Ticket Appeal - Regular Meeting

For all those who tend to testify on this, on any matter, please stand and raise your right hand. 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.

Okay. So these hearings are conducted by the city of Miami, a hearing officer. The purpose of these hearings is to give the alleged violators the opportunity to to appeal the decision of the code enforcement inspector, which resulted in the issuance of a civil code violation. These hearings are conducted in a quasi-judicial manner, and I'm the hearing officer assigned to hear the cases. It's my responsibility to act much like a judge in court, that is to hear the evidence and cases presented by the code enforcement inspector, And then to hear the evidence presented by the alleged violators. The hearings are open to the public. It's required that all persons who are going to testify as to the facts be placed under oath, including the code enforcement inspectors. Everyone will be placed under oath at the beginning as it has happened already. These hearings will not be conducted in accordance with any formal rules relating to evidence and witnesses. Any relevant evidence will be admitted if I find it to be competent and reliable, regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rules to the contrary. All documentary evidence must be submitted for placement in the hearing filed. Each party shall have the right to call and examine witnesses, introduce exhibits, and cross-examine the imposing witnesses. It is my responsibility to make the finding of fact based on the evidence of record. The fact-finding determination will be limited to whether the violation occurred, this is what I'm looking at, guys, whether it occurred, and if the person named will be the person held responsible. If I uphold the decision, I must find by the preponderance of the evidence that it indicates that the alleged name violator was responsible for the violation of that relevant section of the code. What I will order, understand that it's the amount of the penalty and any administrative costs. You're also warned that failure to comply with the violation by the date that it must be corrected will result in an automatic referral to the Code Enforcement Board. And that may result in the imposition of additional fines per day. The alleged violator or the city may seek to overturn whatever I've ordered. by making an application to Dade County Circuit Court Appellate Division. And you have to do that within 30 days of the order. So the way this will work, your name will be called, your case will be called. You'll come to this podium, this podium, when your name is called. We're going to now go forward with the hearings. I said earlier, and I want to say again, you want to make sure you've spoken with the code enforcement inspector responsible for your violation before you come up. Okay? Thank you.

We can call the first case. Page 56, property address 7651 Northeast 2nd Avenue, case number 00102922. Page 56.

Great, great. Sir, good morning. What's your name, please?

Hello. Hi. My name is Marco Lopez de Carrizosa-Finato.

All right. I'm looking at the city so they can verify. Yes. Sir, you have a settlement here with the city. That's 7651 Northeast 2nd Avenue. And this agreement that you have with the city states that the violation did occur. It's been affirmed. And you are responsible, the person named, And you've agreed to pay $250. Is that correct?

Yes, it is.

So ordered. Sir, you come to the front and sign both copies. You're going to keep a copy and leave one copy with the city. Okay? Thank you. That ends your case. Thank you.

Page 43, property address 1737 North Bayshore Drive, case number 00120700.

Good morning, Nicholas Rodriguez, 200 South Biscayne Boulevard.

Yes, sir. You said your name, right? Is that what you said? Yes, name and address. This is 1737 North Bayshore Drive. So you have this agreement with the city that the violation did occur. You are legally responsible. It's been affirmed. The person named has been affirmed. And it's $250 you've agreed to on behalf of your client. Is that correct? Yes. So ordered. Thank you, sir.

Thank you very much. Have a great day. Happy holidays. You too.

Thank you. Next one.

Page 75, property address 520 Southwest 39th Court, case number 00046054. Morning. Morning. Morning.

Sir, so this is 520 Southwest 39th Court. Sir, please state your name for the record.

Carlos Chain.

Thank you. So, sir, you have this agreement with the city that the violation did occur. It's been affirmed, and you are legally responsible. You've agreed to pay $500. Is that correct?

That's correct.

So ordered. Thank you. So you're going to come up and sign both copies. Thank you.

Page 40, property address 219 Northwest 20th Street, case number 00133202. Good morning.

Good morning. Your name for the record? Jonathan Treston, I'm in-house counsel for the owner, Miami Development 2122 trustee.

Okay, okay.

