Hotline TV's Quinn McCord & Tim Sahd: Which U.S. House Dems are most at risk?

Above, longtime South Beach Hoosier favorite Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, circa 2007, rated the 4th-most vulnerable House Democrat incumbent by Hotline TV.
http://www.youtube.com/user/HotlineTV

Not surprisingly, four of the five most vulnerable House Democrats identified by The Hotline are Blue Dog Democrats, and the other seat currently belongs to one:

#5 Michael A. Arcuri (NY-24)

#4 Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD At-Large)

#3 Arkansas CD-1;
Rep. Marion Berry is not running for re-election.
Chad Causey, Berry's former Chief-of-Staff, is the Democratic nominee. http://www.chadcauseyforcongress.com/

This is the Northeast Arkansas district that's across the Mississippi River from Memphis, and an area I knew well as a kid, pre-Miami, when my family would drive across the bridge and go driving-around on weekend day-trips in our non-air conditioned Ford Falcon.
Not so bad when the weather was nice, but positively brutal in the summer!
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=AR&district=1

#2 Glenn Nye (VA-2)

#1 Travis Childers (MS-1)

To me, Stephanie is the anti-Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, a real warm-hearted charmer with smarts, moxie and pluck AND a very sensible voting record.

http://hersethsandlin.house.gov/
http://stephanieforsouthdakota.org/

I previously wrote about Stephanie on November 25, 2007 here:
http://southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/2007/11/southbeachhoosier-jill-long-thompson.html and on June 9, 2007 here
http://southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/2007/11/southbeachhoosier-jill-long-thompson.html

The June 14th Rasmussen Reports was not exactly good news for her.
South Dakota House: Primary Victory Bounces Noem (R) Into Lead Over Herseth-Sandlin (D)
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_house_of_representatives_election/south_dakota/election_2010_south_dakota_house_of_representatives

Connecticut Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon's new campaign ad is also on this video.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/mcmahon-mentions-wrestling-in-new-ad/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EetmxyZSpRI



See also: http://www.electionprojection.com/2010elections/openseats10.php

For more information on the Blue Dog Democrats, go to:
http://www.house.gov/melancon/BlueDogs/

The Curious Case of the Missing Crime Statistics: Hallandale Beach mystery explains a lot for what passes for normal here: un-checked incompetency

Are you a detective or do you play one on TV?

If so, can you help solve this Hallandale Beach mystery that explains a lot of what passes for normal here: un-checked incompetency with no fear of accountability.
It's The Curious Case of the Missing Crime Statistics

Step one, go to
http://hallandalebeachfl.gov/index.aspx?nid=373

You are here: Home > Departments > Police Department > General Information > City Wide Crime Maps

City Wide Crime Maps Weekly Crime Statistics The City Map is updated on a weekly basis and the information shown on each map is for one week only. The icons on the map are explained at the bottom of the page and each one tells what type of crime occured in the general location it is placed on the map. You may click here to go directly to the Document Center, open the Police Department Folder and click on the: Weekly Crime Statistics

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So click the link.
You are then led to http://fl-hallandalebeach.civicplus.com/DocumentCenterii.aspx?FID=15

And you notice that not a single document there has been updated since January 8th.
Of 2009.
So look for Weekly Crime Statistics amongst the laundry list.

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Police Department

	Background & Record Checks FDLE 170 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Citizens Volunteer Program 412 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Community Oriented Policing 169 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	COMMUNITY OUTREACH HEPBURN CENTER 164 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Complaints-Commendation Brochure 430 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	COPPS brochure public 563 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	CPTED Information 333 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Crime Prevention for Seniors 255 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Crime Prevention Survey 111 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Crime Prevention Tips 527 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Disabled Parking 328 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Fl Bicycle Safety Laws 217 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Gun Safety 192 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Gun Safety for Parents 420 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Illegal Dumping 244 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Juvenile Curfew 655 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Landlord-Tenant Brochure 117 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Neighborhood Crime Watch 149 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	NOISE ORDINANCE 326 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	PAL Brochure 534 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Pal Kids Fit Program 417 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Parking Citation Info 218 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Parking Permit Program Brochure 451 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	POLICE ACADEMY BROCHURE 1130 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Privacy Identity Theft 170 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Ride-Along Program 399 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	RUOK in color 419 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	SALT BROCHURE 342 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Security for Apt Blds 2 337 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Seniors vs Crime 11-06 revised 443 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Shopping Carts 408 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Terrorists What Is Suspicious 148 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Weed Seed 2 284 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	What every child should know about the law 264 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	What to do if stopped by PD 504 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM

