It would be difficult to imagine that a small eight-block town on the coast of South Florida could produce so much controversy within its borders, but Surfside has found a way.
In just two months, a concealed meeting with wealthy developers, sudden resignations, a parody email and an underfunded, high-stake investigation have all plagued the small municipality of 6,000 residents. Just as it seems that an issue is about to be put to rest – settled or not – another one rises out of thin air.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Hussain Sajwani of DAMAC Properties, with whom Surfside Mayor Shlomo Danzinger met privately in Dubai.
Residents and elected officials will disagree on certain matters no matter where they live, but there’s one ideal that is unquestioned in politics: transparency. And to some, Surfside could use a lesson.
A Private Meeting
Last month, residents were floored by the sudden news that Mayor Shlomo Danzinger had met privately with Hussain Sajwani of DAMAC Properties, the firm poised to develop the former site of the June 24, 2021, Champlain Towers South collapse.
Reporting by the Miami Herald unveiled the trip, which occurred in October at Danzinger’s own expense. The mayor told the Herald he made a stop in Dubai, where DAMAC’s headquarters are located, on his way to visit his son in Israel.
Sajwani bought the nearly two-acre site for $120 million as the lone bidder in 2021. According to Danzinger, he went to “see what kind of person [Sajwani] was” and to discuss the possibility of a permanent memorial on the site to commemorate the 98 lives lost.
Pablo Langesfeld and Martin Langesfeld, father and brother to Nicole Langesfeld, who died in the collapse, were both left completely in the dark.
Pablo asked the mayor directly during a Dec. 13, 2022, commission meeting if he had met with the developer. Danzinger did not address the question in his response.
(Courtesy of Martin Langesfeld)
Nicole Langesfeld, Martin Langesfeld and Pablo Langesfeld (L-R) before the tragic building collapse on June 24, 2021.
Although the mayor later told the Herald that he notified a memorial committee of the deceased’s family members about the trip, he also refused to disclose its location until a spokesperson from DAMAC Properties revealed the details first.
Martin Langesfeld, a member of the committee, says he has been fighting to meet with the developer since the property was sold. He is one of the leading voices pushing for a memorial to be placed on the site since the beginning. He did not know about Danzinger’s meeting.
“We told Mayor Danzinger families needed to meet with the developer to discuss the memorial on the site of the collapse,” Langesfeld said. “Instead, hurting families were insulted and ignored. What was the reason for having secret meetings?
“We’re not trying to stop any development. The land is sold. All we’re trying to do is try to have some honor and respect on the land where 98 died, which is the sole reason why they have a development on the beachfront property. This development came at the cost of 98 innocent lives.”
That blow to town residents’ trust wasn’t the first. By the time the Dubai trip was revealed, the town had already found itself in deep waters.
Resignations on the Trot
(Town of Surfside)
Andrew Hyatt, Former Surfside Town Manager
Many of the town’s quarrels came to a head at the town’s Jan. 10, 2023, meeting, during which former Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett presented the commission with suspicions of wrongdoing in the resignations of three key members in its administrative staff.
In mid-December, former Town Manager Andrew Hyatt resigned unexpectedly, citing family issues. Less than 24 hours later, former Assistant Town Manager and CFO Jason Greene, as well as the former chief of police, Rogelio J. Torres, Jr., also resigned.
All three individuals are bound by a nondisparagement clause.
Burkett’s presentation alleges that Danzinger forced Hyatt to resign just ahead of his annual performance review, which was rumored to be a positive one.
Danzinger in December announced that he and his peers on the commission would not be responding to the press or residents about “frivolous accusations.” After the January presentation, again, he had little to say.
Without evidence that the staff members were forced out, residents began to call for the commission to lift the nondisparagement clause, allowing them to speak for themselves.
When Commissioner Nelly Velasquez made the motion to do just that, she was met with silence. The motion failed.
“Of course not,” she said. “There you go.”
(Courtesy of Eliana Salzhauer)
The Surfside town commission at a Jan. 10, 2023, meeting listening to former Mayor Charles Burkett’s presentation, which accused current Mayor Shlomo Danzinger of forcing administrative staff members to quit.
Velasquez is the only commissioner who has expressed her own suspicions. She said she met with Hyatt just 10 minutes before Danzinger did on his last day, and that he made no mention of resigning.
Meanwhile, the remaining commissioners went on the defense.
Vice Mayor Jeffrey Rose referred to Burkett and former Commissioner Eliana Salzhauer, now an active resident watchdog, as extremists who are politically motivated.