Thank you.

So sir, this is for 219 Northwest 20th Street.

Yes.

So you have an agreement with the city that the violation did occur? You're legally responsible. It's been affirmed. You've agreed to pay $250. Is that correct?

Yes, ma'am.

So ordered. Thank you. Thank you. Just need to sign both copies.

Page 119, property address 3650 Northwest 5th Street, case number 00143706. Property address 3650 Northwest 5th Street.

Good morning. Your name, please? George Perez. Sir, you have an agreement with the city, and it states that the violation did occur. You're legally responsible. It's been affirmed. You've agreed to pay $250. Is that correct?

It is correct, yes.

So ordered. Thank you, sir. Come sign both copies.

Page 70, case number 001425442, property address...

Sorry.

Property address 201 Northeast 43rd Street.

Hi, good morning. Good morning. Say your name for the record, please.

Elizabeth Lafontaine.

Thank you, ma'am. This is 201 Northeast 43rd Street.

Yes.

Yes, ma'am. Ma'am, you have an agreement with the city that the violation did occur. You're legally responsible and it's been affirmed. You've agreed to pay $250. Is that correct?

Yes, ma'am.

So ordered. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm up to sign.

You're going to sign both copies and then you'll take one. Is that all the settlements? Are they, have they all been called? Oh, you have one more. Okay.

Yeah. And we're going to have actually a second one. We're just waiting for a corrected power of attorney to come in so that we can go ahead and do that. But they're working on it now.

Thank you.

Yeah. Definitely want to get them done today because I incorrectly sent them away last time thinking it was a reset case. So I want to get them done today.

Okay. I made a mistake. It happens to perfect people like you. What is your...

Page 83, property address 3710 Northwest 14th Avenue, case number 00142537.

You have to go to that podium. Thank you so much. Good morning, sir. Your name, please.

Good morning. I'm Carlos Montana.

Okay.

Sir, you have an agreement with the city. This is on 3710 Northwest 14th Avenue. Yes. The agreement with the city states the violation did occur. The person named is legally responsible. It's been affirmed. Sir, you've agreed to pay $500. Is that correct? Correct. So ordered. Thank you. So I need you to come up to sign both copies. You'll take one. You'll leave one. There's instructions here on how to pay. No one can pay today because they got to make the invoice in the system. But thank you.

Page 30, property address 1553 Northwest First Court, case number 00133, I mean 025, property address 1553 Northwest First Court.

1553 Northwest First Court. Are you guys in the front? Excuse me, 1553. Over there.

You should be at this podium. If you're 1553 Northwest First Court. 1553 Northwest First Court should be at the podium if you're here. Oh. Oh.

I do not believe that they were, you weren't sworn in, were you? No, we weren't. Did you swear in this morning? Yeah, we swear. Okay.

Okay. So, your names for the record, please. Jacobo. Jacobo. Okay. And she knew that was you, so I know the city has your power of attorney, right? Thank you. Thank you. So, you have an agreement with the city and it states the violation did occur. You're legally responsible. It's been affirmed and you've agreed to pay $250. Is that correct? Yeah, correct. So ordered. So you're going to come up, if you will, and sign both with the clerk. You'll keep one copy and leave one copy. Okay, thank you. Thank you.

Page 88, property address 2012 Northwest 5th Street, case number 00142392, property address 2012 Northwest 5th Street. Property address 2012 Northwest 5th Street.

Hi, good morning. Morning. Your name, please. It's Luis Calix. Yes, sir. This is 2-0-1-2 Northwest 5th Street. So you have an agreement with the city that the violation did occur. You're legally responsible. It's been affirmed. And you've agreed to pay $250. Is that correct?

Yes.

Thank you. So ordered, sir. I just need you to come and sign both copies, okay?

So I think right now, while we're still waiting for the fixed power of attorney to come in, we have three trials. It's two properties. One has two cases. The other one has one, obviously. So you let me know when you're ready to do that.

I am ready to do that.

Inspector Mills?

All right, so it's going to be page 94- 2111 Tigertail Avenue, case number 00143206, 2111 Tigertail Avenue. Set for trial. Good morning.

