Chapter 21

On the afternoon of April 5, 2000, I received a letter from Ms. Ustick, dated March 29, 2000, notifying me that my paperwork had been forwarded to the Escambia County Contractor’s Competency Board for them to handle this matter.  She notified me that, “According to Ms. Judy Hardy, your case has been referred for review by the County Competency Board, which is scheduled for April 5, 2000 at 9:00am.”   Even though the letter was dated March 29, 2000, the envelope was postmarked April 4, 2000.  This meant that I could not have received the letter before the afternoon of April 5, 2000, which prevented me from attending the meeting.  A copy of the letter and envelope from Ms. Ustick follows:

The person who scheduled this matter to be reviewed, Ms. Hardy, did not contact me about the meeting.  I had not been informed of this meeting by either City Officials or County Officials in time to attend.  This is similar to Mr. Wilkinson’s secret hearing where I was also not informed so that I could attend.

The review was to discuss Mr. Wilkinson’s findings (he found nothing wrong) and Mr. DeStefano’s findings (he found nothing wrong).  The County Competency Board also found nothing wrong during this review and reported the investigation to Florida State authorities as finished and that they had found nothing wrong.  I wrote Mr. Mayo on April 5, 2000, notifying him that the letter telling me of this meeting came too late for me to attend.  

I wrote Ms. Ustick, on April 5, 2000, the afternoon I received her letter notifying me of this meeting, and told her that the notice came too late for me to attend.  I also notified Ms. Ustick that “there appears to be a large construction theft ring operating in Pensacola.”  No steps were taken by Mr. Bonfield or Ms. Ustick to investigate the “theft ring,” stop the stealing or locate and return stolen property which in our case consisted of historic artifacts, building materials and money spent on false requirements.

I wrote a letter to the Assistant City Manager, Ms. Ustick, dated May 11, 2000, where I told her I had received no answer to my letter to her of April 5, 2000, in which I asked her to:

      Find out why I did not receive notification (by her letter) of the hearing on April 5, 2000, until after the hearing was over (the second time this had happened).

     Find out what happened to my stolen historic artifacts discussed between Mr. Wilkinson, Mr. DeStefano, Mr. Miller, and Mr. McFatter at their secret hearing. 

Mr. DeStefano’s official report stated that my property (historic artifacts, building materials, etc.) was being held by Mr. Miller as Mr. Miller stated that I owed him money.  This was not true and I had submitted all invoices, all paid in full, from Mr. Miller.  Even if I owed him money, which I did not, grand theft if not authorized and was a felony.  A mechanic’s lien was the proper action if a contractor believed he was owed money.  All parties in this illegal hearing have refused to divulge what happened to my stolen property, most of it irreplaceable historic artifacts, 120 years old, most made of heart pine (which is now extinct) and/or mahogany.  Neither of the public officials at this meeting, Mr. Wilkinson or Mr. DeStefano or their supervisors reported this apparent grand theft to the authorities which is required by Florida Law.

I also addressed other problems caused by City Officials that I had brought to the attention of the City Manager, Mr. Bonfield, and the Assistant City Manager, Ms. Ustick, many times.

In response, I received a letter from Ms. Ustick, dated May 23, 2000, where she stated,

“Thank you for your letter, dated May 11, 2000, describing your concerns with the policies and procedures of the Inspections Department.  I am in the process of looking into your allegations and will be providing a written report once my review of Inspections Department policies is complete.

Thank you for your patience and congratulations on winning the North Hill award for the restoration of your historic property.”

I received a letter from DBPR, dated May 11, 2000, requesting that I complete and return the complaint forms they sent.  Remember, I have diligently reported the apparent illegal/criminal actions against us by “professionals” to DBPR on several occasions, sent them extensive documentation, and yet they have previously stated that they could see nothing wrong.  I completed and returned the forms they had sent.

