Catherine Harding heads the City's licensing, permitting and code enforcement operations. Important functions. Lots of responsibility. And lots of opportunity for bureaucratic hanky-panky. Lots of opportunity for selective enforcement and selective interpretation of the law. And we have reported to you here before that Catherine Harding knowingly and willingly selectively enforces the law. That's a serious allegation. And we wouldn't make it if we couldn't document it. We caught her red-handed.
There may or may not be mitigating circumstances. She may be simply overwhelmed by the job. Or she may simply be following City Manager Julio Avael's orders to take care of his friends and punish the enemies of his friends. But for whatever reason, we see repeated examples of Harding and her people seemingly "making up" the law to avoid issuing a permit or a license to a citizen, hoping that the citizen doesn't have the will or the resources to hire an attorney to challenge their ruling. Often, all it takes is a letter from an attorney to make Harding flip-flop like an egg in a skillet at IHOP.
We find it disturbing, to say the least, that a Catherine Harding ruling concerning the issuance of a permit or license might be completely different for a citizen with an attorney than for a citizen without an attorney. It's downright depressing to think that citizens have to hire lawyers to force the City's Building Dept. to honestly and fairly interpret and enforce the law.
The problem here extends beyond the simple illegality of it. Harding and her people no longer have any credibility. If they turn down your application, how can you believe the reason they give you? You'll have to wonder: Would they quickly change their ruling if you hired an attorney to write a letter? What if they tell you that you can't run a little business out of your home? Know this: If you were better connected, they would look the othe way. We know that to be a fact.
And rudeness seems to be a way of life for Harding and her employees. Maybe it's the pressure of the job. Or maybe it's the power they know they have. One citizen reported that he had to stand at the counter and wait for service for 30 minutes while the permitting officials stood around and discussed their vacation plans. Another woman called us to report that Harding refused to allow her to sit in on a meeting with her son, whose house had been cited for a code enforcement infraction. What's that all about? Maybe she just doesn't want any witnesses.
The most recent story we heard— and we checked it out— is the use of profanity and threats by code enforcement officer Gary Addleman. Al Amsterdam, who owns Curry Mansion, also operates an electric car and bicycle rental operation at the corner of Caroline and Duval.
"On two separate occasions last month, Addleman came by to harass us about one thing or another," said Michael Cochran, Amsterdam's partner. "We can't prove it, but we think he might have ties to one of our competitors.
"But what really bothered all of us was his loud, threatening tone and his use of profanity. He used the `F' word about every other sentence— not only in front of my staff, but also in front of tourists who were there."
Cochran said that when Addleman left, one of the tourists asked, "Does he really work for the City?" Addleman was wearing a shirt with the City seal on it.
Cochran said he made a formal complaint to both Harding and City Manager Avael. But, apparently, no investigation has been conducted. At least no one from the City has contacted any of the witnesses to the incident.
It seems to us that a serious question is being begged here: Why would Addleman or any other code enforcement officer feel comfortable cursing and otherwise bullying any citizen? We can only speculate that they're simply reflecting the attitudes of Harding and Avael.
We understand, however, that Addleman generally only curses women and small men. But we predict that, sooner or later, he'll curse the wrong guy— say an ex-football player from Pennsylvania. And he'll get his ass kicked. Of course, the ex-football player will get arrested and Addleman will play the victim, denying that he ever did any cursing. He's doing that now. He is reportedly denying that he ever used profanity during his raid on the electric car rental booth. But we know he's fibbing. We've talked to three of the five witnesses. Catherine Harding hasn't bothered to do that.
She simply doesn't care. Or, at least, that's the way it seems. We asked her for a statement about the allegations concerning Addleman. No comment. And no apology has been forthcoming to the employees at the electric car rental booth.
Stay tuned. The Code Enforcement Chronicles will continue.