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Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Zephyrhills/East Pasco News

Another building project, another $250,000 cost overrun

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Cost overruns have added some $250,000 to the construction of the new library. Now, just a block away, Zephyrhills city officials are looking to spend at least that much more on Fire Rescue Station No. 2 where a renovation project has gone awry.

And Zephyrhills City Council members aren’t happy.

Construction has slowed significantly after contractors found the 54-year-old Fire Rescue Station No. 2 next to Zephyrhills City Hall was not built to code, and did not have the proper wall reinforcements. Renovations could cost an additional $250,000. (Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)
Construction has slowed significantly after contractors found the 54-year-old Fire Rescue Station No. 2 next to Zephyrhills City Hall was not built to code, and did not have the proper wall reinforcements. Renovations could cost an additional $250,000.
(Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

Renovations for the 54-year-old building were expected to cost just over $1 million, but could now reach as high as $1.3 million. All because when workers started demolishing parts of the original fire station, they found a structure much different than they had anticipated. In fact, it was one that seemed never to be built to code, held up mostly by weak walls and a lot of luck.

“To make it more complex, there are three buildings there,” said Leo Arroyo, a principal at Canerday Belfsky Arroyo Architects, who is working on the project. “Those buildings were designed independently, and they lean against each other. We found that most of the exterior walls — north, west and south — did not have any reinforcement. There wasn’t any rebar. Just masonry style on top.”

Much of that construction dates back to when volunteers were recruited to help build and expand the fire station over the decades, city officials said. According to history, the structure on Sixth Avenue and Seventh Street was Fire Rescue Station No. 1, but was renamed in 2000 when the city built a new fire station on Dairy Road.

City council president Charlie Proctor, worried about more backlash from yet another product going well over budget, wanted to know at a recent meeting why the project didn’t stop earlier to address these new issues.

“The first I heard about this was last week,” Proctor said during a May 12 meeting. “I figured something was up. It didn’t look like we were moving too fast on that project.”

However, a lot of the issues didn’t start appearing until major demolition work started, Arroyo said. The first hint of a problem came when the roofing system was dismantled. Still, workers thought walls would at the very least be properly reinforced.

Interim city manager Steve Spina said some 20 change orders to the project had been processed since January, with additional expenses of more than $32,000 already approved, and another $46,000 pending. Those change orders involved replacing the roof on the west side of the building, electrical upgrades and additional demolition.

If the city hadn’t approved those orders quickly, there was a chance the contractor would have walked off the job, incurring extra costs because of the construction delays.

Additional money is sought for redesign costs and structural improvements, costing an estimated $167,000.

The total, $245,000, would put the fire station remodel 23 percent over budget.

“I just gotten some people coming to me today complaining about the library, which I’ve heard about for a year and a half,” Proctor said, citing those cost overruns. “And now they are wanting to know why this is going to cost this much extra. The citizens I’m talking to about this are not happy about this.”

Proctor was more concerned, however, on whether or not the contractor and architect would come back with more cost overruns in the future. Spina said he would need more time to figure out hard costs, and was expected to present that information during a special meeting May 27, after The Laker went to press.

The question now becomes if it would have been cheaper to simply tear down the fire station and build a new one, then refurbish the existing structure. That could have been possible, Zephyrhills planning director Todd Vande Berg said, but then a good chunk of the money used to pay for the project would not have been available.

The city received $750,000 from the federal Community Development Block Grant program, but that money was restricted to existing building renovations, not a new build.

Councilman Ken Burgess felt the city could save some money by delaying some of the aesthetic work until later, and just getting the interior finished.

“We can divert some of the costs that are more cosmetic in nature and get the fire station where it is operational,” he said. “What we need to do is get the building back up to code as best as we can.”

Even with the cost overrun, the city would be able to pay for the changes, Spina said. A lot of the money could come from the Penny for Pasco tax, which has collected $200,000 more than the city had anticipated. He also suggested sharing some of the costs with the city’s sanitation fund, since that department also will be housed in the new building.

Get the latest on what the city council decided from the May 27 meeting from our daily news section at LakerLutzNews.com.

Published May 28, 2014

On the move: Tigers go from Dade City to Montana

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Two Dade City sisters just moved to Montana.

There’s more to the story, of course. The sisters, Jasmine and Sophie, are 2-year-old Siberian tigers who were born at Dade City’s Wild Things, an ecotourism sanctuary zoo located at 37245 Meridian Ave. And they moved to Montana because they were donated to ZooMontana, a zoo in Billings to rejuvenate their tiger exhibit, which had just lost its only tiger due to cancer.

