dingfelder's resignation comes after a lawsuit was filed by Stephen Michelini.
His resignation is part of a settlement agreement filed in Hillsborough County Circuit Court. It’s the outcome of a lawsuit real estate development consultant Stephen Michelini filed against Dingfelder, alleging he committed a number of Public Records Act violations stemming from August 2021.
Michelini is a Tampa Bay area consultant involved in a proposed multifamily development off Gandy Boulevard, where 81Bay Brewing is located. The lawsuit alleges Councilman Dingfelder was not for the development.
The lawyer representing Michelini, Ethan Loeb, told 10 Tampa Bay Michelini received an anonymous tip that Dingfelder was using his wife's email account to discuss the project.
In August of 2021, the complaint said, Michelini submitted a pubic records request for emails involving Dingfelder and the project. The purpose of the request was to see who Dingfelder was discussing the project with and if he was using his wife's email account.
According to Michelini's lawyer, after the public records request, the emails no longer existed.
"There were other records that were public records that we got from other sources that were no long on the wife's account or his private email. Which lead us to the conclusion they were deleted whether intentionally or inadvertently," said Ethan Loeb, a lawyer for Bartlett Loeb Hinds & Thompson.
In September of 2021, Michelini and Dingfelder had a confrontation after a city council meeting. The complaint alleges Michelini would "suffer consequences" if there were more public records requests into his wife's email account.
This past week, a settlement was reached. The settlement agreement states the resignation letter should read: “Effective immediately, I John Dingfelder, resign from my position as Tampa City Council member.”
As a part of the settlement, Dingfelder agreed to a number of things. That includes resigning and writing an apology letter.
The apology letter was written to Michelini. Dingfelder explained he was sorry for inappropriately confronting Michelini outside Council. Dingfelder also said he understands no one should alter, delete or destroy public records. Dingfelder acknowledged all city employees should use their public accounts to communicate public matters.
“All citizens have the absolute right to learn about and promptly discover how elected officials (and all other government employees) discuss, communicate, and debate about matters of public concern. Rather than honor that fundamental right, I engaged in activities that were contrary to the spirit and intent of open government and transparency,” the letter reads.
10 Tampa Bay reached out to all councilmembers for a comment; none accepted.
We also reached out to Mayor Jane Castor for a comment and were told she was not commenting on Dingfelder's resignation.
Dingfelder's secretary told 10 Tampa Bay he wants to share his side of the story; but due to the settlement, he can't talk to the media.