legal - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T08:45:31Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/legalHighland Beach: Commission tells manager to speak for townhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/highland-beach-commission-tells-manager-to-speak-for-town2019-02-27T14:30:00.000Z2019-02-27T14:30:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1" style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:14pt;">Goal is to stop clashing messages, redundant legal fees</span></p>
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<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>By Rich Pollack</b></span></p>
<p class="p2"> In an effort to reduce confusion and communicate more efficiently, the Highland Beach Town Commission in February established a list of rules that govern its interactions with outside agencies, town staff and boards and with the town attorney.</p>
<p class="p2">Under a resolution passed unanimously, commissioners agreed to have all communications with other agencies and staff flow through Town Manager Marshall Labadie.</p>
<p class="p2"><span class="Apple-tab-span"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960839695,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960839695,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" alt="7960839695?profile=original" /></a></span>“The manager needs to be Tom Brady,” Town Attorney Pamala Ryan said at the meeting a few days after the NFL Super Bowl. “He needs to be the quarterback.”</p>
<p class="p2">Ryan and Labadie said the town needs guidelines to prevent an overlap of commissioners contacting the same government agency and not being able to communicate their findings with one another because of Florida’s Sunshine Law requiring open meetings.</p>
<p class="p2">They also said that some employees were complaining about interactions with commissioners.</p>
<p class="p2">“We need to have more of a regimented and reliable plan going forward,” Ryan said.</p>
<p class="p2">The confusion over communication with outside agencies reached a head in late January when Commissioner Peggy Gossett-Seidman received a letter from a regional Florida Department of Transportation official, apparently in response to a request from Gossett-Seidman.</p>
<p class="p2">In that letter, the FDOT’s Stacy Miller, the agency’s local director of transportation development, told Gossett-Seidman the department could accommodate a request to delay the resurfacing of State Road A1A for one year, a move that would make it possible for the town to delay a referendum on the issue if it wanted.</p>
<p class="p2">A few days later, however, newly appointed Commissioner Barry Donaldson sent a letter to Gerry O’Reilly, who leads the FDOT’s regional operation, saying Donaldson didn’t think the town needed the delay.</p>
<p class="p2">Donaldson and Gossett-Seidman said they were communicating as private residents and not as commissioners representing the town.</p>
<p class="p2">“I think the DOT is pretty much fed up with Highland Beach right now because they’ve heard so many different things from so many people, and that includes the commission and staff as well,” Ryan said.</p>
<p class="p2">Donaldson said he welcomed the new rules.</p>
<p class="p2">“It’s inevitable that we’re going to be falling all over each other if we continue doing it this way,” he said. “This was an excellent lesson for everyone. It has got to stop.”</p>
<p class="p2">The new rules specify that the Town Commission as a whole must agree if an elected official wants to interact on behalf of the town with an outside agency or business.</p>
<p class="p2">“The elected official must explain to the Town Commission the reason for the interaction, the scope, the time frame, the form of the interaction, and the cost, if any,” the resolution states.</p>
<p class="p2">Mayor Rhoda Zelniker said she agreed that rules needed to be in place.</p>
<p class="p2">“I’m just saying we shouldn’t work this way,” she said. “We need to go through Marshall, he’s the town manager.”</p>
<p class="p2">Gossett-Seidman said commissioners might have taken on more of an operational role because the town didn’t have a manager for several months before Labadie’s arrival in October.</p>
<p class="p2">With Labadie now in place, she said, it’s time to let him be in full control.</p>
<p class="p2">“I would like to give the town manager full authority,” Gossett-Seidman said. “I don’t want any more nonsense. I don’t want any more miscommunication.”</p>
<p class="p2">Under the new rules, commissioners are expected to work through Labadie before contacting Ryan with specific questions in an effort to avoid overlap and reduce legal costs.</p>
<p class="p2">Ryan, of the law firm of Torcivia, Donlon, Goddeau & Ansay, charges the town $226 an hour, and the firm billed the town $24,621 for work it did in January.</p>
<p class="p2">During that period, commissioners interacted with Ryan 45 times, either by phone or email.</p>