I attended the Pensacola City Council Meeting on May 25, 2000, and, again, raised the problems I had previously raised at City Council Meetings.  The minutes of this meeting can be located at www.ci.pensacola.fl under council minutes for May 25, 2000.  I also discussed City Officials not mailing, until April 4, 2000, the letter of notification that a hearing would be held on April 5, 2000, at the Escambia County Competency Board concerning my case. 

I had sent a copy of the letter, from Ms. Ustick, dated March 29, 2000, (which notified me of the hearing on April 5, 2000, and a copy of the envelope postmarked April 4, 2000 so that we received the notice to attend after the meeting was over) to Mayor Fogg, the City Manager, Mr. Bonfield, and all City Council Members.   Only Councilwoman Jones and Councilwoman Thompson appeared to be concerned about the continued failure by City Staff to notify me of pertinent hearings that I should attend. 

              

As you can see from the minutes, pages 37-43, Mr. Bonfield refused to admit that the City Staff was responsible for not notifying me of the hearing in a timely manner.

Even though I have frequently furnished all City Council Members with documentation clearly presenting many actions on the part of City Staff which were in violation of City Ordinances and Florida State Statutes, Councilman Wiggins stated, on page 40 of the minutes,

“We may have disputes, we may have disagreements, but I think when someone stands up and says, “Your staff is breaking the law,” that’s a pretty tough accusation to make, and I quite frankly don’t believe it.  Our staff is good.” 

What about the illegal Certificate of Occupancy requirement on change of tenant which was against construction law?  What about my stolen artifacts, stolen building materials and abandoned prepaid projects?  What about the Pensacola Police Department refusing to arrest Mr. Miller, even though he admitted he took my property?  What about the Pensacola Police Department refusing to secure my stolen property.   These are only a few examples where City Staff appeared to be breaking the law.

I wrote a letter to Ms. Ustick, dated June 23, 2000.  In response,

I received a letter from Ms. Ustick, dated June 26, 2000, where she stated:

“This will acknowledge receipt of your letter dated June 23, 2000.  Your complaints about City staff and City procedures regarding renovation of your building at 520 North Spring Street are still being reviewed.  Because of the nature and volume of your complaints, it is taking an extended period of time to review and prepare an appropriate response.  It is anticipated that our written report to the City Council will be finalized sometime prior to the August 17, 2000, City Council meeting and you will be provided with a copy of this report.”

Mr. Mayo fired Mr. DeStefano as the Investigator for the Escambia County Contractor Competency Board and assigned Mr. Lynn Adams to that position. Unfortunately, Mr. Adams was an electrical inspector one day and the Investigator for the Board the next day.  It appears that, except for limited knowledge in his own field, he had no knowledge of and/or background in the Standard Building Code, Florida State Statutes, or Escambia County Ordinances defining contractor misconduct.

Mr. Adams called me, informed me that he was the new investigator, and asked that I resubmit all information I had previously submitted to Mr. DeStefano and that I meet with him at the property.  I did. 

I wrote a letter to Mr. Adams, dated July 7, 2000, thanked him for meeting with me and forwarded another package containing extensive documentation about the case.

I again wrote Ms. Ustick on June 23, 2000.

                                                                                               12525 Meadson Road
                                                                                                Pensacola, Fl 32506   
                                                                                                June 23, 2000

Ms. Maryann Ustick

Assistant City Manager

P. O. Box 12910

Pensacola, Fl 32521-0053

Dear Ms. Ustick

I have received no response to the issues raised in my letters dated April 5, 2000 and May 11, 2000.  Your letter of May 23, 2000, a month ago, stated that you were looking into the

allegations, but it seems that you are still ignoring my concerns.

I explained that:

1) Mr. Wilkinson knows of 120-year-old artifacts and building materials stolen from me by

Mr. Miller.  I want an inventory of the stolen property.

2) Pensacola has a large construction theft ring aided by questionable Building Inspection Department policies.

3) Mr. Wilkinson illegally dismisses valid complaints against contractors and does not inform property owners of available avenues, declaring every situation a civil matter.

