Continuing patterns of ethical misconduct and behavior at Hallandale Beach City Hall and environs

What follows, with a few typos from the original now cleaned-up, is a copy of the email that I sent today to Governor Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum about what happened on Wednesday afternoon during lunch at Hallandale Beach City Hall, which has not been reported anywhere in the South Florida media, print or electronic.

That's largely because the people directly involved wanted to keep you in the dark.

Which is precisely why they did what they did, when and where they did it.

But now it'll be a matter that everyone can know about, discuss and analyze.

Now, thanks to my efforts, Hallandale Beach citizens, as well as reporters, editors, politicians and other interested parties all over the state know all about it, and can draw their own conclusions.

Most will see a continuing pattern of ethical misconduct that calls into question the fitness of many
elected officials and government officials at Hallandale Beach City Hall, including the Police Dept.

To those who say that things can't be quite as bad in Hallandale Beach as I've described here in this space in the past, despite all the self-evident proof I've offered, including photographic evidence, I simply say read this: ask yourself after reading it whether it seems like these particular people at Hallandale Beach City Hall are, in fact, committed to taxpayer accountability, transparency in their operations and to upholding the letter and spirit of the laws of this state.

In particular, the Sunshine Laws this state instituted to make sure that state, local and agency officials didn't get to just pick and choose what they would and could do in the performance of their duties. (That's why they are requirements, NOT suggestions.)

In this case, as with so many other examples I could cite, I think the facts are pretty clear that they are not.

Wheels are now being put in motion...
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To: "Gov. Charlie Crist", "Hon. Bill McCollum", cristopengov@eog.myflorida.com

December 5th, 2008
re Continuing patterns of ethical misconduct and behavior at Hallandale Beach City Hall and environs

Dear Governor Crist and Attorney General McCollum:

Happy Holidays!

As a result of an incident that's occurred within the past 48 hours, I find myself unexpectedly writing you two today to share the latest sordid chapter in the seemingly never ending efforts of City of Hallandale Beach elected officials and employees to consciously and (illegally) obfuscate and frustrate HB citizens' right to a reasonable amount of transparency and accountability in their official actions.
Ones clearly outlined in the Florida Constitution as well as in Florida State Statutes.

It's long past time for some old-fashioned lessons in accountability, which is where you and some other interested parties around the state come in.

Honestly, at a certain point, after one is constantly confronted week-after-week, month-after-month with examples of the same disturbing unethical and illegal behavior, not to mention, sheer incompetency at running basic aspects of local government, even public safety, it's hard to just chalk-it up to mere "coincidence."

Simply put, it's NOT a coincidence, it's the way that the folks running Hallandale Beach's City Hall want things to be done.
To think otherwise is to ignore all the accumulated self-evident examples of official misbehavior and misconduct that have taken place over the past few years.

It's quite the laundry list, almost a living, breathing bill of indictment.

This past Wednesday afternoon, December 3rd, in City of Hallandale Beach City Hall conference room 257, that was completely devoid of any citizens, the Hallandale Beach City Commission voted 4-1 on an "Other" item that was NOT listed on the public agenda or the city's own website, and for which no backup materials were provided, despite it being a matter of GREAT concern to this city's citizens and residents.
http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/2008-12-03/Agenda%20Outline%20for%202008-12-03.htm

Result? City Manager Mike Good's contract was renewed without any public input or comment whatsoever.
None!

Commissioner Keith London opposed the item being brought up, noting it was being proposed without adequate public notice, without any backup materials being provided, and without any sort of reasonable explanation given for why an empty room, without an opportunity for citizen input, was the appropriate time and place for a vote on the city manager's future and contract.
His concerns appear both reasonable and logical.

Instead of taking a moment to reflect on what they were really doing, though, Comm. London's warnings were ignored by the rest of the Hallandale Beach City Commission.
I was first told of these events Thursday by Comm. London, who said that the entire discussion and vote on the issue took much "less than two minutes."

In any other community, one would be tempted to say the continuing behavior by the folks at HB City Hall "shocks the conscience of the community."

But here in Hallandale Beach, where I've now lived for five years, we've been regularly "shocked."
But the frequency of the misconduct doesn't lessen the severity of the act or its significance.

To Comm. London's legitimate concerns about the protocol and appropriateness of the matter, Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper replied curtly that the meeting was being recorded, as if that itself was sufficient to cover the intentional mis-direction by the City Manager and four members of City Commission, when Mayor Cooper knows full well that the tape of that portion of the City

Commission meeting is NEVER publicly played on the city's -not community's- channel.
Never, as in never ever!

After all, she's one of the persons who made THAT decision the rule.

