Dear Mayor Hayward, City Attorney Messer, City Council President and City Council Members
I am sending, again, the information about our business downtown as I have received no response from you.
Sincerely,
Mary Mead
--------
To: Mayor Hayward, City Attorney Messer, City Council President and City Council Members
This is a status report on the City Officials’ actions to resolve the matter regarding the illegal closing of our commercial/business property at 520 North Spring Street in downtown Pensacola on March 19, 2005.
BACKGROUND:
May, 2000 – authorized to reopen, after restoration, an art gallery/antique shop holding functions
January 2001 – approved for the Florida State Program granting a small tax exemption to properties restored under the guidelines of the U.S. Secretary of the Interior - approved to use the property as an art gallery/antique shop holding functions (ci.pensacola.fl.us – City files on 1/11/2001)
March 19, 2005 – illegally closed down during a function (wedding) by the Pensacola Police Department without due process, without prior notification of any kind, in violation of Pensacola City Ordinances and in violation of prior legal authorization by Pensacola Officials to operate as we were doing. We are illegally closed down to this very day
March 20, 2005 – City Officials announced in the Pensacola News Journal that they had been planning and were going to be building a 40 million dollar Maritime Park at the end of our street, Spring Street
March 19, 2005 – Present – Since the City Officials breaking the law serve all districts, not just my district, I have contacted all Mayors (Fogg, Wiggins and Hayward), all City Attorneys(Fleming, Wells, Messer), all Police Chiefs (Mathis, Simmons), all City Managers (Bonfield, Coby), all Community Department Heads (Cowper, Cohen) and all past and current City Council Members to stop the apparent illegal/criminal actions against us. In the 6 years we have been illegally closed, all of the above have refused to stop the apparent illegal/criminal actions against us. Mayor Hayward, Mr. Coby, and Mr. Messer and most of the City Council Members have refused to answer my communications. My District Representative, Mr. Spencer, refuses to meet with me, will no longer answer my Communications and will not stop the apparent illegal/criminal actions against us.
CURRENTSTATUS
All City Officials I have contacted refuse to stop the apparent illegal/criminal actions against us on the part of City Officials in illegally closing our properly authorized business at 520 North Spring Street in downtown Pensacola. We are denied income from our legally authorized business/commercial property and our historic building, which my late husband and I lovingly restored, is again falling into disrepair due to the apparent illegal/criminal actions against us on the part of City Officials.
It appears that City Officials have made false charges and false statements regarding this matter to the Florida State Attorney, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI, which is a serious matter. City Officials have libeled, defamed and degraded me in an effort to excuse their apparent illegal/criminal actions and these agencies, in turn, have libeled, defamed and degraded me based on the false charges and false statements of City Officials.
Example: On Sep 9, 2010, it appears that Florida State Attorney, Mr. Bill Eddins, the Pensacola City Attorney, Mr. Wells, and Pensacola Community Development Department employee, Ms. Morris, discussed the answer Mr. Wells was going to send to Mr. Ramage of the FDLE regarding my reporting to FDLE, again, the illegal closing of our small business, an art gallery/antique shop holding functions, on March 19, 2005. It appears that theydecided to present false statements and false charges about us to FDLE instead of the real facts: we were authorized in 2000 to hold functions, we operated in compliance with all rules and regulations, we were illegally closed down by the Pensacola Police Department on March 19, 2005, etc.
The following excerpts from the Pensacola City Attorney’s email and the FDLE General Counsel’s letter follow so anyone should be able to clearly see the level of lies told to and about us.
The Pensacola City Attorney stated to the FDLE General Counsel,“Numerous complaints were received from her neighbors and the city did direct her to cease holding outdoor events such as weddings.”
The FDLE General Counsel stated to me, “after neighbors’ complaints, the City notified you that your zoning did not allow such outside activities.”
Both the Pensacola City Attorney and the FDLE General Counsel made false statements. Through a Public Information request, I was able to obtain the following email from the Pensacola Chief of Police, Mr. Chip Simmons, to the Pensacola Mayor’s assistant, Mr. Al Coby. I have repeatedly stated that during the 25 years of operation of the business, from 1980 until 2005, in the same location, operating in the same manner, there were no complaints before our illegal closing on March 19, 2005.
From: Chip Simmons
Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2011 11:17 AM
To: AlCoby
Cc: ThaddeusCohen; Rita R. Lee
Subject: RE:
Thanks Al. I checked and we have no paperwork on the location or information regarding the complaint. We do have a total of nine alarm responses dating back to 2004.
I furnished this information to Mayor Hayward and City Attorney Messer. They have not responded.
I also sent Mayor Hayward and City Attorney Messer a copy of our Central Contractor Registration file(Federal level) where we were registered to perform accounting services for the Department of Defense, Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida. Our Dun and Bradstreet Number is 041861846. We were established on June 30, 1998, as a partnership (where I am the majority partner) classified as woman Owned Business and Veteran Owned Business. Both of these classifications were based on documents submitted to the CCR and verified by SBA. Our business was officially certified to be woman owned and veteran owned. Both my husband (junior partner) and I were determined to be veterans and not just former military. At the time of our illegal closing, my partner was classified, under Florida Law, as elderly. One or both of us have been classified, under Florida Law, as elderly during the entire illegal closure.
I also asked City Attorney Messer, as the Pensacola City Representative, to write the FDLE and other agencies which have been supplied documents with false charges and false statements about us and present the real facts otherwise the City of Pensacola will remain in violation of the law in this matter. I stated that I would like a copy of any correspondence.
