Madeira Beach leaders delay hiring investigator of board
Instead, a special master will decide the Madeira Beach Board of Adjustment's cases while it is investigated.
By ANDREW MEACHAM
Published May 2, 2004
MADEIRA BEACH - Allegations of impropriety have thrown the city's Board of Adjustment off kilter, and it could take at least six months before normal operations resume.
The City Commission on Tuesday delayed until its next meeting hiring an investigator for charges levied by Commissioner Len Piotti against Board of Adjustment Chairman Joe Jorgensen and board member Dennis Reynolds.
But the commission did vote to hire a special master who will decide some cases brought before the board while it is under investigation.
Hiring an investigator and a special master became necessary when the commission decided at an April workshop to look into allegations that Jorgensen and Reynolds have used their board positions to advance personal interests.
Piotti first clashed with the board two years ago as a private citizen, when he and his wife sought permission to convert their garage into living space for two grandchildren who lived with them. That variance request was turned down, and Piotti lost on appeal, but last year, the board approved a second application.
Piotti won a commission seat in the March election on a campaign of eliminating wrongdoing in city government. He accused Reynolds of voting to grant a variance to Jorgensen's home, despite Reynolds' working as general contractor on the project. He also accused Jorgensen and Reynolds of approving another variance for a friend of Jorgensen.
The city decided in an April workshop to go forward with an investigation. But commissioners on Tuesday differed as to when and how to proceed. Roger Koske recommended turning the issue over to the state's ethics commission.
Piotti urged caution before hiring the city's nominee, Clearwater lawyer Larry Walker, who counts the School Board among his clients. Piotti said commissioners should first weigh the evidence and decide what to do next.
Mayor Tom DeCesare argued that delaying the investigation is not fair to the accused. Besides, he said, a professional such as Walker should be able to decide within minutes whether the facts warrant a full-scale investigation.
"Are we not an intelligent group who can discuss what we have?" Piotti said.
The commission also heard from Jorgensen, who spoke during the citizens forum. Jorgensen told commissioners he welcomed the investigation. He singled out Piotti and newly elected Commissioner John Wolbert, who was not at the meeting because he was out on business but who, like Piotti, ran on a campaign of cleaning out corruption.
"Gentlemen, there is no criminal activity," Jorgensen said. "And I expect that when you find that out, I'm sure they will apologize to the city for lying to them and resign."
After a 3-1 vote to continue a decision on an investigator, commissioners approved Clearwater lawyer Herbert Langford to preside over the Board of Adjustment until any investigative cloud has passed. City attorney Thomas Trask will author the ordinance describing the separate duties of the board, which will continue to meet, and the special master.
Most likely, Trask said, the board will hear variance requests for single-family homes and such matters as air conditioning units, fences and setbacks. That leaves the fate of any duplex, triplex, or large commercial project seeking a variance in the hands of the special master. Langford will appear once a month during a six-month trial period and bill the city $175 an hour for his services.
Trask cautioned that a special master will act as a kind of judge applying the law, rather than the body that last year granted 100 variance requests and denied only four.
