WSVN — He got a license from the city to operate a business on the beach. Then the city snuck in, took his equipment and refuses to give it back. We have more in tonight’s edition of Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
It’s the beach, pure and simple. The place everyone loves to go to relax … and on the beach, Rodger Skipper saw an opportunity.
Rodger Skipper: “We will bring a chair out there, we will set it up for you. All you do is come out and enjoy the day.”
For three years, Skipper — as he is called — was in business on Hallandale Beach, not just setting up chairs and umbrellas, but renting out kayaks and paddleboards.
Then, one day…
Rodger Skipper: “I got a phone call that morning. Somebody cut the locks, cut the chains and took off with it.”
At 3 a.m. everything was taken. Who took it all? Not your typical mask-wearing, sneaky South Florida crook, Skipper was told.
Rodger Skipper: “It was the city that got it. I was like, ‘What do you mean the city got it?’ He said, ‘Yeah, when they came up, we saw their equipment and saw the logo of the city.'”
For months, Skipper says Hallandale officials had been bothering him, accusing him of not having a license.
Rodger Skipper: “Not a problem. Here is my license, y’all gave it to me. I’m thinking this is going to be resolved very quickly.”
Instead, Skipper says Hallandale officials used city employees to load his equipment into city trucks and haul it a city compound.
Rodger Skipper: “We had the very hard commercial grade, very nice chairs.”
Skipper went straight to City Hall to again show them his license, hoping to get his equipment back. He didn’t.
Rodger Skipper: “They still have my equipment. It’s still sitting there today.”
And Skipper says it’s clear why the city wanted him gone: because this contract reveals the people who replaced him pay the city $5,000 per month or a percentage of the gross, whichever is greater. Skipper didn’t pay the city anything.
Rodger Skipper: “I don’t have a shared revenue agreement with the city. I’m just a little independent business that caters to the general public.”
After Hallandale confiscated his equipment, Skipper says they revoked his license, so he sued them.
Then an assistant city attorney sent him a letter telling him the chairs will be promptly returned if he signs a release and dismisses his lawsuit against the city for taking his equipment. Forget it, Skipper says.
Rodger Skipper: “My name has been slandered on this beach, saying, ‘Well, he was operating an illegal business.'”
Well Howard, what does the law say when something like this happens?
Howard Finkelstein: “What the city did here is obviously wrong. You cannot take someone’s property and refuse to return it without a judge’s approval. They didn’t get that, which makes what the city did civil theft.”
There has to be another side to this story from the City of Hallandale, but if there is, they won’t tell us because, they said, of the ongoing lawsuit that Skipper filed.
We asked the city how much money they have received from the vendor that replaced Skipper. They have not responded.
Interestingly, Skipper says his chairs were actually on state property. And a spokesperson with the Department of Environmental Regulation said that means the city does not have the power to regulate commercial activity on their property.
Howard Finkelstein: “That makes the city’s decision even worse, and because the city has illegally taken Skipper’s property and ruined his business, they can be liable for defamation, for what’s called interference with a business relationship, and that could cost the City of Hallandale a lot of money for taking his property.”
It’s understandable that Skipper would be furious at what city leaders in Hallandale have done to him. As for city employees, he has a different opinion of them, since Skipper says many of them don’t like what their bosses did to him.
Rodger Skipper: “They’ve got some super people that work for them that pretty much [told me], ‘Skipper, keep fighting,’ but they can’t go on record.”
Patrick Fraser: “Fortunately, Skipper has contracts to provide other cities with kayaks and paddleboards that will give him some money to fight Hallandale in his lawsuit. We will keep an eye on this and let you know what happens. Maybe even Hallandale will tell their side of the story.
Feel like you are paddling upstream battling the bureaucracy? Need to sit in the shade to cool off? Pull up a chair and tell us your story. We don’t have any umbrellas, but we can promise working with us is like a day at the beach.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
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On Twitter: @helpmehoward7
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