The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Little Road

More than 5,000 show up for first day of early voting

By

A lot of people are heading to the polls, and it’s not even Election Day yet.

Pasco County elections supervisor Brian Corley says more than 5,000 people turned out to vote on Saturday, as early voting started in various locations around the county.

By lunchtime on Monday, the number of early voters quickly approached 9,000, joining more than 38,000 mail-in ballots already received for the midterm election.

Republicans make up 45 percent of all the pre-Election Day voters so far in Pasco, while Democrats account for 35 percent. Non-affiliated voters or those from other parties make up the remaining 19 percent.

That brings total turnout so far to a little more than 15 percent. The best turnout so far has been at the Tampa Bay Golf & Country Club in San Antonio, where nearly 25 percent of the more than 2,100 people registered there have cast a ballot. That is a heavily Republican precinct, where Democrats are outnumbered nearly 2-to-1.

The worst turnout so far is at Darby Community Church in Dade City, were just 6 percent of the 764 voters there have finished their civic duty. That district is more balanced in terms of the major political parties, with 42 percent Republican and 34 percent Democratic.

Early voting continues through Saturday, with each location open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. This election gives voters a chance to choose between two governors in who will stay (or move back into) the mansion in Tallahassee. It also has some local races, including Pasco County Commission between Mike Moore and Erika Remsberg.

Voters also are choosing whether to support three amendments to the state constitution, ranging from land conservation to how state supreme court justices are appointed to medical marijuana.

• East Pasco Government Center, 14236 Sixth St., Dade City
• Land O’ Lakes Library, 2818 Collier Parkway, Land O’ Lakes
• New River Branch Library, 34043 State Road 54, Zephyrhills
• The Grove at Wesley Chapel, 6013 Wesley Grove Blvd., Wesley Chapel
• Hudson Library, 8012 Library Road, Hudson
• New Port Richey Elections Office, 8731 Citizens Drive, New Port Richey
• Regency Park Library, 9701 Little Road, New Port Richey
• South Holiday Library, 4649 Mile Stretch Drive, Holiday

Vote by mail already has 10 percent turnout

By

Early voting doesn’t start until this weekend. But in the meantime, Pasco County elections supervisor Brian Corley continues to collect mail-in votes — by the thousands.

As of late Monday, Corley has received more than 30,000 ballots for the upcoming midterm election. Of those ballots, 35 percent of them are from Democrats, 45 percent are from Republicans, and 20 percent were from other parties. For the more than 305,000 registered voters countywide, 38 percent are Republican, 34 percent are Democrat and 28 percent represent other parties.

That means there’s still room for more non-partisan voters to complete a ballot before or on the Nov. 4 election, as well as a small number more Democrats.

Midterm elections are historically low when it comes to turnout, even though Florida typically elects a governor during the season between presidential elections. The county, however, still has a ways to go to beat the 2010 midterm turnout of 46 percent.

The area of the county with the biggest turnout so far is the area surrounding the Heritage Pines Country Club in Hudson, according to Corley’s office. There, 566 early votes have been received, representing just under 17.3 percent of the voters there.

The lowest turnout so far is the area surrounding Darby Community Church in Dade City, where just 30 voters — or less than 4 percent of those eligible — have cast ballots to far.

The Darby precinct has 764 voters, but is 42 percent Republican, 34 percent Democrat, and 24 percent other parties. The Hudson precinct, however, has 3,278 registered voters. There, Republicans represent 46 percent, Democrats 29 percent, and other parties 26 percent.

Early voting will begin Oct. 25 and run through Nov. 1 at eight locations, operating from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Those locations — which can be found by clicking here — include:

• East Pasco Government Center, 14236 Sixth St., Dade City
• Land O’ Lakes Library, 2818 Collier Parkway, Land O’ Lakes
• New River Branch Library, 34043 State Road 54, Zephyrhills
• The Grove at Wesley Chapel, 6013 Wesley Grove Blvd., Wesley Chapel
• Hudson Library, 8012 Library Road, Hudson
• New Port Richey Elections Office, 8731 Citizens Drive, New Port Richey
• Regency Park Library, 9701 Little Road, New Port Richey
• South Holiday Library, 4649 Mile Stretch Drive, Holiday

Veterans lobbying for where in Pasco new VA clinic should go

By

The men and women who have served our country during times of war, or in case of war, have been fighting a new conflict to ensure they have access to the federally provided health care they were promised.

