As the circus-like atmosphere persisted during the meeting — and onlookers wondered whether some catharsis was afoot in the form of a battle royale between rival politicians — David Rodan, a slender local resident dressed in a light-green collared shirt, calmly asked for a moment to speak his peace.
Rodan's brother Moises and three cousins died in the Champlain Towers South condominium collapse that claimed the lives of 98 people. During the meeting, he wanted to make a presentation in the wake of news that Dubai-based developer DAMAC International's luxury condo project at the collapse site includes plans for a loading dock and garbage pickup area next to a town memorial for the victims.
Commissioner Nelly Velasquez asked for some time on Rodan's behalf.
"I would like to add a citizen presentation by David Rodan to the calendar with a PowerPoint presentation that he forwarded before the noon deadline yesterday, which I sent to the town clerk," Velasquez said on the dais during the September 12 meeting.
David Rodan says DAMAC International's project stands to encroach on a planned memorial for victims of the Champlain Towers South building collapse.
Graphic by David Rodan
Instead, the meeting continued with a segment to commend the Surfside police chief for his fifth anniversary with the department and the assistant police chief for his work spearheading the department's new fitness center.
Rodan later spoke during the public welfare portion of the meeting, which was limited to three minutes per speaker and did not allow for his presentation slides. He pleaded with the town to consider how the condo project's design could encroach on the yet-to-be-built memorial. (Rodan's presentation slides are attached below.)
"I came here today to show a plan that DAMAC didn't show last week," he said. "That was all. That's all I wanted to present — the plans...showing the extent of the memorial site that they are planning to take and what was left for us."
Mayor Danzinger claims Rodan's presentation would have sparked premature debate among the commissioners before the upcoming quasi-judicial hearing on the condo project."Please help us. Do a little bit of pushback. Make them do their homework."
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"The commission must approach this hearing as impartial arbiters. If a debate about the upcoming project were to unfold on the dais at [the September 12] meeting, and commissioners voiced their opinions on the project in public, it could potentially expose the town to the risk of a lawsuit if either party is dissatisfied with the outcome of the hearing on the 27th," Danzinger tells New Times.
Surfside residents who supported Rodan were nonetheless incensed that the town's leadership shot down his presentation. Resident Eliana Salzhauer said that Rodan's time was curbed so Surfside police could talk "about the fancy new gym equipment" they obtained.
"You let [the police chief] talk for about ten to 15 minutes, but David Rodan, who lost four family members, couldn't say a word," Salzhauer said.
In June, DAMAC International announced plans for the 12-story posh condominium at the oceanfront site of the former Champlain Towers South Condominium, which collapsed in 2021 in one of the deadliest building failures in U.S. history.
Last month, representatives for DAMAC told the Planning and Zoning Board that the Florida Department of Transportation is requiring the loading dock on the street next to the memorial rather than on Collins Avenue. However, the state agency later denied that it had handed down that requirement.
Rodan urged the commissioners to take a hard look at the project when it's up for consideration on September 27.
"All we are asking is for the respect this memorial deserves," he said. "I have spoken to FDOT, and there is no requirement to have that loading dock on 88th Street. There are a million ways to do it through Collins. That's what every other building on Collins that doesn't have a side street does. Please help us. Do a little bit of pushback. Make them do their homework."
Rodan said the current condo design would take up more than 90 feet of the memorial site proposal. That stretch of land, he said, was in front of his cousin's apartment that collapsed — and he does not want to see a garbage truck parked nearby.
"It is a 44 percent reduction of the site of the memorial," Rodan told the commissioners. "It's huge. Today, I am wearing this shirt. This is my little brother's shirt. I have a tattoo of my cousin as well. I never thought I'd get a tattoo, but that's a memorial for me. That's all we are asking for. A little bit of a memorial next to where that happened."
In common form, the town meeting was marked by unrelenting discord between Danzinger on the one hand and Surfside commissioners Velasquez and Marianne Meischeid on the other. Debates over procedural matters — who was allowed to speak and when — ate up large portions of the meeting.
As for media coverage of the meeting, the Surfside memorial issue took a backseat to a failed motion to censure Danzinger over a prejudiced comment he made at a prior meeting. Danzinger had asked if anyone knew "how to speak Spanish to tell" Velasquez — a U.S.-born commissioner who's fluent in English — to stop interrupting. (Danzinger later apologized for the comment, saying he lost his composure.)
Salzhauer, a former commissioner who once flipped her middle finger during a commission meeting, criticized Danzinger, Landsman, and Rose as a developer-friendly voting bloc whose decisions are at odds with Surfside residents."The temperature that is in this room is something that is not right."
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Landsman tells New Times he voted against allowing the Surfside memorial presentation out of concern it would bias the commission ahead of the upcoming vote on the condo project, a point he explained on the dais. He echoed Danzinger's statements and said he was acting on the advice of the town attorney. He encouraged Rodan to speak during the welfare portion of the meeting and to make his presentation at the meeting in two weeks.
Landsman says he supports the request to move the loading dock and the sanitation area away from the memorial if possible.
"I respect Mr. Rodan and the families participating in this," Landsman says. "I want him and any other family members to speak their minds. It was in no way a way to shut him down because I didn't agree with his position," Landsman says.
Rose did not return New Times' requests for comment.
Rodan said during the meeting that he and other family members of Surfside victims wanted nothing to do with the political wrangling. He apologized for a past outburst during which he began yelling at a past meeting where commissioners heard about DAMAC International's plans and how they would overlap with the adjacent memorial.
"The temperature that is in this room is something that is not right," Rodan said. "I don't want to be associated with the political games. So please don't look at us as if we are part of them."
