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The minor problems at his business were documented during an inspection in early August.
By ROBERT FARLEY
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 24, 2000
EAST LAKE -- Fire Commission candidate Daniel Bobel has failed for more than two months to correct several minor fire safety deficiencies required for the fire department to sign off on an annual inspection of his business.
In an internal memo, District Chief Jeff Malzone said he visited Bobel's office Oct. 12 and that Bobel told him, "Go ahead and close it (the inspection) out. We will have a year to discuss it because I am going to be elected fire commissioner."
Bobel, publisher of the East Lake Eagle, said Malzone is lying. Bobel believes the reports are "direct retribution" for his perceived opposition to a referendum to make East Lake an independent district. Firefighters strongly supported the referendum, which passed overwhelmingly in September.
By all accounts, the unresolved safety deficiencies are minor. One is for burned out bulbs in an exit sign to the back door and another is for having fire extinguishers on the floor, rather than mounted on brackets. The issues were first raised in a Notice of Hazardous Conditions written by Lt. James Dalrymple Aug. 9.
They were reiterated in follow-up inspections on Aug. 30 and Sept. 8.
"It's so minor, it's really quite silly what's going on," Malzone said. "I just don't understand why he doesn't get it done. I think if he's running for fire commissioner, he should be an advocate for this."
Dalrymple wrote a memo to Malzone after the third inspection stating that many of the deficiencies identified in his initial inspection still had not been corrected.
On Oct. 12, Malzone paid a visit to Bobel's offices in the Tarpon Woods Professional Center on Tarpon Woods Boulevard.
In a subsequent memo to Assistant Chief Jeffrey Parks, Malzone stated that he told Bobel he wanted to "close out" the inspections.
"His response was quick and direct, "Go ahead and close it out. We will have a year to discuss it because I am going to be elected fire commissioner,' " the memo states.
Malzone said he told Bobel, "I would not do that."
"I believe he (Bobel) has no intention of correcting the deficiencies," Malzone continues in the memo. "I find it troublesome that the man is running for fire commissioner and he is making these types of statements."
On Monday, Bobel said he did not recall the conversation and said Malzone was "lying through his teeth."
As for the delays, Bobel said he just hasn't had time to fix the exit signs or mount the extinguishers.
"I'm busy -- what can I say?" Bobel said. "You come here and run eight newspapers."
Besides, he said, the building is safe. "What's the big deal here?" he asked.
Bobel said he plans to take care of the fire safety issues. In fact, he said, he has been to two different stores to get replacement bulbs for the exit sign, but the bulbs were out of stock. He noted that he recharged fire extinguishers in response to a warning contained in the first inspection that all the building's extinguishers were expired.
Bobel is running against incumbent Fire Commissioner Chuck Schult, who championed the push for independence. On the night of the election, Schult celebrated the independence victory with a number of off-duty firefighters.
Bobel said he never publicly took a stand one way or the other on the issue. But his newspaper ran several front-page stories written by Fire Commission President Jim Nobles criticizing the pro-independence movement. In interviews with the Times, Bobel also raised several questions about it.
Malzone said Monday he sticks by his memo about their conversation. As for the fire notices, Malzone said in his memo there are "several avenues that East Lake Fire and Rescue can take to have him comply, but due to the current political environment it could become messy."
On Monday, Malzone said the matter could be turned over to the Pinellas County Fire Administration for possible fines, but he said the deficiencies are so minor, that isn't likely.
Assistant Chief Parks said he wasn't sure where the matter could end.
"We've never really had anybody who has given us this much trouble," Parks said.
Parks said the fire district now plans to contact the property owner, Lloyd M. Ferrentino, who leases a part of the professional center to Bobel.
"We'll advise Ferrentino of what's going on and see if he'll take any action," Parks said.