Budway's blotter blather

After slamming the late Herb Levine in the press and then boycotting Levine's funeral, Gary Budway objects to being criticized, says anyone who speaks ill of him is slanderous. Then the brown acid kicks in as Budway inadvertently admits to violating campaign financing laws.

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(artwork by Venice Florida! dot com)

Ex-VTL dictator Gary Budway (he wasn't really president as he never allowed elections), after getting bootf**ked out of the Venice Taxpayers League, spent quite a bit of ugly time and breath insulting the late Herb Levine. Budway even boycotted Levine's funeral, but the Gondolier gave him plenty of ink to issue his venal verbiage in an article by Greg Giles on Budway's fictional reasons for dumping the Venice Taxpayers League when, in reality, quite the opposite had happened.



It was outrageous enough that I responded in writing while creating a new award from this site: Scumbag Of The Year, which was co-awarded to Giles and Budway for their printed post-mortem slime job of Levine.

Budway's tenure as leader of the Venice Taxpayers League was nothing short of disastrous. Budway took an organization of over 500 members and managed to wreak such personal and professional havoc that within two years, those membership numbers had dwindled down to 2. Not 200. Not 20. Just 2 -- himself and Rosemary Vauzanges. That is an unbelievable 99.6% reduction in membership.

While I doubt that that would set a national record for non-profits, I'll bet it is some kind of state record for TOTAL FAIL.

What's worse is that this guy still isn't done trying to destoy what was once a strong citizen action group. He is actually trying to defend this record by continuing in ongoing personal attacks against me. I have a pretty thick skin, so I'm flattered. I think that the whole thing is pretty damned funny in a sort of sad and pathetic way.

Below is Budway's response, composed under the influence of some of the finest blotter acid that Budway can buy from the high school kids in his neighborhood. He is shopping this to the Gondo, but we're beating them to the punch. Budway posted this version to city council members via email, which is how I acquired it.

My comments are inserted in brackets and blue italics.
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[start of Budway's email to council here]
A guest column by John Patten on 12/18/2010 made many comments and accusations about me and the Venice Taxpayers’ League. Mr. Patten’s well-known rants are often lacking factual support, and can be characterized as figments of imagination from someone whose actions, as listed below, could be charitably described as eccentric, to say the least:

