By Shannon OBoye
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
March 4, 2006
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
March 4, 2006
Hollywood city commissioners plotted a vote behind closed doors in 2004 to avoid public input and debate over the controversial issue of ousting a synagogue from a residential neighborhood, according to a lawsuit filed Friday by the synagogue's lawyer.
The commission then took a formal vote to sue the Chabad Lubavitch at the end of a city commission meeting with almost no debate and zero public input.
"The City Commission `pre-agreed' to file suit against [the Hollywood Community Synagogue] notwithstanding the requirement that a decision of that kind must be made in public following open debate and discussion," the synagogue's lawyer, Franklin Zemel, wrote in the civil suit.
They did so "to eliminate and/or quash public participation in what the mayor herself admitted was one of the most controversial issues ever to come before the City Commission," Zemel said.
"Pre-decide" and "pre-agree" were Mayor Mara Giulianti's words during the closed-door meeting, according to a transcript.
"Let me ask each person, because we don't put it on the agenda for us to decide until we know we have some kind of consensus, otherwise we have an argument until 6:30 in the morning and a whole bunch of people getting up and talking about it," Giulianti told her colleagues in the transcript.
The synagogue controversy erupted 2001 when the Chabad bought two homes in Hollywood Hills and converted one into a synagogue. Neighbors complained about parking problems, noise and garbage. Commissioner Sal Oliveri championed the neighbors' cause and, in 2003, won commission support to oust the Chabad. The city has been trying to shut down the synagogue ever since, saying it violates zoning regulations.
In April 2004, commissioners went into executive session with the city attorney and the city manager ostensibly to discuss a lawsuit that had been filed by the synagogue and was on appeal.
The meeting quickly turned into a strategy session on how best to shut down the synagogue, records suggest.
When Giulianti polled each commissioner and got a majority to "pre-agree" on a course of action, the commissioners violated the Sunshine Law, Zemel said. The law says executive session discussions must be restricted to "settlement negotiations or strategy related to litigation expenditures."
The Chabad's lawsuit seeks fines and unspecified damages against individual commissioners, which Zemel says the commissioners would have to pay themselves without reimbursement from the city.
"When the day comes commissioners think they can meet in smoke-filled rooms and `pre-agree' on things specifically to avoid public participation on a controversial issue, there's a serious problem," Zemel said.
City Attorney Dan Abbott called the allegation "silly."
"It doesn't do you any good to talk about things in a vacuum," he said.
"To suggest I can't get intelligent advice from my clients ... is ridiculous," he said. "No court or attorney general has ever constrained a city attorney to the point where you have to put your head in the sand."
Adria Harper, director of the First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee, said the Chabad's lawsuit might have merit.
"They're walking a fine line," she said. "If, in fact, they're covered by the attorney-client exemption, it's still a narrow exemption that doesn't allow them to make decisions and vote on decisions that should be voted upon in a public meeting."
In addition to Friday's lawsuit, the city is battling the Chabad in federal court over religious land-use discrimination. The U.S. Department of Justice joined the Chabad in that suit.
Four of seven commissioners were named in Friday's suit. According to Zemel, Commissioner Keith Wasserstrom was not because he missed the April meeting. Commissioner Cathy Anderson did not agree to the plan. Commissioner Fran Russo voted against suing the Chabad.
The commission then took a formal vote to sue the Chabad Lubavitch at the end of a city commission meeting with almost no debate and zero public input.
"The City Commission `pre-agreed' to file suit against [the Hollywood Community Synagogue] notwithstanding the requirement that a decision of that kind must be made in public following open debate and discussion," the synagogue's lawyer, Franklin Zemel, wrote in the civil suit.
They did so "to eliminate and/or quash public participation in what the mayor herself admitted was one of the most controversial issues ever to come before the City Commission," Zemel said.
"Pre-decide" and "pre-agree" were Mayor Mara Giulianti's words during the closed-door meeting, according to a transcript.
"Let me ask each person, because we don't put it on the agenda for us to decide until we know we have some kind of consensus, otherwise we have an argument until 6:30 in the morning and a whole bunch of people getting up and talking about it," Giulianti told her colleagues in the transcript.
The synagogue controversy erupted 2001 when the Chabad bought two homes in Hollywood Hills and converted one into a synagogue. Neighbors complained about parking problems, noise and garbage. Commissioner Sal Oliveri championed the neighbors' cause and, in 2003, won commission support to oust the Chabad. The city has been trying to shut down the synagogue ever since, saying it violates zoning regulations.
In April 2004, commissioners went into executive session with the city attorney and the city manager ostensibly to discuss a lawsuit that had been filed by the synagogue and was on appeal.
The meeting quickly turned into a strategy session on how best to shut down the synagogue, records suggest.
When Giulianti polled each commissioner and got a majority to "pre-agree" on a course of action, the commissioners violated the Sunshine Law, Zemel said. The law says executive session discussions must be restricted to "settlement negotiations or strategy related to litigation expenditures."
The Chabad's lawsuit seeks fines and unspecified damages against individual commissioners, which Zemel says the commissioners would have to pay themselves without reimbursement from the city.
"When the day comes commissioners think they can meet in smoke-filled rooms and `pre-agree' on things specifically to avoid public participation on a controversial issue, there's a serious problem," Zemel said.
City Attorney Dan Abbott called the allegation "silly."
"It doesn't do you any good to talk about things in a vacuum," he said.
"To suggest I can't get intelligent advice from my clients ... is ridiculous," he said. "No court or attorney general has ever constrained a city attorney to the point where you have to put your head in the sand."
Adria Harper, director of the First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee, said the Chabad's lawsuit might have merit.
"They're walking a fine line," she said. "If, in fact, they're covered by the attorney-client exemption, it's still a narrow exemption that doesn't allow them to make decisions and vote on decisions that should be voted upon in a public meeting."
In addition to Friday's lawsuit, the city is battling the Chabad in federal court over religious land-use discrimination. The U.S. Department of Justice joined the Chabad in that suit.
Four of seven commissioners were named in Friday's suit. According to Zemel, Commissioner Keith Wasserstrom was not because he missed the April meeting. Commissioner Cathy Anderson did not agree to the plan. Commissioner Fran Russo voted against suing the Chabad.
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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