It's not there, is it?
So where are the Weekly Crime Statistics we were promised?

Yes, it's another success story for HB Police Chief Thomas Magill.
Again, this is just an appetizer.
The hearty posts about Thomas Magill and the Hallandale Beach Police Dept. are still to come.

Latest on Broward County ethics debate, inc. Verbatim Minutes of June 18th, 2010 Broward County Ethics Commission meeting

In case you never got around to seeing it the first time I mentioned it, please take a moment to look at Robert Wechsler's excellent take on the transparently self-serving excuses being foisted on Broward's citizen taxpayers in the fight against getting meaningful ethics legislation here with real teeth, and consider bookmarking his blog, too.
http://www.cityethics.org/Blog-RobWechsler

The Broward County Commission Should Not Be Challenging the Constitutionality of a Lobbying Provision
http://www.cityethics.org/content/broward-county-commission-should-not-be-challenging-constitutionality-lobbying-provision

(He had a newer post on Monday relating to something I have below,
A Second Constitutionality Opinion in Broward County, Just Like the First http://www.cityethics.org/content/second-constitutionality-opinion-broward-county-just-first

His first post was written on the 18th, the same day as the Broward Ethics Commission meeting -which I missed, unfortunately.

I have the Minutes to that meeting, including the Verbatim Minutes, the Real McCoy as it were, to use a phrase I've never used in a blog post before.
Guess I'm just in an idiomatic mood!

While not exactly a Stieg Larsson page-turner, it makes for some interesting reading.

I've also included Brittany Wallman and Scott Wyman's spot-on Broward Politics posts from Friday and Monday afternoon on the latest development in the ethics power play that has slowly morphed into a morality play -and jobs bill.
That is to say, jobs for the commissioner's spouses and family if they can finesse it.

You also want to be sure to read the reader comments, too, since one of the folks who read it and had something to say is Comm. Stacy Ritter.
She and that "gifted" golf cart and what many Broward citizens believe is her larger-than-life sense of entitlement were the subject of Michael Mayo's Mayo on the Side blog column on Friday, also at the bottom.

And not that you asked, but I like the Netherlands to win the World Cup.

I have a few World Cup-related posts on the way that I've heretofore chosen to keep in Draft, including one on the England National Team (ENT) that I'll be calling, modestly,
The Bungle in Bloemfontein: How English football culture's weaknesses were exposed again, with nary a silver lining to be found.

1. June 18th, 2010 Broward County Ethics Commission Meeting Minutes http://www.broward.org/EthicsCommission/Documents/06182010Minutes.pdf

2. June 18th, 2010 Broward County Ethics Commission Verbatim Minutes
http://www.broward.org/EthicsCommission/Documents/06182010MinutesVerbatim.pdf

Code of Ethics Ordinance - Final Approval
http://www.broward.org/EthicsCommission/Documents/CodeofEthics2010%20-%20Final%20%20Approved.pdf

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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Broward Politics blog
Broward's ethics ordinance legally wobbly but could be adopted, lawyer says

Posted by Brittany Wallman on June 28, 2010 04:25 PM

The proposed cleanup of Broward County government could move forward despite questions about its constitutionality, under a scenario proposed by an outside attorney hired by the county.

Attorney Bruce Johnson weighed in Monday with a memo to the county, saying that parts of the proposed overhaul of Broward County Commission ethics rules would probably not withstand a constitutional challenge. The problematic part, in particular, he said, is a proposed lobbying ban in Broward that would apply not just to county commissioners but also to their family members and spouses or domestic partners.

