Welcome to your home for registering complaints about your dumb ass government officials. We will gladly post any email from you and not show your name or email address, unless you tell us it's ok.
This site is designed for all the horror stories you may have about the over zealous officials that you have to deal with each and every day. From the pompous ass that comes around from Codes Enforcement to the Health Inspector or any other government official you feel like venting about and getting things off your chest in a safe environment. I say safe because we all know these ass holes will do everything in their power to harass you if they find out who you are.
This is your site and is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. They may not like what they are about to hear but, by god, it is your right to say it. Please forward all email to fotoads@bellsouth.net . We will gladly publish your comments.
Erotic Sensations
The first story is about a quiet little lingerie store operating in the 400 block of Duval St. I am sure all of you have seen it when you were out walking after sunset. Well the City has constantly tried to harass us since our opening. They tried to not issue us a business license because they didn't like our name. That was the words exactly from the lips of Carolyn Walker, a prudish lady who thinks she holds the keys to whether or not you get a license. Now how this lady came to think she has that much power is beyond me. Just because she may be a salt water conch doesn't make her right. If you have had any problems with this person may I suggest a simple visit to a Judge to set the matter straight. You see it is the Courts not some little dictator wanna be that have the real power. That is where our protection as citizens lay.
The next person to be a jerk is a Codes Enforcement Officer named Jeff Berman, hereafter referred to by the nickname "The Weasel".
Webster's on line Dictionary gives this as a definition of Weasel
wea新el
n.
1.Any of various carnivorous mammals of the genus Mustela, having a
long slender body, a long tail, short legs, and brownish fur that in many
species turns white in winter.
2.A person regarded as sneaky or treacherous.
intr.v. wea新eled, also wea新elled wea新el搏ng, wea新el損ing wea新els,
wea新els
To be evasive; equivocate.
Phrasal Verb:
weasel out
Informal :
To back out of a situation or commitment in a sneaky or cowardly
manner.
So, in the famous words of Paul Harvey, here is the rest of the story.
We applied for a business license under our corporate name of Sulloon Inc, a registered corporate name with the State of Florida. This application was taken by the lady named above, Carolyn Walker, who works for the City of Key West. We jumped through all the hoops required by the City and the State for the issuance of a license. A few days prior to opening we ran our D.B.A. ( doing business as) in the local paper, the name we chose was Erotic Sensations. She then informed us that she was not going to issue us our business license because she did not like our name. Finally, after many threats and filing of lawsuits on our part, the City Attorney called her, and told her in no uncertain terms that she must give us our license, and in October of 2000, she gives us our Occupational License.
This is then followed up immediately by a visit from Codes Enforcement, see Weasel above, who comes in looks around and tells us we can not sell adult novelties in the back room. He then orders us to turn off the lights, cover the toys and barricade the access to the novelty area. I am then issued a citation for "selling sexual appliances" without a license. Then for an added measure he looked in the customer dressing rooms to see if there were any naked women in there. Thank god we didn't have any customers in the store at the time or they may have been harassed for trying on outfits. So we reviewed the current ordinances and realized we were right and the Weasel was wrong, again. We then threatened to sue the City and the Weasel backed down.
In January, 2001, we install some neon to dress up our business. Now I am not talking a huge amount of neon but rather a small 5' by 1' sign that says "lingerie and more". In the visual times that we now live , eye appeal is an immediate draw for customers. Of course we are cited again and told we have to go apply for a permit for the sign. You must appear before a Board called HARC. This is a group of people who already have theirs and do not want you to get yours. HARC denied us a permit under the opinion of " We do not like neon". We objected and they said" Neon does not fit in with the historical nature of our building". ( I am older than this historical, non descript, flat roofed building.) So we read their sign ordinance more closely and move the sign back to exactly one inch from the distance it needed to be from the store front. For those of you who may not know you can have as much neon as you like as long as it is over 5 feet from the window.
