Gainesville City Commissioner James Ingle will undergo brain surgery on Wednesday to remove a benign pituitary tumor, with recovery expected to last six weeks.  

Ingle first had emergency surgery around two years ago to remove a large tumor, located on the pituitary gland at the base of the brain. A portion of that tumor started to grow again and forced this second surgery. 

Ingle said Tuesday that he will not be able to attend commission meetings during the recovery time, but he plans to keep in touch by watching meetings, pulling backup documents and working with his staff.  

The surgery will keep him in the hospital for three or four days before recovering at home. The recovery, he said, mandates no pressure on his sinuses and head, including drinking with a straw.  

“It’s not something I’m looking forward to, but this is as good as that situation could be,” Ingle said. “I’m very fortunate to be in that position.” 

The fortunate part, he said, includes always having medical insurance through working and living in Gainesville with close access to medical care. Without that, Ingle said he could easily be blind from not finding the first tumor in time. 

That tumor presented eyesight issues and, after visiting several eye doctors, Ingle was referred to the hospital where the tumor was discovered and emergency surgery soon followed.  

 
Ingle said he’s had checkups every six months since then, and before the holidays, he learned he’d need another surgery. 

The surgery will put him behind on lobbying in Tallahassee for the upcoming Legislative Session, but Ingle said he hopes to get there in March towards the finish. The biggest bills to watch, he said, concern property tax reform.  

But because of the tumor, Ingle said he wants to keep fighting for workers’ rights, ensuring city contractors are good employers and provide the insurance he relied on for eye checkups that resulted in finding the tumor. He said the goal is to build up the people and not just the buildings. 

“We’re investing as much in the workforce that builds those projects as we are with the projects themselves,” Ingle said. “And I think that just pays dividends moving forward, both for those individuals and for us as a city.”   

He’d like to see the city invest in apprenticeship programs, local hiring and responsible contractors. Ingle said it’s unfortunate that Tallahassee has preempted a lot of the easy tools Gainesville could use to encourage this work.  

“It’s figuring out what we can do to really encourage those and what tools we still have left,” Ingle said.