Read the rest of the post at:

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/06/outside_lawyer_browards_ethics.html

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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Broward Politics blog
County attorney defends role in ethics code controversy

Posted by Scott Wyman on June 25, 2010 09:00 AM

Nothing to see here. That’s the official response from Broward County’s attorney concerning the week of controversy that surrounded the botched move to go to court over long-sought ethics reform.

In a memo sent to county commissioners Thursday, County Attorney Jeff Newton rejected allegations that he had been part of a conspiracy to derail reform. He said the concerns he raised about the ethics legislation was, instead, a legitimate response to an inquiry made by Commissioner Ilene Lieberman before the June 15 board meeting.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/06/county_attorney_defends_role_i.html
--------

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Michael Mayo
Mayo on the Side blog
Stacy Ritter: Husband asked for golf cart from developers

Posted by Michael Mayo on June 25, 2010 11:37 AM

Before she was elected to the Broward County Commission in November 2006, Stacy Ritter got a golf cart from the father-and-son developer team of Bruce and Shawn Chait.

"I didn't ask for it," Ritter told me this week. "Russ asked for it."

Russ is her husband, lobbyist Russ Klenet.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2010/06/stacy_ritter_husband_asked_for.html

If this had happened in South Florida...use of on-duty officers for funeral procession of cop-killer, TV cablenets would've crucified South Florida

Though I've been following this story since Father's Day, some good friends in the Dallas area have alerted me to the more recent angles to this tragic story that's so troubling on so many different levels that you hardly know where to begin.
Not that I've seen it covered even once in a serious way locally.

Maybe it's just me, but I can't help but think that if something like this had happened somewhere in South Florida, the cable TV shows would've absolutely made this a MUCH BIGGER story nationally than it has been coming out of Dallas, and put the bulls-eye directly on South Florida yet again.

With them, the default position on South Florida is that it is always presumed guilty until proven innocent.

But then you've probably thought the same thing yourself after seeing the way the MSM handles most news stories originating in South Florida, where, generally, no amount of bombast or skepticism is too much.

Video connecting-the-dots on this tragic story are at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui4Ll91yaS8


and http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/Use-of-on-duty-officers-for-funeral-procession-of-Brown-Jr-spurs-outrage-97204239.html

-----

Dallas Morning News
Hundreds attend funeral for slain Lancaster officer
01:29 AM CDT on Sunday, June 27, 2010
By JEFF MOSIER and TARYN LUNA, The Dallas Morning News

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/062610dnmetshawfuneral.df5feb66.html


In reverse chron order
Dallas Morning News Crime blog
http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/

Dallas officers still seething over funeral procession for Police Chief David Brown's son
By Tanya Eiserer
12:18 AM Sun, Jun 27, 2010

The virulent eruption surrounding the decision to order an apparent last-minute escort Friday for the funeral procession of a cop-killer, who is the son of Dallas' police chief, shows no sign of abating.

Since word leaked Friday afternoon about the order made by Dallas police Deputy Chief Julian Bernal, I have been inundated by outraged phone calls, emails and text messages from current and retired Dallas police officers.
Read the rest of the post at
http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/06/the-virulent-eruption-surround.html

Decision to use on-duty officers for funeral procession of David Brown Jr. spurs outrage
By Tanya Eiserer
11:54 PM Fri, Jun 25, 2010

A cop-killer who is the son of the Dallas police chief continued to stir deep emotions Friday as he headed to his grave.

An apparent last-minute decision by a deputy police chief to provide assistance during part of David Brown Jr.'s funeral procession angered some police associations.

The city manager quickly issued a written statement distancing herself and Chief David Brown from the decision.

Read the rest of the post at: http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/06/decision-to-use-on-duty-office.html


Police release 911 call of child abuse incident involving David Brown Jr.
By Tanya Eiserer
2:21 PM Fri, Jun 25, 2010

On May 7, Lancaster teacher Roesanda Allen called 911 to report that one of her third-grade students had been the victim of abuse.

