Truth Goes Marching On in Miami Beach
Content
MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS –
THE TRUTH GOES MARCHING ON A Quasi-Judicial Special Master Impedes Historical Progress 5 November 2014 By David Arthur Walters MIAMI MIRROR The spacious courtyard of Miami Beach pioneer developer Carl Fisher’s famed community church, the first church on Miami Beach, is still up for grabs by a modern developer, South Beach Tristar, who wants to replace the only open sacred space on Lincoln Road with a twostory glass commercial box. The Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board, whose Spirit of History has been so progressive lately that it is hard to tell what history might be in the future other than another glass box rented out at exorbitant rates or parceled at sky high prices, had approved of the sacrilegious development. But Warren Bittner, Esq., the Board’s so-called Special Master, a quasi-judicial official who is not a judge, on appeal of the Miami Design Preservation League, decided for the appellant and ordered that the matter be reheard by the Board. Wherefore the truth goes marching on. South Beach Tristar and the property owner, Miami Beach Community Church, partners in the unholy Mammonite alliance, would be foolish not to appeal the Special Master’s Decisi on and Order to a legitimate court, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court, as provided by the Miami Beach Code of Ordinances, Section 118-537(b)(4), because that is where the case should wind up anyway if the fickle Board turns against them and they are serious about lining their coffers
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with money fleeced from the hordes who flock to Lincoln Road, a perfidious path whose initials, LR, are said to stand for Legal Robbery. Mr. Bittner is entitled to his opinion, and he is certainly qualified to have a legal one with his many years of experience as a lawyer, city attorney, and special master. Fortunately for progress, the law always wants interpretation. interpretation.
Laymen unfamiliar with the purpose of practicing law complained that the arguments of the lawyers before the Special Master were so much bull, forgetting that is how lawyers make a living whatever side they are on; not that they are alone in worshipping the sacred bull in this day and age. Whether or not Mr. Bittner’s decision was correct or not, I am entitled to my lay opinion, that
he has erred legally although his intent may have been righteous and his decision morally good per se, as they say. Remember, what is legal is not necessarily moral. The crucial technicality at issue, on which one party or the other shall be crucified in the final analysis, appertains to $500,000 in cash Tristar allegedly paid the church before the Board’s decision not to rehear the case. Preservationists consider it a sort of bribe, or an inducement, to put it nicely, while the church pastor reportedly said it was a rental deposit for that corner of paradise, over and above the $3,000,000 initial rent payment already held in escrow. Thanks to the Miami New Times, Village Voice ’s counter-cultural local rag devoted to disgracing the inherently diabolical government in every possible way, the unwholesome amount was not revealed until the day before the Board was to decide on the Preservation League’ s motion to
rehear. The revelation was allegedly made to the board members via email. T he League’s
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attorney did not file an emergency motion to amend the motion to rehear. The Board decided not to rehear, so game over, but the League appealed to the special master on the technicality, that any inducements for approval must be formally revealed to the Board, and that a member of the public was not allowed to speak on the day the denial was publicly proclaimed. However, the intent of the law requiring revelation of inducements is to let it be known whether or not third parties testifying for or against a project are compensated for their testimony, something lawyers like to bring out in real courts hoping that judges and juries will naturally think that money and not truth motivates a witness if he is paid. The Church argued that the $500,000 rent deposit did not have to be revealed to the Board. I agree. Furthermore, I opine that the classification of the tidy sum is irrelevant, whether it was a rent deposit or a bonus over and above an original lease amount. There was no fraud on the Board, for it would have been indifferent at the time as to the total amount received by the church from its profane partner. And, anyway, disclosure is only due in regards to payments made to third parties, and not to payments made by developers to property owners. Benefits to property owners are naturally assumed in any development. Still, the Special Master, addressing picayune procedural details in which the Devil presides, deemed the lack of disclosure, which was a technical error at the most, a “fundamental” error . And to his Decision and Order to Rehear we hear halleluiahs from the small minority of church members who opposed the supposed financial salvation of their dear church, as the majority in favor gnashes teeth and rents garments over the delay. You see, renting out that corner of the prime property was allegedly tantamount to amputating a foot to save limb and life from creeping gangrene. Over 80% of the church members voting approved of the deal. Still the church was divided against itself. An attempt to sully the reputation of the pastor was even made via gossip that the pastor might abscond with the ungodly sum in his briefcase, as if he were an Elmer Gantry eager to flee the church before its utter ruin, leaving obstinate Sharon Falconer and her gullible faithful to the flames. Church finances were indeed the stated motive for leasing the land. The City Commission was itself asked to move for a rehearing. An unheeded demand was made to examine examine the financials. The Commission did not make the motion. Several heretics asked me to raise hell as the history of the controversy progressed. Their main problem, which is a continuing problem, I responded, is with w ith the administration of their church. The Board made its decision, like it or not, and the city attorney is legally right. Dissidents should get their hands on the books for the last decade. Too late for that, they said, so I was a
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sinner in their eyes. I was addressed addressed with disrespectful terms and and yelled at. This opinion is probably blasphemy. No problem: Jesus Jesus (Christ) is still my only Christian friend. I had no inclination to write Part II of ‘The Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board Destroys History.’ Coincidentally, the Special Master in this case tossed out the other point of appeal, that the Board refused to hear one Frank Del Vecchio, who was not a party in the case, when it decided there was no cause to rehear the matter.
