This is a letter sent to 3 of our city council members on the subject of Mr. Peter Sleiman being a trustee of the Police and Fire Pension Fund. It was written by a "watch dog" member of another group of concerned citizens here in Jacksonville and is the primary focus of the writer. As noted Curtis has suffered personally from his involvement in this issue. Curtis has worked on this issue exclusively in an attempt to get Mr. Sleiman removed as a trustee and bring about change in the manner in which the pension fund is managed (as Mr. Lee is an expert on the Police and Fire Pension Plan as well). At his request, I am sharing this information with you. Curtis is a retired lawyer and has worked as a trustee for a pension fund like this one himself, so he is well versed in what is appropriate and what is not appropriate in relation to this issue.
.................................................................................
Councilman - I was reading minutes of various meetings online today, and I note that you recently expressed surprise that Peter Sleiman is still a trustee of the Police & Fire Pension Fund (PFPF). He is indeed. Here is the short version of the whole disturbing story.
(1) I found out, in the summer of 2010, that Peter Sleiman had registered to vote in St Johns Co. in 2006, and had, in other respects, claimed residency in St Johns Co. There are 3 laws that require him, as City Council appointed trustee of the PFPF, to be a "legal resident" of Jacksonville. The law defines legal residency as domicile, in essence. Thus, the fact that Peter Sleiman had registered to vote in St Johns Co. in 2006 was prima facie proof that Mr. Sleiman violated those laws.
(2) I wrote letters complaining about this, and voila - in July 2010, after I complained, Mr. Sleiman re-registered to vote at a condo he owned in Jax Beach. Then in Aug 2010, despite said sleaze, the City Council voted 12-5 to reappoint Mr. Sleiman to another 4 year term as PFPF trustee.
(3) I have also been suspicious of Mr. Sleiman's motives in wanting to be PFPF trustee, because (a) he invests in real estate, and (b) so does the PFPF. This is one of the many reasons why I have advocated that the City conduct a forensic audit of the PFPF. Plus, more than 10 years have passed since the City last audited the PFPF. Etc. etc.
(4) On 12/9/10, Mr. Sleiman tendered a letter of resignation as PFPF trustee, admitting that he had in essence "moved back" to St Johns Co. He also cited the law as being a reason to force his resignation. But, his resignation was contingent on the appointment of his successor. Jack Webb took no action on this - I had to threaten him with public embarrassment just to get him to post the vacancy on the City Council web site about 3 months later. Mr. Webb had vociferously supported Mr. Sleiman in Aug. 2010, leading me to wonder if Mr. Sleiman had hired Webb's law firm, or whatever. Mr. Webb then took no action at all to appoint a replacement. Nor has current Council President Joost - who apparently is a co-owner of Firehouse Subs, along with Peter Sleiman.
(5) I had, in Oct 2010, complained about Peter Sleiman's false financial reports as PFPF trustee, to the FL Commission on Ethics (FCE). The FCE has no jurisdiction over violations of residency laws - they said I must complain to Angela Corey about that.
(6) Well, I did complain to Angela Corey about Peter Sleiman, and found a criminal law - FL Statutes 839.18 - that I believed that Peter Sleiman had violated, beginning in 2006. Further, since Mr. Sleiman is a lawyer, and since in his resignation letter, Mr. Sleiman acknowledged he could not continue to be a trustee of the PFPF, I thought it would be easy for Ms. Corey to indict Mr. Sleiman for knowingly and wilfully violating the residency laws.
(7) I finally got a meeting with some Corey people in Nov 2010 - it was like pulling teeth. I went in optimistic and well - prepared, and I walked out disappointed. The senior person present at the meeting was Dan Skinner. In small talk, I mentioned Bob, my partner of 28 yrs - making it obvious that I am gay. Skinner did not seem to like that - I am sensitive to body language as I have often experienced discrimination as a result of my sexual orientation. Whatever - the State Attorneys' Office (SAO) stated that it would not act.
(8) When I got the Sleiman resignation letter after 12/9/10, I thought - voila - now the SAO will indict. However, the SAO just ignored my subsequent letters and emails.
(9) I switched tactics with the SAO, and posed 7 separate public records requests, beginning 2/18/11 and through Oct 2011. The SAO first pulled a nasty surprise, sending 2 armed investigators to our house, to reiterate that Ms. Corey was not going to indict, and to "suggest" to me that I drop matters.
(10) I resent efforts like that, and I continued to pursue my efforts to obtain public records from the SAO.. One thing I was particularly interested in was this - docs showing ties between Ms. Corey and Peter Sleiman. I have heard many rumors that they have known each other for decades, and have many ties. No luck on this yet.
(11) Finally, my Oct 2010 complaint to the FCE yielded some fruit this year - Peter Sleiman admitted violating financial disclosure laws for 5 years in a row, but got off with a slap on the wrist - he will only be fined $2,500.00. (This all occurred in Jan and Feb 2012 - Sleiman has not yet paid.) Mr. Sleiman, class act that he is, used the PFPF lawyer to defend himself before the FCE - taxpayers paid $20,000. Yet Mr. Sleiman claimed a net worth of $45 million. One would have thought that perhaps the PFPF board of trustees might have caused Mr. Sleiman finally to leave. Instead, John Keane claimed in the press that the minor penalty was a sign of vindication on the part of Mr. Sleiman.
(12) Ms. Corey and the SAO continued to refuse to respond to most of my public records requests. I hired an attorney late last year, and he wrote letters to the SAO in Dec 2011 and Jan 2012. More noncompliance by the SAO with the Sunshine Law. I filed suit against SAO, Ms. Corey and 2 colleagues, last week.
All told, I am disgusted - with the PFPF, with Mr. Sleiman, and with Ms. Corey. I am also disgusted with former Councilman Webb, and glad that you defeated him. I am not happy with Council Pres. Joost either.
You need to be a member of First Coast Tea Party to add comments!
Join First Coast Tea Party