4) The Pensacola Building Inspection Department and some local contractors seem to be involved in permit selling.  Qualified contractors pulling permits for contractors not qualified is a common practice here, overlooked by the Building Inspection Department.

Ms. Ustick, you really need to correct this situation.  Mr. Delmus Wilkinson, the head of the Building Inspection Department, the former Mrs. Delmus Wilkinson, his assistant head and some of the building inspectors need to be dismissed for incompetence, breaking the law and perhaps even aiding and abetting contractors who commit grand theft.

As always, I will be happy to answer any questions.  I can be reached at 850-492-1962 or faxed at 850-491-1205.

Sincerely,

Mary M. Mead

Cc:  Mr. Bonfield, Chief Potts

       Council Members

On July 9, 2000, I wrote a letter to the Pensacola City Council and City Staff bringing them up to date.

I attended the Pensacola City Council Meeting on July 13, 2000, and spoke, pages 44-48.  On page 44 of the minutes, I asked that the Pensacola City Council investigate actions on the part of City Staff which appeared to be illegal.

Councilman Nobles cautioned me that my statements “are also libelous terms and I would caution you about using those statements unless you’ve got proof and you’re willing to stand up in front of a court of law and prove this.”  I told him that I was.  Councilman Nobles should have said “slanderous” terms as libel refers to written statements and slander refers to verbal statements.  Councilman Nobles should have known I had proof as I had sent him extensive documentation to support my statements.  His attitude appeared to be mainly to try to publicly intimidate me to stop requesting that City Officials stop breaking the law, return my stolen property and charge those who are breaking the law as defined in Florida State Statutes; and also to verbally intimidate me to serve as a lesson to others about what they faced if they spoke up. 

Assistant City Attorney Fleming tried very hard on pages 45 and 46 to charge me with stating that the State Attorney’s Office had recommended that a grand jury be convened concerning this matter.  I did not state that but I did state that an individual in the State Attorney’s Office told me that there were many options that the Pensacola City Council could use to investigate and correct what appeared to be crimes (mostly felonies) being committed by City Staff and that convening a grand jury was just one of those options he listed.  I had sent a letter to City Staff and members of the City Council, dated July 9, 2000, prior to this meeting spelling this out in detail so I didn’t understand the supposed confusion at the City Council Meeting.  The Pensacola Police Chief was in attendance, apparently ready to swoop down and arrest me, on the spot, if I could be trapped into misquoting the State Attorney’s Office. 

The State Attorney had so far refused to do anything to stop the apparent illegal/criminal actions against us so I was very careful not to misquote his office staff as they appeared to be hostile to me when I asked them to do the job they were assigned and paid to do.  But they appeared to be friendly to City Officials who appeared to be breaking the law.

Chapter 24

Chapter 23

Chapter 22

As of July, 2000, I was still waiting for the results of the police investigation which began March 17, 2000.  Police Chief Potts had stated that Investigator Stone was the best they had when he assigned him to the case. 

After the investigation started, Inspector Stone was hard to reach, seemed upset when I gave him documentation or tried to talk to him and reluctantly and randomly returned some of my phone calls.  He seemed to be otherwise engaged as he was the father of toddler triplets.  Perhaps he should have been given family leave and not have been assigned to this case as he was too busy and too frequently not at work to do a good job even if he were so inclined.

The initial interview, on March 27, 2000, with Investigator Stone had been confusing as his questions were disorganized and not sequenced by chronology or order of importance but the correspondence, invoices, payment records, City Ordinances, State Statutes and Federal Regulations I had submitted should have been more than enough for him to see the illegal acts committed against us and should have been more than enough to substantiate my testimony.

I explained to him that the biggest problem and the apparent basis for all other problems we encountered while simply improving the maintenance of the house downtown and making small repairs, as noted in the Professional Property Inspector Report, was the apparent refusal of City Officials, mainly Mr. Bonfield and Mr. Wilkinson, to obey the law.

