You wouldn't know that if you were here last
week, since the City of Hallandale Beach,
Pop. 37,400, decided to give $50,000 to a
company that puts out the free vanity newspaper
called the South Florida Sun-Times.
Why?
So they can CONTINUE writing only positive
things about Hallandale Beach City Hall and
the people who run things there, since you
really can't call what they do there 'managing.'
Coincidentally, like the very people who write
them checks -just like they did last year.
That's the same publication that the city spent
taxpayer funds on -and employee resources on-
last December when HB city officials actually
For those of you who perhaps don't know,
the South Florida Sun-Times is a FREE
broadsheet with no measured ABC circulation,
does NOT print Letters to the Editor, and they
Yet, that doesn't prevent them from writing about
matters and discourse as if they were really there.
they've described, and knew who everyone
there was, and they had nobody there.
This includes the mysterious selection of Anthony
There was hardly anyone there and yet...
fiction in what they print.
consider their allowing City Hall employees to write and
then insert something masquerading as a news article, below,
in order to spin City Hall's take on an important issue that
could hardly be more transparent, i.e City Hall paying much
more than the appraised value of Comm. Sanders property,
see my post from Oct. 27th:
http://hallandalebeachblog.
If they'd had more time, the city might've even said that Anthony Sanders
was born in a log cabin!
As the great poet Anonymous once put it,
the Sun-Times is the place where,
"Seldom is heard a discouraging word,
and the skies are not cloudy all day."
Wonder if this bad trend will catch fire across
the country, or whether common sense will
ultimately prevail, and American cities that
already have such bad deals in place for
taxpayers will actually be killed?
With two weeks off for vacation, sick days
and the odd holidays, that comes out to about
$1,000 a week to subsidize a joke that
nobody-but-nobody believes and which
very few people read.
Which, of course, explains why there are
still plenty of them from July still sitting
on a shelf in HB City Hall, near the elevator
and supposed Public Notices board.
People won't take them even when
they're free!
I guess in the end, the real joke is on
Hallandale Beach's already -beleaguered
taxpayers, who have to find out after-the-fact,
months later, what their un-elected City
Manager has been doing with their money.
He's not even bothering to require the
principals involved to show-up in person
at a public city commission meeting and be
subject to any scrutiny, much less, possible
ridicule.
But then that's why this was handled
this particular way, because it does
stink!
Once again, un-elected Mike Good
playing Santa Claus with taxpayers
money.
And Mayor Joy Cooper just lets him.
To protect the innocent, I've removed the names and
email addresses of some residents that appeared below.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
------------------------------
Sent: Tuesday,
January 13, 2009 8:16 PM
To: London, Keith
Subject: Sun Times & City Biz
Mr London,
Thank you for understanding the fact that the city should not be in the newspaper business. After reading the article in the Sun Sentinel I was appalled and shocked at the reasoning used by your fellow commissioners and Mayor for advertising in the Sun Times and their use of city funds to promote a private for-profit business. As a Broward county business person I wish that the communities in the county would "bail me out" in these challenging economic times, but as you are aware, this is not how it works. No explanation is needed, it business.
If you and your other city officials would like to explore other ways to reach the citizens of your community in a non partisan, unbiased and more economical way, please contact me, but all you need is part time graphics person, a good web press printer, and a distribution vehicle such as Valassis or the USPS (I do not work for a printer or Valassis). In addition, market the city web site via your webmaster and you'll be set.
Thanks for your time.
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