MIAMI M M MIRROR TRUE E REFLEC CTIONS

TEN NNIS TR RAVESTY REDUX R X MIAMI BE EACH

An Exe emplary Deprivation D n of Due Process P b the City by y Commis ssion
October r 3, 2013 d Arthur Wa alters By David MIAMI MIRROR M
Pa age1of14

MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

SOUTH BEACHThe laconic Miami Herald spared less than 70 words for what Miami Beach Mayor Matti Bower once mockingly called the most important thing in the world, the management of the world-famous Flamingo Park and North Shore tennis centers. After dozens of parents flooded the commission chambers, including former Miami Heat player Rony Seikaly, the commission chose to go against the recommendation of its city manager and tennis committee, and temporarily stick with the company that was ranked last in a competitive process.

As we see, the intent was not to stick with the incumbent temporarily, but to act contrary to the public interest and sneakily deprive the top bidder for the management contract of due process of law by virtually waiving the procurement process to award the contract, somewhat amended, to the incumbent for another term of years. Yes, mainstream media had fewer than70 words for tennis, despite the fact that the Sept. 11 commission meeting dragged on for 16 hours, as beat reporter Christina Veiga put it, including four hours of debate on the tennis contract. The backstory was left to long-form journalism to tell. She was as bored as her predecessor David Smiley had been with the glaring example of what was wrong with Miami Beach government, and with the struggle of reformers to correct it despite fears of retaliation from official bullies. Smileys predecessor, Tanya Valdemoro, was disinterested in expositions that might offend her official news sources. As far as Veiga could see, the main political issue is how the meetings are run and the indecorum on the dais now that seats are up for grab in the impending election. Indecorum regardless of the proximity of elections has long been an important concern frequently expressed by Sherri Roberts, who is running for a seat on the commission. She was fortunate to have missed this particular travesty on due process. Why,
Page2of14

MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

Japanese commissioners would have run themselves through with their own sword if they had behaved so shamefully. Americans manage to survive their guilt. It was 11:20 p.m. Commissioner Jonah Wolfson began to mock Mayor Matti Herrera Bowers high-pitched voice, and, for the second time that night, threatened to throw himself off the third floor of City Hall. Commissioner Ed Tobin offered: Ill carry you there, if you promise to do it.Earlier in the meeting, Commissioner Michael Gongora and Wolfson took to calling each other liars. They were arguing over whether Wolfson had attended executive sessions to discuss union negotiations. Mayor Matti Bower is well known for her hysterical antics on the dais. Her colleague Jorge Gonzalez used to keep her in hand admirably when he was the citys master administrator, intervening to put everything in a logical context, as is the primordial custom for reasonable males in contrast to irrational females. As men well know, women are more critical of womens appearances than men, and some women believe that the honorable mayor, whose antics embarrass their sex as it mans up, is a stupid woman, to use their bluntest term. But such is not the case, as close observation of the results of her deviations reveal. So-called hysteria or womb-madness including convulsing, screaming, sobbing and sulking has been a proven strategy for females who would, if not Amazons, suffer fatal defeat in a physical altercation when male logic is backed by brute force.

Mayor Matti Herrera Bower in action as another item on agenda was discussed

Wolfsons offer to throw himself off the top floor was naturally welcomed by insiders who viewed his successful effort to dump Boss Gonzalez and set himself up as a populist leader of a specious, faux-opposition to what he had previously tolerated to the extent of condonation. Due process is ideally a fair and reasonable way of getting things done, and little has been fair and reasonable under the arrogant old regime, a bullying government not well overseen by the former city manager, Jorge Boss Gonzalez, and his sidekicks. The