That's especially troublesome in a city that has often been as much as NINE MONTHS behind in making the Minutes of their City Commission meetings public, and is notorious for NOT processing requests for public documents in a timely and reasonable fashion.
This has been borne out by recent public testimony, where citizens were literally pulling teeth to get what they were legally entitled to from the city.

Voting for the City Manager's contract under these absurd anti-democratic conditions were Mayor Joy Cooper, Vice Mayor William Julian, Commissioner Dorothy "Dotty" Ross and Commissioner Anthony Sanders.
The sole "No" vote was Commissioner Keith London's.

Frankly, this whole sad episode only further exacerbates HB City Hall's well-earned reputation for cronyism, corruption, excessive and illegal secrecy, and a particular disregard for following existing U.S. and Florida laws -as well as common sense- that is anything but appropriate for the year 2008.

It's as if HB City Hall is a world onto its own, where the normal rules of society and the rest of the country, state and county don't apply.
Or common sense or a sense of propriety.

It's almost as if the huge uproar generated last year by the then-City Commission's vote in secret over lunch -just as was the case Wednesday- spearheaded by Comm. Julian, to more than TRIPLE the salary of part-time commissioners, without any public notice or discussion, NEVER HAPPENED.

But it did, to the great embarrassment and consternation of Hallandale Beach's citizens, who watched and read in stunned amazement at the sheer brazenness of the offenders' efforts to self-enrich themselves, with a defiant braggadocio at being discovered.

Instead of the appropriate contriteness, dribbling out came grand pronouncements like:.
1. "Julian said he had planned to propose an even higher increase. He likened the city to a corporation, and said the pay should be commensurate..."
2. "Other people in this position in the corporate world would be making much more money than we are," Julian said.

And these were just some of the comments from the three commissioners that the reporters could actually get into their papers, NOT all the ones actually said!

What didn't happen last year, though, was any actual formal punishment or sanctions against these elected officials who consciously violated Florida's well-established Sunshine Laws, including Julian, Ross, and then-Commissioner Francine Schiller.

I'm still trying to figure out how that was allowed to happen.
Elected officials consciously break the law and face no punishment?

That lack of punishment being the recent troubling precedent that Hallandale Beach citizens have to mull, and not wanting to see that mistake repeated, in the next few days, I, along with other concerned citizens of Hallandale Beach, will make a formal ethics complaint against the individuals involved Wednesday to the appropriate Florida and Broward County authorities, including the Florida Commission on Ethics and Michael Satz at the Broward County State Attorney's Office.

But I also happen to believe that each of your offices have a salutary and instructive role to play here, and need to be involved in investigating this and previous misconduct in the city, of which there is much to choose from.

Besides the conduct and behavior of Messrs. Good, Cooper, Julian, Ross and Sanders in this matter Wednesday, I also find it extremely troubling that, as was true with last year's embarrassing episode, Hallandale Beach City Attorney David Jove seems to have functioned as little more than a "potted plant" in the room, unable to conduct himself in an appropriate fashion that insures that the letter and spirit of Florida laws are followed, and that the public is properly served.
Once again, David Jove has seriously failed to appreciate his unique role as a legal officer, and, once again, failed the citizens and taxpayers of Hallandale Beach whom he works for and has a duty to.

Before Thanksgiving, I wrote about the importance of re-instilling a climate of ethical behavior among elected officials and government employees in this state, and the very corrosive effect that ethical misdeeds had on all sorts of Quality-of-Life decisions, including business and personal decisions on where to relocate, in that particular case, that problem in South Florida as exhibited recently by the City of Sunrise:

Sunshine may be the best disinfectant, but alone, it's no substitute for highlighting govt. misdeeds if the principals involved aren't invested into a system of ethical accountability being their first duty.
The story below in Sunrise could've been handled a lot of different ways, but in the end, typically, it was self-interest that seems to have motivated all the moves by the elected officials, without care for the citizens, whom they see as misguided idealists.
No, just citizens asking to be treated with the level of respect they deserve.
This holiday season, in your travels around the state over the next few weeks,absent your giving out DVDs of the film "1776," it might not be the worst idea in the world for you two to once again use the bully pulpit to remind Florida's public officials that accountability and fealty to ethics is truly the best gift they can give the citizens and taxpayers of this state.
They're the gifts that keeps on giving!

I meant what I said then, but even I wouldn't have guessed that Hallandale Beach would so quickly offer yet further proof during the holiday season that such ethical standards are routinely ignored with impunity for reasons of ego, cronyism and financial enrichment, but so they are.

The corrosive affect on this town of the present City Hall crowd involved in Wednesday's actions -and last year's- and all the ones since then, is positively toxic.
It only further heightens the existing cynicism, further turning-off citizens from participating, because they see with their own eyes when they do show up the overwhelming evidence that there's little point in participating if the very people in charge can "fix" and manipulate the rules and laws to benefit themselves.
And not be punished and held accountable by authorities.