Investigator Stone took 5 months to complete his investigation which I received on August 18, 2000.  The Pensacola Police Department Investigation, performed by Investigator Stone, appeared to be a cover-up of illegal activities on the part of City Officials and the building contractor.  It was not a serious investigation to determine the level of law breaking, who was doing it and a determination of charges to be made to prevent this from happening again as the results were that great harm was done to hundreds of law-abiding people in Pensacola, including us.

I decided to prepare a response to this investigation to point out the fatal flaws, the evidence which I had supplied to Investigator Stone which was ignored, Investigator Stone quoting rumors and gossip which had no foundation or documentation, etc., in an effort to stop the apparent criminal/illegal actions freely committed by public officials – since the Pensacola Police Department refused to do so.

I requested, under the Public Information Act, the documentation that Investigator Stone had used in his investigation.  I was given the run around.

I wrote a letter, dated August 25, 2000, to the City Manager, Mr. Bonfield, stating:

     “In my letter of August 20, 2000, I stated “I would like a copy of the interview tape and a copy of all interview reports and other evidence collected as I will pursue this on my own.”  I told Ms. Brown, by phone, that Detective Stone told me that I could just stop by and pick this material up from the Records Section.  I went to the Police Department Records Section and these items were not on file there.  Only reports on police calls and arrest records are kept there.  They referred me to the Property Management section.  I went there and they said that Detective Stone still retained the material I had asked for, that they had not received it.  I asked to see Detective Stone but when he was phoned from the front desk, he said he was too busy to see me.  So I am again requesting these items under the public records law.”

I was eventually given the materials I had requested, went over them carefully and prepared a response to Investigator Stone’s false report.

This investigation report has raised serious doubts, in most people I have shown the report, about other investigations done by the Pensacola Police Department. 

I received a copy of a Committee Memorandum from the City Manager, Mr. Bonfield, to the Economic and Community Development Committee, dated August 14, 2000, Subj:  520 North Spring Street – Responses to Ms. Mary Mead’s Complaints.  This memorandum stated the results of the investigation on the part of Pensacola City Officials and the Pensacola Police Department (Investigator Stone). 

This memo and the Official Police Investigation can be viewed at ci.pensacola.fl.us under council files for the date 08/14/2000. 

This document contained statements from various City Officials (pages 1-23) reporting their investigative results and Investigator Stone’s official report (pages 24-32) which was approved by his supervisors all the way up to the Police Chief, Chief Potts.  On pages 33-34 was a memo from Mr. Wilkinson, subj:  Contractor Licensing.  This seriously flawed report was now in official records and also online, but the written response I made to this investigation was not printed online for people to see the problems with Investigator Stone’s investigation.

I wrote the Police Department, the City Manager and each Council Member a response to Investigator Stone’s official report, pointing out the numerous false statements, erroneous legal facts and apparent hostility directed at me.  I again reported our concerns about a grand theft ring, especially against historic properties.

It appeared that Investigator Stone refused to properly investigate the apparent illegal/criminal actions against us.  He did not compare statements made by those he interviewed with the documentation I submitted to him as proof of wrongdoing.  He freely accepted and then repeated false statements in his report from the individuals he interviewed.  Most statements appeared to sidestep the matter in question, and appeared to be false statements, gossip and rumors.  I had expected a professional investigation and not a cover-up of City Officials apparently committing illegal/criminal actions.

Chief Potts accepted Investigator Stone’s report and sent it to his boss, the Pensacola City Manager, Mr. Bonfield, who accepted the report and included it in his report to the Pensacola City Council and published it online. 

Investigator Stone’s Investigation Report consisted of a telephone log, diary, rumors, unfounded gossip and false statements and assumptions.  Investigator Stone quoted, without verifying, Mr. Wilkinson, Mr. Aaron, a felon, Mr. Miller, a career criminal who has an extensive record of bad checks and unpaid judgments, etc. and Mr. McFatter who enabled Mr. Miller and Mr. Aaron to continue to cheat their creditors by receiving money for them so it could not be garnished. 