--- Threatening political candidates while chasing them down the street [Which candidate? What threat? Name names, Gary. Never happened; Budway is exaggerating  an incident in 2009 when I spotted Emilio Carlesimo campaigning on the street and I tried to interview him on video. Carlesimo didn't want to answer the questions and he ran away -- see this video clip - JP]
--- Arguing with sign crews placing signs for candidates he deems unworthy [What crew signs, which candidates? a reference to this video posted by Venice Florida! dot com when Venice firefighters put up a humongous Carlesimo billboard in front of my living room window]
--- Holding shoving matches in Council chambers [When? With whom? a reference to an apparently drunken Winston Wilmore, who snuck up on me and physically attacked me twice in council chambers; Wilmore was physically thrown out of council chambers both times, he subsequently apologized in writing to then-mayor Fred Hammett for the disturbance-- see this news story]
--- Intimidating photographers with threats [When? Who? Not even a shred of truth here -- this is a reference to an incident that happened at a VTL meeting that I did not attend, but where Budway and several others harassed Emilio Carlesimo for taking photos -- I think that it was Budway who called the police on Carlesimo to get him kicked out of city hall. When I found out about it, I hit the roof. I subsequently apologized to Carlesimo for the behavior of others, informed him that he was legally allowed to take as many photos as he liked, and advised him to stand his ground. I further assured him that I would see to it that it would not happen again.]
--- Issuing bellicose “kick ass” challenges to persons at meetings with whom he does not agree [When? Who? Not true, although Budway physically challenged me at the last VTL meeting and I responded by telling him that I wasn't scared and that I'd be happy to kick his ass if he felt so inclined.]
--- Banging his head on the table when speaking to Council during the 5-minute Audience Participation allowed each citizen (He should start wearing his scooter helmet at all times to prevent brain damage) [true -- a bit of comedy theatrics that I did once to bring home the point that dealing with Mayor Ed Martin could sometimes be as frustrating and productive as banging my head on a table]
--- Refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance or the Lord’s Prayer [I do not and never will pray in secular public places. Matthew 6:5-6: "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Hilariously, Budway also openly criticized Levine once for not saying the Lord's Prayer, apparently not realizing that (ahem) Levine was Jewish and that the prayer is from the New Testament.]
--- Being so confrontational at political meetings that several candidates and one campaign manager who had signed up for the VTL Candidates’ Forum asked that Security be provided to prevent disruption at the Forum (The presence of a policeman ensured a peaceful meeting and we were thanked afterwards) [When? Where? Who? How? Again, name names, I always do and I will throughout my responses. I don't know what meetings he is talking about, but according to Budway, Harry Walia said this. Walia and his attorney/ladyfriend/campaign manager stated to me that they never made any such statement, that Budway made it up, and that the Gondo's Greg Giles printed it anyway while knowing full well that it was a fictional quote. Additionally, Budway and Giles stated in the Gondo and in private emails leaked to me that I caused a ruckus at the 2009 VTL political forum, the problem here being that the VTL didn't hold a forum in 2009.]
--- And last, but hardly least, posting on his web site a full-front, nude photograph of himself at our local controversial beach. (We know the Emperor Has No Clothes, but John surely could use some!). [true -- and I looked damned good at the time. Eat your heart out, Gary, you've always been a pug-ugly pudgeball. The shot is about 15 years old now, this was taken before I put on my current poundage. The shot was taken at a distance of around 50 yards, so you can't really see anything. I was going to repost it here, but I really can't find it. John Lennon had a nude on the front of Rolling Stone in the mid- to late-1970s. Sigourney Weaver had a memorable nude modeling shot. That was also in the 1970s. What year is it now, Gary? Oh, and Budway assumes that it was taken at Caspersen, forgetting that there are a number of legal nude beaches in Florida. I originally posted it as a humorous response to another's post.]

During the years I knew Herb Levine, we held many conversations on City topics. Herb had an encyclopedic memory of controversies in Venice, and could tell many good stories and jokes. He was committed to what he believed to be right for the City. I had great respect for him, and was honored to be asked to join the Venice Taxpayers’ League, then become a Director, and finally to be asked to be his successor. [Correction: Herb asked three others to be president, including myself, prior to Budway volunteering after finding out that nobody wanted the job -- Budway wasn't asked, he was the only one who came forward and was a replacement of last resort.]

At that time, I discussed Patten’s behavior at length, as well as his tendency to speak on behalf of the VTL although he was not a dues paying member. Herb and John had a reciprocal arrangement whereby the VTL’s Newsletter was posted on John’s web site and periodically Herb would contribute towards Patton’s expenses. [There was never any such reciprocol agreement, Budway is just making stuff up here. Nothing was ever that formal between Levine and myself. I did publish two issues of the VTL newsletter on Venice Florida! dot com as an experiment in distribution, but that was my idea and decision, done with Levine's permission but without his prompting; Levine paid my dues of $10 a year in exchange for computer support and occasional computer repairs; Levine never made any donations to Venice Florida! dot com with the exception of a fundraiser for legal expenses when former city manager George Hunt unsuccessfully sued the web site -- Herb donated $50 and promised more if I needed it.]

I warned Herb that I understood his long, mutually beneficial political relationship with Patten, but that, when I became President, Patten had to become less confrontational, as I considered his actions to be an embarrassment to the VTL and would not tolerate them. Herb had no problem with this. His attitude was, “You gotta do what you gotta do.” [If this were true, Levine would have told me as we had no political secrets; moreover it is ludicrous on its face: Levine could out-confront me any day of the week, I'm an amateur in comparison, and he was much better at goading politicians into revealing their true dumbassery. Take his arrest at the budget meeting in 2002 for example]