Jasmine is one of two Siberian tigers that arrived at their new home in Billings, Montana, last week. Dade City’s Wild Things donated them to ZooMontana to bolster their tiger exhibit. (Courtesy of Dade City's Wild Things)
Jasmine is one of two Siberian tigers that arrived at their new home in Billings, Montana, last week. Dade City’s Wild Things donated them to ZooMontana to bolster their tiger exhibit. (Courtesy of Dade City’s Wild Things)

“They weren’t interested in breeding and they didn’t want babies,” said Kathy Stearns, director at Dade City’s Wild Things. ZooMontana “wanted young tigers that would be well-adjusted, and being that our tigers have worked with people, they were very adjusted.”

Dade City’s Wild Things does exhibit their own animals, but that’s just a part of their mission. In addition to rescuing and adopting animals, often providing lifetime care, they also breed and supply other zoos when they can meet their needs. In this case, the tigers were deemed to be a good fit, so they arrived in Billings last week.

Determining a good fit is something Stearns takes seriously. She said that before any animals go to another facility, representatives from Dade City’s Wild Things will visit the location to check living arrangements for size and safety. They also get a feel for the receiving location’s philosophy and ability to handle the animals.

And in the case of the tigers, handlers will stay there for a day or two after they arrive to make sure the transition is smooth, the animals are adjusting, and all questions and concerns have been addressed. They also will monitor their progress in the future to make sure the sisters are doing well in their new home.

But even without the tigers, there are still plenty of other animals to care for in Dade City. They have a wide variety of residents living on their 22-acre facility, including bears, alligators and lions. They also house the infamous “Mystery Monkey,” a rhesus macaque who had been on the loose in the Tampa Bay area for more than three years and had gained quasi-celebrity status before being captured in 2012.

Dade City’s Wild Things is open like a regular zoo and has animals on exhibit. Education, however, is paramount, and that becomes evident in their tours.

“One thing that we do a little different is that ours (are) always guided,” Stears said. “We have people that go (with visitors) because we want to educate, we want people to learn about the animals. So instead of a free walk-around, you’re going to have guides that actually go with you and talk to you about the animals.”

Stearns believes the tigers are a good fit for their new home, and will help create an interesting and informative exhibit in Montana. And helping provide that information to zoo-goers around the country is in-line with her organization’s mission of keeping the public educated as well as entertained.

“That’s what we’re all about is education, and getting people to be aware of these animals and their plight in the wild,” Stearns said. “So we want people to be able to see these animals. People can’t afford to go to Africa to see a lion. The whole point of zoos is to educate.”

Dade City’s Wild Things has more than 200 animals on display, surrounded by a botanical garden landscape. Walking tours and tram rides are available, as well as some hands-on encounters.

For more information, call (352) 567-9453, or visit DadeCitysWildThings.com.

Published May 28, 2014

Through painful pages, a message of faith from author

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Writing a book is often a difficult process. Finishing one can be an exhausting, emotional ordeal for the author that becomes a real challenge to complete.

Nancy Carroll McEndree writes her books sitting in a recliner in her Zephyrhills home. She writes longhand and husband Duane transcribes that work into their computer. (Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)
Nancy Carroll McEndree writes her books sitting in a recliner in her Zephyrhills home. She writes longhand and husband Duane transcribes that work into their computer.
(Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)

But it wasn’t like that for Zephyrhills resident Nancy Carroll McEndree. It was much, much worse.

“I went into (post-traumatic stress disorder) every chapter I wrote,” McEndree said. “I sat in my chair or in my office and I wept uncontrollably. I ended up in the hospital.”

To write “Remembering Jim: From Violence, Abuse and Terror to Joy Everlasting” — a book chronicling her late brother’s difficult upbringing, bottoming out as an absent husband and father, and eventual transformation to an active person of faith — McEndree had to go back to the beginning of their lives.

And that meant dealing with her own childhood, which was filled with memories of her mother and brothers dealing with constant physical abuse. McEndree also suffered severe mental abuse and neglect, and said she even had to spurn her father’s sexual advances.

She would have been happy to leave those memories in the past, except they were necessary to tell her brother’s story of redemption. The only thing worse than revisiting her childhood would be to leave his story untold, McEndree said.

Jim started the book himself, but was unable to continue, so McEndree promised him that she would finish it.

Last October, seven years after his death, “Remembering Jim” was released on WestBow Press.

McEndree recalls the close bond she shared with Jim, while they were growing up in New Hampshire, in frightening and degrading circumstances.

