by Steven Geoffrey Gieseler
Riviera Beach Mayor Michael Brown--a named defendant in PLF's suit to force Riviera Beach to comply with Florida's new eminent domain law--has an affinity for playing the victim. His pronouncements defending his patently illegal redevelopment scheme invariably claim that those of us who stubbornly insist the city obey the law are merely conspiring to keep the Mayor from "saving" or "rescuing" the city (here's but one example).
That's what makes this article in today's Palm Beach Post so interesting. The man who would save Riviera Beach has threatened to hold hostage another (legal) development project, because he's not getting his way with the illegal one. If he follows through, Mayor Brown will deprive this city that he says needs saving of scores of jobs and significant tax dollars, a move that's as childish as it is selfish.
Citizens of Riviera Beach should ask their mayor two questions. The first concerns whether, after this tantrum, it's really the city Mayor Brown is primarily concerned with saving. The second paraphrases his own complaint, as reported in today's article: Why do you continue to treat your city's residents as second-class citizens?
