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Neighbor city may offer plan for police
By JENNIFER GOLDBLATT, Times Staff Writer NEW PORT RICHEY -- As Port Richey considers getting rid of its police department, officials from a neighboring city will talk about offering a helping hand. New Port Richey's Tom Finn wants to "do the neighborly thing" and discuss with his fellow City Council members whether to offer law enforcement to Port Richey. "It would be a mutual benefit," he said. Finn reasons that New Port Richey's police station on Adams Street would be accessible to Port Richey residents; officers could respond quicker to Port Richey calls than the Pasco County Sheriff's Office; and New Port Richey would benefit having extra staffing, when officers take sick leave. Port Richey has been considering abolishing its 14-member police department and turning law enforcement over to the Sheriff's Office. Port Richey officials have estimated that it would cost at least $650,000 to do that, which would save the city about $500,000 in the upcoming fiscal year. The Port Richey council already has pledged to put the issue on an as-yet unscheduled referendum. At a New Port Richey council meeting Tuesday night, Finn asked City Manager Gerald Seeber to put the issue on the agenda to discuss in the future. Council members Scott Chittum and Ginny Miller also said they wanted to talk about it. Chittum said Wednesday that he was intrigued by the idea. "I have an interest in exploring it," he said. "Let's give them an option, and down the road we'll let the Police Department see if that's something they'd want to do." Miller on Wednesday said only that she "expects it to be a very brief discussion." Deputy Mayor Susan Clark was not in favor of discussing the issue. She said Wednesday "I think our police officers have enough to do." Mayor Frank Parker could not be reached for comment. New Port Richey has 31 sworn officers, and a $3.1-million budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The city spends about $50,000 a year to outfit, equip and pay each of its officers. On Sept. 10, Finn asked Seeber if he planned to attend a Port Richey council meeting on Sept. 12, where Sheriff's Office officials were scheduled to speak about the issue. Seeber said it would be inappropriate for the city to appear at the meeting uninvited. "We weren't asked," Seeber said Wednesday. "I wasn't asked by our City Council to make any overtures. And (Port Richey) didn't ask for any proposal. I don't think it would have been appropriate to be there. I figured if they were interested I would have heard from (Port Richey City Manager Vince) Lupo and I hadn't." New Port Richey Police Capt. Darryl Garman did attend that meeting, but not in his official capacity with the city. Garman said Wednesday that he was just there out of curiosity and wanted to see what the Sheriff's Office had to say. Lupo said there were many obstacles to New Port Richey getting the job of patroling Port Richey. Jurisdictional lines would have to change, where the sheriff already has jurisdiction. And some history between the cities would have to be overlooked. Relations between the neighbors were severely fractured in 1997, when there was a referendum on whether Port Richey should be folded into New Port Richey. Port Richey voters shot down the effort by a 3-1 ratio. Since then, Lupo said he and Seeber have mended a lot of fences, and work well on mutual issues. New Port Richey, for example, sells some bulk water to Port Richey, and treats some of its wastewater. Still, Lupo said he doesn't think any presentation from New Port Richey would go very far. "I'll be more than happy to present it to (Port Richey's City) Council, but I doubt very much that would go forward," he said. "There's still a degree of sensitivity that if you go that way toward our sister city, then we're back to merger issues." New Port Richey council members will discuss the issue at a meeting scheduled for Oct. 8 at City Hall. -- Staff writer Matt Waite contributed to this report.
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From today's Pasco Times Editorial Letters |