“We were buddies all through our lives, because we lived in a very dysfunctional and violent environment,” she said.

As his life deteriorated, however, they grew apart.

After a football injury derailed a potential athletic future, he had trouble holding jobs and couldn’t stay faithful in his marriages. He abandoned his wife and children and ended up on the street, surviving on food from soup kitchens, and bathing in restaurant bathrooms, McEndree said.

When McEndree reached out to him, Jim was living in a halfway house. The brother she loved rebuffed her.

“What he said to me was, ‘Nancy, you’ve got your life and I’ve got mine. Don’t ever call me again. I’ll never see you,’“ she recalled.

Over time, he eventually found God and was able to reverse his life’s fortunes, becoming a Pentecostal preacher.

McEndree had already survived her abusive past and became a devout Seventh-day Adventist. She did medical missionary work, wrote several books, and had a radio show with her longtime husband, Duane.

But she still missed her brother.

Then one day he reached out, with a desire to reconnect. But he also had some tragic news: He was dying from leukemia and he needed her help.

“I just found him and I’m going to lose him again,” she thought when they spoke.

Jim moved in with McEndree and her husband, and the final years of his life were spent in a healthy family environment, prayer, and an ability to touch the lives of those he met in a positive way.

Jim also was able to reconnect with some of his children, and expressed a desire to put his story to paper.

While she was relieved to finish the book and is pleased with the result, her husband of 23 years was worried it was too taxing on her.

McEndree, 71, has her own health issues, and her husband didn’t want her to jeopardize her health for the project.

“I know it was very traumatic for her,” Duane McEndree said. “Nancy has heart problems, and several times during the writing process, she went into arrhythmia because of the trauma that she was going through. I was very concerned.”

Still, the stress she endured writing “Remembering Jim” hasn’t soured her on writing.

McEndree also has written a series of children’s books, and she’s currently working on another book dealing with the world’s problems and offering solutions to them.

Her work is done lounging in a recliner located in a room with plenty of sunlight, and their house is on property that also includes the home of some of her children and grandchildren.

McEndree’s writing sessions can last several hours, and usually produce several handwritten pages that Duane puts into their computer.

Now that the book has been released, McEndree is excited about the opportunity to help others with a positive message. Regardless of someone’s upbringing or how far they’ve fallen, she believes her brother’s story proves it’s never too late to put their life on a better path.

“This is a ‘victory in Jesus’ book,” she said. “I believe this book is going to touch the hearts of many people that need to hear that there’s hope and that God loves them.”

“Remembering Jim” is available at tinyurl.com/RememberingJim.

Published May 14, 2014

Mourners brave rain to remember fallen officers

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It’s said that J. Edgar Hoover himself traveled from Washington, D.C., to Dade City, to remember prohibition agent John Van Waters.

Pasco County sheriff’s deputies salute during ceremonies remembering law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty during the last century or so. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)
Pasco County sheriff’s deputies salute during ceremonies remembering law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty during the last century or so.
(Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

The 46-year-old U.S. Department of Justice officer was killed alongside Pasco County constable Arthur Crenshaw on Oct. 4, 1922, in an ambush soon after investigating an illegal distillery near Dade City.

They were just the second and third law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty at the time, but would eventually become a part of a list that now totals eight who paid the ultimate price in protecting the people of Pasco County.

And those same people who benefit from that protection refuse to let them be forgotten as the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies celebrated their lives during a memorial service May 2 in front of the Historic Dade City Courthouse.

“It is truly a special day for us,” Sheriff Chris Nocco told the crowd of spectators who stood in a steady downpour to honor the officers. “In a world where so many times we get wrapped up in the petty little things of life, this is a moment that we can reflect upon what is most important.”

Last year, the death toll for law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty dropped to its lowest numbers in more than 50 years. And while those are statistics that should be celebrated, Dade City Police Chief Ray Velboom warned that work to protect officers is still needed.

“While this number is gratifying somewhat, one life is still too many,” he said. “We as leaders continue to work hard to provide our officers with the awareness and training they need to confront the many dangers they are facing. We must strive to create a new culture of safety in law enforcement that addresses the elements of our job that we can control, such as driving habits.”

Two of Pasco’s deaths were from automobile accidents, including the most recent, Hernando County Sheriff’s deputy John Mecklenburg, who was killed during a high-speed chase on U.S. 41 in 2011 that crossed into Pasco County.

Pasco County Sheriff’s deputy John McCabe also died on U.S. 41, but in 1948, while responding to a call about stolen grove heaters.