<p class="p2">The resolution also lists sanctions, which include a reprimand, formal censure or possible referral to the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics or the Florida Commission on Ethics. <span class="s2">Ú</span></p></div>Highland Beach: Commission opts for quick search for new town managerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/highland-beach-commission-opts-for-quick-search-for-new-town-mana2018-07-04T15:07:44.000Z2018-07-04T15:07:44.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>By Rich Pollack</b></span></p>
<p class="p2">The clock is ticking on the search for a new town manager.</p>
<p class="p3">Highland Beach has been without a permanent town manager since early May, when the Town Commission fired Valerie Oakes in a 3-2 vote and asked her to leave immediately.</p>
<p class="p3">Commissioners hired interim Town Manager William Thrasher in mid-May to fill in, and now it appears he will leave before Labor Day.</p>
<p class="p3">That gives Colin Baenziger of the search firm Colin Baenziger & Associates just about two months to find a candidate.</p>
<p class="p3">“Can we do a search in a month and have someone on board by Sept. 1?” Baenziger said during a commission workshop meeting last month. “It’s possible.”</p>
<p class="p3">Typically a search takes about 41/2 months from start to finish, said Baenziger, whose Daytona Beach firm will be paid $26,500.</p>
<p class="p3">He said his firm has more than 13,700 names in its database and about 20 candidates who could take on the job quickly. </p>
<p class="p3">Since he was hired to be interim town manager on May 21, Thrasher has told commissioners he would stay for either 90 days or one year, but nothing in between.</p>
<p class="p3">Commissioners, who praise Thrasher’s work, previously agreed to stick with the 90-day term when Thrasher took the job. He was Gulf Stream manager before retiring in 2017.</p>
<p class="p3">At the June workshop meeting, however, Mayor Carl Feldman again recommended keepimg Thrasher for a year.</p>
<p class="p3">“This would accomplish a smoother transition,” he said. “I don’t want to feel like we’re rushed into a new town manager.”</p>
<p class="p3">Feldman outlined 11 major projects on Thrasher’s plate and said it would be in the town’s best interest to allow him to continue on those projects. Among those issues are helping the town as it transitions from an outsourced building department to an in-house department and overseeing the budget process.</p>
<p class="p3">Others on the commission said they want a new town manager as soon as possible.</p>
<p class="p3">“This town has to move on to a permanent town manager,” Vice Mayor Alysen Africano Nila said.</p>
<p class="p3">Commissioners Rhoda Zelniker and Elyse Riesa concurred.</p>
<p class="p3">“I don’t want to stop looking for a town manager,” Zelniker said. “We have to get this town on the right track and the right track is a new town manager.”</p>
<p class="p3">Throughout the discussion, commissioners praised Thrasher for his ability to help resolve some long-standing issues and for his professionalism.</p>
<p class="p3">“We found someone who understands our issues,” Riesa said. “We have now seen what a great town manager can do.”</p>
<p class="p3">Zelniker said she hoped the town could find a manager with Thrasher’s experience.</p>
<p class="p3">“What we need is a Bill Thrasher who’s not going to retire,” she said.</p>
<p class="p3">Another benefit of having Thrasher come aboard has been the reduction of a spike in legal bills from April and May, commissioners said.</p>
<p class="p3">They added that one reason the bills grew so large is the town was without a manager between the first part of May, when Oakes was fired, and May 21, when Thrasher was hired.</p>
<p class="p3">Legal services for April reached $16,376, a little over $10,000 more than the $6,211 legal bill for March. The bill from the outside law firm of Torcivia, Donlon, Goddeau & Ansay, P.A. for services in May was $24,297.</p>
<p class="p3">The total of $40,673 for the two months is a little less than half of the $90,000 budget for general legal services for the entire fiscal year ending Sept. 30.</p>
<p class="p3">“The billing is too high,” Feldman said during a Town Commission workshop meeting late last month. “If we go forward, we could hire our own attorney.”</p>
<p class="p3">The mayor said part of the problem was a change in policy that gave commissioners free rein to contact Town Attorney Pam Ryan regarding legal issues.</p>
<p class="p3">Feldman said in May there were more than 40 phone conversations between commissioners and the town attorney’s office, which bills at a rate of about $220 an hour.</p>
<p class="p3">Ryan said since Thrasher’s hiring, she has had fewer calls from commissioners.</p>
<p class="p3">“You will see a difference,” she said.</p>
<p class="p3">Thrasher said he appreciated the opportunity to serve as interim manager but was a bit embarrassed by the praise.</p>
<p class="p3">“What I’m doing is my job and nothing more,” he said. “Your next town manager will do the same.” </p></div>Along the Coast: Developer files, drops libel suit against Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-developer-files-drops-libel-suit-against-coastal-2017-09-29T17:24:58.000Z2017-09-29T17:24:58.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Noreen Marcus</strong></p>