"He has a black eye," Allen told the operator. She told the operator that the 10-year-old boy told her that he "was talking back to his mother" when her boyfriend "whipped him" and "accidentally" him in the eye. "

The way he did it was like he punched him," she said. "So I let him tell that story to another teacher and you know how you take your hand and you swing it back. He kept demonstrating that way."

The boyfriend was David Brown Jr, the son of Dallas Police Chief David Brown.

The boy told police that Brown hit him in the face, bruising his eye.

Read the rest of the post at: http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/06/911-one-call-from-teacher-over.html

Speaking of police, I've got some news for you to take note of, though for now, it'll have to sound more cryptic than I'd actually like in order for me to keep some secrets close to the vest until the time is right: At the rate they're going, it looks like it's going to be a VERY BUMPY summer for the Hallandale Beach Police Dept.

Fact-filled tales of their serial incompetency, un-professional behavior and general buffoonery under HB Police Chief Thomas Magill, as well as their longstanding history of mis-leading the public -as recently as two weeks ago, which I witnessed myself- not to mention, their time-honored history of petty threats and acts of intimidation, are all going to be coming out for the whole community to hear and judge for themselves.
Trust me, it isn't a pretty picture.

Though it's hot and humid as hell already, and only getting worse over the next few weeks, for some people in this community who have a lot to fear from the truth finally coming out and being fully known, it'll actually feel like they're on thin ice.
And for good reason.

Tom Jicha says Jake Tapper is better-suited than Christiane Amanpour to host ABC News "This Week" -says move to her is a "mega mistake."; He's right!

I'm trying my best to catch-up here on the blog on a number of media-related news stories that I've noted and written some thoughts about over the past few months, but never quite gotten around to actually posting for one reason or another. Today is a start on pulling those stories out of the ink well and bringing them to your attention.

Curiously enough, on Friday, I saw that over at Tom Jicha's TV Plus blog at the Sun-Sentinel that he'd just written about one of those subjects: whether or not ABC News was making a big mistake by bringing in former CNN multi-tasker Christiane Amanpour to permanently host their "This Week" public policy/talking heads program on Sunday mornings, taking over the reins from interim host and ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper, who took over after George Stephanopoulos took over the duties at Good Morning America.
http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/

I'd written a number of what some friends thought were some pretty persuasive arguments about why the move could turn out rather quickly to be yet another in a long line of recent mistakes where the American pundit-ocracy and East Coast media had prematurely labeled someone or something they had a connection to or rooting interest in, a great success, long before the American people had gotten a chance to vote with their remote controls and emails.

Sun-Sentinel TV critic Tom Jicha took a more direct approach than me in his blog and has simply taken to describing the move to Amanpour as a "mega mistake."

He's right, of course, though for more reasons than he lets on in his piece.

It seems clear to me that no matter how poorly Amanpour does in the comparison with Stephanopoulos or Tapper, especially in her ability to move the show along and cut-off a guest or panel member going down a blind alley, her many loyal friends in the chattering class would never actually say it was a disaster in quite the same eager and enthusiastic way that they did with Campbell Brown's CNN show.

There, though Brown's been gone for what seems like forever, even while actual viewers have known for five weeks that she's heading out the door, CNN's graphics crawl at the bottom of the screen STILL invites us to be lovely and talented Campbell's Facebook friend. Frankly, that's been making me laugh for months on those occasions when I watch CNN at night, which are few and far-between. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cnn/campbell_browns_time_at_cnn_coming_to_a_close_165720.asp

As we get closer to Amanpour's coronation in August, I'll bring up my own points on why I think the move to her will prove less-than-satisfactory for American TV viewers living west of the Hudson, but for now, check-out what Jicha is saying.

