MAYOR BATEMAN MAKES HUFPO, NOT IN A GOOD WAY

The mayor of one Florida town may have just sicced debt collectors on himself.
Steve Bateman, the mayor of Homestead, Florida, owes thousands of dollars in fees to his city’s development services department, which the city may come collect, the Miami Herald reports. That’s because of Bateman himself, who recently voted to expand Homestead’s use of a debt collector to go after residents who haven’t paid their bills.

City Clerk Elizabeth Sewell confirmed the invoices remain outstanding. This news comes after Sergio Purrinos personally reduced the fees by about thirty percent. Invoices above do not reflect the discounted amount from 2010.

Good morning Mr. Pascuzzo,

We have not located no other documents that are responsive to this request, and the City has no record of payment for the fees that are the subject of your request.

Respectfully,

Elizabeth Sewell, MMC

City Clerk

City of Homestead

790 N. Homestead Boulevard

Homestead, FL  33030

Office: 305-224-4442

Fax:  305-224-4459

esewell@cityofhomestead.com

In Bateman's case, the Development Services Department charged him $6,471 in 2006 for one project and $4,514 in 2007 for another. 

The fees included site plan reviews, meetings, correspondence and postage, records show. 

Bateman is the owner of Two Brothers Construction in Florida City. 

Bateman had protested the site plan fees and had refused to pay them. 
According to Purriños, the mayor has agreed to pay 70 percent -- about $7,689.50 -- of the outstanding fees.