CCFJ, Inc. --  PRESS RELEASE

Florida Condo Owner Files Ethics Complaints Against

Condo Advisory Council Members, Adams And Dunbar!

St. Augustine, June 21, 2005

 

Many Florida condo owners are furious about two members of the Condo Advisory Council. They allege that chairman Joe Adams and member Peter Dunbar are using their positions on the Council to promote their own personal agendas instead of following the Florida Statutes.  Considering that the Condo Trust Fund pays for the cost of this Council, condo owners think that the Council was created to serve the welfare of the citizens, not as a tool to promote special interests.

 

For the actual wording of the complaints, please see below.

 

So far the council has done very little to follow the legislative intent that created this Council during the 2004 legislative session.  Many condo owners are disappointed that so far very little has been achieved.  Instead of concentrating on the many tasks at hand, chairman Adams is now taking on the unsolicited task of trying to evaluate the work of other entities – like the Division of Florida Land Sales, Condominiums and Mobile Homes and the Condo Ombudsman Office.

 

Representative Julio Robaina had sponsored House Bill 1123 in 2004.  Considering that both Adams and Dunbar strongly opposed House Bill 1123 that contained the wording for the creation of the Condo Advisory Council, it seems now they are using the tactic of: "If you can't beat them, join them to covertly plot for their demise”?

 

Florida’s condo owners are not willing to sit idle and wait, while these attorneys destroy a tool that had been established by the Florida legislature to help solve many of the problems these owners face on a daily basis!

 

Jan Bergemann, President
Cyber Citizens For Justice, Inc.


2. PERSON AGAINST WHOM COMPLAINT IS BROUGHT:

Name: Joseph Adams, Esquire  Telephone Number: (239) 433-7707

Address: 14241 Metropolis Ave, Suite 100

City: Fort Myers  County: Lee   Zip Code: 33912

Title of office or position held or sought: Member of the Advisory Council on Condominiums

 

3. STATEMENT OF FACTS:

Mr. Adams is a licensed, practicing member of The Florida Bar and a managing shareholder in a statewide law firm known as Becker & Poliakoff, P.A..   Mr. Adams and his law firm specialize in condominium and community association law.  At least two (2) attorneys (Gary Poliakoff, Esquire and Keith Poliakoff, Esquire) in Mr. Adams law firm are registered Florida lobbyists for the Becker & Poliakoff, P.A. law firm as their principal.  Based on the foregoing it appears that an irreconcilable and continuing conflict of interest exists between Mr. Adams’ personal interests as a lawyer and his public duties as a member of the Advisory Council on Condominiums.   Mr. Adams as chairman of the Advisory Council has advocated and promoted legislation in open Council meetings that were lobbied for by his law firm for the benefit of their clients. He also has used the Advisory Council as a vehicle to recommend to the Governor certain other legislation should be vetoed. This activity is not only outside of the statutory jurisdiction, functions and duties of the Advisory Council but also clearly perpetrated by Mr. Adam’s to further his own personal interests.

           

The procedural safeguards enacted by Chapter 112, Florida Statutes, are not sufficient to protect against Mr. Adams proposing, supporting or voting on recommendations that would favor or further the interests of himself, his law firm, his clients or principals and/or their firms and interests and any of their own political or social agendas and do not inspire and ensure the public’s confidence in his service on the Advisory Council on Condominiums. 


2. PERSON AGAINST WHOM COMPLAINT IS BROUGHT:

Name: Peter Dunbar, Esquire  Telephone Number: (850) 222-3533

Address: P.O. Box 10095

City: Tallahasee  County: Leon   Zip Code: 32302

Title of office or position held or sought: Member of the Advisory Council on Condominiums

 

3. STATEMENT OF FACTS:

Mr. Dunbar is a licensed, practicing member of The Florida Bar and a partner in the Tallahassee, Florida, law firm of Pennington, Moore, Wilkinson, Bell and Dunbar, P.A..   Mr. Dunbar specializes in, among other areas, condominium and community association law.  He is also a registered Florida lobbyist for various principals including his own law firm, the National Association of Industrial & Office Properties and Parkway Maintenance & Management Company.  Based on the foregoing it appears that an irreconcilable and continuing conflict of interest exists between Mr. Dunbar’s personal interests as a lawyer and lobbyist and his public duties as a member of the Advisory Council on Condominiums.   The procedural safeguards enacted by Chapter 112, Florida Statutes, are not sufficient to protect against Mr. Dunbar proposing, supporting or voting on recommendations that would favor or further the interests of himself, his law firm, his clients or principals and/or their firms and interests and any of their own political or social agendas and do not inspire and ensure the public’s confidence in his service on the Advisory Council on Condominiums. 


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