He also understood that I could not be a one-man band operation following in his footsteps: writing, editing, printing, sorting, labeling envelopes, and mailing Newsletters and fund-raising letters with only the help of his wife stuffing and sealing envelopes. My own view of a watchdog citizens’ organization has always been that such a group should be non-political and made up of active committees sharing the work. [How you can be a political watchdog and be non-political is beyond me. Herb couldn't figure out Budway's 'method' either, although we both tried to help Budway. I loaded the entire membership list onto Budway's computer and tried to teach him how to print labels, but Budway could barely figure out how to open the label program. Budway is still an AOL user, the refuge of techno-illiterates. On the contrary, what Herb did truly understand was that  Budway was, in Herb's words, "a schmuck." Herb rarely, if ever, referred to Budway by his real name, Budway was always "the schmuck" and we knew who he was referring to. That's a high swear word to a Jew -- it's a dirty joke referring to the sound that circumcised penis skin makes when a Rabbi drops it on the floor.]

As the months of my VTL tenure went by, it became increasingly obvious that Patten was going to continue to speak as he wished on behalf of the VTL. We finally had words at a Council meeting. He asked me if I was telling him he could not speak on behalf of the VTL? and I replied “Yes.” He threatened to resign, although, as I have mentioned before, he was only a member in his own mind and had never paid dues. ( At least to me.) I told him to go ahead and send in a letter of resignation. He did, and the Board, which included Herb, voted unanimously to accept the resignation. [This never happened -- the boy is on drugs. I always spoke as myself or from Venice Florida! dot com as I backed away from VTL involvement when Budway took over. There was never any such argument. In fact, quite the opposite is true, as myself and board members objected to Budway taking peculiarly crazy stances on behalf of the VTL -- for example, I resigned from the board AFTER Budway took the senseless and moronic public statement that he and the VTL were opposed to the high school football team travelling to a different state to play in an ESPN broadcast game, in spite of the fact that ESPN was picking up the tab. It was a classic "Why does Budway hate the high school?" moment inspired by his friendship with school board critic Norm Lupo. I later resigned from the League itself after Budway. without getting approval of the VTL board, sued the school board in the name of the VTL for violating the Sunshine Law and Public Records Law. It was determined by Judge Robert Bennett that the infraction was so minor that the school board did not have to correct any prior votes or actions, although attorneys fees were awarded to Andrea Mogensen, attorney for the VTL in the case. The only thing that the VTL got out of the lawsuit was a promise that the board wouldn't do it again and a reputation that Budway and the VTL hated the high school and its students. This, in turn, caused Ted Koszarski, Ali Hicks, and Tom Brener to immediately resign from the VTL board.]

Patten and his friends soon became busy with the fruitless task of electing Happer, Lang, and Zavodnyik. Now and then, several of them would drop in on the monthly VTL meetings. One of them objected to the two Young Professionals who were sitting in on meetings to become acquainted with VTL. [I have no idea what he is talking about or who Budway thinks my so-called friends are in this context. I was unaware of any Young Professionals attending as I was not attending during the time Budway says I was, but I would hardly have objected. Hell, I once invited Thor Trammell to the meetings and later suggested to him that he take a run at city council.]

Another, a member of the Chamber, accused the Young Professionals of being spies for the Chamber. [So the VACC is accusing itself of spying on itself and the VTL? WTF? Does Budway's retirement package include psych benefits? The VTL has always had open meetings. How one could spy by attending an open meeting is beyond me. Budway used to accuse John Simmonds of spying on the VTL when Simmonds would attend the open meetings, so go figure.] It became obvious that they were restive and spoiling for action in future. [Those voices in your head again, Gary? They're real. The whole world really is out to get you. Green monsters from space, too]

By the end of the November elections, they approached Herb, who had stopped attending either VTL or Council meetings, and was looking dragged out and drained. Nevertheless, they approached him with the idea of taking over the VTL, or, if that were not possible, forming a new organization. And this they eventually managed to do. [Other way around -- Levine approached us because he had had it up to his eyebrows with "the schmuck." Moreover, it was Levine who threatened Budway with legal action if Budway did not resign from the VTL presidency.]

