Chapter 17

Even though I had repeatedly contacted City Officials (City Manager – Mr. Bonfield, City Attorney – Mr. Caton, Pensacola Police Department – Chief Potts, etc.), appeared before and contacted each member of the Pensacola City Council, contacted County Officials, appeared before the Pensacola Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals, City Officials continued what appeared to be illegal/criminal acts regarding our business property.  None of the people I notified about this would stop these illegal/criminal actions which were defined as felonies.  

After Mr. Wilkinson, Director, Building Inspection Department and Mr. DeStefano, Investigator, Escambia County Contractors Competency Board, met secretly with Mr. Miller and Mr. McFatter in a “hearing” on October 6, 1999, and stated they could find nothing wrong, I decided to turn to the Florida State Officials, again, for assistance.  I filled out and sent a “Uniform Complaint Form,” with extensive documentation, to the Office of Consumer Complaints, Bureau of Investigative Services, Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Tallahassee, Florida, dated October 11, 1999.

I wrote to the Chairman of the Pensacola Construction Board of Appeals and Adjustments, Mr. Woolf, on October 8, 1999, forwarding the statement from State Representative Ritchie which reinforced each statement I made at the meeting he had chaired.  I had previously sent him the official decision by the Florida Building Commission which stated that I was right that a new certificate of occupancy in my case was not needed.  Mr. Woolf and the other members stated they did not use the Standard Building Code, which was approved by State Statutes as the Official Construction Regulation and, instead, used the rule (based on rumor and gossip) they had made up and which the Pensacola Planning Board put in the Pensacola Land Development Code.  This fake regulation illegally required a new CO on change of tenant.  This had as much authority on construction as a Bugs Bunny Comic book.

City Officials and the Pensacola Construction Board of Appeals and Adjustments framed me by using this false "law" and demanded that I get a new CO.  They refused to obey the Standard Building Code, Florida Statutes and the Official Decision by the Florida Building Commission.  They continued to break the law by illegally requiring a new CO to trespass on private property, demand removal of historic artifacts for easy stealing and require unnecessary and unneeded work.

I asked Mr. Woolf to reverse the official finding of this Board as the finding appeared to violate many laws including local, state and federal.  He never answered.

I wrote a letter to the Florida Commission on Ethics, dtd October 14, 1999, describing the illegal activities on the part of City Officials which were illegally and negatively impacting our historic property, built in 1883.  The Florida Commission on Ethics refused to stop the felonies against those of us who owned historic property.

I wrote a letter to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, dtd October 18, 1999, describing, again, the illegal activities of Mr. Wilkinson which were illegally and negatively impacting our historic property, built in 1883.

The next Council Meeting was on Thursday, October 14, 1999.  After I spoke at 
the meeting, Councilwoman Jones stated, “Mr. Bonfield said that the issue is 
really something different because she can proceed with the certificate of 
occupancy item.  So, I mean, didn’t you get that same impression, that the 
certificate of occupancy problem is no longer a problem, according to Mr. 
Bonfield.”   I stated my surprise at this false statement. 

COUNCIL MEMBER JONES:  …but he meant, when he said that, I think – and he can answer for himself – that you had other problems, but the certificate of occupancy you could go ahead with whatever you understood about that.

MS. MEAD:  What other problems?  I wrote a memo.  I was never contacted by anyone, because I asked what were these technical codes because I passed all my inspections.  I don’t know what . .

Comments by Mary Mead

After the last council meeting, Ms. Ustick met with me at my property and we talked about the certificate of occupancy issues holding us up, and other apparent incompetence, or worse, on the part of the Building Inspection Department – especially passing inferior work as satisfactory. 

The only thing holding us up was the illegal requirement for a certificate of occupancy on change of tenant.  City Officials illegally used this scam to strip property owners of their life savings, expensive building materials and historic artifacts.  Even though I had repeatedly proven that this practice was illegal, and had never been any part of any construction law, Mr. Bonfield and Mr. Wilkinson demanded it apparently for personal gain.  Again, this practice was always against the construction law.

