Zephyrhills council drops ethics inquiry

By BRADY DENNIS

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 24, 2001

ZEPHYRHILLS -- City Council member Jim Bailey made good Monday on a promise to drop his request for a state ethics investigation of City Manager Steve Spina.

"I'm going to make this short and sweet," said Bailey, one of Spina's longtime critics.

And he did.

It took council members less than a minute, and no discussion, to unanimously withdraw the ethics investigation request they approved only a month ago.

Council members had voted 3-2 on June 12 in favor of an investigation, with Elizabeth Geiger and Clyde Bracknell speaking out against the measure.

That vote followed a tumultuous meeting in which council President Cathi Compton called for Spina's firing, and council member Mike Bussell suggested he be disciplined.

The issue revolved around Spina's handling of a computer upgrade project. Compton claimed that Spina did not properly set up bids on the project and that the consultant he hired was not properly licensed by the state.

In the month since the vote, an ethics complaint has not been filed with the state. The form was filled out, and the city attorney wrote a letter to accompany it, but it never was mailed.

Instead, Compton said she would wait until after a council workshop on July 12 to sign the complaint. It turned out she didn't have to, after council members and Spina ironed out some of their differences at the session, in which a government consultant urged them to work together.

"I was hoping that's where we were headed," Spina said Monday about having the complaint dropped. "I didn't feel I did anything unethical. I didn't think there would be a finding against me. But I'm glad that we didn't have to go through the whole process. It all worked out pretty good."

Geiger, who fought against filing a complaint in the first place, agreed.

"I was hoping this would be the end result of the workshop," she said. "I think it's unfortunate that it caused such controversy and turmoil in people's lives."

In other council news, officials apparently will keep the city's property tax rate the same for a 10th consecutive year. Council members voted unanimously to set the tentative rate at 6.42 mills. A mill produces $1 tax for every $1,000 of taxable property value. After voting on the rate, members may later lower it if they want, but they cannot raise the rate, Spina said.

Also, longtime San Antonio resident Joe Herrmann presented the city with a framed plaque stating "In God We Trust." He has presented similar plaques to officials in Dade City, San Antonio and Tallahassee, and county government officials.

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