MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

TheFlameCaffe&Grill,447EspanolaWay,3053978950

THETHIRDWORLDINMIAMIBEACH
IamtiredofbeingtoldMiamiBeachisnottheUnitedStates.
24February2014 ByDavidArthurWalters MIAMIMIRROR MIAMIBEACHThefailureofcodeenforcementofficialsoftheCityofMiamiBeachtodotheir duty is costing Antonio Halabi, owner of Flame Caffe & Grill on South Beachs famed Espanola

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MIA AMI MI IRROR TRUE E REFLE ECTION NS

Way, a small s fortune e. Yet it is not n the mon ney he is los sing that ang gers him to no end: it is the unprincip pledbehavio orofthecity yscodeenfo orcementof fficials. My wife Cristina and a I were what we call c sano in Spanish when we came c here from Venezuela, he said, , repeating the t word tha at means sa ane or men ntally norma al in English, and, inSpanis sh,healthy,uncorrupted u d,wholesom me. Indeed, as a the interv view progres ssed, I discovered that his h main pro oblem with the t City of Miami M Beach is his unwillingness to be b corrupted by its pe erverted cod de enforcem ment system m. He t follow the law, belie eves others should do the t same, and a he belie eves it should be prefers to evenly enforced. e Th he fact that it is not enforced aga ainst his com mpetitors on Espanola Way augment tstheirbusin nesswhilediminishinghis. h

TheWashington W AvenuemouthofEspanolaWay

A restau urant in this city must pay p a onetim me concurre ency fee of $350 $ for each seat perm mitted to be pla aced on its sidewalk caf according g to approv ved plans, an nd an annua al fee of $2 20 for eachsquarefootofspace s used, Halabiexplained. ersenterEsp panolaWayfrom f Washin ngtonAvenu ue,andIamattheotherend Almostallcustome of the block. When things t get busy, the rest taurants alo ong Espanola a Way put out o seats tha at are not perm mitted. The extra e seats absorb a the increase in traffic t before e it gets to me m at the end of theblock k,andmybu usinesssuffe ers.Sometim mesitgetsso obusythatthe t overflow wdoesreach hme. Thencus stomerswillwaitinlineforaseaton nmysidewa alkcafbeca ausetourists snormallydonot

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want to sit inside. However, I refuse to break the law by putting out tables and chairs that are notpermitted,astheotherrestaurantsdo,soIsufferevengreaterlosses. He said had he checked the public records, to discover that one restaurant had a permit to place32chairsinamere37squarefeet,andhadonlypaidtheconcurrencyfeefor8chairs.He discoveredthatanotherestablishmenthadoperatedasidewalkcafforafullyearwithoutany permitatall. Itookalookatthepermitshehadcollected,andthenIcountedtheseatsatthreerestaurants. One, with 50 seats permitted, had 62 persons seated when I took my count, an excess of 12 seats. Another, with 94 seats permitted, had seated 160 souls, 66 seats over the number permitted.Thethirdhadonly30of51seatspermitted,or21unlawfulseats. He said he reported the violations to the Code Compliance Division, not because he wanted to make trouble for his neighbors, but because he wanted to abide by the law the best he could, andhebelievedthelawshouldbeevenlyenforcedtoprotecthimfromdamages.Hiscomplaint was reallyagainst thecitys code compliance organization, not against the neighbors who were taking advantage of the citys negligence and selective code enforcement. Code Compliance officersrequiredhimtofilecomplaintsagainsthisneighborsbeforeitwouldenforcethelawto mitigatehislosses. However, although Code Compliance officers took a few steps to correct the violations, the overseating and other obvious violations persisted, and he was identified to his neighbors as the complainant even when his complaint was made anonymously. Furthermore, Code Compliance officers began to harass his business, and went so far as to fine him $250 for a violationthatwasnotspecificallydefinedbythecode.Towit,hehadmovedhisfansunderthe awning of his restaurant to protect them from rain for two hours. The fans were permitted to be at certain places on the sidewalk, and he moved them within the area simply to protect them, which is not prohibited by the code, he said. He did not retain an attorney, and Chief Special Master Abe Laeser let the fine stick. At this writing, Laeser has refused to rehear the case after Halabi reiterated that the violation had no basis in law given the factual circumstances. He then took me on a walk along Espanola way and showed me multiple violations, such as tables and chairs, planters, and unused space heaters placed outside of approved sidewalk cafes areas. His neighbor had placed its hosting stand and sign out into the street so that it blocked the view of his own entrance. Indeed, when I was initially searching for The Flame, I thoughthisnextdoorneighborsentrancewastoTheFlame.