In his report, Investigator Stone presented what he incorrectly supposed or assumed what I “thought and felt” instead of reporting the City correspondence, Florida Statutes, City Ordinances, invoices, paid receipts and documented facts that I had given him as evidence to support my statements.  I did not break the law and have no criminal record.

I diligently studied Investigator Stone’s official report which was supposed to be a professional investigation of the apparent illegal/criminal actions I had reported to him.  Below are the violations of the law that I reported to Investigator Stone and his investigation relating to the situation I had reported to him. 

INVESTIGATOR STONE’S OFFICIAL POLICE REPORT

1.  Violation of the law I reported:  City Officials illegally required a new Certificate of Occupancy on each change of tenant which was against The Standard Building Code (SBC), the official law for construction in Pensacola.  Chapter 3401.2.2 Change of occupancy states “It is not applicable for change of tenant within the same occupancy classification.”  We were officially exempt from this requirement as the classification of the house was commercial and remained commercial.

City Officials appeared to use this illegal requirement, which appeared to be a scam, to illegally and criminally separate property owners from their money, building materials and artifacts and to deny property owners the legal use of their property.  To enforce the illegal requirement, City Officials pushed through a change to the Land Development Code, the zoning ordinance, (not the SBC) hidden under the description of “minor changes” and demanded that property owners comply with this illegal ordinance. 

This violated Pensacola City Ordinances, Florida State Statutes, and the United States Constitution. 

I submitted, to Investigator Stone, a copy of the legal Standard Building Code regulation, a copy of the illegal City Ordinance, issued February 11, 1999, copious amounts of correspondence recording the City Officials’ illegal demands and proof of our purchase of the property (our deed) in June, 1998, showing that we had no change of tenant after the effective date of the ordinance.

Investigation:  The only reference in Investigator Stone’s Official Report to this major apparent illegal/criminal action on the part of City Officials, the illegal demand for a Certificate of Occupancy on change of tenant, is part of paragraph 2, on page 4 of 9, where Investigator Stone stated, “Wilkinson said, in reference to the issue concerning Mead’s claim of unlawful charges for Certificate of Occupancy permits that his office was going by the City Ordinance which had been in place for some time….”

The documentation I had given Investigator Stone clearly showed that this was a false statement as the ordinance, which Mr. Wilkinson stated, “had been in place for some time” was secretly pushed through by City Officials, hidden under “minor changes”, in 1999, to change the Land Development Code (LDC) and did not change the Standard Building Code, the Pensacola construction law.  City Officials apparently did this to continue their apparent illegal/criminal activities against property owners. 

Even though it appeared the only reason for City Officials to pretend that they had changed the SBC was to have a basis to keep alive or justify the illegal procedure, Investigator Stone did not expose that City Officials appeared to commit illegal/criminal acts but chose, instead, to repeat the false statements, unfounded gossip and rumors supplied by Mr. Wilkinson. 

There is no copy of any City Ordinance in Investigator Stone’s records other than the one I supplied dated February, 1999, which did not change the Standard Building Code but modified the Land Development Code which was not legal to use for construction. 

2.  Violation of the law I reported:  City Officials illegally required that we meet the requirements of the Florida Accessibility Law when we were clearly exempted as it applied only to buildings constructed after 1997 and our building was constructed in 1883.  In addition, a special paragraph exempted buildings officially identified and recorded as historic structures, which ours was.

Investigation:  Investigator Stone did not address this issue at all although City Officials’ actions in this matter violated Florida State Statutes since the Florida Legislature had set a beginning date, 1997, where buildings constructed before this date were exempted and they also exempted historic buildings, which ours was.

City Officials used this illegal requirement to continue to keep our business closed down thereby preventing us from earning income from our business property.

This violated Florida State Statutes, and the United States Constitution. 

3. Violation of the law I reported:  City Officials appeared to have committed extortion against us and the people of Pensacola in two ways:  (1) required illegal fees; (2)forced us to do construction and hire people against our will.