Consider the circumstances surrounding the Chief of Police, Thomas Magill, and what he has done in the recent past, of actually trying to frame innocent people thru fraud. (Below.)

Read the excellent article below by the Sun-Sentinel's John Holland from late January and tell me how many other American cities, let alone, cities in Florida, would've tolerate this sort of behavior and NOT made changes?
It boggles the mind.

How could you reasonably explain the fact that more than ten months after Holland's devastating spot-on reporting on the noxious criminal and abusive behavior of Magill to frame two HB police officers, and have them prosecuted for something they didn't do -which has cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages, after a jury twice rejected the city's flimsy defense in less than a half hour- the whole issue of Magill remaining as Police Chief has NEVER been mentioned in a City Commission meeting?

Meetings that Mayor Joy Cooper leads and controls with a firm grip on the gavel

There are more than enough facts-on-the-ground to suggest that if HB City Hall's predictable behavior and culture of ethical shortcuts and self-dealing isn't changed, there will be extremely negative consequences in the future.

So I have to ask each of you, are you going to be an agent for positive reinforcement, or just ignore the problem when you are made aware of it?
Pretend that it will somehow resolve itself, even when all evidence is to the contrary?

I prefer to think that you will become engaged and see how accurate I've been here in my description, and not just because I voted for you, but rather because you believe implicitly that there really are negatives consequences to society to politicians' unethical behavior.

But let's be clear: this crowd at Hallandale Beach City Hall and environs has no intention of stopping their intentional ethical scandals and insulting disrespect to the citizens and residents of this community.
If anything, they practically dare citizens to do anything to stop them!

I'm calling their bluff.

I look forward to hearing from you two on this matter in the future, and will keep your offices informed about our actions.

Sincerely,

DBS, Hallandale Beach, FL
http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/

Photos tell the story, in this case, one from my blog, Hallandale Beach Blog:, taken May 8, 2008, the one at the top of this email:

"The sign that greets northbound drivers on U.S.-1/South Federal Highway as they leave the City of Aventura and Miami-Dade County in the rear window.
Unfortunately, it's the perfect metaphor for the City of Hallandale Beach and its elected officials and employees: short-sighted and lacking in common sense.
This sign is placed so far west on the median strip -and practically BEHIND a palm tree- that drivers can't actually read it even if they wanted to.
In any case, because of the longtime gross incompetency and negligence of the city, the spotlights that are supposed to illuminate the sign at night HAVEN'T worked since about mid-January of 2004.
Which is to say, yes, LONGER than the U.S. involvement in WW II.

Welcome to the City of Hallandale Beach!
Begin heavy traffic, chronic red tape and mis-adventures in government!
Rather incredibly, the conditions described STILL existed as of last night, December 4th, 2008."

I told you that the normal rules don't apply here.
I wasn't exaggerating.

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Miami Herald
HALLANDALE BEACH
Commissioners triple pay
By ALIZA APPELBAUM AND JENNIFER LEBOVICH

May 4, 2007

Hallandale Beach commissioners on Wednesday voted to more than triple their salary.

Over a taxpayer-funded lunch of steak and chicken sandwiches on Wednesday, Hallandale Beach commissioners raised their annual pay by nearly $55,000 and catapulted themselves into the salary stratosphere for part-time public servants.

Starting immediately, commissioners will earn $75,000 a year.

In a tight budget year when the Legislature nixed raises for state employees, commissioners in the city of 35,000 voted 3-2 to more than triple their current salary of $21,196.

Discussion of the raise, and the vote, came during the luncheon portion of the city's regular meeting -- the only part that is not recorded.

It will be reflected generally in the city's minutes, which had not yet been prepared on Thursday. "I thought it was outrageous and completely out of line for an elected public official whose work is part time," said Mayor Joy Cooper, who asked commissioners to defer voting on the raise until the city's next budget meeting.

The raise means commissioners will make substantially more than the elected leaders in some of Broward's biggest cities.

Commissioners in Pembroke Pines -- a city of nearly 150,000 residents -- make $23,708, and the mayor gets $46,485.

And commissioners in Fort Lauderdale earn $30,000 a year, while the mayor gets $35,000.

COUNTY SALARY
Broward County commissioners bring in $91,996 a year to oversee an airport, a seaport, parks and libraries for a county of about 1.8 million.

"I'd like to get that kind of pay raise," said Ben Wilcox, the executive director of Common Cause Florida, a government watchdog group. "If they feel like they're worth that. I guess the final decision will be up to the voters the next time they come up for reelection, if they feel like that's too big a pay raise."

Cooper pointed out that the city could face significant revenue cuts in the coming year, depending on what form of property tax relief is passed by the state Legislature, which plans a special session in June.

