“One dead in New Port Richey house fire”–“New Port Richey man accused of counterfeiting money”–“New Port Richey man dead after shootout with deputies.” These are three headlines taken from the Pasco Times for one day last Thursday. What do they all have in common? Not a single one of them happened in New Port Richey.

None of the addresses in the articles is a New Port Richey address. As a general guide, only properties with the ZIP codes of either 34653 or 34652 are within New Port Richey. If your ZIP is different, I’m sorry, but you’re not in New Port Richey. The City is a little more than four square miles in size. It’s not very big.

The first headline, the house fire, occurred at 1147 Farmingdale Road, according to the Times. That location is seven miles south of New Port Richey, further south than Holiday. That’s East Lake or maybe Trinity, but certainly not New Port Richey. The accused counterfeiter lives north of Jasmine Boulevard along US-19. That’s nearly six miles outside of city limits. The man involved in a shootout with Sheriff’s deputies was killed nearly two miles away on Yucca Drive, but was still called a “New Port Richey man.”

New Port Richey clearly has a branding problem. Anything in West Pasco, from the looks of it, is referenced as being in New Port Richey. Sheriff’s deputies are routinely associated with the name in news reports instead of City police officers, and “New Port Richey man” has recently become synonymous with the much maligned “Florida man,” especially after the infamous Pasco Squatter fiasco. The core of the issue would appear to be the geographic labeling of mailing addresses. The papers report locations this way because that’s what the mailing address shows. Even the City itself has difficulty with this issue. For example, the brand new Public Works building’s address is 6132 Pine Hill Rd., Port Richey, FL, 34668. The City built a multi-million dollar facility and it would appear that it’s located in a neighboring City. It’s not really, but you wouldn’t know that from the address! Oops. As a media and advertising expert, this is a serious problem even if some officials don’t realize it.

The City is also in the midst of an attempt to rebrand itself. City council has talked about creating a new position for a Public Relations Director. A logo surfaced, created by City staff labeled “I am New Port Richey.” While I believe it’s a haphazardly created campaign, it is clear that the City does realize there is a PR problem, but doesn’t know how to fix it.

What I would recommend is a fundamental shift in the City’s identity. Move to get the state to change the mailing addresses to just within City limits. Change other areas to different names like “Veteran’s Village, Perrine Ranch,” and so on. Next, make the City’s limits far less confusing. Annex anything well within the City that still belongs to the County, and expand the City’s borders so that it’s a square. There are multiple areas, most notably near Gulf High School, that are actually within the “county” and must call the Sheriff. That’s crazy, it’s bad for public relations and is therefore bad for the City’s brand. There are also serious identity issues around the border between Port Richey and New Port Richey. That should be fixed as well.

I know that many suggestions have been made by residents for ideas on how to change the City’s identity. I have personally talked with Pasco Economic Development Council President John Hagen about this very issue, but the City has continued to dodge the issue. New Port Richey needs a youthful, perhaps “Green,” and perhaps “Roaring Twenties” feel to its brand.

What the City does not need is continued undue attention from residents and visitors to areas that are not truly New Port Richey. By controlling which areas are referred to as “New Port Richey” the City can start to control the brand and improve its image. Fix the mailing addresses, then city limits, and come up with a viable brand strategy. That’s how you change the message of a city.

By Jon Tietz

The facts and opinions in this article as a whole do not represent the views of NewsPortRichey.org as an organization.