Apparently she passed the audition.For the past several months, since her boss Jim Shimberg left the city to work for the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning franchise, Julia Mandell has been the interim city attorney for Tampa.
But today she removes the "interim" title and takes over the position full time.
“Since stepping up as the interim city attorney, Julia has proven herself to be a key member of our team. Having worked in both the private sector and for Hillsborough County before joining the City of Tampa, she has a working knowledge of how to get things done in local government, and the city will benefit from that experience,” said Mayor Bob Buckhorn. “I look forward to working with her in her new role.”
Mandell has been running the city attorney's office full time since May 1, when Shimberg officially left his duties. There were rumors that she was going to be overlooked for the job, and that the mayor was focused on hiring outside the department.
[jump]
But he realized he had the best attorney inside City Hall.
Mandell is thrilled by the selection. "I am very honored that the mayor has put his confidence in me. I also think it says a lot about this mayor that I am only the second woman who has served as the city attorney for Tampa. I trained as a baby lawyer under Emmy Acton, Hillsborough county’s first female county attorney, and have been lucky to have many mentors along the way. This is an amazing opportunity for me and I am excited to lead an office that has some of the finest attorneys and staff in this area," she told CL.
According to a press release from the city, Mandell has been with the Tampa city attorney’s office since 2004, and served as a senior assistant city attorney since 2007. Prior to joining the City of Tampa, she was an assistant county attorney with Hillsborough County for seven years and spent several years in private practice. She received her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Florida.
As Mandell mentioned, she becomes Tampa's second female City Attorney in its history. The first was Pam Akins.