"This is the absolute worst commission decision ever made in this city's history," said Cooper, who said she won't accept the increase.

Vice Mayor William Julian proposed the raise during the lunch planning meeting in a conference room in City Hall. The issue was not on any publicized agenda.

"If I was in their shoes I would bend over backward to make sure there was full notice and an opportunity for public discussion," said Wilcox. "After all, this is the public's money and they should have, I would think, the opportunity to weigh in on whether they feel the commissioners deserve that increase."

Voting in favor were Julian and commissioners Dorothy Ross and Francine Schiller. Cooper and Commissioner Keith London voted against it.

Julian said he had planned to propose an even higher increase. He likened the city to a corporation, and said the pay should be commensurate. He also praised the commission for lowering the tax rate and maintaining a healthy reserve fund.

"Other people in this position in the corporate world would be making much more money than we are," Julian said. "It is a steep jump, but it just shows how little we received before. I don't think it's out of line at all."

At the meeting, London suggested doing a comparison of salaries of elected officials in other cities before settling on a number.

"I wanted more information and the opportunity to do more research," he said in an interview. "We didn't have enough information at that time to make a decision."

FULL-TIME HOURS
Ross -- who has been on the commission since 1995 -- defended the raise Thursday, saying it's a job that calls for full-time hours. "I'm experienced, I'm qualified, I'm trained and I'm worth it," she said.

Schiller declined to comment. "I think that's an insane amount of money for a commission in a city our size," said Julie Hamlin, a Hallandale Beach resident who lost a bid for a commission seat during the last election.

"It's not responsible at a time when we have a property tax and insurance crisis in the state that is bound to impact our city tax structure," she said.

"It's totally crazy."

'BEYOND BELIEF'
When former Hallandale Beach Mayor Arthur "Sonny" Rosenberg got wind of the raise, he thought he had heard wrong.

"It's tough to comment on it because it's beyond belief," said Rosenberg, who served on the commission for more than two decades and said he made about $9,000 in 2000.

"I think they made a mockery out of public service, and I think Hallandale Beach is going to be the laughingstock of South Florida."

Miami Herald staff writer Roberto Santiago contributed to this report
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Miami Herald
Hallandale leaders rescind their own big raise
By ALIZA APPELBAUM AND JERRY BERRIOS
May 4, 2007

Commissioners in the city of Hallandale Beach, who thought they were underpaid until they voted themselves a 254 percent pay raise Wednesday, might be feeling underpaid again today.

On Friday, less than 48 hours after they voted to more than triple their salaries from $21,196 to $75,000, chagrined commissioners rescinded their action. The move followed howls of outrage from residents and even their own state legislator, who was wrapping up work on a tough budget year in Tallahassee.

"I am shocked as to their timing," said State Sen. Steve Geller, a Democrat who represents the city.

"The salary increase will not stand," vowed Marie Jose Piedrahita, one of the 35,000 residents of the coastal city, just north of the Broward-Miami-Dade line and home to Gulfstream Park. "We will have it repealed."

A group of citizens had hired the Law Store -- legal experts trained in municipal law -- to help them fight. But before anyone could act, Vice Mayor William Julian, who pushed for the pay raise earlier in the week, had a change of heart and pushed commissioners to hastily roll back the record-setting $55,000 raise.

"I truly did not anticipate the reaction of my community and would not have proposed this action if I had," Julian said Friday in a prepared statement.

Julian joined two other commissioners who voted to raise salaries over a private lunch on Wednesday. Mayor Joy Cooper and Commissioner Keith London opposed it.

"I'm glad that the commission came to their senses and reconsidered this today," Cooper said Friday. "It is a very big relief."

London said he opposed the raise because the commission did not have enough information.

"When I make a decision, I try to make an informed decision," he said.

Some residents criticized the commissioners for taking action outside the public eye -- deciding to give themselves the hike when their actions were not recorded.

And when they decided to drop the unpopular idea on Friday, they did in the midst of an already scheduled, all-day workshop on Community Redevelopment, Housing and Growth Management.

While Florida's Government in The Sunshine Law requires meetings between two or more elected officials be publicized so concerned citizens have ample opportunity to respond, commissioners say they did not violate that law.

Cooper said she feels the vote was legal and took place in a public meeting.

Bill Fielding, a resident who follows the commission's actions, disagrees.

"That vote was steeped in impropriety," he said. "They did the right thing by revoking it."

The Sunshine Law requires that "reasonable notice" be given for a public meeting, but commissioners may have considered this critical, leaving them less time than usual to give notice, said Barbara Peterson, president of the First Amendment Foundation.

Ultimately, a judge would have to decide if a violation occurred, she said.

