TALES FROM THE GALT GULAG

Horror stories abound at the condo towers on Galt Ocean Mile

An Interview With Robert J. Rozema

Dr. Grayson Walker

City News Of Fort Lauderdale

By Dr. Grayson Walker

City News Of Fort Lauderdale

April 19, 2008

Table of Contents  

Tales From The Galt Gulag

Gulag is an acronym for the former Soviet Union's penal system. Since then, it has come into common use to describe any repressive system. I named my column the “Tales From The Galt Gulag,” because I write about the repression of condominium Owners on the Galt Ocean Mile. The Galt Ocean Mile is the biggest crime scene in Broward County.

Interview With Robert John “Bob” Rozema

This interview took place on October 25, 2005, hours after Hurricane Wilma passed over Fort Lauderdale . Bob and I sat on the undamaged sofa in the South end of the lobby and talked. We continued our interview that evening. The interview was granted on the condition that I not publish it until after Rozema’s death. This is a short excerpt of the interview. Rozema had much more to say. If you find this interesting, I may publish more from the interview.

I am publishing this interview as a cautionary message to all owners, or potential owners, of condominiums. On March 1, 2005, attorney Inger Garcia, representing a group of Owners, filed a twenty-seven page complaint with Bob Rozema and the Board of Directors at Southpoint. The response is typical of what happens at Southpoint and many other condominiums. Rozema and the Board ignored the complaints of the Owners. A complete copy of this complaint is available at www.CCFJ.net at no cost. When you read the complaint, you will be impressed with the factual detail of the issues raised. You should also note the history of violations of state law by Southpoint. It was in this environment that I interviewed Bob, and I used the complaint as an outline for our interview. Bob did not deny any of the allegations or violations from the complaint. In fact, he said, “I took my chances and I won.” George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Remember what happened at Southpoint, and do not allow this to happen to you.

Dr. G: Thank you for accepting my offer to interview you. With so many things going on at Southpoint, we appreciate your taking time for this interview. Would you please state your name and your position?

RJR: My name is Robert John Rozema. Until recently, I was the President and Condominium Manager here at Southpoint. I was appointed to this position by Richey Gabrielle in 1990, and I held both positions until I was forced out by Marty Glazer. I should also mention that at that time, my late wife worked for Richey, and was the best performer in his company.

Dr. G.: You were both the Manager and President of the Board? Does that mean that you controlled your own compensation. Did you feel this was a conflict of interest?

RJR: Sure, I did both jobs, but there was very little work involved. For example, I never walked around the building. I figured that if anything needed fixing, someone would reach out to me. Conflict of interest? Perhaps, but nobody cared about that stuff. You know the accountants wrote something about this in their annual inspection of the books we gave them, but you know these people don’t bother to read such things.

Dr. G.: You said you were squeezed out by Glazer. Would you elaborate on that point?

RJR: You have to understand, as the President and Manager, they did everything I told them to do. Understand? Everything. That Glazer is your classic anal-retentive control freak. He wanted control. He wanted to take money out of my pocket and put it into his. In condos, having control is money. Nobody watches the money, and the other owners are too old to care. As long as they can afford to pay what I tell them, they pay.

Dr. G.: As I recall, there were issues about how much you were paid, as well as the other things Southpoint bought for you. The law requires an employment contract. Do you have one?

RJR: Do I have a contract? Hell, no! I don’t want a contract that could pin me down to things. Remember, I’m on disability from Jersey , and a contract would mess that up.

Dr. G.: How were you paid? Were you a W2 employee, or ... ?

RJR: I took cash. Mostly, from the petty cash, but sometimes I would just write checks to myself or make them out to cash. I didn’t want any paper trails, you know. I almost got caught when Nico was on the Board. He kept pushing about the petty cash! Richey and I had to reach out to people to shut him up. Whenever he brought that up at a meeting, I had him shouted down.

Dr. G.: Other than taking the petty cash, what else did you take from Southpoint?

RJR: Let’s see, the big items were the maintenance and the taxes. As the President, I paid the maintenance and property taxes for the Manager. That was a sweetheart deal. I’m not sure how much that was, but over fifteen year, it must have been around $100,000.

Dr. G.: Were there any other big-ticket items that Southpoint paid for you?