Page3of14

MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

commissions handling of the tennis center management fiasco is a glaring example of what is very wrong with the citys government. The citys strong city manager, weak mayor governmental form is virtually feudal: Back me up when called upon, is the rulers pragma, and otherwise do what you will with your fiefs. As for the commission or board of directors, it is a part-time, back-biting snake pit, or rather a seven-headed hydra reminiscent of the mythical hydra whose task was to guard the underworld. One of its seven heads would not go away as it was immortal. Today Mayor Bower is running for commissioner again, having found a loophole contrary to the term limit rule. An ordinance should be passed providing her with life tenure, for what would she do without the commission? Take up cleaning dragon teeth? The people await the arrival of Hercules, for his second labor is to slay the hydra with a golden sword. Each head of the city commission serves part time, headed by a weak mayor among weak equals, a glorified commissioner without the power of veto. The commissioners are elected in staggered terms by a tiny percentage of the electorate. The city manager, who rules full time, day to day, is supposed to be their apolitical professional business manager. The system is the product of an archaic reform in the Twenties, designed to defeat city bosses such as Boss Pendergast in Kansas City. He loved it. Politics was just a way of doing business as far as he was concerned. He bought himself a manager and a commission and his business prospered, especially his cement company, which provided materials for the public works projects his manager became famous for during the Great Depression, taking credit for inventing the program FDR used to save America. The weak mayor, strong city manager program, which equates business with politics while employing partnership rhetoric as if they were different, has with good reason been called fascistic by its detractors. For the same reason, astute Miami Beach residents fear that fascists have been running the government and that the situation is bound to get worse if the current elections go the wrong way and the charter is not amended to a strong mayor system, bringing it into accordance with the traditional American form: democratic-republican government, where representatives and a strong leader, serving as the peoples tribune with the powers of veto, pardon, and intervention in crises, are directly elected. Boss Gonzalez was finally scapegoated after fourteen years and sent packing with a huge severance package by so-called reformers, whose largess he barely had time to enjoy before taking over the management of Bal Harbour, part of the North Beach power center of certain vested interests who have a foothold in South Beach and who prefer to remain unfamiliar wherever they have holdings. Gonzalez downfall was presaged by the first phase of the tennis court revolution, ostensibly over whether the Flamingo Park courts would have all clay or both clay and cement surfaces. The Clays won the day. The fundamental issue was not superficial,
Page4of14

MIAMI M M MIRROR TRUE E REFLEC CTIONS

however r. It was about a the bad b private e managem ment of the e courts within w the Parks P Fiefdom m, i.e. within n the conte ext of the bad public c managem ment of the e City of Miami M Beach overall. o The e second ph hase of the e tennis court revolutio on is to rid the courts s and the gove ernment of bad manag gement. Gonzale ez was boo oted, but the call to ca an the top three t people in the main m division ns of governm ment, repla ace them with w outsid de professi ionals, and d to amen nd the form m of governm ment to a strong s mayo or system so whosoe ever was in n charge wo ould be dir rectly accountable to the e people, went w unhee eded. It wa as claimed that it was s best to re etain people who w knew what w was going g on. But that is th he problem, what has been going g on, and little e has chan nged yet ex xcept a more friendly air pervade es city hall under the new manage er, Jimmy Morales, M a political in nsider who was shoe ed-in for the job as being b preferab ble to the candidates s recomme ended by a well paid private recruiting firm. Morales is believed d to be a tr ruthful and straightforw ward man, therefore th he current odds o are that he will not t last long. A week be efore taking g his Bal Harbour H job, Gonzalez z told me that Morales wi ill only last as long as he does no ot cross the e commissio on.

TennisActivists A Gayle eDurhamandRebeccaBo oyce

As for tennis, after three yea ars of strug ggle led by y tennis activists Gayle Durham and Rebecca a Boyce to obtain com mpetent and d courteous s managem ment of the tennis facilities, the seal led bids we ere opened d and the proposals p w were evalua ated so tha at the top three t bidders could be sent to the comm mission. Af fter incumbent Gree ensquare Inc.s possess sion of the courts c was reassured by the com mmission, Rebecca R Bo oyce, who has h a masters s degree in n sports managemen m nt and is the preside ent of 650-member Miami M Beach Tennis T Play yers Assoc ciation, was s notified by b Greensq quare that her succe essful True Be eginner Te ennis Prog gram for women w at the Flam mingo tenn nis center was terminat ted. Greensq quare has held the so-called s m managemen nt contract on the ten nnis for ov ver a decade. It is a cont tract so-called becaus se the breac ches of the agreement t ignored by y the
Pa age5of14

MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

citys administration have been so egregious and continuous that the private contractors employees are virtually the citys employees serving at the will of the administration. Greensquare did not make the list of top three bidders, therefore a representative of the Parks Department insisted that there be four bidders on the list, the fourth one being Greensquare, providing the commission with the wanted opportunity to deny due process to the first three and give the contract to the fourth. Normally a list of three bidders at the most is presented so that, in the event a winning bidder bows out or is disqualified during negotiations, the next one on the list will take its place. In fact, only two bidders were on the list presented for the 2007 contract, with Greensquare taking top place, allegedly due to tampering with the evaluation process. The 2007 resolution was worded as follows: ACTION: Resolution No. 2007-26432 adopted. C7G A Resolution Accepting The Recommendation Of The City Manager Pertaining To The Ranking Of Proposals Pursuant To Request For Proposals (RFP) No. 0706/07, For Comprehensive Professional Tennis Management And Operations At The Citys Flamingo And North Shore Tennis Centers; Authorizing The Administration To Enter Into Negotiations With The Top Ranked Proposer, Greensquare, Inc; And Should The Administration Not Be Successful In Negotiating An Agreement With The Top Ranked Proposer, Authorizing Negotiations With The Second Ranked Proposer Francisco Montana & Son; And Further Authorizing The Mayor And City Clerk To Execute An Agreement Upon Conclusion Of Successful Negotiations By The Administration. Greensquare, after nearly eleven years on the job, can be summed up as bad management and bad maintenance associated with the Bollettieri brand. And now, after all those years, the three partners in the enterprise, namely, Jimmy Bollettieri, Tom Mar, and Victor Weithorn, propose to personally take care of the management and maintenance they were always supposed to be responsible for. Think again: no one would drop out, yet Greensquare would be selected. The Greensquare reactionaries staged a big scene at the meeting. Green Bollettieri brand Tshirts were sported by the Greenshirts, the reactionary crowd of adults and children who packed the chamber to its rafters, many of whom had never been seen around the tennis courts. Nick Bollettieri, reputably the greatest coach in the world, with ten tennis stars to his name, was wheeled in for the occasion to support his son Jimmy Bollettieri, the top pro and one of three partners in Greensquare. Jimmy has no stars to his name after all these years of coaching, but he teaches the Bollettieri Method, and naturally the kids who were brought to the meeting love him to no end. Two talented brothers, perhaps destined for the performing arts, took the podium together and provided a heartwarming duet, singing Jimmys praises, seamlessly passing the ball back and forth to one another.
Page6of14

MIAMI M M MIRROR TRUE E REFLEC CTIONS

N Nick Bollettier ri, Jimmys fam mous dad

The mai in objection n to Greens square has never been Jimmy Bollettieri an nd his pros. The problem matic person nality has be een his par rtner, Victor r Weithorn, the genera al manager r who appears s to have authority ove er Jimmy in n regards to t the comp panys man nagement. Tom Mar, a childhood c fr riend of Jim mmy, is the president of o the corpo oration, and d is purpor rtedly responsible for the hands-on direction d of f the compa anys admin nistration an nd operations. The obv vious solution to the W We Love Jimmy issue seemed to be for Jimmy J to re esign from Gre eensquare and go to work w for the e top bidder, Miami Be each Tennis s Managem ment, LLC, wh ho would th hen do the e maintenan nce or farm m it out to a subcontractor. MBT TMs proposa al states that it has partnered p w with clay court c maintenance ex xperts at Welch W Tennis to t ensure high h quality y maintena ance. Claim ms have be een made that t clay co ourts with underground irrigations systems are virtual lly impossi ible to ma aintain, but t the e at many tennis t facilities belays that fear. evidence I grew interested in Victor Weithorn W w when I visited the ce enter and asked a him, , not knowing g who he was, an innocent qu uestion ab bout the co ontroversy over clay and concrete e courts. Fo or all he kne ew, I could have been n a potentia al customer r. He respon nded in such a bullying, thuggish manner m tha at I mistook k him for a city officia al. I do not t like a his id dentity; tha at led to my m investiga ation of gen neral bullies, so I made inquiries about manage ement issue es at the ten nnis center. Nick Bollettieri, who o pointed out o that he had h gradua ated from a local high school and d had three mo onths of law w school, emphasized e d that tenni is is all abo out the kids s and not about a the mon ney, that his son Jimm my is passionate abo out people, not money y, so do no ot be deceived d by money as we st truggle to save s our kid ds from dis sease and drugs. It would w soon be e observed d that the top bidder r had brou ught no kid ds along to o support it as Greensq quare had done. d

