Monday, October 11, 2021

St. Augustine City Commission: Please Reject Deeply Flawed 36 Granada Street LLC PUD Application

(corrected)

St. Augusitne City Commission meets October 25, 2021 at 5 PM with the second reading of the proposed 36 GRANADA STEET LLC PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT. Speak out for preserving our Nation's oldest city's history and culture 

Help save the CORAZON THEATER AND COFFEE HOUSE from Ponte Vedra developer JAY McGARVEY and his angry cat's paw "Applicant," moonlighting Florida National Guard JAG CORPS MAJOR GARY BRIAN DAVENPORT, conflicted full-time federal attorney and top lawyer in the Florida National Guard. 

Yes we can!



 Here are my e-mails to Mayor Upchurch and Commissioners, together with any July 16, 2021 complaint to FTC and USDOJ:




-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Slavin <easlavin@aol.com>
To: BBlonder@citystaug.com <BBlonder@citystaug.com>; tupchurch@citystaug.com <tupchurch@citystaug.com>; nsikeskline@citystaug.com <nsikeskline@citystaug.com>; jvaldes@citystaug.com <jvaldes@citystaug.com>; jvaldes@citystaug.com <jvaldes@citystaug.com>
Cc: garybdavenport@gmail.com <garybdavenport@gmail.com>; jay@mcgarveycommunities.com <jay@mcgarveycommunities.com>; sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com <sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com>; jdelaney@flagler.edu <jdelaney@flagler.edu>; jdelaney@rtlaw.com <jdelaney@rtlaw.com>; pzb@citystaug.com <pzb@citystaug.com>; dbirchim@citystaug.com <dbirchim@citystaug.com>; aschindler@firstcoastnews.com <aschindler@firstcoastnews.com>; jclark@firstcoastnews.com <jclark@firstcoastnews.com>; larizzar@sao7.org <larizzar@sao7.org>; sheriff@sjso.org <sheriff@sjso.org>; shorsteinb@sao7.org <shorsteinb@sao7.org>; corruption@usdoj.gov <corruption@usdoj.gov>; antitrust.complaints@usdoj.gov <antitrust.complaints@usdoj.gov>; antitrust@ftc.gov <antitrust@ftc.gov>; antitrust.atr@usdoj.gov <antitrust.atr@usdoj.gov>; ilopez@citystaug.com <ilopez@citystaug.com>; dmay@citystaug.com <dmay@citystaug.com>; waltbob@aol.com <waltbob@aol.com>
Sent: Mon, Oct 11, 2021 12:01 pm
Subject: Re: St. Augustine City Commission: Please Reject Deeply Flawed 36 Granada Street LLC PUD Application

Dear Mayor Upchurch, Vice Mayor Sikes-Kline, and Commissioners:
1. Thank you for your questions at first reading last month on the proposed 36 GRANADA STREET LLC PUD ordinance, which is on tonight's agenda for second reading.  
2. There is no public benefit in closing our only downtown movie theater.  There is no public benefit in another full liquor license downtown at the cost of closing our only downtown movie theater. Hence, there is no justification for a PUD.
3. PUDs are already abused enough now.  This half-baked, indecent 36 GRANADA STREET LLC PUD proposal would open the floodgates to tiny PUDs to get liquor licenses.  
4. As Cathy Brown put it best, PUDs are "a sneaky way of getting around zoning."  Our Nation's Oldest City is losing its character, faster than a speeding dump truck.  St. Augustine residents loved the CORAZON THEATER AND COFFEE HOUSE.  May we have it back, please?  See my July 16, 2021 USDOJ and FTC complaint, below.
5. Please ask that all public hearing witnesses be sworn under oath tonight, including Mr. McGarvey, his architects and planners, and the "Applicant" himself. The "Applicant" is conflicted National Guard JAG Corps Major Gary Brian Davenport, a full-time federal lawyer, the top lawyer in the Florida National Guard and Department of Military Affairs. This full-time federal government lawyer disrespectfully said to me in a July 5, 2021 telephone call that his moonlighting and this PUD were "none of [my] business."  He asked if I was going to "give [him] a hard time." In fact, it is the people's business, and this attorney's anger, animus and animadversions are an affront to our democracy.
5. Please reject PZB's rash recommendation, inter alia endorsing McGarvey's shoddy PUD work product 6-1 -- a vote talen prematurely only after Mr. McGarvey first implored PZB not to "make" him "come back" to another meeting.
6. I am grateful for your questions, and for those of dissenting PZB member John Carl Blow.  Please keep asking questions and demanding answers. 
7. Please reject the 36 GRANADA STREET LLC  PUD as a violation of public policy and of our PUD ordinance. 
Thank you!
With kindest regards, I am,



-----Original Message-----
From: Barbara Blonder <BBlonder@citystaug.com>
To: Ed Slavin <easlavin@aol.com>
Sent: Fri, Sep 10, 2021 1:24 pm
Subject: Re: St. Augustine City Commission: Please Reject Deeply Flawed 36 Granada Street LLC PUD Application

Dear Mr.Slavin:

Thank you for your email. I will carefully review it in advance of next week's regular meeting and keep your comments in mind during our discussion on this topic.

Best regards,

Barbara Blonder
Commissioner
City of St Augustine
From: Ed Slavin <easlavin@aol.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 9, 2021 5:05:31 PM
To: Tracy Upchurch <TUpchurch@citystaug.com>; John Regan <jregan@citystaug.com>; Lucy Fountain <lfountain@citystaug.com>; Barbara Blonder <BBlonder@citystaug.com>; John Valdes <jvaldes@citystaug.com>; Nancy Sikes-Kline <nsikeskline@citystaug.com>; Roxanne Horvath <rhorvath@citystaug.com>; Darlene Galambos <dgalambos@citystaug.com>
Cc: garybdavenport@gmail.com <garybdavenport@gmail.com>; jay@mcgarveycommunities.com <jay@mcgarveycommunities.com>; sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com <sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com>; jdelaney@flagler.edu <jdelaney@flagler.edu>; jdelaney@rtlaw.com <jdelaney@rtlaw.com>; PZB <pzb@citystaug.com>; David Birchim <dbirchim@citystaug.com>; aschindler@firstcoastnews.com <aschindler@firstcoastnews.com>; jclark@firstcoastnews.com <jclark@firstcoastnews.com>; larizzar@sao7.org <larizzar@sao7.org>; sheriff@sjso.org <sheriff@sjso.org>; shorsteinb@sao7.org <shorsteinb@sao7.org>; corruption@usdoj.gov <corruption@usdoj.gov>; antitrust.complaints@usdoj.gov <antitrust.complaints@usdoj.gov>; antitrust@ftc.gov <antitrust@ftc.gov>; antitrust.atr@usdoj.gov <antitrust.atr@usdoj.gov>; Isabelle Lopez <ilopez@citystaug.com>; dmay@citystaug.com <dmay@citystaug.com>; waltbob@aol.com <waltbob@aol.com>
Subject: St. Augustine City Commission: Please Reject Deeply Flawed 36 Granada Street LLC PUD Application
 
