NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The citizen who first wrote to the city earlier this year to question the validity of the Angler's Club lease agreement with the city for primate riverfront propety is at it again. He e-mailed the city again last night demanding answers as to the veracity of the longstanding lease he and others have dismissed as a "sweethart deal" that favors the rich.
Harvey T.K. Mitchell continued his call for an independent outside counsel, something at least two other residents -- William Kolesczar and William Gerhartz -- asked for at the March 10 City Commission meeting.
Mitchell also pointed out that any discussions with the Angler's Club should be done in the Sunshine -- meaning in public -- which NSBNEWS.net asked for at the last meeting as well.
At issue is whether the 99-year lease agreement, which calls for the Angler's to pay the city $25 annually for use of 40-plus boat slips on the North Causeway, is legitimate since it was signed by both sides nearly a half century ago and had an exclusionary clause that barred anyone but white men, at least 21 years of age.
Mayor Sally Mackay demanded "transparency" at the last meeting, but agreed to let Interim City Manager Khalid Resheidat and City Attorney Frank Gummey meet privately with the Angler's Club this week. City Commissioner Lynne Plaskett was also allowed to attend on her promie that she would not speak during the discussion.
Here is Mitchell's latest letter, which was also e-mailed to other local media:
Ladies and Gentlemen Commissioners,
I listened to the audio of the Commission meeting held last Tuesday night. What I heard was (City Attorney Frank) Gummey's narrow legal position and seeming lack of interest in pursuing the issue - an issue that is nothing less than an embarrassment to the name of our City and the taxpayers who own the land. I heard the Mayor (Sally Macay) repeatedly asking for documents from the City Attorney without a response - documents, as she pointed out, that should already be part of the City records. I heard Commissioner (James) Hathaway verbally attacking a citizen because the man's position appeared contrary to that held by Mr. Hathaway - who seems to either lack understanding of the problem or, possibly, is fearful of discovery of the truth.
There also seem to be no clear consensus amongst the Commissioners as to the purpose and need for an independent outside inquiry. If answers had already been forthcoming, there would be no need for any outside fact-finders. Such independent inquiry is necessary to provide an outside review of the questions and facts of the issue - the 27 questions that were raised by my original letter, the answers to which, to date, have been notably absent. In addition, the City needs to obtain all of the applications and responses thereto, both written and electronic, concerning the SBA loan, the State Submerged Land Lease, and the reduction of the property's assessment in 1988 to $1.00.
Then, and only then, will the City Commission be able to decide whether the facts and opinions obtained warrant negotiation or litigation. I note that the Angler's Club is now, finally prepared to meet with the City. Well, better late than never. I would strongly suggest that until all relevant questions are answered, it would be premature to call any such meeting a negotiation. And it is certainly it is not the time for any agreement to be reached, particularly in private. This entire process needs to be transparent. Get all the facts. Negotiate, if necessary, in the sunshine. Put this matter to rest once and for all based on full public disclosure of the results of an outside, independent, inquiry.
Respectfully submitted, Harvey T. R. Mitchell