Caloosa Residents Say Acosta Donor Hansen Abuses Code Enforcement; Hansen Blames Weinbergers' 'Dirty Tricks'

CALOOSA, FL—Amid a heated Republican primary for state House District 94, Caloosa residents are complaining that Don Hansen, a donor and fundraiser for the pro-private property candidate Christian Acosta, has abused code enforcement to "harass" the neighborhood.

Hansen, a former Board of Directors member for the Caloosa Property Owners Association, denies the allegations, claiming that Acosta’s opponent, Meg Weinberger, and her team have impersonated him to code enforcement to “dirty” his image.

Residents tell a different story.

Former three-term board member Matt Kanter told The Floridian that the 80-year-old had reported him three times and claimed Hansen had called code enforcement “10, 20, 30 times on other people.” He then criticized Hansen for "weaponizing" code enforcement as a form of "control." Kanter also said that Hansen was asked by multiple residents to stop calling code enforcement on residents and Hansen refused.

“Don is a huge problem—there are very few people that I would have ill will toward,” said Kanter, a former police officer, before adding that he will likely run for the board again because many are "in Don's pocket".

"If he called me and said he was having a heart attack, I would probably hang up, and I was a first responder for a big part of my life," said Kanter.

“Dirty tricks, bullying the community”

Hansen, for his part, has hosted two fundraisers for Acosta while he and his family have donated $2,050 to the former nuclear engineer's campaign. On one flyer for such an event, Hansen wrote that Acosta has been "standing up to Code Enforcement and the County Commission for two years.” 

He maintains that he's only made three code enforcement complaints during his tenure as a board member—disputing Kanter's claim—alleging that someone in the Weinberger camp has used his name to file additional complaints.

“Someone was using my name to dirty my image while I was on the board,” Hansen said, insisting that he has not called in a complaint member while he was a board member. “Some people said that Mr. Weinberger got [the code enforcement director] to do it and used my name. I’m not accusing him, I’m just saying that’s what the sources have said.” 

He slammed the Weinbergers for the “dirty tricks” and “bullying the community”, and claimed they’re retaliating against him because he’s putting out signs for Acosta.

But this makes very little sense as Hansen’s complaints to code enforcement occurred well before Meg Weinberger of
Christian Acosta every declared their candidacy for the Florida State House of Representatives.

Kanter, who supports Weinberger, was skeptical: “I don’t know Acosta, but if he knew about this shit he’d do something about it. I have to assume he’s not this sleazy," he added.

Acosta refused to comment on “private citizens” and instead discussed his pro-private property platform, which he says is mostly directed at non-HOA areas governed by the city commission.

“The commission can put restrictions on what kind of vehicles you can have on your property and exit onto a roadway with, and that may make it difficult for certain home businesses,” he told The Floridian, explaining that he would take on a mediating role between residents and the commission. “I want to help people navigate what the commission allows and expand within reason what people are allowed to do on their property.”

According to Palm Beach County code enforcement records, a "Donald Hansen" had formally filed ten total complaints between 2020 and 2023.

"Nuts," "Nasty," "Sick"

Other Caloosa residents aren’t convinced by Hansen’s claims, with one resident, who asked to go by “Anthony” for fear of retaliation, telling The Floridian that Hansen allegedly called code enforcement 11 times on him and 60 times in one month. 

“I went to a hearing three weeks ago and they said he called code enforcement on over 31 residents. He's crazy! He's sick in the head,” said Anthony, describing an incident where Hansen allegedly moved his fence 12 feet without Anthony's permission while he was on vacation. Code enforcement was not able to corroborate how many times Hansen had called—only how many times he filed a complaint.

Retiree John Wareham told The Floridian that he experienced a similar fencing issue, one that required him to pay over $30,000 after Hansen had him move his fence from the “survey stakes that had been in the ground for 40 years” and then again, but this time by one inch.

“He’s an absolute nightmare. He has harassed me so bad, parking on my property and taking pictures,” Wareham said.

Residents Anthony Leon, who moved to the area four years ago, and Dari Carter, who has lived in Caloosa for over 40 years, both told The Floridian that Hansen is “nasty” and “nuts”, complaining that he has violations of his own that go seemingly unnoticed by the board. 

“I reported him to code enforcement, and I’ve never done that to anyone before,” Carter, a semi-retired CPA, said. She said he had a zero-lot line on his property, which requires board approval, so Hansen wrote to the board and asked permission. The letter was approved—by Hansen himself. 

“He goes after people and then he doesn’t follow the rules himself. He’s very arrogant,” she said, adding that she paid around $1,000 to comply with an RV violation that she says she wasn't given proper notice of. 

Leon, who was also reported by Hansen, agreed, slamming him for being a “pain in the ass” who’s on a “power trip.”

"I don't need this shit..."

Except for Carter, all residents that The Floridian spoke to alleged that Hansen is vehemently against Weinberger, citing that most Weinberger signs on Caloosa Boulevard have been “run over”—all blame Hansen. One sign was vandalized with “Grab her P%SSY” written on it.

“Don Hansen is the number one suspect,” Leon said. 

“Everybody’s saying it’s Don Hansen. I don’t know, but I wouldn’t put it past him because that’s the type of person he is and that’s the kind of stuff he does,” Wareham agreed.

“There’s no question in my mind that Don ran over the Meg Weinberger signs—I can’t prove it, but I know it was him,” said Kanter.

As for Hansen?

“I never touched her signs, I don’t want anything to do with her or her signs,” he said. “I’m 80 years old…I don’t need this shit.”

Florida's primary election is August 20.