Whether or not the alternate VABA airport layout plan was actually discussed at the then-upcoming VABA formulation meeting is a matter of conjecture, but it appears from the emails below that such discussion was an inevitability. At the very least, it throws VABA's intentions and methods into very serious question.
The alternate VABA plan would later be given to Mayor Ed Martin and, in turn, would be dutifully marched off to the FAA by Hizzoner for initial review and commentary from FAA officials. VABA might as well have given a ticking explosive device to Hizzoner for all of their cheery smiles, as it is apparent that they have been in hide-and-wait mode since January for the current scandal to explode.
Myth busting
Messages were left last week with both Nadel and Simmonds for comment and/or an alternate explanation. Neither have returned calls to Venice Florida! dot com
A number of political and news myths are busted in this short chain of emails, to wit:
--> MYTH: that Mayor Martin was involved in the process of developing the plans in violation of the public meetings laws as alleged by the Herald-Trib
-- nope, the mayor didn't have a clue and wasn't there, but Simmonds was, possibly along with a few members of the Airport Advisory Board;
--> MYTH: that VABA wanted to appease the neighboring households while advancing a neighborhood friendly plan
-- nope, it looks like the plan all along was to somehow hook the new council members into going along with the new fake plan, then sue the crap out of them and report them to the Ethics Commission when they grabbed at the bait;
--> MYTH: that City Manager Marty Black was oblivious to the alternate airport plans being developed by citizen groups
-- Simmonds writes in January that he felt "snookered" by Black when Black gave the impression to Simmonds that Black was advocating the plans; and finally,
--> MYTH: that the MEA consultants' airport plan is dead in the water
-- if I'm reading these emails right, Simmonds and Nadel seemed to be setting up a huge scam on council members in order to bring the MEA plan back after dust from the then-planned, now-current political explosions started settling.
This story is developing
Others who know more about the details will chime in on these emails over the course of the next few days and we'll all get a better idea of the whole true story, but one thing is clear: Mayor Martin, Councilwoman Sue Lang, Councilman John Moore, and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune were all set up by a very convoluted scheme, one that is in the process of seriously backfiring on the schemers. The backfire is mainly due to the law of unintended consequences: the scheme was going along so well, the Herald-Trib had fully bought in to VABA's version of events, and then along came a litigation bulldozer by the name of Anthony Lorenzo along with his wrecking ball attorney, Andrea Mogensen.
The Herald-Tribune, in particular, should be learning for the first time the full extent of how the newspaper has been led by the nose-ring to publish a series of semi-factual, semi-fictional accounts of recent events. The operative word in that last sentence was "should." Note to the Herald-Trib: this is how you do news, you know, with actual, bona-fide, real, genuine, true facts and stuff. Still, to the paper's credit, it should be noted that some of the stuff that they have published over the past six weeks or so has actually been true.
-----Original Message-----
From: Art Nadel [mailto:Art@scoopmanagement.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 1:18 PM
To: Alex Beringer; Art Nadel; Bert Vankirk; Bob Gaff; Bob Martin; Charles Gardner; Chuck Schmieler; Dan Boone; Davis Harlan; Dr. R. Bartonowicz; Jay & Marilyn Westrom; John Simmonds; Kirk Fryar; Nick Carlucci; Patrick Jaehne; Paul Holloway; Peg Nadel; Richard Richards; Roger Jernigan; Steve Albee; Vince Veltri; Wesley Earl
Subject: MPU
It seems that the Council passed a resolution yesterday, authorizing the employment of another engineering firm to develop an alternative MPU that would require all safety zones to fall on airport property. Of course this is a thinly disguised attempt to require the FAA to downgrade the airport to B-II. This will only result in wasted time and money, because the FAA has already said that they will not downgrade if it has any impact on existing operations.
We have filed the necessary papers to create VABA, and will meet this coming Sunday to have the first official meeting Anyone who wishes to attend, please let me know. I will be looking for an airport planning expert to review the MEA plan as well as this new upcoming "alternative" plan. I believe from reading recent correspondence from the FAA that the excising approved ALP that resulted from the 2000 Master Plan already incorporates an express or implied waiver by the FAA of any encroachments by safety or protection zones, and that it therefore deems [Venice airport] to be safe for existing operations. We will need an impartial professional to analyze both the existing MP and the MPU in order to support this.
