Shimkus Says No Feud With Arbutine, Just Playing Watchdog RoleBy Leo Coughlin BELLEAIR BLUFFS - Most folks attending City Commission meetings get the idea that there is a feud going on between Mayor Chris Arbutine and Dave Shimkus, a former member of the commission. The two have been at sword's points since last March's election in which Shimkus resigned from the commission to mount an unsuccessful election campaign against Arbutine. And before that, Arbutine and Shimkus clashed on various issues, including the adoption last week of an ordinance that requires elected officials "to be domiciled in the city." That stemmed from a situation when Shimkus had to live outside the city while serving on the commission because his home was being rehabbed. But Shimkus says there is no feud. "Our disagreements are strictly on political issues, not personal," Shimkus says. True enough, perhaps, but the demeanor of the two as they contest is highlighted by body language and voice tones that indicate their differences have some emotion behind them. In the latest conflict between Shimkus and Arbutine, Shimkus claims that the city violated a law in connection with a referendum that was held here in September. That law went into effect in July and forbids any governing body from lobbying for or publicly advocating any issue that has a direct bearing on that public body. Arbutine says that the city gave out strictly neutral information on the referendum which was on a question to allow the City Commission to contract with an outside party for fire service. A move to Largo was already well under way at the time of the referendum, but the referendum question made no reference to Largo. It merely authorized the commission to contract an outside party and had the effect, obviously, of abolishing the Belleair Bluffs Fire Department. Shimkus says the city did violate the law in the information it put out and, in addition to that, he said Arbutine urged residents to vote in favor of the referendum. The language of the referendum was approved by Tom Trask, the city attorney, who found no impermissible language in it. Shimkus said he went to the office of state Sen. Charlie Justice, sponsor of the law, to point out the violation. But he learned, he says, that the law contains no provision for enforcement or penalties for violation. He also contacted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement which pointed out that the department had no authority to enforce the law. Shimkus says that he filed a complaint with the Florida Election Commission on how the referendum was handled and said that Justice intends to update the law which will include enforcement procedures and penalties. At last week's commission meeting, Shimkus advised the commission of these developments.
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