Dear Mayor Upchurch, Vice Mayor Sikes-Kline, Commissioners Horvath, Valdes and Blonder:

Thank you for all that y'all do to preserve, protect and defend our town.  I have been proud to live here since November 5, 199
  1. As former PZB member Cathy Brown said it best, "PUDs are a sneaky way of getting around zoning."
  2. Please reject the "sneaky" and poorly-drafted August 10, 2021 rush-job Planned Unit Development (PUD) for 36 Granada Street LLC PUD.
  3. The only reason for this proposed PUD is to bestow upon developer JAY McGARVEY a full-liquor license next door to Flagler College and across from City Hall Our historic downtown is already "smeared, bleared and teared" in noisy, noisome alcohol commerce, to borrow a line from the Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. Enough.
  4. Please review the PZB meeting video of the August 10, 2021 and earlier meetings.  
  5. Please note the eloquent, detailed critique by respected longtime PZB member John Carl Blow.  Kindly heed all of his concerns.
  6. In any remand, please direct that PZB consider PZB member Carl Blow's points, and mine (see below). Please explain to PZB that there is no requirement to indulge developer demands to rush to judgment. There were some 36+ public meetings before the design of the downtown Bayfront Hilton was approved, resulting in a better product people could appreciate. It has stood the test of time.
  7. Destroying our only movie theater in city limits -- with three (3) screens -- and substituting a full-liquor bar/restaurant -- is of no benefit to the City.
  8. Plans for the Corazon site must restore a movie theater to comply with our City's Vision Plan of a walkable, livable culturally vibrant community. 
  9. On July 16, 2021, I reported the facts to the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission for investigation of possible unfair trade practices and antitrust violations (see my July 16, 2021 letter, below, re:  Investigation of CORAZON MOVIE THEATER CLOSING, ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA -- Unfair Trade Practices and Monopolization of Movie Theaters in Nation's Tenth Fastest Growing County, St. Johns County, Florida.  The facts are irrefragable -- loss of three movie theater screens requires an antitrust and unfair trade practices investigation.  
  10. Please vote to allow extra time for ample citizen cross-examination about this hare-brained project and the closing of the Corazon. 
  11. We must ask questions and demand answers from Ponte Vedra speculator JAY McGARVEY and his cat's paw "Applicant" -- none other than current Florida National Guard J.A.G. Corps Major GARY BRIAN DAVENPORT. DAVENPORT is top legal advisor to The Florida Adjutant General.  
  12. Please allow ample time for answers to your questions about all of the issues raised in the PZB hearing, as well as my letter.
  13. Please reject the PUD.
  14. If there is a remand, please give PZB a detailed "punch list."  Kindly remind PZB of its members' solemn oaths, dating back to 1787, to uphold the Constitution and laws of our Nation and State, and their legal duty to consider all of the facts. 
  15. That  includes the unrequited, irrefragable raised in my August 9, 2021 letter to PZB and enclosed July 16, 2021 letter to the Attorney General and FTC Chair.
  16. It is well-settled that "[t]he one who decides must hear."  Morgan v. United States, 298 U.S. 468 (1936)(Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes wrote for a unanimous Court).
  17. Here, tired PZB members were incurious and rushed to judgment, pressured by cloying JAY McGARVEY, who begged them not to make him come back.  
  18. Such cloying, annoying demands by an adult business owner are insulting to the institutions of our democracy. 
  19. McGARVEY's demands are selfish, vulgar and improper, and resulted in lousy work product. 
  20. Ex parte disclosures revealed that only the PZB Chair had seen my letter.  The rest had not done their homework.  
  21. Please require full disclosure of McGARVEY's engagement letter and all fees and expenses paid the "full-time federal employee" lawyer, Major GARY BRIAN DAVENPORT. His work for McGARVEY is a contract violation of public policy.  See Restatement of Contracts, 2d, Sec. 178 (Contract Violation of Public Policy).
  22. Please require full disclosure of all investors and beneficial owners in the project.
  23. Our Nation's Oldest City must be protected from greedy developers. 
  24. That is impossible when misguided PZB members, rushing to rubber-stamp developer projects, refuse to show collegiality, comity and courtesy.  
  25. PZB members disrespected the valid concerns of their longest-serving member, John Carl Blow.
  26. PZB members were immature and shallow. Watch the August 10, 2021 video, please. City Commission expects better of its appointees.
  27. Sociologist Margaret Mead said that "A city is a place where there is no need to wait for next week to get the answer to a question, to taste the food of any country, to find new voices to listen to and familiar ones to listen to again."  Closing the Corazon makes us less of a City and more of a tourist trap. 
  28. Faster than a speeding dump truck, the historic small town character of our Nation's Oldest City is being destroyed.
  29. Don't let conflicted "full-time" federal government attorney GARY BRIAN DAVENPORT, his client, JAY McGARVEY, and their unknown LLC investors destroy our town and Corazon theater.
  30. The Corazon movie theater was long a beloved crown jewel in St. Augustine culture and arts.  May we have it back, please? Please feel free to call me to discuss. 
Thank you.
With kindest regards, I am,



-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Slavin <easlavin@aol.com>
To: pzb@citystaug.com <pzb@citystaug.com>; dbirchim@citystaug.com <dbirchim@citystaug.com>
Cc: garybdavenport@gmail.com <garybdavenport@gmail.com>; jay@mcgarveycommunities.com <jay@mcgarveycommunities.com>; sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com <sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com>; tupchurch@citystaug.com <tupchurch@citystaug.com>; jregan@citystaug.com <jregan@citystaug.com>; lfountain@citystaug.com <lfountain@citystaug.com>; bblonder@citystaug.com <bblonder@citystaug.com>; jvaldes@citystaug.com <jvaldes@citystaug.com>; nsikeskline@citystaug.com <nsikeskline@citystaug.com>; rhorvath@citystaug.com <rhorvath@citystaug.com>; waltbog@nytimes.com <waltbog@nytimes.com>; jdelaney@flagler.edu <jdelaney@flagler.edu>; jdelaney@rtlaw.com <jdelaney@rtlaw.com>
Sent: Mon, Aug 9, 2021 4:44 pm
Subject: PZB Should Recommend St. Augustine City Commission Reject Flawed 36 Granada Street PUD Application

