Straight claiming to be a non profit organization ought to be sufficient reason to have several people incarcerated for fraud and tax evasion. Tax laws are what brought Al Capone to his demise, so why should'nt it work in our favor?
What about all those houses on the beach that were GIVEN to former staff and cronies lock, stock and barrel? Where did the damn money come from? There was a woman named Carol Price who worked for HRS that helped funnel kids into Straight that 'lo and behold was suddenly the owner of a two story house on Redington Beach that I know damn well did'nt pull in enough money to buy it. This was back in 1978. I also heard that Dave Crock and Chris Casselor both recieved beach property from Straight. There has to be some sort of bank records of where the money came from. There is a records division off of 49th Street North a little ways past 126th Avenue that might be of some help. The staff there are really friendly and helpful. Another thing that should come to light is that there was a really bad recession in 1979 that affected a lot of things including real estate and construction. How is it that Mel Sembler was able to keep on building shit willy nilly and had enough clout to bulldoze permits that illegally allowed one of his buddies to divert storm water run-off across one of his properties near Tyrone which ended up overflowing the drainage system. During the flood of May 8th 1979, this illegal and otherwise hidden breach of law helped contribute to the drowning deaths of an Ohio woman and her fourteen year old daughter when they were pulled into a current and sucked into a completely engulfed storm pipe while wading their way to Tyrone Square Mall. The Sembler Company was found partially at fault in Pinellas County Court, but it took the husband/father of the victims over 15 damn years to collect. What's funny is that there is no record of the article in the St. Pete Times data base at the public library about the lawsuit, just articles about the flood 15 years previous. I spent about 3 days trying to find mention of it at the St. Pete Public Library back in '04. I even went thru the microfilm records and got zip.
The Pinellas County Tax Assessor's Office ought to be able to shed light on various properties. If enough evidence can be accumulated that there was more wheeling dealing, and buying up and constructing going on than Mel Sembler's Company could have financed, then the money had to come from somewhere. It sure as hell was'nt spent on lavish furnishings, AIR CONDITIONING, 10 or 12 stall boys and girls restrooms with quality fixtures, or a spacious dining room and high quality nutritious meals at the Morgan Yacht building!!!! But this little research project should'nt just include the Original Straight, what about all the offshoots? What about the records for Sarasota Straight or the Atlanta program? There has got to be records of where the start up money came from. If it all came from Sembler's bank, then maybe a lawyer can force open some bank records and see where the money trail leads. How about the perpetual Flea Market sales at the Wagon Wheel Flea Market in Pinellas Park?
If Flea Market records can show that the booths operated as a profit making venture, then Straight's ass is grass. In order to sell as a non-profit entity, they had to have a permit, otherwise taxes were supposed to be collected and paid. Just writing about all this is pissing me off enough to see what I can do to contribute to this online. I know that the Tax Assessors Office website is user friendly, because I've used it to get the dirt on shitty landlords. If anybody wants to play detective with me lets rock!
