Fractured Fortunes

When her colleague Leslie Bowe became a Lotto millionaire, Zibby Giardina had just one question: What happened to our lottery pool?

A A A Comments (0) By Mike Clary Thursday, Dec 14 2000

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Although Bowe now works in another school board office on Biscayne Boulevard, 25 blocks from the others, he still has occasion to visit the offices where they work, and they do run into one another. And when they do?

"It's like we're not there," says Giardina.

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"My relationship with Zibby before and after the trial is about the same," says Bowe, "which was and is very minimal contact."

Franklin acknowledges now that she should have backed Zibby and joined her in the lawsuit six years ago. "I wish that I had had the guts to file with Zibby." But, as she told Giardina at the time, she was worried about vesting her pension and keeping peace in the office, and she was convinced that two million dollars over the next twenty years might not be enough for her retirement.

"Zibby did the right thing," says Franklin. "She did what she felt she had to do. She believed from day one that he had her money. And I give her all the credit in the world for that."

The others, too, are full of praise for Zibby and often seek her counsel. "She was very courageous," says Neal. "When I see her, I hug her, thank her."

During the long years of the lottery battle, Giardina never thought of quitting. "I think I have been tested somehow. I said I was going to do something, and I followed through, despite all the bullshit that came my way. It was difficult. But I never thought of dropping the case." (Despite her resolve to publicly pursue litigation, Zibby set limits regarding her privacy. She refused to sit for photographs to accompany this story.)

Ironically Bowe says the camaraderie he has found with his office mates is what keeps him coming to work each day. "People have said to me, “Les, you really don't have to work full-time, so why have you kept your school board job all these years?' My answer is quite simple: I really and truly enjoy what I do. I work with a terrific group of people, many of whom are like my second family. Honestly, it's the truth."

Bowe also remains a busy councilman: vice mayor, former chairman of the Parks and Recreation Committee, fundraising for schools in less-affluent neighborhoods, a volunteer at his alma mater, Killian High School, and an indefatigable ribbon cutter for art fairs and grand openings.

And in elections, at least, he's still lucky. This past October Bowe was to face a stiff re-election challenge from wealthy delicatessen owner Jack Kantrowitz, who had his own money to spend, as well as support from Pinecrest councilman Barry Blaxberg. But on September 7, less than a month before the election, Kantrowitz was killed in a motorcycle accident in Wyoming, where he and his wife were vacationing.

Back in Pinecrest the village attorney determined that since Bowe now had no opposition, he could be declared the victor. By default he won a second four-year term.

Everyone, it seems, has a book in mind, and each story will offer a different moral. Bowe says the one he's writing ends on a note of greed and betrayal. "The almighty dollar," he says, "is a fact of life, whether you want it to be or not."

Gerrard's tale ends this way: "The person you trusted as your friend may really be your enemy."

For Zibby the lesson is about fairness and perseverance. "It's about doing the right thing," she says.