Apr 25, 2002
By TED BYRD

TAMPA - A former employee of Hillsborough County Television filed suit Wednesday, charging the county infringed on his right to free speech.

Gary Mitchell, a part-time, $9-an-hour production assistant at the county's television station for two years, was let go after appearing before county commissioners April 17.

He told Commissioner Ronda Storms that she is becoming preoccupied with female genitalia and offered to give her a nickname derived from the word vagina. He was not working at the time of his appearance.

Storms has been waging a battle against a public access cable TV show that featured a nude woman fondling herself in a shower. She wants to cut county funding for the channel and has asked State Attorney Mark Ober to rule on whether the material is obscene.

Her effort has galvanized free speech advocates, including Mitchell, who is seeking an unspecified amount in compensation.

“I never expected this kind of treatment from my government,'' Mitchell said. “This is totally ridiculous.''

He has support from the American Civil Liberties Union and Voice of Freedom, a local group begun by Joe Redner, who has had problems with Tampa officials trying to regulate nude-dancing clubs he owns.

“County employees don't leave their constitutional rights at the door,'' said Michael Pheneger, the state secretary for the ACLU and a Tampa resident.

Redner's corporate attorney is handling Mitchell's case.

The suit names Hillsborough County and Mike Foerster, the county's communications director and Mitchell's boss. Foerster argues this isn't a freedom of speech issue but a case of a misbehaving worker.

“I felt it was conduct unbecoming of a county employee,'' he said Wednesday.

Assistant County Attorney Rob Brazel said he will review the suit, which was filed in Hillsborough Circuit Court, then either ask that it be dismissed or file an answer. The county hasn't been served with the suit but has a copy.