Showing posts with label Taj Mahal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taj Mahal. Show all posts

Friday, September 30, 2011

A public flogging of a mendacious judge that's well-deserved -St. Pete Times editorial: Arrogant 'Taj Mahal' judge deserves no leniency



A public flogging of a mendacious judge that's well-deserved -St. Pete Times editorial: Arrogant 'Taj Mahal' judge deserves no leniency

Even in Florida, where so many aspects of basic public administration, logical checks-and-balances, separation of powers, transparency, public accountability and public records requests are actively fought by the elected officials and the judiciary -and their crony pals and lobbyists who made it all happen for them- eventually, the last shoe falls.

And this time, it's falling with a thud loud enough to be heard across the Sunshine State, in large part thanks to the tireless efforts of reporter Lucy Morgan of the St. Petersburg Times to connect-the-dots on a story that many others in Florida's news media avoided like a hot potato.

Yes, you mix powerful people with a sense of entitlement, old-fashioned notions of prestige, towering arrogance and abuse of the public's trust, and then throw taxpayers funding of it to solve the problem into the picture and you have a combustible end product that could explode before anything is built.

That's something to keep in mind now in Broward County, where judges, lawyers and the local legal and business establishment, plus their contractor friends and elected officials, all wanted a new County courthouse downtown despite the fact that the public does NOT.
So much so that the Broward County Commission refused to even allow the public to vote on the issue as a referendum.

Below is the editorial I had in an email I sent out yesterday to folks around the state, one that could hardly be more spot-on. Not that you would know about it at all based on how skant coverage this story has been on Miami-area TV newscasts.

It's the logical follow-up to my last post on this subject, from January 9th, titled, Florida CFO Jeff Atwater: 'Taj Mahal' courthouse in Tallahassee 'far worse' than a pricey building. And the judges behind it WON'T talk!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/florida-cfo-jeff-atwater-taj-mahal.html, and my first one on the subject the month before on December 19th, titled, Lucy Morgan in St. Pete Times: Why can't anyone remember how a $50-million courthouse now called the 'Taj Mahal' stayed off the radar and got okayed?

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St. Petersburg Times
A Times Editorial
Arrogant 'Taj Mahal' judge deserves no leniency
In Print: Thursday, September 29, 2011

Paul Hawkes is the arrogant, duplicitous judge on Florida's 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee who put construction of a lavish $50 million courthouse for himself and his fellow judges before judicial ethics or integrity. Now, as he answers for his actions before Florida's Judicial Qualifications Commission, Hawkes should forfeit his job. Any sanction short of Hawkes' removal from the bench would be too lenient in light of the stain he has left on the judiciary.

The formal charges brought in May against Hawkes by a JQC investigative panel describe a man whose ambition has run amok. Allegations include that he blatantly abused his authority to secure money and amenities for the new building, bullied state employees, ordered the destruction of an entire file cabinet of public documents, suggested a furniture vendor underwrite a trip, and even directed a court employee to help his son with legal work.

Concerns over Hawkes' conduct came to light through reporting by St. Petersburg Times senior correspondent Lucy Morgan, who first detailed the outsized role Hawkes played in getting the posh courthouse built even as the grip of a tightening recession meant courts around the state were losing personnel.

It would be a violation of public trust if Hawkes were able to keep his job through a negotiated settlement. Secret negotiations to avoid a trial are under way between lawyers for the JQC and Hawkes. One proposed settlement has already been rejected by the JQC panel, suggesting that Hawkes is looking to get off too easily. If there is no agreement, a trial is likely to begin early next year.

But Hawkes deserves no leniency in return for expediency. He refuses to acknowledge wrongdoing and deflects blame. First, Hawkes provided inaccurate accounts of his actions when testifying in January before a Senate committee. Then, in his formal response to the charges, he pointed a finger of complicity at his fellow appellate court judges, as if they were as much to blame for the ostentatious courthouse. These are not the actions of someone repentant or reformed.

Ultimately the sanctions Hawkes faces will be determined by the Florida Supreme Court, which will review any JQC recommendation but has the final word. Chief Justice Charles Canady, unhappy with Hawkes' conduct and its poor reflection on the judiciary, told Hawkes to resign as chief judge. That same impulse, to protect the integrity of the courts, should inform any settlement deal and require Hawkes' removal from the bench.

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Google Street View of the 1st District Court of Appeal Courthouse at 2000 Drayton Drive, Tallahassee, Florida 32399.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Lucy Morgan in St. Pete Times: Why can't anyone remember how a $50-million courthouse now called the 'Taj Mahal' stayed off the radar and got okayed?

Judges of Florida's First District Court of Appeal wanted a courthouse in Tallahassee with “wow factor.’’ They built a $48.8 million copy of the Michigan Supreme Court building that opens Monday at 2000 Drayton Drive, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0950.

See Michigan courthouse photo at:
http://courts.michigan.gov/supremecourt/#

See old FL courthouse photo at: http://www.1dca.org/
According to the photo on the website, there are about 15 judges based there, the
Chief Judge of whom is Robert T. Benton II.

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St. Petersburg Times

Taj Mahal timeline: How a $50 million courthouse got in the budget but stayed off the radar

By Lucy Morgan, Times Senior Correspondent
December 19, 2010


In an extraordinary case of collective amnesia, nobody can quite remember just how it happened. As the country headed toward the worst recession in years, the Florida Legislature handed $50 million to judges to build a courthouse now branded the Taj Mahal. The building that opens to the public Monday began as a request to spend up to $20,000 to determine if a floor could be added to the existing courthouse.

Over the next four years — often in secret — it turned into a building fit for royalty and a multimillion dollar debt taxpayers will pay down for 30 years.
The story of the Taj Mahal is told in documents — e-mail, minutes of court conferences and building committee meetings, and a trove of other records. It's remarkable for the over-the-top details — like the soundproofing in the judge's individual bathrooms — but mostly it's the way things get done in Tallahassee.

Read the rest of this compelling article, complete with amazing photos, at http://www.tampabay.com/news/perspective/taj-mahal-timeline-how-a-50-million-courthouse-got-in-the-budget-but/1140773

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St. Petersburg Times
Appeals judges slip into controversial new $50 million courthouse
By Lucy Morgan, Times Senior Correspondent

Saturday, December 18, 2010


TALLAHASSEE —

For some, the moving vans outside the 1st District Court of Appeal were reminiscent of the night the Colts moved out of Baltimore in the middle of the night on their way to Indianapolis.


On Friday, Gov. Charlie Crist said the judges at the controversial court should have waited until legislators had a chance to review the process that led to the construction of a new courthouse filled with African mahogany, granite desk and countertops and other luxuries not traditionally found in state buildings.


Sen. Mike Fasano, head of the senate committee on court funding, wrote a letter to Crist and other state officials Thursday trying to halt the move. It was too late. Shortly after dark Thursday the first moving van was loaded and ready to leave the downtown courthouse where the 1st DCA has been since 1981.
It was too late.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/appeals-judges-slip-into-controversial-new-50-million-courthouse/1140711

I first read the articles online on Saturday afternoon and then quickly emailed them around the state to various civic activists and pols I know because it's the best account I've seen yet of how this financial outrage came to be.


Lucy Morgan
archives:
http://www.tampabay.com/writers/article380272.ece