Dear St. Augustine PZB members:
  1. May I please have a few minutes of your time to counsel and urge that PZB vote to recommend that City Commission reject the proposed 36 Granada Planned Unit Development?
  2. Is this misguided proposal based upon need, or greed?
  3. Who are the beneficial owners and investors?  Please vote to ask the Applicant to identify every single one.
  4. For reasons well stated by Capt. Lee Geanuleas, U.S.N. (Ret.), by Neighborhood Council President Ms. Melinda Rakoncay and by other concerned citizens, I agree this project requires intensive scrutiny.
  5. Please vote to table this proposal until September, or reject it outright at the August 10, 2021 meeting.
  6. No more full alcohol licenses are desired or required next to Flagler College and the Lightner Museum.
  7. As Commissioner Sikes-Kline and others have observed, our downtown is becoming a honky-tonk medley of New Orleans and Daytona Beach, destroying our historic ambience and charm for residents and tourists alike.
  8. The loading or carrying capacity of our historic downtown St. Augustine must be studied before any new developments are considered.
  9. The lack of any movie theater element to the mixed use PUD renders it contrary to public policy.  
  10. The Applicant's noisome scheme -- to close the only St. Augustine movie house for no proper business purpose -- has been referred to the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department for investigation of possible antitrust violations and unfair trade practices.  See my July 16, 2021 complaint, below.
  11. The "Applicant" is attorney GARY BRIAN DAVENPORT, a full-time federal employee.  
  12. This dual loyalty is unacceptable in a case with federal antitrust implication. See July 16, 2021 letter, below,
  13. DAVENPORT refused to provide any evidence of National Guard Bureau or Office of Government Ethics Clearance for him to represent the landowner.   He was angry, hung up the telephone and said it was "none of my business."
  14. Parking in the flawed PUD proposal is insufficient as a matter of law as it is not guaranteed, and the putative parking lot is not covered by the PUD.
  15. The CORAZON featured compelling original dramas by our acclaimed local playwright, Rev. Dr. Lee Weaver, focusing on issues of bigotry, anti-Semitism, civil rights and St. Augustine history; poetry readings; comedians; trivia nights; Oscar nights, political events; weddings and other celebrations.   https://www.visitstaugustine.com/thing-to-do/corazon-cinema-and-cafe ; http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/19213 ; https://www.staugustine.com/story/news/local/2021/01/28/st-augustine-art-house-corazon-cinema-cafe-closes-its-doors/4296407001/ ; https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-corazon-cinema-and-cafe-st-augustine ;  https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g34599-d7112137-Reviews-The_Corazon_Cinema_and_Cafe-St_Augustine_Florida.html ; https://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/listing.a0t1W00000Tthc3QAB.html. 
  16. CORAZON is an essential part of the fabric of our small town, which would be torn asunder by Respondents' unfair and deceptive trade practices.  
  17. Please help make St. Augustine safe for movies, plays, culture and civic life. Please reject any PUD that does to include reopening the site's movie theaters associated with the CORAZON THEATER AND CAFE, which was a key community asset.  
  18. Please reject the proposed PUD.
  19. Please find in your report that there is no public benefit from it.  There can be no public b benefit in any PUD that does not reopen our CORAZON THEATER.
  20. Please see my July 16, 2021 letter to USDOJ and FTC, below, incorporated herein by reference and submitted for filing in the record of this application. 
Thank you.
With kindest regards, I am,


