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Tampa City Council to consider new ordinance to allow outside legal counsel for Citizens Review Board

A local activist group is pushing for outside legal counsel, despite Mayor Jane Castor's objection.

TAMPA, Fla. — City councilors in Tampa Thursday are expected to discuss drafting a new ordinance to allow outside legal counsel for the citizen board that reviews alleged police misconduct.

A local activist group has been urging city councilors to adopt a new ordinance to allow the Tampa Citizens Review Board to hire an independent lawyer.

Tampa's Citizens Review Board was established in 2015 to build trust between the Tampa Police Department and the community, but the Tampa Bay Community Action Committee says right now, the board can't trust that its legal counsel is objective.

The decision was initially going to be left up to the voters on the March ballot, but the proposed ordinance was vetoed by Mayor Jane Castor, who says the position would be unnecessary. 

"What was proposed by the council would be redundant in that we would be hiring in essence a third attorney that the CRB does not want and did not request," Castor said.

However, Citizens Review Board member Carlos Valdes supports the effort. 

"We're being guided and represented by a city attorney who is not necessarily the attorney of the Tampa Police Department but falls under the city of Tampa," Valdes said. "So when reviewing certain cases, there could be certain types of conflicts of interest, and being able to have an independent counsel will give us unbiased opinions versus an individual that is trying to protect the city and its workers."

Devon Ingandela also sits on the review board and says legal counsel fills a procedural role that hasn't given way to conflicts of interest. 

"I don't think it's an immediate need," Ingandela said. "It's something that should be explored, but if it was me writing the check, I wouldn't be ready for that yet."

The meeting kicks off at 9:00 a.m. Thursday.

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