Vice mayor flap blurs Port Richey mayoral race

A Port Richey mayoral candidate wants a vice mayor appointed to replace her opponent, who is vice mayor and interim mayor. He says she's just grandstanding.

By MATTHEW WAITE

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 1, 2000

PORT RICHEY -- The election of the next Port Richey mayor officially became a race Monday with one candidate asking the City Council to appoint a vice mayor and challenging her opponent -- who is the vice mayor -- to step down earlier than he planned.

Eloise Taylor, whose legal background includes a year's stint as Port Richey's city attorney, gave letters from her campaign to the City Council, which includes her opponent Bob Leggiere, asking them to appoint a vice mayor. Leggiere was the vice mayor before becoming acting mayor, and no interim vice mayor has been appointed.

Taylor argued if Leggiere weren't able to serve, no one on the council would be next in line to be mayor.

"There is no good reason not to select a vice mayor as the charter requires," Taylor wrote to the council.

Leggiere said he was following the advice of City Attorney Paul Marino. Marino said the council could appoint an interim vice mayor but not a permanent one. He said that under the charter, Leggiere is still vice mayor and acting mayor at the same time.

But when the appointment of a vice mayor was raised at last week's council meeting, no action was taken.

Leggiere said Taylor was "grandstanding" with the vice mayor issue, which he said was "no big deal" because the election was in 36 days.

Also on Monday, Taylor sent another letter to Leggiere asking him to change his resignation date so the city could have a special election for his replacement. Leggiere's required resignation is effective Sept. 11, and his replacement on the council would be appointed.

Leggiere said he had no plans to resign early.

"I don't know if it deserves a response because it's a paid political ad," he said, referring to the tag line on Taylor's letter saying it was from her campaign. "I don't plan to respond to all of them that come along."

Taylor argues that if Leggiere were to step down from the council early, there would be two vacancies on the council, triggering a clause that requires a special election to be set by the remaining council members to fill the two vacancies.

Marino said the council seat and the mayor's job are separate, and no special election would be required under the charter. And he may not be able to change his letter under state law, he said.

"I think this is more of a political issue with her," Marino said.

But the charter is ambiguous about Taylor's argument. It says: "There shall be a City Council composed of five (5) members . . . " and "One (1) member will be elected as mayor and the balance will be elected as City Council members."

The charter does not spell out if the mayor's position is considered when counting vacancies.

Taylor said Leggiere's resignation strategy was "pure politics." If he wins, she said he can appoint a political ally to the council.

If he loses, he could potentially be appointed to the council he just resigned from by the remaining council members.

Either way, Taylor said there is enough confusion over the vice mayor/acting mayor issue, as well as effective dates of resignations, that some review of the charter was necessary.

"It probably needs to be looked at to see if there needs to be any improvements," she said.

- Matthew Waite can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6247 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 6247. His e-mail address is waite@sptimes.com.

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