“On this day, let us remember these men not by how they died, but how they walked among us, and whose lives they enriched in a thousand ways by their very existence,” said U.S. Circuit Court judge William Burgess III, after reading the roll call of the fallen officers.

Those officers honored also included Lt. Charles “Bo” Harrison, who was killed June 1, 2003, while doing surveillance near a Dade City nightclub. A sniper, whose only goal reportedly was to shoot a police officer, hid in the nearby woods, and shot Harrison in the back. Harrison, who was 56, was just 15 days away from retirement after 31 years of service.

Also remembered was a member of the Florida Highway Patrol, Trooper James Bradford-Jean Crooks, who was just 23 in May 1998 when he was slain by a man who had earlier killed two Tampa Police Department officers and a young boy. Brad Crooks, as he was known by, never had a chance to get out of his car, was shot and killed on the off-ramp of Interstate 75 into Wesley Chapel.

And then there was the first officer ever killed in Pasco in the line of duty. Sheldon Nicks was working with his father, Fivay town marshal H. Robert Nicks, to serve a warrant. When the man they were serving realized he was being arrested, he pulled a gun. The younger Nicks jumped in front of the bullet, saving his father, but died on May 8, 1909.

“None of whom we honor today can be defined by their deaths,” Florida Highway Patrol Capt. Kristina Quenneville said. “But by what is forever imprinted on the lives and hearts of those they have touched.”

Published May 7, 2014

Forget finance, B.A. Arnot finds his sweet spot managing restaurant

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There may be about a dozen different cuts of steak, but the ways to prepare it are almost endless. Think about Bubba Blue’s long list of shrimp recipes in the film “Forrest Gump,” and replace all of it with all the types of steak that exist.

B.A. Arnot doesn’t mind the long commute from his home in Zephyrhills to LongHorn Steakhouse in Tampa’s Westshore district. He’s worked with the restaurant since the days when guests still threw discarded peanut shells on the floor. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)
B.A. Arnot doesn’t mind the long commute from his home in Zephyrhills to LongHorn Steakhouse in Tampa’s Westshore district. He’s worked with the restaurant since the days when guests still threw discarded peanut shells on the floor.
(Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

B.A. Arnot has watched thousands of steaks carried from his kitchen to customers at his LongHorn Steakhouse location on Tampa’s Westshore Boulevard. Rancher’s Sirloin. Outlaw Ribeye. Flo’s Filet. There’s never a shortage of meat.

And for the last 20 years, Arnot has dedicated his professional career to making sure hungry customers walk away satisfied from the restaurant chain. But his job as managing partner is not exactly the career Arnot expected to find himself in back in his college days at the University of South Florida.

“My degree is in finance,” Arnot said one recent afternoon before the Saturday dinner rush. “I was on the USF golf team, too, and I was even thinking about maybe turning pro.”

In fact, if the Super Bowl and a major golfing event ever ended up on the same night, Arnot might have to read about football’s biggest game in the newspaper the next morning. The only reason why he isn’t pursuing that dream is an injury that prevents him from playing as much as he likes.

Of course, that does not mean Arnot never plays. Silverado Golf & Country Club in Zephyrhills is just a short jaunt from his Lake Bernadette home. From time to time, people will find Arnot carrying his clubs, looking to master each hole.

Injury explains the change in his golf plans, but what happened to a career in finance?

“I don’t think I would’ve ever been good behind a desk,” Arnot said. “I’m used to being on my feet and walking around, because at the end of the day, it all comes down to customer service for me.”

But Arnot doesn’t like the word “customer,” however.

“’Guest’ is a better word,” he said. “It’s all about the guest, and taking care of the guest.”

In 1994, LongHorn was a young restaurant chain that was more “roadhouse” style. The complete menu was found on a chalkboard when customers arrived, and each table offered complimentary peanuts — the shells of which were welcomed on top of the wooden floors, crunching under the servers’ feet.

Arnot had worked at a Burger King when he was a teenager, and Bennigan’s in college. But at LongHorn, he was still starting at entry level, first as a host, and then as a server.

Yet, the manager at his LongHorn saw something in Arnot. He saw a leader.

“After a year-and-a-half here, I got offered a chance to go into management, so I did,” he said.

Arnot would continue to work at the LongHorn location on North Dale Mabry Highway, until he became a kitchen manager at a new location in Citrus Park in 1999. Just two years later, he was back at the Dale Mabry location, now as its managing partner.

Arnot gives back the same way he received nearly two decades ago. He looks for manager material from the staff he hires, and promotes them whenever the opportunity arises. He’s a big believer in hiring from within.