“[Burkett] said he was doing this as a concerned citizen who lived here,” Rose said at the January meeting. “Do you plan on running for office again? Is this what this has to do with?”
“If Surfside needs me to run, I’m going to run,” Burkett retorted.
Both Rose and, later, Danzinger, translated that statement as an admission to political motivation.
While some in the audience sarcastically scoffed at the commission’s refusal to remove Hyatt’s nondisparagement clause, others have given the commission the benefit of the doubt.
(AJ Shorter)
A view of the collapsed Champlain Towers South wing June 24, 2021.
“I wasn’t going to speak,” said resident Mandyf Davoudpour. “Then I see, everybody at home knows. There are three camera guys back here, all for this presentation … We have so many issues in our town. Why don’t we just stop with all the attacks?”
Indeed, the January meeting was packed with cameras. Rose urged the press to cover the ongoing investigation into the cause of the Champlain Towers collapse, and not the “hit piece brought up by former elected officials.”
Chasing Funds
Toward the beginning of the Jan. 10 commission meeting, Allyn Kilsheimer provided his typical monthly update on the investigation – only this time he came with a request. The team had largely run through the approximately $2.85 million already approved. In order to complete the final tests, he announced that he’d need an additional $575,000.
Commissioners were hesitant to approve the total amount in town funds. Velasquez reminded the commission that Kilsheimer was hired to produce an answer quicker than the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) could at the federal level. With continued delays, she warned against spending additional taxpayer dollars on what could well turn into a redundancy.
(NIST)
In this July 2, 2021, photo, a NIST staff member tags and photographs a building element that has been identified for preservation as evidence in the staging area near the site of the Champlain Towers South building collapse.
Nonetheless, the commission unanimously agreed to allocate the requested funds under two conditions: that external sources or donations would be sought and that NIST provide written agreement that Kilsheimer’s team will have access to necessary materials.
Martin Langesfeld says he has no doubt that the town’s investigation must go on.
“We cannot rely on just one investigation,” he told the Biscayne Times. “There needs to be multiple investigations for one of the nation’s biggest catastrophes.”
Still, his frustrations only continue to build. He was dismayed to find that his sister’s name, along with many others, had been carved out from a temporary memorial banner recognizing those who died during the collapse.
(Town of Surfside)
Last summer, an unidentified person vandalized a Champlain Towers South memorial banner by carving out victims’ names.
A police report was filed upon discovery of the damage.
“The case is ongoing,” Danzinger later wrote to Langesfeld in an email dated Aug. 24, “but suffice it to say if the individual proves to have been mentally disturbed, it is very doubtful that a prosecutor would file criminal charges against such a person.”
Langesfeld has not received any further updates, and says he was disappointed to find that Surfside police are meanwhile sharing their focus with a less pressing issue.
The Parody Email
A parody email dated Jan. 9 became the center of further allegations against Danzinger when he revealed that an investigation had been set forth to seek out and punish the sender.
(Screenshot)
A parody email using Mayor Shlomo Danzinger’s name and image was sent to Surfside residents Jan. 9, 2023.
The email, which was sent to residents by SurfsideConcernedCitizens@gmail.com using Danzinger’s image, name and newsletter template, paints the mayor as egotistical and corrupt.
Danzinger has since called the email fraudulent. Others at the January commission meeting inquired over the legality of impersonating an elected official.
At the bottom of the email was a disclaimer stating that it was indeed a parody. For that reason, some residents are now concerned for their freedom of speech.
“The police should not be investigating people for calling attention to potential wrongdoing by elected officials,” said Gerardo Vildostegui. “I never thought I would say it – that authoritarianism is coming to Surfside – but when police are punishing people for what is clearly free speech, you’ve got to do something about this.”
The Surfside police department failed to fulfill a public records request by the Times that would have revealed who filed the police report, despite a promise that it would have been completed by press time.
The city remains divided. Among the latest is a highly protested ordinance that would prohibit certain behavior on public property, such as sleeping, showering or urinating, which many believe is devised to target the town’s homeless population. That ordinance is expected to come up for a first reading on Feb. 14.
Plus, Salzhauer remains suspicious over a town-paid trip taken by Danzinger to Tallahassee Jan. 3, the same day as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ inauguration.
Danzinger has not responded to repeated calls from the Times.
“He thinks he can just ignore the media and it’ll all go away,” said Salzhauer. “There is no transparency in Surfside government anymore … If there’s nothing to hide, these questions would have been answered from day one.”