304 Ocean Drive - History before and after Del Ve cchio Advocacy
321 Ocean Drive - History before and after Del Ve cchio Advocacy
Mr. Del Vecchio is an activist lawyer whom I hold in the highest regard although I actively criticized his role in lobbying for the development of modern glass box right next door to him, in the last open space on the beach on Ocean Drive. He also supported the destruction of a historic building across the drive from him so it could be replaced by a modern glass box. He said he has no constituency in his affluent neighborhood because that would be the poor. So his activism has inevitably benefited the affluent. I invited him to reveal what he would have said if allowed to speak. He did not responded by deadline. The substance of the law is rather mysterious. Luther liked to say, when his contradictions were pointed out, that they were God’s mysteries. The Special Master quoted code that allows public Page 4 of 5
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testimony at hearings. Why a hearing was even convened on a motion to rehear is a mystery to me. I find nothing nothing in Section 118-537 Rehearings Rehearings and Appeals that states there must be a public hearing on whether or not to rehear a case. A friend of mine made a written motion to a Special Master to rehear, and it was denied by email. If a motion to rehear does not fit the specific criteria for rehearing, there is nothing to hear, so why have a hearing on rehearing? Here the Board opened a hearing to issue its pragma, so the rules for conducting hearings seem to apply. However, the League attorney made no objection on the record when Mr. Del Vecchio was prohibited from speaking; only the record may be considered on appeal, so too bad. Setting that aside, the $500,000, whatever it might be called, would have made no difference. The developer and the church would be better off going to a real court to save time, for the Historic Preservation Board is constitutionally illogical. The League may fold if faced with $30,000 in legal fees. The developer can deduct its legal fees from the $500,000. As for the dissident members of the church, they should examine the books or call for an independent audit, perhaps by the Internal Revenue Service, if they are unwilling to forgive everyone concerned for their sins. ##
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THE TRUTH GOES MARCHING ON A Quasi-Judicial Special Master Impedes Historical Progress 5 November 2014 By David Arthur Walters MIAMI MIRROR The spacious courtyard of Miami Beach pioneer developer Carl Fisher’s famed community church, the first church on Miami Beach, is still up for grabs by a modern developer, South Beach Tristar, who wants to replace the only open sacred space on Lincoln Road with a twostory glass commercial box. The Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board, whose Spirit of History has been so progressive lately that it is hard to tell what history might be in the future other than another glass box rented out at exorbitant rates or parceled at sky high prices, had approved of the sacrilegious development. But Warren Bittner, Esq., the Board’s so-called Special Master, a quasi-judicial official who is not a judge, on appeal of the Miami Design Preservation League, decided for the appellant and ordered that the matter be reheard by the Board. Wherefore the truth goes marching on. South Beach Tristar and the property owner, Miami Beach Community Church, partners in the unholy Mammonite alliance, would be foolish not to appeal the Special Master’s Decisi on and Order to a legitimate court, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court, as provided by the Miami Beach Code of Ordinances, Section 118-537(b)(4), because that is where the case should wind up anyway if the fickle Board turns against them and they are serious about lining their coffers
Page 1 of 5
MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS –
with money fleeced from the hordes who flock to Lincoln Road, a perfidious path whose initials, LR, are said to stand for Legal Robbery. Mr. Bittner is entitled to his opinion, and he is certainly qualified to have a legal one with his many years of experience as a lawyer, city attorney, and special master. Fortunately for progress, the law always wants interpretation. interpretation.
