citizens awareness foundation - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-28T09:35:58Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/citizens+awareness+foundationGulf Stream: O’Hare tells town, 'Take me out of RICO case'https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/gulf-stream-o-hare-tells-town-take-me-out-of-rico-case2015-01-01T17:00:00.000Z2015-01-01T17:00:00.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p><em><br /></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Dan Moffett<em><br /> <br /></em></strong> Around Gulf Stream, the names O’Boyle and O’Hare are routinely linked in the same sentence as if they were joined by an ampersand.<br /> After all, for much of the last two years, Martin O’Boyle and Chris O’Hare have tormented town officials with hundreds of public records requests and dozens of lawsuits.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960552895,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960552895,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="94" alt="7960552895?profile=original" /></a> But O’Hare says it’s a mistake to believe that the two have acted in tandem during their legal crusades. Never mind that O’Hare was a vocal O’Boyle supporter when he unsuccessfully ran for a commission seat in March, or that the two often have sat shoulder-to-shoulder and consulted with each other during town meetings.<br /> In October, commissioners voted to pursue a federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization) case against O’Boyle and O’Hare, based on allegations they conspired to engage in a pattern of activities to intimidate and coerce attorney fees from Gulf Stream and other groups and municipalities.<br /> O’Hare says he has nothing to do with any conspiracy, or with O’Boyle’s Citizens Awareness Foundation, or with the running of The O’Boyle Law Firm or all the lawsuits its lawyers have filed around the state.<br /> O’Hare has said that while they may agree that the town treats its residents badly and violates open government laws, he has raised specific issues that are uniquely his own and differ from those of O’Boyle. <br /> “I consider the complaints I have filed to be my obligation and duty as a citizen — part of the ongoing process of keeping the government in check,” O’Hare said in an email. “It is certainly not a way to make money from the town.”<br /> He may have a critical ally going forward in Joel Chandler, who for a few months last year was the executive director of Citizens Awareness, a group that Gulf Stream lawyers allege was using public records suits to funnel settlement money to The O’Boyle Law Firm.<br /> Chandler and O’Boyle parted company in June in a dispute over how the CAF was run.<br /> O’Boyle is suing Chandler, claiming he misused the group’s funds. Chandler has vehemently denied the allegation and has been publicly critical of O’Boyle, his foundation and his law firm.<br /> Chandler calls O’Hare “a friend” and says it would be unfair to equate his complaints and actions with those of O’Boyle. Chandler says he expressed that distinction in conversations with Robert Sweetapple and Joanne O’Connor, attorneys who represent the town.<br /> “Lest there be any doubts about my feelings on this issue,” Chandler wrote in an email, “I believe Chris has done nothing wrong and that (he) has nothing to do with the RICO allegations. I believe (and have stated to Sweetapple and O’Connor) that the town should concede to Chris’s demands and be done with it. Chris is a victim of the town’s foolishness.”<br /> Chandler has said that O’Hare wasn’t involved in Citizens Awareness activities or those of The O’Boyle Law Firm. O’Hare does concede, however, that he did use the firm to file at least one of his lawsuits against the town. <br /> He says his requests for information from the town were not frivolous or intended to harass staff or make money from settlements.<br /> “I have never made a record request unless I really wanted the record,” O’Hare said. “The town has told me many of the records I requested don’t exist when I know that they do. Sometimes I have to ask for the same record as many as five times before I finally get it. The town counts these as five separate requests.”<br /> Town Clerk Rita Taylor says staff responds to records requests as quickly as possible and has added extra employees to deal with the huge increase in volume during the last two years.<br /> According to town officials, O’Hare has made several dozen requests on a single day.<br /> During a recent deposition, O’Hare pointed to specific disputes he had with the town — none of them linked to O’Boyle: O’Hare claims a police officer trespassed on his property and that building officials have wrongly denied his requests to put a solar energy roof on his house and build a shooting range backstop and a shooting bench at his home.