Article Courtesy Miami Herald
Posted 12/18/2003
CASEY WOODS AND BEN TORTER
NORTH BAY VILLAGE -- On Friday,
Gov. Jeb Bush suspended a North Bay Village commissioner after his arrest
last month on charges that he failed to disclose indebtedness to a local
property owner on his financial statements, and later voted six times on
issues that benefited that creditor.
Robert Dugger, 60, was arrested Nov. 26.
He is accused of official misconduct, a third-degree felony, and seven
misdemeanor charges related to the votes and the financial disclosure requirements.
Dugger is the second North Bay Village
commissioner to be arrested on felony charges and subsequently suspended
from the commission in the past year.
Dugger did not return calls seeking comment.
He has previously denied the charges.
The North Bay Village commission chose
a new commissioner Tuesday night, Tzvi Bogomilsky, 30.
Bogomilsky is the former chair of the city's
planning and zoning board and the president of the city's synagogue. He
unsuccessfully ran for commission in 1998.
City officials expressed relief at Bush's
swift move to suspend Dugger. ''[Dugger's suspension] will be better for
the community,'' said City Manager James Vardalis. ``It's stressful when
you have an elected official being investigated, and hopefully things will
smooth out in the near future and we can get back to running this administration.''
Disgruntled residents and others who have
complaints against Dugger threw a ''birthday party'' for the former commissioner
in front of his waterfront home Monday night to celebrate his arrest and
removal from the commission.
The 30 protesters, almost all of them residents
of properties throughout the county managed by Dugger's real estate company,
made allegations that Dugger is also guilty of management-related crimes
that were not included in the charges that led to his arrest.
''The current charges against Dugger are
just the tip of the iceberg,'' said Fane Lozman, a North Bay Village resident
who was the first to reveal Dugger's alleged conflict of interest to the
commission. Lozman later filed the complaint at the state attorney's office
that eventually resulted in Dugger's arrest.
Almost all of the charges against Dugger
have a connection to real estate investor Adolph ''Al'' Coletta, a debtor
Dugger failed to mention on the financial disclosure forms he was required
to file before running for office last year, the state attorney's office
said.
According to the arrest report, Dugger
incurred ''substantial indebtedness'' when Coletta took over a mortgage
on one of Dugger's investment properties and paid off the mortgage on another.
Coletta also bought the Duggers' waterfront
home in North Bay Village 2 ½ years ago. The Duggers still live
there and pay $3,500 monthly rent to Coletta. All three properties were
in foreclosure before Coletta, who the Duggers describe as a family friend,
took them over.
Dugger did not disclose his relationship
to Coletta when he voted on six commission items that affected the investor.
Coletta came before the commission because
he sought a change in the zoning of the Bayshore Yacht and Tennis Club
condominium, where he owns the penthouse and a retail space, as well as
a marina behind the building. He wants to open a lounge in the penthouse,
which is forbidden under present zoning.
Dugger's property management company, the
Timberlake Group, manages the Yacht Club.
Lozman, who once docked his houseboat at
the marina and said he was evicted by Coletta, informed the commission
of that relationship in May.
Homeowners at the Yacht Club and other
Miami-Dade County properties managed by Dugger accuse him of violating
state laws regulating condominium and town house associations.
On Monday night, 30 of those homeowners
gathered in front of Dugger's house, 7401 Beach View Drive, which he currently
rents from Coletta. They brought a birthday cake for Dugger, with ''We
wish you the worst birthday ever, delinquent'' written out in blue frosting.
The protesters believed Dugger's birthday
was Dec. 15, but government records show that Dugger's 60th birthday was
in February.
The protesters accuse Dugger and his wife
Rachel of using the threat of liens to overcharge for services, mismanaging
the condo and town house associations' funds, and illegally fixing association
elections.
''We're here because we want [Dugger and
his wife] to feel the harassment that we feel every day,'' said Taimira
Perez, who owns a house in government-subsidized Miramar Gardens, which
she says has been mismanaged by Dugger. ``This is going to get rough before
it's over, because no government department is going to really go after
these people unless we go into the streets..., which is what we're going
to do.''
The Duggers were not home but Rachel Dugger
called a Herald reporter during the protest. She said that the protesters
hadn't paid their maintenance and thought protesting would help them get
away with it.
''If they want to stand out in front of
my house, let them,'' she said. ``I'm out Christmas shopping.'' |