Tollway Chief Quits, Linked To Gay Porn Sites

By JOHN W. ALLMAN, LINDSAY PETERSON and CATHERINE HAMMER The Tampa Tribune
Nov. 10, 2006

TAMPA - Ralph Mervine, executive director of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority, resigned Wednesday after a Tampa Tribune investigation found he is listed as the owner of a gay pornographic film production company.

The San Diego-based company, Coast Productions, operates at least two adult Web sites and has an adult Yahoo membership group. All three advertise and display young men, ages 18 to 21, offering photos and video clips of explicit sexual activities.

Coast Productions produces DVDs for sale at $39.95 apiece, as well as monthly Web site memberships to view shorter video clips of young men engaging in sex acts alone or with partners.

Mervine resigned hours after being approached by reporters about the company. He had worked for the authority since November 2004 as interim executive director. The board in July voted to make Mervine's position full time.

He offered his resignation to board Chairman Thomas Gibbs, authority spokesman Mathias Bergendahl said.

"In his resignation, Mr. Mervine says that it is time for the authority to seek new leadership," Bergendahl said. "An appointment of an interim acting executive director will be forthcoming."

The board, Bergendahl said, will hold a special meeting Monday to discuss its search for a new director.

"This is unbelievable. This is unreal," board member Tom Scott said. "I'm just shocked, man. I am shocked."

The issue intensified after Gibbs received a phone call from a reporter about Mervine's links to Coast Productions.

"I didn't know what to say," Gibbs said. "I tracked Ralph down and asked him about it. He didn't want to discuss it. But he said it was just going to go on and on, so he said, 'I'll tender my resignation.'"

Gibbs said he will begin work today on finding someone to replace Mervine. "It's always something," he said.

Mervine refused earlier Wednesday to discuss the company. Tribune reporters made several attempts to talk with him, and he declined all of them until presented with a list of questions that was hand-delivered to his office by reporters.

After about 10 minutes, Mervine went into the lobby to meet with the reporters. When asked whether he was involved with Coast Productions, he said, "If you have anything dealing with the expressway authority, I'll be glad to talk to you."

When pressed with questions about the company, gay pornography and his association with the company, Mervine continued to say he would answer any questions about the expressway authority.

"If there is any relationship with the authority, I can help you," he said. "I'm trying to focus on the expressway authority."
Stunned Board

Board members sounded stunned when called Wednesday night for their reactions.

"My honest to God feeling is these things do not affect his ability as a construction person," board member Robert Clark Jr. said. "But they do affect the image of the expressway authority."

"If all of this is a fact, he should just go ahead and resign," Clark said.

"I'm in shock," board member Alva Lopez-Isa said.

"I'm sorry," she said. "This is beyond anything else. … After all the craziness we've been through, this is the icing on the cake."

Gwen Miller, a board member and Tampa city councilwoman, noted that there was not a formal search before Mervine was hired. "They just brought him in," she said.

This time, "we need to do a real search," Miller said.

The Tribune uncovered Mervine's ownership of Coast Productions while investigating his outside business activities, which include home construction and mainstream film production.

Mervine is listed as an executive producer of a 2004 documentary on stock car racing, "Walk of Legends: Then & Now," which was directed by Leora Chai, the founder of the Tambay Film Festival.

He also is listed as a producer of an independent horror movie, "The Robert Cake," for Queequeg Films.

Mervine, a licensed engineer, was hired by the expressway authority after the collapse of an elevated span of the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway.

His salary, which is paid by expressway tolls, was $208,000. His contract also stipulated $6,000 a year for vehicle maintenance plus other expenses.

The authority and Mervine have been under fire since August after a competitive bid for the agency's outside legal services contract.

Agency Investigated

The agency was investigated by Gov. Jeb Bush's office in September and is under review by the state auditor general and the FBI.

Scott, a Hillsborough County commissioner, had asked for Mervine's termination or resignation since the legal contract controversy in August.

Scott lost Tuesday's election for a countywide commission seat to Mark Sharpe and will leave the authority Nov. 20. The commission appoints one representative to the seven-member authority board.

Before joining the authority, Mervine worked around the world, serving as a senior project engineer for the Arabian American Oil Co. in Saudi Arabia from 1977 to 1980.

Mervine spent several years as a vice president for Brown and Root in Houston and a safety products company, Sure-Step of Tampa. In 1989, he went to work for the Florida Department of Transportation as director of operations for District 1, in Bartow.

Mervine left his job with DOT in 2001.

A document filed with the San Diego County Recorder in 1999 lists Mervine as the sole owner of Coast Productions. People are required to file such statements when they plan to do business under any name other than their own.

He is listed in various business reports and certified documents filed in San Diego County as the sole owner, the business contact and the domain administrative contact for Coast Productions.

Mervine's Connections

In addition to the 1999 request for a fictitious business name, Mervine's signature and name appear on renewal forms filed in 2003 and 2004. The registration is valid for five years.

The 2004 renewal included one change: The address listed for Coast Productions changed from a San Diego address to Mervine's home address in the Polk County town of Mulberry.

His home phone number is also listed in a comprehensive business report on Coast Productions.

The company's San Diego address matches the address listed on Web sites for Coast Productions and Coast Guys. The Yahoo group, which has 1,146 members and was founded in 2005, directs members to both Web sites.

In addition to DVD sales, Coast Productions, through its Coast Guys Web site, offers one-month and three-month memberships for $19.95 and $49.95, respectively. The three-month membership includes a DVD.

Coast Productions' main Web site has 19 films available for purchase. The site advertises "hot, young first-time models" and offers DVD titles including "My Guy," "Twink Town" and "Forever Boys."

"Coast Productions has the hottest, sexiest young twink models from the age of 18 to 21 that are currently available," its Web site says.

"Twink" is an expression used by gay people to describe young-looking men.

The films include brief descriptions and list the actors only by first names. One film is described this way: "Rob enjoys making his first solo video a day after his 18th birthday."

Coast Productions videos also are available for viewing on a number of adult Web sites that charge customers by the minute. The entire videos also are available for sale on other Web sites.

Outside Interests

When asked why he hadn't listed the company in his financial disclosure form, Mervine refused to answer.

The form, which he filed in August to the Hillsborough County supervisor of elections, asks elected and state officials to list primary and secondary sources of income, as well as any ownership or interest in other businesses.

Mervine listed one other company, Carter Construction and Development, which is building houses in Marion County.

Mervine refused to say earlier Wednesday whether anyone at the authority knew of his association with Coast Productions.

"I'm trying hard to do my best to deal with expressway issues. … I'm not dealing with anything of a personal matter," he said.

Mervine stepped into a side room twice for cups of water during the 15-minute interview, repeating that he was doing his best to move the authority forward.

"I don't know of anything more I can do to help you with," he said, moving toward the hallway that led to his office. "I'm trying so hard to bring benefits to this community and move things forward here. … I am totally focused on my work here. Do you know how hard I have worked for this authority? I've busted my butt for two years to make things happen here."