It’s not enough that Sunny Isles Beach Mayor Dana Goldman is spending her time campaigning for re-election by overtly lying about her opponent, Larisa Svechin, but now she’s slandering a developer that is in the process of bringing two site plans before the City Commission for approval.

We here at VotersOpinion just spent the better part of a two-week runoff election in North Miami Beach watching ousted EX-Commissioner Paule Villard and her de facto “campaign manager,” Michael Joseph, spend an inordinate amount of time and money to defame her opponent.  We can’t help but wonder why desperate politicians throw caution to the wind by committing slander and libel without expecting any consequences for their actions.

While Paule and Michael have no idea what’s in store for them (heh heh), Dana Goldman is getting her just deserts in real time.

On November 29, 2022, Dezer Development, LLC filed a Complaint for Defamation against Dana Goldman and her colleague on the dais, Jerry Joseph, for damages in excess of $1,000,000.00.

We know that political campaigns bring out the absolute worst in people, and there’s plenty of mudslinging to go around.

But, we’ve also witnessed first hand that the candidates who take the high road are the ones who usually win in the end.  Voters tend to get turned off by negative campaigns, and especially by candidates who knowingly lie about their opponents, as was the case with Paule Villard.

Interestingly, Dana Goldman and her surrogates, i.e., dark-money PAC donors, seem to be following the same predictable playbook that Paule Villard used in her runoff election less than two weeks ago.  It’s almost as if they had the same unofficial “campaign consultant” giving them the exact same flawed advice behind the scenes.

Come to think of it, there is one person who comes to mind.

The soon-to-be-former corrupt, unethical, and incompetent City “Attorney” for North Miami Beach, Hans Ottinot, who constantly ran interference to protect Paule Villard from the consequences of her criminal actions, is also the former corrupt, unethical, and incompetent City “Attorney” for Sunny Isles Beach and close personal friend of Dana Goldman, and who “retired” to work for a developer, only to represent his new boss in a lawsuit against the very same city he bullied into keeping him on the employee health insurance plan even though he wasn’t eligible.

By virtue of the “Six Degrees of Separation” Theory, Hans Ottinot appears to be the lowest common denominator (pun very much intended) between Paule Villard and Dana Goldman.

That’s not all these two vile politicians have in common.

Paule ripped off the City of North Miami Beach for $5,109.72 to go on a taxpayer-funded vacation at the Bellagio Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

Dana’s husband ripped off the Bellagio to the tune of $28,500.00, according to a the Default Judgment filed in Clark County, Nevada on April 9, 2002.

This would be the same thoroughly despicable Michael Gates who invoked his wife’s name and title in an attempt to intimidate a police officer into not ticketing him for a hit and run, in Bal Harbor on June 27, 2021.

Proving yet again that water seeks its own level.

As we all know, the four-year nightmare of the loathsome Paule Villard’s one-term gig as a North Miami Beach Commissioner ended with her humiliating defeat.

We’re hoping that on Tuesday, Dana Goldman joins her in the Loser’s Club of disgraced politicians.

Even if Dana does lose the election, that would be the least of her troubles.

Dana has now found herself on the receiving end of a million dollar-plus lawsuit filed against her by one of South Florida’s most prominent real estate builders, Dezer Development.

According to the Complaint, Dana has publicly posted on social media, on her website, and more recently, in campaign material, false allegations that:

• “Dezer ‘bought and paid for’ Larissa Svechin with $750,000”
• “Svechin is a Dezer servant who will radically upzone two of [Dezers’] West Side properties”
• “Svechin’s family is “secretly” working for the Dezers”

Dezer Development states in the Complaint that, “Not a single part of this three-prong attack against Dezer is true.”

With respect to Dana’s false allegation that Dezer will “radically upzone West Side properties,” Dezer states that:

• While a Dezer affiliate owns the depicted Thunderbird West site, the site plan it proposed merely requests the same intensity already allowed pursuant to the Sunny Isles Beach Zoning Code. It does not seek any “upzoning” at all, let alone the alleged “radical upzoning” – a fact of which Goldman, as the current mayor, is well aware.
• The “Epicure” Site is also owned by a Dezer affiliate. However, contrary to the depictions and statements in the publication, Dezer has not requested that Sunny Isles Beach change the zoning that is already set forth in the municipal code. Again, this is a fact of which Goldman is well aware.
• Indeed, neither Dezer nor any of its affiliates even owns the Avila South Site. That additional property appears gratuitously added solely to inflame the accusation of a purported request for “radical upzoning” by increasing the size of the property at issue.

Furthermore, the Complaint states:

• Goldman acted negligently in making the false statements against Dezer.
• Goldman knew that the above statements were false or acted with a reckless disregard as to the falsity.

In the Complaint, Dezer also states that Commissioner Jerry Joseph made similar false allegations on social media.

 

Dana Goldman (and by extension her surrogate, Jerry Joseph) are so desperate to get her re-elected that she clearly didn’t think this through.

It’s one thing to attack your opponent with innuendoes, half-truths, and blatant lies, but it’s another thing to drag a potential city vendor into the fray, especially one as powerful as Dezer Development.

Did Dana really expect there to be no consequences?  What was she thinking?

The bigger question, is why attack just Dezer Development, and not any of the other developers looking to do business in Sunny Isles Beach?

One possibility is because Dezer didn’t donate to her campaign.

For the record, Dezer didn’t donate to her opponent’s campaign, either, but apparently Dana took it personally.

On the other hand, Dana received a total of $13,000.00 from various companies run by Edgardo Defortuna of Fortune International Group, the developer of the ST Regis Sunny Isles Beach, which are slated to be the tallest buildings in the city, and which Dana wholeheartedly approved and voted for.

Although Dana may claim to be for “responsible development,” never forget she’s responsible for this phallic-like dual monstrosity towering over the rest of the concrete jungle that is now Sunny Isles Beach.

Although not my cup of tea, I do realize some people actually prefer living in a skyscraper 63 stories tall, totally unconcerned about all the things that can go wrong, especially when even the tallest Fire Ladder Truck available today can only reach 136 feet high.

Lying about her opponent is not the most despicable campaign tactic that Dana Goldman has used since she first ran for mayor in November of 2021.

Like the time she exploited the death of a child and falsely accused her opponent of not “fighting for responsible development.”

As you can see, that clearly didn’t age well.

Or the time she falsely accused Commission candidate Greg Capra of being an anti-Semite because he supported her opponent, despite the fact that his ex-wife and their children are all Jewish.

And who can forget her laughable false accusations that Vladimir Putin was funding Larisa Svechin’s campaign, and of course, that she was “secretly working for a mega-developer.”

Well, that “mega-developer” has finally had enough of Dana Goldman’s false accusations, lies, and of course, publicly defaming its name and reputation.

Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s election, this lawsuit and the ensuing trial is definitely going to be popcorn-worthy.

Dana Goldman is making the same mistake Paule Villard did in North Miami Beach by running a negative campaign and viciously lying about her opponent.

Laura Svechin, on the other hand, is focusing on the positive direction her leadership will bring, much like Jay Chernoff did in his successful campaign against Paule.

(Yes, there is a lesson to be learned here.)

It is our sincere hope that Sunny Isles Beach residents will also choose to take the high road on Tuesday by voting for Larisa Svechin for Mayor!

Stephanie