             (1) Florida State Statute “839.11 Extortion by officers of the state. – Any officer of this state who willfully charges, receives, or collects any greater fees or services than the officer is entitled to charge, receive, or collect by law.” 

City officials appeared to have committed extortion by illegally demanding a Certificate of Occupancy on change of tenant, to include a Temporary Electrical Service fee I paid.

Investigation:  Investigator Stone did not address this issue at all although City Officials’ actions in this matter violated Florida State Statutes regarding extortion on the part of public officials.  As I had stated to Investigation Stone, the fees charged for the illegal Certificate of Occupancy, to include Temporary Electrical Service which we paid, appeared to fall into this category.

             (2)  Florida State Statute 836.05 Threats; extortion.--Whoever, either verbally or by a written or printed communication, maliciously threatens to accuse another of any crime or offense, or by such communication maliciously threatens an injury to the person, property or reputation of another, or maliciously threatens to expose another to disgrace, or to expose any secret affecting another, or to impute any deformity or lack of chastity to another, with intent thereby to extort money or any pecuniary advantage whatsoever, or with intent to compel the person so threatened, or any other person, to do any act or refrain from doing any act against his or her will, shall be guilty of a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

History.--s. 42, sub-ch. 3, ch. 1637, 1868; RS 2420; GS 3261; RGS 5092; CGL 7194; s. 1, ch. 57-254; s. 991, ch. 71-136; s. 1307, ch. 97-102.

Both Mr. Bonfield and Mr. Wilkinson repeatedly and maliciously threatened to accuse us breaking the law if we used our property without doing unneeded, destructive construction work, against our will, or if we refused to hire the contractor, Mr. Miller.  This appeared to constitute extortion.

Investigation:  Official correspondence in the package I submitted to Investigator Stone showed that Mr. Wilkinson had refused building permits to me (I was authorized under Florida State Statutes and under Escambia County Ordinances to be my own contractor as I fell within the authorized parameters)  and had refused building permits to qualified building contractors I had selected and insisted that we hire Mr. Miller or we would not get a building permit.  Mr. Wilkinson stated that a commercial contractor was required – that a building contractor would not do.

He also stated that Mr. Miller had restored many historic properties and was an excellent contractor with no complaints.  Mr. Wilkinson made many false statements in order to force me to hire Mr. Miller.  After research, I found that there was no category of “Commercial Contractor” and that Mr. Miller was a Building Contractor just like the Building Contractors Mr. Wilkinson had refused building permits to as he said they were not qualified.  Mr. Miller was forced on us under threats and false pretenses.

On Page 7 of 9, paragraph 5, Investigator Stone stated, “they could not do the work because it required someone with a commercial contractor’s license to pull the permits.  They referred McFatter to Doug Miller.”  This appeared to verify my statement that Mr. Wilkinson refused to issue building permits to building contractors as he said someone with a commercial contractor’s license must be hired and that Mr. Miller was the best commercial contractor in the area and should be hired – that he would issue him a building permit so we could complete the construction on our house required by Mr. Wilkinson.  Mr. Wilkinson issued a building permit to Mr. Miller even though there was no such category as commercial contractor - Mr. Miller had a building contractor’s license, just like the contractors I hired but to whom Mr. Wilkinson would not issue a building permit.  Mr. Miller should have never received a contractor’s license in the first place as he had an extensive record concerning illegal activities in the contracting business.

Investigator Stone blindly repeated the above statements and did not ascertain that my written statement was correct – that there was no contractor category called commercial contractor-  and that this was another ruse, on the part of Mr. Wilkinson, to deny me and building contractors I hired a building permit but continued to insist on Mr. Miller being hired or a building permit would not be issued and, once again, threatened that our house would sit until it rotted. 