-----

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

TV Plus blog

ABC should keep Tapper as host of This Week

by Tom Jicha

June 24th, 2010 3:23 PM

Each week brings a new reminder of the mega mistake ABC News is about to make bringing in Christiane Amanpour as the host of “This Week.”

Jake Tapper should have been the first choice and is demonstrarting weekly that he is the ideal choice. He keeps the show moving and is equally tough on representatives of both sides of the political spectrum.

Later, Jicha writes: Who knows if Amanpour is. Her perspective is global, always has been. This is not a character flaw. It could be said it is an attribute. But it is a negative for a program driven by domestic political discussions.
Read the rest of the post at: http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/tv/2010/06/abc-should-keep-tapper-as-host-of-this-week.html

Julia Baird's excellent "Being Julia: Australia’s new prime minister breaks the glass ceiling"; while Alex Sink's campaign in FL flounders painfully

Well, despite the often very accurate knock about Twitter that it is the greatest tool for people to share their nonsense about their hum-drum life since Alexander Graham Bell did his thing with the telephone -see Our True, Tweeting Selves,Why historians salivate over Twitter

at http://www.newsweek.com/2010/04/21/our-true-tweeting-selves.html sometimes Twitter is actually very useful, as when I checked in on one of my go-to people this afternoon, Newsweek's Deputy Editor Julia Baird, courtesy of her Twitter account at http://twitter.com/bairdnewsweek .

There I saw that she'd just posted this: "My column for Newsweek on Australia's first female Prime Minister, the straight-shooting Julia Gillard."

It's excellent.
Baird shoots and she scores!

Newsweek
Being Julia
Australia’s new prime minister breaks the glass ceiling

By Julia Baird

What a gloriously surprising day it was when Julia Gillard became Australia’s first female prime minister.

The trumpets sounded, journalists roared, and Australian women updated their Facebook status to, simply, “Julia.” The circumstances were not ideal—she ousted a once popular prime minister, and she had not won a general election—but the significance of the moment was enormous. Finally, after centuries of bowing to queens while women were locked out of the highest echelons of political office, Australians watched a straight-shooting, unaffected woman seize the real reins of power.

Gillard, 48, the daughter of a coal miner and a former industrial-relations lawyer, has a pragmatic approach to politics and a record of fighting for better conditions for workers, and for greater numbers of women in Parliament. She is well respected and hails from the left of her party.

See the rest of the article at: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/06/24/being-julia.html

See her story on Gillard for the Sydney Morning Herald, her former newspaper for nine years, Lessons from sisters who fell on the way

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/lessons-from-sisters-who-fell-on-the-way-20100624-z3qr.html

Check out this SMH video: -I accept the anger: Gillard
Friday, June 25, 2010 4:33 AM
Julia Gillard tells Paul Bongiorno that she fully accepts the anger of the Australian people at the removal of Kevin Rudd.

Julia Gillard's first press conference as Australian Prime Minister.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdXlUdSBOYk

For more from Julia Baird, see http://www.newsweek.com/authors/julia-baird.html

FYI: Not enough time to get into it here now, but back when I was at JFK Junior High in North Miami Beach, circa 1973-'75, my family was all set to move to Sydney. Typically, besides reading all the materials from the Australian Embassy from cover-to-cover, I made it my job to learn everything I could about Australian Rules Football, since I didn't want to show up at school and be odd man out. http://www.afl.com.au/

Not so easy in those pre-Internet days at the Lafe Allen Library in NMB. Actually, try impossible!

Missy Peregrym fans rejoice, she's back on TV: Rookie Blue on ABC-TV tonight at 9 p.m.

Missy Peregrym as Officer Andy McNally in ABC-TV's new "Rookie Blue" photo: ABC-TV - STEVE WILKIE

Missy Peregrym, our favorite genuinely athletic (dare we say sporty) actress, a real gymnast dynamo and shape-shifting Heroes villain (Candace Wilmer) is back to do her thing on the small screen, as a rookie cop with -yes- "something to prove."
You see, her father, the police detective left with less than glory attached to the family name and...
Yes, Officer Andy McNally has a bit of a chip on her shoulder, and we hardly need wonder how often her fellow cops will try to take the measure of her and try to break her.
We know they will because that's how television cops roll.