Best Wishes to all,
Art Nadel
-----Original Message-----
From: John Simmonds [mailto:aloha1329@comcast.net]
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 4:53 PM
To: 'Art Nadel'
Cc: 'dboone@boone-law.com'
Subject: RE: MPU
Mr. naive [please keep this e--mail private and personal]
I'll be at the meeting; but am not comfortable in revealing these notions yet. Further, I don't trust all the folks who were at the last meeting. [This nonsense is making me paranoid]
I reported this incident to Mr. Boone and finally saw it the same as you. He, Jeff and I discussed it at noon to-day.
The proposal said that the motive was just to see what it would look like on paper. I called Marty on his cell phone Wednesday and told him this was a silly thing to do because you couldn't bring in all the zones within the airport boundaries, without shortening the RRs. And if it is a paper exercise our present Consultant could do it. He said you didn't need to physically shorten the RRs; you could just do setbacks. I reluctantly accepted the fact that I had been snookered by someone I trusted. The real reasons for putting off the Master plan until late Summer is now dawning on me, [Nave ? Yes!] I suggested to Dan to-day, that you are probably not going to get their attention until they understand that expensive litigation and a city loss will be the result of continuing on this path. I have told them this, at the last 2 meetings.
This is being pushed by 3 Council people who live in Golden Beach [right by the airport]. You might or might not be able to name them in a law suit; but an ethics violation complaint to the state would probably hold up after they become more visible in their ambitions and methods more clear. I said at the meeting that changing from a CII to a BII would bring a multi million dollar suit, which the city would loose. At some point maybe a letter from your FAA Attorney might get their attention.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: John Simmonds [mailto:aloha1329@comcast.net]
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 7:32 PM
To: Art Nadel
Cc: dboone@boone-law.com
Subject: FW: MPU
Mr. Nadel
Please forgive the typo where I addressed you as mr. Nave!
Mike Rafferty sent an e-mail to some one at the city saying he was going to meet with the pilots group meaning your Meeting. I don't think it is a good Idea for me to be there, if he is there. Let me know if he is going to be there. I'll bet he was invited by the "compromiser" and we didn't know about.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: Art Nadel
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 10:11 PM
To: 'John Simmonds'
Subject: RE: MPU
Hello John: Maybe I am Mr. Naive to get myself into this position! Please call me Art, and that will fix it. I think what Rafferty is referring to is a meeting suggested by Chuck Schmieler. I believe Chuck has already met with him as they have a mutual friend. I asked Chuck not to suggest that he is representing the Association or anyone else, but if he must meet again with Rafferty, just let him talk. That is, no negotiation suggested. Chuck will report on this on Sunday.
Art
Editor's note: Nadel responded out-of-sequence to Simmonds' emails. The sub-thread of emails below are in response to Simmonds' 01/10/08 4:53 PM email in which Simmonds proposes the idea of a double whammy lawsuit/ethics complaint and he discusses his conversation with Marty Black.
-----Original Message-----
From: Art Nadel [mailto:Art@scoopmanagement.com]
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2008 8:29 AM
To: John Simmonds (E-mail)
Subject: FW: MPU
Hello John:
I think this is a great piece of news. Also I love the email comments at the end. I am planning to ask the Steering Committee to hire the law firm that represented Galaxy in Martin County, and finish our operating count to show the impact of a downgrade to B-II. Then, probably a letter to the Council with a copy to FAA. What do you think?
Art
-----Original Message-----
From: John Simmonds [mailto:aloha1329@comcast.net]
Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 12:33 PM
To: 'Art Nadel'
Cc: aloha1329@comcast.net; dboone@boone-law.com
Subject: RE: MPU
Art
Sorry for the delay in my answer. We went into a meeting on Friday at 9am and didn't get out until 4:30pm.
I haven't opened up my computer until just now.
I think your approach is a great one. There is some confusion about what happened at Martin County and I don't know the facts. I have conflicting stories. You might be sure before you hire their attorney.
John
Abbreviations:
MP = [airport] Master Plan
MPU = Master Plan Update
ALP = Airport Layout Plan
MEA = prior airport consultants, now fired
RRs = runways
John Patten is the editor and publisher of Venice Florida! dot com and had previously worked in broadcasting for over 12 years. He can also be incredibly rude at times.
Oh Mr. Simmonds: What's this, then?