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When we returned to The Flame, Halabi showed me how he kept his own heaters inside in a storageareainbackofthekitchenwhennotinuse. I had already deemed Halabi fastidious after taking a look at his kitchen and observing him attendingtohiscustomers.Whenoutoftown,hewatchesovertherestaurantwithitscameras andcommunicateswithstaffaboutdetails.

TheFlameCaffe&Grillsimmaculatekitchen

Still, nothing is perfect, and, even if everything were perfect, code enforcement officers can trump up violations out of thin air. Who wants to pay a lawyer $1,000 to prevent the Special Master from approving a $100 or $250 fine, and another $5,000 to appeal it to the circuit court?Soherehewas,frettingoverthecorrectplacementandheightofhisownplanterswhile Iwasthere,whichheusedtobarricadehistablesfromthesightofparkedcars,usedcondoms, cigarette butts, and vagrants looking for coins and butts to smoke. Was the little sign with the name of his restaurant on the door too big, or did it need a permit? He expected code complianceofficers to continue to intimidate him over every little detail, no matterhow trivial, for objecting to the citys bad policy. Yet other establishments can do as they please with impunity,drawinganoccasionalwarningiftheydonotmakewavesandjustgoalong. I observed the traffic flow for awhile. What he said was true. Based on revenue lost per seat, I estimated that the lack of enforcement of the code in respect to his neighbors and the citys selective enforcement against his restaurant was costing him a thousand dollars per hour in revenueduringthebusyperiodIobserved.Iguessedthathehadlosthundredsofthousandsof dollars in revenue since opening The Flame in August 2011. The deficit was due to the misguided traffic. It certainly is not due to his reputation among professional critics and customersforgoodserviceandlargeportionsofgoodfoodatareasonableprice.Ofcoursethe
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overwhelmingly good reviews are sometimes punctuated by horror stories due to circumstances Halabi was quick to apologize and offer accommodations forhe is generous to a fault. Every South Beach restaurant owner suffers some horror stories. They can relate how difficult it is to find and keep good staff in this area, especially when business suffers due to lousycityadministration. Halabisaidheisnotabouttoputhistailbetweenhislegsandtolerateadiseasedenforcement system. After all, he was educated as a medical doctor before taking over his fathers construction business. His wife also appreciates universally applied laws. Her father founded thechemicalindustryinValencia,Venezuela,afterreceivinghisdegreeinchemicalengineering from Stanford University. Her parents, now deceased, were Italian and Spanish, while Antonio is of Armenian and Corsican extraction. She is 43, he 45. They were sweethearts when young, eventuallymarried,andareblessedwithtwoboys.

CristinaandIwatchedAmericanmoviestogetherwhenwewerekids.Oh,howwedreamedof coming to America! You know, movies advertised how great the United States was. Rocky IV was about patriotism. When Rocky Balboa successfully defended his World Championship title, beatingIvanDrago,theRussianchallenger,whohadCubanandSoviettrainers,weVenezuelans cheered because the United States was supposed to be good and Russia was supposed to be evil. Valencia is an industrial city where big American companies do business, so we sent our boys to the American schools there. And then we came to Miami Beach with big expectations. I invested a lot of money to come to this country and start this business. It would have cost me less to immigrate to the Midwest than here. I followed all the rules. I followed even the silly
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rules because one should not disobey laws even if they are silly. And then I discovered from Code Compliance that the City of Miami Beach enforcement officers are like the ones people complain about in Venezuela. Compliance officers are sent to my restaurant to intimidate me becauseIcomplainabouttheunfairsystemofenforcement. I like Americans, but I hate the City of Miami Beach now because of Code Compliance. If I did nothavethisbusiness,Iwouldleavehereandneverreturn. I told him that a gentleman who had owned a restaurant on Washington Avenue believed he was discriminated against by compliance officers because he was Muslim, and he was afraid to saysolestthecityretaliateagainsthim. One of the biggest complaints we have here, I said, is that people who complain about the selective, random, and lackadaisical enforcement of the city ordinances are retaliated against. His name is Mohsen. He had big hopes for his business, but he eventually moved away, disgustedwithSouthBeach.Bytheway,isHalabiaMuslimname? Halabi sounds like a Muslim name, he answered, but no, we are not Muslims. Some members of my family were Christian Armenians who fled Turkey when Armenians were being murdered. Some of my ancestors arrived and stayed briefly in Aleppo, Syria, before coming to Venezuela.HalabimeansfromAleppo.

ProtestorsinVenezuela,NewYorkTimes

Our city government might be called a Third World government, I remarked. I see the oppositioncalledtheVenezuelangovernmentaCubanstyledictatorship.

