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Hopefuls ensured of insurance queries

Even those running for county commissioner, a job without much impact on insurance reform, face voters demanding action.

By DAVID DeCAMP
Published August 17, 2006

NEW PORT RICHEY - Looking for a surefire way to solve the property insurance problem in Pasco County?

So are the candidates grappling with the question from voters.

"I'm not sure," said Larry DeLucenay, a Republican running for County Commission in central Pasco's District 2.

"I've been asked that question five times," he said of what a commissioner could do. "And I'm not sure what options are available."

Points for honesty, perhaps. But if insurance hikes have become a hot priority among voters this year, there is no place where they are more potent than Pasco County.

Rates buoyed by sinkhole claims are set to increase 139 percent in coastal Pasco by Citizens Property Insurance, the state insurer of last resort. Other companies are hiking their rates, rattling voters who are raising the issue with candidates for every office from governor to the County Commission.

Candidates for the commission, which has no direct role in insurance policy, have found themselves pushed to find solutions. When Pasco Republican Party Chairman Bill Bunting called for a deeper cut in the property tax rate, one of several reasons was insurance increases, a potential wild card in voting this year.

"Pasco is a barometer for the whole fiasco," said Pasco Democratic Party Chairwoman Alison Morano. "Pasco is a focal point; we have to take an interest."

Even with authority to regulate insurance at the state level, local candidates have to deal with giving possible solutions.

DeLucenay's opponents in the GOP primary, incumbent Pat Mulieri and Christie Zimmer, say there are steps county officials can take.

Commissioner Jack Mariano has visited Tallahassee to push for change, and the commissioners have backed efforts to have a special legislative session this year. But Zimmer said she could be a bigger advocate, saying stronger lobbying is needed.

Mulieri, who has served since 1995, said more than lobbying is needed.

At her request, county staffers are studying whether to do an actuarial report on insurance trends involving Citizens and potentially other companies.

The goal is to determine whether the rate hikes are justified.

Commission Chairman Steve Simon, a Republican who will face Democrat Michael Cox in the November election, has worked with the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council to look at forces affecting homeowners insurance rates, including the insurance and banking industries.

At Simon's urging, the planning council has asked for a special legislative session.

Cox also has tapped insurance as one of the issues in his campaign - even when no solutions are at hand for frustrated voters.

John Sessa, 74, of New Port Richey, said he faces a premium hike from $600 to $2,600 on a three-bedroom home. Different offices of his insurer offered vastly different replacement values for the home, he said.

"It's just not fair," said Sessa, an undecided independent.

Frustrated, he and his son, also facing a steep hike, came out to a "town hall" meeting last Thursday put on by Jim Davis, a Democrat running for governor. It was a crowd stacked with people wearing Davis campaign stickers - and insurance anxiety.

Davis promised to hire an advocate and lobby the federal government for a national catastrophe fund and changes in regulation. He asked for a federal investigation.

But immediate relief?

He had no way to give it, said Davis, a U.S. representative from Tampa, cautioning "don't shoot the messenger" when the crowd tensed.

"I guess the only thing I can say that will make you happy is people are ready for change," he said.

[Last modified August 16, 2006, 23:20:28]