Pa age7of14

MIAMI M M MIRROR TRUE E REFLEC CTIONS

M Mark Fisher

One student who lo oves Jimmy y dearly, en nergy trader Mark Fish her, arrived from New York in his Lear Jet to promise that he h would match the Miami Beach Te ennis Manage ements$120 0,000 per annum a bid, , since Gre eensquare had h only bid $48,000, , and would deposit one year or more m in the bank. Why y even bot ther with a sealed bid dding place Green nsquare, ra anked low in most ev valuation categories, c process? Fourth-p was ne conclusi ion. actually the foregon

Chief Assistant City C Attorney Raul Aguila

ely the com mmission th hrew out al ll the bids because Deputy D City y Attorney Raul Ultimate Aguila said s the city y could not stay within the proc curement process and d arbitrarily y and capriciou usly award the contrac ct to the las st bidder. That T would have h to be done outsid de of the proc cess.

Pa age8of14

MIAMI M M MIRROR TRUE E REFLEC CTIONS

Rony Seikaly y and Jimmy Bollettieri B

Miami Heat H player Rony Se eikaly bent t over the podium, noting n that t Miami Te ennis Manage ement had brought in a bunch of f suits and no kids, and he prom mised that We would do o what was s necessary y to maintai in the court ts after year rs of lousy maintenanc ce. The city y had to tak ke over the maintenan nce after the e courts we ere revamp ped, at a co ost of $20,000 0 per month h since April, and has s not billed d the cost to t Greensq quare, who was apparen ntly skimpin ng on maint tenance to pocket the e savings. Players P had d complaine ed of difficult and injurio ous surface e condition ns for year rs regardless of the type of co ourts.

ABu unchofSuits i.e.professio onalmanager rs

Another gentleman n said that We do not care how bad the ma aintenance is, We will w go with our r beloved te eacher. Ano other man thanked t Jim mmy for sa aving his life e when the e real estate market m cras shed. Endearing kids got g up to th he microph hone and lo oved Jimmy y out loud. urken, one of Jimmys s most arde ent support ters, well known k and appreciated for Dana Tu donating g a tot lot to o North Bea ach Elemen ntary schoo ol as part of the Jennif fer Beth Tu urken Heart Aw ward progr ram, remark ked on the condoms and needle es seen aro ound the co ourts before Jimmy J and d his manager Victo or Weithorn n, Commissioner Dee ede Weitho orns brother-in-law, took k over the facility f from the city in 2002 after it was man naged by Howie Orlin, pr resident of MBTM, M the current hig gh bidder.

