May 22, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on May 22, 2019 | 0 comments
Jose Aguair
With most of the focus in Palm Bay and Brevard County has been on David Isnardi and his legal issues, the same amount of scrutiny and light has not been applied to the person arrested the same day in the same case with Isnardi, Jose Aguiar.
After initially being denied bond, Aguiar and his attorneys filed a motion to allow Aguiar to be bonded out. The Florida Today wrote about the filings in an May 20 article.
However there was a little nugget at the end of the article that caught the eye of many:
This is not Aguiar’s first brush with the law. In 1997 in Massachusetts, he was convicted of conspiracy to sell cocaine and was sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison.
According to Massachusetts’ law, Part IV, Title I, Section 274:
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May 18, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on May 18, 2019 | 2 comments
The following two images are making the rounds. They are of the Mayor and City Council of Palm Bay meeting before Thursday night’s City Council meeting out of microphone range:
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May 16, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on May 16, 2019 | 0 comments
Tonight is the first meeting of the Palm Bay City Council since the news of the arrest of former Deputy City Manager Dave Isnardi and businessman Jose Aquiar last Friday. (You can find agenda here.)
The allegations in the affidavit as to what was going on in the City are damning and troubling to say the least.
We know that people, including us, are upset and rightfully so,
We also know that there are going to be people who are going to speak on the issue during one of the two (or both) “public comments on non-agenda items” portion of the agenda.
We have some advice.
1) Be civil.
Be forceful if you wish, but be civil. Don’t call people names they might consider vile. Don’t say things that will have the people on the dais and other audience members not listen to you because of way you are saying something. We know that you have the right to call the City Council and others names such as someone who may fornicate with the women we celebrated this past Sunday, but resist the urge to do so. If you were up on the dais and someone called you what your grandmother considered vile and inappropriate, you would stop listening. The Council will too. (As will some in the audience.) The goal is to have your points and opinions heard not bounce off closed ears.
2) Don’t continually repeat something that has been said before.
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May 15, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on May 15, 2019 | 16 comments
(The above base image was taken from a 2015 interview with the Mayors’ Institute on Civil Design)
Got a minute Mayor?
You see we, like many people in Palm Bay, the County, the State and perhaps even the country are perplexed by what is going on in Palm Bay and Brevard County.
We can’t understand how a town with great people fell to such depths.
Moreover, we can’t understand your reaction to the whole scandal.
In an article appearing in Florida Today, you said concerning the fall out from what has happened and what will continue to get worse:
But Capote added that Palm Bay has “a totally different administration” than the City Hall leadership team when Isnardi was employed by the city.
Did we miss something?
Correct us if we are wrong, but you were elected Mayor in 2012. It was on your watch that the allegations concerning former Deputy City Manager Dave Isnardi and others took place, right. The events the arrests of people happened while you were mayor, right?
In fact, didn’t your wife work with the Aguiars in a 501(c)(3)? That is her name on this financial report, right?
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May 11, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on May 11, 2019 | 0 comments
David Isnardi
Former Palm Bay Deputy City Manager Dave Isnardi and the person arrested with him, Jose Aguiar, had a legal proceeding in court today concerning bond for both men.
We’d like to show you a picture of Isnardi at the hearing but we cannot as Isnardi waived his right to be present at the hearing.
Why is it that people who act so tough become gutless when facing the music?
There is nothing legal to be inferred from Isnardi’s no-show, but at the same time, there is a part of us that thinks if he is not guilty, stand up in front of a judge and say it.
Aguiar was there and his lawyer claimed Aguiar was “heavily medicated.”
Aguiar sat mostly motionless in a red jump suit, hands clenched together between his knees, wearing flip-flops and a white neck brace, as he awaited his first appearance before the judge.
“He’s heavily medicated due to his health issues,” Aguiar’s attorney, Daniel Martinez, said Saturday after the court appearance.
Judge Kelly Ingram denied bond to Aguiar and Isnardi due to the seriousness of the charges.
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May 11, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on May 11, 2019 | 11 comments
To say that the City of Palm Bay was rocked and “done blowed up” on Friday is not an understatement as the first arrests dealing with corruption in the City were made.
We aren’t going to bury the lede:
Former Palm Bay Deputy City Manager Dave Isnardi has been arrested on charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit extortion and conspiracy to possess controlled substances including oxycodone.
Isnardi is the husband of Brevard County Commissioner Kristine Isnardi.
Dave Isnardi is being represented by Bryan Lober, an attorney who is also a county commissioner.
A second man, Jose Aguiar, a former candidate for the Palm Bay City Council, was also arrested Friday morning and charged with racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering. Aguiar was convicted of conspiracy to sell cocaine in Massachusetts in 1997 and was sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison. It is not clear when he moved to Palm Bay.
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May 2, 2019
Posted by AAfterwit on May 2, 2019 | 2 comments
There is no way Palm Bay’s program of “Homes for Warriors” can be considered anything less than a failure. Conceived with good intentions, like many good intentions the path of the Home for Warriors program led to hell.
An audit by the state agency that oversees housing grants to local communities criticized Palm Bay’s oversight of its program to provide homes for disabled veterans who were wounded in combat.
This comes at the same time the federal government is slamming the city for its handling of federal grants, and state law enforcement agents have contacted the city asking questions about its management of both the federal and state grants.
According to a state report dated March 15, the city spent more than $688,000 of state grant money refurbishing four homes for wounded veterans, when the city’s own guidelines limited spending on each home to $52,425. The audit found that amount was exceeded on each of the four homes, with $454,000 of that going to a single home.
The money for the “Homes for Warriors” program comes from the State Housing Initiatives Partnership, which provides grants to local governments to produce and preserve affordable home ownership and multifamily housing. The program was designed to serve very low, low and moderate-income families.
They city says those numbers are not accurate and points to shoddy bookkeeping on its part for the confusion.
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