-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Slavin <easlavin@aol.com>
To: merrick.garland@usdoj.gov <merrick.garland@usdoj.gov>; vanita.gupta@usdoj.gov <vanita.gupta@usdoj.gov>; lisa.monaco@usdoj.gov <lisa.monaco@usdoj.gov>; monty.wilkinson@usdoj.gov <monty.wilkinson@usdoj.gov>; Rachel.rojas@fbi.gov <Rachel.rojas@fbi.gov>; antitrust.complaints@usdoj.gov <antitrust.complaints@usdoj.gov>; antitrust@ftc.gov <antitrust@ftc.gov>; antitrust.atr@usdoj.gov <antitrust.atr@usdoj.gov>; secretary@ftc.gov <secretary@ftc.gov>; lina.khan@ftc.gov <lina.khan@ftc.gov>; rohit.chopra@ftc.gov <rohit.chopra@ftc.gov>; christine.wilson@ftc.gov <christine.wilson@ftc.gov>; rebecca.slaughter@ftc.gov <rebecca.slaughter@ftc.gov>; noah.phillips@ftc.gov <noah.phillips@ftc.gov>; corruption@usdoj.gov <corruption@usdoj.gov>; jeanne.bumpus@ftc.gov <jeanne.bumpus@ftc.gov>; David.robbins@ftc.gov <David.robbins@ftc.gov>; burke.kappler@ftc.gov <burke.kappler@ftc.gov>; lorrielle.pankey@ftc.gov <lorrielle.pankey@ftc.gov>; karin.hoppman@usdoj.gov <karin.hoppman@usdoj.gov>; sarah.mackey@ftc.gov <sarah.mackey@ftc.gov>; emory.rounds@oge.gov <emory.rounds@oge.gov>; Title_VI_Complaints@epa.gov <Title_VI_Complaints@epa.gov>; ng.ncr.ngb-arng.mbx.ngb-ig@mail.mil <ng.ncr.ngb-arng.mbx.ngb-ig@mail.mil>
Cc: James.O.Eifert@us.army.mil <James.O.Eifert@us.army.mil>; James.Eiffert@us.army.mil <James.Eiffert@us.army.mil>; jay@mcgarveycommunities.com <jay@mcgarveycommunities.com>; garybdavenport@gmail.com <garybdavenport@gmail.com>; joe@eqfl.org <joe@eqfl.org>; jdelaney@flagler.edu <jdelaney@flagler.edu>; compassionatestaugustine@gmail.com <compassionatestaugustine@gmail.com>; rgoldman@floridashistoriccoast.com <rgoldman@floridashistoriccoast.com>; tmeeks@sjctdc.com <tmeeks@sjctdc.com>; tmeeks@sjcfl.us <tmeeks@sjcfl.us>;  ng.ncr.ngb-arng.mbx.ngb-ig@mail.mil <ng.ncr.ngb-arng.mbx.ngb-ig@mail.mil>; ngb.foia@mail.mil <ngb.foia@mail.mil>; fl.ng.pao@mail.mil <fl.ng.pao@mail.mil>; tina.m.guillotte.nfg@mail.mil <tina.m.guillotte.nfg@mail.mil>; Terrence.a.gorman@us.army.mil <Terrence.a.gorman@us.army.mil>; valeria.gonzalezkerr@us.army.mil <valeria.gonzalezkerr@us.army.mil>; linclan@sjcfl.us <linclan@sjcfl.us>; pmccormack@sjcfl.us <pmccormack@sjcfl.us>; bcc1cwhitehurst@sjcfl.us <bcc1cwhitehurst@sjcfl.us>; bcc2jsmith@sjcfl.us <bcc2jsmith@sjcfl.us>; bcc3pwaldron@sjcfl.us <bcc3pwaldron@sjcfl.us>; bcc4jblocker@sjcfl.us <bcc4jblocker@sjcfl.us>; bcc5hdean@sjcfl.us <bcc5hdean@sjcfl.us>; hconrad@sjcfl.us <hconrad@sjcfl.us>; ilopez@citystaug.com <ilopez@citystaug.com>; dmay@citystaug.com <dmay@citystaug.com>; dgalambos@citystaug.com <dgalambos@citystaug.com>; mroyle@cityofsab.org <mroyle@cityofsab.org>; tupchurch@citystaug.com <tupchurch@citystaug.com>; commengland@cityofsab.org <commengland@cityofsab.org>; sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com <sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com>; bpatty@stjohnsclerk.com <bpatty@stjohnsclerk.com>; mminer@stjohnsclerk.com <mminer@stjohnsclerk.com>; sparker@stjohnsclerk.com <sparker@stjohnsclerk.com>; hardwickra@sabpd.org <hardwickra@sabpd.org>; voakes@votesjc.com <voakes@votesjc.com>; wfusco@votesjc.com <wfusco@votesjc.com>; taxcollector@sjctax.us <taxcollector@sjctax.us>; eddie@sjcpa.us <eddie@sjcpa.us>; waltbog@nytimes.com <waltbog@nytimes.com>; competition@economist.com <competition@economist.com>; sheltonhull@gmail.com <sheltonhull@gmail.com>; sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com <sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com>; jpalombo@wjct.org <jpalombo@wjct.org>; aschindler@firstcoastnews.com <aschindler@firstcoastnews.com>; aschindler@gannett.com <aschindler@gannett.com>; aschindler@wtlv.gannett.com <aschindler@wtlv.gannett.com>; jclark@firstcoastnews.com <jclark@firstcoastnews.com>; jcblow@bellsouth.net <jcblow@bellsouth.net>; pzb@citystaug.com <pzb@citystaug.com>; gmisterly@gmail.com <gmisterly@gmail.com>; john.carl.blow@gmail.com <john.carl.blow@gmail.com>; harb@citystaug.com <harb@citystaug.com>; shorsteinb@sao7.org <shorsteinb@sao7.org>; larizzar@sao7.org <larizzar@sao7.org>; governorron.desantis@eog.myflorida.com <governorron.desantis@eog.myflorida.com>; reringer@lentolawgroup.com <reringer@lentolawgroup.com>; tomcushman@bellsouth.net <tomcushman@bellsouth.net>; jack@naplesandspencelaw.com <jack@naplesandspencelaw.com>; leefweaver@gmail.com <leefweaver@gmail.com>; sandy@staugustineport.com <sandy@staugustineport.com>; jane@staugustineport.com <jane@staugustineport.com>; matt@staugustineport.com <matt@staugustineport.com>; chris@staugustineport.com <chris@staugustineport.com>; tom@staugustineport.com <tom@staugustineport.com>; historiccity@gmail.com <historiccity@gmail.com>; krys.fluker@news-jrnl.com <krys.fluker@news-jrnl.com>; hamann@law.ufl.edu <hamann@law.ufl.edu>; ankersen@law.ufl.edu <ankersen@law.ufl.edu>; rosenbury@law.ufl.edu <rosenbury@law.ufl.edu>; flournoy@law.ufl.edu <flournoy@law.ufl.edu>; little@law.ufl.edu <little@law.ufl.edu>; mills@law.ufl.edu <mills@law.ufl.edu>; wkratzke@memphis.edu <wkratzke@memphis.edu>; bbortzfield@wjct.org <bbortzfield@wjct.org>; mross@wjct.org <mross@wjct.org>; dmcgowan@wjct.org <dmcgowan@wjct.org>; localnews@wjct.org <localnews@wjct.org>; pat.gleason@myfloridalegal.com <pat.gleason@myfloridalegal.com>; paul.renner@myfloridahouse.gov <paul.renner@myfloridahouse.gov>; cyndi.stevenson@myfloridahouse.gov <cyndi.stevenson@myfloridahouse.gov>; hutson.travis@flsenate.gov <hutson.travis@flsenate.gov>; bennett@hutsoncompanies.com <bennett@hutsoncompanies.com>; eaverysmith@rtlaw.com <eaverysmith@rtlaw.com>; dburnett@sjlawgroup.com <dburnett@sjlawgroup.com>; jameswhitehouse@sjlawgroup.com <jameswhitehouse@sjlawgroup.com>; mgidley@whitecase.gov <mgidley@whitecase.gov>; suzanne.judas@hklaw.com <suzanne.judas@hklaw.com>; itt@inthesetimes.com <itt@inthesetimes.com>; jregan@citystaug.com <jregan@citystaug.com>; lfountain@citystaug.com <lfountain@citystaug.com>; dgalambos@citystaug.com <dgalambos@citystaug.com>; jpiggott@citystaug.com <jpiggott@citystaug.com>; dbirchim@citystaug.com <dbirchim@citystaug.com>; mbreidenstein@citystaug.com <mbreidenstein@citystaug.com>; bkrtchvs@memphis.edu <bkrtchvs@memphis.edu>
Sent: Fri, Jul 16, 2021 1:10 pm
Subject: FTC & DOJ: PLEASE INVESTIGATE CORAZON MOVIE THEATER CLOSING, St. Augustine, Florida

Re:  Investigation of CORAZON MOVIE THEATER CLOSING, ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA -- Unfair Trade Practices and Monopolization of Movie Theaters in Nation's Tenth Fastest Growing County, St. Johns County, Florida 

