Ethics commission: Suspended Boca mayor violated Florida laws
Suspended Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie’s relationship with developers James and Marta Batmasian made it impossible for her to honestly carry out her duties as a public official, the Florida Commission on Ethics announced this week.
The commission found probable cause that Haynie violated Florida laws eight times, including improperly filling out financial disclosure forms and voting to benefit herself, her family or the Batmasians. The commission can fine Haynie up to $10,000 and recommend her removal from office. Her attorney said Friday that the commission has yet to hear Haynie’s version of events.
“They haven’t heard anything but one side of the story,” attorney Bruce Zimet said.
Zimet was in court on Friday for a separate proceeding in the Haynie case, in which she is charged in Palm Beach County Circuit Court with lying about money she took from the Batmasians, hiding more than $335,000 in income and other violations. She has pleaded not guilty to four felony and three misdemeanor charges.
On Friday, her next date in court was set for Jan. 15.
Haynie was first elected to the City Council in 2000 and served until 2006. She was re-elected in 2008 and 2011, then became mayor in 2014 and was re-elected in 2017.
Prosecutors contend Haynie failed to disclose her income while conducting business through husband
Neil Haynie’s property management company, Community Reliance, and real estate they owned from 2014 to 2017.
The Haynies created Community Reliance in 2007. Her name was removed as a managing member in 2016.
Investigators also allege that Haynie voted favorably on issues that would benefit the Batmasians through their firm, Investments Limited. The report says the Batmasians are “reported to be the largest commercial property owners in Boca Raton.”
Days before her arrest April 24, Haynie agreed to a reprimand and was fined $500, the maximum allowed, in a case before the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics over her failure to disclose conflicts of interest with the Batmasians.
Haynie said she thought the votes were allowed based on advice she received from Boca Raton’s city attorney.
The ethics commissions detailed several times when Haynie did not disclose conflicts as she voted on issues that affected the Batmasians.
The state investigation found the Batmasians own 1,400 of 1,600 condominums in the Tivoli Park complex in Deerfield Beach. In 2010, the Haynies’ management company got a $12,000 annual contract, later increased to $14,000, to manage parts of the complex. The Haynies ended this contract in December 2017.
During a period when the Haynies were managing the complex, from 2012 to 2016, the Batmasians or their representatives appeared before the city council or other city agencies 17 times, state investigators found. Haynie did not declare
a conflict of interest or recuse herself and kept depositing money from the Batmasians, including 11 checks totaling more than $63,000 in 2016. She also wrote checks payable to herself from the same account.
In 2016, the Batmasians’ company also paid the Haynies for security camera installation at Tivoli Park and two properties in Boca Raton.
Haynie denied any impropriety in her relationship with the Batmasians, but the investigator found that “the bank account records revealed her deception. These acts and omissions indicate a corrupt intent.”
Haynie dropped her bid to run for Palm Beach County Commission after she was arrested in April. She hasn’t resigned as mayor. Her second term ends in 2020.