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To the Honorable and Distinguished County and City Commissioners Ken Cornell and Desmon Duncan-Walker, respectively:
In re: the above-referenced matter, I am sensitive to the fact that your first priority is to keep your constituents safe from Hurricane Milton. I pray God will do the same.
And before I explain the purpose of this inquiry, I do hereby extend my gratitude to Ms. Jertoyia Russell who, on behalf of Commissioner Duncan-Walker, took 17 minutes of her time to speak with me by phone on 9/23/2024 in follow-up to concerns about water quality that Mr. Darryl Kight had expressed during a visit to Commissioner Duncan-Walker's office earlier that day.
Please now direct your attention to the portion of the FARU's Mr. Thomas Clifford's reply below under the caption "Regarding fine amounts," wherein he stated "we cannot reduce the fines of a registered party at the request of a separate party."
Due to an apparent misunderstanding of my request made of him in my inquiry which precedes his reply below, I requested forbearance, due to the extenuating circumstances described in said inquiry, because the subject fines, for $1,154.75 in total, have been billed to Mr. Kight and me by the USS HOA, to which the subject fines were originally billed by the FARU.
To better understand why I am requesting forbearance, please take a few minutes of your time to read my inquiry with Mr. Clifford below, after which I am hereby respectfully asking that you please give favorable consideration to my request for forbearance, with the full and complete understanding, in making said request, that I am doing everything within my power to prevent a similar recurrence.
Thank you for your consideration of, and attention to this matter, and I look forward to receiving your proactive response to this follow-up inquiry with you at your earliest convenience, subject to my understanding that the safety of your constituents is your first priority.
Respectfully yours,
Marc Wilson 201 SE 2nd Ave STE 414 Gainesville FL 32601-5810 (352) 327-1711 wilson.marc1@icloud.com
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Clifford, Thomas" <tclifford@faru.us> Date: October 7, 2024 at 12:11:07?PM EDT To: Marc Wilson <wilson.marc1@icloud.com> Cc: todd@cmsflorida.com, Adam Bass <adam@bassmanagementco.com>, Ralf Remshardt <rremshardt@gmail.com>, Lauren Miller <laurenjmiller@att.net>, Matthew Medley <matthewm.medley@gmail.com>, Mike Fernandez <mfernandez@maverickfl.com> Subject: RE: FARU Invoice to the Union Street Station Condominium Assn.
Hello Mr. Wilson,
Thank you for your email.
I appreciate the difficult position that you are in. I will answer the questions that I am able to answer, and direct you to who can answer the other questions as best as I can.
To your point that this is not a false alarm:
The definition of a “false” alarm is set in the ordinance that pertains to our office. All ordinances can be found online, but for a link that takes you directly to the fire alarm portion of the ordinances can be found via the FARU website at www.faru.us, under the section City Of Gainesville > Fire Alarm Ordinance. The definition is:
False fire alarm means a fire alarm dispatch or other response by the fire department, when the responding unit(s) find no evidence of a fire or attempted fire offense after having completed an investigation of the site. Excluded from this definition are: (1) Fire alarms occurring as a result of lightning, wind, or other meteorological event, where there is clear evidence of physical damage to the fire alarm system verified by an alarm technician; or
(2) Disruption of the telephone circuit beyond the control of the fire alarm operator or its agents, verified by written communication from the telephone company; or
(3) An electrical power disruption or failure in excess of four hours.
(4) Fire alarm activations on property through a registered fire alarm pull station with two or more deterrent systems where one or more of the deterrent systems have been utilized.
I recognize that Mr. Kight states that he thought something was wrong, but the responding units found no evidence of a fire or an extinguished fire during their investigation. This situation is a false alarm.
Regarding the camera footage:
ACSO does not have copies of the video footage because the location of these alarm calls falls within City of Gainesville jurisdictional limits. If an agency has that footage, it would either be at GPD or GFR. Of those two, it is more likely that GPD might have a copy, thought I cannot say for certain. You can contact the GPD front desk for assistance with that. Their phone number is 352-393-7500 and follow the phone tree options for their Records division. You should be able to provide the Case Report # to expedite your request. The Case Report # is: 02-24-013501.
Regarding fine amounts:
The fines we levied for the false alarms have been sent to Union Street Station as they are the registered party. Reductions that we offer must be offered to them – we cannot reduce the fines of a registered party at the request of a separate party. Valid accounts are eligible for one waiver per permit year, but they get to determine if or when to pursue that option. Fine amounts are set by the City and County Commissions, and unfortunately fire alarm fines in the city are the most expensive among the four agencies due to their limited resources and the impact of false alarms on the entire system of public safety.
If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact us back. For specific records, I will do my best to provide you with direction on who to speak with.
