THE
GAZETTE VOLUME 9 • ISSUE 9 MAY 5, 2022
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WILTON MANORS
CONTROVERSIAL WITNESS IN MURDER
OF WILTON MANORS COUPLE DIES BEFORE RETRIAL By Christiana Lilly The mother of a man on trial for the murder of a Wilton Manors couple has died, adding to an already complicated case. Jeanne Avsenew died of cancer earlier this month and was a key witness against her son, Peter, in his first trial in the murders of Steve Adams and Kevin Powell. Her testimony came under question by defense attorneys because she testified remotely due to her illness and could not physically see her son. Peter’s attorneys felt it went against their defendant’s rights; the Florida Supreme Court agreed and Peter will be getting a retrial. In a motion filed on April 22, the attorneys asked that her testimony be precluded from the pending trial, citing that the Florida Supreme Court deemed that it “constituted harmful error.” Jeanne testified that days after the murder, her son came to her house driving the couple’s car and admitted he stole it. He also allegedly
“It is my duty as a white man to cull the weak and timid from existence … homosexuals are a disease to mankind and must be put down. I can’t put into words the feeling of ending a life; it’s euphoric at the least.” - Steve Avsenew
told her he got rid of his gun and that “he had done something violent, something that was the worst thing he had ever done, and that he could not get out of it if he was caught,” according to court records. She also testified that her son said he had not slept in three days, had a bruise from fighting, and that “he got rid of the smell of bleach after taking a shower.” Peter currently sits on death row for the murder of Adams and Powell, who had been together for 29 years before being shot and bludgeoned to death in December 2010. Marci Craig, the sister of Adams, told SFGN back in 2013 that she was scheduled to pick them up from the airport in Ohio for a visit, but they never showed up. She called the police when no one answered their home phone, leading to the discovery of their bodies. Peter was a new roommate to the couple weeks before their murder and they reportedly met through Craig’s List. His attorney stated
Jeanne Avsenew. Screenshot via CBS Miami, YouTube.
Peter Avsenew. Screenshot via CBS Miami, YouTube.
that they did not kill Adams and Powell, but discovered their bodies and then stole their credit cards and car. He also said Peter was traumatized by the murder of his sister in the ‘90s and that he was the victim of sexual abuse. However, Peter tells a different story. In 2017, he told the court during his death row sentencing that he had “no regrets and I’m proud of every decision I’ve ever made.” He made waves when he hand-wrote a letter to Broward Circuit Judge Ilona Holmes, bragging that, “it is my duty as a white man to cull the weak and timid from existence … homosexuals are a disease to mankind and
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must be put down. I can’t put into words the feeling of ending a life; it’s euphoric at the least.” In March, Wilton Manors Police Chief Gary Blocker asked the public for their thoughts and prayers for the families who would have to relive their loved ones’ murders. “We believe the killer murdered Stephen and Kevin because they were gay,” Blocker said during a city commission meeting. “We will stand up for Stephen, Kevin, their families, our community and the greater LGBTQ+ community and our allies working toward a second conviction. Anything less would be unacceptable.”