During almost all of that time, Arnot has commuted the nearly 40 miles from his home to the restaurant. Even when the Dale Mabry location closed down and moved to nearby Westshore Boulevard, it was still a haul.

But he doesn’t let all that travel time and long hours at the restaurant interfere with making time for his wife — a manager at a Fifth Third Bank — and three daughters, ages 16, 14, and 8. He takes turns getting his kids around to their various activities, and making sure he’s home for dinner the nights he’s not working.

Arnot also carves out a little time for himself in the middle of the week, where he can enjoy a round of golf, or simply work on projects at home.

And as the LongHorn chain expands, Arnot hopes to expand with it. His ultimate goal is to become a regional director of operations, although such a job might mean moving. Moving up is a long-term plan, like waiting until his youngest daughter is on her way to college.

“Yeah, 10 years would be my goal to move ahead,” Arnot said. “But who knows. It’s hard to predict.”

And Arnot should know. Just 20 years ago, LongHorn was supposed to be a quick stop on the road toward a banking job. Instead, he’s focused his career on the industry, and still has a lot more he wants to accomplish.

Getting to know B.A. Arnot
What are you watching on TV?
There have been tons of shows on that everyone likes, but I tend to only watch TV on Wednesday nights when I’m off. So the shows I’m watching are “Burn Notice” and “Suits.”

What music group makes you turn up the radio?
Nirvana. Or really anything on 102.5 The Bone.

If you could spend a week anywhere?
I would go to St. Andrews Links, the golf course in Scotland. It’s the most famous course in the world.

Best golfing movie?
“The Legend of Bagger Vance.”

Published May 7, 2014

Skydiving’s newest sport returns to Zephyrhills with nationals

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It’s quite easily one of the newest sports out there, and something many people have never heard of.

Canopy piloting, more commonly known as ‘swooping,’ forces skydivers to pick up speed as they approach the ground, rather than slow down. Then they have to navigate obstacles, typically over lakes and ponds since water is more forgiving in high-speed impacts than the hard ground. (Courtesy of Joe Abeln)
Canopy piloting, more commonly known as ‘swooping,’ forces skydivers to pick up speed as they approach the ground, rather than slow down. Then they have to navigate obstacles, typically over lakes and ponds since water is more forgiving in high-speed impacts than the hard ground.
(Courtesy of Joe Abeln)

For the second straight year, Skydive City in Zephyrhills will host the U.S. Parachute Association National Skydiving Championships of Canopy Piloting May 22-24. And whenever drop zone owner T.K. Hayes shares that with someone outside of skydiving, he can almost anticipate that first question: What is canopy piloting?

“It’s a fairly new sport that has come around in the last 10 to 12 years, and it’s grown into its own discipline of skydiving,” he said.

Simply, skydivers jump from a plane that’s just 5,000 feet in the air (compared to the normal 12,000 feet for typical skydiving), and instead of slowing down before hitting the ground, these jumpers actually speed up — some as fast as 90 mph — swooping through a ground-level course that’s exciting for spectators, and dangerous for the jumpers.

And Hayes knows all about that danger. He has a spinal fusion to prove it.

“When we built the first swoop pond out here in 2000 or 2001, it wasn’t even a sport then,” Hayes said. “It was a windy day, and I got down too low and caught me knees in the water at 50 to 60 mph. I bounced out of the pond and landed on my head, breaking my neck.”

Luckily Hayes wasn’t paralyzed, but his swooping days are over. Since then, canopy piloting has grown from a hobby to a high-skilled sport where only divers with hundreds if not thousands of jumps to their name can even think about competing in. It’s basically the NASCAR of skydiving.

“There is definitely a lot less margin for error, so people who are competing in this event are extremely experienced and have trained specifically for this,” said Nancy Koreen, director of sport promotion for the U.S. Parachute Association, based in Fredericksburg, Va.

Last year’s national champion, Curt Bartholomew, has been in town already getting set for the national meet. And even someone at his skill level has to work through bumps and bruises.

“He was wearing a knee brace and an ankle brace, and was using ice packs between jumps,” Hayes said. “They are true athletes, and they go through a regimen of training and physical fitness, because you really have to be at the top of your game to compete.”

Zephyrhills has successfully bid for the event the last two years, and the warm reception of the near 70 jumpers last year, along with a solid drop zone complete with a pond, has made Skydive City a premier place for the event. But getting spectators to come out, however, has not been so easy, and Hayes has made some changes for this year’s championship he hopes will be much friendlier for those who want to see the swoopers compete.

