by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
You don’t want a letter from Richard Mette of the State Attorney’s Office. He’s the SAO’s version of TV-12/25’s Ken Amaro — and then some.
Mette is an administrator for the SAO and he’s also the director of the office’s consumer mediation program. As such, Mette is responsible for helping consumers who have been wronged by businesses ranging from car dealers to driveway installers.
But, it’s Mette’s relentless pursuit of an auto repair shop on behalf of a Navy employee that earned a commendation from the United States Navy and high praise from his boss, State Attorney Harry Shorstein. Cmdr. Charles Litchfield sent Mette an official Naval commendation for helping one of Litchfield’s deployed personnel recover his automobile and $3,500 in damages.
The Naval enlistee is a member of the Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light 46 unit based out of Mayport. At the time, the squadron was deployed in Louisiana helping Hurricane Katrina victims. The sailor had left his car with an auto repair shop before being deployed. When he returned, not only was the car not repaired, it was in worse condition than when he left. With Mette’s help, the car was recovered and restitution was paid. Because the shop owner paid through the mediation process, he avoided criminal charges and a possible jail sentence.
“Bad management is not always criminal,” said Mette, who has been with the SAO for 15 years. “It was just a poor person running the business.”
While the job earned recognition for Mette, it’s really another day at the office.
Last year, Mette and his staff helped 329 people recover nearly $200,000 worth of personal property and cash. Nearly every case was handled out of court through a mediation process that aims to bring the consumer face-to-face with the business in question.
To Shorstein, the Naval commendation is an example of the strong ties his office has with the local military.
“What’s so important about this is that we have long had a very close relationship with all the military in Jacksonville,” said Shorstein. “I have a military background and a tremendous number of current and former military on staff as well as many married to members of the military. It’s important in Jacksonville to do everything possible to help our military.
“This is an example of where we have reached out to help the military. It’s a great honor for the State Attorney’s Office as well as Richard.”
Mette said military personnel tend to be easy rip-off or fraud victims because they are usually fairly young, live here on a temporary basis and get off the ships with money in their pockets.
“They are anxious to buy something and they are easy to be taken advantage of,” he said. “We keep an eye on those taking advantage of our military personnel.”
Mette’s work isn’t limited to just military clients. In fact, a majority of his cases involve private citizens. However, if Mette’s involved, there’s a good chance the complaint against a business has reached a level that will get the business owner’s attention. If a letter from the City’s Consumer Affairs division or the local Better Business Bureau didn’t stir the owner to action, it’s a safe bet that correspondence on State Attorney’s Office letterhead will. And, to an extent, that’s what Mette counts on when the two parties meet to resolve the complaint.
“We can resolve things without tying up the court system,” said Mette. “Harry Shorstein is proud of our mediation program. We don’t charge anything. It’s totally free.
“The program is for anybody in the community. The military is just very appreciative because they had nowhere to go before.”
Not every case works out. Occasionally, the business owner isn’t agreeable to mediation or the offense is of a higher degree.
“We can review a case to see if it’s criminal or not, especially after other agencies can’t help,” said Mette. “Some do turn out to be criminal and we send those to our special prosecutor. We try to mediate things in the beginning, but proving criminal intent is key.”