Public Meeting #1

I attended the Hillsborough County Code Enforcement Special Magistrate on Septemeber 15, 2008 at 9 a.m. at 601 E. Kennedy Blvd. On the agenda, the county board discussed matters of burglar alarms, solid waste removal and landscaping cases.

            Most of the cases that were addressed did not have a witness or defendant present despite the fact that they were told about today’s meeting and eventual ruling. In regards to burglar alarm cases, most of the cases were in violation of County Ordinance 04-16 Section 10-B-4. Section 10-B-4 details the fact that when a residence that contains a burglar alarm goes off falsely, then it is the responsibility of the property owner to pay a fine for police services in addressing the false alarm.

            Generally, the fine for most cases ranged between $100 and $150. However, if a property owner did not pay the fines for a false alarm, then the magistrate would determine whether to impose more fines. In most cases a $25 a day fine would be imposed until the original fine was paid. In one case, Dorothy Ferguson arrived to present her case as to why her fine was not paid. In her case, there was no clear understanding of an annual fee that was to cover false alarm fines. Her fine was cut in half and was paid at the court.

            One case that stood out to me that seemed newsworthy was the case of James V. Cadicamo. The false alarm fines imposed upon him totaled over $4000 and were still unpaid. Instead of James Cadicamo appearing to present his reasoning why he did not pay the fines, his father Vincent Cadicamo arrived on his behalf. Vincent claimed that he had information that linked the false alarm on a situation where the FBI broke into his son’s home in order to arrest his son. Vincent had tried to get in touch with the FBI in efforts to resolve this isssue before appearing before the magistrate, but did not receive any response from the FBI. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office does not have a record online of James’s recent arrest; however, he does have one charge of domestic battery.

            The final case that I witnessed involved a solid waste management case that the county had brought against Creative Concrete & Excavation. The company had been operating in Brandon, Fla. as a solid waste collector by collecting and disposing of its excavation trash. The county has a system set up where only three comapanies are allowed to compete for solid waste removal. Creative Concrete in that regard had no legal right to begin collecting trash from the curbside of its Brandon excavation sites..