⚓️ Anchored and unhinged
Going into National Air Conditioning Appreciation Days, we offer a marina deal critics say doesn't pass the sniff test, money trucks, a father-and-son tragedy and a question: How are we doing so far?
Today’s newsletter is a 5-minute read.
West Palm Marina deal ‘stinks of rotten fish’
⛵️Six weeks after West Palm Beach city commissioners agreed to negotiate to build an 84-slip marina on the downtown Flagler Drive waterfront, there’s an upwelling of anger.
The proposal “stinks of rotten fish,” downtown resident Harriet Janensch told city commissioners July 10. “Let’s call it what it is: a water grab.”
The WPB Downtown Neighborhood Association received 701 responses as of July 13 to an ongoing survey, with the vast majority decrying the marina. Most notably, they wanted the public to have a say before the city entered into negotiations for the waterfront project.
“Our city commission has never approved a negotiation for a commercial development in a public park or space of this nature without PRIOR broad public support,” downtowner Rick Rose wrote to commissioners.
A Facebook page Rose started June 26 to “Protect the WPB downtown waterfront” has more than 290 followers.
He is distributing a petition to urge commissioners to halt negotiations with the boat show-linked developer, City Harbor.
As Stet reported July 4, City Harbor’s main presenter, Ray Graziotto, is a longtime board member of the non-profit that owns the boat show.
Mayor Keith James broke from the agenda at the July 10 City Commission meeting to address “a lot of disinformation that has been spread.”
“There will be ample opportunity for the public to weigh in on the specific proposal of City Harbor LLC before a contract is finalized,” James said. “I will ensure that there will be listening sessions.”
He referred to the city’s August 2021 resolution making public the city’s intent to pursue an agreement for “a city marina along the downtown waterfront between Palm Harbor Marina and the South Cove islands.”
Yes, but. The resolution was on the consent calendar, where noncontroversial items are grouped for approval with a single vote. It took 30 seconds to approve, with no discussion.
The proposal next came up publicly on June 5 when commissioners selected City Harbor. They had an option to postpone a decision or end the competition but did not.
Read what they said July 10th, June 5th and in the survey here.
The unwinding of Brandon Labiner
Long before Brandon Labiner’s July 2 arrest for the murder of his attorney father Paul, the Boca Raton lawyer’s life was coming apart under the weight of money, theft and lies.
Three times in less than 18 months, the office the two men shared had been rocked by theft: a long-time bookkeeper was charged with siphoning $3 million. A client persuaded Brandon to send a wire transfer, Paul said; the check covering it bounced.
And Brandon drained $451,000 from his stepmother’s trust fund, The Florida Bar found, then forged documents to incriminate his father.
He was arrested for driving drunk. He was accused of lying to one judge. When he failed to show up for a court hearing, another judge ordered him arrested. His law license was suspended.
It was all his father’s fault, he told anyone who was listening.
On July 1, Paul’s body was found in the stairwell of his office’s underground parking garage, still clutching his keys. The 68-year-old was shot four times; once in the head.
Police notified Paul’s daughter and son-in-law. They called Brandon.
He was unusually calm, they told police. Later, he texted: When would they like to see his new cat?
Brandon was arrested and charged with the premeditated murder of his father. He has pleaded not guilty.
If you did not see our full story on Sunday, please continue here to the first of our two-part series. Watch your inbox on Thursday for Part 2: Lawsuits, and a killing.
🚛 Feds hit the brakes on alleged $112 million scheme; dangerous trucks sidelined
A Ponzi scheme targeting Southeast Florida’s close-knit Haitian community has been busted and its leader arrested, according to the Dept. of Justice.
Two reasons to care: Most of the victims are Haitian-born and Creole-speaking residents, one of Palm Beach County’s largest minority groups. And the trucking company behind the scheme put potentially dangerous rigs on local roads.
At the heart of both DOJ criminal charges and Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges against Broward’s Royal Bengal Logistics and owner Sanjay Singh is the sale of financial interests in semi-trucks.
Returns as high as 325 percent were promised, money generated by a claimed 200-truck freight-hauling operation.
“You buy Apple, you buy Tesla, you start spending money. You buy a Royal Bengal contract, you start making money,” Singh said in a YouTube presentation cited by the SEC.
Investors did reap returns. But their profits weren’t profits. They represented money given to Royal Bengal from new investors, prosecutors say.
More than 1,500 bought in, most of them South Florida Haitian-Americans. The deal was peddled in Haiti, Canada, India and 17 other states.
Royal Bengal trucks were on the road in Palm Beach County by 2020, traffic records show, and U.S. Department of Transportation records list a litany of mechanical problems in trucks registered to Royal Bengal.
Among them: a fuel system leak, leaking brake connections, bald tires and tires either flat or with an audible air leak, non-working headlights, and a failure to correct problems.
One driver’s license was suspended; one was cited for drinking.
You can read the SEC’s civil suit here and the DOJ indictment, here.
🏆 The Quiz: Behind-the-scenes winners
Almost lost in the headline-grabbing culture war laws passed in this last legislative session was another pattern: new state laws weakening or eliminating local control of county and city policies and rules.
🧃 The juice
Fresh-squeezed news from all over
🌊 Lake Okeechobee as seen by The New York Times. (NYT)
Family reaches $5.75 million settlement after veteran’s death by suicide at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center. (The Washington Post)
✍🏼 Sabal palms: The ancients among us. (The Neighborly Florida)
A fitting tribute to Jack Hairston, better known as Jack the Bike Man, who died July 7 at age 81 while still trying to bring to fruition his concept of a West Palm Beach-based community center focused on bike repair. (ByJoeCapozzi.com)
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