John Hinson gave thirty years to the City of Miami and retired an electrical inspector, having worked across the departments in that time — building, code enforcement, electrical. Leslie’s word for what he carries out of all that is encyclopedic.
Specification
- Career
- Thirty years, City of Miami
- Retired as
- Electrical inspector
- Known Leslie since
- 1994
- Away from buildings
- Restores antique cars from the sixties
John Hinson read this page and approved it on 21 August 2026. The account of how he and Leslie met is Leslie Gratz’s own, in his own words. The rest is the build team’s account; nothing else here is attributed to him as speech. There are no photographs of him on this site — this page does not borrow one.
From the build team
Mr John was always very attentive, present, and with critical feedback. You can tell when people have seen it all.
With all his experience in the City of Miami and his ability to advise, we received a tremendous amount of feedback, guidance and generational knowledge.
Academia Development Corp — general contractor
The one Leslie has been calling for thirty years.
He and Leslie met in 1994, over the first property Leslie ever bought in Miami. Leslie tells it better than we would, so here it is in his words:
I needed to connect my building to the finished service panel. I went to the city and asked them to tell me who I can talk to about my building. They directed me to Insp. Hinson. When I called him next day at 7:30 — when all inspectors were required to answer their office phone, the good old days — he told me to meet him at the property. After I introduced myself he told me that he knows about the building, and got me an electrician who connected me in 24 hours. The really good old days.
That was thirty years ago and they have been friends since. Retirement did not end it; Leslie still calls him about every problem he has. Away from buildings he restores antique cars, and keeps several from the sixties.
He is on this site because a house gets built by more people than sign the contract, and leaving him off would be a thinner account than the true one.
