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Times/Guide

Times Guide Serving The "City Beautiful" Since 1926 2627 Ponce de Leon Boulevard • Coral Gables, Florida 33134 Florida's Best Suburban Newspaper • Phone 666-7981 Weekend Edition May 15/16, 1976 28 Pages Vol. 50 No. 40 ★★ 10 Cents

State attorney's call for action ignored by C. Gables city manager Move against employe urged

By ERICA MEYER Staff Writer Despite urging from the State Attorney's office, Coral Gables City Manager J. Martin Gainer has taken no action against a city official accused of sexual misconduct. "I was prepared and I am still prepared today to take action against Joe Thomas if given any absolute evidence of his wrong doing," Gainer stated Friday, May 14. Gainer said that he has never had concrete evidence of any misdeed by Thomas, a city housing official accused last May of sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl, and has therefore administered no punishment, though urged to do so in a letter from the State Attorney dated Oct. 8, 1975. Sgt. Tony Raimondo, head of the Youth Resources Unit of the Coral Gables Police Department, said the girl passed two lie detector tests stating that Thomas had fondled her, but the State Attorney's investigation of the incident concluded, according to Assistant State Attorney Len Lewis, "There is insufficient evidence to press charges against Thomas." A letter to Police Chief William Kimbrough from State Attorney Dick Gerstein and signed by Gerstein's administrative assistant Janet Reno said that reviewing a privately administered polygraph test of Thomas, "we then concluded that the juvenile was telling the truth concerning Thomas." The letter further explained that the alleged action, "does not constitute a crime," and went on to say, "We urge the city to explore its administrative remedies against Thomas." The state attorney's reasons given for not filing criminal charges against Thomas were that Florida's laws do not cover the alleged incident. Because the juvenile consented, it was not assault and battery. Because she did not commit a delinquent act with Thomas, contributing to the delinquency of a minor would not apply. And because she was 14 at the time and not "under 14" as required by the criminal solicitation statute, that charge would not apply either. Gainer said that although Thomas' position in the city changed immediately after the incident, and has changed again since, nothing has been done by the city to punish Thomas in any way. The Minimum Housing Of- See GAINER, Page 9

From the inside out, of course

Some things never lose their charm, and the Oreo cookie is a delectable example. The white creamy inside must always be eaten first, as four-year-old Michelle Frye demonstrates. After prying open the two chocolate wafers, a couple of scrapes with the teeth free the magical filling onto the anxious tongue. Michelle, who lives at 1241 Mariola Ct., Coral Gables, spent a recent afternoon munching cookies at Merry Christmas Park. Photos by ELIZABETH OWEN

Family, woman admit living in office building

By ERICA MEYER Staff Writer Four people have been living in a downtown Coral Gables commercial building for periods of between nine months and a year — unbekaownst to city zoning officials. Although it is against the Coral Gables zoning code to live in a commercially zoned building, Mrs. Alice Ledee and Mrs. Maria Revithis say the building manager at 2101 Ponce de Leon, Leon Newman, told them it would be all right to live in the building. Code Enforcement Officer Joe Mendoza said he visited the building early this week and said Newman admitted that Mrs. Ledee had been living in the building but had moved out. She did not actually plan to move until Thursday, May 13, she said later. Mendoza said Newman stated the Revithis' work late and occasionally stay all night, but do not live in the building. Mrs. Ledee had been living in a room behind the realty offices on the ground floor of the building at the corner of Ponce and Minorca. Upstairs, Mr. and Mrs. Constantin Revithis and their daughter had been living — during the school week — in their dress design offices. Although Mrs. Revithis told The Times/Guide Tuesday that she had been living in the offices only a week while her husband is in Canada for a leg operation, she acknowledged Friday, May 13 that the family had been living in the office since last September so their daughter could attend junior high in Coral Gables. Mrs. Revithis had said that the family lived on Miami Beach, but the address she gave on the Beach was the home of her cousin, where the family does live on weekends. Mrs. Revithis also said Friday that she is notifying Newman that the family and the business will move to Miami Beach on June 1. Building officials said that the normal procedure taken when someone is illegally living in a commercial building is to give them a citation and a set period of time in which to move out. If the time limit is not met, the action is taken to court. Because Mrs. Ledee planned to move this week and the Revithis' have already put a security deposit on a Beach residence for June 1 occupancy, zoning officials said the situation will be checked but if the planned moves take place, no other action is anticipated. Zoning officials say they plan no action against Newman on the Zoning offenses but Mendoza said he had ac- See FAMILY, Page 2