Winter Springs Still Mis-Using Your Tax Dollars !
The high paid legal eagle city attorney Garaganse gambles again with your money. The below case will probably be a burden upon the taxpayers for more than 1/4 of a million dollars as he again oversteps his legal knowledge of the law. This is the same attorney voted attorney-of-the-year (?) by the League of Cities --- who's paid by the City of Winter Springs for the City's legal liability insurance.
Remember previous PFGG web pages have shown that the League of Cities terminated the City of Winter Springs legal liability insurance for the excessive legal costs. City management, and the developer/special interest backed city politicians approve this type of classical, and continuous comedy of errors by their attorney.
YOU CAN BEAT CITY HALL !!!
Winter Springs, Seminole County, Florida
In 1997, the city of Winter Springs passed a new rigid and all encompassing sign ordinance. The criterium of the 10 foot set-back from all property lines was an onerous burden on those commercial businesses that had facilities on the numerous 60 foot frontage lots in the city. Subsequently, a number of small businesses paid the $500 application fee and received a variance from the city from the 10 foot set-back requirement. However, after hearings before the city board of adjustment and city commission small businessman Thomas A. Binford was denied his 10 foot set-back variance even though his property situation was identical to those who had been granted set-back variances.
Binford sued in the circuit court for violation of his 1st, 5th and 14th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution rights by the city. During the ensuing 5 years of litigation in which Binford represented himself, the case went from the circuit court to the appellate court (5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach) back to the circuit court back to the appellate court and finally back to the circuit court. Involved were hundreds of hours of research, hearings, trials, depositions and meetings in combination with a plethora of documents, briefs, motions, and forms. Binford intimated to the city that this scenario had gotten out of hand and he would negotiate with the city. The city would hear nothing of the sort. It looked like the city wanted to teach Binford a lesson and the other small business persons in the city should take heed.
Guess what? Binford finally prevailed (December 10, 2007)! There is still a remand hearing to be held in the lower court concerning the void sign ordinance and costs, expenses and damages for Binford. But for all intent purposes, Binford won in his allegations of violation of his constitutional rights.
The city wasted an enormous amount of taxpayer’s money and city time in this ludicrous litigating endeavor. However, it proves that an individual non-attorney, representing himself in both the circuit and appellate courts against a battery of hired (appellate certified) attorneys can win. Binford stated that the whole ordeal was extremely difficult on him both financially and mentally but that a great principle was at stake. Yes, he said he would do it again in a minute.
The above litigation is of public record in the civil/circuit division in the Sanford, Florida courthouse. See Binford vs. City of Winter Springs, Case No. 05-CA-367-16-G and Appellate Case No. 5D07-155.
EDITORS NOTES:
The City of Winter Springs is a consistent loser of lawsuits filed by a unknowledgeable lawyer under directions of the city manager (McLemore) who has an egomaniacal use of your tax dollars. That parallels his unsavory appetite for immense salaries and retirement quirks for his selfish use again of your tax dollars. If you don't believe the lawsuit terminology just got to our Homepage and insert the word "lawsuits" in our website search engine. You will find 14 pages referencing the expenditures and nature of his ego.
The city of Winter Springs CANNOT give you an full accounting of those expenditures, because of the manipulation of using various "line-item-accounting" to hide the TRUE totals. One outstanding example of that "line-item" hiding of the expenditure of your tax dollars can especially be found in the "Tiny Town" aka towncenter usage of your tax dollars. Just put the figure "$12,000,000" dollars in the same search engine, and you'll find FOUR pages of either an unexposed, non-published acquisition of land by the same city manager, OR just ANOTHER BIG LIE !
What brings forward this $12,000,00 dollar figure is the fact that the developer of "Tiny Town" aka towncenter --- facing a probable bankruptcy --- DEEDED all his undeveloped land over to another developer to satisfy all the pending construction liens against the current so-called towncenter --- "Tiny Town"..
Now McLemore said the city paid $12,000,000 dollars for that land at a Chamber of Commerce meeting in Oviedo. How did it revert to the developer? As of now County records don't show that type of land transfer, or sale by the city.. But more interesting is the fact your city manager, and his cronies, tried to get the towncenter --- supposingly owned by the developer (private property) a TAX FREE status with the County Appraiser's office. If that WAS done --- somebody better check into some dirty political tactics.
Basically -- your city is NOT HONEST! They have covered-up so much of their expenditures in the usage of your tax dollars. The politicians have developers, and special interest groups that have heavily invested in the continued re-election of the current political (plus former) dais members. Just check the records through the Supervisor of Election office. It's all there.
The lawsuit featured on this page has to be a reminder of the city of Winter Springs spending around $225,000 dollars to collect a $50.00 code dog violation! But, your city attorney has to justify his over a quarter of a million dollar fees to sit on the dais --- question is WHAT FOR? Hire a good outside firm on a consulting basis. Get rid of the freeloaders in the city gobbling up your money
But first and foremost --- are the people of Winter Springs going to be dumb enough to continue to elect politicians whose only goal is self preservation at the taxpayers expense. After all, one previous commissioner only made around 2.4 million dollars while seated on the dais in a clever manipulation of towncenter zoning.
All lawsuits and monetary references can be found -- if there -- on County records, or in verbatim publishing of the facts on the PFGG website. Become educated -- try the PFGG website search engine for the meanderings of the city of Winter Springs. --- which could even make reference as far back as 1998.
