Dude, Where's Julian's Car?

The warning signs in evidence outside of the Aventura Target., just a few blocks south of the Hallandale Beach City Hall.
Who would've ever guessed this was the gold standard?
June 13, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier


I actually posted some of this last night but pulled the photos later in the evening so that I could make the story complete.
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Before I left the house yesterday for the Hallandale Beach Cultural Center for the Special Joint Meeting of the City of Hollywood & City of Hallandale Beach City Commissions there, I was of a mind to make a prediction to all of you.

It's one that I could've made months ago or even last week, and been all but certain of being proven correct about.

I say this only because it's hard not to notice a curious situational behavior that occurs week-after-week, month-after-month, year-after-year....

And when the person engaging in this odd and noticeable behavior is someone who's always quick to lecture or harangue others about matters of ethics, or even the appearance of impropriety, well, you could say that it really rankles those of us who've been paying close attention for a while.

People like South Beach Hoosier, the one-man band at Hallandale Beach Blog.

Makes you wonder how everyone else in the city could see the same thing and just wink at it,
like it's nothing to take note of, or that nothing can be done.

But that's hard for SBH to do, especially given the particular track record of the person involved
with regard to ethics, appearances and propriety of the person at fault.
http://www.ethics.state.fl.us/opinions/06/CEO%2006-005.htm

The person in question is Hallandale Beach Vice Mayor William Julian, who continually uses
the city-operated security camera system as if it were designed and created for his exclusive use when it comes to the matter of where he parks his car.

Yes, the William Julian who was the instigator of the pay raise grab last year in which he tried to triple the pay of commissioners while away from the public's view.
See my July 31, 2007 post Come for the HB Pay Raise Grab, but Stay for the Fireworks!

That not only violated the spirit and meaning of Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine Law, but made Hallandale Beach a state and national laughingstock, and the butt of jokes for months afterwards in South Florida about it's lackadaisical stance towards governance and the rule of law.
http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/main/b2f05db987e9d14c85256cc7000b28f6!OpenDocument

(Which, as noted here many times, continued with the odd behavior of Police Chief Thomas Magill trying to railroad two of his own officers, and the other questionable and substandard police policies and procedures which he is largely but not solely responsible for.

That the city's Police Dept. was "Accredited" last year, despite what we now know about its many shortcomings, only speaks to the lackluster levels of investigation that go into determining a police dept.'s level of professionalism.
It takes more than a sticker on a police car to make the Police Dept. professional.

For more on that, see my April 14th post, "Dial M for Magill" -and mendacity! and my January 19th post Hallandale Beach Blog Time Machine: August 2006 and http://www.topix.com/content/trb/2008/01/hallandale-beach-to-pay-to-settle-one-of-two-former-police-officers-lawsuits )

The first few photos below were taken by South Beach Hoosier on February 29th, 2008 at the all-day City Commission/CRA meeting at the HB Cultural Center, but they could have just as easily been taken at many other meetings and activities held there.

Those include the recent city Hurricane Forum, which, not surprisingly, given the very poor job of promotion the city did, was much smaller than expected, which even the eternally-optimistic South Florida Sun-Times felt at pains to point out, and which Channel Ten's Rob Schmidt said in his report that night.



In each and every one of these situations, rather than using good judgement AND the reserved parking space that he and the other members of the commission have, in his case, right next to Mayor Joy Cooper's spot on the south side of the City Hall, near the sidewalk which connects to the Post Office, Julian consciously chooses to park his car so that it is directly beneath the city's security camera.

There's plenty of parking available and he has a reserved spot, but it's not good enough for him.

Clearly there are special rules in the city for William Julian.

As I've mentioned in this space before, those particular security cameras, like their cousins in the general City Hall area, like the public parking lot to the east of City Hall near his reserved parking space, DON'T have a single warning sign anywhere near them saying something simple like "Security Cameras In Use."

That's the simple but clear warning written on the signs near the cameras in the nearby Aventura Target parking lot, once they were erected.

It's been months since those security cameras were erected on HB city property and yet you'd never spot a single sign, as is common sense and practice in the rest of the country.