Laymen unfamiliar with the purpose of practicing law complained that the arguments of the lawyers before the Special Master were so much bull, forgetting that is how lawyers make a living whatever side they are on; not that they are alone in worshipping the sacred bull in this day and age. Whether or not Mr. Bittner’s decision was correct or not, I am entitled to my lay opinion, that
he has erred legally although his intent may have been righteous and his decision morally good per se, as they say. Remember, what is legal is not necessarily moral. The crucial technicality at issue, on which one party or the other shall be crucified in the final analysis, appertains to $500,000 in cash Tristar allegedly paid the church before the Board’s decision not to rehear the case. Preservationists consider it a sort of bribe, or an inducement, to put it nicely, while the church pastor reportedly said it was a rental deposit for that corner of paradise, over and above the $3,000,000 initial rent payment already held in escrow. Thanks to the Miami New Times, Village Voice ’s counter-cultural local rag devoted to disgracing the inherently diabolical government in every possible way, the unwholesome amount was not revealed until the day before the Board was to decide on the Preservation League’ s motion to
rehear. The revelation was allegedly made to the board members via email. T he League’s
Page 2 of 5
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attorney did not file an emergency motion to amend the motion to rehear. The Board decided not to rehear, so game over, but the League appealed to the special master on the technicality, that any inducements for approval must be formally revealed to the Board, and that a member of the public was not allowed to speak on the day the denial was publicly proclaimed. However, the intent of the law requiring revelation of inducements is to let it be known whether or not third parties testifying for or against a project are compensated for their testimony, something lawyers like to bring out in real courts hoping that judges and juries will naturally think that money and not truth motivates a witness if he is paid. The Church argued that the $500,000 rent deposit did not have to be revealed to the Board. I agree. Furthermore, I opine that the classification of the tidy sum is irrelevant, whether it was a rent deposit or a bonus over and above an original lease amount. There was no fraud on the Board, for it would have been indifferent at the time as to the total amount received by the church from its profane partner. And, anyway, disclosure is only due in regards to payments made to third parties, and not to payments made by developers to property owners. Benefits to property owners are naturally assumed in any development. Still, the Special Master, addressing picayune procedural details in which the Devil presides, deemed the lack of disclosure, which was a technical error at the most, a “fundamental” error . And to his Decision and Order to Rehear we hear halleluiahs from the small minority of church members who opposed the supposed financial salvation of their dear church, as the majority in favor gnashes teeth and rents garments over the delay. You see, renting out that corner of the prime property was allegedly tantamount to amputating a foot to save limb and life from creeping gangrene. Over 80% of the church members voting approved of the deal. Still the church was divided against itself. An attempt to sully the reputation of the pastor was even made via gossip that the pastor might abscond with the ungodly sum in his briefcase, as if he were an Elmer Gantry eager to flee the church before its utter ruin, leaving obstinate Sharon Falconer and her gullible faithful to the flames. Church finances were indeed the stated motive for leasing the land. The City Commission was itself asked to move for a rehearing. An unheeded demand was made to examine examine the financials. The Commission did not make the motion. Several heretics asked me to raise hell as the history of the controversy progressed. Their main problem, which is a continuing problem, I responded, is with w ith the administration of their church. The Board made its decision, like it or not, and the city attorney is legally right. Dissidents should get their hands on the books for the last decade. Too late for that, they said, so I was a
Page 3 of 5
MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS –
sinner in their eyes. I was addressed addressed with disrespectful terms and and yelled at. This opinion is probably blasphemy. No problem: Jesus Jesus (Christ) is still my only Christian friend. I had no inclination to write Part II of ‘The Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board Destroys History.’ Coincidentally, the Special Master in this case tossed out the other point of appeal, that the Board refused to hear one Frank Del Vecchio, who was not a party in the case, when it decided there was no cause to rehear the matter.
304 Ocean Drive - History before and after Del Ve cchio Advocacy
321 Ocean Drive - History before and after Del Ve cchio Advocacy
Mr. Del Vecchio is an activist lawyer whom I hold in the highest regard although I actively criticized his role in lobbying for the development of modern glass box right next door to him, in the last open space on the beach on Ocean Drive. He also supported the destruction of a historic building across the drive from him so it could be replaced by a modern glass box. He said he has no constituency in his affluent neighborhood because that would be the poor. So his activism has inevitably benefited the affluent. I invited him to reveal what he would have said if allowed to speak. He did not responded by deadline. The substance of the law is rather mysterious. Luther liked to say, when his contradictions were pointed out, that they were God’s mysteries. The Special Master quoted code that allows public Page 4 of 5
MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS –
testimony at hearings. Why a hearing was even convened on a motion to rehear is a mystery to me. I find nothing nothing in Section 118-537 Rehearings Rehearings and Appeals that states there must be a public hearing on whether or not to rehear a case. A friend of mine made a written motion to a Special Master to rehear, and it was denied by email. If a motion to rehear does not fit the specific criteria for rehearing, there is nothing to hear, so why have a hearing on rehearing? Here the Board opened a hearing to issue its pragma, so the rules for conducting hearings seem to apply. However, the League attorney made no objection on the record when Mr. Del Vecchio was prohibited from speaking; only the record may be considered on appeal, so too bad. Setting that aside, the $500,000, whatever it might be called, would have made no difference. The developer and the church would be better off going to a real court to save time, for the Historic Preservation Board is constitutionally illogical. The League may fold if faced with $30,000 in legal fees. The developer can deduct its legal fees from the $500,000. As for the dissident members of the church, they should examine the books or call for an independent audit, perhaps by the Internal Revenue Service, if they are unwilling to forgive everyone concerned for their sins. ##
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