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Ex-manager has 'a ball' without Port Richey

Months after being fired, Vince Lupo is living it up and loving it. What hasn't changed is his view of his old employer.

By ALEX LEARY
Published February 27, 2005

PORT RICHEY - Vince Lupo has a habit of speaking in superlatives. The best wine. The best steak. The biggest, fiercest animal. The greatest vacation.

Amsterdam? Absolutely fantastic.

"You've got to try the mussels in Brussels," Lupo said. "If you're ever there, do it for yourself. Order yourself a bucket of mussels and a bottle of Kwak beer. It's the best."

Nine months after he was fired as Port Richey city manager, Lupo, 63, has become a man of leisure. He traveled throughout Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium with his wife last fall, spent time in California and said he will soon visit Scotland.

He is plotting new big game hunting expeditions, though with Africa already conquered, his gaze is elsewhere.

"There's a whole world out there," said Lupo, who wears a thick gold necklace on which hangs a lion's claw. "Everything from grizzly bears to red stag to Australian buffalo."

Last week, Lupo found himself on more familiar ground, when he arrived at City Hall to testify during former police Chief Bill Downs' arbitration hearing. Downs contends Lupo fired him for political reasons, not job performance, while Lupo said Downs had become increasingly obstinate.

In an interview with the Times, Lupo discussed the pleasures of retired life, offered advice for his successor and took a jab at the City Council, criticizing a recent decision to limit a high-end residential development.

An investor in the development has filed a lawsuit, and Lupo predicted he would prevail, at considerable cost to the city.

"I think (council members) have a rude awakening coming their way," Lupo said.

The last to testify during the Feb. 18 arbitration, Lupo waited in a barren workroom. A few people dropped in to say hello, though he apologized for not shaking their hands because of the flu.

What have you been up to? people asked.

"Mardi Gras, man," he said, smiling broadly and raising a cup of coffee. "Just got back."

Lupo, who lives in Tampa with his wife, Alyce, said he had yearned to attend the famous party since working in Louisiana for the Carter-Mondale campaign in 1976.

"It was fantastic!" Lupo said. "You've got to go!"

Returning to Port Richey, where he worked for nearly eight years, was like "deja vu all over again," Lupo said.

"There is so much I would have liked to accomplish," he said.

But he quickly shifted to what he considered his legacy. Lupo seemed to take credit for rising property values and the business growth of recent years.

"I don't mind the people who think differently about me," he said. "I know in several years they will truly appreciate what I did."

Lupo had few nice things to say about his old bosses, accusing council members of protecting their own interests and ignoring the town's by cutting the building density of Rocky Creek Estates. Several council members live near the proposed development.

"It appeared to be an absolute winner for the community," Lupo said. "Just because a small group of people don't like it doesn't make it wrong, particularly if those people have a vested interest because they live on that side of the river."

Some have speculated Lupo had an interest in property near the development, which he vehemently denied.

"I've had plenty of opportunities to speculate on property in Port Richey," he said. "But that's not part of my code of conduct."

Anyone who suggests otherwise, Lupo added, "is not only a liar but a g-- d--- liar."

"It sounds like he may be a little bitter," said council member Fred Miller.

To Miller, Lupo's version of his legacy is off base. Lupo was an "enabler" to those who, Miller said, did not always have the city's interest in mind, including past building officials, City Council members and the former city attorney.

"Vince Lupo is an extremely intelligent man and could have been a really good city manager," Miller said. "But I'm disappointed the avenue he took."

Lupo, who came to Port Richey in 1996, previously worked as assistant county administrator in Hillsborough, for the 13th Judicial Circuit and as a private management consultant.

Lupo now insists he has not been happier. It helps that he inherited a healthy sum - he won't say how much - from his father.

"I've been having a ball," he said. "I worked hard and long to get here."

Still, Lupo had some advice for Jerry Calhoun, the West Virginian who became city manager in December: "Maintain as far as possible an arm's length from the current council.

"I believe they will attempt to manipulate him in any way possible. They practically live in City Hall," Lupo said. "I wish him all the good luck. He's going to need it."

Miller, in return, had one response to Lupo's words.

"Preposterous," he said.

[Last modified February 27, 2005, 00:13:19]