MASON CITY – The exodus from American Realty in Mason City continues, after a long-time realtor and wife of a city councilman quit her job there to move on to greener pastures.
Abigail Lee announced this week that she is gone from American Realty, which is owned by city councilwoman Jean Marinos and her husband, Jim. Lee is the wife of councilman John Lee. She has been a realtor since 2007, when she started out with American Realty.
Now, Lee has had enough of American Realty, and sources say the two sides may not have parted ways amicably. Lee was promptly deleted from the American Realty website after quitting, and NIT is told there was a disagreement over commissions or payments totaling thousands of dollars owed to Lee in a real estate deal – and Mrs. Lee was irate. Records show Mrs. Lee reserved a domain name for her business website in April – so her plot to get away from Jean Marinos has been in motion for weeks, at least.
In announcing her new business – Lee Realty – Abigail Lee went all out on social media Wednesday.
“Big news to announce… I’m driven, excited, motivated, and ready to work harder than I ever have before!!” Abigail Lee exclaimed Wednesday via social media. She is feverishly building her business, and chances are, it won’t be good news for American Realty once she snaps up their potential customers. (She can be reached at 641-512-2208 if you are looking to buy or sell a house.)
So, not only did Mrs. Lee quit, she has become a big-time competitor of her former bosses. Realtors have left American Realty in recent years – and they don’t appear to be getting replaced. There used to be a dozen or more realtors working in that office. However, a number of them quit on Jean Marinos and formed Exit Realty, which appears to be going strong. Now, American Realty’s website shows only 5 realtors working there, and two of them are the owners.
Now that Abigail Lee has spurned Jean Marinos, some are wondering, will this rift cause trouble for the Mason City council? Will John Lee and Jean Marinos be able to get along, or will personal business – anger, perhaps? – get in the way? We’ve seen a divided council before. It’s entertaining, to say the least. Could this scenario rapidly descend upon city hall, causing even more chaos there?
For Abigail Lee, one local business owner issued a warning.
“If I’m Abigail Lee, I’m watching my back and keeping an ear to the ground, listening real close,” said NIT Publisher Matt Marquardt.
“I used to do business with Jean Marinos. She decided once she got back into politics, that she didn’t like me, she didn’t like NIT, just because I gave other council members a voice. She rudely and abruptly ceased doing business with me, all because I (very politely) asked her some questions about her election. Pretty soon, I found out (before and after) she was elected to the city council, she was going around talking to my advertisers. She had the mayor with her, and they went to see my biggest advertiser, told him to shut his ad down. It was a dirty trick – illegal, really – and very, very sleazy. I just hope Mrs. Lee is ready for the possible fallout from crossing Jean Marinos.”
I love how you are your own source! Great journalism that lends credence to this site! Do you quote yourself regularly in conversation and use air quotes?
Glad you like it. Keep on coming back everyday to read NIT and learn a thing or two. Your mom will be proud at how enlightened you will become.
Interesting Information.
Speaking of Jean Marinos. The city has property in the 1200/1300 block of birch drive on the north side. Over the years it has been used for the police firing range, a place for the city to store trees that it has cut down, and there’s even a much unused park there. I’ve heard from a reliable source that Marinos forced the city to close the tree dump because she owns property on the east side of it. That area is somewhat wet, so when she was developing the area she dug a trench from her…
@Allen-Now why do you think she wants to be on the council? She is gone more than she is there but it lets her control things for her business. The sheeple keep electing her.
It’s not uncommon for elected city council members or the mayor – especially here in Mason City – to begin to use office for their personal gain or benefit. We have already seen Bookmeyer steal stamps and invitations and commandeer city staff to set up his personal meetings. The man’s a crook and he got EXPOSED right here on NIT. Janet Solberg got a “no parking” sign put in front of her insurance office on 2nd Street NE; it has no business being there, and no one in city hall can explain how it got there. She wanted her streets paved, too, and tried to bully a church. Worst of all, she wants to sell insurance policies, and tried to take over all the business in city hall. She is the absolute worst example of an elected official you will EVER FIND. Travis Hickey, we all know he wanted his house and garage expansion to go smooth. He got elected and was right into the ZBA to make sure the wheels were greased for his garages, and then he never even followed through with their ruling. HE IS BREAKING THE LAW! And getting away with it scott free. As for Jean Marinos, well, she’s a big landlord. Of course she wants to make sure things go smooth for her business. I guarantee that’s why she ran for office (and to try to keep Max out). City staff will NEVER mess with her as long as she is on the council. It’s a license to steal! This can trickle down even to people the mayor/council put on boards and commissions. Why is MATT DODGE on the human rights commission, really? Did he not get the treatment he needed in Kansas City? Must not have! Now he’s on the commission, and will never face a case against him again as long he is there. CONTROL FROM THE INSIDE, CORRUPT FROM THE INSIDE. It’s called scandal, it’s called corruption, it’s called sleazy politics.
@Matt-It has been that way in this town forever. It was a little better under Bang but He had Weaver and Nelson keeping him honest. Besides, as mayors went Roger wasn’t a bad guy. Now Bookey has stacked the council with yes people who always does exactly what he wants and he keeps them in line by letting them get away with corruption. It is called “knowing where the body is buried. Lee and Kuhen show signs of a little independence but are over ruled so why fight when you know in advance you…
“and no one in city hall can explain how it got there” I’ll tell you how it got there. I know for a fact, that any sign placed on any city street has to be approved by the city council. The post office put a no left turn sign on the parking, at the exit of the drive up drop box next to the PO building. It was not approved by the council so down it came. Even city employees cannot place signs on city right of ways in order to do their jobs more efficiently without council approval. Oh the…
Oh the… power of elected officials, if you can call them that…
No parking signs and their addresses have to be listed in the city code….
I looked in the city code and I couldn’t find any kind of list that you are talking about. Could you post the section number of the code where this information is. I’d be interested in reading it.
The Marinos’s no longer have an interest in that property. They sold it to Mike Momberg.
Who was your biggest advertiser might I ask?
My sources say they went to more than one – either together or separately – and I’d rather not mention them at this time. You – and many, many more people – may get a chance later to find out all about it.