The rumor mill has been busy this week with whispers that the former, humiliated-out-of-office, North Miami Beach mayor, Myron Rosner, is STILL up to his old tricks.  Word has it that he’s seriously considering a run for City Council in 2013 and that he’s already started raising money for a campaign.  As hard as it is to believe that there might be any people left on this planet who would actually throw money at this moron, consider the list of folks who continue to enable this man’s madness.

First and foremost, there’s his wife, Circuit Court Judge Sarah Zabel.  She has a very important job.  As an arbiter of justice, she has the power to hold your life, your freedom and your wallet in her hands.  Yes, folks.  This woman is judging YOU!  The fact that she is still married to Myron makes you wonder how competent she could possibly be when she shows no rational judgment in her personal life.  Luckily, her term is scheduled to end in 2013, and word on the street is that there are a few of highly qualified individuals preparing to challenge her for her seat on the bench.  They got my vote.  Whoever they are!

Speaking of incompetency, another Myron enabler whose judgement you just have to question is North Miami Beach Code Compliance Manager Eric Wardle.  After over two years of Myron and Sarah’s homestead being way out of Code Compliance with respect to various infractions, including violation of easement encroachments, Eric Wardle is STILL insisting that he’s working out a “solution.”  In several emails sent back and forth between Eric and myself a couple of days ago, he stated that although “[Rosner] has been cited for…setback violations for the pool, driveway and an awning,” he is still “trying to find a solution for the violations.”

When I advised Mr. Wardle, “It would seem to me that the “solution” to many, if not all, of Rosner’s problems would be for him to apply for a variance for each of the items in which he is non-compliant,” he confirmed that Myron had not applied for any variances FOR WORK ALREADY DONE AND FOR WHICH PERMITS WERE ISSUED.  Mr. Wardle’s “defense” was to state that this is “an ongoing investigation” and that “the case will either be resolved or presented to the Code Enforcement Board.”  In addition, Mr. Wardle protested that he’s only been with the city for “less than a year” and is, therefore, absolved of any malfeasance or misfeasance that may or may not have occurred under his predecessor’s term.  In other words, “It wasn’t me!”

Considering that these matters were supposed to have been heard by the Code Enforcement Board last month, and considering that it was rescheduled to be heard before the board again this past week, and considering that Eric Wardle unilaterally decided to take it off the agenda because he was “not prepared to to move forward at this time,” I’d say that something stinks to high heaven!

One can’t help but wonder if Eric Wardle is either being bullied, bribed or blackmailed by Myron.  Maybe all three.

Another enabler of Myron’s is North Miami Beach Building Official Phillip Azan, who is ultimately responsible for issuing building permits to property owners for construction on their premises.  He is the AHJ, or Authority Having Jurisdiction over the entire building permitting process.  He is also supposed to make sure that all permit applications are routed to the various departments and outside agencies for their approval or denial of the permit application.  If, for example, the Planning and Zoning Department states that a particular project will require a variance, Phillip is the guy who is supposed to notify the applicant to apply for a variance.

In the case of Myron’s construction of his swimming pool and driveway, according to a copy of Permit Application BM06-822, handwritten notations in the margin clearly state that variances are needed for both.  This just begs the question of why Myron never bothered to apply for those variances, as Eric Wardle stated in his email to me.  One also has to wonder why Mr. Azan defied the directive of the Planning and Zoning Department for Myron to apply for variances.

This makes you wonder if Phillip Azan is covering up something for Myron’s benefit?  Could it be his own ass?  I’m just saying.

Several of my sources told me that Myron spent a lot of time at City Hall this past week trying to dig up dirt on all the residents in North Miami Beach.  He’s been poring through public records to gather copies of homeowners’ property records to find out who may be in possible violation of the building code.  Apparently, Myron is not about to appear before the Code Enforcement Board to answer for his own violations without using the “everyone else does it” defense.  In fact, Myron had the chutzpah to ask Eric Wardle for THREE HOURS so that he and his attorneys can present his case.  WTF?  Instead of wasting the Board’s time with such nonsense, he should be applying for the variances for the after-the-fact permits he obtained through arm twisting and bullying.  That should keep him busy and out of trouble for a while at least.

Myron has already wasted a ton of city resources, including holding city employees hostage for hours on end this past week alone!  Folks, you and I are paying the salaries of those employees while Myron monopolizes their time!  I’m just saying.

The other day Myron breezed past three residents waiting to see Phillip Azan and demanded an audience with him, while the folks who were there first had to cool their heels in the waiting room for two hours.  Hey, Phil!  In case you didn’t know, MYRON ISN’T THE FREAKING MAYOR ANYMORE!  And, even if he were, he’d have no right to take up all your time on our dime!  Quit kissing Myron’s ass already.  When push comes to shove, and Myron finally has to answer for his many code violations, don’t think for one minute he won’t drag you under the bus with him.  He’s just that kinda guy.

The biggest mystery of all, however, is why these people continue to enable Myron in the first place.

Building Official Phillip Azan has been with the city for a while.  In fact, he was behind some of the bogus permits Myron wrangled from the Building Department while he was still in office.  This still doesn’t explain why good old Phil keeps covering for Myron.  I guess old habits die hard.

Even though Code Compliance Manager Eric Wardle has been employed with the city for “less than a year,” he was around when Myron was still occupying the mayor’s seat.  Perhaps, like Phil, Eric still feels intimated by Myron, although I can’t imagine why.

I’d sure love to know what inspires such “loyalty” in two city employees to a former mayor who never gave a rat’s ass for anyone but himself in the first place.  Does Myron have some dirt on Phil and Eric that he’s holding over their heads?  Just how culpable are they in Myron’s violations and the possible cover up of how he obtained all those improper permits in the first place?  What the hell has Myron got on them, eh?

As for the “little woman” who remains married to such a man, one has to wonder about Sarah Zabel’s state of mind.  Let’s not forget that she is the joint owner of the marital homestead, and as such, is equally responsible for the various and sundry code violations that have been committed.  It’s not as if she’s one of those old fashioned, stay-at-home moms who has no clue about the law.  She’s a Circuit Court Judge, for crying out loud!  She simply cannot claim ignorance of or distance herself from all of Myron’s legal woes.

Sarah Zabel is one hundred percent complicit in all of Myron’s shenanigans!  Let’s not forget that when Myron made his minor children campaign for him at the polls on election day this past May, she didn’t stop him.  Not only did Sarah Zabel not protect her children from being exposed to what was already a contentious campaign, SHE DROVE THEM TO THE POLLS FOR MORE ABUSE TWO WEEKS LATER on runoff election day.  She even she allowed them to skip school for the occasion.  She may be a sitting Circuit Court Judge…for now, anyway…but, Mother of the Year she’s not!

If ever there was a person more unpleasant, disreputable or unwanted, and one who keeps turning up repeatedly where he’s not welcome, it would most certainly be Myron Rosner, the Bad Penny of North Miami Beach.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”