But now part of that battle might turn into a turf war between the west and east sides of Pasco County.

Kathleen Fogarty, chief of the James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, shares some of the issues her facility has faced in recent months during a packed town hall meeting of veterans hosted by U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, right. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)
Kathleen Fogarty, chief of the James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, shares some of the issues her facility has faced in recent months during a packed town hall meeting of veterans hosted by U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, right.
(Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

Veterans gathered at the West Pasco Government Center last week to tell U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis where they want to build a new consolidated center made possible thanks to a Veterans Affairs bill signed by President Barack Obama last month.

The bill has set aside $1.3 billion to create or expand 27 VA clinics around the country, including Florida’s only new one — a planned 114,000-square-foot facility that would consolidate five existing locations on the west side of the county.

Many veterans have come to depend on having those centers in New Port Richey and Port Richey, and some are balking at the idea of moving the new consolidated center into Land O’ Lakes, or even into Zephyrhills or Dade City.

No plans have been finalized, or even proposed, on where this new facility would take place. But a majority of those speaking up last week were pushing for the government to take over the former Community Hospital campus in New Port Richey. That hospital shut down in 2012 after its owner, HCA Healthcare, opened the new Medical Center at Trinity on State Road 54 just east of Little Road.

But bringing that building up to the standards needed for a new VA clinic could be costly.

“We tried to get Community Hospital about seven years ago,” said one veteran, Paul Rizzo. “We met with the VA, and they turned us down, because they said the building was unsafe. It was only built for one floor, but it’s three floors.”

Despite that, Rizzo wants to have the new clinic there.

“I still say that Community Hospital is one of the best places that we could use,” he said. “It’s been standing there for 50 years now, so how is that unsafe? They say we need a complete overhaul of the building there, but what we really need is a complete overhaul of the VA.”

The Land O’ Lakes area has also been shared as a possible location for a new VA clinic, since it’s in central Pasco. However, east Pasco also remains on the radar simply because of the available land out there in case VA officials decide to build something new.

But getting out that way might create as many problems as simply going to the James Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, some say. Plus, a clinic already exists near Florida Hospital Zephyrhills. That facility will not be a part of the consolidation, officials said.

“Most people, especially disabled veterans, have financial problems, and transportation is a huge factor in their lives,” said Lauren Price, an Iraqi war veteran who is one of the founders of the VeteranWarriors advocacy group. “We have some limited mass transit here in West Pasco, and there is much more minimal mass transit that gets out to Trinity. And before someone offers all that real estate out in Dade City or Zephyrhills, I will remind them that the only mass transit out there are the mud swamp runs.”

Despite hosting the town hall, Bilirakis will have minimal input on where the new facility will be located, he said. That decision, instead, will rely on the VA department itself, which also will receive an additional $10 billion to outsource some of the care to private doctors when VA officials get behind. It also gives Robert McDonald, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs secretary, the power to remove senior executives not meeting expectations more easily than before.

Congress put the legislation in motion this past summer after a series of reports highlighting backlogs in service and other problems at VA hospitals around the country. A government investigation found some of those hospitals were guilty of flubbing appointment lists while supervisors turned a blind eye.

The report, however, said there was nothing connecting the delays created by that activity with preventable deaths.

But some of the veterans in New Port Richey still feel like they’ve been treated improperly by the system. However, James Haley VA Medical Center chief Kathleen Fogarty said many of the delays and problems experienced locally are from the sheer volume facilities like hers have taken on.

“I am very pleased to tell you that all of our clinics were audited, and we did not have any discrepancies in the scheduling,” Fogarty said. “But will I tell you that we don’t have any waiting lists? Absolutely not.”

