The Hillsborough County liaison committee voted to amend its November minutes and agreed this week to draft a public statement saying it has been "hamstrung" by the absence of a state report and that, if the state does not publish results, the committee will prepare and present its own findings to the county commission.

Chair (unidentified) opened the meeting by asking whether the November minutes could be amended to reflect concerns raised by the committee. Member Rebecca moved to "amend the minutes, for November, to reflect concerns of the DOS committee from last month," the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.

The group then discussed the missing Florida "Doge" team report. The chair said he had not received a timeline from state staff and expected no report before the end of the year. "Our efforts are being hamstrung by the fact that we don't have a state report and we keep getting told that we need to wait for a state report," the chair said, summarizing the committee's view that the lack of a state deliverable was blocking the panel's work.

Committee members agreed the chair would draft a succinct public statement this week and staff would circulate it for comment. Staff advised that a formal motion be taken when a physical quorum was present; the committee nonetheless approved having a statement drafted and circulated for edits and signoff once a quorum could act.

Several members urged the panel to go further if the state remains silent. Member Cliff and others suggested asking the county commission to expand the committee's role so it could carry out localized post-audits and review contracts in areas the state report has not fully covered, including fire rescue, economic development, affordable housing and homeless services. Member Amanda said she would support work that adds value while the committee waits for the state report.

On scheduling, members set a follow-up committee meeting for Jan. 27 at 10 a.m. to draft and finalize material for a fuller local report and to prepare any request to the county commission for an expanded mandate. Staff noted communications bandwidth limits and said public solicitation outside normal meeting notices is unusual, but members discussed options for additional public comment while preparing the report.

The meeting closed with a set of due-outs: staff will check whether any HR complaints escalated to EEOC, risk-management will be asked for claims payout figures, and the chair will circulate a draft statement for committee review this week. The committee adjourned by voice vote.

Next steps: chair to circulate statement draft this week; committee to meet Jan. 27, 10 a.m., to compile items for a fuller report to the county commission.