RJR: Let me think. The windows and the balcony tile jobs were very profitable. Of course, I had Southpoint buy my windows at full retail. There were some other things that added up, such as my membership in the Tower Club, health Insurance, car insurance, gasoline, electric, telephone, AOL. Stuff like that. Oh yeah, I also got a dishwasher, linens, American Express card, Costco charge card. I would also charge them whenever I went drinking with our lawyer. I had almost no expenses, so I was able to save a pretty penny, I can tell you that.

Dr. G.: That is quite a list! How much do you think you took from Southpoint over these fifteen years?

RJR: Of course, I don’t keep records. But I can tell you that I have over $250,000 in cash in my apartment – no records, you understand. I have to guess I got over a half-million over the years.

Dr. G.: Over a half-million dollars. Bob, do you ever feel any remorse about taking so much money from your friends and neighbors?

RJR: I thought we agree not to get into guilt about stealing. You forget, this is South Florida . There are more crooks in condos than you can shake a stick at! Just look around. I’ve never been greedy, but just you wait. Why the hell do you think they squeezed me out? They want the money, and they want more. I never took enough for people to notice, or get mad. I’m telling you, Glazer and his cronies make me look like a piker!

Dr. G.: Bob, give me a lesson here. How do you steal?

RJR: Doc, it’s really very simple. The easiest way is using three sealed bids. First, you make a deal with a vendor to do the work for, let’s say, $250,000. You have him give you a bid for $500,000. You go to another guy, tell him you’ve got a bid for 600,000, and ask for one at $550,000. Then you go to another one, tell him you have a bid for 550,000, and ask for one at $525,000. You then go back to the first bid, hire him for $500,000, and the two of you split the $250,000 you tacked on the job at the start. You’ve got your three bids, and no one’s the wiser.

Dr. G.: Incredible! So that’s how you use the three required bids to make money.

RJR: That’s the way it’s done. There’s millions here at Southpoint. When we ran the window replacement deal, the profit was much larger. The same thing for the carpeting in the hallways. The windows and carpeting were sub-standard, so we made huge a profit.

Dr. G.: We’ve covered a number of topics here. Do you have any final words for me?

RJR: I hope you print this, Doc. I want everybody to know that I never stole big. I never had your car or the cars of the others keyed. I never hurt no one or had anybody beat up. I just wanted to be comfortable, and not have to work hard. Now that Glazer’s pushed me out as President, you better watch out. Like I said before, he’s a control freak, and control of the Board means control of the money. It’s going to get a lot worse here, and for that, I am sorry.


Help for Owners

Is a Condo Commando is trampling upon your rights? Are you the victim of voting fraud? Are you the victim of financial fraud? What can you do about it? How can you protect your rights? Talk to your neighbors. Organize. Call Ombudsman Danille Carroll or State Representative Julio Robaina. Join the AARP and support their Owner’s Bill Of Rights. Perhaps the single most important thing you can do is to join the Cyber Citizens For Justice.

 

Attorney Inger Garcia can be reached by telephone at 954-524-0506, at www.IngerGarcia.com, or at [email protected].

 

Jan Bergemann of the Cyber Citizens For Justice can be reached at www.ccfj.net, 386-740-1503 or at [email protected] .

  

Condominium Ombudsman Danille R. Carroll, Esquire can be reached at 954-202-3234 or at [email protected].

 

Governor Charlie Crist can be reached at 850-488-7146 or at [email protected] .

 

State Representative Julio Robaina can be reached at 305-442-6868 or by email at [email protected] 


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I own a condominium at Southpoint, in the Galt Gulag. I am a University Professor and teach American Government. Nothing prepared me for life in the Galt Gulag. Because of the terms of the Florida Condominium Act, owners have no Constitutional Rights or rights to due process. I have been assaulted, battered, slandered, libeled, disparaged, stalked, had my car keyed, and had my life threatened because I believe in the Constitution. Do you have a story to tell? Write to me at [email protected] or call me at 954-892-5599.

 

 


 

TALES FROM THE GALT GULAG -- PART I

TALES FROM THE GALT GULAG -- PART II

TALES FROM THE GALT GULAG -- PART III

TALES FROM THE GALT GULAG -- PART IV

TALES FROM THE GALT GULAG -- PART V

TALES FROM THE GALT GULAG -- PART VI

TALES FROM THE GALT GULAG -- PART VII

TALES FROM THE GALT GULAG -- PART VIII


THE CONDO LAWYER -- INGER GARCIA

THE CONDO LAWYER -- INGER GARCIA II

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