PORT RICHEY, Fla. (WFLA) – Tampa Bay may see a city become history if two lawmakers get their way.
The city just had special elections a few months ago and with a new mayor in office, many residents were ready for a clean start and clean slate. Now the city may close down.
Nearly three thousand people in the City of Port Richey are getting news that surprised even their mayor.
“Well, it was shocking cause normally government officials will work with each other so if there was a current problem within Port Richey she should have contacted us,” says Port Richey Mayor Scott Tremblay.
Two state lawmakers, Senator Ed Hooper and Representative Amber Mariano are seeking legislation that would dissolve the City of Port Richey and have Pasco County take over.
“You know it’s been floated around for years and years now. This is not the first time this has come up,” says Mariano.
She says scandals like the trial of former Port Richey Mayor Dale Massad, found guilty of corruption that has spurred their decision.
“I think it’s one less headache for these citizens to have to deal with the corruption of their local government and I just think it’s the right thing to do,” says Mariano.
Besides taking over police and fire services Pasco county would take over the debt Mariano says came from bad leadership over the years.
“The city is thriving. Financially everything operates like it should in the green. We have very little debt. I think 3% of our budget is debt out of 12 million dollars,” says Tremblay.
Newly elected Mayor Scott Tremblay disagrees with the proposal.
“They could just vote and shut things down here in Port Richey. Do I think that’s the right thing to do? Absolutely not,” says Tremblay.
A petition on Change.org is now circulating demanding Port Richey remains a city.