<br /> “The town would have you believe that they (public records requests) were all made with the intention of harassing and harming the town,” O’Hare wrote in an email. “In fact, I have used the public records law as a means of legal discovery in my complaints against the town.”<br /> O’Hare says that he has done a service for the town by exposing problems officials did not know about. <br /> He says a records request alerted town officials that they had published employee addresses and Social Security numbers that should have been redacted. He says his complaints warned the town about Americans With Disabilities Act violations at Town Hall.<br /> “Their (town officials’) public campaign proclaiming their impending RICO action against me without producing any evidence is effectively defaming my character and reputation and causing me harm,” O’Hare said.<br /> For his part, O’Boyle has denied any wrongdoing during a September deposition with town attorneys. “Nonsense,” he called the allegations.<br /> At their Dec. 12 meeting, O’Hare asked commissioners to exclude him from the RICO case and retract the town’s accusations of wrongdoing.<br /> “Let’s let the facts play out, Mr. O’Hare,” Mayor Scott Morgan replied. “Let’s let the law play out as well.”</p></div>Gulf Stream: Town pursues RICO case against litigious residentshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/gulf-stream-town-pursues-rico-case-against-litigious-residents2014-10-30T17:00:00.000Z2014-10-30T17:00:00.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p><strong>By Dan Moffett</strong><br /> <br /> The hostilities between the town of Gulf Stream and two litigious residents appear destined to get a whole lot more hostile in the weeks ahead.<br /> And the case the town is preparing against Martin O’Boyle and Christopher O’Hare could ripple through dozens of communities across the state.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960533872,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960533872,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="96" alt="7960533872?profile=original" /></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960533499,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960533499,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="94" alt="7960533499?profile=original" /></a>Gulf Stream commissioners have given unanimous approval to a legal strategy that will invoke the federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) statute against O’Boyle and O’Hare, alleging they have engaged in a pattern of behavior intended to intimidate, harass and force settlements from public officials and governments.<br /> Beyond Gulf Stream, town officials say, the class-action RICO suit will allege that O’Boyle used a group he founded called the Citizens Awareness Foundation to generate settlements from frivolous public records suits across the state — in communities such as Fernandina Beach, Miami, Bradenton, Cutler Bay and Miami Lakes.<br /> “We thought this was about a feud in Gulf Stream,” said Mayor Scott Morgan. “But we learned it was a lot more.”<br /> Commissioners unanimously approved hiring a team of outside lawyers that includes Gerald Richman, a prominent West Palm Beach attorney, who will spearhead the federal RICO case.<br /> Richman told the commission that O’Boyle and his Citizens Awareness Foundation had used a “scorched-earth strategy” against Gulf Stream and many other communities.<br /> “We’re well familiar with their tactics,” he said.<br /> Said Morgan: “All the talk about open public access and white knights on chargers helping the common man is nonsense. This has all been about money.”<br /> <br /> <span class="font-size-3" style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">‘Volume of cases’ described</span><br /> O’Boyle founded Citizens Awareness in 2013 and Joel Chandler served as its executive director until the relationship soured after a few months earlier this year. A longtime advocate for Florida’s public records laws, Chandler says he quickly became disillusioned with how CAF was run.<br /> “I thought the foundation as originally presented to me would be a wonderful resource for open government across the state,” Chandler said. “What it ended up being is nothing more than a scheme to generate lawsuits for The O’Boyle Law Firm.”<br /> Chandler said he had a quota of 25 public records lawsuits per week to fill and, though he recommended other attorneys, O’Boyle insisted that all the work be done at The O’Boyle Law Firm.<br /> “The money was in the sheer volume of the cases,” Chandler said. “A lawyer could use a template and file a suit in 15 minutes. We filed hundreds of cases. The typical settlement started at $5,000. It all adds up to millions in legal fees.”<br /> Fernandina Beach paid $5,000 to settle a lawsuit with Citizens Awareness this year. Miami Lakes paid $2,000. Cutler Bay paid $2,250. <br /> In February, Citizens Awareness sued the city of Miami over a dispute about Mayor Tomas Regalado’s records. The complaint was signed by Marrett Hanna, a lawyer with The O’Boyle Law Firm who is the wife of attorney Mark Hanna, who represents O’Hare. Though O’Boyle and O’Hare filed most of their complaints individually, the town’s federal case will argue they often acted together.