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© St. Petersburg Times, published January 15, 2003
PORT RICHEY -- Port Richey voters won't be asked whether they want to keep their police department after all.
The Port Richey City Council, just minutes away Tuesday night from what appeared to be a predictable vote to approve a referendum to chose between keeping its police or abolishing the department and contracting with the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, took the issue off the April ballot.
The referendum movement cracked when City Attorney Paul Marino told council members that, contrary to earlier talk, the council couldn't stop the referendum in time if the council didn't feel voters had enough information to make a decision.
Marino told the council if an ordinance setting up a referendum was passed, the only way to get the referendum off the ballot was by passing an ordinance repealing the first one. With meeting requirements calling for two public hearings on an ordinance, there isn't enough time to stop it, he said.
"You just can't pull this ordinance once it gets past second reading," Marino said.
Council members had been saying that if the city doesn't get enough information for voters to make a good decision about the law enforcement services, the council could stop the referendum before Feb. 18, which is the Pasco County Supervisor of Elections deadline for a ballot.
The referendum was voted down 3-2 Tuesday night. Mayor Eloise Taylor and council member Bill Bennett, who had long opposed the referendum, voted against it. The swing vote was Vice Mayor Pat Guttman.
Guttman had favored approving the referendum until Marino spoke up. "This is a dead horse right now, and I'm tired of beating it," Guttman said.
Council member Dale Massad, who voted for the referendum, said it was clear the city didn't have information about the referendum, but he wanted the council to take action. He said the idea of trying to get enough information by Feb. 18 "was a pipe dream before Mr. Marino woke up."
Council member Phyllis Grae, who voted for the referendum and was chief advocate for the ability to pull the police issue off the ballot if problems arose, was upset. "Why did we not hear about this sooner?" Grae said. "This is ridiculous."
The city's budget has been the key factor behind the movement to eliminate the police department. Supporters of the move say hiring the Sheriff's Office could save the city an estimated $500,000 a year over keeping the city's 14-member department, which costs $1.2-million a year.
Port Richey's finances, subject of controversy in the past six months, were sound up to September 2001, according to an audit given to the council before the police vote.
But since then, the city's finances have become the source of heated political debate and spawned a movement to eliminate the city's police department in favor of the Sheriff's Office. An audit on 2002 finances is coming, city officials have said.