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Port Richey Finalizes Charter Review Board

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By KLINT LOWRY The Suncoast News

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 8, 2008

PORT RICHEY - The second time was the charm, as the city council had no problem last week seating seven members to serve on a newly formed charter review committee.

Named were former Councilman Tom Brown, nursing educator Alene Burke, Hillsborough County information systems manager Michael Hogg, retired systems analyst Chet Jasak, radiologist and past-mayoral candidate Steve Johnston, IT network engineer Brian Roberts and retired hairdresser and current pastor Sandy Spaldi. They have been charged with the task of reviewing and making recommendations for the first revisions of the city charter since 1994.

The council adopted a resolution in August to form the committee. The resolution cited concerns by council members, city staff and residents that "sections of the charter have become outdated and ambiguous and prohibits the efficient and effective delivery of services to our residents and customers."

The charter review committee has 12 months to review the entire charter, identify problem areas, look at how other cities address those topics in their charters and draft proposals as to how to remedy those sections of the charter. They will present their suggestions to the city council, which will then take those proposals and decide on a final revision that would be put up to a citywide vote.

The charter review committee slipped its rails a bit before it left the station, however. The resolution proposed a committee selection process by which each member would name one member of the committee, with two more selected by the council as a whole.

On Sept. 9, the council met with committee selection at the top of their agenda. However, there was disagreement on the selection process, devolving into council members immediately criticizing one another's individual selections. Council members finally decided to have all their nominees and interested residents submit resumes and fill out a written questionnaire, come before council for an interview and then be voted on by the entire council.

The council's Sept. 30 special meeting was called solely for the interviews and vote in order to get the charter review process back on that fast track, and it succeeded on that front, and for the most part in restoring a positive perspective on the project.

Throughout the evening, several themes were repeated by council members and the nominees. Among them was the limited number of residents who are consistently interested in city government. It made the selection process that much easier that there were only eight candidates for the seven positions.

Each candidate was slated for 15 minutes of round-robin questioning. Some councilmen, Mark Hashim in particular, posed the same questions to each candidate. After the meeting, Hashim explained he thought that was the fairest way to do a side-by-side comparison.

Councilman Steven O'Neill, on the other hand, based his questions on each candidate's specific background, particularly those whose histories intersect with recent city history.

That history played a large part in why former Mayor Eloise Taylor wound up being the one candidate not getting a committee seat. Taylor, an attorney, has had recent litigation against the city, and said during her interview other issues are up in the air.

But what may have tipped the scales against her was a perception that Taylor may not have been as committed to the idea of charter revision as some council members would have liked. Councilman Phil Abts referred to comments Taylor made at the Aug. 26 meeting when the charter review committee resolution was introduced.

Taylor, who holds a doctorate in political science, expressed concern at that meeting and restated it during her interview that the city should exercise restraint in its approach to charter revision and not make changes based just on current needs or trends.

While she did not make the cut, the council immediately agreed after its vote that Taylor would officially be the first alternate should any of the seated members leave or be removed from the committee.

Mayor Richard Rober, whose nomination of Taylor at the Sept. 9 sparked objections, was disappointed after the vote. .

"I was less focused on that call for cohesiveness," Rober said, adding that objective thinking and different viewpoints were needed to avoid the committee falling into a "rubber stamp" mode in its recommendations.

Rober did say he thought the group has a level of diversity of talents and experience that should allow it to be effective.

All charter review committee meetings will be open to the public, and notices will be posted in advance at City Hall and on the city's Web site www.copr.net.

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