I am going to post a couple of new items from Curtis Lee about the PFPF, and hope you will read and understand this is a serious problem and almost daily Curtis is uncovering more unsavory information. He has been a champion at the cause, and I am very grateful he has been kind enough to share his revelations with us. I know you will allwill understand the reason for Curt's somewhat facetious statements, because of the way this very serious matter was handled.. I hope everyone is keeping abreast of this information.
FROM CURTIS ON FEBRUARY 3, 2012
CTDC members, etc - the Times Union article has already been posted (see below) - Peter Sleiman's proposal that he be held to have made mistakes and only be fined $2,500, for 5 admitted violations of financial disclosure laws, spanning 5 years, was accepted by the Fl Ethics Commission. I.e., my efforts to cause more serious punishment to occur, failed. This is a tiny fine in light of Peter Sleiman's admission that, in 2007, he had a net worth of over $45 million.
The Times Union article mentions the issue of Peter Sleiman requiring or inducing the Police & Fire Pension Fund cover his legal fees. I do not know the total he billed to the PFPF - but I do know he billed amounts in excess of $10,000. Thus, the TU article is a bit incomplete there. It is incontrovertible that taxpayers have paid Peter Sleiman's lawyers, because I have several months worth of bills to prove this proposition. The reason I do not have a current total of what the PFPF paid to defend Sleiman, is because the PFPF has dawdled on giving me its legal bills after Nov 2011, notwithstanding my public records requests. So much work was done in January, that I am sure the billings exceed $20,000.
Gov Scott has to approve this weak sanction, and apparently is unlikely to act for at least 2 weeks. I do not know him, which puts me at a disadvantage. Nevertheless, I will write to him, and complain. Anyone else who would like to do so, please be my quest. I have already posted here my letters to the FL Ethics Commission, which will be the basis for what I ultimately write to the governor.
For those who thought that justice might actually be fair in FL - I am sorry to disappoint you. The cynics were right. Still, I am glad I tried. Now I have proof positive that the FL Ethics process really does not work
I do not know what went on behind the scene, because deliberations occurred behind the scenes, with only Sleiman or his attorney having any input. I could have attended, but in contrast my attendance could only on the condition that I could not speak or be asked any questions. This was outrageous to me, and thus I did not waste my time and money to attend such tilted proceedings. Curt Lee
FEBRUARY 3, 2012: TU: Ethics Board says pension trustee made mistake
Ethics board says pension trustee made mistake
A state ethics panel said Friday a trustee for Jacksonville’s Police and Fire Pension Fund didn’t intend to violate state law when he filed incomplete financial disclosures.
Peter Sleiman, a developer and attorney with more than 20 years as a pension trustee, agreed last month to pay a $2,500 fine for filing incomplete forms from 2005 to 2009 if the commission accepted that there was no deliberate wrongdoing.
The agreement the Florida Commission on Ethics approved Friday said Sleiman didn’t list enough detail about some real estate holdings and didn’t mark a check-box showing which of two possible ways his finances were measured.
Sleiman told the Times-Union last month he never realized there was a problem with the forms, and said his secretary had prepared them year after year based on what was filed previously.
A pension fund critic who had reported Sleiman to the commission said the agency shouldn’t have accepted the reporting problems as accidental.
“I believe that Mr. Sleiman intentionally and repeatedly filed false financial reports to conceal embarrassing liabilities,” said Jacksonville resident Curtis Lee. “It’s a mockery of justice.”
Lee said he also objected to the fact that the fund had paid attorneys to represent Sleiman, though he wasn’t sure how much the bills totaled.
The commission will release an order showing its findings next week, said Kerrie Stillman, a commission spokeswoman. Lee said a commission staffer told him the order will be sent to Gov. Rick Scott for his signature, and Lee said he’ll write to Scott asking him to reject it.
Pension fund administrator John Keane said the findings should settle any question about Sleiman’s conduct.
“Their finding clearly establishes no inappropriate action,” Keane said.
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-02-03/story/ethics-board-sa...
FEBRUARY 5,2012
EPIDEMIC OF MISTAKES AT THE PFPF
CTDC members - please be careful - an epidemic has wafted through the offices of the Jacksonville Police & Fire Pension Fund (PFPF). Hopefully you won't catch it - it appears to be contagious. I verily fear that its effects may still linger to this day.
First - We now know this - John Keane mistakenly violated the Sunshine Law - twice no less - on different days one month apart, in late 2009 and early 2010. Or so sayeth Judge James Daniel. Alas, per that esteemed jurist, those violations of the law were not only mistakes, as opposed to intentional violations of the law - but those mistakes were rather minor. Mr. Keane's mistake only means that the PFPF will have to reimburse my costs (transcripts etc.) of $1,245.70, not my legal fees - then over $35,000, and not declining soon because we are appealing Judge Daniel's "See no evil" approach to adjudicating PFPF matters. Apparently violations of the Sunshine Law, if made by the youthful novices who run the PFPF, qualify under the law as "itty bitty" mistakes.
Second - we now know that Peter Sleiman, the wealthy and powerful man behind the curtain at the PFPF - was likewise afflicted by the same virus, or airborne bacteria perhaps, that wafted through those offices over the years. He made 5 mistakes - from 2006 - 2010, in filing false financial disclosure forms for the years 2005 - 2009. According to the Ethics Commissioners in Tallahassee - these were inadvertent and unintentional mistakes, although made 5 times in a row.
Obviously, Mr. Sleiman had a near permanent infection of mistakitis. And his mistakes will cost him $2,500 - twice as much as Mr. Keane's mistakes cost. $500 per mistake. Obviously, again, more "itty bitty" mistakes.
The PFPF really ought to check out its HVAC system, don't you agree?
But Mr. Sleiman, being the stand up kind of man he is - blamed the mistakes on his secretary. So, perhaps his secretary is infected too? The epidemic may be quite contagious.
But wait - could this all really be true? I have attended the PFPF monthly meetings for 2 years now. I don't feel infected with mistakitis. Maybe I have a better immune system?
The next time I am pulled over for a traffic infraction, I will try the mistake defense. I wonder if the average police officer is as gullible as the esteemed jurist and the esteemed FL Commission on Ethics are.
Now that we know that John Keane and Peter Sleiman are infected with mistakitis, I wonder how many other mistakes they are making. Let's see - the PFPF has over $1 billion in assets, makes thousands of pension and other payments per year, and takes other actions here and there, all involving well over $100 million dollars per year. I wonder if we will learn that any of them are mistakes?
Given Mr. Sleiman's obvious infection, I wonder if his tenants have been infected by now. Maybe they too are infected with mistakitis? Curt Lee
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