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Won’t you be my Neighbor?

by Guest May 20, 2011

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By Robert Wood – Woodlands Resident

As a long time resident of the Woodland’s I should not be shocked by the political shenanigans that have been going on in our city. In fact, if all our resident politicians are convicted of the crimes they have been indicted for, Tamarac will beat out Hialeah as the most corrupt city in South Florida. So you would think that if the powers that be would really want to make sure that the city’s department’s are beyond reproach, think again.

We have a resident realtor, with connections in high places that uses Tamarac Code Enforcement and BSO as their personal army to retaliate against their enemies and stifle the competition. For example, my daughter Jacki’s real estate agent, Gilles Rais, was cited for his sign at her house and at his other listings in the community. Rais, who also lives in the Woodlands, is being unfairly targeted by this realtor.

The first issue were that his “For Sale” signs were the wrong size. At 18×24, they were 3 inches larger than the required size of 15×24. He was reported by this realtor to the Code Compliance Department at the City of Tamarac. Rais didn’t receive the warnings that went out. His clients did. When Rais contacted Peyton Whitfield, the Neighborhood Revitalization Officer (which is the new name for Code Compliance Officer), he discovered that he was the only Woodlands real estate agent that was reported for having the wrong size signs, even though there were many others. Rais changed all of his real estate signs at a cost of over $500.

Forget about crime. If you don't comply then we'll send out the dogs.

The second issue that he has been reported for are that his signs are too close to the street or not on the right side, so Rais moved all of his signs to the correct area. Again, no other realtor was reported for this issue. Third, his company was contacted by this same realtor who demanded that all of their listings be taken off his website. These listings are part of the general multiple listing service or MLS. As a matter of courtesy you would think that a realtor would want their listings promoted and sold by another agent. This way, each person makes a commission. Not so, for this realtor.

If you, in any way, go up against this person or those like them, expect a visit from Code Enforcement. Is this the same person that wastes BSO’s time with petty issues like parking on the grass while doing work in the yard? Or watering your grass during the wrong time of day? Maybe this is the same person that called BSO to have signs removed for the Girl Scout that was selling cookies in her front lawn.

With people like this in our community, we are reinforcing Tamarac’s reputation of being a corrupt city that allows itself to be used by their residents to further their own agenda.

I guess I should expect a visit from Code Enforcement soon.