The mayor and a city commissioner are skewered for their votes allowing the city to take control of the attraction.
By ROBERT KING
Published October 3, 2003
WEEKI WACHEE - Weeki Wachee Mayor Robyn Anderson is the subject of three complaints filed with the state ethics commission regarding her job as general manager of Weeki Wachee Springs and her vote in favor of the city's takeover of the tourist attraction.
An additional complaint has also been filed against Weeki Wachee City Commissioner Julie Rivers, who took part in the same vote and is the park's animal trainer.
And more ethics complaints may be on the horizon. Blank ethics complaint forms were being circulated at businesses in Weeki Wachee and a Pak-Mail store there was notarizing completed forms. In two days, at least eight have been notarized, according to John J. Connelly, the notary at the store.
Complaints have already been filed by former Weeki Wachee Springs employee Debbie Dunsmore, community activist and former County Commission candidate Janey Baldwin and Weeki Wachee Canoe Rental owner Dave Lowerre.
Rivers could not be reached for comment. But Anderson said each of her accusers lacks personal credibility and have no real stake in the city since they are not taxpayers.
"Look at the big picture - a disgruntled ex-employee; a person who doesn't know anything about what's going in the city of Weeki Wachee and a person (Lowerre) who harasses and threatens me," she said.
Lowerre and Anderson have an ongoing feud that resulted in a police report being filed in August, when Anderson claimed the canoe shop owner threatened her. The Hernando County Sheriff's Office brought no charges in the case.
Lowerre says Anderson is incompetent as the manager of the water park and that she is trying to drive his profitable canoe business off the property so the attraction can make money from setting up its own canoe shop.
Lowerre said he has a lease for his shop that runs through 2009. But he says he has nothing to gain from filing the complaint except for doing the right thing. If the park closes, he stands to lose his business.
His complaint says that Anderson's vote as mayor for the city to accept the park's donation from private owners "allowed Ms. Anderson to keep her job and her rent free home."
"Someone has to shed light on what's going on here," Lowerre said.
Dunsmore, who worked in the park's marketing department, was fired Aug. 25 because she was verbally "trashing the park" and not being a team player, according to Anderson. Dunsmore said she was one of park's best employees who brought in over 350 group reservations this year. She said she was fired because Anderson felt threatened by her success.
Dunsmore said Anderson "monopolizes" the city in that Anderson's mother and one of her employees - Rivers - are city commissioners. All but two of the park residents are related to Anderson or supervised by her.
In her complaint, Dunsmore said the park needs new management because Anderson is a poor supervisor. She said Anderson diverted tip money low-paid food service workers should have received to park improvements. This came as Anderson spent $2,705 on Buccaneers' tickets for herself and senior managers.
Dunsmore said she and her husband were also in line to receive two of those tickets, so it made no sense for her to undermine the boss. Dunsmore said Anderson was buying such luxuries while elderly couples on fixed incomes were giving money to the "Save Our Tails" renovation campaign.
Baldwin, who lives on the opposite of the county from Weeki Wachee, said she filed her two complaints - one against Anderson, the other against Rivers - because she has never seen public officials with such clear conflicts of interest.
She attended the meeting of the Southwest Florida Water Management District when the ethical concerns were raised. And she decided to do something about it.
"I think their votes enrich themselves because they work for the park and live in the city. There is a conflict there," Baldwin said. "The ethics commission should give us a ruling on it."
A spokeswoman for the Florida Commission on Ethics said the agency can't confirm the existence of a complaint until a final ruling is made or unless the target of the complaint waives confidentiality rules.
Weeki Wachee attorney Joe Mason said he is confident Anderson and Rivers are not guilty of ethics violations. The tourist attraction, while owned by the city, retains a separate identity. That creates a nice buffer between personal and public interests, he said.
Mason suggested that the flurry of complaints comes from people who are upset at a proposed tripling of the property taxes in Weeki Wachee - a tax increase proposed to pay the city's legal bills.
Business owners have been outraged that Anderson and other commissioners - who live in park-owned housing and do not pay taxes - are proposing to raise the tax rate from $1.15 per $1,000 of assessed property to $3.95 per $1,000.
"I guess there are some folks who would rather see the springs fouled and see the attraction go under than they would financially support - through the tax increase - the effort to try and stop the fouling of the spring," Mason said.
The city's legal bills - non-existent last year - are on the rise for two reasons.
First, there is Mason's legal defense of the park before Swiftmud, which threatened to close it because of safety and environmental hazards. But there is also the city's attempt to take over Florida Water Services' operations in Spring Hill with the help of a Tampa law firm.
Anderson says she has no conflicts of interests and that she is merely trying to save the attraction. "These are people who are taking advantage of the situation," she said. "They are not taxpayers and have nothing to do with what's going on here in the city."
- Robert King covers Spring Hill and can be reached at 848-1432. Send e-mail to rking@sptimes.com