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OPINION
WILTON MANORS
GREETINGS FROM NEW JERSEY
THE
GAZETTE May 5, 2022 • Volume 9 • Issue 9 2520 N. Dixie Highway • Wilton Manors, FL 33305 Phone: 954-530-4970 Fax: 954-530-7943
By Sal Torre Ventured north out of the Island City this week to visit family and friends up here in New Jersey. Birthday celebrations this past week were big events, both here and back in Wilton Manors. As family and friends gathered to celebrate my father’s 93rd birthday, Islanders were gathering at Hagen Park Community Center to begin celebrations for Wilton Manors 75th birthday bash during the month of May. Thanks to the Wilton Manors Historical Society for hosting the kick-off event last Thursday to a packed house. Next big event will be on May 21 with the Annual Canoe Race and Birthday Bash all coming together at Richardson Park. Life here in New Jersey during this time of year is a bit magical. Spring-time brings out bright beautiful colors as trees begin to blossom, flowers blooming, and outdoor life begins to kick back in motion coming out of the cold winter months. Nights this week were still dipping into the low 40s but plenty of sunshine during the daytime hours warmed us New Jersey will ban single-use plastics and polystyrene. Image created by Greg Bistolfi. all back to anticipating hotter days ahead. New Jersey is unique in many ways. One can pull up to a gas station and have an attendant start of the civil trial of Bergeron vs Waste common ground to move the agenda forward pump your gas — the only state in the union Management. This civil case lays out the might be the best option for all. Getting bogged that mandates attendants to pump gas for all history of the decline of recycling throughout down in beating a dead horse will not help customers. Going out to dinner with friends, Broward County, the monopoly created by move our Island City forward with a workable Waste Management, and the economic branding strategy. bring your own wine and beer Residents were also making some noise over failure of the Florida Attorneys to your favorite restaurant General Office over the past six the Complete Streets project moving ahead and enjoy. Recreational use of Perhaps Governor years. Local cities like Wilton on NW 29th Street. This busy road serves marijuana is now permitted, Manors have no real choices as one of the only main direct connections controlled, taken out of the DeSantis might turn for trash and recycling due to between Andrews Ave and Powerline Road hands of criminals, and his attention away the current near monopoly by from Oakland Park Blvd all the way to NW 16th taxed. The news gets better, Waste Management. Solutions Street in Fort Lauderdale. This stretch of road starting this week the State from attacking Mickey need to come from county, needs pedestrian and bicycle safety measures of New Jersey will ban the Mouse and start going regional and state-wide as well as vehicular speed safety elements, use of single use plastic bags cooperation. Perhaps Governor exactly what this MPO project will bring to the and polystyrene foam food after corporations that DeSantis might turn his community. This project was proposed and containers. Think about how attention away from attacking approved so many years ago I thought it got a single trip to a grocery store have monopolized Mickey Mouse and start lost on the shelf of the MPO offices. Now that can leave you tossing at least industries who now going after corporations that it is ready to break ground, some new residents 10 plastic bags away as a result have monopolized industries along the project are voicing concern over no of the cashier putting only one exploit Floridians who now exploit Floridians public outreach to address their concerns. or two items in each plastic Unfortunately, that all took place a few throughout the state. bag before reaching for a new throughout the state. Other news making its way years ago. one as they hand you the up north is the continued mess Well time for me to get back to enjoying practically empty bag to put in your cart. Over and over, day after day, plastic concerning the city-wide branding study. Why time with family and friends, will not be too bags multiplying everywhere. Thankfully this were resident responses to related surveys not long until heading back to the Island City this state-wide ban will begin to make a difference clearly acknowledged? To make matters worse, coming weekend. Progressively embracing residents’ responses were not just overlooked new ideas that will improve a community’s in decreasing the use of single use plastics. No such luck back home in South Florida but totally misrepresented. These concerns quality of life is what is making life just better where residents have no clue what is have created a serious credibility issue for here in New Jersey and is what makes life happening to the contents of their co-mingled city staff involved. Taking responsibility, back home in Wilton Manors just a whole lot recycle containers. This past month saw the addressing concerns honestly and seeking better too.
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MAY 5, 2022
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NEWS
WILTON MANORS
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
WILTON MANORS CELEBRATES 75 YEARS By John Hayden
Raising the bar for Telehealth
Residents gather to celebrate the history of Wilton Manors. Image by J.R. Davis.
From empty tracts of land and no property taxes to a nearly fully developed island supported by a tax base, Wilton Manors has come a long way in 75 years. They’re marking the occasion over the next few weeks. On April 28 at Hagen Park, the city hosted a look back at the city’s history and growth. A meticulously created timeline was presented to the crowd. While Wilton Manors officially became a city in 1947 (primarily to avoid being annexed by Fort Lauderdale), its role in South Florida’s evolution stretches back much farther. What is now within city limits used to be a rail depot and land for sale at a very reasonable cost. Adrienne Foland is Vice President of Wilton Manors Historical Society, and led the group down the timeline. “We began with the Native Americans,” she said after the presentation, “We do have a history of the rivers passing through here and using this as a transition point. Then all pioneers that came here, the early founders of Wilton Manors and how much they were involved in our community, donating buildings, donating land.”