That’s because her system handles 89,000 unique patients every year, she said. Haley has 4,000 patients a day, and conducts 42,000 consultations a month.

“I am very blessed to have the University of South Florida a bridge away from me,” Fogarty said. “They don’t have a hospital they use to train all of their doctors. We are the primary facility they use, which is a great thing for us because I think we get the best doctors out there.”

Besides where the new consolidated clinic should be located, the more than 100 veterans who attended also shared some of the services they’d like to see there. That includes urgent care, physical therapy, radiology, women’s care and greater access to dental, Bilirakis spokeswoman Summer Robertson said.

If any other veterans wants to express their preferences on where the clinic should go and what should be there, they can call Bilirakis’ office at (813) 501-4942, or send an email to the congressman through his website at Bilirakis.house.gov.

Published September 3, 2014

See this story in print: Click Here

It’s gas tax decision day Sept. 3

By

Pasco County commissioners are up against a self-imposed deadline Wednesday where they will have to decide how they are going to fund a needed $8 million for road construction projects in the county.

And while there are really only three primary options on the table — the decision is not expected to be an easy one.

County budget director Annette Stahura is set to present those three options and any others commissioners bring up during what is expected to be a shorter-than-usual meeting in New Port Richey. Commissioners are being asked to either increase local gasoline taxes up to a nickel per gallon, increase property tax rates, or a combination of the two.

Increasing the gas tax is going to be the most difficult way to go, however, with four of the five commissioners needed to approve it. Outgoing commissioner Henry Wilson Jr., has already said he would continue his position from last year and not support increasing the gas tax, while commission chair Jack Mariano has been on the fence, but leaning against the gas tax.

Boosting property taxes, however, only requires three votes, although Commissioner Ted Schrader has said he is against increasing that tax to pay for new roads as long as the gas tax option is available.

Proponents of the gas tax say many consumers may not even feel it. Neighboring counties, they say, increased their gas taxes in recent years, and few of the gas stations actually passed that extra cost on to consumers, members of the county staff said. Those same proponents also discount the impact to businesses and such that need large amounts of fuel, since diesel fuel would not be levied the additional tax.

Those against the gas tax, however, say that there are no guarantees that gas stations won’t increase gas prices to compensate for the additional tax, and that the cost to consumers — including businesses who require large amounts of fuel — is unnecessary.

Each penny of gas tax is expected to generate $1.6 million each year, according to an internal county report. A full gas tax could, however, cost $37.50 more per year for driver, or a little more than $3 per month.

Raising property taxes, however, could have a larger impact to businesses than a fuel tax, according to an internal report. While a 5-cent gas tax would increase costs to small business owner by $250, raising property taxes instead to hit that $8.07 million mark would cost small businesses $478.That is based on a small manufacturing business with $200,000 property value and $1 million tangible property value.

However, the impact to the average homeowner for a property tax increase would be just under $20 a year for the full $8 million, assessed at homes with $100,000 in appraised value and $50,000 in homestead exemptions.

If the commission can’t come to a decision on how to raise the $8 million, seven short-term projects would be delayed up to 10 years. They include:

• Construction of Bell Lake Road from U.S. 41 to Alpine Road — moved from 2015 to 2017

• Right-of-way acquisition to expand DeCubellis Road from two lanes to four lanes from Little Road to Starkey Boulevard — moved from 2017 to 2019

• Creation of an automated traffic management system on County Road 54 and State Road 54 from Progress Parkway to Curley Road — moved from 2017 to 2025

• Right-of-way acquisition to expand County Road 54 from two lanes to four lanes from State Road 54/56 to Progress Parkway — moved from a one-year project to a five-year project.

• Creation of an automated traffic management system on Little Road from Embassy Boulevard to Star Trail — moved from 2018 to 2027.

• Right-of-way acquisition to expand Moon Lake Road from two lanes to four lanes from DeCubellis Road to State Road 52 — moved from a five-year project to a nine year project.

