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Tampa mayor, City Council to be sworn, with pageantry

 
Published April 1, 2015

TAMPA — Expect pageantry and some good old-fashioned politicking.

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and the Tampa City Council will be sworn in at a Tampa Convention Center ceremony beginning at 2 p.m. as the Democrat Buckhorn opens his second four-year term.

The oath of office, however, isn't where you will find the real political action.

The big question is who will grab the city council gavel and become its next chairperson. The council will hold an organizational meeting to select its chair after the oaths of office.

Several council members are rumored to be considering a run for mayor when Buckhorn leaves, so the high-profile chairperson job couldn't hurt.

And some suspect Buckhorn will leave office early to make a gubernatorial run in 2018. If he does, the person who is the council chairperson then becomes mayor, a definite boost should that person decided to run for a full term as mayor.

It's happened before. In 1986 then-mayor Bob Martinez resigned to run for governor and then-council Chairwoman Sandy Freedman served the rest of his term, later winning the first of two four-year terms as mayor in 1987.

The council's current chairman is Charlie Miranda, who has held the post for four years. But Miranda has said he is not interested in running for mayor in 2019.

The swearing-in ceremony in 2011 featured a choir that opened with the spiritual, Order My Steps. And the mayor-elect and City Council members entered the hall with families members accompanied by a Tampa Fire and Rescue bagpipe and drum corps.

Exactly what is planned for the 2015 version is being kept under wraps with city officials saying they don't want to spoil the surprise for residents who want to attend the public event.

"We'll do pageantry and symbolism," said city spokeswoman Ali Glisson.

Contact William R. Levesque at levesque@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3432.