On February 21, 2019, Mayor Dale Massad was taken into custody by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement with assistance from the Pasco County Sheriff's Office and the local SWAT team on charges of practicing medicine without a license. He was later additionally charged with two counts of attempted homicide for opening fire on officers as they attempted to serve the warrant. The next day, Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order to remove Massad from office. Just 3 weeks later, Acting Mayor Terrence Rowe was arrested for several charges, including obstruction of justice and use of a two-way communication device to facilitate the commission of a crime. The charges were described as an "offshoot" of the charges against Massad. DeSantis removed Rowe from office on March 20, which left the city with no one to serve as mayor. The three remaining members of city council were unable to agree on a replacement.