Condo Watchdog Fired by a Governor

After he was named nation's first condominium ombudsman, after less than two years, Virgil Rizzo was fired Gov. Jeb Bush and was replaced with a Department of Health attorney with no known condo law experience.

Rizzo, 69, is a retired medical doctor and lawyer from Fort Lauderdale. He had become a thorn in the side of both the state Department of Business & Professional Regulation, which enforces condo law, and attorneys who represent condo boards.

Meg Shannon, spokeswoman for the business regulation department said that Dr. Rizzo consistently demonstrated an unwillingness to work within the system and at times refused to be held accountable to the department and to taxpayers.

Rep. Julio Robaina, R-Miami, who in 2004 helped create the job after condo residents statewide told "horror stories" about the way boards treated them and the department's indifference said that Rizzo's position was specifically designed to stir up the bureaucracy, said state.

Rizzo had to fight for money to run his office, when he first got his job. He worked without pay for at least six months after his December 2004 appointment and recruited friends to work as volunteers answering phone calls, e-mails and letters from unit owners.

On the other hand, Julio Robaina didn't agree with Bush's decision to fire Rizzo. Bergemann said that the new ombudsman, Carroll, has been an assistant general counsel for the Department of Health since 2003. The governor removed the only person in the Florida government who actually cared for the welfare of Florida's condo owners.

By M. Sese
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