Currently Browsing: Palm Bay
Sep 19, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on Sep 19, 2019 | 6 comments
Odyssey Charter School teacher and self proclaimed homeless advocate / expert Thomas F. Rebman is back on our radar today.
You may remember that Rebman has been making comments and posts about others making false accusations against him, his wife, etc. To some extent, we covered his rants in this post.
In that post we noted that Rebman threatened us with legal action as he has threatened others as well.
What we didn’t say in the post but was public record and known within the community was that Rebman had at the time filed a complaint against the mother of one of his former students for harassment and stalking. The complaint was filed on August 8, 2019 and a hearing was scheduled for September 17, 2019.
Perhaps the most damning accusation in the complaint was that the mother and daughter had come onto the Odyssey Charter School property and attempted to follow Rebman.
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Sep 13, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on Sep 13, 2019 | 6 comments
Thomas Redman, of whom we have spoken about previously, decided to make another post on people that he feels are “harassing” him or whatever.
We were sent the location of posts that Rebman had made on Facebook on August 31, 2019. With that information, we went and grabbed a screen shot of the post:
Where to begin?
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Aug 29, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on Aug 29, 2019 | 1 comment
We have been forwarded the post to the left by many people.
We want to address some of the statements made by Thomas Rebman in this post that he asked be forwarded to whomever.
We are aware of this as several people have sent it to us.
Here is our response at this time:
For the record, Headley is our graphics guy. Ever since around 2013 we have made no secret of that. We don’t advertise it, but it doesn’t bother us that it is out there.
He is not, however, the only person who contributes to the blog.
Over the years we have had about 15 people write for the blog. Some have chosen to use their own name. Most write under the pseudonym of A. Afterwit. We set it up that way because of people like Rebman making threats against us. Right now there are 6 people on the staff.
We can discuss Rebman’s alleged “investigative” skills on this, but it is clearly lacking. In emails to us, he accused us of having people on staff that are not.
Rebman had the chance to discuss the issues with us on the blog or in emails. He tried attacking us. The staff person dealing with him was very professional which resulted in non-sensical emails from Rebman. One of our favorites was an email which claimed to show that we and the City were lying on the dates of the City’s actions on the Orange Blossom Trail camp. The email showed the exact opposite of his claim and supported the City’s position. If we are making things up as he claims, he is free to comment and offer proof which is contrary to our claims and analysis. As he has not, we are left with the conclusion that he is slinging mud hoping that something will stick.
However, we want to address this particular post which Rebman made through intermediaries .
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Aug 28, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on Aug 28, 2019 | 2 comments
Thomas Rebman posted this yesterday and we feel compelled to respond to another non-sensical rant from him.
He asks that people “share this post,” and we are happy not only to share the post, but to fisk it as well.
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Aug 27, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on Aug 27, 2019 | 3 comments
A certain homeless “advocate” is at it again.
(click on image for larger version in new window.)
Mr. Rebman has made similar comments before when it comes to property owners and property rights. He told the Palm Bay City Council that they had agreed not to trespass people off of property they do not own. (Of course, once a property owner has notified people they are not wanted on the property, the City has no choice in the matter. They have to follow the law on trespassing.)
Rebman then proclaimed he had helped “relocate” people from one property which he does not own to another property which he does not own, essentially saying “the rights and safety of the property owners don’t matter.” It is a seeming pattern from Rebman that his “cause” and “beliefs” outweigh the rights of others.
The above post by him is another example of that belief.
We think it is right and appropriate to look at what is being said by Rebman.
First, we want to give context to the sign.
It appears the sign is from a store in Eugene, Oregon.
As KEXI Channel 9 in Eugene wrote on May 29, 2019:
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Aug 24, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on Aug 24, 2019 | Comments Off on Palm Bay: Either We’re Confused Or Someone Else Wasn’t Truthful.
We saw this post in a Palm Bay related Facebook page on August 22, 2019 and took a screenshot of it on August 23, 2019.