“We didn’t get the word out much last year, and it’s happening during the week, so I know that might affect those numbers even more,” Hayes said. “We didn’t have a budget last year, but we were able to get a small one this year. So we’ll have new features, like a color commentator on a sound system, to let people know what’s happening. This should make it a little more exciting, because last year I think too many people were in the dark on what’s happening.”

The event is free for spectators, who will get to see bursts of action as multiple swoopers jump from a plane at once. Canopy piloting, Hayes said, is probably the closest skydiving will ever get to a spectator sport.

And it’s helped Zephyrhills not only reach the national stage, but the global one. Skydive City will be the site of the world championships of canopy piloting in November — the first time the United States has ever hosted it — and that could draw more than 120 jumpers and their entourages from all over the planet.

“We’re becoming experts in hosting these things, and I hope we can build a market for canopy piloting right here,” Hayes said. “It’s just a cool thing, which you don’t even realize until you come out and see it for yourself.”

WHAT: U.S. Parachute Association National Skydiving Championships of Canopy Piloting
WHEN: May 22-24
WHERE: Skydive City, 4241 Sky Dive Lane, Zephyrhills
COST: Free for spectators
INFO: SkydiveCity.com

Published April 30, 3014

Drumm takes final stand as Zephyrhills city manager

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Jim Drumm likely saw the first cracks in his tenure as Zephyrhills city manager last July when councilmen Lance Smith and Ken Burgess both gave him low marks on their evaluations of his job performance.

Zephyrhills city manager Jim Drumm goes over some last-minute details with city finance director Stacie Poppell ahead of a special city council meeting last week where Drumm’s severance package was discussed. (Courtesy of Michael Hinman)
Zephyrhills city manager Jim Drumm goes over some last-minute details with city finance director Stacie Poppell ahead of a special city council meeting last week where Drumm’s severance package was discussed.
(Courtesy of Michael Hinman)

Drumm had communications issues, according to the evaluations, especially when it came to city employees and the public as a whole. He wasn’t getting out to meet enough people. The city’s relationship with Pasco County was troubled, at best.

Yet Drumm wasn’t worried about his job. While he knew there was room for improvement in his own job performance, he received high marks from the three other council members. And as far as Drumm was concerned, there were nowhere near the four votes required to remove him, if that’s what Smith and Burgess were aiming for.

That all changed, however, in March, when Drumm found himself fighting for his job — the voices of two councilmen suddenly gaining the power of the majority.

Despite three legal opinions against him, Drumm maintains his position that no matter what his contract says, the city’s charter — the constitution of the local government — requires four votes to remove him.

The security of that belief encouraged Drumm to move his family to Zephyrhills in the first place, where he spent $185,000 on a home in Silver Oaks. That was despite still owning a house he bought for $135,000 at the height of the housing boom in 2005 in his former town of High Springs.

“I came here with a commitment,” Drumm told reporters after a special council meeting last week. “I wanted to do a good job, and apparently I did. The issues are not very clear, and I’m just surprised. What I’m getting is, ‘We don’t want to terminate you. We just don’t want to renew you.’”

During that same meeting, called to negotiate a severance package for Drumm, only Councilman Kenneth Compton seemed willing to stand up for the embattled city manager. And that had obviously become an unpopular position, especially after Compton watched the one other council member who agreed with him, Jodi Wilkeson, lose re-election, most likely because of her support of Drumm.

Wilkeson quietly supported Compton’s efforts last week, except this time from the audience instead of the dais.

“We are looking at numbers, and to me, the numbers should reflect what has happened over the tenure of the city manager,” Compton said. “When the city manager walked in here, he walked into a million-dollar shortfall in the budget, and within a matter of months, he turned it into a surplus.”

The city at the time was looking at layoffs to make up the budget shortfall in 2011, but instead Drumm filled the city’s contingency funds, not to the $300,000 or $500,000 it once contained, but instead to $1.5 million — and kept it there.

“This is a separation, and it’s not a happy thing,” Compton said. “Something didn’t work out, but my suggestion is the numbers be looked at.”

Alan Knight, the former high school football coach and educator who beat Wilkeson for his council seat, wasn’t focused on numbers. Instead, it was the three-year contract Drumm signed in 2011 set to expire May 18.

“Looking back at my experience, when I was a school principal and given a two-year contract, that was it,” he said. “If I didn’t get renewed, I didn’t get all these other things.”

