Attorney vows to get his money

There are a number of ways attorney Joe Mason can get paid.

The man who led the legal fight that resulted in state control of Weeki Wachee Springs doesn't care how it happens, just as long as the $1.2 million debt is settled.

The city of Weeki Wachee could foot the bill.

If it is ever dissolved, the county or state Legislature could pay it, depending on what lawmakers decide.

There also is the option of dissolving the city but maintaining it as a taxing district, Mason said.

Whatever happens, Mason expects to collect.

"Now the (Florida) Legislature is taking a position where they're saying, 'We're going to do what we can to make sure Joe Mason doesn't get paid,'" he said.

He thinks state lawmakers are impairing the contract he signed with the city, which he says in unconstitutional.

Weeki Wachee Springs was taken over by the state in late 2008. Prior to that, it was under the auspices of the Southwest Florida Water Management District (Swiftmud), which was in a legal battle with the attraction's owners.

Eventually, the two sides settled after the Department of Environmental Protection agreed to turn it into a state park.

"We were fighting for our lives back then," said Weeki Wachee Mayor Robyn Anderson, who was the park's manager at the time. "If it weren't for Joe Mason, the park would've been closed years ago. We wouldn't be around."

Anderson currently holds a management position with the state and still works at the attraction.

She is not upset with Mason for demanding he get paid.

"We're grateful for him," she said. "There was no one else there to help us."

City Commissioner John Athanason said the same. He is the marketing coordinator for the park and held the same position for years during its legal fight with Swiftmud.

"There was never an agreement he was doing this pro bono," Athanason said. "He just didn't send us a bill."

Of the $1.2 million, Athanason said most of it is owed to Mason, but some Miami-based attorneys also did some work on the case.

Weeki Wachee actually has paid more than $74,000 in legal fees to Mason and those other attorneys since February 2005, said City Clerk Sarah Tenison.

During the previous three fiscal years, the city has collected an average of about $38,000 in annual tax revenue, according to financial records.

It collected another $5,400 during the first two months of the current fiscal year, Tenison said.

The Hernando County Legislative Delegation agreed earlier this month to eliminate the taxpayer burden for the city. They stopped short of taking away its charter, so Weeki Wachee has turned into a city without a tax stream.

Mason questioned the delegation's motives and legal authority.

"I don't know why they feel like they have a dog in the hunt," he said.

Mason suggested it might have something to do with some lingering hard feelings about how the park stayed open in the midst of a fight with Swiftmud. Some legislators, he thinks, wanted the park to close and might blame him for keeping it on life support long enough for the state to take it over.

"They wanted the city to roll over and play dead and let Swiftmud have its way with the attraction," he said.

Mason always has made it known he wants the city to remain functional. He thinks marketing the attraction as the "City of Live Mermaids" has done a lot for tourism revenue, he said.

He also thinks it played a part in saving the park.

But Mason rejected the suggestion he went public with the $1.2 million legal bill to play hardball with the delegation, which had considered dissolving the city last year.

Money is his motivation, not sticking it to local lawmakers or saving the city's charter.

"No way," he said. "Why would I play games with my fee?"