Hillsborough County commissioners learned Wednesday that only the governor can remove one of their four appointees to the Tampa Sports Authority. They also learned the agency, which manages Raymond James Stadium, has no authority to police itself.
Left without recourse and concerned about the authority’s inability to enforce its own code of ethics, the commission then took a step that could get Gov. Ron DeSantis involved.
Commissioners unanimously passed a motion requesting the county attorney gather for review the sports authority’s meeting minutes, financial disclosures, and members’ property and financial records.
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“We have a fiduciary responsibility to our taxpayers as a funding entity of the Tampa Sports Authority, before we send them another dollar, that they are acting in accordance with proper ethical standards and within the bounds of the law,” Commissioner Christine Miller said.
The motion by Miller also calls for staff to draft letters expressing the county’s concerns to DeSantis, the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office and sports authority itself.
The motion comes in the wake of Miller’s June 3 request that the county attorney rule on how Hillsborough’s TSA appointees could be removed midterm. On Wednesday, Miller suggested she “opened Pandora’s box” that brought up “serious ethical issues.”
A few days after Miller’s request, a local attorney and state-registered lobbyist sent a letter to the sports authority alleging that four board members owned property that created a conflict of interest tied to a proposal to build a Tampa Bay Rays stadium.
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“The only way that this can even be reviewed is a letter by a body or concerned citizen directly to the governor,” said Miller, who was appointed to the commission by DeSantis in 2024.
No commissioner has accused a TSA board member of wrongdoing, but Miller said she was astounded to learn the agency cannot provide its own oversight.
“By their attorney’s own admission, there has been no mechanism to enforce ethics, ethical rules or to punish members who may violate them,” Miller said of a June 14 letter from the TSA’s general counsel.
At the minimum, the county review could pressure the sports authority to improve its policies and processes, said Ken Hagan, the commission chair and an ex-officio member of the sports authority board.
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However, he did not consider it necessary to send a letter to DeSantis, who has publicly supported the Rays’ stadium plan.
“I don’t think anything will come of it, particularly when you understand the underlying issues — which is the Rays’ ballpark — which with the governor’s endorsement … I’m quite sure the TSA is already on his radar,” Hagan said. “And knowing (DeSantis’) willingness to remove folks from office, he really doesn’t need a letter from us to bring this to his attention.”
Hagan’s greater concern was the Legislature getting involved if the TSA didn't "tighten up some of their rules and policies" and the issue was ignored at the local level.
“If we do nothing, we’re likely not going to like the alternative,” he said.
That could include lawmakers amending the TSA structure to give the governor control over most of the appointees, and “the county and city are left paying the bills without adequate representation,” Hagan said.
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The 11-member TSA board has four appointees from the county, four from the city of Tampa, one from the governor and two ex-officio members. Its role is solely to manage facilities.
However, the “chaos” — as Miller called it — followed a June 2 decision to step outside that role.
That’s when the TSA board voted to send a letter to local elected officials that stated its priority for the use of public dollars was proposed renovations to Raymond James Stadium, not the Rays' project. The four accused members voted in favor of the motion. So did Hagan.
“What’s lost in a lot of this,” Hagan said, “the reality is the TSA has no say or vote on the Rays’ financial framework or definitive documents. The only bodies that will determine whether a financial agreement is approved (are) this board, the city council, and the city council sitting as the (Community Redevelopment Agency) board.”
