Sunday, December 02, 2007

Flanders Mansion: Appellate Attorney & Environmental Review for Disposition Purposes

ABSTRACT: Information from the Carmel-by-the-Sea City Council December 4, 2007 Meeting Agenda Packet is presented, including a City Administrator Goal and Objective with regard to the disposition of the Flanders Mansion property and November 2007 checks. Informational, interpretative and opinion comments are made with respect to the City and the Flanders Mansion property.

CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
FY 2007-08 QUARTERLY FINANCIAL REPORT
1st QUARTER ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2007


City Administrator Goals and Objectives

6) Address the Court’s requirements and resume the disposition of the Flanders property.
The City received a court ruling in the Flanders property case and is working towards compliance with the court orders.

Carmel-by-the-Sea
November 2007 Check Register
(Includes checks dated 10/30/07)


114144 10/30/07 JOEL FRANKLIN $ 12,800.00 FLANDERS LAWSUIT LEGAL EXPENSES

114152 10/30/07 LONESTAR ELECTRIC $ 2,579.00
DEL MAR RESTROOMS, FLANDERS MANSION, POLICE DEPT/PUB WKS FLAG LIGHT ELECTRICAL REPAIRS

114276 11/20/07 CARMEL GLASS COMPANY $ 228.00 FLANDERS MANSION GLASS REPAIRS

COMMENTS:
• Apparently, the City hired Appellate Attorney Joel Franklin to advise the City on whether to appeal or not appeal Judge Robert O’Farrell’s decision regarding Flanders Foundation v. City of Carmel-by-the-Sea et al. (M76728) at an expense of nearly $13,000.

• Information on Attorney Joel Franklin, as follows:
Mr. Joel Franklin
Law Offices of Joel Franklin
2100 Garden Road, Suite G
Monterey, CA 93940
Phone: 831-649-2545
Fax: 831-649-2547
jfesq@redshift.com
Law School: Loyola Law School
Areas of Practice: Appellate Law, Criminal Law
(Source:
Monterey County Bar Association (MCBA) Member Directory - Appellate Law
http://www.montereycountybar.org/directory/index.php?ss=joel+franklin)

For an interesting article by Joel Franklin on government, et cetera, “Joel Franklin: How Far Can Government Go?,” click on Post title above or copy, paste and click
http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/archives/2007/2007-Oct-25/Article.cover_feature_3/1/@@index

• Additional attorney expenses to William B. Conners, as follows:
114139 10/30/07 WILLIAM B. CONNERS $ 160.00 FLANDERS LAWSUIT LEGAL EXPENSES

113901 9/25/07 WILLIAM B. CONNERS $ 620.00 LEGAL EXPENSES-FLANDERS LITIGATION
(Source: Carmel-by-the-Sea, Check Registers, http://www.ci.carmel.ca.us/)

• Total City Attorney Fees now total $257,028 including $84,228 to Special Counsel William B. Conners, $160,000 to Flanders Foundation Attorney Susan Brandt-Hawley and $12,800 to Appellate Attorney Joel Franklin.

• Revised Total City Amount for the sale of the Flanders Mansion property, approximately $360,000.

• In 2007, the City has spent over $4,188 on Flanders Mansion property maintenance, as follows:

112871 4/20/07 WILLIAM'S ROOFING COMPANY $ 3,960.00 REPAIRS TO FLANDERS MANSION ROOF

113984 10/9/07 CARMEL GARDEN & IRRIGATN $ 8,613.00
WEED ABATEMENT-MISSION TRAILS PARK & FLANDERS PROPERTY

114159 10/30/07 NEW IMAGE LANDSCAPE CO. $ 2,937.50 01 76053 CONTRACTUAL SERVICES
Note: A portion of this monthly contract is towards Flanders Mansion

114152 10/30/07 LONESTAR ELECTRIC $ 2,579.00
DEL MAR RESTROOMS, FLANDERS MANSION, POLICE DEPT/PUB WKS FLAG LIGHT ELECTRICAL REPAIRS

114276 11/20/07 CARMEL GLASS COMPANY $ 228.00 FLANDERS MANSION GLASS REPAIRS
(Source: Carmel-by-the-Sea, Check Registers, http://www.ci.carmel.ca.us/)

• Only in Carmel-by-the-Sea do city government members violate the City’s Municipal Code and fail to maintain a National Register of Historic Places property and then expect a premium of $5 million for its’ sale.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems as if no amount of taxpayers dollars is too much to spend to support the whims of Mayor Sue McCloud even when the odds of achieving her goals look slim from the start. Conversely, no amount of money is too little to spend for something the mayor and city council don't favor even if withholding the money is a flagrant violation of city or state law. Why do such people, people who ignore both the law and the needs of the city for which they were elected to take responsibility, keep getting re-elected? And why don't viable candidates step forward at election time to challenge such obvious miscreants?

Anonymous said...

Carmel's government has the reputation of a corrupt little city ruled by FOS (Friends of Sue) rules. If you are not a friend of Sue, you are out of luck. Friends get special attention and treatment and all others get harassed or ignored. Most people dont' know this because of the compliant and complicit media. More should know and those who know should do more to end this reign of discrimination and one-person rule.