Dear Attorney General Garland and FTC Chair Khan:
  1. I respectfully request that the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission investigate anti-competitive practices in the market for movie theaters in St. Augustine and St. Johns County, Florida.  See Sheldon Gardner,  "Restaurant, coffee shop and bakery proposed for Corazon Theater site in St. Augustine," St. Augustine Record, July 14, 2021 (online July 13, 2021). https://www.staugustine.com/story/news/local/2021/07/13/st-augustine-plans-restaurant-coffee-shop-bakery-former-corazon-cinema-building/7948507002/
  2. The King of Spain founded St. Augustine on September 8, 1565. St. Augustine is our Nation's Oldest City, with a current estimated population. of some 14,500. To borrow the words of Senator Daniel Webster in the Dartmouth College case, "it is a small [town], but there are those who love it." Many visitors fall in love with our town and move here (as we did in 1992 and 1999, respectively). 
  3. St. Augustine is located in St. Johns County, Florida is the tenth fastest growing county in America.  From 2010-2020, population grew to an estimated 265,512, a 40% increase in the past 10 years.  During this time, the number of movie theaters was reduced to one. http://www.co.st-johns.fl.us/economicdevelopment/Population.aspx#.YOoaJS2ZN-U
  4. St. Augustine and St. Johns County are major tourist destinations, with some five million visitors annually.  The movie industry here affects interstate commerce.  
  5. The movie industry has long been plagued with unlawful antitrust violations,, restraints of trade and unfair trade practices. See, e.g., United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 334 U.S. 131 (1948); FTC v. Motion Picture Advertising Svc. Co., Inc., 344 U.S. 392 (1953). 
  6. FTC and DOJ have remedied movie industry antitrust violations and other unfair trade practice, which have exploited, euchred and hornswoggled movie customers everywhere, limiting movie customer choice and artificially keeping prices high.
  7. FTC recently charged and settled unfair trade practices by schemers who falsely advertised people could go to movie theaters and watch a movie every day for one low price. See FTC press release, "Operators of MoviePass Subscription Service Agree to Settle FTC Allegations that They Limited Usage, Failed to Secure User Data" (June 7, 2021), https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/06/operators-moviepass-subscription-service-agree-settle-ftc; See also Leslie Fair, "FTC says MoviePass “one movie per day” promise was a double feature of deception (June 7, 2021), FTC business blog, https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/business-blog/2021/06/ftc-says-moviepass-one-movie-day-promise-was-double-feature ; Daniel Victor, "MoviePass Deceived Users So They’d Use It Less, F.T.C. Says -- Federal regulators detailed tactics the company, which settled accusations against it, used to try to make its most active users go to the movies less," The New York Times (June 8, 2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/business/moviepass-settlement-ftc.html
  8. Watch the revealing video of two (2) St. Augustine Planning and Zoning Board hearing sham. 
  9. Listen to the contrived sham arguments from Respondents.  FTC and DOJ may conclude it was a "double feature of deception," as FTC aptly described the MoviePass case, supra.
  10. The year 2009 brought closing of the five-screen Regal Cinema chain movie house at Ponce de Leon Mall in St. Johns County, at the same time that Epic Theaters chain opened a sixteen-screen theater.  News reports quoted the shopping center owner planned to demolish the five theaters.  I objected to the planned demolition on antitrust grounds, filing a May 13, 2009 complaint with USDOJ.  Text here: https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2009/05/antitrust-complaint-filed-with.html?m=0 
  11. The denouement was that no screens were demolished.  A church purchased the building, but unfortunately the movie house remains closed to motion picture shows for the general public.
  12. This decreased competition reportedly resulted in an increase in ticket prices. 
  13. In 2021, the historic 1880 building housing the CORAZON THEATER AND CAFE was closed and acquired by a developer, Respondents JAY McGARVEY and a secretive Limited Liability Company, 36 GRANADA STREET, LLC, are represented by a full-time federal government attorney, top lawyer for the Florida National Guard!
  14. That conflicted lawyer, Major GARY BRIAN DAVENPORT, refuses to provide any evidence he has permission to work for the developer.
  15. FTC and the Justice Department have remedied lawyer antitrust violations and other unfair trade practices.  See, e.g., Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar Assn., 421 U.S. 773 (1975); FTC v. Superior Court Trial Lawyers Assn., 493 U.S. 411 (1990), including illegal minimum fee schedules once enforced by Bar Associations, and an illegal boycott of criminal justice appointments by criminal defense lawyers in Washington, D.C.
  16. Major DAVENPORT's corporate clients involved in the CORAZON THEATER AND CAFE closing include but are not limited to Respondent real estate developer/speculator JAMES McGARVEY may be reached at 102 SRA1A North, No. 102, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 32082, 904-247-9160, jay@mcgarveycommunities.com
  17. Please issue civil investigative demands and subpoenas to identify every single investor and beneficial owner in the front company property owner. 
  18. Respondent 36 GRANADA STREET, LLC  and McGARVEY's lawyer, GARY BRIAN DAVENPORT, may all be served c/o Florida National Guard, St. Francis Barracks, 82 Marine Street, St. Augustine, Florida 32084, garybdavenport@gmail.com, 904-669-3186.
  19. The CORAZON THEATER AND CAFE was long one of the most popular small businesses in the City of St. Augustine, easily accessed by walking or bicycling, a true treasure in a small college town beset with massive traffic and parking problems. St. Augustine is home to Flagler College and has a cosmopolitan, historic flair that attracts visitors from around the world.   
  20. First known circa 1980 as Pot Bellies' Cinema, CORAZON featured food, beer, wine and second run movies, with an entertaining display of antique toys among its five screen theaters.  
  21. At the CORAZON, second-run, classic, international and independent films were featured, including films of interest to Black, Hispanic and LGBTQIA people.  
  22. The CORAZON featured compelling original dramas on by our acclaimed local playwright, Rev. Dr. Lee Weaver, focusing on issues of bigotry, anti-Semitism, civil rights and St. Augustine history; poetry readings; comedians; trivia nights; Oscar nights, political events; weddings and other celebrations.   https://www.visitstaugustine.com/thing-to-do/corazon-cinema-and-cafe ; http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/19213 ; https://www.staugustine.com/story/news/local/2021/01/28/st-augustine-art-house-corazon-cinema-cafe-closes-its-doors/4296407001/ ; https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-corazon-cinema-and-cafe-st-augustine ;  https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g34599-d7112137-Reviews-The_Corazon_Cinema_and_Cafe-St_Augustine_Florida.html ; https://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/listing.a0t1W00000Tthc3QAB.html. 
  23. CORAZON is an essential part of the fabric of our small town, which would be torn asunder by Respondents' unfair and deceptive trade practices.  
  24. Respondents' takeover of the CORAZON might also be understood as a case of environmental racism -- the CORAZON property directly borders the neighborhood of Lincolnville, as denoted by a City street sign just south of the property.  Lincolnville was founded by freed African-Americans in 1866.  We've caught the City of St. Augustine dumping a landfill in a lake in another African-American community, and when caught, it tried to bring it back to Lincolnville --- we, the people, stopped them and the landfill has now been moved to a proper Class I landfill.  EPA has jurisdiction over the City of St. Augustine pursuant to Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, made possible by the courage of 1000 people who were illegally arrested here, just a few blocks from the historic 1880 building that houses the CORAZON.