<br /> Chandler said he wanted to work with Gulf Stream, meet with Town Manager William Thrasher, and work out the foundation’s differences over public records.<br /> “O’Boyle was adamant that we wouldn’t do that,” Chandler said. “Marty said we’ll sue and that is all we do.”<br /> After Chandler resigned his $120,000 -a-year job at Citizens Awareness in June, O’Boyle sued him, alleging he had misused the group’s funds. O’Boyle did not return calls seeking comment for this story but has maintained his goal is to promote transparency in government.<br /> <br /> <span class="font-size-3" style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Suit greeted with applause</span><br /> Gulf Stream has already spent about $370,000 since January in the legal fight against O’Boyle and O’Hare, and billable hours are likely to skyrocket with a new stable of lawyers onboard.<br /> Besides Richman, the town hired a team of three Broward County lawyers who specialize in laws governing sober houses — a business venture O’Boyle says he is planning in the town.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960533687,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960533687,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="98" alt="7960533687?profile=original" /></a>Morgan says Gulf Stream has no choice but to defend itself, and if it can win the RICO case, the town can collect attorneys’ fees and triple damages from O’Boyle and O’Hare.<br /> “In my opinion, the town of Gulf Stream has suffered enough,” Morgan said. “The town has been expending funds, and time and resources and morale, and the difficulties of hiring and retaining employees as the result of the scandalously malicious and frivolous lawsuits and public records requests by Mr. O’Hare and Mr. O’Boyle. I think it’s time for the madness to stop.”<br /> Between them, O’Boyle and O’Hare have filed dozens of lawsuits in the state and federal courts against Gulf Stream, as well as more than 1,500 public records requests with the town. The two have joined in at least one of those suits. O’Boyle and O’Hare have both accused the town of being unwilling to negotiate a settlement. <br /> “It’s disappointing and unfortunate when a town sues one of its citizens,” said Mitchell Berger, a Fort Lauderdale attorney who represents O’Boyle. “It’s unfortunate it has come to that over such a matter as public records.”<br /> In September, O’Boyle told the commission he was prepared to “cost the town a million dollars” in legal fees, if commissioners did not negotiate with him. He did not attend the October meeting, saying he was out of town, but had an associate deliver a letter to Morgan. <br /> “In connection with the proposed RICO action, Mr. O’Boyle wishes to provide the commission with a warning that any such launch will be met with an unfriendly response,” the letter said. “Mr. O’Boyle reminds the commission that the mayor has been inviting a fight for some time now. Mr. O’Boyle further reminds the commissioners, that should they decide to embark upon and support the mayor’s grand battle, the likely result will be the demise of Gulf Stream.”<br /> O’Hare told the commission that filing a federal case ensures a long and expensive battle: “I bet you $5 million from now, it’s still going on.” He urged the commission to settle.<br /> “RICO is for criminal activity, O’Hare said. “I didn’t know it was a crime to ask for public records.”<br /> O’Hare said he didn’t know about Citizens Awareness until recent weeks and is unaware of the group’s activities. He said he only filed one lawsuit jointly with O’Boyle but did use The O’Boyle Law Firm.<br /> “Mr. Morgan’s claim that this is all about money is simply not true,” O’Hare said. “There is no profit to be had by asserting your right to a public record in court.”<br /> He told commissioners they will cost the taxpayers millions in legal fees on the RICO strategy: “And it’s not your money.”</p>
<p> A cluster of 20 residents at the October meeting broke into applause over the commission’s decision to file suit in federal court. <br /> “I don’t usually agree with what Mr. O’Hare says, but he did say something with which I fully agree,” resident Anthony Graziano told the commission. “It is our money. And we would like you to spend it fighting these gentlemen.”<br /> Morgan said the RICO action allows the town to settle many disputes in one case.<br /> “We can either take the approach of defending these individual cases as they come in and bleed to death by a thousand cuts,” he said, “or we can take steps necessary to stop those cases by advancing this case. From the evidence that I’ve seen, it’s a conspiracy of sorts to advance actions that essentially do nothing other than shake down municipal agencies.”</p></div>