Those things Drumm asked for included 20 weeks of severance pay, money for nearly 400 hours of “comp time” — hours worked above and beyond a standard work week without any pay — and for the city to continue paying premiums on the health insurance for an additional five months.

The council balked on the 20 weeks of severance last week, offering just 13 instead. Yet, 20 weeks is a standard for city and county managers, the maximum set by state law, said Lynn Tipton, executive director of the Florida City and County Management Association, the state’s professional organization for municipal managers like Drumm.

“It is recommended in light of the many costs a manager incurs in transition,” she said. In best-case scenarios, the hiring process for a city manager from the time an ad is placed for the job to signing the contract is four months. But that can sometimes go six months or even longer.

“However, this is greatly complicated by election cycles,” Tipton said, adding that some municipalities might just hire an interim until after the next election.

Drumm said he would likely seek unemployment insurance, but $275 a week is a far cry from $1,730 weekly. But he could have other income opportunities as well while he waits to find a new city manager job.

“Some managers are fortunate to find interim work, teaching and consulting while they await the next management position,” Tipton said. “Others take part-time work where available.”

The severance package proposed by the council last week would cost the city $54,000, but only a portion of that would actually represent cash in Drumm’s pocket. The rest are taxes and other costs the city would have to pay to part ways with him.

Drumm was expected to step down from his position April 25 if he agreed to the lower separation terms offered by the city. He resigned on Friday, after reportedly agreeing to the severance package.

The council approved the revised severance package 4-1, with Compton voting no. Just before the vote, Drumm did suggest that the lower payout may not be enough of an incentive for him to sign any agreement not to sue the city over the debacle, but the council voted their package in anyway.

Published April 30, 2014

All on-the-job training for Zephyrhills’ newest councilman

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Zephyrhills doesn’t waste time when it comes to elections.

Jodi Wilkeson
Jodi Wilkeson

Last Monday, less than a week after the election, Alan Knight was installed as the new city councilman following his victory over one-time council president Jodi Wilkeson. And there isn’t even time for Knight to catch his breath.

Moments after the swearing in, Knight was asked to consider two board appointments, donating vehicles to a local college, who should build a new skate park, and, according to the agenda, decide the fate of City Manager Jim Drumm.

Being a council member is not as easy as some make it look, and there’s a steep learning curve that Knight, a former high school principal and football coach, will have to endure, Wilkeson said after the election.

“I know that he’ll do a fine job,” she said. “But there’s still so much to learn once he gets up there.”

Wilkeson was first elected to the council in 2008, and described her loss last week as disappointing.

“I worked as hard as I could, and I can’t imagine another thing I could’ve done to garner more votes,” she said. “I do think I was hurt a little bit by Mr. Knight’s name recognition. He’s impacted the lives of just a tremendous amount of people.”

Yet, it’s the Drumm situation that may be affected the most from the election. Wilkeson essentially delayed the council’s attempt to remove Drumm from the city manager position last month by asking for a third legal opinion on whether the council can do that without a supermajority.

Her perceived support of the embattled city manager may have cost her votes as well, Wilkeson conceded.

“I just feel that it’s imperative that we treat him fairly,” she said. “He didn’t make any really egregious missteps, and he helped get us out of a million-dollar deficit. He had exactly the skills we needed at the time.”

Drumm “did a fine job,” Wilkeson said, but is a bit introverted, which may have worked against him in terms of relationships.

As for Wilkeson’s political future, she’s not sure what might happen next, but she isn’t ruling anything out.

“I never say never,” Wilkeson said. “If a group of concerned citizens came to me and said they wanted me to run again and they would support me, I would consider it. I enjoy being involved in the community and bringing my training and education to the table for the benefit of the city. But I don’t have any aspirations right now.”

Incoming St. Leo commissioner says there’s no interest to dissolve town

Ray Davis says the rumor mill in St. Leo has it all wrong.

Donna DeWitt
Donna DeWitt

Although he’s the third Lake Jovita resident to be elected to the small town’s commission — ousting longtime commissioner Donna DeWitt — he’s focused on making sure his neighborhood is no longer a part of St. Leo, one way or the other. However, Davis says he has no intention of dissolving the Town of St. Leo itself to make that happen.

Yet, how he can help de-annexation along as a commissioner is unclear. The town attorney has cited past legal opinions she says forbids St. Leo from de-annexing the small portion of the Lake Jovita subdivision inside its town limits. Any area that can be annexed by a municipality, based typically on population, cannot be de-annexed, according to the state attorney general’s interpretation of the law.