  25. The CORAZON was easily accessible by residents and tourists, including nearby  Flagler College students and faculty. 
  26. In contrast, the Epic Theater is a typical fungible oligopolistic 16-screen megaplex, located some 3.4 miles from the CORAZON, reachable only by heavily travelled roads without adequate sidewalks, not easily accessible by persons who are walking or bicycling from Lincolnville and other city neighborhoods.
  27. The new owners of the Corazon Theater, acting through their conflicted full-time federal government attorney, GARY BRIAN DAVENPORT (Florida Bar No. 63592) have requested an interior demolition permit for the Theater, while smugly seeking undeserved special privileges and special interest legislation, to wit, a dodgy "Planned Unit Development," with no plans to keep the movie theater and no indication of seeking community support or purchase by the City or County or a non-profit, and no indication of any effort to seek stimulus, tourist development, or economic development funds.  (St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners routinely promiscuously grants favors to developers costing millions of dollars.). "They're stealing the alternatives, folks" in the words for former Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower.
  28. Major GARY BRIAN DAVENPORT's maladroit 36 GRANADA PUD application is here: https://civicclerk.blob.core.windows.net/stream/STAUGUSTINEFL/622d01c4-f519-4085-afc2-d900bd69dd35.pdf?sv=2015-12-11&sr=b&sig=XXV1HMIQv2bXMRNrdBPF719Cli%2FUpp6IaFkTWmrS47s%3D&st=2021-07-05T21%3A05%3A22Z&se=2022-07-05T21%3A10%3A22Z&sp=r&rscc=no-cache&rsct=application%2Fpdf&fbclid=IwAR0PjO6iKDfJewOvEiE4UimVhTEWdq7pF9GRWCaxc9qhrhFrUDeMagjfNuA
  29. The St. Augustine, Florida City Planning and Zoning Board's two meetings on this application may be viewed here:                                                                  Item 7A , July 6, 2021: https://staugustinefl.swagit.com/play/07062021-666             Item 7, May 4, 2021: https://staugustinefl.swagit.com/play/05042021-767
  30. PZB members testified before themselves at the May 4, 2021 hearing about past building conditions, thereby violating basic Due Process and administrative law principles, by not giving notice of intent to take administrative-judicial notice. (City Historic Architectural Review Board members testifying before themselves was overruled by St. Johns County Circuit Court Judge J. Michael Traynor in June 2005, involving testimony of historic conditions of a property on Marine Street.) 
  31. McGARVEY called no experts, improperly relying on Major DAVENPORT to testify without being sworn. 
  32. Because unpaid, part-time PZB members lack legal protections for decisional independence -- and tilt toward developers under the current City Mayor and Manager, 2015-date, it was especially egregious that the developer-speculator hired a full-time federal attorney to represent.
  33. As a citizen-journalist who has lived in St. Augustine since 1999, I telephoned Respondent Florida National Guard Major GARY BRIAN DAVENPORT, Florida National Guard Major, on July 5, 2021 about his legal representation role in closing the CORAZON, he asked, "Are you going to give me a hard time? .... I'm a full-time federal employee."  Saying his outside work was somehow "none of [my] business!," Respondent DAVENPORT refused to provide a copy of any document from the Florida National Guard empowering this "full-time federal employee" to represent Respondents, DAVENPORT then pejoratively questioned my "reputation," saying "you're a disbarred lawyer."  He hung up the telephone without answering my questions.   
  34. Flippant Major GARY DAVENPORT never called me back, despite several messages.  I have filed a FOIA request for any documents authorizing him to represent Respondents.
  35. A November 19, 2006 St. Augustine Record editorial and letters and columns, including those by the late U.S. Department of Labor Chief Administrative Nahum Litt, the late EPA Office of Inspector General Senior Special Agent Robert E. Tyndall, et al. have defended me against similar smarmy attacks by members of the Establishment in this town, which the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called "the most lawless" place in America.  See infra.
  36. The City of St. Augustine and St. Johns County enjoy a close and continuing relationship with the Florida National Guard, which is headquartered here.
  37. FNG was long a lucrative tenant leasing 10,720 square feet of commercial office space at City Hall/Lightner Museum Building at 75 King Street, representing some 11.17% of the net square footage of office space there,
  38. Members of the PZB are appointed, not elected. In some cases, they may act like "cat's paws" for politicians and developers. City Commission has the power to remove PZB members without cause.  The City Commission made this policy change circa 2015 in retaliation for zealous work by PZB members, requested by controversial then-Commission TODD DAVID NEVILLE, C.P.A. to decrease citizen participate citizen participation and empower developers.
  39. Like Major GARY DAVENPORT, some City officials are insouciant or insensitive to ethics and conflicts of interest concerns, as found by the Florida Ethics Commission re: Planning and Zoning Director DAVID DOUGLAS BIRCHIM (who has done excellent work on the PUD in quo).  But see Florida Ethics Commission letter, here:  http://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2017/12/ethics-commission-forces-david-birchim.html
  40. Respondents McGARVEY and 36 GRANADA STREET, LLC. brazenly chose to hire Major DAVENPORT, the head lawyer for the Florida National Guard and Florida Department of Military Affairs, to represent their interests before the PZB and City Commission. 
  41. Respondents; compliance with federal environmental, competition, civil rights, racketering, moneylaundering, and conspiracy laws, are complicated by the fact that Respondents' attorney is a full-time federal employee, the head lawyer in the Florida Department of Military Affairs, an troubling arrangement that is, at best, an appearance of impropriety and a stench in the nostrils of our State and Nation.
  42. Florida National Guard Major GARY BRIAN DAVENPORT told me this was "none of [my] business."  How gauche and louche.
  43. Major DAVENPORT lacks a welcoming spirit.  
  44. What errant, unpatriotic, disrespectful chutzpa for a full-federal employee with the title of Major -- who is the top Florida National Guard lawyer advises the head of the Florida Department of Military Affairs? https://fl.ng.mil/leadership/Pages/The-Adjutant-General-of-Florida.aspx:  "Major General James O. Eifert, The Adjutant General of Florida, is the Governor’s senior military advisor and serves as director of a state agency, the Florida Department of Military Affairs. As Adjutant General, he is responsible for the training and operations of the Florida National Guard, which is comprised of approximately 12,000 Soldiers and Airmen."
  45. Major General Eifert was appointed by the Florida Governor; Major GARY BRIAN DAVENPORT is his legal advisor, in both his capacities as The Adjutant General of the Florida National Guard and head of the Florida Department of Military Affairs.
  46. Please issue subpoenas and civil investigative demands as to whether Respondent GARY DAVENPORT has permission from the Adjutant General of the State of Florida to represent the secretive developers seeking to destroy the CORAZON and add another full alcohol-serving business adjacent to Flagler College.
  47. The nature of Respondents' 36 GRANADA STREET, LLC Planned Unit Development (PUD) application was shown in two PZB hearings, on May 4 and July 6, 2021.
  48. On July 5, 2021, Respondent Major GARY DAVENPORT emitted  animus and rodomontade at a local journalist (me) in retaliation for years of First Amendment protected activity in St. Augustine.
  49. Respondent MAJOR GARY DAVENPORT angrily yelled at me, stating his moonlighting for developers is "none of [my] business. In fact, the People's Business what DAVENPORT does for corporations while he is a full time federal attorney.  