• Construction of Starkey Boulevard from River Crossing Boulevard to DeCubellis Road — moved from 2018 to 2020.

Projects that would be completely moved out of the 15-year plan and placed in limbo include:

• Chancey Parkway from Fox Ridge to Morris Bridge roads
• Collier Parkway from Parkway Boulevard to Ehren Cutoff
• County Line Road North from East Road to Springtime Street
• Moon Lake Road from DeCubellis Road to State Road 52
• Ridge Road extension from Suncoast Parkway to U.S. 41
• Expanding Trinity Boulevard to four lanes from Little Road to State Road 54
• Twenty Mile Level Road from State Road 54 to Collier Parkway
• Two phases of the Zephyrhills Bypass extension, from River Glen Boulevard to Dean Dairy Road

The meeting is set to begin at 9 a.m., at the West Pasco Government Center, 8731 Citizens Drive in New Port Richey.

Time to ride that bike to work

By

Some Pasco County employees will work to bring more attention to the benefits of biking to work when they ride their own bicycles to the job on May 16.

The ride starts from the corner of Town Avenue and Starkey Boulevard at 7 a.m. It will run north on the path that runs adjacent to Starkey before turning west on DeCubellis Road, and then finally heading north to Little Road, ending at the West Pasco Government Center there. The riders will then make a return trip at 5 p.m.

Bikers who would like to participate are welcome, but they are asked to bring their own water.

The ride coincides with National Bike Month, which has been held since 1956 by the League of American Bicyclists.

“Biking provides many  benefits not only to the cyclist, but to our environment,” said Allen Howell, a bicycle and pedestrian planner for the Pasco County Metropolitan Planning Organization, in a release. “If we get more people to commute to work via bicycle, then we can reduce the amount of cars on the roads, thus reducing the greenhouse gases. It’s a small start, but it’s a start in the right direction.”

Howell reviews bicycle and pedestrian master plans for the county, and coordinates with adjacent counties and municipalities for long-range trail planning. He is part of the team that is reviewing the land development code, and says he believes having bike paths and trails is key to getting more people biking to work.

“The county’s goal is to have multi-use trails connecting parks, attractions and neighborhoods,” Howell said. “We’d like bike paths to be a minimum of 10 feet, with an idea width of 15 feet.”

By building bike paths to that width, there can be safe, two-way bike traffic plus pedestrian traffic, he added.

For information on the event, call Howell at (727) 847-2411, ext. 8678.

Area prepares for National Day of Prayer on May 1

By

Former Zephyrhills mayor and current state House candidate Danny Burgess will lead National Day of Prayer activities in his town as part of several events taking place locally on May 1.

Burgess will open the Zephyrhills ceremony beginning at 7 p.m. with a prayer for the city as well as the state from Zephyrhills City Hall, 5335 Eighth St. The theme is “One Voice United in Prayer, based on the Bible verse from Romans 15:6: “So that with one mind and one voice, you may Florida the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Burgess is followed by the Rev. Robert McKinney of Westside Baptist Church will speak on the needs of the nation, and pray for national and local leaders. The Rev. Shelton Wood, president of Georgetown Wesleyan University of the Americas, will pray for the military. Pastor Mike Holm of Calvary Chapel of Tampa in Lutz will pray for the family, while Pastor Thomas Marino of Community Harvest Church, will speak on the condition of the church, and ask God for unity among Christians.

Alyse Merritt of Tendershoot Films will pray for Israel, and the Adventist Bell Choir will perform patriotic music under the direction of Stephen Herr.

Heritage Church, 1854 Oak Grove Blvd., in Lutz, will pray for the nation, church and personal needs beginning 9:30 a.m. Generations Christian Church, 1540 Little Road in Trinity, will host a self-guided event complete with soft music, slides and prayer guides from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The National Day of Prayer is held the first Thursday of May each year, open to people of all faiths. It was first signed into law in 1952 by President Harry S. Truman.

For information, visit NationalDayOfPrayer.org.