All right, let's go.

I know if you wanted to ask her if she wanted the trial or not.

Did you get the opportunity to speak with the code enforcement inspector?

We just said good morning. Then I asked her if I needed to speak with her. She said, no, just have a seat. Okay. Did you speak with her?

Did you? Yes. Okay, yeah, they did speak with her.

Okay, you did speak with her. Okay.

Thank you. All right. Inspector, did you cite the aforementioned property for violation of 22-6 of the city code for illegally dumping bulky waste from their property across the street?

Yes, I did.

All right. And you put together pages 1 through 28 for today's hearing. Is that correct?

Correct.

And within that includes, as we're seeing now, you can see up on the screens. Can you see that, ma'am?

Yes, I've seen it.

You want me to make it a little bigger? Is that better?

I believe I received it in the mail and read it.

Okay. So the original ticket along with where it was mailed to. And here's the summons again mailed to the owner. This is the appeal you filed. Correct? Stating we have been putting our debris in that area for over 31 years and have never received a citation.

Correct, but that's not the whole story. Thanks. Yeah, that's fine.

Inspector, and you attached all of these other documents as part of your case, right? Your proof of mailing and your posting, correct? And these are the photographs that you took. That's correct. Now, what's the woman here on page 21, this photograph?

That's the lady that walked out with the items in her hand and that I tried to tell not to walk across the street to dump any items over there because that would be considered illegal dumping. She still threw the items over there and she walked back into the house. And I went behind her still telling her that she couldn't put that stuff over there, but she went inside and then... This lady here came to my car.

Okay. Talk to me. And so page 24 shows items, some of, I don't, you know, maybe not all of it, but were from that house. Is that correct? Correct. And this is your proof of posting of the property. Correct.

All right.

At this time, the city seeks to admit pages 1 through 28 into evidence.

So admit it. All right.

What else happened, Inspector? Oh, okay. I was already dealing with her neighbor about some of those boxes, which I was telling the neighbor that they couldn't put the items there. And they were cited for the items. And as I was standing there, the lady with the baby, she walked out. And I said, ma'am, do not put those items over there. You cannot dump those items over there. Plus, it's not your day for collection. You can't do that. And she went right across the streets, threw the items anyway. And she was walking back. I walked down to her, and I said, ma'am, you can't put that stuff there. You guys cannot walk across the streets from your property and place items in front of another property. She walked off, went in the house. The lady... The lady here, she came out to my car, and I also explained the same thing to her. She then proceeded to tell me that she would contact Danielle Carver, Ken Russell, and everybody else about the violation. And that was it. That was it. Okay.

At this time, the city has no further questions. Thank you.

Ma'am, please state your name for the record.

Kate Callahan.

Thank you. Yes, ma'am. So you are the owner of this property?

I am, but I'm thinking you have the pictures of the wrong property. I'm not sure. Could you just go back to the pictures of the property, please? Yes, okay, that's mine. We also had a great picture of our next-door neighbor. Okay, that's the one I thought. Okay, thank you.

Ma'am, I'd like to hear from you at this time in your own defense.

