Past Due Process in Miami Beach

THE MIAMI MIRROR – TRUE REFLECTIONS

PAST DUE PROCESS IN MIAMI BEACHIs real estate magnate Scott Robins above the law?

18 November 2014

File by David Arthur WaltersTHE MIAMI MIRROR

Selective enforcement has long been the chief complaint against the city agency responsible for enforcing local ordinances, and Code Compliance Department officials have long denied that there is any such thing.

In 2010 I investigated allegations that code officers were favoring certain violators in South Beach, and discriminating against Muslim and Middle Eastern business owners along

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Washington Avenue. I found no direct evidence of religious or ethnic discrimination. It did appear that enforcement was selective to the extent that random selection, and enforcement, only if someone complained, could be called methods of selection.

In September 2014 I revisited the issue when I was told under conditions of anonymity that code compliance officers were constantly hassling shops about their signs while ignoring the ugly unpermitted real estate advertisement signs of Scott Robins, a personal friend and business partner of the city’s mayor, Philip Levine, posted at 749, 743, and 739 Washington Avenue.

749, 743, 739 Washington Avenue – four of the garish signs exceed height limitation permitted by code

I was informed by Code Compliance Administrator George Castell on Sept. 29 that one of his officers had issued a citation for Scott Robins Company’s signs at 749 Washington, advertising the availability for lease of the bay previously rented to Hoagies sandwich shop, the owners of which had lost at least $250,000. Scott Robins, via a corporate shield called 8 th Street Washington Partners Inc, also indirectly owns the building where the space is located. The lease will include the kitchen equipment seized, as is the practice, as was done next door at 751 Washington Avenue, formerly occupied by the failed Crazee Olive falafel café, yet another casualty of exorbitant rents on the seedy avenue. Mr. Castell advised that notice of violation CE14014006 was hand delivered the property owner of 749 Washington, and that “they” had until Oct. 7 to comply. After that compliance date, I followed up with no answer until Nov. 17, when Mr. Castell informed me that the compliance officer who issued the citation told him the matter would be referred to the Special Master facility, a quasi-judicial arm of the city’s administration from which appeals can be made to a real court. Mr. Castell has not responded by deadline to my question as to when we will know when that happens.

The compliance officer also issued a notice of violation, numbered CE14014006, for the Scott Robins Company’s sign advertising 743 Washington Avenue. It has been my longstanding theory, which I dubbed the Signage Scofflaw Theory that it is likely that people who violate the city’s superficial ordinances also violating more serious ordinances, a theory based on the Broken Windows Theory that neglected misdemeanors in an area are a magnet for felonious

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behavior. Indeed, a joint operation between local and federal authorities shut down a B-girl shakedown racket operated by organized crime at various private clubs in the 700 through 800 blocks of Washington Avenue.

I discovered that 743 Washington, also indirectly owned by Scott Robins, advertised for short term rentals as a 5 AM club, indirectly owned and directly managed by Scott Robins, if the records be reliable, had rented out the space during the Black Week celebration over the Memorial Day holiday to an operator called No Crowd Control LLC, managed by one Floyd Bostic. A check with the state licensing authority revealed that neither Mr. Robins’ club nor Mr. Bostic or his limited liability front had a liquor license.

A check of local code compliance violations disclosed that a noise complaint was received on May 25 to which an officer responded and wrote violation CE14009435, not for the noise, but for other violations: failure to obtain a business tax license; failure to obtain a special event permit; selling alcoholic beverages without a license. All of the complaints were against No Crowd Control, apparently none against Scott Robins, SRC, or his property-owning corporation. Code Compliance did not respond to my question as to why no arrests were made on the liquor violation.

The public face of the city’s poorly managed government software system, provided by Accela Inc., does not disclose what happened to the business tax license violation other than it was “Closed” in July. Violation CE14009437, with a $1,000 fine for failure to obtain a special event, permit was appealed and forwarded to the Special Master for consideration. Mr. Bostic obtained two continuances, and the matter may be heard in December. I thought perhaps the club was represented by Scott Robins’ agents as having a liquor license, so perhaps that was the reason for the appeal. Mr. Bostic did not respond to my request for his reasons for appealing. My guess is that the fine will be radically reduced or dismissed by the Special Master in accordance with the “new direction” the city manager said he was taking with the dismissal of the former special masters, one of whom, Babak Movahedi, was insisting on “applying the law” in a way not appreciated by the administration. Mr. Movahedi moved to Barcelona to teach international law.

A reliable source under condition of anonymity said that the police and fire and code compliance departments were at the scene of the nightclub violation, as was Mr. Robins’ friend and partner, Mayor Philip Levine, who did not intervene on behalf of Mr. Robins, and that Code Compliance officers led the investigation resulting in the citations. A woman in charge of the event said she had a portable liquor license, that she would call her liquor lawyer, and that she believed the citations were racially motivated.