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<p> A developer sued <i>The Coastal Star</i> alleging libel and then abruptly dropped the lawsuit a month later.</p>
<p> The suit filed Aug. 30 in Palm Beach Circuit Court by Hudson Holdings and its principal Steven Michael claimed the newspaper defamed both of them through a false connection to criminal activity. Editor Mary Kate Leming and reporter Jane Smith were named as individual defendants.</p>
<p> The suit seeking $40 million in actual damages and $20 million in punitive damages was assigned to Judge David French.</p>
<p> Developer Michael wants to build a 4.4-acre, mixed-use project at Swinton and Atlantic avenues, at the south end of the Old School Square Historic Arts District in Delray Beach.</p>
<p> The project, known as Midtown Delray Beach, is on hold. The city’s Historic Preservation Board rejected the developer’s site plan and Hudson submitted a revised plan on Sept. 6.</p>
<p> On Sept. 28 Michael’s lawyer Scott Weires filed a two-paragraph “notice of voluntary dismissal” that doesn’t give a reason for dropping the lawsuit.</p>
<p> Reached the next day, Michael said, “We just wanted to have accurate reporting and we’re not interested in being in any litigation with the newspaper or anybody. We just wanted honest reporting and we hope in the future that’s what will happen.”</p>
<p> Robert Rivas, attorney for <i>The Coastal Star</i>, denied that his client published false information. He had planned to file a complaint that Michael’s lawsuit violated Florida's anti-SLAPP law. An illegal “strategic lawsuit against public participation” — or SLAPP suit — is one that aims to silence critics engaged in a democratic process.</p>
<p> “Hudson Holdings is trying to intimidate and frighten the opposition,” said Rivas, of Sachs Sax Caplan in Tallahassee, before the suit was withdrawn. “The <i>Coastal Star</i> story was accurate and did not link Hudson Holdings to any criminal activity.”</p>
<p> The crux of the dispute was an Aug. 2 <i>Coastal Star</i> story about Michael’s proposed Midtown project. In addition to reporting on the project’s status, the story included background on Midtown and another Michael project, the Gulfstream Hotel in Lake Worth.</p>
<p> Under the sub-headline “Midtown ensnared in sober home action,” the story states that “Midtown became entangled with the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office’s Sober Homes Task Force” last fall. It says that brothers Bryan and Patrick Norquist “were arrested on patient-brokering charges” and states that two addresses were listed on the arrest document — “20 S. Swinton Ave., the headquarters for Hudson Holdings, and 48 SE First Ave.”</p>
<p> The story also had Michael’s response: “Michael said he knew about the sober home on Southeast First Avenue, but denied that any recovery operation was run out of the Hudson Holdings headquarters. He also said he’s losing rental income since the sober home on Southeast First Avenue was forced to close.”</p>
<p> Michael’s attorney Weires, of Murdoch Weires & Neuman in Boca Raton, disputed Rivas’s SLAPP suit characterization.</p>
<p> “The main claim is about the association of a developer of a project in Delray Beach and criminal activity in the area,” he said days before dropping the lawsuit. “I can’t imagine why they would be reporting on criminal activity within the same story about a developer’s efforts to gain approval for a beneficial project.”</p>
<p> The complaint stated that the Delray Beach Preservation Trust is trying to block the Midtown project by winning a National Register of Historic Places designation for the district that includes the project site. The “frustrated” trust enlisted the media “to influence public opinion against Hudson and its Midtown project,” according to the complaint.</p>
<p> Rivas said Michael couldn’t sue the trust directly so he sued the newspaper, apparently thinking, “Here’s somebody we can SLAPP and the existence of this lawsuit will intimidate everybody.”</p>
<p> JoAnn Peart, president of the trust, said she doesn’t know enough about the law to comment on whether Michael filed a SLAPP suit. “But I hope that they are not just trying to intimidate preservation groups and the media from covering our point of view because they have certainly used local media almost as advertising for their project.”</p>
