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THE SUNCOAST NEWS

Published: May 21, 2008

Port Richey, following the surprise announcement last week that Matt Brewi was resigning as the city's public safety director after little more than one year on the job, is faced with a couple of options, according to City Manager Richard Reade. Since this is Port Richey neither make much sense. One or the other, however, will be chosen.

The city hired Brewi for $65,000 a year to run the city's small Police Department and its equally small Fire Department. This seemed more frugal than paying a police chief and a fire chief.

Now that Brewi is stepping down as public safety director - he cited the standard "personal reasons" in resigning - the city can either look for another public safety director or scrap that and go back to having fully separate police and fire departments, with chiefs. We're not sure if he's telegraphing his preference, but Reade on Friday named Lt. David Brown the interim police chief.

This as an opportunity to turn over the job of battling crime and fires in Port Richey to the New Port Richey fire and police departments or the Pasco Sheriff's Office and Pasco Fire Rescue. Or perhaps just the law enforcement end of things. These days, the only city in northern Pinellas County with its own Police Department is Tarpon Springs.

The trouble is a majority of residents cling to the idea of maintaining Port Richey as a city with its own police and fire departments. If that's the case, getting whatever savings that comes from having a single public safety director is the way to go - provided someone will stick with the job.

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