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Council OKs Port Richey Dissolution Referendum

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By KLINT LOWRY

The Suncoast News

Published: March 14, 2009

PORT RICHEY - On May 20, the city will have its 84th birthday as an incorporated community.

It could be right around that time that residents will decide whether the city will see an 85th anniversary.

On Tuesday, Port Richey City Council voted 3-2 to approve on second reading an ordinance calling for a referendum that will ask voters to decide whether the city will continue to exist or be dissolved and absorbed into unincorporated Pasco County.

Despite the gravity of the issue and a long history of fireworks at city hall, the vote to give the final go-ahead to the ordinance went off in a subdued manner.

As was the case with the previous two votes on the dissolution referendum, Councilmen Phil Abts, Perry Bean and Mark Hashim were in favor and Mayor Richard Rober and Councilman Steve O'Neill were opposed.

Also as at prior meetings, the issue brought several residents to council chambers, many of whom took their turn at the speakers' stand to add their opinions to the public record.

They were commenting on what amounted to two related but separate issues: Whether to have a dissolution referendum and dissolution itself.

On the first matter, an eleventh-hour wrinkle was added to the discourse. Former Councilman Jim Priest presented a petition bearing the signatures of 316 residents calling for the council not to OK the referendum.

When the council directed City Attorney Michael Brannigan on Jan. 27 to draft the ordinance, the action was based on a petition presented by pro-dissolution advocates. Since then, Abts and Bean in particular have consistently cited that petition as the reason they were supporting the idea of a referendum.

Regardless of their personal feelings about dissolution, the 225 signatures on that petition showed that there is a significant enough difference of opinion within the city, and a public vote is in order, Abts and Bean have said.

The petition Priest presented was meant to counter and dilute that argument. While it briefly stirred the emotions in council chambers, it, like all other arguments, failed to sway anyone.

Although no firm date for the referendum has been set, the ordinance calls for a vote within 60 days.

Earlier in the meeting, Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Brian E. Corley asked city council to consider a possible switch of municipal elections in the county from April to November.

Aware of the brewing dissolution issue, Corley also came prepared to address the referendum question and offer a recommendation on how the dissolution vote could be carried out.

Port Richey consistently has high voter turnout, Corley said. If city officials are interested in getting maximum participation on this referendum, however, they should opt for a mail ballot, he suggested.

"Mail ballot is a very simple concept," Corley said. "Instead of having a bona fide Election Day, we would mail every qualified registered elector a mail ballot."

The ballots would be sent out 10 to 20 days before the deadline for their return. Just as with absentee ballots, signatures would be verified and the votes would be counted on the deadline day.

Conducting the referendum this way would cost about $5,700, Corley said. That would be about $1,800 more than a conventional election but likely would double voter participation, he said.

Throughout the weeks leading up to Tuesday's vote, residents on both sides of the issue and council members have repeatedly called for public workshops so residents can get the full picture of the short- and long-term pros and cons of dissolution.

Aside from the election itself, the next task at hand for concerned parties is to follow through on organizing those workshops.

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