Column

Our comedy of errorsshow ran 12 months

By C.T. BOWEN, Editor of Editorials
Published December 30, 2007

On the final Sunday of the year, we look back at the year that was. From absent officials to job-changing city managers, recalls to dissolution and twisted logic on government spending, here is Pasco County's datebook for 2007.

January

Hope he didn't order stationery: Gov. Charlie Crist recalled the nomination of former state Rep. Ken Littlefield as Public Service commissioner the day after Littlefield's Jan. 9 swearing-in ceremony.

Tardy slips don't count: Pasco School Board member Cathi Martin, who said school concurrency is one of the leading issues facing the school district, left early from a Jan. 19 joint board-County Commission workshop on concurrency. She arrived 90 minutes late to the next joint workshop and skipped the third one altogether to attend a family wedding in Las Vegas.

Justice isn't cheap: Pasco juries convicted an exotic dancer and acquitted two others of misdemeanor lewdness charges stemming from a 2006 raid of adult entertainment clubs in west Pasco. The convicted dancer was penalized $170 in court costs. Meanwhile, undercover officers spent $251 on cover charges, bar tabs and lap dances to build their cases and the Sheriff's Office absorbed $4,000 in personnel costs to send 45 officers to the clubs.

February

Maybe he wanted to be on the lap dance jury: 19-year-old Daniel Harrell was sentenced to 15-days in jail for contempt of court after balking at serving on a civil court jury. Harrell said he couldn't be bothered to listen to other peoples' problems, but wrongly believed he could post bail and be out of jail in a matter of hours after Circuit Judge Wayne Cobb promised a sentence longer than the duration of the trial.

More flip-flops here than at the beach: On Feb. 13, the Port Richey City Council cast its fifth vote on a nonbinding referendum asking the electorate if the city should begin dissolution.

"My boyfriend stole all my stuff so I'm selling his": Sign at Embassy Boulevard and Grey Fox Lane directing bargain seekers to the garage sale run by Kathy Werner who contended a former live-in beau broke into her house and removed her property.

March

Reasons for mass transit: Byron Milligan, 49, was arrested by Zephyrhills police after he continued to dial 911 from Kmart seeking transportation to a hospital for treatment of a sore finger and then just for a ride to Tampa.

What savings? Pasco County spent $4,000 and 300 hours of staff time adjusting computerized clocks because of a congressional decision to begin Daylight Savings Time three weeks earlier than usual.

Free ads: Pasco commissioners agreed to spend $6,000 for public comment cards that carried their portraits. Commissioner Ted Schrader dissented, and two weeks later, after critical commentary from the Times, so did Jack Mariano.

A job you probably never heard of: Gov. Charlie Crist named Ken Litttlefield to the $95,000-a-year position as head of the Florida Statewide Advocacy Council.

April

We like our city, but not the people running it: Port Richey voters rejected the notion of trying to dissolve the city, but kicked out of office the council member who made the most noise about retaining the municipal government.

Career advice from Bobby Petrino: A month into his new job, Ken Littlefield approached Pasco County Republican leaders about running for the clerk of the Circuit Court in 2008.

May

Do as we say, not as we do: After criticizing local governments for unrestrained spending, the Florida Legislature earmarked to Pasco County $7.5-million in no-strings-attached incentive money for economic development. The governor vetoed it.

The true definition of unrestrained spending: Former Pasco Sheriff Jim Gillum was arrested in Volusia County and accused of writing a worthless check for $1,200 to his former landlord in Pasco.

June

Yet another definition: In what would be a preview of a 4-month-long public debate, Sheriff Bob White asked for $11.2-million spending increase to $94.7-million at the same time the county was under a hiring freeze and working to eliminate a $15-million shortfall in the proposed 2008 fiscal year budget.

Reining in that unrestrained spending: Sheriff's records indicate Jimmy Mulieri, the husband of Pasco Commissioner Pat Mulieri, told a deputy called to their property in a tenant dispute: "The Sheriff's Office wants $95-million for his budget, let's see what happens now. Don't give them any money. You guys aren't getting anything."

