Gondo under fire
Did the mayor and Jim Myers lie about turning the VCC into a hurricane shelter just to get their hands on $10 million?
No, of course not, that's just silly -- it's just that there are a lot of different and conflicting versions of the truth
-- John Patten, 12/19/05
-- jpatten@veniceflorida.com

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RELATED:
An entertaining evening, an ugly sales pitch
Myers and Hunt somehow miraculously avoid being pelted with vegetables in their attempt to raise $10 million
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 09/20/03
Would you give $10 million to this man?
City Manager George Hunt wants you to trust him without asking a lot of questions -- just sign on the dotted line, please
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 10/05/03
 

Lying media pigs
It's the Venice Gondolier-Sun's turn to be the lying media pig this week. My turn was last week, when I tried to tell city council that the city's relations with their workers was at an all-time low. They didn't want to hear it. I'm a liar, I made it all up. Marty Black told council in a matter-of-fact way that there were a few disgruntled employees out there who were causing a lot of trouble because now, under the city's new benevolent posture, they were actually being required to work and be productive.

That was last week. This week, the Gondo gets the hot seat. In their latest article on city hall, the Gondo, in so many words, accuses the city of bait-and-switch in the use of the $10 million bond that was passed by voter referendum in 2003. Both the Tax Oversight Committee and the Gondo recall that prior to the passage of the bond, city officials touted the bond as, among other things, a way to fund turning the Venice Community Center into a combo civic center and hurricane shelter.

According to the city, that's not true.

Human fishbowl
I remember that campaign well, I attended every single voter forum that year. I also remember well the candidate forum at Waterford, where both then-councilman Jim Myers and Mayor Dean Calamaras spoke at length about the benefits of passing the bond issue. I can clearly remember Calamaras selling the community center as a hurricane shelter, stating that there was currently no place for residents on the island to evacuate to and that the community center would be perfect because it was so-many number of feet above sea level -- one of the highest places on the island, Hizzoner insisted.

Which, if true, makes the community center, what, maybe 10 to 20 feet max above sea level and about 15 city blocks from the Gulf of Mexico? Sounds perfectly safe to me.

Why I remember Hizzoner's pitch is because at the time Calamaras was touting the safety factor of the community center, Herb Levine was standing next to me in the back. Herb leaned over and said to me that it would be perfect as a human fishbowl -- everyone will be trapped inside and drown at the first big wave. It was the human fishbowl comment that made me laugh out loud, which earned me a stern look from the mayor while he continued his presentation.

The mayor wasn't talking about a triage center or a food distribution center. He was clearly selling the bond issue as a way to finance an evacuation center. There was no missing the meaning or misunderstanding what he was saying.

According to the Gondo article, all of us, the Gondo included, were on drugs as none of that ever happened:

City hall made it clear this week that the 2003 bond issue was "never" sold to voters as providing money to turn the Venice Community Center into a hurricane shelter. But that's in direct contradiction to citizen memories, oversight committee recollections, newspaper archives and an official city audit.
-- Venice Gondolier Sun, City: VCC never touted as a potential shelter, 12/18/05

The Gondo goes on to say that City Manager Marty Black stated that the VCC was meant to serve as a recovery shelter only and that people must have misunderstood. Then the Gondo points out that that story has changed:

But that explanation has changed, with Black and Johnson later saying the idea never even came up until after the $10 million bond issue passed in November 2003. Johnson got up and, restating what was said at a Tuesday media briefing, told the committee the city "never in any terms" promoted the VCC as any type of shelter -- evacuation or post-storm recovery. "I hope that clarifies it because there's been an awful lot of misinformation out there," Johnson told the board.
-- Venice Gondolier Sun, City: VCC never touted as a potential shelter, 12/18/05

About that FEMA grant
The Gondo mentions three articles that came out prior to the passage of the bond. Their online version didn't give links, so here are the three references, with links to the complete original stories, that the Gondo was referring to at the end of their 12/18/05 article.

In the first, there's really only a hint. Then-assistant city manager Black and then-vice mayor Jim Myers talk about, among other things, getting FEMA funding:

In addition to the city's contribution of about $1 million, state and federal grants have been promised and the county has contributed $500,000. Other money is coming through a Community Block Grant and Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA] funds. An architect, Dan Ionescu, and a contractor, Magnum Construction, have been secured, Black said. But unless the additional money is forthcoming, the project will come to a temporary halt.
-- Venice Gondolier Sun, Community Center waits for benefactor, 10/02/02

Note the reference to architect Dan Ionescu. That'll be important later.

One immediately wonders why FEMA would be kicking in with funding if it wasn't a hurricane shelter, but that's another story, hopefully one that the Gondo or the Herald-Tribune will follow up on (hint, hint).

The Gondo reported this past Sunday that the city's publicist, Pam Johnson, is now claiming that the FEMA grant wasn't discussed until after the passage of the bond referendum. The bond referendum was voted on in November of 2003. According to the above linked-to story, Myers and Black are discussing the FEMA grant and the community center some 13 months prior to the voters touch-screening their say about the bond.

But wait, there's more:

The bond money is needed to pay for the entire cost of purchasing the wastewater treatment plant and turning it into a park, and would supplement other funding to pay for a full-scale renovation of the community center, including turning it into a hurricane shelter.
...The center also will be hurricane hardened and be the only designated shelter on the island. However, it will not be suitable as a shelter in a category 4 hurricane.
-- Venice Gondolier Sun, City starts bond issue campaign, 07/16/03

-----

Mayor Dean Calamaras was on center stage Monday evening. In the last of three city-sponsored forums, Calamaras, City Manager George Hunt and Finance Director Mike McPhail answered residents' questions about the $10 million bond on November's ballot.
...The bond money is needed to pay for the entire cost of purchasing the wastewater treatment plant and turning it into a park, and would supplement other funding to pay for a full-scale renovation of the community center, including turning it into a hurricane shelter.
...The center also will be hurricane hardened and be the only designated shelter on the island. However, it will not be suitable as a shelter in a category 4 hurricane.
-- Venice Gondolier Sun, Bond referendum: Three weeks and counting, 10/15/03

Pam Johnson: the city "never in any terms" promoted the VCC as any type of shelter
As to Johnson's reported claims that the city "never in any terms" promoted the VCC as any type of shelter, apparently she doesn't read the city's official newsletter. Johnson, coincidentally, edits the newsletter and does most of the writing for the government-issued periodical.

Venice Community Center (City of Venice; architect, Dan Ionescu; contractor: Magnum Builders) Began: May 1, 2004 Completion expected: July 2005 Renovation includes addition of space and reconstruction of the facade in the Northern Italian Renaissance architectural style. It will make the facility the only emergency shelter on the island.
-- Venice City Newsletter, February 2005, page 5 (Adobe Acrobat file)

As to Black reportedly claiming that people have confused an emergency shelter (post hurricane) with a hurricane shelter (before and during a hurricane), let's take a look at the record. This is from the minutes of an Architectural Review Board meeting in 2004:

Mr. Ionescu, architect, being duly sworn, referred to the concept design previously submitted to the Board and noted that the project is for an expansion of the [Venice Community Center] facility, including details of the expansion.  Mr. Ionescu explained that several grants have been obtained to reinforce the building for a hurricane shelter and noted that the building will be the first shelter on the island designed for 150 m.p.h. winds.
-- approved minutes, meeting of Architectural Review Board, April 8, 2004

So yeah, Black has a valid point. I can see where people would have gotten the wrong idea, as Black reportedly noted. It's easy to get taken in by sworn testimony. That "I swear to tell the truth" thing can make people very gullible, especially when the sworn statement is coming from the building's architect.

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.