Thank you. Well, so I was not the person who put the debris across the street. It was someone who, a friend of mine, and I will agree, she was probably pretty belligerent to you and disrespectful to you. When I came to your car, I think I did display great respect for you and thank you for doing your job and understanding you're trying to protect us. So I just want to make that clear that there is a real difference in personality between myself, the homeowner, and the person who basically was disobeying the ordinance. So let's just put that out there. I brought a video of the area where for 31, 32 years, All of the neighbors within a five house radius have been putting large debris for many, many years. As a matter of fact, I don't remember what year, but we got a notice that please be aware that you are only allowed to put large debris on Thursday because the pickup is Friday. We've also experienced situations where the city have put down sand once that area got too deep, that they would put sand. And so those were the instructions that we've gotten. Now, the day that this happened was a Tuesday, and so it should never have been put there. And again, it wasn't me that put it there, it was an associate. So I warned her then after you may not put any debris there except for on Thursdays. The inspector informed me, no, you're not allowed to put it there ever. And so I'm just getting mixed signals from the city, getting notices only Thursdays, putting sand where the debris was to, you know, whatever. I also brought pictures of where the debris was. There really is no house there. There's just a fence. So it's not like it's in front of someone's house. And like I said, for 30 some odd years, that's what we've been doing without any complaint from any neighbor at all. So the real violation was that it was a Tuesday, as far as I'm concerned. It was a Tuesday, not a Thursday. And it was not me that put the debris there. It was an associate. So, you know, and I also said to the inspector, well, $500, this is, like, huge money. And, like, that's why I'm appealing it. And, like, even if I do get dinged as being guilty... first offense, is there no appeal where you just don't have to pay five, but walk away with, hey, you're on notice now, whatever the determination you make, that it's going to be $500. So a couple things. One, it wasn't me who put it there. Two, there's a discrepancy about being able to use that area on Thursdays for pickup on Friday. So there's just a couple of things that brought me here today for the appeal. And if you'd like, I can show you the videos of Mission Impossible to put any debris in front of my house because of the way the layout. I mean, the other thing is that the school is adjacent to our property, Ransom Everglades Middle School. And so if you put debris in front of us, it basically would be on the street. which is basically occlude traffic coming to and from the school on that Thursday. So anyway, I want to thank her again for doing her job and, you know, keeping us safe because that's really what it is. But that's, but that's my case.

Thank you. Well, thank you. Let me ask you this, ma'am. Do you have evidence that's contrary to what's been presented? I saw that this, the, debris was in front of a fence. I saw that. What else do you have that was contrary to this case right now?

I just have video of that's impossible to put debris in front of my house. Okay, that's fine.

That wouldn't be an issue today. The only issue today is the debris that the person out of your home took across the street even though she was instructed not to so it would fall on that address, and that would happen to be your home address. So the inspector did a great job. The inspector also did a great job in letting her know you can't do that, because sometimes they don't get to see people do it. They do it based on the addresses on the debris. They will find the different homes, which is proper. However, this was another level of it. She actually saw the person out of your home. So it falls on you as the homeowner, that person. I don't know if she lived there. I don't need to know that. But you did reference her as a friend, so I get it. However, it's a clear violation. I'm not hearing a defense to it. I'm upholding the violation. It's $525 plus an additional $100 court cost. So ordered, that ends this case. I need you to sign the orders so you can have a copy of one.

Wait, so I just have one question for the future.

If you want to know where you think you can, over here, put your things, that's not for the magistrate. You can have a discussion with our solid waste people.

I also want to just, for the record, think it's untenable that we get penalized to come to court by $100. It just doesn't seem just. Thank you.

I understand court costs is court costs, but thank you. Thank you so much. Next case.

All right, our next case is the same property, has two cases. Page 91, Inspector Harris. Yes. 1505 West Flagler Street, the first case would be 00140810. And let me pull that one up. Making sure I pull up the correct one. The individual here has, can you put your name on the record? Luciana Sicardi. Okay, she has a proper power of attorney to represent the owner of the property. Excellent, excellent. All right, Inspector, can you please state your name for the record?

Good morning, Inspector Brian Harris, Solid Waste Department.

Did you cite the aforementioned property for a violation of 22-6 of the city code for the... Illegal dumping?

That is correct.

For the person in the truck?

That is correct.

Okay. So you put together pages 1 through 31, is that correct?

That is correct.

All right. And we're going to go look through those now, which is the copy of the citation. The violation occurred at 1505 West Flagler Street, is that correct?

No, the violation occurred at... 1400 Northwest 17th. All right.

Hold on a second. Then we're going to pass this.

Okay.

Your violations. Both tickets are going to be dismissed. The wrong location of the violation site is listed.

Put both on the record.

I think only one.

Sorry.

I'm going to do an order.

So they both dismiss?

Yes.

Perfect. Thank you.

That's the 91 and 97, I think.

And we're going to have the last case. That's the only reason why. Let them know that the only reason why

Okay, so I want to put them on record. That's 00140810 and 00140806. Both of these cases are being dismissed. Wrong address. I'm just pulling up the... There we go. Right here you go.