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At 10:46 PM on Saturday night, Oct. 25, a reliable witness under condition of anonymity informed me that the 743 Washington Avenue club was operating full swing again with two bouncers at the door. Code Compliance did not respond to my query asking if the event had been permitted. I had noticed that the sign advertising the club had been taken down shortly before that event and re-erected the day after it occurred.

Unpermitted Scott Robins sign removed then re-erected after Oct 25 event

The 739 Washington Avenue space advertised by Scott Robins Company is also a club space, doing business as the Prelude Club. Neither the club nor the building itself is indirectly owned by Mr. Robins unless he has an interest undisclosed by the public record for the property owner, C J St. Croix LLC, managed by 739 Washington LLC, which holds 4COP (hard liquor with entertainment) liquor license BEV2301998. Ed and Joan Polsky of Boca Raton are involved in the management of both entities. Louis J. Terminello, Esq., an expert liquor lawyer known back in 1997 for his representation of reputed mobster Ludwig “Tarzan” Fainberg, owner of Porky’s nightclub close to the Miami airport. Fainberg was arrested during an investigation of the Russian mob’s involvement in the arms and Columbian drug businesses. Mr. Terminello said Mr. Fainberg had a big mouth, but prosecutors had no evidence on him.

I queried Mr. Castell what was taking so long to process the Sept. 26 notice of violation CE 14013895 for Scott Robins Company’s rental advertisement for the Prelude Club, noting that merchants in the area who have had their signs questioned are deeply offended by the leniency towards Scott Robins although they have not formally complained for fear of retaliation. Code Compliance informed me that what I had called “leniency” was actually “due process.” The file had been marked “xxxxxxx,” Mr. Castell said, to indicate that the owner was out of town so service of process would take some time. He did not respond to my question why the file had not been marked with a so-called WAITCERT, meaning that formal due process notification had

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proceeded by registered mail, and the city was waiting for the return receipt. The sign violation has not been remedied as of Nov. 18, as is the case with the other Scott Robins Company signs.

Violation follow ups have allegedly been hindered by the Permit Manager software provided by Accela Inc. The computer is often blamed for allegedly millions of dollars of lost fees and other issues including allegations of criminal corruption, for which the city has had such a long reputation that some of its departments are called racketeering organizations. There has been considerable rhetoric over the past few years about upgrades, expected to occur any day now. Accela has refused to respond to the question as to whether its customer, the city, or its software, or both are to blame for anomalies that a rudimentary off-the-shelf, underlying database system would cure. Therefore, given Accela’s silence, other cities using the software will be contacted for their experience with the software.

Whether or not Scott Robins is favored by city officials due to his political clout is an open question on which the reader may further investigate and draw his own conclusions. Prior to taking up the signage issue on Washington Avenue, I reported on complaints from Antonio Halabi, the owner of the Flame Grille at 447 Espanola Way, to the effect that he had been harassed by code officers and sued in March 2014 by his landlord, Scott Robins, who controls a large parcel of property along the short, popular tourist lane, after Mr. Halabi complained to high city officials that code officers were inadequately enforcing code restrictions against other restaurants as to the number of seats allowed on their sidewalk cafes, giving them the advantage over anyone who abided by the law.

I contacted Mayor Levine by email, and asked him to help resolve the troubling situation in an amicable manner, but he did not respond. Mr. Halabi, citing pending litigation over the retaliatory suit and possible litigation against the city, has declined further comment.

Scott Robins, who was a licensed general contractor as well as a partner in the family real estate business, took control of considerable South Beach real estate when he broke up with his stepbrother, Craig Robins, near the turn of the century. Craig, an inveterate patron of the arts, focused on Miami developments, particularly in the Design District. Craig had gained a reputation of as a preservationist developer for brokering a compromise between developers and preservationist for the commercial rehabilitation of dilapidated structures in South Beach in the 80s and 90s. The brothers’ future was established by their father, Gerald Robins, who moved to Miami Beach in the 50s and took up residence on Star Island after making a fortune in New York real estate. Chris Blackwell, who sold Island Records for around $300 million, teamed up with the Robins family, investing heavily in South Beach hotels, forming a hotel management company in the process. The brothers also acquired a great deal of political capital, Scott asserting himself most strongly in the Miami Beach political arena.