Pa age9of14

MIAMI M M MIRROR TRUE E REFLEC CTIONS

Howie Orlin, O Miami Be each Tennis Management M LLC

Ms. Tur rken did not mention n the alleg gations of medical marijuana m s smoking by y the principals and pro os thereafte er, behavio or once en ndemic to the sport according to a confessi ion of a tennis star. Nor N did she e say that the genera al manager r was convicted after a major Broo oklyn cocaine bust; which w is against public c policy to blame him m for e paid his price, but she waved d the drug flag. She may m not ha ave noticed d the since he alcohol and a drug us sage at the e handball courts c nearby the tenn nis courts, once o freque ented by the mayors m late e husband. And never mind the sordid s even nts in the pu ublic restroo oms; or the perverts pro owling the park; p or the crazed ho omeless ma an convulsin ng there; or o the embezzlement sca andal over the police athletic gy ym for kids s managed by a porn n film s were gay is purported dly of no co onsequence e. Parks will be parks, , and starthat the films r that police emen chip in i to clean up Flaming go Park from time to time, but sh hould we hear stop kick king cruiser rs in the he ead. Evidently there is one o importa ant subject not taught via the Boll lettieri Meth hod or Form mula, e cross-training: good sportsman nship. At the prese entation of the which espouses Southea astern Conf ference Spo ortsmanshi ip Award th his June, Conference C Chairman Mike Slive av verred that civility and d societal re esponsibility are things that will lead to victo ories througho out the course of life. Jimmy grimaced g at a all critic cism, as if f saying it was popp pycock, but he other rwise behaved d as a gentleman, stat ting that he was gratef ful for what had been a very good d run of ten ye ears, and it was with gratitude th hat he wou uld accept the t commis ssions dec cision whateve er it might be. b And he e answered d questions politely, usually blam ming the cit ty for the most obvious fa aults. But his crowd c of su upporters, who w roundly y cheered and a applau uded anything said in favor f of the incumbent co ontractor je eered, hisse ed, and boo oed anything said to th he contrary. . M Bower r took on he er mom role e to chastis se the rude reactionaries, pointing g out Mayor Matti that the reformers had politely y listened to o everything g they had to say. Som me of them m had even gently applau uded Jimmy y.
Page10of14

MIAMI M M MIRROR TRUE E REFLEC CTIONS

The rea actionaries quieted dow wn but still l mumbled, , groaned and a growle ed, some of the adults making m foul remarks under u their breath but still audible, as the reformers r m made their cas se. Even af fter the pub blic testimo ony was clo osed, the re eactionaries s kept spea aking to the commission c ners. The woman who w spoke of condom ms and ne eedles act tually mounted d the dais and spoke e with Com mmissioner Exposito, who then disparaged d the whole bi idding proc cess.

Chris Growald, G a retired ten nnis pro and a tennis facility ma anager, fum mbled with h the projectio on system in an attem mpt to show w slides of broken ma aintenance equipment t and bad court condition ns as the Greenshirts G hooted him m down. He e said he was afraid to o say anything g, but he di id manage to say that t everyone was praising Jimmy, which was s fine by him, but no one e was prais sing the Gr reensquare management, and th hat this was s the first time e during the eir ten year manageme ent contrac ct that they had organized anythin ng at all. A Bollettieri B fa an, to save e the day for f Jimmy, got up an nd lauded Weithorn as a salvation nal figure. Once so ource of wo onderment among the e reformers s was why Greensqua are would even e want the e contract after a crying poor for so o many yea ars, being unable to pay p the monthly fee on time. t A gentleman wa as overhea ard whispering that he was goin ng to ask for f a forensic audit of Greensquar G re over the e entire period of the contract, and to ask k the federal governmen g t to make inquiries sin nce public money m was s involved. And A why, it t was asked, would w there e be such a wide gap between b the revenues s reported by b Greensq quare and the revenues predicted by b the top bidders? Were W poten ntially public c monies being b ed into se everal othe er companies with the t name Greensqu uare in th hem? deposite Greensq quare had not fully complied with finan ncial report ting requir rements of f the contract t, and the city c only conducted an n audited under pressure from th he reformer rs, to find that t Greensqua are did not even have a balance sheet for it ts operation ns. e strange th hing about all a this atten ntion to Gre eensquare, as if it wer re matched with Now the the top ranked player, is that t it should not n have been b on the e list in the first place, nor nalist playo off, for a list t of three candidates c uffices, and d the was the event a fin normally su
Page11of14

MIAMI M M MIRROR TRUE E REFLEC CTIONS

second and third on the list would not t even be considered d unless ne egotiations with higher ra anked cand didates did not pan out or if they dropped d ou ut.

