History of the Strip Club

While I am waiting for the petitions to be printed, I thought it might be helpful to lay out the history of the plans for the strip club. Many of you heard about these for the first time last week but it's been lurking around for over a year.

2010

September 23, 2010 - then candidate for mayor Rey Trujillo and candidate for commissioner Eddie Lim each accepted $500 (maximum legal contribution) from Scott Greenwald, the strip club developer, for their campaigns. At the time Eddie Lim sat on the Planning & Zoning Board.

October 7, 2010 - The plans were presented to the Planning & Zoning Board. The board deadlocked with Eddie Lim voting a strong "Yes". There was an attempt to reconvene the meeting to force the other P&Z members to vote "Yes" but it was declared invalid under Sunshine.

October 30, 2010 - There was a second meeting of the P&Z Board on the subject. The plans were rejected 3-2, with Eddie Lim again casting a "Yes" vote to approve.

October 30, 2010 - Immediately following the P&Z Board, there was an "emergency" meeting of the City Commission called by Vice Mayor George Kane and seconded by Rey Trujillo to approve the strip club. George Kane had already been disciplined for accepting a $25,000 commission from Scott Greenwald to move the city hall to the Lexi (at a cost of $80,000). Rey Trujillo spoke passionately about how the vote was "not to approve a strip club" but just to "approve the box."

The approval did not pass.

November 2, 2010 - Rey Trujillo lost the election for mayor. Eddie Lim won a commission seat.

December 14, 2010 - The strip club comes back up at a commission meeting. Again, we are told that "it must be approved." Eddie Lim votes "Yes" to approve but the plans again are defeated.

2011

January 2011 - Rey Trujillo is appointed to the Planning and Zoning Board by Eddie Lim. Strip club developer Scott Greenwald is appointed to the Citizens Budget Oversight Board, which monitors our finances. Greenwald was and still is in tax arrears on his city properties to the tune of $1.5 million.

November 15, 2011 - The strip club is back. As Chairman, Rey Trujillo for the first time votes "No" while making it clear that he believes the city will be sued. It's worth noting that during this meeting, the chair did not ensure that all speakers were sworn in as required by law, leaving the outcome in doubt.

Next

November 29, 2011 at 6:30 PM - In a special meeting, the commission will appoint an interim commissioner to serve until the commission appoints a mayor. Full disclosure, I have put my name in for consideration. I would appreciate the support but more importantly than me is the simple message to the commission. DON'T APPOINT ANYONE WITH TIES TO THE STRIP CLUB. Seriously. They need to hear that message.

Otherwise, the plans pass on December 13, 2011.

Kevin Vericker
November 22, 2011