City Hall Stinks

In 1988, he was hired by Eugene Hasenfus, the American mercenary who in 1986 touched off the Iran-Contra scandal when the Sandinista government shot down his plane over Nicaragua. Hasenfus, a former Marine and the plane's cargo handler, was delivering guns to contra rebels who were involved in a bloody civil war. The Wisconsin native parachuted to safety and then revealed details to the Nicaraguans about the U.S. government's involvement in the battle.

Sarnoff sued Southern Air, the Miami-based aviation company once owned by the CIA, on Hasenfus's behalf. He lost, but the case was publicized around the world — and the young lawyer's profile rose. (On the biography page of his city commission website, Sarnoff boasts he "had the honor" of being the soldier-of-fortune's lawyer.)

In 1993, Sarnoff landed another controversial case when he successfully represented Miamian Bruce Wheeland in a divorce from his wife Lucienne. The husband accused her of engaging in frequent unprotected sex with him — while she had AIDS. The case was publicized far and wide, further bolstering Sarnoff's media profile. Eventually Wheeland won $18 million in compensatory damages from his ex-wife's homeowners' insurance policy.

The next dispute arose in February 1999, when Sarnoff spearheaded a move to create a dog park within Blanche Park, at Shipping Avenue and Virginia Street, directly across from his home. A neighborhood group secured $30,000 from Ralston Purina to put in — among other things — landscaping, a kiosk featuring the company's logo, water fountains, and a three-foot-tall chainlink fence. (Sarnoff owns three Bernese Mountain dogs.)

Frank Rollason, who was an assistant city manager at the time, says Sarnoff did not disclose his home was across from the park when he first inquired about it during a neighborhood meeting. "I found out from someone else," Rollason recalls. "I thought it was odd that he never told me himself."

Adds Jason Walker, who at the time was working for Winton: "None of us had any idea that he lived in front of the park, because he didn't tell us."

Four months after the dog park opened in February 2001, a group of Coconut Grove parents, including Sarnoff's next-door neighbor James Cashion, complained to the city that the pooches' green space had taken up too much of the park, leaving only a small patch for the neighborhood children. Cashion cited a plan for the project that included a 50-50 split.

An incensed Sarnoff posted signs in the Purina kiosks calling Cashion and his wife people "who were trying to ruin the dog park for dog lovers." He also circulated a negative letter about Cashion, his spouse, and their eight-year-old daughter. "The letter was so bad my neighbors didn't want to tell me what it said," Cashion says. "That gives you a good picture of the character next door."

Another neighbor, Melissa Meyer, accused Sarnoff and the city of discriminating against black and Hispanic kids who used the park. "He kicked the black kids out," wrote someone named "Emma on Shipping Avenue" in a recent post on a Miami Herald story, "and told them if they wanted to throw a ball in a park, then their parents could get into their cars and drive them to another park."

Rollason adds that Sarnoff was very upset about a basketball hoop the city was going to purchase for the park's kiddie section. "He was worried about bringing in the wrong element to the park," Rollason says. "When I pressed him about what he meant by that, he never really explained himself."

Sarnoff responds he's no racist. He was simply trying to improve his neighborhood. "I always judge a man by the content of his character, not the color of his skin," he proclaims.

He denies retaliating against the Cashions, attributing their squabble to "just some bad feelings between neighbors that went on for a long time."

In September 2004, Sarnoff received a call from his friend Sue McConnell, a soft-spoken Grove resident who has known him for more than eight years. She said Home Depot planned to convert an old Kmart on South Dixie Highway into a massive retail center. Like many of his neighbors, Sarnoff believed the project would invade the unique character of Miami's wealthiest enclave. "He has always been a take-charge kind of guy," McConnell says. "He gets things done."

Soon Sarnoff mobilized Groveites. To persuade commissioners to nix the project, he formed Grove First, a grassroots organization identified by yard signs depicting two palm trees forming an X over the Home Depot logo. The movement collected signatures from 13,000 residents opposed to the project and filled city hall every time Home Depot came up for a vote.

Grove First even produced a documentary in 2005 called Don't Box Me In, which prominently featured Sarnoff. In one scene, the bushy-bearded activist accused Commissioner Winton of doing nothing to stop Home Depot. "Johnny and the mayor let us down," Sarnoff moped on camera.

Though the Home Depot store eventually opened, Grove First remained intact. It entered a slate of candidates for the Coconut Grove Village Council in 2005. The top vote-getter was Sarnoff, who was named village council chairman. "He didn't give a damn if Home Depot went in or not," complains Jason Walker. "He admitted as much in meetings with Home Depot's lawyers and city officials." (Sarnoff, of course, says he never admitted any such thing and cites success in limiting the project.)