Now that John has achieved his ambition of taking over a VTL of sorts, he has accused Rosemary (the VTL Secretary) and me of stealing $500 from VTL funds. [No, I accused you of stating that you were going to pocket the funds, because you did say that in front of plenty of witnesses.] This is ludicrous. During the 2009 Council elections, we each donated money to the VTL/PAC to pay for ads in favor of Bennett and Koszarski, as there was little in the PAC. A few of the ads were not run in the proper order, and the Herald Tribune refunded $500 of what we had paid in. Later, we shut down the PAC and left the money in the VTL bank account for future use. [You took PAC money and did what? Are you freakin' kidding me? You reported it? No? Why not? Do you have any idea what you just admitted to, Budway? You tokk PAC money, transferred it to the VTL account, then wrote checks to yourself and Vauzanges? Have you lost your mind? No, nothing funny going on here, folks, honest, we're just re-imagining campaign financing laws the Christine O'Donnell way. Yo, Gary: if you ever wanted proof that you are a complete and total dumbass, it is in the above paragraph. How's that foot taste?]

No ads were run in 2010, as by then the VTL was non-political, no dues were coming in, and it was obvious that the VTL was a dead duck. I took my $250 and gave it to the Salvation Army for Thanksgiving dinners for Venice residents, and delivered the receipt to Sun Newspapers. After some thought, Rosemary has decided to donate her $250 to Our Mothers House, a charity sponsored by the Archdiocese of Venice. [The plain fact is that Budway stated in front of Herb Levine, Mike Gelormino, Jim Leis, myself, and several others that he was going to gut the treasury of the VTL and pocket the money, this without any board in place to authorize or negate such a gift. Levine told him to go ahead, it'd be a cheap way to get rid of him. I laughed and agreed. There was never any talk of filing a criminal complaint, Budway is just being nutty paranoid. We just wanted him to go. Now Budway is changing his story -- now he says he gave the money away. Whatever.]


If Mr. Patten still believes me guilty of a felony and can talk some law enforcement agency into coming to my home to take me away, I would remind him that I retired from the Michigan Department of Corrections as Corrections Supervisor, still have my own handcuffs, and officers won’t have to bring any with them since they can use mine! Everyone who knows me knows I am truthful to the point of being blunt, and neither Rosemary nor I need the $250 we supposedly stole. However, given the ill-mannered, vindictive, and ignorant anonymous letters posted on John’s blog, I guess we shouldn't’t be overly surprised at such a calumny given the usual conversational tone of the web site. [Calumny? That dog-eared thesaurus is getting a workout. Again, without authorization of a non-existent board, Budway admits that he pocketed the money. What he did with it after I called him out on it is irrelevant -- that money had no business being routed through his personal account.]

Now that the old VTL is no more, the Venice Neighborhoods Coalition, which was folded into the VTL as a Committee when Sue Lang, its founder, was elected to Council, has been taken over by Gulf Coast Residents. It is my hope that the new and improved VTL is successful, and can approach the City’s problems with thought, consideration, and room for a differing point of view. [Translation: Budway hopes that everyone who abandoned him, which included the entire board and membership of the VTL, dies in a fire] Its organizers claim that some will join them, but some have disputed the claim. I wish the best for those who do join, although I find it unbelievable that someone other than a Venice taxpayer will become its President, regardless of his political connections. Herb was adamant that members of the VTL be Venice citizens, although others were always invited to attend meetings and offer suggestions. [Herb was adamant about no such thing -- long term vice president under Herb, Ray Lesko, was a Nokomis resident.]

I wish to thank the Gondolier for allowing me a Guest Column to answer Mr. Patten’s charges. In conclusion, I would like to add that if an officer under my command had submitted such windy ramblings to me, I would have sent him off to Night School to learn how to write a well-organized Column without invective, fabrications, and slanderous commentary. [As Herb said in his last words to you, "Don't go away mad, Gary, just go away." Thanks for playing, now here's a copy of our home game.]

Gary Budway
1953 Settlement Road
Venice, Fl. 34285
941-488-7614