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Scott recently partnered with the city and Philip Levine to build the new shopping center/garage complex at Sunset Harbour. Scott reportedly declared to Miami Magazine reporter Christina Lawrence in 2012 that Levine was his “partner in everything.” That would include, among other things, the bailout of a distressed bank. Levine, with definite real estate development plans differing from those of the now defeated regime, expended over $1 million of his own money to purchase the mayor’s seat and a majority on the commission. His motive is allegedly altruistic: the delivery of Customer Service to appreciative businesses and their customers. He is hailed by the commission as a great leader. His approach is more or less fascistic or right wing, although he is a personal friend of President Bill Clinton, who flew down and endorsed him. His main henchman is City Manager Jimmy Morales, Esq., affable homeboy and political insider with no city management experience. He is learning on the job, his political skill enabling him to do the mayor’s bidding with the least resistance. The mayor’s businesslike approach is praised by many people. The new regime is naturally taking credit for projects initiated by the ousted regime while blaming the problems on it after replacing its grand plan for a new convention center with its own grand plan. Unfortunately, the Mussolini-like public relations approach of Mayor “King” Levine, who is a public relations expert, works to his detriment because many advances made go unheralded for fear of disclosing the dark underlayment of those advances.

The Sunset Harbour shopping center deal involved the disposition of land owned by Tremont Towing and the fate of the city’s towing duopoly. Prominent developer Russell Galbut wound up with Tremont, and towing fees were jacked up thanks to the sponsorship of Commissioner Jonah Wolfson, whose wife received campaign donations from Tremont for her successful judicial campaign. Ethical concerns were raised and dismissed by the county ethics commission in regards to the possible role Commissioner Ed Tobin may have played. Quid pro quos are nearly impossible to prove. The city commission has just waived the ethical injunction against city commissioners taking city jobs within two years of employment as commissioners, so he can apply for a job as police officer.

In other words, what we have here is a classical instance of several good old boys or old cronies with whom the majority is quite happy despite the concerns of a relatively small, dissatisfied minority, most of whom are afraid to complain for fear of retaliation. As Solomon the Preacher noted so well, “Nothing under the Sun is new, neither is any man able to say: Behold, this is new; for it hath already gone before, in the ages that were before us.”

During the course of my examination of Code Compliance records along Espanola Way, I noticed that the transient apartments known as Espanola Way Suites, at 443 Espanola Way, owned by Scott Robins’ company, had its application for a certificate of use, number BCU1200221, denied on Dec. 12, 2011, despite state license TAP2329515 issued on Nov. 15,

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2011. On Sept. 26, 2014, the city’s finance department verified that the operation did not have a certificate of use and business tax license as required by city ordinances. However, according to online reviews from tourists, it had been operating since early 2012. Moreover, photographs of the apartment interiors advertised online indicate that the ancient building has been recently renovated, leaving a question of whether the renovations had been permitted by the city’s building department. I inquired into the matter several times, until I was finally informed that the business was cited on Nov. 14, 2014, for failure to have a certificate of use and business tax license. I was unable to verify that online because the Permit Manager system was down.

I attributed the delay in the notification to what I dubbed “past due process.” Of course constitutional due process as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court places restrictions on the behavior of the police power before someone is accused or charged with violating the law. Strictly speaking, in the context of the code violations dealt with by the city’s code compliance officers, formal process begins with service of process, meaning when the notice of violation is served. Sometimes mere “courtesy notices” are given, which do not constitute formal service of process. In my opinion, service of process is often tardy, for whatever reason.

My guess was that Mr. Robins had already been notified that service would be forthcoming, and therefore had already proceeded with the paperwork to obtain the necessary certificate of use and business tax license, which he would obtain speedily given his connections, at which time the file would be marked “closed.” In that case, the notice given him would simply be a “VIP invitation.” As for the unpaid taxes for nearly three years, the city has demonstrated that it is reluctant to collect monies owed even where millions of dollars are at stake, allowing the debt to go past the time provided under the statute of limitations. Wherefore Scott Robins would walk away without consequences for nearly three years of violations. If he deliberately

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evaded state tax revenue law and federal income tax law, he might be liable for past due amounts plus civil or criminal penalties.

The Sadigo Hotel

The Espanola Way Suites violation reminded me of a pending case brought in federal court against the City of Miami Beach by Rod Eisenberg, owner of the recently reopened Sadigo Court Apartment Hotel, near the convention center, 334 20th Street. Mr. Eisenberg insists that he did his best to get the right kind of permits for his establishment, yet the city notified his long standing client, the Art Basel Foundation, that he was illegally operating a hotel, and then he was arrested and his guests thrown onto the street. Attorneys for the city and for Mr. Eisenberg have not responded by deadline to my requests for the status of the criminal charges against him and the status of his suit against the city.

The Eisenberg suit alleges that the city took the punitive action against him in retaliation for exposing bidding corruption involving leasing of space in Old City Hall. He claimed that the winning bidder had been receiving free rent at Old City Hall, and that an illicit brokerage commission had been received by a city commissioner. A scandal broke as a result of media coverage of his exposure. The city manager resigned and the city attorney was pushed out.

It is said by old-timers that there are two things for sure in Miami Beach: one is selective enforcement, the other is retaliation.

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Past Due Process in Miami Beach

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