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Manatee County

Zephyrhills poised to name Spillman permanent fire chief

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Four months after being named the interim fire chief, the Zephyrhills City Council is set on Monday to make Daniel Spillman’s job at the head of the city’s fire rescue department permanent.

Spillman took over the department in June when Verne Riggall — under fire for how he had run the agency over a two-year period — resigned before city council members could vote on whether to terminate him.

Spillman interviewed for the permanent position Sept. 22, and competed against Capt. Ralph Velez and former Pasco County fire service officer Stephen Smith for the job, according to city documents. The three made their bids for the job in front of a selection committee that included Zephyrhills city manager Steve Spina, city human resources director Sandra Amerson, former fire captain Scott Winters, and Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce executive director Vonnie Mikkelsen.

Velez has been a captain with the fire department for more than seven years, according to an online social media profile, and also has served on the board of Main Street Zephyrhills Inc. between 2005 and 2011. Velez has spent 24 years total with the Zephyrhills fire department, according to published reports, and graduated from Zephyrhills High School in the early 1980s.

Smith spent six years as a training chief for Pasco County Fire Rescue, according to an online business profile, and retired from that job in 2010. He’s currently a charge paramedic and trainer in Manatee County, and has consulted with and worked as an expert legal witness for EDT Corp., for nearly 25 years.

Spillman joined the Zephyrhills fire department in September 2013 after spending more than a year as a fire chief in Escambia County. He received his bachelor’s degree from Florida International University, and a master’s degree from City University in Bellevue, Washington, according to his resume.

As city manager, Spina has the power to appoint and even remove the chiefs of both the fire and police department, as long as he has a simple majority approval from the city council.

Riggall worked in High Springs as the fire chief the same time now former Zephyrhills city manager Jim Drumm led that city’s administration. Drumm resigned his job in Zephyrhills less than two months before Riggall after realizing he didn’t have the council’s support to continue as city manager.

Before he left, however, Drumm already had considered investigating issues in the fire department under Riggall. Spina continued the investigation after he took over as interim city manager, and said there were problems in how Riggall staffed fire engines and emergency response vehicles. Some of the staffing records also showed there were not enough workers on hand to safely respond to necessary calls, Spina said, and even they didn’t have all the appropriate equipment they would need.

The fire department was suffering from low morale, as well, and Riggall reportedly did not keep regular office hours, Spina’s report at the time said. Instead showing up at non-traditional times so that he could work around his wife’s schedule.

The city council will make the final decision during its regular meeting Oct. 13 at 6 p.m., at Zephyrhills City Hall, 5335 Eighth St.

TBARTA picks Don Skelton as interim executive director

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Don Skelton is the new interim executive director of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority board of directors.

He replaces Bob Clifford, TBARTA’s first executive director, who resigned to join the engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff, according to a release.

Skelton has a lengthy career in transportation planning and programs, including serving as secretary of the District 7 office for the Florida Department of Transportation for seven years, ending in 2012. During that time, he was on the board of directors as an “ex officio” member, and was instrumental in providing support for the development of TBARTA’s master transportation plan.

Right now, however, he is vice president at H.W. Lochner, where he provides transportation engineering services for the Tampa Bay region and Central Florida.

“Don was there when we started, and played a major role in our early success,” said Ronnie Duncan, TBARTA’s chair, in a release. “There could not be (a) better person to serve in this capacity as we work through the process of selecting a permanent executive director.”

TBARTA was created in 2007 by the Legislature to plan and develop a multimodal transportation system that will connect the second counties of the Tampa Bay region — Pasco, Hillsborough, Hernando, Citrus, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota.

Free isn’t always free, especially with cell phones

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A full-page ad that appeared in a South Florida newspaper in May has caught the attention of the Better Business Bureau, which warns consumers that just because someone claims a product is free doesn’t mean it is free.

The ad, according to the consumer advocacy organization, offered “easy-to-use senior mobile cell phones free” for senior citizens. The advertiser is a company that has earned an F-rating with the BBB because of its lengthy negative advertising and complaint industry.

According to the ad, for a one-time activation fee of $97 plus shipping, those who had beat a 48-hour deadline would receive a free cell phone, get nationwide coverage with no long-distance charges, would not have to sign any contracts, make no deposits, or pay no monthly bills. The bill also repeatedly expresses that senior citizens are risking their safety by not having a cell phone, and that the government urges them to carry one, the BBB said.

The organization first became aware of this ad in May 2013 in West Virginia, and an investigation there showed that the company inflates the costs of its activation fees to cover and profit from what’s advertised as “free,” BBB officials said.

The offer would charge consumers $97 plus shipping for access to 911 services, which already are provided by all wireless carriers for free. And while there are no monthly bills, consumers must pay for minutes once their first 250 prepaid minutes are used, or after 60 days.

BBB officials say the best way to avoid issues like this is to make sure, as a customer, that all the terms of the offer are read and understood. If something doesn’t make sense, be sure to ask.

Also, customers should always question free offers. The BBB Code of Advertising states that the word “free” can be used whenever the advertiser is offering an unconditional gift. If that free item is conditional on a purchase, the advertiser must make that clear and conspicuous with the free offer — and not simply by placing an asterisk next to the word “free” with a footnote.

Customers can always check out the reliability of a company by visiting BBB.org. The Better Business Bureau Serving West Florida is one of 112 local, independent BBBs across North America that serves Pasco, Hillsborough, Hernando, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Hardee, Desoto, Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties.

Region under severe thunderstorm watch

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The National Weather Service says a line of strong thunderstorms have formed in the Gulf of Mexico, and are threatening the entire Tampa Bay region — including Pasco and Hillsborough counties — until 8 p.m.

Meteorologists with the weather service detected the storms just after 2 p.m. Friday along a line extending from Honeymoon Island near Palm Harbor to Longboat Key. The system was moving northeast at 30 mph, and has gusty winds of 45 to 55 mph that can cause unsecured object to blow around, snap tree limbs and cause power outages.

Torrential rains will reduce visibility to near zero, and will cause water ponding on roadways, the weather service said.

The watch also is for Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Highlands, Lake, Manatee, Polk, Pinellas, Sarasota and Sumter counties.

UPDATE: The watch has been lifted.

Commission candidate among those appointed to planning council

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Michael Moore is one of six appointments announced Monday by Gov. Rick Scott to the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.

Moore, who is seeking Pat Mulieri’s seat on the Pasco County Commission, is the owner of VR Business Sales/Mergers & Acquisitions of Wesley Chapel. He was appointed for a term that began Monday, and would end in October 2015.

Also appointed to seats were John Neal of Bradenton, Robert Sebesta of Seminole, Scott Sheridan of Temple Terrace, Mary Yeargan of Brandon and Timothy Schock of Tampa. All the appointments must be confirmed by the Florida Senate.

The regional planning council was first formed in 1962, bringing together local governments and gubernatorial appointees to coordinate planning for the region’s future, according to the group’s website. It also analyzes issues and shares solutions among its 43 jurisdictions located in Pasco, Hillsborough, Manatee and Pinellas counties.

Moore told The Laker/Lutz News that he looked forward to serving in the group, and that the Pasco County Commission also appoints a member to serve on the council. If he is elected in November, he said, he would “comply with all newly applicable rules and guidelines established for membership.”