A Message From the Past & A Message For the Future One of the key activities was a focus on time capsules. During the city’s 50th anniversary in 1997, leaders created a time capsule with documents of the time and letters from leaders. No one could have known that the city was on the precipice of tremendous growth. There was no Stonewall Festival yet. In fact, the main parade in 1997 was a 50th anniversary celebration. Alibi was about the only game in town for the LGBT. Former Wilton Manors Mayor John Fiore has seen the changes first hand. “When I was elected mayor in 2000, it made world news,” he said. “I knew if I could get Alibi, once we got that it just started snowballing. It’s just beyond what I thought. I never thought it would be like that.” Now the city is collecting items for residents in 2047 to discover and continue the celebration. Wilton Manors will hold its 29th Annual Island City Canoe Race and Birthday Bash on Saturday, May 21.
“We do have a history of the rivers passing through here and using this as a transition point. Then all pioneers that came here, the early founders of Wilton Manors and how much they were involved in our community, donating buildings, donating land.”
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19
PHOTOS
Celebrating Wilton Manors
By J.R. Davis
Wilton Manors celebrates it’s 75th anniversary at Hagan Park, April 28. 20
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75 Anniversary th
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Wilton Manors celebrates it’s 75th anniversary at Hagan Park, April 28.
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
WILTON MANORS
TRAFFIC SAFETY IS A TOP PRIORITY As a city, we are blessed to have engaged neighborhood associations and citizens who are passionate about ensuring Life Is Just Better Here in the Island City. Prior to joining the commission, I had never really thought deeply about how much my quality of life is dependent on our roadways and transportation. I have heard from many residents recently about road safety and accessibility. When the 3 Bridges Association released their 2022 Important Issues survey results (https://bit.ly/3w4nAR5), I couldn’t help but notice three of the top 5 issues related to our streets. Crosswalks/walkability ranked 2nd, calming traffic and reducing speeding ranked 3rd, and increasing landscaping/ streetscapes ranked 5th. As someone who cycles, scooters and jogs along our roadways daily, I recognize the need for us to continue to work towards transportation options that work safely for everybody. Our roads need to be efficient for motor vehicles and be safely accessible for those who choose not to drive. Following the Broward Complete Streets model, we need to focus on moving more people with different modes of transportation, reducing congestion, and benefiting all users of all ages and abilities, including walkers, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders. There are a variety of ways we are working to make progress on this front including performing traffic calming studies, allocating police personnel and equipment to traffic control, redesigning our streets as funding becomes available, and the creation of a transportation/mobility master plan. Today, specifically, I want to share with residents some of our recent efforts to address traffic violations on our roadways. Over the last month you’ve probably spotted WMPD’s Traffic Officer Rowles performing speed checks throughout our community. Officer Rowles has been assigned full-time to traffic control within our city to keep our streets safe. Following the tragic accident on Powerline Road, residents have called for increased speed control efforts throughout the west side. I’m pleased to report the officer’s effort has been equitable spread throughout the city with just a little more than 1/3rd of their efforts being on the west side based on the April
Photo via Pixabay
efforts log I reviewed — an increase from prior year reporting. In addition to allocating a full-time officer to traffic enforcement activities, we’re also using speed indication equipment to encouraging traffic calming and provide valuable data on speeding throughout the city. You’ve probably seen the mobile unit; it shows your speed as you pass by and collects data about the frequency and speed of vehicles over the speed limit. We’re using this data, along with accident data, to ensure we allocate enforcement measures where they are most needed — on the streets where speeding occurs most frequently. Beyond these traditional traffic control measures, we’re also taking an innovative approach to engineering safer streets. At a recent commission meeting, we approved a beautiful manatee mural design for the bridge on Powerline Road. Painted bridges and beautified streetscapes have been shown to reduce the speed of traffic as motorists approach them. They make our neighborhoods more attractive and safer for everyone! In the coming weeks, I’ll share more about our efforts to address our transportation and mobility challenges. In the meanwhile, I welcome your comments and suggestions via email at ccaputo@wiltonmanors.com or text at 954.557.2801.