In the spring of 2002 Codes Enforcement makes another visit to our little store. This time they say we need to remove a 4" by 2" sticker on our entrance double door. They wanted us to remove it because of its content. They, Codes Enforcement, did not like the message for fear it offended a child. The sticker read " if you lick it they will come". We told their agent.... No! So the head of Codes Enforcement came and pointed his finger at our employee and told him "He was going to go after us hard!" Our employee smiled and at our direction told them the sticker was staying.
October 2002
Late one evening, around 10:00 p.m. while an employee was working "The Weasel" came into the shop. "The Weasel" told our employee that we were not allowed to have a dry erase board in our foyer with advertising on it, never mind the fact that two doors down there were and are 2 of the same type of signs in the same location still to this day. "The Weasel" then took his hand and wiped it across the board on the way out of the store causing the content of the sign to be unreadable.
At our direction the following day we asked our store manager to verify that is was "The Weasel" who did this illegal action. She left a message for "The Weasel" to call her. He returned her call and she asked him why he we were not allowed the sign and why he took it upon himself to wipe off the content of the sign. He explained that portable signs were not allowed ( see paragraph above about the enforcement of this rule). Our manager explained to "The Weasel" that since his actions had made the content of the sign impossible to read that we re wrote the sign and placed it back in our foyer. She then proceeded to inform "The Weasel" about our past history and lawsuits against the City at which time he hung up the phone. "The Weasel" appeared outside the store about a hour later taking pictures of the outside of the store. These pictures later turned up in our citation hearing, yes we were issued another citation.
Another hearing on another day.
Prior to our part in the Codes Enforcement Board hearing a local realtor was called on the carpet. His crime was having pictures of houses and property that he has available for lease or sale. He was threatened with a fine of $5000.00 if he continued to actually advertise his business. What a bunch of crap.
Our manager was served a notice for the violation that "The Weasel" wrote. She attended the meeting and read a statement to the Board that informed the City that we did not believe we were in conflict with their ordinances. We also expressed our displeasure with the constant harassment by "The Weasel" and were considering filing suit to stop this illegal action. Our manager then sat down and "The Weasel" addressed the Board and showed them the pictures that were mentioned above of our store front.
I know this is may be a surprise but the person chairing the Board, after due diligence and thought, which took all of 3 seconds, let me know that in his opinion we were in violation for too many store front signs. He then listed the signs
1: Hanging sign with our store name on it
2:a Window sticker having the word "Toys" on it
3: a window sticker with the word "video" on it
4: two window stickers with "www.erotic-sensations.com" on it
5. a dry erase board in the foyer
I informed him that all of these signs had been in place for over last two years, since the stores opening, and nobody had a problem then. He informed our manager that there was no statute of limitations and we were in violation either way.
Our manager also let the Board know that she was just speaking for Erotic Sensations and had no knowledge of the rules or ordinances . The Board assured her they were not going to "kill the messenger" but for her to pass along the message and to alert us to the fact that we had been fined $100.00 and we had until Jan 22nd to come into compliance or we will be fined again. They also told our manager that we may file suit if we want. Well guess what...We Want!!!!
Just to alert any of you who may be reading this we are going to go after the Cities Adult Entertainment Ordinance and their sign ordinance. We have successfully challenged both in different venues. We have won cases in this State and in other States and the ordinances, as they are now written, can easily be busted. We have just filed a lawsuit against the current sign ordinance. Heck I would sell t shirts if my lease did not expressly state that I could not just to piss you off. I may just rent a shop to sale some for the fun of it. If you are a store owner and are reading this and had removed t shirts from your window, at the City's command, put them back up. The City has not a leg to stand on.
We are law abiding, legal citizens who will not tolerate our rights being denied or stepped upon. We are not afraid of you or any of your tactics that you may choose to go after us with. You will not run us out of town. If any of my fellow citizens would like to join me in this fight or have your own I would be more than glad to forward my Attorneys name. Please just e mail me for the information. It is about time for us to take back the City from these assholes.
PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR MORE EXCITEMENT AND WEASEL SIGHTINGS
TOUR SHIPS AND TOURISTS DOLLARS, PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME $$$$$
Ok so excuse me for being confused about this subject. We are a tourist based business. We do about 1/2 of our business with locals, which we thank whole heartedly for their support. So obviously the other 1/2 of our business is tourists. We have been in operation here for over two years and I can not imagine that our numbers are much different from any other operation here in the tourists district.
So this idiot of a Commissioner, Tom Oosterhoudt, wants to see about limiting the amount of money that comes into our community. He want to do this by limiting the amount of cruise ships that visit our community. This employee of ours wants to see our personal contribution of tax dollars raise to maintain the current budget. How else would we make up the difference in the Cities coffers. He claims that this is not the type of tourists that we want on the island. What an asshole!
What we should be doing is seeing how we can extend the pier to bring even more ships in. These are the perfect guests to our island. They come in, bring lots of money to shop with, eats a little food then they get back on their ship and leave. They do all this in the matter of a few hours. If you are a local and the ship tourists bother you, stay away from downtown for a few hours a day and they will be gone. They generally do not rent cars, thus they contribute very little to our log jam of traffic. They do little littering, so no extra work for our sanitation department. They do not rent rooms, leaving that option for people who drive or fly in for an extended stay. Rarely do you hear of an arrest from anyone on board the cruise ships, so no extra work for the Police Department. This is a win win situation, or am I missing something?
I wonder what this idiot Commissioner, Tom Oosterhoudt, next complaint will be against? I can see it now, The Commissioner will be manning a booth at the airport. All recent arrivals will have to pass through a customs area of sorts where they will be asked to explain the reason why they are there. If the Commissioner deems your social status or agenda purposes worthy enough you will be allowed entry into Paradise. If you are just a commoner who is below a certain status , because say you flew coach instead of first class, you will be escorted, presumably under armed guard, back to the plane and sent away under threat of jail if you return.
I could see his complaint if it was regarding the panhandlers and derelicts grubbing openly for money so the can buy drugs and booze. But No!!! these people have money. However they do not meet up to the idiot Commisioners', Tom Oosterhoudt, personal taste of what is and isn't a good visitor to our island.
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Well once again you have to be amazed at the actions of our City officials. We have been open now for close to three years. We pay taxes, renew our operational license and generally just mind our own business, when possible. For some reason, unknown in rhyme or reason after three years in operation, with a current retail license on the wall the City, in the form of The Weasel, has decided that we are now an Adult Entertainment establishment. If this wasn't a laughable charge on its' face it is in its reality. We are a clothing/retail shop. Nothing over the course of the last three years has changed in either our operation or mix of clothing and retail items.
A former establishment , that was an Adult outlet, Raincoat Willie, was located almost across the street from the church and operated for several years with no repercussions. We are and continue to be a retail outlet. If The Weasel doesn't like what we sell he shouldn't shop here anymore.
For those you you who do not know we are currently suing the City over their Adult Entertainment Ordinance and as of March 25 we will be going after the City's Sign Ordinance. These two Ordinances are so unconstitutional on their face value you have to wonder why no one else has seen fit to protect the rights of our local citizens. Well have no fear we will take on that mantle of responsibility.
Here is the Citation. I hope you laugh as much as we did
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email from our readers
Subject: lateral sewer testing
Date: Sat, 5 Apr 2003 15:17:21 EST
From:
To: fotoads@bellsouth.net
Thank you for starting this site. At this time I do not want my name used as I am still fighting with the powers that be, and
they are using their power to make my life miserable. Did you know that over 40% of the lateral sewers have failed so far?