Miami Herald staff writer Marc Caputo contributed to this report.
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Miami Herald
Editorial
Local perspectives
May 5, 2007
HALLANDALE BEACH SALARIES ALMOST MATCHED EGOS

Hallandale Beach has the buzz of a city on the verge of a renaissance. Voters here have chosen progressive leaders, as exemplified by Mayor Joy Cooper. The City Commission has been fiscally responsible enough to boast of reduced taxes. Braced by the hoped-for promise of slot machines in the city's two parimutuels, commissioners are well versed in city issues, open to new ideas and committed to citywide improvements.

So why on Earth would three commissioners break faith with residents by giving themselves a $50,000-plus pay raise without even the courtesy of prior public notice? Whatever the reasons, common sense caught up with the trio (helped along by residents' uniform condemnation of the raise) on Friday. The salary hike was repealed by a 5-0 vote.

Vice Mayor William Julian and Commissioners Dorothy Ross and Fran Schiller defied the democratic process in their Tuesday vote to raise their annual pay to $75,000 from $21,196. Ignoring the remonstrances of Mayor Cooper and Commissioner Keith London , the three voted on Mr. Julian's sudden proposal during an unrecorded, informal lunch meeting. No public notice, no public hearing. Even if residents had known about it they couldn't have commented on the proposed raises before the vote.

The three declared themselves worth every cent of the raise because they work for the city full-time. Self-importance apparently puffed up these representatives of a mere 35,000 residents in a city whose charter outlines duties of part-time commissioners. The boost would have made their pay second only to Broward county commissioners' $91,996 salaries and more than twice that of elected officials in Broward cities five times Hallandale Beach's size.

A chastened Mr. Julian on Friday proposed that the raise be repealed. Ms. Ross seconded the motion that was unanimously approved. Maybe it dawned on the three that the city may have to tighten future budgets if the Legislature, as is likely, puts limits on local governments' taxing powers. Such luxurious paychecks would offend residents who see their services cut back. The trio has one more fence to mend. They should tuck in their egos and offer city residents their humble apologies.
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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
HALLANDALE RESCINDS BIG PAY RAISE - COMMISSIONERS CHANGE THEIR MINDS ABOUT INCREASE WITHOUT PUBLIC NOTICE
By John Holland and Thomas Monnay Staff writers;
Staff writers Joe Kollin, Kathleen Kernicky, Georgia East and Tony Man contributed to this report.
May 5, 2007

The lunch that almost quadrupled their salaries became impossible to swallow just two days later.

Under intense pressure from their mayor and growing criticism across the state, Hallandale Beach city commissioners on Friday unanimously rescinded a Wednesday vote giving them an unadvertised, unprecedented pay raise of almost $55,000 a year.

"I'm extremely happy. I feel like an elephant has been lifted off my back," said Mayor Joy Cooper, one of two commissioners to initially vote against the raise when it came up over lunch during a planning meeting.

The vote for such a large raise without any public notice has many experts on government questioning the propriety of the move.

Barbara Petersen, an attorney and president of the First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee, pointed to what she called several possible problems.

"They don't have to specifically spell out everything on an agenda, but they aren't supposed to be intentionally leaving off important items, and that's where this is really suspicious," Petersen said. "It raises questions of how three people would suddenly, out of the blue, decide to give themselves $55,000 raises without any prior discussions. It just smells funny."

The controversy began Wednesday in an upstairs room at City Hall, during what the city agenda described as a planning and scheduling meeting. Vice Mayor Bill Julian proposed raising commission salaries from $20,500 to $75,000. With little discussion, commissioners Fran Schiller and Dorothy Ross backed the proposal and the vote passed 3-2.

Cooper and Commissioner Keith London voted against the pay raise, which was not mentioned on the advertised City Commission agenda and had not been discussed at prior meetings.

City Attorney David Jove said it is legal for commissioners to vote on city business during planning sessions because they are advertised and open to the public, even though they are held upstairs. "It's a Sunshine meeting," said Jove, referring to Florida's "Government in the Sunshine" laws requiring most meetings to be conducted in public with proper notice.

Under state law, cities must advertise the date and location of their meetings and conduct public hearings on proposed laws and fiscal budgets. But commissioners can approve certain items, such as minor expenses, even though those items aren't part of the regular agenda.

Julian insisted he did nothing wrong when he chose to bring up the matter at lunch instead of during the regular meeting, which is televised.

"I have nothing to hide," he said. "Nobody comes to the public meetings, and this was done in the Sunshine with full advice from our legal staff."

That didn't ease the shock for Cooper.

"When Vice Mayor Julian started talking about it Wednesday, my mouth dropped," Cooper said. "And not only the discussion, but the amount involved was so outrageous."

On Friday, during a special meeting at City Hall, Julian made a motion to rescind the raise, and his colleagues quickly agreed. But Julian later said commissioners deserve the raise because the position is like a full-time job and he would bring the matter up again.