Gamba Missy!
Stoy!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1335291/

http://abc.go.com/shows/rookie-blue/




-------

If ABC ever re-did their iconic celebrity/kitsch hit-show from the '70's, Battle of the Network Stars, I'll bet Missy, Amy Jo Johnson and Tricia Helfer would be kicking a lot of serious butt.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0321394/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Network_Stars

And not to sound naive, but would it be too much to hope that they could actually film it in South Florida, on Key Biscayne, like they once did?

Lynda Carter - Battle of the Network Stars

Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter's indignant response to my post "Rearguard action against Broward County ethics proposals"

So imagine my surprise earlier tonight at hearing from Broward County Comm. Stacy Ritter out-of-the-blue -at bottom- after mentioning in my blog yesterday what some local news reporters have said on the record about the current fight over the Broward Ethics Commission's very sensible proposals.

Frankly, to be honest, compared to other things I've posted in the past, it was nothing terribly original on my part, per se, just connecting-the-dots a bit with some added facts I'd gleaned so that folks reading my blog would have some additional context for understanding the arguments and what was happening now.
Obviously, I also had my opinion on what was happening.http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/rearguard-action-against-broward-county.html

(But unlike Comm. Kristin Jacobs a few months ago, who had an indignant aide telephone me a few times because she was upset that I'd written that in the opinion of myself and many others South Florida transportation advocates, she was a poor choice for the Broward MPO, given her lack of attendance at ANY of the high-profile public transportation meetings that I and dozens of other transportation advocates had attended over the past 4-5 years, Comm. Ritter -apparently- contacted me herself.)

The thing that makes no sense to me -and perhaps will seem non-sensical to you as well- is why does Comm. Ritter think I should've contacted her directly before I linked to a news story about what State Rep. Ari Porth specifically said to the Sun-Sentinel'sBrittany Wallman?

I'm a reasonably skeptical person about almost everything I read or hear from the news media, but without any actual proof that Porth would have a reason to lie -and why would he, since he has nothing to gain from saying something that could be easily disproved?- why would I doubt what's written in Wallman's blog post, per se, especially since Rep. Porth has been entirely consistent about wanting stricter scrutiny of elected officials in Broward?

I saw Rep. Porth in person at the Broward Legislative Delegation meeting in January on the Ethics proposal, and he and Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff were singing from the same hymn book on much-stricter ethics and accountability.

January 26, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Above, crowds milling around before the Broward Legislative Delegation meeting of January 26th, at the Broward College HQ on East Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, which met to discuss a bill creating an Inspector General to be an ethical bloodhound tracking Broward's many miscreant pols. 

That's Miami Herald reporter Amy Sherman on the far left wearing the red top and blue jeans.

Besides, it's not like I'm a fact-checker -at yes, The New Yorker- and nobody will ever read Wallman's story unless I give the okay about everything that's written.

I'm simply alerting people to what is being said about an issue of great importance, but I have no control over what was said or its truthfulness.

I wonder if Comm. Ritter is still angry about the public finding out via my email to Bob Norman of the Broward Palm Beach New Times a few months back about what she said about civic activist and Broward Coalition President Charlotte Greenbarg before the Broward Ethics Commission, one of the few meetings of theirs that I missed towards the end, where I was often the only member of the public present for the entire meeting? http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/01/monday_quick_takes.php


My own post on this was on January 23rd, Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter Unplugged on Ethics
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/broward-county-commissioner-stacy.html

Then again, I'm sure Ritter never paid much attention to that the same way that she and some of her colleagues never paid attention to a lot of things over the past few years, judging by the sad state of the county and the self-evident animus even formerly-apathetic residents have now for the county govt. and its myopic policies that far too often in retrospect appear to be shallow and self-serving in the extreme.

Above, January 26, 2010 photo of the Broward County Government Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL by South Beach Hoosier.

