It's another embarrassment for Port Richey's suspended City Manager Vince Lupo and the building department.
By ALEX LEARY
Published May 4, 2004
PORT RICHEY - Problems within the city's building department grew Monday when building inspector Gene Ford was fired for not having the required state license.
Ford was let go just 11 days after Port Richey building official Bette Farmerie was fired for the same reason - a controversy that expedited City Manager Vince Lupo's suspension and possible termination. In hiring Farmerie, Lupo said he carefully reviewed her credentials.
"Nobody has done their homework," City Council member Bill Bennett said Monday. "It speaks for itself."
As it did for Farmerie, Port Richey will seek a licensed inspector to review Ford's work, acting city manager Shirley Dresch said. Ford estimated he made about 200 inspections since becoming a city employee in November.
"It sounds monumental but it's really not," Dresch said. "A lot of the inspections are very small - fences, signs, tree removals, stuff like that." Ford also reviewed residential and business construction.
How far the city will have to go to check Ford's work was unclear Monday. Bennett said it seemed Ford knew what he was doing but the council member worries about liability. "When you open Pandora's box, everybody jumps in," Bennett said. "This is not good."
Dresch has been talking with a Homestead company, M.T. Causley, about contracting building services. Former building official Bill Sanders had been doing the work since Farmerie was fired but is quitting May 12 because, he said, council members have been critical of him.
Ford said he never knew there was a problem with the application for his license. He is listed as an applicant only on the Web site for the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
"If the bosses are telling you "Yeah, you're legal,' then you think you're legal," he said. "You have to trust the people at the helm."
According to the state agency's Web site, a person may perform the duties of an inspector for 90 days following the submission of a complete application for a provisional certificate, provided the person is under supervision of a licensed building code administrator. Farmerie never attained that status.
Ford joined the city after a long career in construction. He said that at age 48 he was looking for something less physically strenuous and with more steady pay and benefits. "I came in thinking this was my future. Basically this has ruined my life."
Code enforcement officer Lou Barba also does not hold a license with the state. But unlike Farmerie and Ford, he does not need one.
- Alex Leary covers the city of Port Richey. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6247, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6247. His e-mail address is leary@sptimes.com
