Nuisance Abatement Board - Regular Meeting

Started with the pledge of allegiance. Can everyone please stand? Please continue to stand if you are here to be sworn in to testify for any of the cases.

Please raise your right hand, everyone, thank you. Do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Thank you. You may have a seat. Do you solemnly swear or affirm you will translate from English to Spanish and Spanish to English to the best of your ability? Thank you.

Do you solemnly swear or affirm you will translate from English to Creole to English to the best of your ability? Thank you.

Good evening, Mr. Chair. Because the former chair resigned from the nuisance abatement board, we have to nominate a new chair and a new vice chair so that I can have nominations.

I say we leave it, can we leave the same chair and same vice chair for this?

As code enforcement? Yes. Okay, so make the nomination.

I make a motion or a nomination to leave the same chair and vice chair, the code enforcement board.

All those in favor? Second. Aye. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you.

Again.

All right, so where are we getting started at?

Attendance.

Attendance.

Mr. Keon Williams.

Present.

Mr. Ulysses.

Present.

Mr. Galan. Present. Mr. Rodriguez. Present. Mr. Moshe. We have quorum. Thank you. Thank you. And who asked for the excused absence? Mr. Moshe asked for excused absence. Can I have a motion?

Move for excused absence.

Second. All those in favor?

Aye.

Thank you.

Okay, we're going to start with the nuisance abatement agenda.

Six cases on the agenda, two set for hearing, four status.

I'll call the first status. It's appearing on page six. Property address is 1278 Northwest 58th Terrace. Call now for the owner, Raul Cosio. Mr. Cosio, I have Officer LaWanda Lawson present to testify regarding the status of this property.

Okay.

Officer, can you go to the podium? 1278 Northwest 58th Terrace.

Good evening.

Hello. Officer, can you please state your name for the record?

Officer Lawson Serafin.

Okay, and officer, are you assigned to Model City Neighborhood Resource Officer?

Yes.

And 1278 Northwest 58th Terrace, is that a property that is within your jurisdiction?

Yes.

Have you had any contact with the owner, Raul Cosio, or anyone on behalf of this property?

No.

Are you aware of any compliance with the board's order that was issued in December of 2025, whether or not the property has complied with any conditions of the order?

No.

Is it your understanding and testimony that this property is entirely noncompliant and noncommunicative in response with the December 2025 order? Yes. Okay, thank you. And based on the officer's testimony, the fact that this property has been noncompliant, noncommunicative, has previously been non-compliant with the court's order. The city is going to motion to request a $500 fine and reset the case for status for next month, June 24th, 2026.

I move to make a motion. Second. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Next property is appearing on page 46. Property is 611 Northwest 65th Street. Calling out for the owner, Emanuel Obese. I do have an officer here to testify. However, I have been informed that this property has been in compliance. There was an update. There was a hearing held in December of 2025. And it was reset for multiple statuses. There has yet to be a status where they have not been in compliance. As far as the last compliance was April. Been in contact with the owner. Everything has been up to date. And they have satisfied all the conditions of the order. And I... the city will motion and move on behalf of the police department as well as the city of Miami to terminate the order for full compliance.

Let's have one question before taking a motion. Do we know if there's been any other complaints at that property?

I can pass to Officer Lawson. I haven't heard of any complaints. I'll allow her to testify to that.

We haven't heard of any more complaints. The owner had the previous tenants evicted. Okay. It's okay for now.

For now.

Okay. Tents have been evicted. The property has been repaired. There is a new lease agreement that has been received. The prior owner was evicted. Okay.

Thank you. Can I get a motion? I move as stated. Second. All those in favor? Aye.

Third case is appearing on page 97. Property is 1283 Northwest 59th Street. Calling out for the owner, Najeeb Iqbal. Najeeb Iqbal. Okay, this case is set for status. It was a hearing held back in December of 2025. The owner was found, the property was found guilty. It's reset for multiple statuses. Fines have been previously issued. There hasn't been any contact. Officer Lawson, is this property, 1283 Northwest 59th Street, one of the properties within your jurisdiction?

Yes.

To date, have you had any contact with Najeeb Iqbal or anyone on behalf of the property?

No.

To date, are you aware of any compliance with any conditions of the order issued by this board back in December of 2025?

No.

Based on officer's testimony and the facts presented, the city would motion to request a $500 fine and reset this case for status June 24th, 2026.

Move as stated.

Second.

And before we take the vote, is there, has there been any other reported activity at this property? Because as I'm looking at the, you know, this case here, I mean, this is, I know this is, you probably see more than anything, but this is a lot.

We haven't had any other calls at the location. Okay.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Thank you. Can you just hang tight?

uh fourth case parent on page 139 property is 1969 northwest second court apartment number 13 owner winwood apartments llc i will i will proffer to the the board that this property last last hearing was in full compliance um and we were sort of resetting to see if they were in continual compliance and we're likely going to motion to terminate. However, I have no status as to the update of any of the compliance. I don't even have proof of posted notice. Owner's not here. So I'm going to request a reset for 30 days to June 24, 2026. So moved. Second.

All those in favor?

