Sheriff Bob White To End Career With A Bang

Pasco County Sheriff Bob White will join the public for a clay shoot and a bite to eat before he leaves office at the end of this week.

White retires from the job April 30, ending a decade-long career as Pasco’s top cop, and, on Saturday, he will host Sheriff Bob White’s Shotgun Shootout charity event in Land O' Lakes and be present at the Taste of Pasco in Safety Town, 15325 Alric Pottberg Road, Spring Hill.  He will be joined at both events by incoming sheriff, who was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott on Monday to finish out White’s third and final term.

The Sheriff’s Shootout is a clay shoot that benefits Sand Soldiers of America, which assists military veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and which White helped establish. Taste of Pasco, organized by Leadership Pasco, is a fundraiser for a new kennel and training facility for the Sheriff’s Office’s K-9 unit. There will be food and beverage sampling and entertainment, including a demonstration from the Pasco K-9 unit, local bands and more.

White, who started his job Jan. 2, 2001 after running for election the year before, spoke to the press Wednesday at the Pasco Sheriff’s Office in New Port Richey. White is the first three-term Pasco sheriff since the 1960s. Leslie Bessenger served in the job from 1940-1962.

“I’m sort of hanging up my spurs,” said White, who lives in Trinity. “Of course, if I see someone doing something really bad, you never know what I’m liable to do.”

White announced on March 16 that he was leaving office at the end of this month to spend more time with his then-18-month-old granddaughter. Rumors had circulated that White, who was part of Scott's transition team, could be in line to be appointed to a state job. White has denied them. Under the state retirement system, he cannot work for the state for six months.

White, who is originally from Texas and wore a Texas Rangers pin on his lapel as he spoke to the press from the head of the conference room table, reflected on his time in office.

“What I found when I arrived was a bankrupt culture, a starved culture,” White said.

He said the agency had “family issues” after former Sheriff Lee Cannon left.  

“I think you’ll find today that we worked through those issues,” White said.  “Bringing hope to the equation was huge.”

White said he worked with people who didn’t see eye-to-eye with him and promoted from both sides of the political aisle.

“You work to win people,” White said. “Anybody can make an enemy, but you work to win people.”’

White’s term hasn’t been entirely placid. Most recently, he engaged in a battle with Pasco County commissioners over adding $4 million to the sheriff’s office budget to hire more deputies and cover escalating insurance and pension costs.

Commissioners were unwilling to give it to him. White appealed to the governor. The weekend before the case went to the state, commissioners and White agreed to a reduced settlement.

White said the sheriff’s job is not about the man in charge, but the deputies and agency staff. But it’s especially about attitude.

“Attitude determines altitude,” he said. “If you have a crummy attitude, don’t expect any altitude."

The shootout will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at Tampa Bay Sporting Clays gun range, located at 10514 Ehren Cutoff, Land O' Lakes.

Taste of Pasco will last from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdat at Safety Town, 15325 Alric Pottberg Road, Spring Hill.

Nocco will be sworn in as the new sheriff at 9 a.m. Sunday, May 1, at Redeemer Community Church, 9230 Ridge Road.