  50. As James Madison wrote in his August 4, 1822 letter to W.T. Barry, “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both.”
  51. Conflicts of interests are to be scrupulously guarded against. See, e.g., United States v. Mississippi Valley Generating Co., 364 U.S. 520, 548 (1961)("the 'Dixon-Yates' case," involving TVA rivals' conflicts of interest in a proposed Memphis coal-fired powerplant), citing Matthew 6:24 -- "no [person] can serve two masters," holding that laws and rules preventing conflicts of interest are aimed "not only at dishonor but at conduct that tempts dishonor."   
  52. All conflict of interest laws are based upon Matthew 6:24 ("A man cannot serve two masters"), which the unanimous Supreme Court decision by Chief Justice Earl Warren deemed to be both a "moral "moral principle" and a "maxim which is especially pertinent if one of the masters happens to be economic self-interest."  
  53. Respondents' clumsy attempt to chill, coerce and intimidate my simple questions -- First Amendment protected activity re: closing the CORAZON -- is contrary to the genius of a free people.  It is also a violation of DAVENPORT's professional responsibilities and oaths to uphold the Constitution. 
  54. The First Amendment is entitled to "breathing space."  Americans' civil and constitutional rights deserve "breathing space."  NAACP v. Button, 371 U.S. 415, 433 (1963) New York Times. v. Sullivan, 3766 U.S. 254 (1974); Gasparinetti v. Kerr, 568 F.2d 311, 314-17 (3d Cir. 1977)(illegal restrictions on policemen’s First Amendment rights); Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps, 479 767, 772, 777 (1986)(O’Connor, J.)(newspaper entitled to breathing space in defamation case); Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46, 52, 56 (1988) (Rehnquist, J.) (magazine parody of TV preacher entitled to breathing space); Keefe v. Ganeakos, 418 F.2d 359, 362 (1st Cir. 1969)(Aldrich, C.J.)(chilling effect on First Amendment illegal suspension of teacher over Atlantic Monthly article on Vietnam War); Parducci v. Rutland, 316 F.Supp. 352, 355, 357 (M.D. Ala 1970)(Johnson, C.J.)(chilling effect in illegal firing of English teacher over Kurt Vonnegut’s Welcome to the Monkey HouseRespondents' secrecy about National Guard permission to represent Respondents is freighted with animus.  As the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, "Secrecy is for losers."
  55. Respondents' PUD filing and St. Augustine city records are bereft of any principled reason for the destruction of the CORAZON, a vital community resource for a decade. PZB members skewered Respondents' pretext on their half-baked rezoning filing.
  56. Their PUD filing demands a license to sell "alcahol" (sic), proposing 3-6 years to open.  This subpar legal work is accompanied by an exaggerated sense of merit on the part of developer JAY McGARVEY, whose past work includes destroying St. Augusgtine Beach.  This inflated sense of entitlement to government favors is accompanied by aggressive, defensive, non-answers from its only lawyer, Florida National Guard Judge Advocate General Major GARY BRIAN DAVENPORT, amounting to "sound and fury signifying nothing" but demands to give government favors in the corrupt town Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called "the most lawless" place in America.  
  57. I've been Gay-bashed by the Establishment in St. Augustine since 2005, ever since I helped win a federal court order requiring Rainbow flags on. the Bridge of Lions.  Presumably, Respondent Major DAVENPORT, a local good-ole-boy, harbors resentments for our public interest victories here in St. Augustine, vindicating public rights against authoritarian, hierarchical, arachnid apparatchiks in local governments, including the Florida National Guard, which is headquartered here in our town.
  58. Beer and wine were sold at CORAZON and would still be legal under current zoning, as a use by exception for new owners. 
  59. Respondents apparently desire to profiteer from amped-up alcohol -- or "alcahol" (sic) -- sales next to a small college in the midst of our historic downtown, already blessed or cursed with dozens of places serving beer, wine or full "alcahol" (sic).
  60. It is irrefragable that the ruthless Respondents' shambolic presentations to the City of St. Augustine PZB are well-nigh incoherent and insulting. Worshipping at the altar of "upscale" alcohol sales without any valid economic studies on theater viability, based on a whim of iron -- that's not a valid legal basis for a Planned Unit Development.  Abraham Lincoln might have called Respondents; wheedling, wheeler dealer presentation by Major DAVENPORT "idolatry that practices human sacrifice."  As Lincoln said, :we must disenthrall ourselves."
  61. If he had watched Major DAVENPORT and JAY McGARVEY, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia might have called their bumptious babbling mere "argle-bargle," or "jiggery-pokery" or "higgledy-piggledy," as if it were fabricated during a long lunch with adult beverages.  
  62. Respondents dropped their rezoning request like a bad habit, not exercising their right to appeal to the City Commission and never explaining why they closed the CORAZON and plan no reopening of movies at 36 Granada Street..  This speaks volumes.  
  63. Respondents are now pursuing a shambolic Planned Unit Development, which still involves halting movies at the CORAZON. Closing the CORAZON and not reopening it did not involve any government decision -- it was the Respondents who decided to do it.
  64. Then they sought government imprimatur for a bad faith request for rezoning, and it was denied.
  65. In the unlikely event that Respondents should argue that they somehow have a First Amendment right to have filed for rezoning and PUD at 36 Granada Street, the FTC and DOJ should find that the Respondents' sham PZB proceedings are not protected by the First Amendment or the Noerr-Pennington doctrine.  California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited, 404 U.S. 508 (1972);  Otter Tail Power Co. v. United States, 410 U.S. 366, 380 (1973).
  66. Respondents, the new owners of the CORAZON, acting through Respondent FNG JAG Major GARY DAVENPORT DAVENPORT, have a transparently common scheme or plan to eliminate the only movie theater in our Nation's Oldest City.  As scholar Edwin Alsworth Ross wrote about "criminaloid" personalities, they want "success" but are in a hurry and not "particular about the means." Edwin Alsworth Ross, Sin and Society -- An Analysis of Latter-Day Iniquity, with introductory letter by President Theodore Roosevelt, (1907).  
  67. Overbearing Respondents, hiding behind the uniform of the top legal advisor to the Florida Department of Military Affairs and Florida National Guard, Major GARY DAVENPORT, demanded to cut off citizens' access to City administrative processes, demanding an exemption from Historic Architectural Review Board review of their plans for an 1880 building, which has for some 40 years housed movie theaters.
  68. Major DAVENPORT falsely stated that the structure is "not historic."  In truth and in fact, the building is historic, as established by St. Augustine's Historic Architectural Review Board ordinance.
  69. FTC has a long proud history of documenting fraudfeasors' flummery, dupery and nincompoopery, and providing meaningful remedies for the American people.  See, e.g., FTC v. Colgate Palmolive Co., 380 U.S. 374 (1965), where manufacturer of shaving cream and its ad agency ran false and misleading television advertisements, inter alia claiming it could soften sand paper to allow for shaving, where the "sand paper" was actually sand placed on plexiglass. At the PZB hearings, Respondents brought in uninformed witnesses who were apparently sand-papered at McGARVEY's private event, open to selected people. 
  70. Nonetheless, the defenders of St. Augustine and its 1571 town plan, have persisted, leading to 3-3 rejection of a rezoning and a fusillade of questions about proposed PUD.