But then I'm so old-fashioned that way, since I don't personally believe that Broward County Commissioners should be able to get two bites of the same apple, serving on the Broward Planning Council and voting on a matter, and then voting on it AGAIN a few weeks later wearing their Commissioner hat, as Comm. Ritter did on the unpopular and controversial Diplomat LAC proposal in Hallandale Beach that Mayor Joy Cooper and the Hallandale Beach City Commission tried to cram down the throats of residents.
In that instance, the city only gave citizen taxpayers access to the Diplomat's already-filed public documents -and changes- via the city's website about 28 hours before the first vote of consequence, the city's P&Z Advisory Board. 
And the very next day, the HB City Commission voted 3-2 for the Diplomat.
A week before Christmas!
I consistently brought up the city's behavior before both the Planning Council and the County Commission to show the city's bad faith, an argument that apparently fell on deaf ears with Comm. Ritter, since I believe she voted for the development every single time.

While some civilian members of the Broward Planning Council who live some distance from HB were conscientious enough to actually visit the neighborhood to see what kind of negative
effect having four or five 25-30 story condos in what is largely now a single-family home and three-four story low-rise area would have, Comm. Ritter never bothered to see it for herself.
To be honest, based on how she's voted in the past, that's what my friends and I who worked so hard against the Diplomat plan expected -and she didn't disappoint.

I've deleted the Blogger comment email address below after Ritter's name so that I don't get any spam in the future, as I already get more than enough.
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For more on Broward County Comm. Stacy Ritter you may want to see previous Broward Palm Beach New Times stories and blog posts at
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/related/to/Stacy+Ritter 
or you can see her bio on her official web page on the county's website at http://www.broward.org/stacyritter/

Also be sure to read Robert Wechsler's government ethics blog at
http://www.cityethics.org/Blog-RobWechsler

This particular post of his from last week deals with the subject at hand:
The Broward County Commission Should Not Be Challenging the Constitutionality of a Lobbying Provision http://www.cityethics.org/content/broward-county-commission-should-not-be-challenging-constitutionality-lobbying-provision

Also check-out and consider Bookmarking http://www.sunshinereview.org/ and http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Florida and the Broward County page at http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Broward_County,_Florida
And finally, this Broward Beat post from Monday the 21st,
Legislators Must Take Up Ethics Reform
By Buddy Nevins

Only one thing could unite the badly-divided Broward Legislative Delegation: Disgust with the Broward County Commission.

Legislators’ revulsion at the commission is understandable.Anybody with a sense of decency is sickened by commissioners maneuvering for 10 years to avoid ethics reform.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.browardbeat.com/legislators-must-take-up-ethics-reform/

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Stacy Ritter
Date: Mon, Jun 21, 2010 at 9:46 PM
Subject: [Hallandale Beach Blog] New comment on Rearguard action against Broward County ethics pro....

Stacy Ritter has left a new comment on your post "Rearguard action against Broward County ethics pro...":
60 days ago I said I would vote for the Broward County Ethics Commission proposal. Today, nothing has changed. I have proposed a Broward County Inspector General to be voted on by the commission in August. As for Rep. Porth's assertion that I lobbied against the bill - it isn't true. I do believe that Ari was used by Republicans, some in elections of their own, to make this a partisan issue. What better way for Republicans to point fingers at Democrats than to have a Democrat, unwittingly, do it for them?

I have invited anyone who has questions about my personal or professional life to call my office (954.357.7003) and either speak over the telephone or come into the office and chat. To date, no one has taken me up on that offer. I guess it's just easier to make allegations and spew vicious lies than to actually care about the truth. I don't know who writes this blog, but you never contacted me and asked me if what Rep. Porth allege is true, which it is not. Had you bothered to call or e-mail me and printed my response, you would have known that. I take offense at being accused of things I haven't done. No doubt you would feel the same.
S
tacy Ritter

Posted by Stacy Ritter to Hallandale Beach Blog at June 21, 2010 9:46 PM