<p> “I think <i>The Coastal Star</i> was acting responsibly in printing all the information about the history of Hudson Holdings because it’s asking for waivers and variances and being allowed to do things you’re not normally allowed to do in historic districts,” Peart said. “It’s important that the public be aware of this.”</p></div>Gulf Stream: Commission picks tax rate 1 cent under rollbackhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/gulf-stream-commission-picks-tax-rate-1-cent-under-rollback2017-08-02T14:00:00.000Z2017-08-02T14:00:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /> <br /> Buoyed by its recent settlement of all public records litigation by resident Chris O’Hare, the town plans to cut its legal budget for the coming fiscal year by 30 percent.<br /> Gulf Stream will set aside $400,000 for outside legal expenses, down from an expected $571,000, Town Manager Greg Dunham said.<br /> Cash reserves will top $2.6 million on Oct. 1, he said, continuing a recovery after the battle over public records requests drained the fund four years ago to $752,000. That led Dunham to recommend a property tax rate of $4.36 per $1,000, more than a penny under the rollback rate (the number that would generate the same revenue as in the current year). Town commissioners unanimously agreed. Dunham’s budget “looks reasoned and appropriate,” Mayor Scott Morgan said.<br /> A week later, commissioners awarded a $224,900 contract to build the 696-square-foot west addition to Town Hall. Republic Construction Corp. of Delray Beach submitted the winning bid and said the work would be finished in six months.<br /> Highlights of Dunham’s budget included $20,000 for a proposed second phase of a barrier island fire study, $235,000 for paving and striping roads, another $235,000 to upgrade storm drains and $211,000 for smart water meters.<br /> Town employees will receive 3 percent raises. Dunham also wants $30,000 for a long-range capital improvements plan.<br /> Commissioners will discuss the budget again Aug. 11.</p></div>Gulf Stream: Town creates legal department, hires full-time attorneyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/gulf-stream-town-creates-legal-department-hires-full-time-attorne2016-11-02T17:00:00.000Z2016-11-02T17:00:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /> <br /> Buffeted by thousands of public records requests and dozens of lawsuits, mostly from two town residents, Gulf Stream now has a full-time staff attorney to handle the workload.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960682086,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960682086,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="93" alt="7960682086?profile=original" /></a>Edward “Trey” Nazzaro, who as a paralegal at Town Attorney John “Skip” Randolph’s law firm helped Gulf Stream write its public records procedures, started work at Town Hall in October.<br /> “He is a man of great integrity, intelligence, and he knows most of us here,” Town Manager William Thrasher told commissioners Oct. 14.<br /> Nazzaro has an annual salary of $87,500 plus pension, health insurance and other benefits, and office expenses. Thrasher moved $133,483 from “contract legal services” to cover the cost, leaving a net effect of zero on the town’s budget.<br /> “We probably should have done it years ago,” Town Commissioner Joan Orthwein said.<br /> Randolph will continue in his longtime role as town attorney.<br /> Thrasher said there are “a lot of things” Nazzaro can do. “For example, today he is at calendar call [at the courthouse in West Palm Beach], standing and waiting to yell out, ‘Yes,’” he said.<br /> Nazzaro’s pay translates to $61.77 per hour. “If you compare that to our lowest general or outside counsel, they use the figure $250; that’s a savings per hour of $188.23,” Thrasher said.<br /> Nazzaro, who was an Eagle Scout before attending college, was editor-in-chief of the law review and graduated magna cum laude from St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami Gardens in 2014. That same year the Town Commission passed a resolution of appreciation for the work he did authoring Gulf Stream’s public records policy.<br /> Nazzaro spent the past two years as a law clerk in federal court in Miami.<br /> Mayor Scott Morgan, who also is a nonpracticing lawyer, said Nazzaro is “intimately familiar” with the town’s public records woes and would have plenty of work in his new position. “Almost any activity we consider here has legal ramifications,” Morgan said.<br /> Resident Chris O’Hare complained that starting lawyers at the State Attorney’s Office earn around $50,000 a year and asked why the town did not let attorneys bid for the work. “It seems like a waste of taxpayer money,” said O’Hare, who has filed numerous lawsuits against the town over public records.<br /> “That’s rich coming from you, Mr. O’Hare,” Morgan quickly responded. “You’re part of the problem that puts us in this situation.”</p></div>Boca Raton: Airport Authority studies options for legal workhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-airport-authority-studies-options-for-legal-work2015-11-04T18:23:14.000Z2015-11-04T18:23:14.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Rich Pollack</strong><br /><strong> </strong><br /> The Boca Raton Airport Authority is considering asking for proposals from law firms interested in representing the agency, but that step could end up costing the authority more money than it is paying its current firm. <br /> During its October meeting, the authority agreed to table a vote on whether to seek requests for qualifications from outside firms until additional information is gathered. <br /> In a presentation to the authority members, Executive Director Clara Bennett said the authority has been using its current law firm, Berger Singerman, since August 2006.