Hillsborough County Commission Votes To Disband Emergency Group

TAMPA, FL — The Hillsborough County Commission voted 7-0 Wednesday to disband the Emergency Policy Group and take over the job of making countywide decisions concerning the coronavirus pandemic.

The EPG has been making decisions concerning the coronavirus pandemic since March 12.

The decision to dissolve the policy group came after county commissioners raised concerns that the Emergency Policy Group was overstepping the bounds of its legislative mandate and failing to adequately enforce policies such as the countywide mask mandate.

The EPG, made up of three county commissioners, the mayors of the cities of Plant City, Tampa and Temple Terrace, the Hillsborough County sheriff and the chairman of the Hillsborough County School Board, has been meeting twice a week to make policies and issue orders protecting the safety and welfare of the county's residents during the pandemic.

Under Article 8 of the Florida Constitution, counties have been permitted (but not required) to convene EPGs during emergencies for decades.

However, Hillsborough County is the only of Florida's 67 counties to enact an ordinance to convene an EPG in times of crisis.

According to Les Miller, chairman of both the county commission and the EPG, the legislation was intended to allow elected officials to react quickly during a weather emergency. It was never intended to make critical policies related to a global pandemic.

Although all the members on the EPG are all elected officials, they were never given the authority by the voters to make emergency decisions on behalf of all 1.4 million residents of Hillsborough County, said County Commissioner Mariella Smith.

"We are the board that was elected to issue legislative orders for our county," she said.

Both the Pasco and Pinellas county commissions have been making emergency decisions on behalf of their counties during the coronavirus pandemic.

One of the arguments for disbanding the EPG is the group's inability to reach a consensus on major issues.

Since it began meeting, many of the votes have been divided along party lines between Republicans Plant City Mayor Rick Lott, Temple Terrace Acting Mayor Andy Ross, County Commission Sandy Murman, school board chairwoman Melissa Snively and Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister and Democrats Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and county commissioners Miller and Kimberly Overman.

This led to the EPG to declaring a countywide curfew in April only to rescind it less than a week later and a divided vote on mandating the wearing of masks, which critics said weakened the order.

The majority of the EPG also voted to mandate the wearing of masks in public places. Sheriff Chad Chronister voted against the mandate. Miller said this has led to a lack of enforcement of the mandate.

He said the rift among EPG members has caused a lot of frustration and no clear direction as Hillsborough County's coronavirus numbers continue to rise.

"It has become apparent that the pandemic is a different challenge and the EPG has limited enforcement options. The board of county commissioners has broader authority to enforce those options," Miller said.

The commission asked the county attorney to draft an ordinance giving the decision-making authority during the pandemic as well as hurricane disasters to the county commission and disbanding the EPG.

Additionally, the commission voted to meet every Thursday during the time slot in which the EPG met.

The commission will host its first special meeting overseeing the coronavirus emergency Thursday at 1:30 p.m.

Commissioners plan to discuss extending the state of local emergency in Hillsborough County. A state of local emergency can be in effect for only seven days, unless extended. The EPG last extended the state of emergency on July 30.

The declaration of the state of emergency gives the county administrator and emergency managers the ability to quickly take certain actions to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the community, and provides a path for federal reimbursement of certain expenses.

County commissioners are also expected to discuss how they will manage future decisions related to the pandemic response on Thursday.

Public comment will be accepted. Those wishing to speak should go sign up here.

The special meeting will be conducted virtually. The public can access the meeting live at:

• Hillsborough County's Facebook page: HillsboroughFL
• The county's official YouTube channel: YouTube.com/HillsboroughCounty
• The county's HTV channels on cable television: Spectrum 637 and Frontier 22
• The Hillsborough County government website.

See related story: Hillsborough Commission Calls To Disband Emergency Policy Group