We had not wanted to do any of the unnecessary, expensive and destructive work City Officials were forcing us to do, against our will, under the guise of the illegal Certificate of Occupancy requirement.

After the meeting at my property, Ms. Ustick issued a memo, dated October 7, 1999, regarding our meeting, which she distributed to City Council Members.  She did not send me a copy.  All of her statements in this memo were false. 

Even though no technical code violations on our part, were raised or discussed in any way on or before the meeting at our property on September 27, 1999, Ms. Ustick stated in her memo that “technical code issues” and a lawsuit in court against the contractor were the only things holding us up. 

Both of these statements were false as we had not been notified of any technical building code violations on our part as we had none – we had passed all inspections.  We had not filed a lawsuit in court against the contractor, Mr. Miller, so this statement was also false.

Apparently Council Member Jones was referring to the Ms. Ustick’s memo of October 7, 1999, in reference to “other problems” or “technical code issues” and that the Certificate of Occupancy was no longer a problem holding us up.   

 

I had immediately written to Ms. Ustick, on October 11, 1999, since she had prepared the memo which was sent by Mr. Bonfield, in order to address the false statements she made in the memo, dated October 7, 1999, which was addressed to the members of the Pensacola City Council, in the hopes that she would send a corrected memo to the members of the Pensacola City Council before the next Council meeting.  It appeared that she did not send a corrected memo as Ms. Jones referred to false statements in her memo of October 7, 1999.

In my memo I stated  that I was never contacted by anyone by mail, phone or in person, regarding technical codes – that I had passed all my inspections. 

Also, I was never contacted by anyone by mail, phone or in person, regarding my memo to Ms. Ustick, dated October 11, 1999, where I had stated that all of her statements in her memo to the Pensacola City Council were false. 

-------

MAYOR FOGG:  Excuse me.  The manager would like to make a comment.

COUNCIL MEMBER JONES:  I was going to say . .

MAYOR FOGG:  Mr. Manager.

CITY MANAGER BONFIELD:  I don’t believe that’s an accurate statement, Mayor, members of the council.  After the last council meeting, Ms. Ustick personally met with Mrs. Mead at her property and talked about the issues.  For her to stand here and say she hasn’t been contacted I just don’t think is accurate.

MS. MEAD:  No, no.

MAYOR FOGG:  Ma’am, you don’t have the floor.

MS. MEAD:  He misunderstood me.

MAYOR FOGG:  You don’t have the floor until you’re recognized.  Mr. Manager.

CITY MANAGER BONFIELD:  In Mrs. Mead’s specific case, we do not believe the certificate of occupancy issue that she’s raising – we understand the issues she’s raising – we don’t think it’s applicable to holding her up in any way for the work that she is trying to accomplish, and that subsequently, we will be reporting back to the council.  We anticipate that’s going to be at the November meeting in some kind of a briefing.  I don’t think it will be in the form of an ordinance.  I think I’d like the opportunity to explain to you all the issues, look at it from a policy perspective, and then we’ll see where go from there.

MAYOR FOGG:  All right. Thank you, Mr. Manager.  Ms. Jones, do you have anything further?

Comments by Mary Mead

Yet again Mayor Fogg stepped on Robert’s Rules of Order by interrupting a discussion by a speaker and a City Council Member, who had the floor, so the City Manager could make false statements in rebuttal to facts that he didn’t want exposed to the audience in the auditorium and the audience watching at home, many of whom might have also been victims of the apparent illegal/criminal actions on the part of City Officials.

Mayor Fogg refused to let me address the false statements made by the City Manager, for example:

     “I don’t believe that’s an accurate statement, Mayor, members of the council.
      After the last council meeting, Ms. Ustick personally met with Mrs. Mead at
      her property and talked about the issues.  For her to stand here and say she
      hasn’t been contacted I just don’t think is accurate.” 


      The City Manager knew I was referring to not being contacted after his
      office distributed false information to City Council Members, the memo of 
      October 7, 1999, and my rebuttal citing the facts, dated October 11, 1999. 
      I did not receive any communication referencing my memo and he did not 
      address the facts in my memo but continued to pretend that “we do not
      believe the certificate of occupancy issue that she’s raising – we understand
      the issues she’s raising – we don’t think it’s applicable to holding her up in 
      any way for the work that she is trying to accomplish”.