"I'm willing to negotiate. This is not written in stone," said Julian, adding he would be amenable to a salary of $50,000 a year. "This is not the mom and pop commission it used to be."

Some local residents didn't agree.

"It really is ridiculous. The city has a lot of problems and a lot of room to improve," said Mike Butler, a 10-year resident who lives in Golden Isles. "The three commissioners ... who have the most accountability for the conditions we're in today are the same three who voted for this."

The timing of the raise and resulting publicity reached Tallahassee. The Florida Legislature is debating ways to lower property taxes, and considering eliminating them altogether, amid complaints that local and county officials are wasting taxpayer dollars.

"That was the last thing we needed at a time like this when people are dying about property taxes," said State Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach, who served on the City Commission from 2003 until 2006.

Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis, president of the Florida League of Cities, said this could unfairly cast a shadow other cities.

"Hopefully, the Legislature will say that what Hallandale Beach did wasn't indicative of all municipalities and this was just one misguided city," he said.

Assistant State Attorney Tim Donnelly, who heads the public corruption division, said he couldn't comment because the complaint is likely to be investigated by his office. He would only say that a willful violation of open meeting laws is a misdemeanor, while any other violations could result in civil fines up to $500.

Staff writers Joe Kollin, Kathleen Kernicky, Georgia East and Tony Man contributed to this report. _____________________________
Miami Herald
Coumnist Fred Grimm
Commissioners in throes of gambling fever
By FRED GRIMM
May 6, 2007

Experts warned that this could happen.

A quiet seaside town like Hallandale Beach becomes a gambling Mecca, with a casino om the north side of town, another on the south. Suddenly once solid, sober are driven crazy by the scent of easy money. Until even the folks down at City Hall catch the fever.

That's the only plausible explanation for what happened in Hallandale Beach last week. Three city commissioners were obviously consumed by a momentary gambling frenzy. They bet that no one would notice that they had voted themselves the kind of jackpot that would set off bells and sirens at the Mardi Gras's casino.

It is a notorious symptom of gambling fever that the infected no longer grasp the value of a paycheck. Little Vegas Vice Mayor William Julian and Commissioners Dorothy Ross and Francine Schiller voted to up their annual pay from $21,196 to $75,000 as if they were talkin' chump change.

WHEELING OVER LUNCH
They hedged their bets by putting the issue on their luncheon agenda, the only portion of the commission meeting not recorded. As if they hoped no one would notice. As if they assumed what happened in City Hall, stayed in City Hall.

Lunch was a little like an all-you-can-eat casino buffet. Salad, sandwiches, crab cakes, chicken wings, pasta and, for dessert, $53,804 drizzled in chocolate.

Another symptom of gambling fever renders addicts utterly impervious to the warnings of looming catastrophe from relatives, friends, associates. "I begged them to reconsider," Mayor Joy Cooper told me. They dismissed her as Mayor Kill Joy.

Even modest raises have been bad bets in South Florida. Last year, voters in Parkland, where the mayor and commissioners make $2,400 annually, voted down raises. Same thing in Coral Springs. Voters in Miami-Dade County, where the $6,000-a-year county commissioners haven't had a raise since 1957, said no to pay increases.

Commissioners in Cooper City caught so much hell trying after voting to raise their piddling salaries from $6,000 to $15,000, they decided to use most of the extra money on a landscaping project.

The Hallandale Beach caper was even riskier. There was the usual voter reluctance to pad elected officials' salaries. And they voted to raise their salaries even as the state legislature, which will reconvene in June, threatens to whack away at the city's property tax base. "We could lose 40 percent of our budget," Mayor Cooper said.

LIKE HIGH ROLLERS
But there's no reasoning with the fever. Mayor Cooper and Commissioner Keith London warned them, but those three commissioners thought they were on a roll. They were hot. They blew on the dice, tripled their salary and figured to walk out of city hall like a high roller after a good night at Gulfstream Park.

Oh my, what a bad bet. They voted for fat raises on Wednesday. Word got around town on Thursday. By Friday, their folly was splashed across the Miami Herald.

And all hell broke loose. Constituents went berserk. State legislators, after hearing so many complaints from city politicians that budgets were tight, wanted to know how it was that Hallandale Beach was tossing money around like a drunken tourist at the Hard Rock.

The fever subsided. On Friday the repentant gamblers slunk into a commission workshop meeting and voted to rescind their winnings.

They had learned a hard, humbling lesson: If you're going to gamble in Little Vegas, stick to the slots.
_________________________________
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
AFTER CRITICISM, COMMISSIONER SAYS HE'LL ASK FOR SMALLER RAISE
By Thomas Monnay Staff Writer
May 8, 2007

Vice Mayor Bill Julian conceded Monday that the $55,000 pay raise the City Commission passed then quickly rescinded last week was "way too much money" but said he plans to bring up the matter again.