Commissioner Jonah Wolfson and City y Attorney Jos se Smith

Commis ssioner Jonah Wolfson n, who pose es as a pop pulist reform mer and endorses may yoral candidat te Phillip Le evines atte empt to buy y the mayoral seat, wh hich pays $8,000, $ for over $500,00 00 including g $400,000 in loans fr rom himself as of Jun ne, explained the stra ategy ultimately adopted d: reject all the bids, , return to waive the e bidding process p wi ith a superma ajority of 5 votes for r waiver, and a then Greensquar G re could be awarded d the contract t, to be con ntinued on a month-to-month bas sis until it was w fully ne egotiated, and a it would ha ave to actually do the maintenance as requi ired by the contract. City wor rkers had been doing the t mainten nance since e April at a cost to taxpayers of about a $120,00 00; that is, if i reimburse ement is no ot demande ed as I hav ve asked th he city man nager to do, Greensquare G es mainten nance was wholly in adequate a po ossibly dam maging the new courts and a endang gering play yersaccor rding to an n employee e who did not want to be identified d, Greensq quare hired five mainte enance wor rkers after the commis ssion meetin ng.

Jose e Smith whisp pering with Jo orge Exposito o

City Atto orney Jose e Smith, who w had be een observ ved chatting on the dais d but ou ut of microphone range with Comm mission Exp posito, perh haps in viola ation of Floridas Suns shine
Page12of14

MIAMI M M MIRROR TRUE E REFLEC CTIONS

Law. Ex xposito, who would ev ventually de enounce th he bidding process p as s defective, was asked if the strateg gic plan to reject r the bids in order r to award it to the incu umbent late er on was lega al. He simp ply recounted that what the com mmission wo ould be doi ing would be b to reject th he all the bids to bring g back an acceptable contract, and a he offe ered no opinion although h the charte er allows him to make recommen ndations. Oppositi ion Commis ssioners To obin and Gongora vali iantly voted d against re ejecting the bids and rene egotiating the t contract with Gree ensquare so o that it would conform m to the original request for proposal that Greensquare had h failed to t adequate ely address s in its prop posal submitte ed. Tobin, gesturing g to oward the Greenshirts s, remarke ed that Gre eensquare, no matter how bad it ha ad been, wo ould have picked p up tw wo or three e friends for r every yea ar of its ten-year tenure, and a could easily e have thirty or so o show up for f the mee eting. The commission c n had discusse ed on previous occasions, he sai id, the felici ity on making decision ns based on n the number of people showing s up p at commis ssion hearin ngs on each h side of an n issue.

Recalcitrant Oppos sition Commissioners Ed Tobin T and Mic chael Gongor ra

n, intent on giving the e contract to t Greensq quare, resp ponded that this time was Wolfson different t, a matter r of service e, and to have these e people show s up and a speak was importan nt. Howeve er, Greensq quare had better ask itself why it had wou und up in fo ourth place ev ven though so many people p showed up at the hearing g in its favo or. They sh hould keep tha at in mind so s that what t it had gon ne through this t time wo ould never happen again. a had no tro ouble seein ng through the evasion n of a procurement pr rocess orda ained Gongora to afford d people wi ith a reasonable and equitable way w to do business b wi ith governm ment. In a wo ord, the co ontract rejection ploy y was sneaky way y of waivin ng the pro ocess altogether. appens nex xt remains to be see en. There are a obstacle es to the devious d pla an to What ha disregar rd the public c interest in n a fair and equitable procuremen p nt process.

Page13of14

MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

First of all, City Manager Jimmy Morales, whose recommendation to award the contract to the first place bidder was ignored, had said that he will not recommend a waiver, which is required before the commission can just hand out a contract without going through the procurement process. Secondly, although the commission has the authority to reject any and all bids, the arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable rejection of the bidding process itself in this instance is tantamount to a waiver since it leaves Greensquare in possession of a month-to-month contract indefinitely, could be deemed contrary to the public interests in having a fair and equitable process; therefore, since due process was denied, Miami Beach Tennis Management could ask a court to order the acceptance of its bid. Even if the legal cause were lost because even a lousy process can be due process, Howie Orlin would be doing Miami Beach a favor by bringing this glaring example of the deprivation of an equitable process under the scrutiny of a court of law. Otherwise the community will be stuck with the old regimen of government by indifferent voters who, struck by the Sun shining on our beautiful city on the beach, tend to give everything related including its shady government high ratings. ##

Page14of14