There is no work that we are trying to accomplish.  We wanted to operate our business as soon as the closing was over but Mr. Bonfield forced us to do unwanted and unneeded work.  That is what is holding us up.

I have repeatedly proven that his statements were false and that the City Officials’ actions were illegal/criminal and mostly categorized as felonies.  The rewards from these apparent illegal/criminal actions must be very great in order for City Officials to refuse, again and again, to obey the law.

COUNCIL MEMBER JONES:  No.  I mean, I think what he’s saying is that, you know, there was some other things like building stuff and whatever, but –

MS. Mead:  There aren’t any.

The discussion was over and a new topic was addressed. 

I wrote a letter to Mr. Bonfield regarding the false statements he had made at the meeting.  Mr. Bonfield’s answer to my letter regarding the City Council Meeting consisted of 3 short paragraphs in which he: apologized if I interpreted his comments as attacks on me or questioned my standing as a citizen voicing a concern; stated he did not intend to address my other comments; stated that Assistant City Manager Maryann Ustick will respond regarding the technical code issue before the committee meeting on November 15.

Mr. Wilkinson sent a memo to Ms. Shirley White, City Clerk, regarding my request, under the public information act, for any documentation regarding “technical code issues” about our property as this claim of apparent wrong doing on our part was made in a memo from the City Manager’s Office to each member of the Pensacola City Council and at the televised Pensacola City Council Meeting of October 14, 1999.  No “technical code issues” regarding our property had been made known to me and I had no knowledge of what Mr. Bonfield was talking about. 

Ms. White asked Mr. Wilkinson for documentation about the “technical code issues” Mr. Bonfield stated was holding me up.  Mr. Bonfield stated that his (illegal) demand for a new CO was not holding us up but that these “technical code issues” were.  Mr. Wilkinson indicated, in his memo to Ms. White, that there were no “technical code issues” regarding our property.

Mr. Wilkinson also discussed my request for information regarding the secret hearing to investigate construction laws broken by Mr. Miller, the licensed contractor.  Mr. Wilkinson did not address my request for an inventory of my artifacts, building materials, etc., Mr. Miller had stolen from me and admitted to taking during the secret hearing.  Mr. Wilkinson said that he had no written material concerning this important hearing and that the participants of this secret hearing, that I was not allowed to attend, could find no violations of construction law committed by Mr. Miller.

Ms. Ustick, the Pensacola City Manager’s Office, sent a letter dated October 21, 1999.  Ms. Ustick awkwardly defined the “technical code issues” as the incidents I reported at the meeting at our property where I stated that the Building Inspection Department inspectors appeared to be incompetent, negligent or absent altogether regarding the proper inspection of permitted projects.

This weak excuse seemed odd to me as Mr. Bonfield and Ms. Ustick claimed, in a televised meeting and in writing in a memo, that I had violated technical codes.  The fact is that I was in the habit of dutifully meeting and sometimes exceeding the requirements of technical codes.  Ms. Ustick later stated that the “technical code issues” were the instances of apparent incompetence on the part of members of the Pensacola Building Inspection Department.

I have no knowledge of the members of the Pensacola City Council or members of the public receiving updated information, either from Mr. Bonfield or Ms. Ustick, that, according to Ms. Ustick, we were not at fault regarding “technical code issues” but that City Staff was.

During this time, I hand-delivered a package to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office covering the apparent criminal actions (felonies) against us, which is also harming many others in Pensacola.  The receptionist called down two detectives, a man and a woman, who refused to accept the report as the crimes had taken place in the City.  I explained that the City was in the Sheriff’s jurisdiction, that we paid Escambia County taxes on the property in the City, and that I needed the Sheriff’s help to stop apparent criminal actions against us.  They refused to accept the documentation and asked me to leave immediately. 

On two separate occassions, I hand-delivered a package to the United States Attorney’s Office, downtown, documenting the illegal policies City Officials were using which harmed the people of Pensacola.  Neither report was ever answered.