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Tribune correspondent
Published: February 13, 2013
Updated: February 13, 2013 - 8:15 PM
A Dade City commissioner has taken exception to Mayor Camille Hernandez's public "dressing-down" of City Manager Billy Poe for not wearing a tie to the Jan. 22 commission meeting.
Poe said he had mentioned to Hernandez prior to the meeting that he had forgotten his tie at home. At the start of the meeting, Hernandez complimented City Attorney Karla Owens for being dressed up. She then told Poe that he should be wearing a tie and that she expected him to wear a tie to the meetings.
At Tuesday's commission meeting, Commissioner Scott Black took issue with the mayor's dress code.
Black said the city commission was made up of five people and one was designated as mayor, but that the mayor designee did not have special powers to individually set policy. He suggested that a re-reading of the city charter may be in order and if there were any questions they could be directed to proper city staff.
Black said he was concerned not only because he felt the rebuke was done improperly in a public forum, but because of public comments Hernandez had made about her "mayoral rule."
"If that was a conversation I could have done in private I would have done it, too," Black said of his comments about Hernandez. "Unfortunately, I can't have that conversation with her in private. That was the only way I could bring it up."
Black was referring to the Sunshine Law that applies to two or more members of the same board or commission meeting to discuss a matter on which foreseeable action will be taken.
Poe said there is no city rule about wearing a tie.
"The last (city manager Harold Sample) did not wear a tie and Ben Bolan didn't wear a tie. That doesn't mean that I shouldn't wear one now," he said. "If they want me to wear a tie, I have no problem wearing a tie.
"I don't particularly like the way it was handled," Poe added. "I'd already mentioned I'd forgotten it and it was brought up in a public meeting."
He said that he thought such an issue should have been discussed outside of a public setting.
Poe said he had been making an effort on his own to wear a tie and had asked his staff to make an effort to wear ties because the men on the commission wore ties.
"It was just something we were doing for the meeting, not the day-to-day operations," he said. "If one of my staff doesn't wear a tie to a meeting, I'm not upset."
Hernandez has not spoken to Poe about the issue since it happened, nor did Black discuss the issue or his intentions with Poe before he made his statements at Tuesday's city commission meeting.
"Everyone that serves as mayor wants to push the city along and do good things for the city, at least that's what we hope. It can be a heady thing to be the mayor," said Black, who has served as mayor four times. "Some people come from other cities and they know how the mayor operates in other cities and kind of have this idea that the mayor sets all the policy for the city.
"Our charter does not afford that power to the mayor. They're not able to go in and impose their will. There are no special powers bestowed on the mayor. It's a small thing but we should remember how our charter is worded. If we all went in and dictated to Billy, he'd be confused."
Poe would rather see the issue die down. He doesn't think it looks good for the city when such issues overshadow city business.
"I personally don't like when I see the city managers and the commissioners in other cities fighting in the paper," he said.
Poe has chosen to take it under advisement as constructive criticism.
The issue has been a source of ribbing and amusement to those who know Poe. He said that he was at a local gym and someone asked him, " 'Where's your tie?' "
"I have had so many people ask me about it. Different people walk up and say, 'Where's your tie?', and suggest different types of ties I should wear and different kinds of prints I should wear," he said, chuckling. "I've had people say they were going to buy me ties and drop them at my office so I would have a pick of what I wanted to wear."
Hernandez did not return calls for comment.
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