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MASHBURN SETS PRECEDENT, SEEKS PENSION
But Tampa Police Officer Lois Marrero's family is not cooperating.

By Tom Dyer

TAMPA -- On what would have been slain Tampa Police Officer Lois Marrero's 46th birthday, her partner took the groundbreaking step of officially applying for her pension benefits. In the process, Mickie Mashburn - herself a veteran Tampa police detective -- may be forced to battle both the city pension board and Marrero's family.

"Lois would want this," Mashburn said at an Aug. 17 press conference in her lawyer's office. "It's the right thing to do."

"Lois and I were spouses," Mashburn elaborated. "We were a couple. This was a marriage. My spouse was killed in the line of duty. It's not about the money. This is about a benefit policy that needs to be changed."

Marrero paid close to $50,000 into her pension fund during 19 years with the Tampa Police Department. If Mashburn is treated as a surviving spouse, she would be entitled to 50 percent of Marrero's pay for the rest of her life - an amount that could exceed a half million dollars.

But to the surprise of many, Marrero's family is challenging Mashburn's claim. Her mother, Maria Marrero, told the St. Petersburg Times that Marrero had been seeing another woman for the past five years, and wanted out of her relationship with Mashburn.

"If they had been happy, I think [awarding of the pension to Mashburn] would be fair," Maria Marrero told the Times. "But I feel very strongly Lois would not have wanted it."

Although Florida law doesn't recognize same-sex partners as legal spouses, the decision regarding Marrero's pension ultimately rests with an independent nine-member board of Tampa police officers, firefighters and city officials. They will consider the matter at an Aug. 28 meeting, but a decision will likely come much later.

But pension board chairman Tom Singleton - himself a police detective - has said that the law is clear: pension benefits can only be awarded to legally recognized spouses. A preliminary legal opinion has recommended that the pension board simply refund Marrero's contribution - nearly $50,000 - and that payment be made to her estate.

Marrero had no will, so under Florida law her estate would be paid to her immediate family - most likely her parents. According to the Times, the family has hired an attorney and is seeking to have Marrero's outspoken sister, Brenda, named personal representative (executor) of the estate.

Maria Marrero told the Times that her daughter had maintained a close relationship with another woman for the past five years, and that the two had exchanged letters, cards, and rings. Marrero said that her daughter had remained with Mashburn for financial reasons. There was no indication whether Marrero's family would share pension benefits with this other woman if they are successful in diverting the money to the estate.

Marrero's family has not denied that her daughter and Mashburn continued to cohabit and to own property together, that they held themselves out as partners, and that their lives remained intertwined. They participated in a commitment ceremony ten years ago.

Asked by a Times reporter about the alleged new relationship at the Aug. 17 press conference, Mashburn said, "I'm not going to answer." Her attorney, Danny Castillo, attributed the revelation to greed on the part of Marrero's family.

Both Castillo and Mashburn seem aware that a lengthy battle for the pension benefits may result from the claim for pension benefits.

"We are well aware of the political maelstrom which lies before us," he said. "However, this decision is a firm one and should the pension board deny the application, we are prepared to take whatever steps are necessary to recover what is rightfully my client's."

Castillo added that the question of pension benefits for same-sex partners is legally "ripe for challenge."

Indeed, its difficult to predict just how far the ripple effects will spread from Marrero's tragic July 6 death at the hands of bank robbers.

"The whole thing has served as a wake-up call for lesbian and gay employees of the police, and for heterosexual empoyees who support our rights," lesbian police officer Shar Ishee told The Advocate. "I've had a lot of straights come up to me and say, 'We didn't know this was going on.' Now we all know that it could have happened to any of us."

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