TARPON SPRINGS — Out-of-town religious activists and LGBTQ supporters faced off at the City Commission’s June 23 meeting over the city’s annual Pride Month proclamation, a clash that ended with one evangelist being escorted from the podium after his remarks against the gay community grew heated.
Activists from Clearwater and west Pasco County turned out to oppose the proclamation, which Unitarian Universalist minister Patti Hanks accepted on behalf of supporters. Parishioners from her church filled the chamber in bright yellow shirts reading “Side With Love.” Some opponents booed as the document was read.
Mayor John Koulianos noted that Tarpon Springs has recognized Pride Month for five years under three mayors.
During public comments, two pastors used their time to denounce the city and the LGBTQ community, framing homosexuality as sin. Members of the city’s LGBTQ community and their supporters followed, describing what they encounter in daily life and thanking the commission for being a welcoming place that has not bowed to pressure.
The proclamation capped a dispute that began June 9, when objectors from outside the city denounced Koulianos for signing a separate proclamation congratulating a Tarpon Springs native, Nick George, on his marriage to another man. George grew up in the city, graduated from Tarpon Springs High School and now lives in New York.
The mayor was defiant at that meeting. He said he would sign the document again and announced that the commission would read its Pride Month proclamation at the following meeting. “Next week they better brace themselves, because we’re reading the LGBTQ proclamation,” Koulianos said at the time. “So that’s coming, and I’m not shying away from any of that.”
The June 9 meeting grew pointed. One objector read Bible passages aloud and told commissioners they were “worthy of death,” while a local pastor countered that “God does not call us to judge anyone.”
The proclamation was not the meeting’s only friction point. Commissioners and City Manager Mark LeCouris also warned that volunteer board members who insult city staff will be removed.
The warning followed a recent Planning and Zoning Board hearing on a request from COhatch, a downtown coworking business, to be released from a site-plan condition requiring it to provide 18 off-site parking spaces. Commissioners unanimously granted that request June 23.
At the earlier board hearing, acting Chair Justin Vessey accused planning staff of presenting “flawed information” and playing a “shell game” with the application’s backup data, which he called “misleading and disingenuous.” He urged fellow board members to disregard the material and to reject COhatch’s request as a way to force commissioners to address downtown parking.
Vessey also questioned the impartiality of board members who said they use COhatch’s services, suggesting “there was some personal bias.” City legal counsel had advised those members they had no conflict of interest after they noted that nonprofit groups they belong to meet at the business.
Several commissioners objected to the conduct, though they did not name Vessey. Commissioner Panagiotis Koulias said the member’s tone toward staff was inappropriate. “Shell gaming and stuff like that, it’s inappropriate,” he said. “Try that stuff again, I’m going to bring you back up to have you removed.”
Koulias said he had moved to remove another board member for similar behavior before that person resigned. “I’m not going to put up with that,” he said. “You can respect our staff and not make some stupid accusations.”
Vice Mayor Michael Eisner said he agreed.
LeCouris told commissioners he would no longer tolerate such conduct. “I was a little more passive toward the end of my career before, but I can tell you, coming back now, I’m not going to tolerate” that behavior toward staff or the public, he said. “We got too much going on, too many important issues, we don’t need this nonsense.”
He said he would flag any future incidents to commissioners for action. “We are going to get the word out that we are just not going to tolerate that kind of behavior on boards,” he said.
Koulianos said he hoped the episode was an aberration. “I served with that board member for quite a while,” he said, “and I don’t remember any of that stuff happening before, so I hope it’s an isolated incident.”