Thomas J. Clifford
False Alarm Reduction Unit Supervisor
Office: 352-264-6653
Email: tclifford@faru.us
Website: www.faru.us
Fax: 352-264-6691 From: Marc Wilson <wilson.marc1@icloud.com>
Sent: Monday, October 7, 2024 7:21 AM
To: Clifford, Thomas <tclifford@faru.us>
Cc: todd@cmsflorida.com; Adam Bass <adam@bassmanagementco.com>; Ralf Remshardt <rremshardt@gmail.com>; Lauren Miller <laurenjmiller@att.net>; Matthew Medley <matthewm.medley@gmail.com>; Mike Fernandez <mfernandez@maverickfl.com>
Subject: FARU Invoice to the Union Street Station Condominium Assn. Dear Mr. Clifford: You recently helped me with my records request re: the invoice in the subject line of this e-mail, which I very much appreciate, thank you. (BTW, Mr. Hunter told me in writing that the ACSO does not have possession of the Dear Mr. Clifford: You recently helped me with my records request re: the invoice in the subject line of this e-mail, which I very much appreciate, thank you. (BTW, Mr. Hunter told me in writing that the ACSO does not have possession of the requested video footage. I was taken aback by that because the Union Street Station (USS) HOA billed us $170 on 9/19/2024, which I paid on 10/03/2024, for claiming to have provided copies of the video footage to the GPD and the Fire Dept.) I have never forgotten you because of the courtesy and professionalism you also extended to me on the occasions I corresponded with you regarding Darryl Kight's and my alarm permit when he and I were living in Lake Lochloosa Shores in Hawthorne. As you now know, we live in USS, where beginning in March 2024, an alarm of a nature that differs from any I've dealt with you before sounded in our lives. The alarm to which I refer is mental health and the silence I've encountered during the last seven months in trying to address and resolve it has been deafening. That may be because, as recently told to me by a Mensa-smart woman, when COVID-19 struck, the psychiatric profession was the hardest hit and, post-pandemic, has been the slowest to recover. That woman knows what she's talking about because both she and her husband are retired MDs (i.e., ophthalmology and orthopedic surgery, respectively) with the U.S. Navy. And both of them bought our home in Hawthorne and then proceeded to become our friends. Friends who know what we're going through with Darryl and who have been on standby in my quest to get him the help he needs, which has not been easy, as a letter I wrote and sent to the AHCA last Thursday so soundly attests. (BTW, I furnished a copy of said letter to the USS HOA, which I informed early on, and again recently with my above-mentioned letter, about the situation with Darryl.) All of which brings me to the following FARU invoice, which the USS HOA forwarded to Darryl and me last Saturday, simultaneous to which they incorrectly labeled me "NON-OWNER" of USS #414, along with a demand for prompt payment - thank God I didn't go into cardiac arrest when I got it because I lay in bed at night and worry about who would become Darryl's advocate in place of me if I were to die:
The invoice came after I again requested copies of the video footage from the USS HOA. In response to my inquiry, they sent us the invoice and then said that to get the copies of the video footage, I will need to bring a thumb drive to them and then pay for video camera research at $85/hr. to get copies - when I previously paid $170, as mentioned above, for 2 hours of video camera research at $85/hr. ($85 X 2 = $170). Meanwhile, Darryl admitted to me his having been the culprit on the 4th false alarm (he made no similar admission on the first three false alarms, which explains why I've asked the USS HOA several times for copies of the video footage, but still don't have them), but in his mind, as he explained to me, he sensed danger, and also claimed to me that he smelled smoke before pulling the tab to sound the alarm, thinking, as he further explained to me, that he was looking out for everyone in the building when he did, whereupon he was severely chastised, by whom he didn't say so I don't know, and told there would be consequences if he did it again, and so he hasn't. Point is, it's going to "take a village" to get Darryl the help he needs because, as I can attest, all the talk about the importance of mental health nowadays is, sad to say based on our experience, lip service, in that when people need help with it, it's not always immediately there when they need it most. Meanwhile, could I have him admitted under the Baker Act? Maybe so. But if I were to do that, how would I feel if it was done to me? Betrayed? The loss of my dignity and self-esteem? Embarrassed in front of my neighbors when I got carted away? Yes, yes, and yes, so I can't do that to him. But there's a silver lining because with regard to my above-mentioned letter, the kind folks at the AHCA got back to me last Friday and referred me to the FDOH, and it was on that very exact same day that I forwarded my letter to them, with the hope and a prayer that they will be instrumental in helping me to finally get Darryl the help he needs. So now, back to your invoice. I'm not looking for charity or a handout because I realize you folks, like me, operate with limited resources, so false alarms put a further strain on those limited resources, but my alarm - the alarm re: Darryl's mental health - is not false, and so any help y'all can give me on your invoice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Respectfully submitted, Marc Wilson 201 SE 2nd Ave STE 414 Gainesville FL 32601 (352) 327-1711 wilson.marc1@icloud.com
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