Venice on the web
A semi-regular column

Has Dan Boone lost his mind?
In one of the strangest twists yet, Boone accuses the city of fraud and threatens legal action; WARNING: Do not drink coffee while reading this story
-- John Patten, 06/22/04
-- jpatten@veniceflorida.com

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Related:
The FAA shade meeting transcripts
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 06/14/04
And now... you know the rest of the story
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 06/16/04
Herald-Trib misses the airport
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 06/19/04
Council has some explaining to do
-- Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 06/22/04

Anderson and Boone go nose to nose
In a June 21, 2004 letter to VGA attorney E.G. "Dan" Boone, City Attorney Bob Anderson defends his position in the strange VGA/FAA saga and responds to a letter from Boone that accused Anderson and the city of hiding things from the public and of outright fraud in the city/VGA/FAA negotiations of last year.

Boone wants money. $20,000 a year, specifically, long term, as a reimbursement for the $20,000 annual bump in rent that the city negotiated with the FAA and that the VGA begrudgingly agreed to pay.

Anderson is mightily ticked, as is evidenced by his one-paragraph letter to Boone, dated June 21, 2004:

Dear Mr. Boone:

I recently was provided your June 1, 2004 correspondence to [Mayor] Dean Calamaras concerning the Venice Golf Association, Inc. You opened that correspondence by stating that I want to keep "settlement with the VGA under the radar screen." No such statement was made by me at our May 19, 2004 lunch and I have no intention of keeping the claims of you and the Association out of the public arena. Your June 1, 2004 correspondence is a public record and as such I have delivered it to the City Clerk. Please be advised that all future negotiations between the City of Venice and the Venice Golf Association, Inc. shall be conducted in the sunshine.

Sincerely,
Robert C. Anderson
City Attorney

What prompted this powerful response? Oh, you gotta read Boone's correspondence from earlier in the month (Adobe PDF file, 6 pages, includes minutes of the October 10, 2003 VGA board meeting with special guest, George Hunt). Just don't drink any coffee while you are reading it -- shooting coffee out of your nose is not a pleasant experience. Boone's accusation of fraud appears on the bottom of page 3 to the top of page 4 -- that's one of a few gems in this short document that may give you some nasal problems.

And the comedy continues with the next scene to be played out at today's city council meeting.

John Patten is the head of Web Operations for Creative Pages, and has worked in broadcasting for over 12 years. He can also be incredibly rude at times.