Investigator Stone ignored the scope of the crimes committed against us and other property owners, by  City Officials who repeatedly stated, verbally and in writing, that we would be charged with an offense for actions which did not constitute an offense in order to force us into actions against our will:

             Certificate of Occupancy fraud:  We would be charged with an offense if
             we obeyed the construction law and opened without submitting to the
             illegal demands of City Officials who required a new CO on change of 
             tenant with the purpose of keeping us illegally closed apparently in
             order to facilitate committing grand theft against us of building
             materials, money and historic artifacts.  

             Illegal refusal of building permits to legitimate recipients:  We were
             denied building permits for ourselves and qualified building contractors
             in order to force us to hire Mr. Miller apparently to facilitate stealing our
             building materials, money and historic artifacts.

             False Florida Accessibility Requirement:  We would be charged with an 
             offense if we obeyed the construction law, complied with the SBC, and 
             the Florida Accessibility Code as we fell under their definition of 
             exempted categories.  City Officials forced us to submit to the Florida
             Accessibility Code even though we did not meet the criteria for using the
             Florida Accessibility Code apparently with the purpose of keeping us 
             illegally closed in order to facilitate robbing us of building materials,
             money and historic artifacts.

4.  Violation of the law I reported:  I submitted to Investigator Stone specific incidences of Mr. Miller, Mr. McFatter, Mr. Aaron and other contractors/ subcontractors committing apparent criminal acts against us.

On Page 2 of 9, paragraph 4, Investigator Stone stated, “Miller states in the record he has some material of Meads (sic) he is holding because Mead owes him money.  Mead said this is not true but there has not been anything provided to substantiate this claim.” 

Investigation:  Investigator Stone did not require anything from Mr. Miller to make this accusation of not being paid but I had given Investigator Stone a copy of invoices from Mr. Miller on completed projects annotated, by Mr. Miller, paid in full and paid far in advance on unfinished projects.  I gave Investigator Stone another copy of the invoices indicating that I did not owe Mr. Miller any money but that he was paid in full on completed projects and paid far ahead on projects he had subsequently abandoned.  Investigator Stone was supplied material to substantiate my claim on several occasions but this fact was never reflected in his official report.

I had given Investigator Stone a copy of the Escambia County Contractor Competency Board Investigation report which covered a secret hearing held by Mr. Wilkinson, which Mr. DeStefano attended, and included in his official report that Mr. Miller confessed to having property belonging to us.  This report prepared by the investigator for the Escambia County Contractor Competency Board, was the “in the record” referred to by Investigator Stone.  I had repeatedly asked Mr. Wilkinson, Mr. Bonfield, the City Manager, Ms. Ustick, the Assistant City Manager, and Investigator Stone for a list of the materials (historic artifacts, building supplies, etc.) stolen by Mr. Miller and Mr. McFatter.  Investigator Stone did not address this secret hearing on March 6, 1999, where I was deliberately excluded, and did not obtain a list of the stolen items which I had requested. 

Investigator Stone did not attempt to locate the stolen artifacts.  When he interviewed Mr. Wilkinson, Investigator Stone did not show him a copy of Mr. DeStefano’s official report (which I had given him) of the meeting between Mr. Wilkinson, Mr. DeStefano, Mr. Miller and Mr. McFatter where Mr. Miller admitted to taking and “holding” property belonging to the Meads.  He did not ask Mr. Wilkinson to identify and put in writing the property Mr. Miller admitted to stealing from the Meads as evidence for future charges as I had specifically asked that he do.  Investigator Stone did not interview Mr. DeStefano to obtain an inventory of the historic artifacts Mr. Miller boasted of “holding.”
 

In violation of Florida State Statutes, the property illegally held by Mr. Miller, historic artifacts and building materials, was never returned to us.  Holding another’s property and denying them the use of it is theft and since the value of this stolen property was in the tens of thousands, maybe even more based on the value of the stolen historic overmantels, it constituted grand theft. 

Investigator Stone refused to arrest Mr. Miller and retrieve our property.  Even if we owed Mr. Miller, which we didn’t, he is not allowed self-help.  A mechanic’s lien is the legal avenue he should have taken instead of grand theft.