"I'm not going to back down, but [the proposed increase] wouldn't be nearly as much," said Julian, 54, who claims he can't make ends meet on his $20,500 annual salary.

Mayor Joy Cooper, who mobilized grass-roots opposition to the "outrageous" raise that was passed without public notice, was unsympathetic.

"I believe we have a reasonable salary for a part-time job," said Cooper, who is working on a proposal to ensure commissioners' raises are capped and approved only during public hearings.

Julian, a retired horse trainer and Hallandale Beach resident for 51 years, came under a barrage of criticism last week after he and Commissioners Dorothy Ross and Fran Schiller voted to more than triple their salaries to $75,000 a year. They voted while having lunch Wednesday during a planning meeting.

Cooper and Commissioner Keith London rejected the raise, which triggered a furor because it wasn't advertised and the public didn't get an opportunity to comment on it.

Some voiced concern that the vote came as state legislators were considering major property tax reductions, which could cut millions from city budgets.

At Julian's request, commissioners repealed the raise Friday during a special meeting on development issues in Hallandale Beach.

"We've all learned from this experience, and our residents should be assured this would never, ever happen again," said City Manager Mike Good.

Ross said of residents' opposition, "If there is something I've learned from this, it's the wakeup call."
Schiller declined to comment.

Commissioners are responsible for adopting city budgets, setting policies and ordinances and responding to residents' complaints, among other duties. They receive an annual cost-of-living increase, Good said.

In Oakland Park, a comparably sized city, the mayor earns $10,400 a year and commissioners $9,000. In Davie, a larger municipality, council members are paid $7,200 a year.

Julian said the demanding nature of the position makes it difficult to work at another job and therefore commissioners should get more pay.

"I know I cannot continue to live on this salary unless I get another job or some kind of raise. ... In a matter of time, my savings will be depleted," said Julian, who was first elected in 2001.

"The mistake I made was that I asked for way too much money," he added.

Julian said he knew the salary when he ran for office, but commissioners have more work to do because a lot has been happening recently in Hallandale Beach, including casinos at the racetracks and new development.

Julian said he would bring the pay issue back for discussion during a budget workshop in the next few months. He said the city, with about $40 million in reserves, wouldn't be affected by tax cuts as much as other cities. Still, he said, any decision would be made only after public input.

Good said Julian would agree that the large, unannounced raise was "poor judgment."
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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Editorial
GOVERNMENT - ISSUE: HALLANDALE BEACH GOES FOR THE GOLD.
May 12, 2007

You can take your choice as to the most boneheaded aspect of the Hallandale Beach City Commission's ill-fated attempt to more than triple their salaries. There is:

a.) The money itself was the most obscene aspect.

Good choice. In a city of 35,000, the commissioners were going to raise their pay from $20,500 a year to $75,000 for a part-time job. Incredible.

b.) The way they went about trying to give themselves the raise was unspeakably arrogant.

Another good choice. They didn't have it on any agenda, or do it in front of the public. Instead, it was done with no advertising at a planning and scheduling meeting.

c.) The timing couldn't have been worse.

A fine choice. Local governments are claiming they don't have an extra nickel to spend, particularly with taxes hopefully about to be trimmed, and are warning that services may be cut. And these officials in Hallandale Beach wanted to give themselves a $55,000 raise to $75,000? Enough said.

d.) The comments of Vice Mayor Bill Julian took arrogance to another level.

Fine choice. After Julian and commissioners Fran Schiller and Dorothy Ross backed the proposal, with Mayor Joy Cooper and Keith London wisely dissenting, there was so much criticism that the raise was rescinded. But Julian said there was nothing wrong with the process.

"Nobody comes to the public meetings," he said of bringing up the salary matter at lunch rather than during a regular meeting. "And this was done in the Sunshine with full advice from our legal staff." Nothing like showing respect for constituents, Bill.

There you have four choices to pick for why this pay raise was a terrible idea. And all are correct.

But, there is one more. Julian, who says he has trouble living on the annual salary -- he should have thought of that before running for office -- says he'll revive the raise request, but make it much smaller.

So now we have e.): Julian hasn't learned a lesson from this debacle. Another correct choice.

BOTTOM LINE: Many boneheaded aspects of debacle
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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
DIGEST
May 17, 2007
Hallandale Beach
Tighter rules on commission raises delayed indefinitely

A proposal to tighten the way commissioners approve raises for themselves was postponed indefinitely Wednesday due to lack of support.

Mayor Joy Cooper wanted a change in the city's code so raises could be addressed only during budget workshops, based on the cost of living, and capped at 10 percent. Commissioners Keith London , Fran Schiller and Dorothy Ross said they should know what peers in other cities earn before taking any action.

