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Behind the plate or the gavel, he tries to be fair

By C.T. BOWEN
Published July 17, 2005

Dan Tipton is a building contractor by profession, but the tools of his other trades include a gavel, a chest protector and a face mask.

No, the New Port Richey mayor isn't fearful of a City Council crowd turning unruly. Since his election in April 2004, he has only once resorted to gaveling quiet anyone: a couple in the audience who talked so loudly that the council couldn't hear the debate on the dais. A just-released city budget proposal that holds a steady property tax rate but includes money for more firefighters, cops and code enforcement isn't likely to upset too many people, either.

The protective gear is not related to Robert's Rules of Order. It's the equipment Tipton relies on to enforce the official Little League rule book.

The first-term mayor is a three-time president of the West Pasco Little League, where he has been volunteering for 33 years. He is vice president in charge of boys baseball and an assistant district administrator for the 19-league District 12, covering west Pasco and northern Pinellas counties. He coached for three decades and remains an umpire.

The past two weeks, his focus has been on the girls softball all-star tournaments at Plummer Field at Pine Hill Park, the baseball-softball complex for the West Pasco Little League.

He credits the longevity of dedicated volunteers, including league president Dennis Martin and attorney Steve Booth, for the league's success. At one time, the West Pasco Little League was the largest in Florida and perhaps in the Southeast, with 1,300 children in its spring league. (The rosters this year included 1,400 players in spring and fall ball.) The league began in 1952, and its counterparts in Holiday, Hudson and Shady Hills can trace their roots to West Pasco.

On a recent scorching morning, Tipton and a visitor surveyed the park's fields. Sprinklers splashed the outfield while county maintenance workers manicured the diamonds. Upstairs, above the concession stand, the rooms are jammed with equipment, and the walls are adorned with 19 pennants earned by West Pasco teams in district competitions. The earliest is dated 1978.

Tipton pointed to the protective netting above the elevated outfield fence and the proximity of the Hillandale subdivision and community pool.

"We have to replace three or four windows a year," he said, "probably $200 a year. One time we had to pay for a window on a house a block and half away."

His political skills come in handy to soothe the occasional neighborhood complaint. "Didn't you see the ballfields when you bought your house?" Pine Hill Park, city property now leased by Pasco County, was built in 1973 and predates the neighborhood homes.

Before that, the West Pasco Little League teams competed at a field near Richey Elementary School, on land owned then by Our Lady Queen of Peace Church. The city's new police station sits there. It's where Tipton played as a kid and where he rejoined as a 20-year-old volunteer.

He pulls out a newspaper clipping to document his early involvement. "How's your batting average? West Pasco Little League needs your help," reads the headline above the photograph published in the St. Petersburg Times circa 1972. There are 10 children playing baseball under the watchful eye of a single, long-haired adult, standing with his arms folded.

"I'm the one with the long hair," Tipton acknowledged.

A similar league plea for help had stirred Tipton's interest. Organizers gave him a team to manage right away and then put him on the board when he attended a directors meeting. You could say it was his first election win. Besides, the board needed 15 members and only had 12.

His son and daughter played baseball and softball there as youngsters, and the Sept. 15 due date of his first grandchild has him thinking he might take up coaching again.

So, is it harder helping to run a city or a Little League? Depends on when the question is asked.

A year ago, elected public servant was the more difficult task, Tipton said. There was a much-needed churn among the building department personnel, the city administrator left, and the redevelopment director was sent packing. The council faced a slew of proposed ordinances and had to recruit and hire a city manager, and Tipton had to get up to speed quickly as the city's representative on the regional water authority.

Tipton is more comfortable with his role as mayor after 15 months in office. His biggest disappointment was watching council members cave to political pressure and resist a plan requiring license and registration of landlords.

Term limits will prohibit a tenure of mayor matching that of Little League administrator. That's okay: He thinks baseball is the harder task at this point.

Children and parents have other distractions. A kid's equipment bag might include an iPod, a GameBoy and a cell phone along with the glove and bat. The divorce rate and two-income households mean fewer people volunteering, and contacting a parent might mean conversations with as many as four adults, depending on custody arrangements.

Tipton has a lot of fond memories, but he also remembers his most disappointing moment as a coach: the time early in his career when he went for the win in a district tournament and left a weaker player on the bench. The youngster played an inning of defense but didn't get to bat. (Little League rules have changed since, and now each player is required to play a minimum of two consecutive innings in the field and get at least one turn at bat.)

Tipton apologized to the downtrodden child after the game.

"Kids need to play," he said last week. "Sometimes you put winning above thinking about the kids, and that's what I did. But I never did it again."

He uses a similar philosophy whether umping or governing.

"The No. 1 goal is for kids to have fun. The umpire should not be the focus," Tipton said.

Okay, but what happens when someone comes to the dais at City Hall and suggests you and the rest of the council blew the call?

"People sometimes say the most ridiculous things, but you just have to be respectful. I try to treat them like I want to be treated."

No face mask or chest protector required.

Reach C.T. Bowen at bowen@sptimes.com or at 727-869-6239.

[Last modified July 17, 2005, 01:06:14]