July

Call in the savior: Dade City Commissioner Camille Hernandez sent a letter to Gov. Christ (sic) asking for a state investigation of the mayor and ex-city manager. The misspelled surname was just the first of many errors in the letter alleging corruption and conflicting interests. The governor told Hernandez to try the Ethics Commission and portions of the Dade City electorate told the commissioner they wanted to recall her from office.

Ignorance is bliss or maybe we'll just read it online: County commissioners kicked off their budget-cutting chores by eliminating their subscriptions to the two daily newspapers.

Pick a number, any number: With its city manager home sick and waiting for a conference call that never came, the Port Richey Council voted to cut its proposed millage to less than 4 mills, but miscalculated the impact. During a meeting, the council suggested the additional trim would require the city to find $40,000 worth of savings. Actually, when the city manager returned to work, the figure doubled to $80,000 and then ballooned again to $117,000.

That sinking feeling: After supporting proposed state legislation earlier in the year that would make it harder for homeowners to file insurance claims for sinkhole damage, commissioners learned they would have to pony up an extra $5-million to account for sinkholes beneath a reservoir under construction in Land O' Lakes.

August

Well, we all know this guy: On a 2-1 vote, Port Richey hired City Attorney James Mathieu to double as interim city manager. As many council members supported Mathieu as had conflicts of interest. Mathieu is the live-in boyfriend of council member Nancy Britton and owns investment residential property with council member Dale Massad.

Capture cash from the interlopers: Hillsborough County commissioners voted to investigate making Bruce B. Downs Boulevard a toll road in order to make Pasco motorists pay to use the north-south route through Wesley Chapel and New Tampa.

Good gas mileage: More than 100 patrol cruisers, costing $1.9-million, sat idle for three months because the Pasco Sheriff's Office was unable to obtain title to the vehicles from the state.

September

If the shoe fits: Pasco's chapter of the Democratic Women's Club was characterized by one official as "a bunch of silly, bickering women" after group members traded insults over leadership, membership, paying dues, and - heaven forbid - acting like Republicans.

It's in the look-but-don't-touch account: Pasco County staff members cut the number of poor, elderly and handicapped people it could serve in a paratransit program rather than tap an unused $50,000 contingency fund. Commissioners reversed the decision.

October

Buy your own water: Sheriff Bob White sent a memo to his troops saying commission budget cuts trimmed the amount of money for raises and eliminated the bottled water account, which a subordinate estimated at up to $25,000. Still, the sheriff looked all wet. Everyone still got the standard 5 percent raises because of an additional $2.8-million in the budget. Cumulatively, deputies' pay increased by nearly one-third and some civilians' pay scale is up 40 percent since Oct. 1, 2004.

Offspring of the year: An unemployed 20-year-old from Zephyrhills, James Rose, was charged with simple domestic battery after he was accused of smacking his mother and shoving her against a clothes drier when she asked him to use an already-opened bottle of ranch dressing on his lunch.

November

But who's counting? The sinkhole repair bill for the reservoir in Land O' Lakes reached $8-million.

Silence means yes: A New Port Richey Council majority voted to remove controversial speed humps from North River Road even though council member Marilynn deChant reasoned a city survey of residents there showed overwhelming support for the speed tables since so many people didn't bother to respond.

The empty chair votes nay: Upon returning from a trip to Las Vegas in which she said she became ill with respiratory problems, frequently absent School Board Member Cathi Martin said she fell at home, broke her ankle and was ordered to stay off her feet - and away from School Board meetings - for six weeks.

December

Help wanted: New Port Richey Manager Scott Miller departed for a similar job in Leavenworth, Kan., meaning city manager positions were vacant simultaneously in Dade City, Port Richey and New Port Richey. Only Port Richey has been able to fill its post.

Let's hear from the out-of-towners: A Sierra Club chapter two counties north of here endorsed the proposal to create a new landfill in east Pasco because of what it called the close proximity to the Shady Hills incinerator - 28 miles away. The two sites looked closer on a map, said Theresa Waldron of Crystal River.

You're getting sleepy: Commissioners recognized Jan. 4, 2008, as Hypnotism Day in Pasco County.

Sounds like a fine way to celebrate the end of the first work week of the New Year.

[Last modified December 29, 2007, 20:55:03]