For the first time in more than a decade, the City of Zephyrhills needs to find a new city attorney.
Joseph A. Poblick, 41, stepped down from the position after Gov. Rick Scott appointed the attorney to the Pasco County Court.
Poblick replaces retiring judge Mark H. Salton, who presided over misdemeanors, driving under the influence and criminal traffic cases.
Poblick’s last city council meeting as the council’s attorney was July 27.
(Kevin Weiss/Staff Photo)
“It’s been a wonderful decade,” said Poblick, who’s had the role since 2006. “I remember not too long ago I did a tally of all the council meetings I’ve attended…and it’s a rather large number.”
Poblick said he didn’t have much notice of his appointment to the bench, which prevented the city from finding an immediate successor.
“We’re kind of caught between a rock and a hard place,” Council Vice President Alan Knight said, during the council meeting. “We need to get somebody on board.”
Poblick recommended the city should hire an interim attorney, as the search continues for his permanent replacement.
“I think it’s important to have somebody in place now,” Poblick said. “To the best of my knowledge (the council) has nothing that’s critical coming up, but I still think it’s important to have somebody on call should something arise.”
Poblick told the council that candidates for the permanent position don’t necessarily need to have a great breadth of municipal experience to handle city attorney duties.
“I think if you can find a qualified attorney, there’s things they can pick up and things they can look into,” he said. “I don’t think you need to limit yourself to someone who has prior government experience. I think a lot of it is you’ve just got to find somebody you’re comfortable with.”
Poblick also served as city attorney for both Port Richey and New Port Richey, leaving all three Pasco County municipalities in similar predicaments.
City Manager Dr. Steven Spina said New Port Richey’s city manager, Debbie Manns, reached out to him about the possibility of creating an inter-local agreement to share an attorney.
However, the Zephyrhills council decided that it would be preferable to hire its own city attorney, ideally from a law firm based in East Pasco.
“If they can be a Zephyrhills or Dade City firm, I think that would be best,” Councilman Lance Smith said. “It doesn’t have to be, but you get somebody out of Tampa or Land O’ Lakes, I think we’re kind of going to be a little bit forgotten.”
Poblick, who ran his own private practice in Dade City since 2005, concurred: “If there’s one thing that made it easier in my representation, it was being close by.”
Two of the more recent high-profile cases Poblick oversaw as Zephyrhills’ city attorney: the 2015 firing of a Zephyrhills Police officer for unlawful use of a taser, and the 2012 ouster of former Zephyrhills Mayor Steve Van Gorden, in the wake of sexual harassment allegations.
Poblick previously served as an assistant state attorney for the 9th Judicial Circuit.
He received his undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida and his law degree from Loyola University.
In 2012, Poblick ran unsuccessfully in a four-way primary to replace retiring judge Robert P. Cole.
Published August 3, 2016
