Public Record…
January 8, 2009
Ms. Esther Colon, City Manager
City of Lauderdale by the Sea
4501 Ocean Drive
Lauderdale by the Sea, Florida 33308
Dear Ms. Colon,
I am a frequent visitor to the beach area of Lauderdale by the Sea. I eat in various restaurants and in general enjoy the ambiance of the City and its residents. I recently had occasion to dine seated at an outside table at Athena by the Sea, I think the date was December 28. In the midst of my meal a disheveled and irate man started screaming with slurred words from the street at one of the owners in regards not having enough parking for the outside dining. The tone, volume and aggression of this outburst disturbed me and ruined my outing.
When this man roared off in his car I suggested to the owner that he report this frightening incident to the police because in my opinion the man was a danger to himself and others. The owner informed me that the man was a member of the city administration and that he was more of an embarrassment than a threat. The owner seeing how upset I was did not charge me for my meal and explained that Mr. Mcintee for some unknown reason had taken a dislike to him and had been harassing his businesses. Things that were acceptable for many years suddenly became unacceptable. The owner was very kind even though he and my fellow patrons including a severely disabled person were upset by this profane and ugly outburst and the unsafe driving in his departure. I told the owner that he should keep a record of such activities. I then went home intending to take no further action.
I returned to the restaurant some days later intending to have a nice quiet meal in the alcove table I so enjoy. To my dismay the chairs were stacked and I was informed that due to some “unknown” person’s complaint the restaurant was required to revert to its pre 2005 outside seating. It appears that this city in some instances is being run like a “Banana Republic” with individuals within the city abusing power and acting like tyrants.
I do not know if you can change anything but I felt I had to inform you. My son, an attorney, when talking about how surprised clients were when sued often says “they should have seen it coming”. I trust we don’t have to say that about this special little town.
Sincerely,
Katherine Ziegler
Tags: Local Politics, Scoops