Cooper's proposal came two weeks after Vice Mayor Bill Julian, Schiller and Ross decided over lunch to raise commissioners' salaries from $20,500 to $75,000 a year. They rescinded the raise two days later, after an outcry.

Cooper joined the others in voting to delay the change, but vowed to keep reviving the issue to avoid a repeat of the unpopular raise.
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbhallandale0128sbjan28,0,2207842.story South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hallandale to pay to settle one of two former police officers' lawsuits
By John Holland
January 28, 2008

HALLANDALE BEACH - City commissioners have agreed to pay more than $100,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging Police Chief Thomas Magill falsified evidence, a city board held an illegal meeting and detectives persuaded a felon to lie under oath about a fellow officer.

Mayor Joe Cooper and attorney Alberto Milian, who represents former Hallandale Beach Police Officer Talous Cirilo, confirmed the city's settlement with Cirilo but would not comment further, citing a confidentiality agreement. However, Cooper said the payment was more than $100,000, including attorney fees.
"I'd love to talk about this and tell people what happened, but unfortunately I can't," Cooper said.

Magill referred questions to City Attorney David Jove, who could not be reached for comment.

The settlement comes less than two months after Cirilo filed two lawsuits against the city, alleging wrongdoing in the department and City Hall. Hallandale officials fired Cirilo, alleging excessive use of force, even though a jury acquitted him on battery charges.

Cooper said the secrecy is warranted because a separate lawsuit, filed in federal court by former acting Police Sgt. Mary Hagopian, has not been settled. She promised to speak about the settlement at a later date "if I'm allowed to."

Magill and City Manager Mike Good fired the officers two years ago after prosecutors charged them with misdemeanor battery on prisoner Michael Brack. Early on April 1, 2005, Brack beat his brother as they fought in a moving car, then attacked officers who tried to intervene, according to arrest records and police reports.

Months after the arrest, a civilian employee said Cirilo choked and used a Taser device excessively on Brack.
More than a year later, the State Attorney's Office charged Cirilo with three misdemeanor battery counts. Hagopian was charged with a misdemeanor for using the stun gun on Brack as he struggled with officers in a jail holding area.

Defense lawyers said Magill orchestrated the charges as part of a vendetta against Hagopian and to show his bosses at City Hall he was a disciplinarian. Testimony at trial showed police employees mishandled two key pieces of evidence - a video surveillance tape and software from the Taser - distorting the confrontation between the officers and Brack, defense lawyers argued.

Prosecutors tried the officers separately, but jurors reached the same conclusion, acquitting them after about 15 minutes of deliberation.

After the acquittals, the officers tried to get their jobs back, but Magill and city officials refused.

In one of the lawsuits, Milian accused the city civil service board of holding an illegal meeting outside City Hall on Oct. 9, 2007, one week before a scheduled hearing on the reinstatement.

Florida law mandates that all meetings be advertised and prohibits public officials from meeting out of the public eye or discussing cases with each other. At least six board members met and discussed the meeting in a "knowing violation" of the law, according to the lawsuit.

Good, the city manager, could not be reached for comment.

Hagopian, a 15-year veteran, and Cirilo, on the force for five years, hired different lawyers and filed in different jurisdictions but made the same argument: Magill pressured his internal affairs officers and detectives to manipulate evidence and coerce false statements out of Brack so he could fire the officers and enhance his image as a reformer.

Magill used public money to have officers track down Brack on a Louisiana oil barge, where he ended up after leaving Broward County and forfeiting his bail, both lawsuits assert.

The State Attorney's office dropped all the assault charges against Brack, including the attack on his brother, then used him to testify against the officers.

The chief temporarily assigned several officers to internal affairs without any training, for the sole purpose of building a false case against the officers, Hagopian's lawyer Rhea Grossman said in court papers.

Magill sparked criminal charges against Hagopian "by preparing directly or at his direction police reports containing false or misleading information," Grossman wrote. Both lawsuits contend Magill elicited false testimony and compiled misleading evidence that he took directly to prosecutors.

U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch tossed out four counts last month, saying they belong in state court. He refused to dismiss two others, including one alleging Magill presented false information to prosecutors so Hagopian would be arrested. Zloch also let stand a charge that the city had a policy of not training internal affairs officers that, Hagopian argued, "encourages fabricated evidence for the sole purpose of allowing the whims of its police chief to terminate employees."

Milian said last week that the jury's quick acquittals proved the charges were bogus.

"This case was an abomination from the very beginning, and good officers were hurt," Milian said. "It could ultimately have a chilling effect on officers who want to protect themselves and their colleagues but are afraid because they could get in the same type of situation."

John Holland can be reached at jholland@sun-sentinel.com or at 954-385-7909.

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