TAMPA — Retired banker and philanthropist David Straz told the Tampa Bay Times editorial board Wednesday that he isn't seeking the newspaper's recommendation in the Tampa mayoral race because he was approached more than two years ago to invest in the company.
"Because of that discussion of financial support of the newspaper, for me to now ask for your endorsement would, I believe, be inappropriate," Straz wrote in a prepared statement he presented to the board.
Times chief executive Paul Tash told Straz the newspaper would evaluate his candidacy on its merits.
A recommendation on the seven mayoral candidates — Straz, former police chief Jane Castor, former county commissioner Ed Turanchik, City Council members Harry Cohen and Mike Suarez, retired circuit court and county judge Dick Greco Jr. and branding consultant Topher Morrison — is expected shortly after ballots are mailed to voters at the end of January.
Straz said he wanted to make his position public about "what appears to me to be a clear conflict of interest." He acknowledged that he didn't disclose an interest in running for political office when he and Tash met.
Tash said he would never have approached Straz when he was assembling FBN Partners, which eventually loaned $12 million to the newspaper, if he knew that he harbored political ambitions.
Straz said he didn't know at the time that he would run for mayor.
Tash said Straz's request wouldn't influence the Times' decision making.
"We're going to cover you the way we would cover you otherwise and the way we cover everyone else," he told Straz at the beginning of an interview in the newspaper's Tampa offices.
After the meeting, Tash issued a statement: "We don't make recommendations to help the candidates. We make recommendations to help the voters. Our obligation is to them."
Contact Charlie Frago at cfrago@tampabay.com or (727)893-8459. Follow@CharlieFrago.