Venice on the web
A semi-regular column

Calamaras denies ties with Hunt in current VGA fiasco;
PLUS: former utils supervisor Shane Saputo sounds off on city manager, is told to have a nice day
-- John Patten, 07/02/04
-- jpatten@veniceflorida.com

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Breakfast with George redux
The famed breakfast pic shot at The Clock appears to have gotten more milage than a restored Studebaker. The pic shows [from left to right] Venice Golf Association attorneys Jeff Boone and E.G. "Dan" Boone at a 2-hour breakfast meeting with former city manager George Hunt as the three discussed the current battle between the VGA and the city. It was first posted to to the web after Dan Boone went Boonistic this past Monday afternoon, June 28, with an almost surreal letter to the city. The photo was taken earlier the same day.

The really bizarre part of Boone's letter was the opening paragraph in which Boone stated that former city manager George Hunt would naturally be reporting back to Mayor Dean Calamaras about the meeting:

"I believe you would like to know that in an attempt to work toward resolving the issues between the VGA and the City, George Hunt requested a meeting at the Clock Restaurant this morning. We feel certain he will confer with the Mayor as soon as possible, as the two of them were appointed by City Council on 5/27/03 to meet with VGA representatives, which they did."

The implication being that Hunt was somehow running errands in the VGA fiasco on behalf of the mayor and/or the city with the authority to speak for the city.

Boone went on to predict that the not-yet-released photo would be used as an election issue in an attempt to dethrone Hizzonor. That's a standard Boone tactic -- on numerous occasions at city council meetings, both Boones have spoken out against various citizen complaints over the years by saying that the complaints were election tactics designed to damage either Hunt or whoever the Boones and the CQG were supporting in the upcoming elections.

This didn't smell right -- I would have to make a pretty big stretch to try to tie the photo in with Calamaras' reelection efforts. It seemed more like Boone was trying to drag the mayor down in a backhanded way by tossing out the accusation. So I called the mayor and interrupted his dinner. It was only fair to find out his take on all of this.

In spite of the fact that local politics had just taken a decidedly down and dirty turn, Calamaras was in the mood to talk: "No, I did not know that Hunt was still involved in any negotiations between the city and the VGA."

"Would you have approved? Was there some unspoken acknowledgement?"

"Absolutely not," the mayor responded firmly. Not angrily. Not defensively. Firmly.

"Boone states that he's sure that Hunt will be reporting back to you. Has that happened?"

"Hunt called me shortly after it was out that he had been seen at the breakfast meeting, just to touch bases, and he said he'd talk to me at a later time." So far, Hunt hasn't called back. The mayor went on to say that he was unclear about the value of anything Hunt would have to contribute, as he no longer works for the city, and that he was kind of surprised that Hunt had called him at all on the matter.

So according to Calamaras, Hunt's involvement here took him by surprise. And ya know what? I believe the mayor. Two reasons. The first is that Calamaras has been pretty vocal of late in opposition to the Boones and the VGA trying to squeak one past the taxpayers. An earlier letter sent to Calamaras' house by Dan Boone went straight from Calamaras' hands to the city attorney's office and then into the public record -- that's not something Calamaras would do if he was trying to help the VGA pull a fast one.

In fact, I am pretty amazed that the letter sent to Calamaras' house, along with the documents that Boone had attached (which included the minutes of a VGA executive board meeting from last October) made it into public record, it's not something I expected at all. Because of the VGA's secrecy in guarding the information on who owns stock in the golf course, it has often been speculated that at least a few public servants had to own some stock. Calamaras, Hunt, former councilman David Farley, the late former councilwoman Virginia Warren: all have been the subject of speculation. Calamaras forking that letter over to the city attorney showed me one thing: if public servants do or have owned stock, he ain't one of 'em.

As a curious aside, at the last council meeting, both Dan and Jeff Boone interrupted citizen Dick Windgassen during the public speaking portion of the meeting to shout out that neither of them own stock in the VGA. Nobody had asked them if they did, and even if they did own stock, so what? They are private citizens, they can own stock in anything they want, including companies that they represent as attorneys. What's that Yiddish phrase again? Oh yeah: Bie ah gonniff brent ah hittel.

