Richard Scholl says City Council member Tom Finn told residents to leave if they don't like the council's methods.
By MELIA BOWIE
Published September 9, 2003
[Times photo: Joseph Garnett Jr.]
After 21 years, Richard Scholl is giving up his New Port Richey residency.
NEW PORT RICHEY - Fed up with city fees and on the eve of a possible tax hike, Richard Scholl penned a message to his elected official this weekend.
Written on a bed sheet in black and red spray paint and posted in his front yard, Scholl announced he was leaving the city - just as a number of fixed income residents have considered doing, he said Monday.
"He made the statement several times that if you don't like what we're doing, then move," Scholl said of City Council member Tom Finn. "At the last council meeting when they did the assesment for the street light fee, he said it again.
So Scholl, 59, took him up on it.
Sandwiched between two trees and the U-Haul moving truck on his front lawn, the sign reading "OK Mr Finn I geting out of town Good By" flapped in the afternoon breeze.
The moving process is costing an estimated $2,000, Scholl said. However, Scholl said he expects to save $900 annually on city taxes and fees when he moves to Spring Hill today..
"I really feel bad for the elderly people who live here on a fixed income who can't move."
The banner was an exclamation point for Scholl, whose 21 years in New Port Richey were marked by both activism and allegations ranging from campaign sign stealing - the investigation yielded no charges - to sod stealing at the city's new police station in 2002 - he called it a misunderstanding; the contractor opted not to press charges.
He has long criticized city officials for fiscal irresponsibility and for ignoring citizen concerns.
Finn, who had not yet seen the banner, said Scholl's parting shot was not surprising.
"He's just an unhappy camper," said Finn, who is under fire for suggesting the city turn over its library to cut costs and for his support of a failed fire fee proposal and an approved street light fee.
"I'm not sorry to see him go," he said of Scholl. "You can please most of the people some of the time but you can't ever please him."
As for statements that those unable to afford city fees and taxes should go, "I'm not suggesting anyone move, per se," Finn said. "I'm suggesting they look at what makes them happy or unhappy and do something."
As for Scholl's sign, he "obviously has a vendetta not just against me but against the city as well," said Finn, who then posed a question about the banner: "Is it legal?"
Scholl's response: "I'm leaving; why should I worry. . .?"
