Headline Surfer® photo / NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Bob Garrigues was a leading businessman in New Smyrna Beach for decades, before he passed away on July 18, 2014, at the age of 82.
Born and raised in the Baltimore, Maryland area, Bob served in the Army during the Korean Conflict then graduated from Towson State University. He started a staff leasing company in the 1990s but spent most of his career in insurance.
Garriques was active in the American Legion, Elks, Kiwanis, Chamber of Commerce, and the Episcopal Church, and belonged to Smyrna Yacht Club in New Smyrna Beach, where he and his wife have lived for 35 years. Garriques also was a one-time president of the Siutheast Volusia Chamber of Commerce.
Back in 2011, Garriques went through a tough stretch of controversy in trying to help out a friend -- Steve Dennis.
Garrigues said he was was approached by Dennis, at that point trying to stay on the New Smyrna Beach CRA as its vice chairman by becoming a duly sworn member of one of Garrigues' companies.
But the then-chairman of the CRA, Charles L. Belote wasn't buying it and neither was NSBNews.net, the predecessor name to HeadlineSurfer.com prior to 2012.
Dennis was forced to abruptly resign from the Community Redevelopment Agency after his latest claim to ties with the district were called into question by his board's chairman and by the internet newspaper.
Dennis' departure started as a result of the Observer Newspaper abandoning its offices on Flagler Avenue with no forwarding location. In order to serve on the CRA its members must either live in the district, work in the district or be an officer in a corporation in a business located in the district.
When Dennis was fired in August 2010, as director of the Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce, he was able to stay on the CRA after Michele Lott, publisher of Coronado Beach Publishing, wrote a letter to the city claiming Dennis was a "duly sworn officer" of the corporation doing business as the Observer newspaper.
But when the Observer left its Flagler Avenue offices in 2011, which it shared with Lott's husband, Robert Lott of Lott Financial Services, Dennis could no longer lay claim to his seat. The city then received a letter from Garrigues, former president of the chamber, stating that Dennis was now a "duly sworn officer" for his leasing company.
That did not sit well with CRA Chairman Charles L. Belote who sent an e-mail to other city officials, including CRA Director Tony Otte and CRA attorney Mark Hall, questioning the veracity of Dennis' new-found business connection within the CRA district.
"Pursuant to s.817.155, Florida Statutes, it is a 3rd Degree Felony to knowingly file a false document with the Division of Corporations," Belote wrote in the e-mail sent at 1:25 p.m. Friday, which included an attachment that cites the law.
Dennis was a no-show at the CRA meeting, which NSBNews.net attended and during which asked the CRA officials about the status of Dennis' situation with the CRA after the Observer newspaper closed up shop on Flagler.
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Photos by Henry Frederick /The internet newspaper asked the CRA for proof of Dennis' membership with the CRA, for which the board attorney, Mark Hall, tersely responded, "We're looking into those questions. We just found out about this yesterday."
The Observer had vacated Flagler during the tail-end of the week of April 4, 2011, prompting NSBNews.net to call CRA Director Tony Otte in advance of the CRA meeting meeting to inquire as to Dennis' status with the CRA.
The internet newspaper was told by Otte's assistant that Dennis had called in the day before the meeting to announce he would not be attending the meeting because he had other pressing business. Otte's assistant, Claudia Soulie, told NSBNews.net that Dennis had not missed a meeting in years.
The internet newspaper called Garrigues and asked him if Dennis' new appointment was legitimate or if it was just a mans for him to stay on the CRA. Garrigues said "the idea was all Dennis'." As for his duties, Garrigues said they were not defined and added he was just trying to help Dennis out.
The internet newspaper called Garrigues and asked him if Dennis' new appointment was legitimate or if it was just a mans for him to stay on the CRA. Garrigues said "the idea was all Dennis'." As for his duties, Garrigues said they were not defined and added he was just trying to help Dennis out.
As for the legitimacy of it all, Garrigues said he was not trying to do anything illegal and said he would ask Dennis to call the internet newspaper. Dennis did not call back.
Instead, Dennis sent in a letter of resignation from the CRA, and the resignation was accepted by then-Mayor Adam Barringer.
The death of Bob Garrigues comes in at No. 33 in the HeadlineSurfer.com countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2014.
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The Headline Surfer® Countdown of the Top 100 Stories of 2014, is sponsored by Edgewater Towing & Myron's Auto Service of Edgewater, FL. 