TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

2 Face Charges In City Election

ADVERTISEMENT

By CHRISTIAN M. WADE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 13, 2007

PORT RICHEY - Members of a former political action committee are facing charges they violated numerous state campaign laws in the run-up to the 2006 municipal elections.

Steve Johnston and Robert Goluba, founders of Port Richey Citizens for Lower Taxes, are expected to appear before the Florida Elections Commission on Wednesday for a probable cause hearing on the 14-count complaint filed against them one year ago.

The PAC, which for several years advocated dissolving this waterfront city of 3,200, disbanded shortly after this year's city election in which Johnston lost a mayoral bid.

The complaint filed by part-time city employee Samuel Patrick Mullican alleges Johnston and Goluba failed to report contributions to the state in a timely manner and filed inaccurate reports, among other accusations.

Goluba called the allegations "frivolous" and said he and Johnston did nothing wrong.

"If we did, it certainly wasn't intentional," he said Monday. "We played by the rules."

Johnston, a radiologist, did not return several phone calls seeking comment. Goluba, a dentist, said his lawyer, Mark Herron of Tallahassee, will represent him at the hearing.

Documents from such complaints generally are not public, unless the commission has found probable cause to investigate. That determination will be made Wednesday.

Goluba and Johnston have waived confidentiality, meaning they are free to discuss the complaint. Both face the possibility of hefty fines if the commission finds them guilty.

This isn't the first time elections officials investigated the PAC. On June 9, 2006, the commission fined the group $150 for filing financial reports after the deadline.

For three years, Port Richey Citizens for Lower Taxes pushed the city council to hold a referendum asking residents whether they support dissolving their government.

The group argued that Port Richey residents pay more in property taxes and for water, cable and other services than do people living in unincorporated Pasco County. The answer, they said, was to disband the city government and to become unincorporated.

PAC members gathered 300 signatures on a petition asking voters to support their campaign to do away with city hall and hold a referendum, but city attorneys rejected the document.

In October 2005, the group registered with the city as a political action committee and asked several of Pasco County's state legislators to sponsor a bill requiring a referendum on dissolution. The eight-member legislative delegation turned down the PAC's request.

So the PAC shifted its strategy to the ballot box.

In the 2006 elections, it supported a drive to oust three incumbent council members by raising money and support for a trio of challengers the committee believed backed the cause.

Voters responded with the biggest election upset in the city's 82-year history.

But the newly elected council members backed away from campaign pledges to support dissolution. One year later, members of the political action committee ran for office.

Johnston ran on a pro-dissolution platform against Richard Rober, while Mark Hashim, also a PAC member, ran against three-term incumbent Phyllis Grae.

Hashim, an anesthesiologist, won by 11 votes. Johnston lost by 56.

Voters also rejected a nonbinding referendum on dissolution by 55 percent. If the straw poll had been approved, it would have set into motion the process of disbandment.

Several weeks after the April election, the PAC was officially disbanded.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082 or cwade@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT