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Greg Woods -- A
letter from a loon (2 pages, PDF)
"Zealous hatred;" "complete disregard for safety;" "rabid
anti-airport council members;" "all out war upon the airport;" -- What the
airport loonies needs is a good five-cent cigar, a prescription for
Effexor, and, failing that, a boot up
their collective ass
-- public record, posted 12/31/08
Herb Levine looks at 2009
In a video interview with Venice Florida! dot com's John
Patten, the
Taxpayers League prez spells out what he and the League expect from city council
in the coming year
-- Venice Florida! dot com, filmed 12/27/08, posted 12/28/08
Sharky's war is over
VIDEO:
Councilman John Moore explains why he started a legal war
against Sharky's on the Pier Restaurant and why it is now time to end it
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 11/30/08
Council flips out over call for Simmonds' resignation
VIDEO: Simmonds now denies his previous denial of doing city work on
home computer, denies Sunshine Law violations... hell, he practically denies
that he's ever heard of the town of Venice; Hizzoner freaks out as it suddenly
dawns on him that folks may call for his resignation in the near future --
hilarity ensues
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 11/28/08
VENICE FLORIDA! DOT COM CALLS FOR SIMMONDS' RESIGNATION
Simmonds, city clerk deny public
records requests in 2007; Simmonds: "For the record, I have no city business on
my [home] computer"
A heated dialog following a public records request in April
of 2007 reveals two things: City Clerk Lori Stelzer was not keeping a file of
city emails sent from home computers, and that Simmonds was lying about his use
of private emails
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 11/25/08
City hall's long history of
public records debacles
Ex-city officials Marty Black and Fred Hammett still have a
lot to answer for in their handling of the airport development proposals of
yesteryear, but attorney Andrea Mogensen is so far content to let them walk
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 11/23/08
Gondo's Giles flubs it again
In covering the story of the purchase of Legacy Park, the
Gondo's Greg Giles stays true to form by misquoting Councilwoman Sue Lang; Giles
then added bits of editorial comment to show how wrong Lang was in making
statements that were, in fact, never actually made
-- Sue Lang, City Council Member, with supporting commentary by Venice Florida!
dot com, 11/15/08
VIDEO:
Moore, McKeon sworn in
Video excerpts of the swearing in ceremony for new Venice
Councilman Kit McKeon and returning Vice Mayor, John Moore
-- Venice Florida! dot com, posted 11/14/08
Has the
Gondo lost all credibility?
Declining ad sales and readership, massive staff layoffs, a news
editor that can't figure out what the word "attribution" means -- one of our
readers sounds off about the Gondo's lack of standard journalistic ethics and
practices and wonders if the Gondo is even relevant any more
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 11/10/08
VABA spokesman Schmieler's hangar stealthed from county's tax rolls;
county to file tax lien on city airport
The public face of VABA hasn't been paying taxes on his
airport hangar as the county's Property Appraiser's Office was never told that
the hangar even existed
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 11/10/08
Mogensen fires back
Angered at the implication that she's only in it for the
money, the Sarasota attorney responsible for filing the Sunshine lawsuit fires
back at Venice Florida! dot com
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 11/03/08
Cannibals and flesh-eating
zombies: 2008 campaign trail winds down at Bay Indies non-event
Campaign workers outnumber a small crowd as the 2008
election trail whimpers to a cannibalistic end
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 10/30/08
MOORE COMES OUT SWINGING!!!
Moore's attorneys drop legal bombshell that may get Moore, Lang, and Martin
dropped from Sunshine Law lawsuit
Moore's motion for summary dismissal gives an
incredibly detailed legal argument that Moore, Lang, and Martin did nothing
wrong, and it packs a hell of a lot of evidence and court case citations into
one incredibly thorny legal document; if Moore's arguments fly in court, and it
appears that there is little reason that they won't, this paves the way for
Martin and Lang to get out on identical grounds; Simmonds, Airport Board members
still on the hook for destroying public records
-- court filing, posted 10/28/08
VIDEO -
Carlesimo finally cornered, denies fraud allegations in pending lawsuit
You can run but you can't hide -- Cornered on the campaign trail, council
candidate Emilio Carlesimo was finally forced to address the allegations made in
Charlotte McGowan's lawsuit
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 10/27/08
OUR 2008 CITY
ELECTION ENDORSEMENTS
We endorse Kit McKeon in the most in-depth look available
at the race for city council
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 10/23/08
Simmonds, Hollowell agreed to meet
secretly in 2005 to discuss airport development plans
With the Marriott on the Beach hovering secretly in the
background, Airport Advisory Board Chairman Paul Hollowell makes an exciting
discovery in November of 2005 and he can't wait to share it with Simmonds in a
series of emails marked "Confidential"
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 10/21/08
VIDEO: Council candidates ducking badly
Tough questions get strange reactions: Osmulski blows a gasket, Carlesimo runs away
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 10/26/08
Mayor Martin, ex-city manager Black fumble and bumble their
way through Sunshine depositions
Mayor Martin comes off as a computer neophyte fumbling around
with a keyboard, can't figure out why he gets so much spam or how to filter it;
Black can barely remember if he even was city manager, but he's pretty darned
sure somebody did something wrong at some time, he's just not sure about the
who, what, and when
Ed Martin's deposition - full (41 pages, PDF)
Marty
Black's deposition - full (95 pages, PDF)
-- posted to the web on 10/25/08
City's
"Talk to the Pam" policy is a return to terror politics
Every time a city manager gets in
trouble, their first trick is to clamp down on the flow of information --
yeah, that is so gonna work in this electronic age
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 10/18/08
Carlesimo, MacArthur Beach condo board sued for violating condo public records laws
and for "Fraud on the Court"
Council candidate Emilio Carlesimo and his Kondo Kommandos
try to run over a 73-year-old woman; suit states that condo management threatened
to break her door down if she didn't turn over copies of her keys
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 10/19/08
pot > kettle > black
Black's testimony indicative of
ongoing CRS problems (can't remember squat)
Ex-city manager is dead certain that he witnessed Sunshine
violations, he's just a bit unclear on when, who was there, and what was
actually said; City Clerk Stelzer refutes Black's testimony
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 10/15/08
pot > kettle > black
Ex-city manager
participated in Sunshine Law violations
Anyone remember the electronic meeting behind a public meeting when Black was
pushing for a Marriott at the airport? We do. Anyone remember the Herald-Trib's
Larry Evans picking up on this story about a week after we originally published
it? We do (link
to Evans' editorial)
-- reprint, Venice Florida! dot com, 04/28/07
The education
lies of Emilio Carlesimo
Council candidate Emilio Carlesimo says he has no ties to
airport businesses -- his campaign donation sheet says otherwise, and that's
just the beginning of the malarkey that this guy is spewing
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 10/09/08
This just
in: Mogensen's fourth amended complaint
Biggest change from second through fourth complaints: ex-mayor Hammett's shenanigans throws Mike
Miller's downtown hotel project, Tra Ponti, into possible legal limbo
-- court filing, PDF, 34 pages plus exhibits, 61 pages total, posted 10/06/08
Welcome
to Toon Town
Live from Venice, it's Kit McKeon in a satirical look at Mogensen's Da Mickey
Code
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 11/02/08
A Letter from Herb Levine
The VTL prez makes a pitch for Kit McKeon
-- Herb Levine, 10/03/08
County fire department,
city's code enforcement investigating Carlesimo rally
Internal inquiry ongoing into why two uniformed on duty
firefighters and a county ambulance made an appearance at Carlesimo's park rally
-- Venice Florida! dot com, UPDATED 6:00 PM 10/02/08
Is the fireman's union a stealth
front for the CQG?
Year after year, the Suncoast Firefighters have acted as a
volunteer army for the land developer's PAC known as the CQG -- here's the
breakdown of who endorsed who over the years
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 10/01/08
Venice is now an Officially Designated State Clusterflap:
Interim
city manager, airport and utilities managers added to Sunshine Law lawsuit list
of defendants
Right under the city attorney's nose, and with his
tacit approval, city commits yet another Sunshine Law violation; won't somebody
think of the children?
-- Emergency Motion court filing, 36 pages, dated 09/30/08
Mogensen puts Boone and Simmonds in
the toaster in latest round of Sunshine legal tussles
Also: Kit McKeon, Mike Rafferty, and Jim Leis are bounced out of the
lawsuit; Nancy Woodley, Len Bramble, and Fred Watts are about to get tossed in
BONUS HILARITY: Court rules that Tacy is an idiot
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 09/28/08
Florida Bar rejects complaint against
Jeff Boone
Boone argues that he didn't make any accusations at all, he
was just after the truth... the truth that had been previously deleted from his
law firm's computers
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 09/20/08
Our
favorite councilman: Simmonds is up for contempt charge
Attorney Jeff Boone continues his fine job of lawyering --
Simmonds could face fines and/or jail for failure to obey court order
-- 09/15/08 court filing, PDF
Mayor Martin on latest public
records lawsuit developments
Venice's mayor responds to the third amended complaint and
recent news accounts
-- Ed Martin, posted 08/23/08
Sunshine email lawsuits, 2008 city elections, more...
August
2008 Venice Taxpayers League newsletter
It would have been fairly simple to avoid getting into the
current Sunshine Law lawsuit -- of course that would have meant using some
common sense
-- VTL August 2008 newsletter, 4 pages, PDF file
Sylvan: The best prog band you never heard
From Germany comes the next great prog band in the
tradition of Yes, Genesis, and King Crimson -- maybe Americans will even notice
them
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 08/06/08
Bad Monday, bad Black, bad attitude, quite
a nice cup of brew, though
City Manager Marty Black was having a bad day on Monday and
he decided to share the mood by throwing city staffer Pam Johnson into oncoming
traffic; that was probably a bad idea
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 07/31/08
City officials and city's insurance
carrier: Runway 04-22 is safe
Venice Jet Center's PR group calls runway 04-22 a death
trap; city's PR maestro Pam Johnson agrees, thus making council look like fools;
city officials Alan Bullock and Fred Watts, along with the city's insurance
carrier, disagree
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 07/25/08
Woodley should be dropped from
consideration for interim city manager gig
Nancy Woodley consistently fails at giving straight
answers, plus there's a conflict of interest in the Hans Behrens investigation.
How much would you pay for all this? But wait, there's more: that pesky
admission by the city last year that Woodley violated federal labor laws by
engaging in discriminatory employment practices
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 07/21/08
Un-freaking-believable:
MEA/Hanson airport consultant price
tag so far: $1.5 million
And we have what to show for it? So much for that number of
$350 thousand that VABA keeps spitting out. Hey, here's an idea -- let's toss
more good money after bad
-- contract summary sheet from City of Venice, Finance Department
-- posted to the web on 07/19/08
Attorney
Peter Baranowicz slammed by Bar Association for stiffing clients
Baranowicz admits to totally failing to represent his clients
after being accused by Venice
Florida! dot com and Kim Foust, sister of imprisoned DUI manslaughter offender Dabney Young; Florida Bar Association recommends fines, psych evaluation,
possible drug counseling, and a
three-year probation term
-- Florida Supreme Court plea agreement, 14 pages, posted 07/12/08
Patten's affidavit accuses Simmonds, Dan Boone of perjury
They lied, just to try to get their hands on Simmonds' computer
before the forensic examination
-- filed in court, post to the web on 06/30/08
Patten to Simmonds: "You are a coward;"
Patten to Boone: "Blow me!"
Jeff Boone, acting as attorney for Councilman John
Simmonds, drags Venice Florida! dot com's Patten into court to reveal
source of public records emails that Simmonds has admitted to criminally
destroying; Boone accuses this web site of hacking to obtain emails
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 06/26/08
Black quits!
-- posted to the web, 06/25/08
Oh Mr. Simmonds, can you explain this
one, too?
Simmonds types an email -- one more from the lost episodes
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 06/23/08
Oh Mr. Simmonds:
What's this, then?
Emails uncovered by Venice Florida! dot com between
Councilman John Simmonds and Venice Jet Center's CEO Art Nadel reveal that
Simmonds was in attendance at least once in private airport planning
meetings -- you know, the same meetings that the Herald-Trib falsely
accused the mayor of attending
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 06/15/08
We rate the
city manager
Council gets to do it, so we thought we'd throw in our official
evaluation as well. You can join the fun, too:
just download the form, print
it out, grab a crayon, and send it in to city hall, attn: Ed Martin -- BONUS: if
you send it in, it'll automatically become a
public record
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 06/17/08
Mogensen to add laptops owned by Bartanowicz, Carlucci to her growing collection
"I regret that I am unable to comply with your request
as I routinely delete my e-mails" -- well, we'll just fix that little
problem for ya
-- Attorney Andrea Mogensen's court filing for injunction, 06/17/08
Carlucci
pulls a Simmonds; Moore gets lawyered up; Hizzoner looks for a bus to lie down
in front of
Lorenzo v. Venice plods on, body count expected to rise;
Moore hires Preiksat, Martin goes commando
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 06/16/08
Bennett's signed court order
Judge Bennett's written order becomes a compromise of what
he originally verbally ordered in court on June 11 and what attorney
Mogensen originally wanted; Martin and Moore now actually do have to turn
in their computers for evidentiary freezing purposes, this in case the
court later orders a forensic analysis
-- court order signed by Judge Bennett, 06/13/08, 4-page PDF file
Judge
Bennett did not order that Moore's and Martin's computers be
forensically analyzed
Herald-Trib's crack reporting written under the influence of
crack?
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 06/12/08
Venice is
officially out of clean underwear
That earth tremor you felt yesterday? That was no tremor...
everyone even remotely connected with the CQG simultaneously exploded at both
ends with attorney Mogensen's latest public records request (and we'll have fun,
fun, fun, 'til daddy takes the T-Bird away...)
-- letter to city hall, PDF file, dated 06/09/08
Bobbo talks!
City Attorney Bob Anderson finally comes out of hiding,
says some stuff about the Sunshine Law and the Herald-Trib that makes it look
like he's done some real lawyering
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 06/10/08
Judge
Bennett kills Bella Citta rezone: City did not afford due process
City Attorney Bob Anderson already has a black eye from the due
process issues in the short-term rental case, now he's 0-2 as a result of
another "denial of due process"
-- 9-page court ruling, posted to the web on 06/08/08
Herald-Trib's
Hackett and the Sunshine Law: An exercise in utter legal crappery
The newspaper again goes after Mayor Ed Martin for
attending yet another meeting that he never actually attended... and then there
is the newspaper's highly creative interpretation of Florida's Government in the Sunshine
Law
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 06/07/08
Part 9: Vellucci walks again
City's attorney Wayne Hall usurps Code Enforcement Board
Chair Diana Mier, acts as defense attorney for Vellucci; Code Enforcement Board
backs down, blames society, pats Vellucci on the
fanny and sends him on his way
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 06/06/08
How things change as time goes by
It was
only a year ago that the city manager was openly encouraging Tacy and Simmonds
to violate the Sunshine Law
In April of 2007, this web site caught council sending secret
messages right in the middle of an open council charrette; strangely, the
Herald-Trib commented at the time that the behavior by CQG-sponsored pols was
merely "sophomoric"
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 06/04/08
Venice makes
another top ten list: top ten biggest carbon footprints in the country
Sarasota/Venice is 5th biggest emitter of carbon from autos in
the country (rank of 96 where 1 is good and 100 is bad), this according to
a new report commissioned by The Brookings Institute
-- posted 05/30/08
Sunshine:
Emergency motion for injunction filed
Lorenzo claims he has the goods on Moore, Lang, and Martin, asks
judge for immediate cease and desist order
-- Sarasota court records filed 05/23/08 (8 pages, PDF)
Patterson on beach
parking fees: We need the money
Same water, same sunset, new low, low price
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 05/27/08
Lorenzo v.
Martin, Lang, Venice
Does an elected official have a fundamental right to blog? Do
wild felons shit in the courts?
-- filed court complaint
Uh oh........ the
feces has made contact with the rotary oscillator
Who's running this Mickey Mouse operation? Nobody.
There's a total power vacuum in city hall!!!
Lang - hotmail; Zavodnyik - yahoo; Tacy - acun.net;
Moore, Noren, Simmonds - comcast.net; Martin - tiltingatwindmills; You're all
screwed now (ex-mayor Fred Hammett's gmail and comcast accounts -- still safe)
-- legal notice from Attorney Andrea Mogensen, posted 05/20/08
Yo Mayor: Are you paying attention?
Liberality and meanness
The CQG knows it, Marty Black knows it, hell, even Rick
Tacy knows it; it's time you figured it out: If a man is wise, he ought not to
fear the reputation of being mean
-- Nick Machiavelli, guest editorial for Venice Florida! dot com, posted to the web on 05/17/08
Wonder where the
attacks on council are coming from? Try looking in the city manager's office
City manager thought it was "prudent" to gather evidence
against council members, specifically those members of council whose views clash
with the city manager and the CQG
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 05/14/08, 7:00 PM
The War of the Poses
How the Herald-Trib sparked and unleashed a bloody civil
war in a town that was itching for a fight
-- Venice Florida! dot com, REVISED 05/09/08
It just gets funnier and funnier
Herald-Tribune covers up why they
pulled an error-filled story about a cover up in government -- Nope, nothin'
goin' on here
The Herald-Tribune is
lying. There is no polite way to say it.
-- Venice Florida! dot com, REVISED 05/05/08
Tacy declares war
This story is brought to you by the folks at Inverhouse
Distilleries
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 05/02/08
Marty Black
on airport sunshine debacle: I didn't do it, it wasn't my fault
"I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun
followed the youth, the king's successor. There was no end to all the people who
were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor.
This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." -- Ecclesiastes 4:15-16
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 05/02/08
An open letter to
the Herald-Trib: Getting a clue doesn't mean printing "Ed Martin in the library
with a candlestick"
Clean up your poo, please
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 05/02/08
Hizzoner to
Herald-Trib's Hackett: "You are a bit of a loose cannon"
Mayor Martin comes out swinging after Herald-Tribune accusation
of Sunshine Law violation -- Secrets? We don't need no steenkin' secrets!
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 05/02/08
Herald-Trib's article
on Hizzoner and the airport: High on fumes, short on facts
(VIDEO)
Past entries in Mayor's blog, past city council videos refute H-T's allegation of a secret airport plan; airport business group,
Venice Neighborhoods Coalition, and the Venice Taxpayers League all accuse
Herald-Trib of a bum rush
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 04/30/008
He knew nothing?
Documents show that Behrens knew of non-permitted construction at
gay bar in September, 2007
Building Director Hans Behrens told his staff not to take
any action as it was all in the hands of the city attorney, city attorney claims
Behrens never mentioned it to him; Also: police seek criminal charges against
bar owner Mike Vellucci in murder of innocent video camera
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 04/24/08
Venetian Golf & River
Club: "I'm selling and leaving this bad dream behind"
Living next to a mining operation has become a living
nightmare for Venetian Golf & River Club resident Bruce Lenio
-- email to city council,
posted to the web on 04/18/08
BONUS LINK:
Simmonds
claims VG&RC is a total mess, it's not in the city, the city doesn't want it,
and the problem was caused by the county
The Vellucci Papers, part
7:
Black blasts Building
Director, Fire Marshall
(PDF, 4 pages)
In a memo dated February 26 that has just been released, City Manager Marty
Black confirms allegations raised by Venice Florida! dot com in the Tavern on
the Island fiasco; Question: so why, exactly, is Building Director Hans Behrens not
suspended pending further investigation?
-- internal city hall memo, posted to the web on 04/17/08
The Vellucci Papers, part 6:
Code enforcement goes after Vellucci... again
Weirdness factor in Tavern on the Island story continues to
climb as police investigate claims that Vellucci is threatening neighboring
store owners
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 04/16/07
A very public suicide
Gondo throws their web site into the
recycle bin
How to become irrelevant without even trying
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 04/13/08
VPD responds to complaints about drugs
in Grove Terrace (VIDEO)
VPD's Capt. Tom McNulty discusses the department's
ongoing drug
enforcement efforts
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 04/10/08
The Vellucci Papers, part 5:
Behrens'
building department story weirder by the day
City takes a dive in the Vellucci tavern case, homeowner gets fined out the
wazoo, and the city turns its back on building codes when air conditioners are
involved
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 04/08/08
About that phone recording system in city hall...
April Fools 2008
UPDATED: A lame premise, one that should never have
worked, gets some folks at city hall upset about their phone calls being
recorded; also -- Mayor Martin wastes no time in spoofing back
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 04/01 and 04/02/08
DOH!
Dan Boone gets a
smackdown from Hizzoner; Venice Florida! dot com takes Boone's side
Wait... what?
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 03/28/08
The Vellucci Papers, part 4:
Tavern on the Island finally cited for
code violations, bar owner to appear before city's Code Enforcement Board
Michael Vellucci's documented threat to "get even" with code board probably won't go down
well; he's
also due in criminal court, accused of pushing around and threatening to shoot
his former girlfriend
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 03/25/08
Witnesses describe plane crash off of Venice pier (AUDIO)
Ben Cadle: It went straight
into the water (MP3)
Angel Neketis:
911 didn't know
where Sharky's was (MP3)
-- posted 03/25/08
Milo vs. Venice, and
the judge with a low tolerance for lunacy
For a judge to make a ruling like the one Judge Robert
Bennett handed down to the City of Venice, there had to have been one hell of a
bad legal decision made by the city -- they had to convict the baby
in a case of baby rape for a judge to do that
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 03/21/08
Yet more legal nightmares for the city -- Judge Bennett agrees to
open up Bella Citta can of worms (see sidebar)
Bennett issues Show Cause in Bella Citta lawsuit filed
against the city by Sorrento Shores Homeowners Association, thus setting the
stage up for the sequel to the Milo lawsuit
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 03/20/08
The
Vellucci Papers, part 3:
Venice Florida! dot com to Marty
Black: Suspend Behrens now, fuller investigation needed
Public and city employees have a basic right to both public safety and honest
answers, city is providing neither
-- Venice Florida Dot com, 03/19/08
Stick a fork in it. It's done
Judge Bennett refuses to hear city's arguments in open court, gives slam-dunk win to Milo in short-term rentals case
(PDF
- 8 pages)
Nutshell summary: City of Venice argues that short-term
rentals are prohibited; court rules that the city has never come close to
expressing that intent in the city's ordinances, court further states that city
ordinances as written explicitly allow short-term rentals
Political fallout: Planning Commission vindicated; today is a very bad day to be an elected official, the
city attorney, or work in the city's Planning Department
-- posted to Venice Florida! dot com on 03/19/08
The
Vellucci Papers, part 2:
Gay bar owner Mike Vellucci
reportedly threatens city officials, city scrambles over itself not to give him a hard time
The Tavern on the Island saga gets weirder by the
day as city hall launches a very limited internal investigation into its own
code enforcement department; mayor decrees that code enforcement head Hans
Behrens cannot be quoted at city council meetings; bar owner Mike Vellucci is
reported to the cops for issuing threats against city officials
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 03/17/08
City acknowledges Bird Bay foul-up
(PDF)
Finance Director Jeff Snyder does the unprecedented and
unthinkable -- admits that the city made a mistake and offers to do the right
thing without having to go through yet another lawsuit; in other news, Venice
will be looking for a new Finance Director soon, as this kind of behavior is
clearly unacceptable (see
original
article)
-- PDF, city document, posted on 03/16/08
The
Vellucci Papers, part 1:
Look Hans, no permits
Building and Code Enforcement Director Hans Behrens has
been running interference on behalf of a renegade gay bar's construction and
renovations; Behrens won't say why as he insists that there is no construction
going on
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 03/15/08
This week's
lawsuit against the city is brought to you by the fine folks who live in Bird
Bay
Condo association accuses city of bogus utility billing and
refund practices, threatens to sue if city doesn't pay up
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 03/01/08
Sharky's states its case
(VIDEO)
Mike Pachota, owner of Sharky's on the Pier, asks council
to reconsider a few points in the ongoing land lease dispute
between the city and the restaurant
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 02/29/08
Vote of confidence:
Simmonds gives his traditional black spot to Black (VIDEO)
Councilman John Simmonds has twice before rallied to the
side of beleaguered city managers -- both times it has been the seal of doom
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 02/28/08
This week's lawsuit against the city is brought to you by the fine folks who live in Sorrento Ranches
The approval of rezoning for the proposed Bella Citta development in the north part of Venice causes Dan Lobeck to file a novella in circuit court while Steve Milo and Marriott International watch from the wings
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 02/11/08
Venice Taxpayers League Newsletter for February, 2008
Available online for the first time:
Bella Citta ain't so Bella;
How about this new council?
Fire service fees: fair deal or flim-flam?
Same old song at the airport;
Political promises and a passive park;
and more...
-- Venice Taxpayers League, Feb. 2008 (PDF file, 6 pages)
Dan Boone to Hizzoner:
I own you and here's who you WILL put on the Airport Advisory Board!
The land development attorney isn't telling Hizzoner what to do, he's just telling Hizzoner what to do: "This letter is not written to recommend the appointment of any person" -- so long as it's the three people Boone names in his letter; what Hizzoner should have written in response: "Yo, Gollum: go find your lost ring"
-->What Hizzoner actually wrote in response<--
-- public records, City Hall, 02/01/08
Heading slowly for the showdown:
City ordered to defend its short term rental decision
Order to Show Cause signed by Judge Robert Bennett; Venice has until February 29 to respond
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 01/30/08 Conflict of interest on Airport Advisory Board
Ya think maybe there's a problem here?
Allegations of conflict of interest voting by members of the Airport Advisory Board come before council -- council promises to look into the matter while the city attorney tries to put up every road block imaginable
-- Venice Florida! dot com, UPDATED 01/29/08
Say goodbye to Vicki Taylor, say hello to Vicki Noren
City Councilwoman Taylor has separated from her controversial land speculator husband, Ed Taylor -- and now the truth can be told
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 01/20/07
Hackett on park story foul-up: "I talked with Pam Johnson"
Ahhhhh..... that explains it..... no reporter in their right mind would actually use the city's press officer as a viable source..... what were you thinking?
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 01/19/07
Broken promises, fictional history, and outside intervention -- the odd history of Tramonto Vista Park
It's just a park, but it has become Venice's Gaza Strip as two factions collide, both demanding that conflicting promises be kept
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 01/18/07
The state of the city
Hizzoner and city manager look at the present and the future of Venice
Condos on levitating platforms above the clouds with flying cars, glass elevators, portable beaches, and the end of property taxes -- nope, none of that, the future is far more banal
-- articles by Mayor Ed Martin and City Manager Marty Black, posted on 01/15/08
Milo sues: lawsuit filed against city as short-term rental fight continues
Steve Milo's attorney, Richard Rumrell, fires a major shot at the city, accusing them of selective and targeted enforcement and making up rules of procedure as they go along
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 01/12/07
Blood on the rooftops:
Fear and loathing in Sarasota County's real estate market
Tempo News' John Susce goes after the Herald-Trib, the Sarasota Observer, and Florida's top real estate psychic, Hank Fishkind
-- John Susce of Tempo News, special to Venice Florida! dot com, 01/07/08
Venice Florida! dot com's endorsement:
Vote NO on
property tax amendment
This proposed law fixes property taxes in the same way a
vet fixes your cat -- which is fine if you want to neuter yourself
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 01/16/08
Milo sues: lawsuit filed
against the city as short-term rental fight continues
Steve Milo's attorney, Richard Rumrell, fires a major shot
at the city, accusing them of selective and targeted enforcement and making up
rules of procedure as they go along
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 01/12/08
Blood on the rooftops:
Fear and loathing in Sarasota County's real estate market
Tempo News' John Susce goes after the Herald-Trib, the
Sarasota Observer, and Florida's top real estate psychic, Hank Fishkind
-- John Susce of Tempo News, special to Venice
Florida! dot com, 01/07/08
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