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Article clipped from The Tampa Times

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***I Copeland pledges action on audit after taking oath as acting mayor By PAT ALLEN Times Staff Writer Veteran City Councilman Lloyd Copeland was sworn in today as acting mayor of Tampa, a post he has held since the Thursday death of Richard Cheney. Copeland, in his 15th year as a councilman, made it clear his administration would be an aggressive one until the special mayoral election in September. "I don't intend for it to be a wasted time," he said. He indicated he would move quickly on the audit of city books for fiscal year 1972-1973 requested last week by city council. "I intend to send Mr. Chillura and Mr. Williams (City Councilman Joe Chillura and city attorney Henry Williams) to Tallahassee as soon as possible to get an opinion from the attorney general and the auditor general," Copeland said. If the state officials said the audit, as conducted by the accounting firm of Bella, Hermida, Oliver and Gillman, was satisfactory and legal, he will abide by their decision, he said. "However, if they say the audit we had was not right, not legal, we will immediately seek an audit of the books at that time," Copeland said. Copeland said he would ask council to name Chillura to work on the problem with Williams. Williams recently told council the accounting firm should Lloyd Copeland took the official oath of office Circuit court Judge Laurence Goodrich, right, adtoday as acting mayor of the city of Tampa. Cope- ministers the oath while Copeland's wife, Lois, looks land assumed the city's highest post last w week on during ceremonies today at city hall-(Times following the sudden death of Richard L. Cheney. photo by Ron Lindsey). not be auditing city books when it holds other service contracts with the city because its dual role constitutes a conflict of interest. Law specifies that only an "independent" accountant may audit city books, and Williams said "independent" means not holding other contracts with the entity being audited. Copeland said under no circumstances would Bella, Hermida, Oliver and Gillman pe hired to audit fiscal year 1974 books. He emphasized he had spoken with Cheney before his death, and his statements made today would have been made Thursday afternoon by Cheney if he had lived. Copeland, a tee-totaler, said he would not veto all "wet" (liquor) zonings wholesale, but would veto those he considers bad for the community. The new acting mayor also said he was staying out of the politicking. "The mayor's office is not in this political campaign and it's not going to get into this political campaign," he said. Copeland was sworn in by circuit court Judge Laurence Goodrich, with Judge James A. Lenfesty charging him with the responsibilities of the office. His wife, Lois, and more than a dozen family members were on hand along with department heads and other city employes for the ceremony.
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