It was sorta fitting that Tampa City Councilwoman Mary Mulhern's last meeting was a workshop on how to prepare for the effects of climate change.
It was a chance for Mulhern, the most progressive member of the council, to take a parting shot at Florida's backwards environmental policies.
“I don’t work for the state. I work for the city. So I can say that,” she said at the start of the workshop.
Mulhern, first elected in 2008, has just finished her second term and is now leaving office due to term limits. Council Chair Charlie Miranda was elected to her seat earlier this month. Mulhern had endorsed one of his opponents, Julie Jenkins, but Miranda was able to win more than half the votes in his three-way race without facing a runoff.
Mulhern was never afraid to go against the grain on council decisions relating to the way the city treats its homeless as well as environmental issues. She was particularly critical of installation of surveillance cameras and use of heavy artillery ahead of the Republican National Convention in 2012.
She said she does lament the fact that her voice, as well as what she once referred to as her "bullshit detector," will now be missing from the board. But she sees potential in Guido Maniscalco, who was elected in a fierce runoff election against Jackie Toledo Tuesday.
It's unclear what's next for Mulhern.
While she had talked about running for Hillsborough County Commission, she ultimately decided against it.
She told CL that while she knows it's an overused cliché for outgoing officeholders, she really does want to spend time with her family. She said she'd like to "take the month, at least, and try to just go offline and just really remove myself from politics at every level – not just the city level, and just really chill out."
"I've really been campaigning or serving for the past ten years and I just want a little time out from that,” she said. “I don't really know what I'm going to do but I'm also going to find out after a few years whether politics is really another addiction...I really am just going to do a lot of soul searching and try to figure out what is the best thing that will make my family happy. I'm feeling very good about taking a break.”
