PORT RICHEY, Fla. — The City of Port Richey filed a complaint with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement against Rep. Amber Mariano days after she announced plans to seek legislation to dissolve the city.

A letter sent to FDLE by City Manager Vincent Lupo and City Attorney James Mathieu claims Mariano gave false information to FDLE investigators back in May while she was filing her own complaint against the city.

In a recorded interview with FDLE provided to Spectrum Bay News 9 by Port Richey officials, Mariano can be heard telling investigators that she believed the city was illegally using CRA funds to pay employee salaries and that it improperly refinanced bonds.

“It is clear in documents and recordings provided the City so we could respond to allegations that such complaint being made with no basis whatsoever. Pure conjecture,” the letter reads.

Trading accusations

Mariano can be heard in the recording telling investigators that the city combined two bonds totaling $3 million and that she wasn’t sure if that move was legal.

She also said based on her research that it looked like ballooning yearly payments could cost the city around $17 million to pay that debt off.

“We can’t answer to where she received our information, as she never made a public records request, contacted us, or attempted to gain any of that information before filing the complaint,” Port Richey Mayor Scott Tremblay said.

In the recording, Mariano states she received information from Pasco County Administrator Dan Biles and other staff while doing research for the dissolution bill she planned to file.

A county spokesperson said in a statement that Biles and staff did evaluate what the city’s dissolution could mean for that county. That included an analysis of the city using publicly-available documents.

Some of the topics covered in the documents were fiscal health, legal requirements, assets and liabilities, bonded indebtedness, and obligations to employees.

The city said it refinanced its bonds “with the blessing of the Florida League of Cities” and that the move saved more than $300,000. It also said CRA funds were audited and were in compliance with all state laws. Tremblay said the complaint was dismissed.

Familial motivation for false claims?

The letter to FDLE does suggest a possible motivation for Mariano’s alleged actions – promoting the political agenda of her father, County Commissioner Jack Mariano.

“There’s a lot of equity in our city, and her father is the county commissioner in this particular jurisdiction,” said Tremblay. “So, the windfall for when the city’s dissolved would go into his control.”

Jack Mariano said he had no influence on his daughter’s pursuit of dissolution legislation.

“Amber Mariano is an elected representative that is very confident and very sure about what she wants to do in protecting citizens,” Commissioner Mariano said.

Rep. Mariano issued the following statement in response to the city's complaint:

“This complaint is absolute nonsense and is just another example of the failed leadership and poor judgment of city officials. This stunt is clearly retaliation for legislation I intend to file that the city does not like. I am absolutely confident that this politically motivated, unfounded complaint will be dismissed quickly.”