Claiming that residents of Riviera Beach are trying to cause “direct harm” by naming it in a lawsuit over plans for a megayacht marina, Rybovich has filed a countersuit. It states that the defendants “intentionally and unjustifiably” hindered Rybovich’s relationship with the Floridian city.
According to the Palm Beach Post, Rybovich is seeking $10 million in damages from Emma Bates and Andrew Byrd each, for a $20-million total. The two belong to the Riviera Beach Citizens Task Force, which spearheaded a petition drive to force a public vote this November regarding the development of the facility. Even though the petition drive was successful, the Citizens Task Force filed a lawsuit against the city of Riviera Beach on September 23. It states that the city council was unauthorized to lease submerged lands to Rybovich because the state gave the city the property for “municipal park and recreational purposes.” It also states that the city council did not obtain competitive bids in offering the lease to Rybovich, pointing to a statute that requires doing so when considering a redevelopment project. (The property in question contains, among other things, a marina that has sat unused.) Furthermore, the Citizens Task Force claims that Riviera Beach did not follow the requisite public-notification process before approving Rybovich’s plan.
Rybovich’s countersuit to the Citizens Task Force lawsuit was filed on October 1. It requests dismissal of the group’s lawsuit and reimbursement of legal fees, to be paid by the group. Among the arguments that Rybovich presents: Bates and Byrd don’t have personal interest in the property and therefore cannot be harmed by it; the Citizens Task Force is not a state-recognized corporation; and the case overall is frivolous.
The Palm Beach Post quoted a statement issued by Carlos Vidueira, Rybovich’s vice president: “Rybovich had hoped that everyone, including this small group of dissidents, would agree to let the residents within the city decide the issue through the ballot initiative,” it reads. “By choosing to initiate direct legal action, their clear intent is nothing more than political retaliation against the city council and to bring direct harm to Rybovich.”
Interesting enough, a few days after Citizens Task Force filed its suit, the city of Riviera Beach named it, Bates, and Susan Bucher, the supervisor of elections, in a lawsuit of its own. It claimed that the ballot question contains vague language and therefore should be removed. In case it cannot be removed, the suit adds, the court should order Bucher to tell voters they should ignore the question or to not count votes regarding the marina.
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