All right, darling.

Page 122, address 5225 Northeast 5th Avenue, case number 00132732.

Thank you. Good morning.

Good morning.

Hi. Please state your names for the record. Augustus Eleftherio.

Erin Eleftherio. Thank you.

Yay. Thank you. This is for 5225 Northeast Fifth Avenue. Is that correct? Yes. So you guys entered an agreement with the city that the violation did occur. You're legally responsible. It's been affirmed. And you've agreed to pay $9,000. Is that correct?

That's correct.

So ordered. Thank you. I need you to come sign the two copies. You'll take one. You'll leave one. with the city, and there is instructions there on how to pay up here. So you can come. Thank you. So ordered.

And just so I can let counsel leave, pages 8 and 13, which are 40 Southwest North River Drive, those cases are reset. Counsel for on this one was being sworn in as, I believe, the Miami Beach Bar president today, so... at the same time, so, you know. So pages eight and 13, 40 Southwest North River Drive being reset.

Oh, nice. Eight and 13, okay. Okay, excellent. Thank you, thank you, you too. Are there any more cases? I think we're done.

What's the, what's the, go find out which one of the ones she has. She should have it over there. Somebody just appeared. Talking. So he'll need to be sworn in.

You're looking for the fifth street? Here's another Fifth Street, though. 2012 Northwest Fifth Street. It's at 36 something.

Do you have the order?

Oh, well.

Madam Magistrate, on page 119, we closed out a case 3650, Northwest 5th Street, ticket number 00143706. The owner did agree to a settlement on the case. However, the inspector has come up to speak to me. We are going to, with your approval, void the case.

Oh, lucky them.

For them, and the inspector will let And I'm sure they're going to be okay with it. I mean, they're not here, but I'm guessing they're going to be good with a void rather than paying money.

Why is it being voided?

I think they had spoken before about the facts and circumstances of the case.

Wait a minute. Okay.

Oh, it hasn't been called up yet? This is blank.

So it hasn't been done?

Hold on a second.

Did the person understand this too? The last talk, was it going to be voided?

If he came here, they left. So just void it on your own. All right, I don't know why we have other orders on it though. These are blank orders.

Did you have two cents?

Where's the signed order?

You have a signed, yeah.

That's what we're asking for, the signed order.

What's the number? There it is.

There you go. Yeah.

So, go avoid it in the system. So what's that case number?

Let's do it. The case number is 00143706, property just 3650 Northwest Bist Street.

That case is void, so ordered.

Okay. And the inspector will notify the owners that they're not going to have to pay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All of them are done now, right? Oh, this... We're not...

we don't have anything further madam magistrate thank you so i guess we can go through our calendar as to um sets and not set okay

Page 17, case number 00139-400, property address 521 Northeast 82nd Terrace.

Failure to appear.

That's a failure. All of these are failure to appears that are being called, right?

Yeah, failure to appear, upheld.

Upheld, go ahead.

Page 37, property address 940 Northeast 75th Street, case number 00134478. Failure to appear, upheld. Property address 2711 Northeast. What's the page number? Page 100. Page 100. Property address 2711 Northeast 2nd Avenue. Case number 00140419.

Upheld. Failure to appear.

Page 103. Property address 2711 Northeast 2nd Avenue. Case number 00140415. Failure to appear. Case is upheld. Page 106, property address 2711 Northeast 2nd Avenue, case number 00140420.

Failure to appear upheld.

Property, I mean case, sorry, page 109. Property address 2711 Northeast 2nd Avenue, case number 00140427. Failure to appear upheld. Page 115. Address 1760 Northwest, first place, case number 00134346.

Failure to appear upheld.

I think that is it for the cases to be called.

That's it? You're resetting all the other ones? There either were resets or voided cases.

Okay.

You don't put those on record?

No, no. Okay. They're actually already printed out on the agenda and stuff. Okay, perfect.

So these hearings are adjourned.

Happy holidays.

Happy, happy, happy.

you