Hans Ottinot
By Tom Lauder
Tamarac interim city attorney Hans Ottinot failed to disclose his recent role as a paid political consultant and campaign manager, records show.
This is the second instance of Ottinot failing to tell Tamarac officials about his outside consulting work. Last month, REDBROWARD revealed Hans Ottinot failed to disclose his lucrative legal consulting contract with the City of North Miami when applying for the permanent city attorney position.
REDBROWARD obtained a November 2020 contract between HLA Consulting Group LLC and the City of North Miami for legal consulting on matters involving private/public partnership developments and other land use issues.
HLA Consulting Group LLC receives $2,500 per month for the contract, which runs through September 2021. Florida business records show Hans Ottinot created HLA Consulting Group LLC in November 2020.
A review of Hans Ottinot’s bid to be the permanent Tamarac City Attorney shows no mention of HLA Consulting Group LLC or its lucrative deal with the City of North Miami. Ottinot’s paperwork also lacks any mention of his work as a paid political consultant.
HERE COMES THE JUDGE
Official campaign treasurer reports show Hans Ottinot and his wife were paid political consultants for Broward County Judge Phoebe Francois for her 2020 election. The records show Judge Francois paid Hans Ottinot $7,500 for his consulting work. Ottinot’s wife, Margarita Francois Ottinot, was paid $7,000 for consulting on Judge Francois’s campaign.
In addition to the $7,000 consulting fee, Margarita Francois Ottinot was paid $3,000 for “early voting” and another $3,000 for “election day.” One would think Hans Ottinot would brag about his election victory, not to mention his family’s $20,500 haul.
Yet, Ottinot never mentioned this payday in his city attorney paperwork.
Perhaps Hans Ottinot thought it was weird that his opponents for the permanent City of Tamarac attorney position helped make the Ottinot family $20,500 haul possible.
The campaign treasurer records show State Representative Dotie Joseph made a small contribution to Judge Phoebe Francois. As REDBROWARD exposed last month, Dotie Joseph is listed as a member of the Ottinot Law firm in the proposal submitted to the City of Tamarac. According to its website, she is also listed as an attorney with the Austin Pamies Norris Weeks Powell firm.
Austin Pamies Norris Weeks Powell is hoping to be the next Tamarac city attorney.
Michelle Pamies of the Austin Pamies Norris Weeks Powell firm made a $500 contribution to Judge Phoebe Francois.
Burnadette Norris Weeks P.A. made a $350 contribution to Judge Phoebe Francois. Burnadette Norris Weeks was the former attorney for Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes.
Another Tamarac City Attorney hopeful, Michael Garcia, is also listed as an attorney on the Austin Pamies Norris Weeks Powell website.
Why does Hans Ottinot fail to disclose his significant business dealings to the City of Tamarac officials?
The Mayor, the City Commission, and the City Manager need to know about matters which may pose a conflict of interest, right?
Why are so many of the law firms seeking the Tamarac city attorney job interconnected?
Is everyone on Team Dale Holness?
Tamarac voters deserve to know, right?
Who will come to the defense of Tamarac residents and business owners?
Originally reprinted with permission from RedBroward.com.
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