The second reason I believe Calamaras is because of the political poo pile that this mess tosses him into. Calamaras is up for reelection this year. The Boones are, for all intents and purposes, the CQG (the local PAC that pumps a lot of money into election coffers). Calamaras has been supported by the CQG in the past, in what has become the critical endorsement needed to get elected. Calamaras has now crossed the Boones. The Boones are not happy, and there's rumors that Farley is waiting in the wings, rubbing his hands gleefully anticipating a shot at sitting at the center of the city council dais, rumors that the Boones and Hunt helped fuel after news leaked about a CQG strategy meeting last March in which Hunt spoke out in favor of a Farley mayoral run.

The fact that Calamaras is breaking ranks with the Boones and risking that key political endorsement is a strong second reason why I believe Calamaras when he says that he had no advance knowledge of Hunt's current involvement in the VGA affair.

Shane Saputo keeps going and going and going and...
Julian Pecquet's article in the Herald-Trib a week or so back about the city finally admitting that it had spilled sewage during Tropical Storm Gabrielle caused a big stir. Pecquet quoted City Manager Marty Black as stating that after the resignation of utils supervisor Shane Saputo [photo at right], there would be no further discipline against others involved in the spills and subsequent cover-ups. The problem is that Black is stating that he never said anything of the kind.

This comes right after I blasted Pecquet on the web for doing a total botch and misinform job on the release of the Shade Meeting Transcripts. It's not been a good couple of weeks for Pecquet.

Saputo took extreme issue with Black over the quotes that appeared in Pecquet's article. On June 27, the former utils supervisor e-mailed a blast to Black in which he included a statement that he would go to the "appropriate agencies" in order to report "incompetent and perhaps corrupt agendas" on the part of the city.

Here's Saputo's e-mail in full, along with Black's response:

From: Shane Saputo
Date: 6/27/2004
Time: 9:41 PM
Subject: Bad decision

Marty,

I am disgusted with the article I read in the Tribune on Saturday. How dare you contemplate paying a fine for an alleged sewer spill that never occurred. While portions of the consent order and the penalties associated with it are legitimate, I do not understand how you can use the tax payers' money for the specific violation of an alleged 10,000 gallon spill that never happened. There is no proof nor are the accusers credible. In fact, the two accusers, Tim Zlamal and Jim Evans have both been recently reprimanded for falsification of regulatory agency required spill reports. I would certainly hope that all of the public record statutes are being adhered to and that these reprimands are accessible.

The two individuals who alleged I made them dump 10,000 gallons of sewage are in fact documented and disciplined liars. Interestingly, their supervisor, Skip Petitt was to be terminated about a year ago for falsification of the same documents. As Mr. Petitt was one of two "whistleblowers" that complained of a hostile work environment in 2002, apparently, he does not need to comply with the regulatory agency requirements. Again, I hope that these documents are accessible. If not, I have copies of everything and can provide them to you if you wish.

More importantly, the City has spent an enormous amount of public funds on this issue. I worked with John Thomas, the specialized environmental attorney the City retained for the DEP consent order. After explaining in detail the events surrounding the alleged 10,000 gallon spill, he was confident that the City would prevail in a court of law. Furthermore, I believe your decision is not supported by the Director of Utilities, John Lane, or his Assistant, Pat Wilson. These individuals are responsible to the regulatory agencies and by admitting guilt, you are further jeopardizing their careers and undermining their positions. 

You have attempted and rather hastily, to put this issue behind the City, while further damaging my career and reputation. The citizens should be outraged with this decision and I will be addressing this along with other incompetent and perhaps corrupt agendas with the appropriate agencies.

Shane Saputo

----------------

From: Martin Black
Date: 6/28/2004
Time: 8:29 AM
Subject: Re: Bad decision

Thank you for your comments, however, the article included several items attributed to me that were in fact not statements that I made to the reporter, Mr. Pecquet, in particular the broad comments regarding "no further action against employees will be taken" and that my "recommendation includes no further action against the remaining three employees." Until and unless the EPA concludes its work, the City will not be in a position to determine what, if any, personnel actions would or would not be appropriate.

The City will continue to discipline any employees who violate city policies and procedures. The proposed consent order does not specify a 10,000 gallon spill nor identify any specific individuals as you seem to presume in your e-mail.  Mr. Lane has been involved for the last several weeks together with Mr. Thomas in attempting to settle this long standing issue between the City and the FDEP without the City entering into a protracted civil suit with the state. John Lane confirmed to Mr. Thomas, Bob Anderson and I that there were violations and that he could accept the proposed consent order. I will be happy to provide you with a copy once it is accepted by the FDEP and City Council.

Marty Black, City Manager

In other words: have a nice day.

Ya know, as they say on Fark: sometimes the jokes just write themselves.

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.