<br /> The firm, which provides a wide range of legal services and has experience working with Federal Aviation Administration and Florida Department of Transportation regulations, has billed the authority at an all-inclusive hourly rate of $250 since it was first contracted.<br /> Bennett said she surveyed 10 other general aviation airports and found hourly rates varied depending on the practice area, ranging from $150 an hour to more than $500 an hour. <br /> “If we have a rate of only $250 an hour in today’s world, that’s amazing,” said board member Bill Schwartz.<br /> Other members of the authority, however, indicated they would like to see what other firms would charge and suggested going ahead with issuing a request for qualifications.<br /> “Our goal is to get the best possible legal representation at the most affordable price,” said authority member Robert Weinroth, who also is Boca Raton’s vice mayor. <br /> Weinroth added that he is not unhappy with the quality of work provided by Berger Singerman.<br /> “Prior to joining this board I had reservations about outside counsel,” he said, adding his opinion has changed. “I’ve been satisfied with the services we’re receiving.” <br /> In responding to comments from board members, Berger Singerman’s Dawn Meyers — a partner of the firm’s government and regulatory team and lead attorney working with the airport authority — said keeping the rate of $250 an hour has been a source of contention within the firm. <br /> She said the airport authority is the only client that has not seen a rate increase over the course of nine years and that there has been pressure from within for an adjustment.<br /> “$250 an hour is 45 percent of my standard rate,” Meyers said. <br /> Should the board choose to go ahead with testing the waters, Meyers said, her firm would mostly likely submit a proposal but at a higher rate. <br /> “I can tell you we will not bid at $250 an hour,” she said. “There are certain things I cannot control.” <br /> During her presentation, Bennett told board members that the authority has spent $233,000 on legal fees so far this year out of its operating budget. It also has spent close to $70,000 on legal fees associated with capital projects.<br /> Bennett also said that the authority received significant reimbursements from the state and federal government for legal fees and that it would not be eligible for those reimbursements were it to hire an in-house counsel.<br /> After the board agreed to table the decision on whether to issue a request for qualifications, authority member George Brown suggested a possible alternative means of reducing legal fees. <br /> “There may be an opportunity to further manage the cost by having staff doing some of the work,” he said. “These are the kinds of things we can look at.”</p></div>Boynton Beach: CRA enlists new legal firmhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boynton-beach-cra-enlists-new-legal-firm2015-03-05T15:59:07.000Z2015-03-05T15:59:07.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p><br />The Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency did not skip a beat when Ken Spillias stepped aside as its attorney.<br />At its February meeting, Spillias sat in the audience and another law firm colleague, Tara Duhy, took his place on the dais next to the agency’s executive director. <br />“We knew that he (Spillias) was going to retire, it just came more quickly than we thought,” said Duhy, a partner with the Lewis, Longman & Walker law firm in West Palm Beach.<br />A University of Colorado law school graduate, she has been with the firm since 2005. She has worked with developers, most recently the Minto Communities’ project planned for western Palm Beach County.<br />“But I wouldn’t work on any development in Boynton Beach,” she said. <br />The switch was needed after Spillias was appointed as the Ocean Ridge town attorney, a staff position where his annual salary will be $90,000 and another $16,000 in benefits. He will start the full-time job March 1. He told the town he will retire in 2016.<br />Spillias had served as the Ocean Ridge town attorney for 15 years on a contract basis. Another plus from working for the town is his enrollment in the Florida retirement system. He served as a Palm Beach County commissioner in the 1980s and needs to work only six more months under the state pension plan to be fully vested in it with six years’ employment. <br />With the Boynton Beach agency, the law firm is an at-will employee, working without a contract, Spillias said at the end of the February meeting. <br />“I always felt that is the best way to do it,” he said. “If you are not happy with our legal counsel, you always have the right to change.” <br />The agency pays the firm a $4,000 monthly retainer to attend the meetings and review the agenda items. Anything above that, the agency will pay $230 per hour for a partner’s work.</p></div>