Pompano Beach CRA Attempts To Develop Florida Land Illegally Seized With Branding Campaign Cover Up

July 1, 2011 - PRLog -- The Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency just launched a new website, Twitter account, and Facebook page as part of a positive image campaign, but even this new attempt at public relations may fail to hide the agency’s long litany of crimes. As was revealed in the coverage of the recently closed Pompano Beach CRA v Gil Eriksen Properties case, it turns out the agency did not have authority to exist according to Broward County charter, was acting as a shill for the Pompano Beach Commission in land grab racketeering schemes, and did not have the governmental power of eminent domain to take properties. Yet the Pompano Beach CRA has been illegally taking properties from businesses and residents for a decade as laundered through the Broward County Court and still wants to privately develop these lands today.

In the recent Gil Eriksen Properties case, now a beacon of the blatant unconstitutionality of all the takings, the deed for the multi-million dollar historic dollar property in question was fraudulently transferred to the CRA, who still does not have clear legal title to the property. Even so, the CRA has put up signs in the locale touting its plans for “New Retail/Office Space Development” and calls for “Future Development Pre-Leasing.” The city itself hired Wilesmith Advertising/Design to rebrand the city and CRA. According to the firm, the initiative was designed to “add value by promoting tourism, attracting commercial enterprise and building community pride,” a tall order considering the city commission and CRA (who are one in the same) are still under fire for stealing non-blighted properties from residents, churches, and businesses like Gil Eriksen Properties, who privately invested in the city and community.

“Florida’s Warmest Welcome” is the new tagline for the city and has residents who lost their homes scoffing. Adding to insult, it has been revealed that even this tagline itself was stolen from Pensacola, Florida tourism campaigns. Pompano Beach Commissioners still voted to approve its official use (and paid Wilesmith Advertising for it) while knowing it was plagiarized and further directed the city attorney to attempt to trademark it to reduce their liability for theft of intellectual property.

The  Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency's resulting public relations message became “We’re Open for Business”, which, too, is ironic considering the land grab racketeering for private profit, criminal prosecution of the CRA advisor Vincente Thrower for bribery and fraud, and the ethics violation of CRA Chair and City Mayor, Lamar Fisher for using his office for personal gain. Broward County is well known for its pay for play development scandals, and with legitimate Pompano Beach businesses having their properties illegally seized to be resold, it seems the local officials may want a bigger slice of the larger, multi-billion dollar lobbying pie.

So how does the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency plan to develop land it doesn’t own? A good question and one not answered, and blatantly avoided by the CRA. The CRA instead publishes generalized speculation sketches showcasing happy residents amidst retail, office and governmental buildings with no specific implementation plans. The CRA also held a series of three public workshops for input from residents which was narrowly focused on streetscape design. To the CRA's dismay, residents don’t seem to be buying the latest propaganda however. Many home owners and businesses participated in the previous round of “community involvement meetings” before the last batch of illegal seizures. Those residents found themselves forced out of their homes and excluded from the legal system with no protection and no reimbursement for their properties.

The question also remains if new individuals and businesses will want to invest in the area, when deeds are fraudulent, and a class action suit looms large. Construction companies and financial investors are also taking note as it seems development may be mired in litigation for decades. The legal, management, consulting, construction, and financing firms already involved with CRA may also face future action due to the fact that racketeering charges have no statute of limitation.

The old idiom of “Nothing comes without a price,” may well be true in the case of these stolen properties. What may have seemed like easy profit for the CRA members, may be turning out to be much more expensive than it would to run government and land management legitimately.

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For the latest information on the Pompano Beach CRA illegal land grabs visit
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Additional information:
Pompano Beach is located in Broward County, Florida USA

Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Board of Directors
(The Pompano Beach Commission sits as the Board of Directors of the Pompano Beach CRA, making both comprised of the same exact members with an organization chart that shows no oversight of the CRA)
Mayor Lamar Fisher
Vice Mayor George Brummer
Commissioner Charlotte Burrie
Commissioner Barry Dockswell
Commissioner Rex Hardin
Commissioner Woodrow J. Poitier

Pompano Beach Northwest Community Redevelopment Area Advisory Board
Deborah Anthony - Chairwoman
Jay Ghanem - Vice Chairman
Jeanette Copeland
Marguerite Luster
Richard McFadden
Daisy M. Johnson
Patricia Davis
Carl Forbes

Pompano Beach East Community Redevelopment Area Advisory Board
Jack Rogerson - Chairman
Sandra Von Staden - Vice Chairman
Robert Shelley
Barbara Gordon
Rafael Katz
Rod Trzcinski
Judy Niswonger
Kenneth Thiel

Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Management
(outsourced to private company Redevelopment Management and Associates, LLC with principals Chris Brown, Kim Briesemeister, Metrostrategies Inc.)
Kim Briesemeister - Co-Executive CRA Director, RMA Principal
Chris Brown - Co-Executive CRA Director, RMA Principal
Floyd Johnson - NW CRA Director, RMA Senior Associate
Horacio Danovich - CRA Engineer
Terrell Neil Fritz - CRA Consultant, Downtown Project Manager, RMA Management Consultant Associate
Louis Friend - CRA Construction Project Manager
Carlton Moore - Liaison to the NW CRA Advisory Committee
Jeanine Parisi - CRA Marketing Director
Adriane Esteban - CRA Project Manager
Tom Schneider - CRA Office Assistant, RMA Associate and Office Administration
Steve Spaulding - Community Development Coordinator (recently resigned, no replacement)

Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Attorneys
Gordon B. Linn - Pompano Beach City Attorney, CRA Attorney
(and outsourced to private firm Weiss Serota Helfman Pastoriza Cole & Boniske, P.L.)
Mitchell J. Burnstein - WSH Member, CRA Attorney

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