Commissioner Accuses Orange County Of 'Corruption'
POSTED: 4:27 p.m. EDT October 13, 2003
UPDATED: 2:53 p.m. EDT October 15, 2003
An Orange County commissioner alleged Monday that the county broke their own zoning regulations and compromised their ethics when they accepted a proposal to build a private billboard on a residentially zoned public land.
County Commissioner Teresa Jacobs launched the allegations after the county approved a billboard request for a friend of two-term county commissioner Bob Freeman, according to the report.
"We (commissioners) have a huge ethical responsibility and I watched that and questioned whether that ethical responsibility was being lived up to that day," Jacobs said.
The county-owned piece of property in question is located off Interstate 4 (pictured, left) and is in the heart of Central Florida's tourism district
Local 6 News reported that "underlying the allegations are claims that rules were bent to benefit Joe Sleiman, who is a friend of commissioner Freeman.
In a letter to the board, Jacobs called the vote, "one of the most objectionable, offensive, and perhaps corrupt actions of the Orange County Board of County Commissioners.
"I don't know what great public purpose was to be served by allowing a billboard owner to stick a billboard where we've told every other private property owner in that corridor they can't have one," Jacobs said.
"Commissioner Freeman intended that his friend Joe Sleiman put a billboard on any property that they could find," billboard competitor Frances Sirianni said.
"Public records obtained by Local 6 News confirmed those claims, according to Problem Solver Wendy Saltzman.
They reportedly show Freeman contacted county staff repeatedly.
An employee memo said "I felt the commissioner didn't want this completed right, but wanted it completed right now."
Sirianni spoke at the original county commission hearings in 1999 and told the county they could get a lot more money if they put the billboard out to bid.
"It's very prime -- advertisers from all over the country would like that location," Sirianni said.
But instead, after a legal battle with Sleiman, the county signed a settlement agreement in August of this year that paid him $50,000 in legal fees, and three years free rent for a total of $200,000. He was also granted the exclusive rights to the billboard for 20 years.
Sleiman's attorney Michael Marder said that the settlement was a good deal for the county.
"I feel just is the winner because we have what we are entitiled to," Marder said. "What the court says we are entitled to and what three Commission votes say we are entitled to."
However, homeowner's assocation president Scott Justice and Jacobs claimed the county caved and sent a message that their zoning regulations are for sale.
"It could send a bad message for other areas of Orange County where people are trying to put billboards where they just shouldn't exist," Justice said.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
County Commissioner Teresa Jacobs launched the allegations after the county approved a billboard request for a friend of two-term county commissioner Bob Freeman, according to the report.
"We (commissioners) have a huge ethical responsibility and I watched that and questioned whether that ethical responsibility was being lived up to that day," Jacobs said.
The county-owned piece of property in question is located off Interstate 4 (pictured, left) and is in the heart of Central Florida's tourism district
Local 6 News reported that "underlying the allegations are claims that rules were bent to benefit Joe Sleiman, who is a friend of commissioner Freeman.
In a letter to the board, Jacobs called the vote, "one of the most objectionable, offensive, and perhaps corrupt actions of the Orange County Board of County Commissioners.
"I don't know what great public purpose was to be served by allowing a billboard owner to stick a billboard where we've told every other private property owner in that corridor they can't have one," Jacobs said.
"Commissioner Freeman intended that his friend Joe Sleiman put a billboard on any property that they could find," billboard competitor Frances Sirianni said.
"Public records obtained by Local 6 News confirmed those claims, according to Problem Solver Wendy Saltzman.
They reportedly show Freeman contacted county staff repeatedly.
An employee memo said "I felt the commissioner didn't want this completed right, but wanted it completed right now."
Sirianni spoke at the original county commission hearings in 1999 and told the county they could get a lot more money if they put the billboard out to bid.
"It's very prime -- advertisers from all over the country would like that location," Sirianni said.
But instead, after a legal battle with Sleiman, the county signed a settlement agreement in August of this year that paid him $50,000 in legal fees, and three years free rent for a total of $200,000. He was also granted the exclusive rights to the billboard for 20 years.
Sleiman's attorney Michael Marder said that the settlement was a good deal for the county.
"I feel just is the winner because we have what we are entitiled to," Marder said. "What the court says we are entitled to and what three Commission votes say we are entitled to."
However, homeowner's assocation president Scott Justice and Jacobs claimed the county caved and sent a message that their zoning regulations are for sale.
"It could send a bad message for other areas of Orange County where people are trying to put billboards where they just shouldn't exist," Justice said.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
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