Because of that, the decision to allow Lake Jovita to de-annex lies with the legislature, in a bill introduced last March by state Rep. Amanda Murphy, D-New Port Richey. It passed its final committee on Friday, and should soon be heading to the House floor.

“They call me ‘Plan B,’” Davis said following the election. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

Davis did not want to speculate on what would happen if the state didn’t open the door for de-annexation. When asked if he would vote to dissolve the town itself in that instance, Davis was non-committal.

“I think it’s wise not to make a statement based on speculation, and I don’t think that’s the smart thing to do,” Davis said.

DeWitt, who expects to get her job back when Lake Jovita is de-annexed and three positions suddenly open on the commission, prays there’s a town to come back to.

“Hopefully, they won’t do anything drastic until they can get de-annexed out of the town,” she said.

Many projects have been put on hold while the Lake Jovita issue has remained hot in recent months, including a request by the Iafrates family to annex 179 acres of land on St. Leo’s south side. Although it’s not directly related to the Lake Jovita issue, commissioners decided to delay that prospect until the de-annexation question is resolved.

Despite the legal opinion, Davis maintains the commission still has the power to vote a de-annexation. The only reason why it didn’t happen before, he said, was because Lake Jovita didn’t have a majority on the commission until this past election.

DeWitt’s support of the de-annexation did not become known until after he had filed to run, Davis added.

“We didn’t know that, and we had only heard that through hearsay,” he said. “Now we’re just waiting to see what happens.”

Published April 16, 2014

Experience vs. New Blood

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Three elections, six candidates, and three incumbents — all with more than a half-century of government experience.

Voters head to the polls April 8 in Dade City, St. Leo and Zephyrhills, where they will decide, among other things, whether they want to keep longevity in their city government, or find a fresh perspective.

Each of these municipalities faced controversy in recent months. Dade City abruptly turned one high-level government job into two, pushing out a longtime employee. St. Leo could see its government shaken up later this year if parts of Lake Jovita successfully de-annex itself, possibly eliminating two commission seats. And, Zephyrhills is facing a tough decision on what to do with its top executive, where one race could easily seal the fate of City Manager Jim Drumm.

Three communities have their future in the balance, and every single vote has the potential to be the ultimate decider.

Dade City: Scott Black vs. Angelica Herrera
St. Leo: Raphael Davis vs. Donna DeWitt
Zephyrhills: Alan Knight vs. Jodi Wilkeson

St. Leo election is all about one thing: Lake Jovita

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A bill sits in a committee in Tallahassee that would remove part of the Lake Jovita community from St. Leo. Yet, that hasn’t stopped Raphael Davis from challenging longtime commissioner Donna DeWitt for her seat in the St. Leo government.

St. Leo is such a small town that a community that’s complained about taxes, nearby Saint Leo University and other issues, is literally right on the town hall’s doorstep. (Photo by Michael Hinman)
St. Leo is such a small town that a community that’s complained about taxes, nearby Saint Leo University and other issues, is literally right on the town hall’s doorstep. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

While Davis talks almost exclusively about the plight of Lake Jovita residents in the town, he has nothing to say about the de-annexation itself, saying he doesn’t “comment on pending legislation or speculation.”

“Since the beginning of the Lake Jovita community, a small portion has allegiance to the Town of St. Leo,” Davis said. “These Lake Jovita residents have, up to this point, quietly gone along about their lives and paid town taxes knowing they were receiving little or no services in return.”

Town taxes, Davis said, are out of line with what Pasco County charges to live in an unincorporated area, and have accumulated more than $1.2 million in cash and reserves because of it.

“I believe a more business-type approach would benefit all of the residents, reduce the current tax burden on all of our residents, and still maintain the town on a sound financial basis,” Davis said.

DeWitt, however, calls Davis’ candidacy just a continuation of the battle the town has had with some Lake Jovita residents since 2006. While she has heard complaints about taxes, she feels the bigger reasons have to do with Saint Leo University itself, a school that predates Lake Jovita by a century or so.

“When we make decisions, we try to be a voice for everybody in the town, not just for Lake Jovita,” said DeWitt, a nun with nearby Holy Name Monastery, who was first elected to the commission in 1997. “They get upset when the university puts up a tree or a light. They knew what was there when they built the community.”

Losing part of Lake Jovita won’t hurt St. Leo at all, DeWitt said, except create some changes on the commission itself when two members will be forced to resign.

“St. Leo will be fine,” she said. “We did it 100 years without them, we’ll continue to do it without them.”

For other parts in our Experience vs. New Blood story package, click here. 

Published April 2, 2014