Aye. Last two cases are set for hearing. I did receive a call from the detective who He's present with all his other detectives on his squad. They're on an active call, and they are unable to be present. However, I think we may be able to resolve both of them, so I'll call the first case. Property address is page 231, property address 1506, Northwest 70th Street. Mr. Johnson, Samuel Johnson is the owner, who I believe is present. Sir, if you'd just come up and take that far podium over there. I did have a chance to speak with him before the hearing about the guilty, not guilty, the hearing, what he wants to do. So I'll allow him to speak for himself. Good evening, sir. State your name and address for the record.

Name for the record, Samuel L. Johnson, Jr.

Thank you. As I would.

Speaking well, I'm sorry. I don't mean ever They're gonna pose to you whether or not you want to plead guilty or not guilty And if you wanted an explanation as to what that means we could do so like I told you I don't even know what happened.

I know that there was a Person arrested in the building. I have no Direct knowledge only street knowledge of he might have been arrested for drugs or whatever the case may be I requested information from the net office and I was unable to get anything. But as I told you, I've already began dealing with that situation. We've enclosed the perimeter of the building with iron fence, locking gate, and installed ring cameras. That was actually not done because of that. That was part of the whole process of renovating the building.

But just for this situation here, at the time when this stuff occurred, was the property in this case guilty or not guilty?

I'm sorry, repeat?

Was the property guilty or not guilty at the time when these violations took place? Well, I guess it's guilty, yeah. Okay, thank you, sir.

I'm just going to give a brief factual summary for the board. This is a complaint dated April 23rd of 2026, cited pursuant to 46... Code 46-1, subsection 2, property has been used on more than two occasions within a six-month period as a site for unlawful sale, manufacture, delivery, or cultivation of a controlled substance. This was three CI purchases of fentanyl for $40 within February and March of 2026. A search warrant was executed on the property in March of 2026, and Detectives recovered 21 capsules of suspected fentanyl, 31 pills of suspected Xanax, loose rocks of rock cocaine, currency, digital scale, ledger. So at this time and pursuant to the admission or the guilty plea on behalf of the property, the city would recommend the following conditions. Meet with the neighborhood resource officer within one week. Remove all landscaping interfering with the line of sight within 30 days. Execute a trespass affidavit within one week. Install no trespass sign within 30 days. Provide necessary adequate lighting to ensure the property is well lit. and provide rent rules for the tenants, including vehicle information and tag numbers. And of course, if the property is vacant, no need to do so. If other conditions have previously been complied, you don't need to re-comply, just maintain compliance. And requests are reset for 60 days, July 22nd of 2026.

Do you understand what we're asking with that order?

Yeah.

And also, too, just on the comment that I would add is that You know, this property is in a very, you know, challenging part of our city, particularly, you know, my district. And, you know, we like to see that area cleaned up. And so it's going to take one property at a time. But we really need you to do your part over there.

Okay. Well, just to state, I work very closely with the police officers in that area. Yeah. We've had situations before. And when they come to me and say, hey, this guy's doing X, Y, and Z, they're out. No questions asked. Yeah. I had no knowledge of this situation. Nobody came to me as they normally do, but I know that the young lady I used to work with is no longer in that area.

Okay.

Are these rental properties that you have? Yes, sir. Okay.

Is there a motion?

Yes, so I move for finding of guilt and I move as stated. I second.

All those in favor? Aye. Thank you. Okay. You'll be in contact with the... Sir, if you actually...

You can talk to Officer Lawson.

Yeah.

She'll... Last case is appearing on page 268. Property address is 4825 Northwest 15th Court. Mr. Strauss, who is the attorney for the property, is present. Welcome to the podium.

Good evening, Mr. Board. Yes, good evening, sir.

Thank you. My name is Arnold Skip Strauss. I practice law 10081 Hines Boulevard, Suite C, Pembroke Pines, Florida. I'm accompanied by my client, Gwen Johnson. She's the manager of G&J Property Masters. And I think that, if I may defer to Attorney Foreman.

We spoke prior to the hearing. I informed her about the detectives. I also informed her about a potential resolution. I correct him if I'm wrong. I think we are going to... There's been a lot of pre-hearing compliance. However, there was a lot of issues at this property previously. even dating back to 2025, so we're going to request a correction, if I'm wrong, a reset for 30 days to see what can be done, if there is going to be further compliance for a potential withdrawal of the complaint, or we'll proceed with the hearing. Is that accurate?

Mr. Foreman is correct, and I thank him for his kindness. He's been terrific.

Yeah, so reset... For hearing for, what is that, June 24th?

What is that?

Sorry. June 24th, 2026.

Before I call for a motion, I see this property is also within 1,000 feet of a school. And so, you see, this is very important that we take care of this matter because, again, we're talking about quality of life. You can hear it. you know, in our city. We're trying to do our best.

Once we found out, because we have over 100 units in this area, and we pride ourselves on keeping the property up. We pride ourselves on screening our tenants. We did a background check on the young lady who has it. No, she has not gotten back with us, but she did leave the key in our slot. We have secured it, put up no trespassing signs, but we don't tolerate anyone coming in doing drugs or any illegal anything in our properties. So once it was brought to our attention, we're on it. Thank you.

Can I have a motion? Move to reset to June 24th, 2026. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. I do have an appointment with Officer Lawson tomorrow. Thank you.

Thank you, members of the board. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. That terminates the agenda. Just to let the board know, this is my last hearing. I will be turning it over to Ms. Dooley over here. It's been a pleasure working with all of you. Thank you.

It's been a pleasure. Quick two years. Yeah. Motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. Thank you. Next meeting.