2026 City of Tampa Charter Review Advisory Commission

The City Charter, Tampa’s constitution, establishes the city government’s organization and functions. It defines the mayor and city council’s powers and duties, election procedures, department structures, and officials’ rights and responsibilities. It also sets rules for city finances and operations.

In March of 2017, Tampa City Council adopted Resolution 2017-233 creating the first City of Tampa Charter Review Advisory Commission (CRC) since the Charter was revised in 1975. That resulted in 18 amendments recommended by the commission to council which were passed by the voters in 2019. One of those amendments established the CRC every 10 years commencing in 2025. Those are not to be confused with the 4 charter amendments initiated by council that went before the voters in 2023. Those proposals were contentious with the mayor writing an op-ed vetoing the proposed amendments with council overriding the veto on 4. 3 of the proposals passed, one of which changed the charter review period to 8 years. Most recently council approved a charter amendment that went before the voters in November 2024 removing residency requirements for non-elected city officers which was approved by the voters.

The current CRC was established by Tampa City Council in September of 2025 through Ordinance No. 2025-98 and Resolution 2025-1044. 7 members and one alternate appointed by Council, 2 members and one alternate appointed by the mayor. All committee members must be residents of the city nor employed by the city. They are not compensated for their commitment. Legal counsel outside of the City Attorney’s office will provide advice to the CRAC and a professional facilitator to facilitate the charter review process. The committee can make their own rules as to how they want to operate and decide on what final recommendations to send to council. They will meet publicly no less than twice a month and are required to allow 15 minutes of public comment at each meeting.

City Council’s Appointees:

Garrett Greco – Appointed by City Council Member Alan Clendenin
Stephen Benson – Appointed by City Council Member Guido Maniscalco
Bobby Creighton – Appointed by City Council Member Lynn Hurtak
Bill Schifino – Appointed by City Council Member Bill Carlson
Ashley Morrow – Appointed by City Council Member Naya Young
Rebecca Kert – Appointed by City Council Member Charlie Miranda
Alan Cohn – Appointed by City Council Member Luis Viera,
City Council Alternate: Alison Hewitt – Appointed by Tampa City Council

Mayor Jane Castor’s Appointees:

Kathleen Shanahan
Ron Christaldi
Mayoral Alternate: Sue Carlton

When the 2017 CRC was established, the scope was defined in the resolution creating it—17 items were listed but were not meant to limit what the committee considered. This year’s CRC’s scope is defined by:

The Charter Review Commission shall review the Tampa Home Rule Charter of 1975, as amended, and propose any amendments or revisions to the Tampa City Council for placement on the March 2, 2027, municipal election ballot.
The CRC will review proposals for non-substantive housekeeping changes to the Charter submitted to the City Council by the City Attorney.
Questions by the Tampa City Council will be submitted to the CRC for Commission discussion and recommendation.

Subsequently, council met in a special call meeting on January 13th to finalize a list of questions to submit. They include:

Is there a way to better define the role and powers of the city attorney’s office?
Should we clarify in the charter that the city attorney is not the judicial branch of the city and that the city attorney simply advises her/his clients?
Since the charter currently defines the mayor and city council as two clients of the city attorney, should the city council have more powers over the city attorney once city council has approved the appointment?
Per Florida Bar rules provide guidance on how attorneys should handle two clients who are in conflict. Should the city attorney follow some or all those rules?
Since the charter defines several clients for the city attorney, should the city attorney be prohibited from investigating one client at the order of another and follow Florida Bar rules?
Should the mayor have an attorney that represents the mayor’s interests just as city council has an attorney?
Should the city council attorney be allowed to hire additional staff and outside attorneys subject to budget approval of city council?
Should there be a charter provision to set salaries for city council and the mayor so that council members and the mayors in the future will not need to calculate and approve their own salaries?
Similar to the US Constitutional provisions for President, should a mayor be limited to two four year terms?
Since the mayor in her/his role as mayor does not have a voting conflict, how should the mayor handle and disclose conflicts of interests?
Should a process be created to arbitrate/settle disputes between the mayor and city council since there is no judicial branch of the city?
Should Tampa City Council have the ability to remove a director level staff or above with 5 or more votes of Council.
Should the language that limits the use of investigative power only to legislative matters be removed, and to what limits.
Allow Tampa City Council to hire staff they see fit to carry out their Legislative duties
Require a vote by Council for any debt.
Allow Tampa City Council to initiate amendments to the Tampa City Budget during the respective fiscal year
New positions or salary changes above (x)% after budget approval requires majority of council
Should Council have the authority to override Mayoral policy or Executive Orders with 5 or more votes?
The possibility of expanding City Council in response to the city’s growth.
The idea of establishing a Chief Administrative Officer position.
A review of interim appointments, including the appropriate length of time a department head should serve in an interim capacity.
whether funds approved by City Council, such as allocations for projects like paving, should be required to be expended within the same fiscal year in which the budget is approved, or within a defined and specified time period once authorized by Council.

It’s worth noting that council already have to approve any debt as part of their primary function in approving the budget, all contracts and the issuance of bonds. As to expanding their staff, there’s already a provision in the charter.

Other Staff: The city council may create and fill other staff positions for the purpose of assisting in the performance of its legislative function; however, such other staff positions must be approved by an affirmative vote of no fewer than five members of the city council; funds for such positions must be found in the city council’s budget, and, any additional costs thereof must first be approved by the mayor.

The CRC have until the September 17th 2026 council meeting to make their recommendations. Council will have a workshop the following week for initial review, a final review the following week (tentatively scheduled October 1st) where they will make their decision on which recommendations to accept. First reading is scheduled for November 5th with adoption November 19th. Per the ordinance, all recommendations will require a 5 vote majority by council. From there they will go to the voters on the March 2, 2027 ballot with the next mayor and council.