Back on July 26, 2019, Rebman stood in front of the Palm Bay City Council and said, in part:
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Aug 4, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on Aug 4, 2019 | 2 comments
The other day, we were looking at the Palm Bay City Council agenda for August 1. On the agenda was the approval of the minutes for the July 26, 2019 meeting. What caught our eye was the minutes from the Citizen Comments part of the meeting, specifically the comments by Tom Redman, a self purported advocate for the homeless.
Here’s how the minutes summarized his comment:
3. Tom Rebman, resident, said that individuals from homeless camps were being trespassed and removed from properties. He wanted Council to assure that no homeless camps would ever be trespassed from properties without services being offered first.
We were surprised as it seems that Redman was saying that property owners had no right to trespass people from their own property. Surely someone as “learned” as Redman would never advocate such a thing.
We went back and transcribed his comments:
I’m having a difficult time forming my words today.
I care very much about my city. It pains me very much every time I see a negative news article. It pains me every time I see negative comments on Facebook. I want to see our community known for the people we are and the great work that we do.
Something has recently happened and I’m not asking for answers on why it happened. I’m not worried about going backwards, on who shot John, but I do know for a fact that the things I am about to state are facts because I am getting my information from the City’s Public Information request they provided me.
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Aug 1, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on Aug 1, 2019 | 4 comments
Tonight at 7:00 PM the Palm Bay City Council will meet for a regular Council meeting. On the agenda is an item to approve the ballot language and supporting ordinance for the November 5, 2019 special election. The special election became necessary after the City botched the entire petition process when it came to a group seeking to revert the language of the Charter on special assessments back to the 2016 language. The reason behind the petition drive was that people were told that the special assessments for most properties would average out to be about $55 a year when in fact it turned out to be hundreds of dollars if not more.
However, as we have documented in this space multiple times, the City failed to follow the charter in the handling of the petitions. They failed to follow Chapter 3.09(4) which required them to reach out to other agencies that would be involved in the process to make sure the petitions and processes met with the rules and laws governing those agencies. The City basically said “we are above the Charter and can do what we want.”
The City failed to contact other agencies in the process.
In addition, City Councilmen interfered with the petition group and conspired to commit crimes.
Workers within the City were threatened if they signed the petitions.
When the issues on the petitions started to come to light, the City doubled and tripled down, lying to the petition group and lying to the public. There is no dispute about that.
The City then sued the Supervisor of Elections (SOE) and had to dismiss the case as there was no basis for the suit, costing taxpayers well over $12,000. (The dismissal came after City Attorney Smith told the Council it would be an easy case and practically guaranteed a victory.)
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Jul 18, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on Jul 18, 2019 | 3 comments
The Palm Bay City Council meets tonight at 7:00 PM with the agenda being found here.
There are several items of interest to us, but the big one is the ballot questions resulting from the debacle with the petition group, the City and the Supervisor of Elections.
Here is the agenda item:
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Jul 2, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on Jul 2, 2019 | 3 comments
Brevard County Supervisor of Elections Lori Scott made an appearance on the Bill Mick Show on Monday, July 1, 2019 to discuss many issues including the issue of the City of Palm Bay petition drive on special assessments and the lawsuit launched (and since dismissed) by the City against her office.
As usual, Bill Mick seemed uninformed or not particularly informed about what happened, but of course, Scott is.
Scott started by explaining that the state statutes require that her office verify signatures on petitions for candidates for state elections and for petitions seeking to amend the state Constitution.
She went on to to explain that the petitions must have the name, the address, the date, the signature and spots where the signer has to fill in their date of birth or their voter id number. These are requirements mandated by the legislature and Florida Department of Elections.
The reason for the date of birth or voter ID number requirement is simple.
SCOTT: I have a very common name. There may be more than one Lori Scott living in Palm Bay. So how do you know if that person is a voter or not or have they been removed. Have they broken residency? Do they not live there anymore?
So when we look on the voter rolls, date of birth or voter registration number is required by the State of Florida.
Makes sense to us.
Mick then asked Scott how the petitions gathered by the Palm Bay petition committee were deficient for her office.
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