Tuesday, November 24, 2009

All is not as picturesque at Mallory Square's Sunset Celebration as the tie-dyed sky would lead some to believe.

The nightly gathering of performers, artists and food vendors has been marred recently by a disturbance among the sunset denizens, and likely will result in a lawsuit being filed by longtime tightrope walker and Mallory Square mainstay Will Soto, who has been performing at the venue for 33 years.

Soto said he was escorted off the pier by police three times at the beginning of the month after some of his fellow performers claimed he was not following the group's rules and thus was trespassing.

"The police were very sweet, and I told them I would leave voluntarily because I knew they shouldn't be involved in what was an internal, civil matter," Soto told The Citizen Friday. "We're going to have to end up in court over this."

Mark Riggs, a unicyclist who is the chairman of the Cultural Preservation Society board, which leases the pier from the city each night, said on Monday that Soto was removed from the pier because he was rude "and cursed out our pier manager."

Soto said his right to be the first performer to select a setup spot each night was grandfathered 15 years ago into the guidelines that govern the Cultural Preservation Society (CPS), the group that coordinates the Sunset Celebration.

Riggs emphasized that no one wants Soto to leave the sunset celebration, but tensions are high given the longevity of several other performers, who also want preferential treatment in the selection of performance locations.

Each night before sunset, the performers choose their locations based on a lottery system. But Soto's seniority has allowed him to choose his spot first each evening, and thus set up his tightrope show at the water's edge.

"It all boils down to a couple of performers trying to pick their spots ahead of me," said Soto, who called his attorney, Richard Klitenick, after his removal from the pier.

Klitenick immediately sent a letter to the board members and its two paid pier managers. He sent copies of the letter, along with an e-mail message, to City Manager Jim Scholl, City Attorney Shawn Smith and Police Chief Donie Lee.

In the e-mail message, Klitenick explained that the CPS, which leases Mallory Square from the city each night, did not follow its own rules when board members eliminated Soto's "grandfathered" status, "resulting in embarrassment and loss of income, as well as creating a very negative image of our city to the throngs of visitors attending the Sunset Celebration."

He asked the Police Department to treat the situation as a civil matter and compared it to a typical landlord-tenant dispute.

As a result, Soto said, Scholl visited Mallory Square on Nov. 13 and told the performers and pier managers to stop calling the police and to settle the matter with lawyers rather than law enforcement.

Soto has resumed work, but said there is tension among the performers and the CPS board, which is headed by Riggs.

"Some new guys who don't like Will have assumed control," Klitenick said Friday. "They've got some renegade people down there who are changing the rules without following their own rules."

According to the group's lease with the city, any rule changes must be approved by city officials, Klitenick said.

The CPS board's recent acts represent a violation of Florida corporate law, and the board members could be liable individually, Klitenick said.

In his formal letter to the board members and pier managers, Klitenick asked to inspect all records of the board for the past two years, and asked that Soto be reimbursed for his five days' of lost income.

"The board and pier managers' actions, if not immediately corrected, will be met with legal action for damages and attorney's fees," Klitenick wrote. "Given that there is likely no officers and directors insurance covering any of you for this malfeasance, especially given that the board chair is a convicted felon ... each and every one of you will bear the entirety of costs, attorneys fees and damages, for which we have been instructed to pursue against you aggressively."

Klitenick was referring to the 2006 arrest of Riggs, the board's chairman, on White Street on charges of possession of heroin with intent to distribute. He was arrested again in 2007 for violation of probation.

Also in 2006, Soto was convicted of marijuana possession.

Klitenick said the board now has exposed itself to liability.

Riggs on Monday said that the board cannot afford attorneys and lawsuits and have recently been acquiescing to Soto's demands, and allowing him to select his spot first.

"We never wanted him not to work," said Riggs, who also said he has been performing at Mallory Square for 13 years.

"Hopefully they'll see the light and stop the black eye that is marking the city's Sunset Celebration," Klitenick said. "Who is a bigger ambassador to the city of Key West than Will Soto? He is the face of sunset."

Klitenick had not received any response from the CPS board or pier managers as of Friday afternoon.

mbolen@keysnews.com