— CHRIS CAPUTO
WILTON MANORS CITY COMMISSIONER
WILTON MANORS GOES BACK TO DRAWING BOARD
OVER VACATION RENTALS
By John McDonald Wilton Manors officials discussed multiple scenarios during a workshop in the city’s longrunning attempts to regulate vacation rentals. On April 26, commissioners mulled changes to chapter 10 of the city’s code of ordinances. The chapter covers licenses, permits and business regulations with an article dedicated to vacation rentals. Community Development Services Director Roberta Moore asked the commission for definitions on hotels, motels, transient public lodging establishments, Edited Image from PixaBay. capacity calculations, vacation rentals and inspections. Bad behavior and billionaire investment “The ULDRs [Unified Land Development Regulations] dictate the locations of where firms were also cited as concerns. hotels and motels can be located, however Commissioner Gary Resnick reminded the what we have found recently is the need to commission of the costs from the recent clarify differences between vacation rentals opioid overdose involving college students at a westside Airbnb. Resnick said he is and hotels and motels,” Moore said. City Attorney Kerry Ezrol said modifications contemplating a move because of the wild in the code are needed to keep up with antics in his neighborhood from vacation changing technology in the marketplace. rentals. “I live next to one of those now and I’m Regulations to vacation rentals haven’t seen thinking about moving out of the city,” Resnick major changes since 2012, Ezrol said. “We were unintentionally providing certain said. “I just don’t wanna live next to that.” While Airbnb, the San Francisco-based rights to property owners that we were not vacation rentals and tourism activities required to do,” Ezrol said. platform, took a lot of hits Proposed definition for during the hour-long workshop, hotels, Moore said, is sleeping it did have defenders. rooms and accommodations Tim Theisen, a member of for 25 or more guests with the Planning & Zoning Board, industry recognized services. advised against removing an Motels would be defined by exemption for permanent having at least six rental units residents who may want to rent with an outside exit and onsite out a room in their home. management office. “Most people who list a spare Some of the regulations bedroom on Airbnb are not proposed for vacation rentals typically bad actors or manage were having a resident age hedge funds,” Theisen said. 25 or older on property at all Resident Jake Valentine said times, procedures for noise rules are meaningless without complaints, fines, parking, Commissioner an adequately funded response. communications and garbage. “If we don’t enforce it, none Commissioner Chris Caputo of this means anything and disclosed he had co-owned an Airbnb out of his home in Wilton Manors we can’t enforce it with two code officers,” in the past, but not currently. Caputo said he Valentine said. Mayor Scott Newton said the police manages an Airbnb outside of the city and asked for a caveat that would allow large-scale department should be fully staffed and road housing developments to have up to four units ready by the end of the year. “We are constantly working on it,” Newton designated as vacation rentals. Caputo’s request was voted down as Vice said. “We are funding them, but things happen Mayor Paul Rolli noted the dwindling affordable to people who leave for some reason and we have to hire again and it takes a while.” housing stock for full-time residents. Commissioner Mike Bracchi asked Moore to “We’re in a crisis here with housing affordability,” Rolli said. “And that whole engage with local realtors associations before Airbnb process doesn’t add to the value of the bringing code changes back to the commission for further readings. property.”
