The Works in Public Works

A poster advertising the 1998 movie "Palmetto" declares, "In a town this bad it's no use being good."

That could describe 2002 to 2008 in the city of Palmetto.

During those heady days, the go-to guy there was Chris Lukowiak, the city's director of public works. He and his wife Tanya were definitely the new power couple in town, with Chris heading public works and Tanya serving as the director of Palmetto's Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA).

Need a permit? See Chris. Compliance issues with the state? Talk to the Lukowiaks. Zoning problems? No problem.

How did Chris Lukowiak, a hardscrabble, profane veteran of the gritty mean streets of Newark, N.J., become a key player in a billion-dollar house of cards?

Newark taught the 16-year-old high school dropout how to survive. When Uncle Salvatore Juliano, the director of Newark's sanitation division from 1980 to 1986, hired Chris and his brother Anthony, they leaped at the chance to get the American Dream of wealth and power.

Rising from tractor operator to supervisor and then superintendent, Chris Lukowiak worked for Newark's Sanitation Division from 1983 until 1995.

However, Juliano was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison (NY Times article, Nov. 16, 1996) for diverting more than $7 million in city money during his time in office. The recipients of the payouts were purported to be businessmen and organized crime figures linked to the Lucchese crime family in return for more than $500,000 in kickbacks.

Chris's brother Anthony became the manager of Newark's Division of Sanitation, supervising  nearly 300 employees. In 2006, Anthony Lukowiak pled guilty (opens to the web site of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey) to accepting $24,000 in payments from a waste-hauling company in exchange for favors and was sentenced to 45 months in prison.

Moving south

Meanwhile, Chris Lukowiak obtained a divorce from his wife and moved to Florida in 2000 to start a new life with his new friend, Tanya Davis, as Hernando County's Waste Operations Manager.

On Sept. 8, 2003, Mayor Larry Bustle hired Lukowiak as the director of Palmetto's Public Works Department, with a starting salary of $55,796.

Lukowiak used his city cell phone at least twice, on April 12, 2006, and then again two days later, to take a call from John Vitiello, aka Johnny Rhino, an indicted Newark organized crime figure (violation: city policy 4.05L).

When Lukowiak would light a cigarette in the Public Works building (violation: Florida Statutes, Section 386.201), several employees expressed dismay at his obvious disdain for the law. When he was finished with the cigarette, many alleged he would extinguish it on the newly installed carpet.

Lukowiak played a key role in facilitating the advancement of developers' agendas to join the building boom. In less than two years, towering structures were built on the shores of the Manatee River. With each groundbreaking ceremony, there were new promises of bigger projects.

The party collapsed with the housing bust. A stalled economy canceled multi-million-dollar projects in Manatee County, including Regatta Place, River Song, University Town Center, Ellenton's Prime Outlets expansion, Parrish Plantation, and Bradenton's Downtown City Center and Metro Marquee projects.

Bustle, in his performance appraisal of Lukowiak, raved about his executive skills.

"Chris is the 'Go-To' person to get things done," Bustle wrote in praise of Lukowiak in September 2008. "Highly respected by his employees. Outstanding overall performance."

In a 2007 appraisal of Lukowiak, the mayor wrote: "Works employee problems quickly and fairly. Can be counted on to do things right the first time."

The power couple

Opposites do attract. Two more different people could not be found than Chris Lukowiak, a high school dropout, who towers over his petite wife, Tanya, a West Point graduate.

"Chris is real outgoing and a likeable person," says Charles Smith, the director of the CRA Advisory Board. "However, Tanya is evasive and defensive."

The Palmetto Police responded to a domestic disturbance dispute on March 28, 2007, when Chris Lukowiak took a baseball bat to Tanya's Chrysler Crossfire. Charges were dismissed.

In 2008, when Bustle ran for the Manatee County Commission, that left the door open for Lukowiak to replace him as mayor. Bustle raised $117,461 in political contributions and Lukowiak raised $47,513, with both sharing many of the same developers' and contractors' financial support.

The 2008 mayor race was a doozy, with accusations of fraud and incompetence hurled between Lukowiak and his opponents, Shirley Groover Bryant and Eric Ball. Bryant, a former city commissioner, drew support from voters demanding reform in City Hall.

To many voters, a bookkeeper like Bryant seemed to be the right choice to get the city's books in order. Eric Ball gave up his seat on the City Commission to run for mayor, promising to end the urban sprawl that was threatening Palmetto's small-town character.

Letter accepting Lukowiak's resignation. Click for PDF (487 KB).

During the heated mayoral race, a city truck with campaign signs was photographed, with a city employee distributing Lukowiak campaign signs (violation: city policy 4.04D).

One day before the Nov. 4 election, Lukowiak submitted his resignation as the director of Public Works. A letter from Bustle followed Lukowiak's resignation, accepting the resignation "...with regret" he wrote. "Your support has been invaluable to me during the years I served as mayor."

Bryant won the mayoral race with 50.38 percent of the vote to Lukowiak's 35.95 percent and Eric Ball's 13.67 percent.

Coming tomorrow: Animal House - Public Works employees allege an "Animal House" atmosphere in the city's offices during business hours.

From yesterday:  The Mayor’s Aide - Service academy veterans find their place in Palmetto.