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Thatisnot true,hesaidwithadismissivewaveofhishand.Look,Iamabusinessman,nota politician or activist. I do not want to offend my country or yours. Every businessman knows what the main problem is in Venezuela. You can make plenty of money in Venezuela if you wantto.Thatisnottheproblem.Theproblemisthatsomebodywillstealit,andyourproperty and your life are not well protected. If you have some money, you might be kidnapped at any time. I want to see life and property protected, and people treated equally under the law everywhere. Well,pleaserememberthatMiamiBeachisdifferentthantherestofthecountry.Itisnotlike theUnitedStatesinsomeways.EachstateoftheUnitedStateshasarighttobedifferent. IamtiredofbeingtoldthatMiamiandMiamiBeachisnottheUnitedStates.Pleasedonottell me that. The United States should be in every state and city, in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. Every state should have freedom, but they should all have security so people have equal opportunity; not like here, where the city does favors, retaliates against people for complaining.No,IwantthecitytocorrecttheCodeComplianceDivision.Iwilltakethisthingto the end. I do not care if I lose my business or how much it costs me. This is not about money. There comes a time when you cannot take injustice any more, a time when evil builds up and you cannot tolerate it any more. You have an expression in English. He paused, grasping for words. Wecallthatmomentacrisis,Isaid,abreakingpointortippingpoint.TherewasanAmerican movie about a guy who said he was madder than hell and could not take it anymore, so he publicly protested. Many people joined him and things started to change. I do not remember theend. I expressed some doubt whether Halabi could obtain any satisfaction from Robert Santos Alborna, Director of the Code Compliance Division, or from Hernan Cardeno, a police officer demoted to oversee the division while SantosAlborna was under investigation by the FBI subsequent to the arrest of several code compliance officers. The Code Compliance Division was characterized as a RICO organization in press accounts based on the reading of arrest affidavitsandindictments.AnumberofgrievanceshadbeenassertedagainstSantosAlbornain thepast.Heappearedtobeuntouchable,protectedbythecitymanagersoffice. JorgeGonzalez,thelongstandingcitymanageratthetimeofthelatestwaveofFBIarrests,was faulted for insufficient oversight of the citys feudallike departments. He was forced to retire by a reformist faction of embarrassed commissioners. A number of candidates for the professional manager job were recommended by an independent recruiting firm, but Jimmy Morales, a wellliked political insider who has no municipal or handson business management experienceonhisresume,wasshoedinascitymanagerpendinganexpectedrunforgovernor.
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Morales, a Miami Beach High and Harvard Law School grad, served the City of Miami Beach as its Chief Special Master from 20052007, presiding over the quasijudicial city magistrate entity thatjudgeslocalcodeviolations.TheSpecialMasterofficehasbeencriticizedforbeingatoolof the city administration rather than a peoples court established to protect the people from selective enforcement, and for its tendency of leniency towards influential violators and harshness towards small businesses. The city has refused to account for its writeoffs and mitigations,soitisdifficulttoproveotherwise. InhisNovember8,2012,letterpresentinghiscredentialstocommission,Moralesstated,Iam intimatelyfamiliarwithbuilding,permittingandcodeenforcementissues. I asked Halabi if he had contacted Morales about Code Compliance issues. After all, people are waxingenthusiasticabouthismanagementstyle,includinghisaccessibilitytoordinarypeople. His officerefused to set up an appointment with me, andreferred meto an underling whom I hadalreadyspokenwithandwhodidnothingtohelp. Halabisaidhehadmetwithaformercommissioner,whoinformedhimthathewassponsoring awhistleblowerordinancethatwouldawardpeoplelikehim$5,000. That amount, observed Halabi, would be small compensation and consolation for the aggravationandlosseshehadsufferedfromtheCodeComplianceDivision.Andagain,forhim, itwastheprincipleofthething,andnotthemoneythatwasimportant. What good does it do to pay off informers when nothing is done with the information to correcttheabuse? I assured Halabi that he was not alone. His complaint is commonplace although seldom heard except during arrest scandals. I personally know several businessmen who picked up and left our beautiful city on the beach, taking care not to look back over their shoulders. It has been suggestedtomebyahighofficialthatIshouldleaveinsteadofexposingmaladministrationand misprision. Still,believeitornot,IwasmovedtoclosemyinterviewwithHalabiwithapatrioticspeech: Mr. Halabi, I am of the Fourth World, a native gringo who feels alienated in his own country. I am a foreigner here without a country to return to. I would go a travel agency and buy a ticket home, but I do not know where my country is anymore. I am doing my best to make my home here, with one foot already in the grave. We like to say that your home is where your heart is, and you have put your heart here for awhile. I believe you will feel differently about this place and the United States as you stand up to the official bullies and gain their respect. You may
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discover that you are not alone, that many local people including prominent people share your concerns.Youwilldiscoverthatthecommunityisyoursfortheasking,ifyouwantit.

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