Our Mayor, the Lobbyist

Wohl is a fireplug of a man, short and balding, with a reputation for bulldogging deals. The silver-tongued, 54-year-old New York-born businessman has built a sizable fortune in real estate and law. But when he was nearing his 40th birthday, Wohl was almost buried under an avalanche of legal misdeeds.

In 1987, he was accused of altering a deed to take property from a client, according to Florida Supreme Court records. As that case proceeded, the Bar further alleged that Wohl provided false testimony and fabricated letters in an attempt to clear his name. Then, in 1989, Wohl was hit with another Bar complaint, this time from a client who accused him of forgery and misappropriation of funds.

Rather than fight the mounting allegations, Wohl resigned from the Bar in October 1989. In response to New Times questions, Pinnacle vice president David Deutch wrote: "Mr. Wohl was never convicted of any crime. Mr. Wohl continues to do business with the utmost integrity and veracity, and this continues to be his reputation and the reputation of Pinnacle." Lieberman says she didn't know about the prior legal problems of Wohl, who was her direct boss at Pinnacle. The end of his legal career barely slowed Wohl down. He quickly founded a property management company in Miami. By the mid-1990s, he was partnering on various ventures with Louis Wolfson III, the heir to a Miami theater fortune and member of one of that city's most philanthropic families. In 1998, the two men created Pinnacle, with Wohl playing the role of frontman and dealmaker while Wolfson remained largely behind-the-scenes.

While building housing for the financially disadvantaged -- one of the Broward County Commission's top priorities, as property values are pricing out working-class families -- the two men have apparently done very well for themselves. According to financial statements submitted last year to the Broward County Housing Finance Authority (HFA), Wohl and Wolfson both have personal net worths of nearly $10 million and live in $1 million and $3 million homes, respectively.

After constructing a handful of apartment complexes in Miami-Dade, Pinnacle began branching out to other areas in the state. In 2000, its push into Broward County began -- and it didn't come without controversy. Off the bat, Wohl was implicated in campaign finance controversy when he wrote two $500 campaign checks to then-county commissioner Norman Abramowitz. Wohl was one of nine contributors who gave Abramowitz more than the state limit of $500. The state elections commission fined Abramowitz for the violation.

(That case didn't stop Pinnacle and its various partners from contributing tens of thousands of dollars to politicians -- including about $5,000 to Lieberman's recent campaign).

Pinnacle's first development venture, in Plantation, to be called Pinnacle Lakes, also ended in a mess. The complex was deeply opposed by residents and after the originally enthusiastic commission voted against it in 2001, Pinnacle sued the city. The lawsuit was later dismissed.

In 2002, Pinnacle gave it a go in Pompano, but this time Wohl had then-Vice Mayor Lieberman on the payroll. The city was accepting proposals from developers to rebuild a housing project at Holiday Lakes, an apartment complex on Powerline Road that had achieved national notoriety as a slum during the 1990s. In 2002, the Department of Housing and Urban Development handed the property over to the city, which planned to tear down the buildings and construct a brand new affordable complex. To help get the project rolling, HUD offered a five million dollar up-front grant, and the city chipped in an additional $500,000. As another incentive, the city offered to give the land, about ten acres, to the developer for free.

Companies flocked to the project, designed mostly for residents who made less than 60 percent of the county's median household income -- $60,000 in 2002. After nine developers submitted proposals, a committee made up primarily of Pompano city officials short-listed the top six on October 29, 2002. Ranked first was Pinnacle Housing Group, which put in a plan to build 148 units in several two and three-story buildings. That December, the city commission voted, without discussion or public input, to approve the Pinnacle deal.

Milton Jones, a long-time Fort Lauderdale developer whose project was ranked second, says he felt shut out of the process. He insists his proposal was better than Pinnacle's, especially since he had secured private financing and wouldn't tap many public resources. Pinnacle, in contrast, was depending upon government money that hadn't been approved and had a price tag of about $17.5 million, four million dollars more than Jones' estimate.

Dilip Barot, whose West Palm Beach-based company, Creative Choice Homes, was ranked third, is also adamant that his proposal was much stronger than Pinnacle's. But Barot says he wasn't surprised by the city's decision. He says political insiders -- whom he wouldn't name -- indicated to him that Pinnacle would win the project because it had Lieberman on its team. Barot hired high-powered Pompano lobbyist Tom Johnston to represent his company to no avail. "They had a better political connection than we did -- the county commissioner [Lieberman] they hired played an important role," says Barot, who speaks with a heavy accent acquired in his native India. "The deal was already made before we even became involved."