TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. — A former Tarpon Springs mayor is currently serving as the city’s interim commissioner after his predecessor stepped down from the position at the end of last year.

What You Need To Know

  • A former mayor of Tarpon Springs is serving as a commissioner following a resignation on the board

  • The city's vice mayor stepped down from his position at the end of 2023 because of the new financial disclosure form that requires officials to report the worth and amount of income and assets worth more than $1,000

  • Tarpon Springs plans on holding an election for the position in August, in the meantime, Frank DiDonato will be the interim commissioner after being selected by the board

That resignation took place, in part, because of the new financial disclosure law in the state that requires elected officials to report their worth and amount of income and assets worth more than a thousand dollars, according to the outgoing commissioner.

“I liken it to riding a bicycle,” said Frank DiDonato, the former mayor of Tarpon Springs that is now a commissioner. “I hadn’t been on a bike in a long time, but then I got back on it. It felt good.”

DiDonato served as the city’s mayor from 1998 to 2004.

Twenty years later, he’s back in office as a commissioner because the city needed to fill a vacated seat.

“I wanted to give back and got involved and that’s the story,” he said.

The longer version of the story is the former Vice Mayor, Craig Lunt, was one of dozens of local officials in the state to step down because of form six, a new financial disclosure form officials have to fill out detailing income or things they own that are worth over a thousand dollars.

If they don’t, they face a fine of up to 20,000 dollars, which worries DiDonato because he thinks it could impact future candidates’ decision to run.

“It’s hard enough to find good, qualified people to run on a local level as it is and the more you do to eliminate that, you’ve downgraded potentially the level of talent that’s available to any community,” DiDonato said.

DiDonato says he has until July to fill out form six, but because he’s retired and wanted to help the city, he isn’t too concerned about it as an interim commissioner.

He understands that financial disclosing is important, but he says this may be a step too far.

“it’s disruptive,” he said. “And then, you know, the process of trying to replace that individual is costly.”

So, as he walks through this historic building, the last thing he wants to see are people’s choices of who represents them limited over just one form.

The city is holding an election in August to fill the seat in which DiDonato is temporarily serving.

DiDonato says they’re doing this to try to save some of the cost that comes with holding an unexpected election for a position that was supposed to be filled until March 2025.