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COMMUNITY
WILTON MANORS
"I live next to one of those now and I’m thinking about moving out of the city." - Gary Resnick
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NEWS
WILTON MANORS
WILTON MANORS HONORS TOP VOLUNTEERS
CASTILLO AND WAXMAN
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
WILTON MANORS
WILTON MANORS & PUBLIX
By John McDonald Artist Claudia Castillo and nurse Amy Waxman were recognized as outstanding volunteers by the City of Wilton Manors. The Colombian-born Castillo owns a popular art studio on Wilton Drive, while Waxman administered COVID-19 vaccinations for city residents during the height of the pandemic. The women received their Skip Stadnick Community Spirit Awards at the city commission meeting on April 26. The annual awards, named in honor of the late Stadnick, a jovial Army veteran and reliable volunteer, are selected by the Community Affairs Advisory Board. Other notes from the meeting: Assistant Police Chief Darren Brodsky announced a department detective will partner with the FBI Miami Division on its task force for civil rights and public corruption. In other police issues, Commissioner Mike Bracchi asked for data on the number of vacation rentals operating in the city and Commissioner Gary Resnick requested for more information on the increasing number of
Claudia Castillo. Image from SFGN library.
vehicle accidents. During the public comments portion of the meeting, multiple residents criticized the x WiltonNext report, specifically the designation of Andrews Avenue as a wellness corridor. City Attorney Kerry Ezrol said HB 7, also known as the “Stop WOKE Act,” becomes effective July 1, 2022. “Some of the commentary that I’ve seen from labor lawyers is that it’s basically gonna shut down diversity training within places of employment, but that will remain to be seen,” Ezrol said. Mayor Scott Newton asked to begin talks on rules for smoking in parks. The next regular commission meeting is May 10.
“ Broker
Since 1985
Image via Google Maps.
City Manager Henderson, Mayor, and Commissioners, Publix has been known for most of its history as a racist, homophobic, and misogynistic company, with several court judgments and payouts as proof of its historical and continuing misdeeds. Publix continually donates to everything opposite of Wilton Manors prides itself on fighting for and standing up against. Yet, the city spends thousands of dollars each year at Publix on a company that, in turn, takes our dollars and
uses them against our community, morals, and residents. Sadly, a child has more insight and integrity than a city that professes to lead in acceptance, education, and making life just better here for everyone. High school student activist Jack Petocz is a brave young man who should receive a proclamation at our next commission meeting because he TRULY toes the line; the adults in the room should be ashamed! — JAKE VALENTINE
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NEWS
OAKLAND PARK
Hyundai Ioniq 5 using a fast-charging station. Image courtesy of Greg Bistolfi.
ELECTRIC CHARGING STATIONS COMING TO OAKLAND PARK’S NEW CONSTRUCTION By Christiana Lilly After a year in the works, the Oakland the Planning & Zoning Board approving the Park City Commission approved for all new measure in April 2021 and the commission construction projects to be required to include approving it as well in the first round. However, they wanted adjustments made to charging stations. The ordinance goes into effect June 30 and the ordinance, which city officials brought would not be applicable to projects that have back before the commission on April 20. A resident shared his already been approved by the concern about the safety of city. the charging stations, as there “I’m glad to see this came to have been cases of cars blowing fruition,” said Commissioner up. Pete Schwarz, the director Matthew Sparks, who of community and economic initiated the ordinance. development, said he is He noted that he confident in how the ordinance reached out to Secretary of is written. Transportation Pete Buttigieg “The industry standard regarding incentives or grants right now allows for interior that the city can provide to installations,” he explained. companies as they bring their “The currents aren’t any higher business to Oakland Park. than any other electrical The ordinance requires devices or internal combustion that 10% of parking spaces devices.” in new multi-family housing Commissioner Jane Bolin to have electric charging encouraged the city to educate capabilities. However, as an the public on what would be incentive to buildings that Director of Community considered new construction, provide fast-charging stations and Economic Development as it includes major renovations (180 miles per hour of charge), of existing homes. Mayor they would only require 5%. Michael Carn also asked that Charging stations must be indoors or wherever is the least visible if there there be safety measures in place so that curious children wouldn’t be able to meddle is not a garage available. The conversation began last year, with with the outlets.
“The currents aren’t any higher than any other electrical devices or internal combustion devices.” - Peter Schwarz
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