And even worse, in a City Hall where so little attention to detail is paid, as I've stated here months ago, the parking lot light closest to the security camera nearest the east-side entrance of City Hall, has been out since before the camera was installed.

So much for follow-through and common sense.

If you're going to put up cameras, how about you actually making sure they get the best possible picture, instead of having them be in the dark?

The view of William Julian's car as you exit via the sidewalk entrance to the Hallandale Beach Cultural Center, taken prior to the lunch break of that day-long meeting.

Front view of Julian car taken during the lunch break.


Here, still on that lunch break, you can more clearly see that Julian's car is parked directly below the city's security camera, which is mounted on the white street light pole.

Is Julian afraid of parking his car in the city parking lot that has dozens of Hallandale Beach Police cars just feet away?

If so, then how should regular Hallandale Beach residents feel about the possibility of crime?


On another day, all the stars are aligned in this photo.
Bravo!

June 5, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

The reserved parking spaces here clearly say Mayor and Vice Mayor.

Across the street is the U.S. Post Office.

So why the confusion?

June 5th, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

On my way over to the public library next door, I see that, as usual, it's just another day of parking in front of Hallandale Beach City Hall for as long as you want, without a care in the world.

Or a worry that a Hallandale Beach policeman might actually give you a warning or a ticket.

But if the city intentionally doesn't put up a sign saying "Tow Away Zone, Emergency Vehicles Only," as would be the case in any other normal city or town, even in South Florida, then everyone gets to pretend that the Fire Trucks and ambulances can just fly or hover over these cars.

And that they won't really be in the way of emergency vehicles.

I've often seen cars parked like this for 3-4 hours even with plenty of parking nearby.

June 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

After mailing something next door at the Post Office, on my over to the Joint City of Hollywood and City of Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting, I notice that some people can park where their assigned spots actually are.

June 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

After the joint city meeting was over and I was walking out...

Guess what I spotted?

June 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

So long 'till next time!

For more, see William Julian

As they say, this is but the tip of the iceberg of the craziness that masquerades as normalcy in Hallandale Beach.

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FYI: The only known public punishment for Messers Julian, Dorothy Ross and Fran Schiller for violating the law was this being posted.

Dorothy Ross is running for re-election to the commission.

www.hallandalebeach.org/DocumentView.asp?DID=359

In the Hallandale Beach workshop on Community Redevelopment ...

For Immediate Release-
Hallandale Beach Commissioner Raise Revoked

Hallandale Beach, FL-In a publicly noticed Special Meeting of the Hallandale Beach City Commission on Community Redevelopment, Housing, and Growth Management held Friday afternoon, Vice Mayor Bill Julian made a motion to revoke the salary increase approved by the Commission earlier in the week. Commissioner Dorothy Ross seconded the motion and the vote carried 5-0.

Julian, who has been a commissioner since 2001 and a resident since 1955 says, “Working for the public of Hallandale Beach is one of the greatest pleasures of my life. Growing up here and being part of evolving process of the city is extremely rewarding. Monetary compensation, although important, is not the primary objective.”

Currently, Commissioners make $20,500 for the year. “I made the decision to increase the commission’s pay based upon the tremendous increase in the Commission’s workload due to the rapid growth of the City. I have spent the majority of my life in the City of Hallandale Beach. In addition to my service as a Commissioner, I have devoted countless hours to this Community as a Board member of the Broward County Historical Commission, the Broward Trust for Historical Preservation, as an advisor to the Hallandale Historic Preservation Board and as well as many other civic service organizations. I truly did not anticipate the reaction of my Community and would never have proposed this action if I had. I would never do anything to harm this City or Community and therefore I felt compelled to ask the Commission today to revoke our prior action.” Vice Mayor William Julian. Julian’s dedication and service to the residents is well known throughout the community. His past record shows extensive service to the military as well with three honorable discharges from the U.S. Air Force.

Mayor Joy Cooper who has commented openly about the raise notes, “I commend my fellow Commissioners and am extremely pleased that through their own introspection they have determined that an increase in Commissioners’ salaries would not be in the best interest of the City or the Community at this time.”

“I would never do anything to harm this City or Community and therefore I felt compelled to ask the Commission today to revoke our prior action”, concludes Vice Mayor William Julian.