  71. Pursuant to the Federal Trade Commission Act, sections 9 and 20, please subpoena or serve a Civil Investigate Demands for all of Respondent's documents on: (a) the Corazon Theater purchase and demolition; (b) Respnondnts hiring GARY DAVENPORT; (c) agreements, understandings or relationships relating to closure of the Corazon; (d)contract formation; (e) payment of any money or thing of value to Respondents related to eliminating the CORAZON as competition in the movie business;  and (f)  justification of the proposed Planned Unit Development. https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/what-we-do/enforcement-authority#N_1_
  72. Pursuant to FTC Act, sections 9 and 20, please investigate and obtain testimony from Major GARY DAVENPORT,  JAMES McGARVEY, other Respondents and City employees and PZB members.  
  73. In particular, concerning the developer-speculator's decision to close the CORAZON -- please obtain any economic studies, e.g.,  on theater ticket prices, business plans, etc.
  74. The Commission may “prosecute any inquiry necessary to its duties in any part of the United States,” FTC Act Sec. 3, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 43, and is authorized “to gather and compile information concerning, and to investigate from time to time the organization, business, conduct, practices, and management of any person, partnership, or corporation engaged in or whose business affects commerce, excepting banks, savings and loan institutions . . . Federal credit unions . . . and common carriers . . .” FTC Act Sec. 6(a), 15 U.S.C. Sec. 46(a)."  https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/what-we-do/enforcement-authority#N_1_
  75. On July 1, 2021 FTC voted to streamline rulemaking. Please consider: (a) a trade regulation rule on movie theater purchasers and closings; and (b) a trade regulation rule on corporations hiring government attorneys to do their bidding. 
  76. On July 1, 2021, FTC clarified the scope of Section 5, prohibiting unfair and deceptive trade practices.  See FTC press release, "FTC Rescinds 2015 Policy that Limited Its Enforcement Ability Under the FTC Act; Rescinded Policy Failed to Fully Consider Congressional Directives," https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/07/ftc-rescinds-2015-policy-limited-its-enforcement-ability-under 
  77. By Executive Order No. 14036, on July 9, 2021 President Biden directed agencies to work to promote and protect competition, with some 72 elements.  https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/07/09/executive-order-on-promoting-competition-in-the-american-economy/ 
  78. Please consider filing an action before an FTC Administrative Law Judge to hold an open public hearing on the record here in St. Augustine, Florida to remedy Respondents' unfair and deceptive trade practices, e.g., including their hiring a full;-time federal employee lawyer, Major GARY DAVENPORT, as a "bullet in their gun" for the meretricious purpose of destroying the historic Corazon Theater in St. Augustine, Florida.
  79. Please order Respondents to preserve and turn over evidence, 
  80. Please consider filing a request to the FTC ALJ to preserve the status quo ante, to reopen the CORAZON as a movie theater and cultural venue, to prevent the internal demolition, and to stay any proceedings before the PZB pendente lite.  
  81. FTC should consider creative remedies for the harm to the public interest.  
  82. For example, FTC may wish to sanction Major DAVENPORT order a constructive trust and reimbursing the U.S. Treasury the money he is being paid by 36 GRANADA, LLC. while working as a "full-time federal employee." 
  83. It is an ancient equitable maxim that, "Equity delights to do justice, and not by halves."
  84. Fiat justitia ruat caelum.  ("Let justice be done though the heavens fall."
  85. I wear Respondent Major GARY DAVENPORT's scorn as a badge of honor. 
  86. I have enjoyed movies, Lee Weaver plays and other events at the CORAZON.  
  87. Thus, this is "my business."
  88. I have standing to complain about Respondents;' unfair and deceptive trade practices, affecting interstate commerce and affecting me as a consumer.  I have arthritis, do not drive, and it is some 3.4 miles from. the CORAZON to the sixteen-screen Epic Theater location. 
  89. I urgently ask that you help preserve, protect and defend free market competition in the market for movies in St. Augustine, which hosts some five million tourists annually, thereby affecting interstate commerce.
  90. Respondents' angry attorney, conflicted Florida National Guard Major GARY BRIAN DAVENPORT, previewed Respondents' defense, which is no defense at all -- that I am a disbarred lawyer.  
  91. I've been a journalist and a lawyer.  Four times, I swore oaths to uphold our Constitution, working for three Senators and two sagacious administrative law judges.  I represented nine federal ALJs as clients,  empowering American workers to speak out against injustice.
  92. The late retired FBI, HUD and EPA Senior Special Agent Robert E. Tyndall wrote the St. Augustine Record that I "saved [his] life," stating:"I applaud your newspaper for defending Ed Slavin and the First Amendment.... "Late in my career, I would not and could not sign my name to a report that resulted in a cover-up of major criminal wrongdoing by highly placed EPA officials. I was left with no choice but to file an environmental whistleblower case. Other than Ed Slavin, I was encouraged to persist only by my wife, Lynda, Congressman John Dingell's office (whose investigator referred me to Ed Slavin), and then-journalist Tony Snow. Ed completely documented EPA's attempted cover-up of $100 million in acid rain research fraud, conflicts of interest, waste and abuse. "Ed represented me in my U.S. DOL environmental whistleblower case against EPA and its inspector general, winning a precedent-setting case that protected future environmental investigators' rights, reversing two DOL judges.... Trust me, Ed Slavin is not for sale. The First Amendment is not dead, yet/"
  93. In conclusion, General Garland and Chair Khan, thanks to you, to the Biden Administration and its law enforcement anti-monopoly team for your refreshing candor and dedication to the Rule of Law.    
  94. Please send some of your best FTC and DOJ investigators to St. Augustine, Florida to help preserve and protect our rights to free market competition in movies.  
  95. Please help save the CORAZON THEATER AND CAFE from the greedy forces of monopolistic "exploitation,: which President Biden warned about on July 9, 2021.
  96. "This subtle corruption of our government ... is indefensible, and must be ended at once," as U.S. Senator Gary Warren Hart wrote a constituent in 1975 about a $413,000 Bechtel Corporation research study contract on coal slurry pipelines, a technological turkey in which Bechtel had an interest.   FTC must take a stand against devious developers hiring government lawyers.
  97. Please investigate Florida National Guard and Florida Department of Miliary Affairs Judge Advocate General Major GARY BRIAN DAVENPORT as "both a sword and a shield," and as a shrill, sibilant shill, "selling his wares," in the words of Romulo Betancourt, to anti-competitive developers.
  98. Please remedy any and all unfair trade practices  monopolistic practices, conflicts of interest, corruption and collusion, including contract violations of public policy violating the FTC Act, Section 5 and Restatement of Contracts, Second, Section 178 (Contract violations of public policy). 
  99. How many other corporate clients has Florida National Guard Major GARY DAVENPORT ever been permitted to represent? Who authorized it?What effects does it have on competition?
  100. Please disqualify Major GARY BRIAN DAVENPORT from representing Respondents before FTC or DOJ.
  101. General Garland, please ask the FBI and Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys to help FTC investigate any and every potential law violations.
  102. General Garland, Chair Khan, et al., please remedy Respondents' unfair trade practices and bullying tactics, involving their closing CORAZON THEATER AND CAFE, the last movie house in our Nation's Oldest City of St. Augustine, Florida.
Thank you.

With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-377-4998


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