by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The next six months may prove pretty interesting for City Council President Michael Corrigan. In addition to the projects he’s already started and one major undertaking he’d like to start, Corrigan will need to fill the vacancies created by the departure of Council members Reggie Fullwood and Kevin Hyde.
Fullwood, who unsuccessfully ran for State Rep. Audrey Gibson’s seat, officially ended his tenure after the Nov. 14 Council meeting. He represented Dist. 9. Hyde, an attorney at Foley & Lardner, will serve in Governor-elect Charlie Crist’s cabinet. Crist has asked Hyde to be his Secretary of the Department of Management Services. That department provides state agencies with assistance in purchasing, human resources management, specialized services, real estate management, retirement benefits and insurance benefits. Crist said he’s counting on Hyde’s experience in labor and employment law. Hyde is an at-large member of Council. Neither seat will be filled by a special election, leaving both vacant until after the spring elections. (New Council members will start July 1.)
The full Council meetings aren’t a dilemma for Corrigan. (There are 17 remaining members of Council and only 14 are needed for a quorum at a Council meeting.) The problem will be ensuring a quorum at the Council committee meetings that prove challenging. Hyde is chair of the Finance Committee and a member of the Rules and Personnel committees. Fullwood was a member of both the Audit and Economic, Community and International Development committees. Their absences, if combined with others’, could pose a problem.
“We need four Council members to have a quorum on the committees,” said Corrigan. “There won’t be a quorum problem per se, but if there are excusals, there may be potential problems.”
In addition to the Council committee appointments, Hyde also served as the Council liaison to three other committees and City agencies: JEA, the Prosperity Scholarship Fund Governing Council and the Task Force on Affordable & Low-Income Housing. How Corrigan fills these vacancies depends, in part, on Hyde.
“They are all big issues, but that (Finance chair) is probably the most high-profile. I will start looking at that in the next couple of weeks,” said Corrigan. “I am waiting for him to tell me his actual departure date. The JEA liaison post is one I may take over myself. They (the JEA board) meet once a month and I think the others meet quarterly.”
The other issue surrounding both Fullwood and Hyde is the upcoming election to fill their seats. Corrigan said he’s seeking a legal opinion about the details of the terms. The newly-elected Council member will either fulfill the rest of Fullwood and Hyde’s terms, and then be eligible for two full, four-year terms afterward, or the election will count as the start of the Council member’s first term.
Aside from spending the next six months with 17 Council members, Corrigan will also work with a large group that isn’t returning. Of the 17 Council members left, nine are term-limited and Council member Sharon Copeland has chosen not to seek re-election. Corrigan said the makeup of Council was similar when he joined in 2003 and he expects the outgoing members to finish their terms on a strong note.
“They are more involved because they know this is their last chance as an active member of City Council,” he said. “They all have a lot they are still working on.”
Corrigan plans to spend the second half of his year as Council president working on both issues he inherited from Hyde in July and those he raised on his own. He said he’s enjoying the job and is looking forward to starting a mentoring initiative before he passes the gavel to Council Vice President Daniel Davis in late June.
“I have the luxury or having wonderful Council members and a great working relationship with them,” said Corrigan. “The first six months have been a thrill and an honor.”