PORT RICHEY, Fla. — Port Richey officials elaborated Tuesday on documents the city released this week that they said show dissolution efforts spearheaded by State Rep. Amber Mariano are a “power grab” for she and her father, Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano.

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“It’s well known that the city of Port Richey, due to its harbor, beaches, boat ramps, and location, is the cornerstone of any water-related growth in the county," said Port Richey City Attorney James Mathieu. "The elimination of the city would open up endless options for the county in its 'Harbor plan' and future growth. No longer would the needs, desires, rights, or input from Port Richey citizens be needed.”

“It’s really not a power grab in any way at all,” said Jack Mariano. “I’m one of five commissioners. If anything, it’s a way for them to just hold onto power that they’ve got.”

Scheme involving "piggybacking"

The city said documents show Mariano was involved with disgraced former mayor Dale Massad in a scheme to get around the bidding process on dredging projects.

E-mails released by the city exchanged in April 2018 between City Manager Vincent Lupo, Assistant City Manager Jocilyn Martinez, and Curtis Franklin, a county employee managing Restore Act funds for the city, recount a phone conversation Franklin reportedly had with a contractor and Massad. The e-mails state Franklin was contacted by a representative with Titan Dredging, who then put Massad on the phone.

An e-mail from Lupo to Franklin states, “From the gist of what Dr. Martinez explained to me, the Mayor indicated that he wanted to know what Pasco County was requiring in its RFP for Port Richey so the County could ‘piggyback’ off the bid if awarded to ‘Titan Dredging’. The Mayor relayed that this is what Commissioner Jack Mariano and the Mayor had discussed and what they were attempting to accomplish.”

Franklin responded that the mayor wanted the RFP written in a way that the county or city could piggyback off of it.

Mathieu said piggybacking is a legal process that allows a governmental agency to benefit from a legitimate bid.

“Someone was attempting to get inside information – we hadn’t even gotten to the point of preparing the RFP – so that a piggyback could occur,” said Mathieu on why this situation was irregular. “We’re not saying the contractor did anything wrong. Look, if an elected official says, ‘Come with me, I want you to get information,’ I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that."

"But, with our information, the fact that this may be used by the county later becomes a very serious matter," Mathieu continued. "I mean, the bidding of the entire city’s canals would probably be $14 million, $15 million, and for the county, what they’re looking at, probably a lot more. For somebody to use an original bid that may be tainted is a very serious matter.”

Mariano: Massad "confused, probably"

Mariano denied any wrongdoing and said he and Franklin actually met with the Titan contractor to let him know the arrangement wasn’t possible.

“We talked about how you cannot piggyback on a contract from treasury, so that was laid out clear,” Mariano said.

When asked about Massad mentioning that he was on board with the plan, Mariano said, “You know, he was confused, probably, about a lot of different things at that time of his life, so mostly, he probably didn’t know or wasn’t trained to know what the rules were.”

Mariano also denied that the dissolution effort was any kind of power grab.

“As a county official, been elected for many years, I carry myself to do things the right way every step of the way, and I’m proud of everything I’ve done so far, and I think that whatever’s going to happen to the city is going to happen,” Mariano said.

Residents against dissolution

At a city council meeting Tuesday evening, residents made their feelings on the issue clear: they're against dissolution and they're questioning why the issue is coming up now.

"If this was truly in the best interest of the citizens, it would have been discussed with us," said one resident during the public comment portion of the meeting.

"Port Richey is here to stay. Your agenda is not," said another resident, drawing applause.

No residents stepped to the podium to support the measure. Instead, they expressed worry that police and fire personnel could lose their jobs if the city is dissolved, and vowed to fight it all the way.

"[First responders] have to carry this weight that's always in the back of their minds about the constant worry if they lose their jobs and how to pay for their mortgage, car payments, and families if this dissolution were to happen," said one resident.

The city is encouraging residents to come out to the meeting of the Pasco Legislative Delegation to tell lawmakers what they think about dissolution. The meeting is scheduled for this Friday, Oct. 11, at the Performing Arts Center on Pasco-Hernando State College’s West Campus, 10230 Ridge Road, New Port Richey, from 8 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Mathieu said members will vote on whether to send the bill to Tallahassee for consideration by the legislature in next year’s session.

“No funding required here, so I assure you that this will pass by the full body in January. Nobody in Daytona is going to say, ‘I’m going to go against this if the Pasco delegation wants it,’” Mathieu said.