The cost to fix each one has been $3,000-$10,000. T his is 2 to 3 times the going cost if this was not a so called emergency,
and the court gave you more then 30 days to fix it using a license plumber, or a fine of $500/day. The city should not let the
plumbers gouge the 40% of the 12,000 houses in Key West. This is almost price fixing. But my main problem is the lies and
the power trip that I have received from the lateral testing people, permit people and the code enforcement people. I have
talked to over 20 people that did not pass the lateral test, and each one has said that they were told that any time a lateral is
worked on it has to be done by a license plumber. A home owner cannot work on his own lateral. This is an outright lie. A
home owner can do his/her own lateral sewer, the code only says that the lateral connection to the street sewer has to
connected by a license plumber. This could save the homeowner thousands of dollars. I cannot give my name because of
the power trip that these people take and I have seen them use it to smash people that will not kiss their ass. Be very careful
with these city workers if you question their word as they will have others in the Bubba system get you.
I forget to let you know that the lateral sewer testing has their own dept. and the testing will be done each year, so they will
get you at some time.
I do not want my address to be known, but if fotoads@bellsouth.net wants to, they can E-mail me
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Subject: Christy Sweet, Personal Dances
Date: Fri, 05 Mar 2004 06:46:42 -0500
From: CKS <cks351c@netscape.net>
To: fotoads@bellsouth.net
Hey, Lingerie Shoppe !
Put this message up on dumbass....site, please!
I think we have the same lawyer, Dick Wilson out of Orlando... I'm Christy Sweet and I own Personal Dances, 507 Southard
St, a private 1 on1 dance parlour..
I'm going to federal. court over the city's unconstitutional ways.
Right now, (March 5 04 ) Carolyn Walker in City Licensing is preventing me from earning a living by refusing to issue me
any license, not even a mobile entertainment license which is what I had before I opened Personal Dances on July 2, 2002. (
An adult entertainment establishment. ) Thank Stars I have a lawyer who is pissed and is charging me very little or else that Walker creature would get away with
her Eva Braun imitations. What a fucking Nazi! How many people have had to live under her rule, I wonder, with no recourse
because they didn't have the money to sue!
I swear I will find a way to sue her personally along with the Livable ( pssst, for us only though) Old Town Committee and
Elliott " That Asshole" Baron. I've not heard one person NOT use that term when referring to Baron!
Oh, and Charles Stephenson and gang in Code/Licensing Dept. Listen up fuck-wads, it's none of your business if I had sex
with N. M., why were city employees asking that question to Mr M. 2 years ago while while harassing him at
his business, for extension cords? Why don't you pay for a dance if you're that interested in Dancers?
One high ranking city official does! Shall I add sexual harassment to the list along with violation of constitutional rights?
Here's the main deal... Dick Wilson says because I don't serve alcohol, the city should license me as just as another retail business.
In the law, " We the Commissioners. find that the sale of alcohol combined with adult entertainment has adverse effects..." All
the business in the study quoted served alcohol..... I DON'T SERVE ALCOHOL.
I was shut down for being within 200 ft of an " Alcohol Establishment" , yet 2 business, Garden of Eden and the 1 year old,
Naked Lunch feature nudity, serve alcohol and are within 200 ft of bona fide alcohol establishments but have no
adult license whatsoever! Where's the equal protection? I lost in County Court, reportedly ( from the KW legal Dept.) Judge Payne apparently drove by Willie T's and decided it, "
Looks" like a bar. He ignored the facts, again, Willie- T's is licensed as a restaurant by the City, County and State. The
City's own attorney Bob Tishenkel says it's a restaurant. In fact because of this the City has to hire another lawyer
to present it's case! I wonder of Elliott, "That Asshole" Baron will pay for it!
Any way Wilson is arguing the 200 ft law is too restrictive and unconstitutional. In fact the Planning Commisssion is about to
get rid of it. There is a great Memorandum of Law on my site RadioFreeWest.com under the New Legal Issues button and the original
injunction (PD injunction) can be viewed there too.
Thanks for the good work, Keep up the resistance, if you need testimony , I'll give it.
Christy K. Sweet