Hallandale Beach's political corruption is hiding in plain sight -"Your Tax Dollars at Work" Hallandale Beach CRA (City Commission) Says Hands Off to Broward Inspector General; Mayor Joy Cooper's stonewalling initiative begins in earnest, since the true facts are NOT her friend

The iconic Hallandale Beach Water Tower on State Road A1A/South Ocean Drive, looking east towards the North Beach Community Center and the public beach. July 12, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2013 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

Hallandale Beach's political corruption is hiding in plain sight -"Your Tax Dollars at Work" Hallandale Beach CRA (City Commission) Says Hands Off to Broward Inspector General; Mayor Joy Cooper's stonewalling initiative begins in earnest, since the facts are NOT her friends

I was already planning on writing this email to Florida Governor Rick Scott, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Broward Inspector General John W. Scott, Broward County Commissioners Suzanne Gunzburger and Barbara Sharief -who each represent parts of Hallandale Beach- and the de facto County mayor, John Rodstrom, as well as some prominent members of the local South Florida news media, including Miami Herald Executive Editor Rick Hirsch about the unbelievable news that Hallandale Beach City Hall is actually considering defying a lawful request by the Broward IG's office to talk to HB's five city  commissioners and city employees.

But when I received an email from HB Comm. Keith London -a commissioner who actually wants to talk to them about what he knows and has observed over five years, and who wants to find out was REALLY going on- letting me know that there was yet another new development -more active pushback by HB City Hall, which wants to know the questions that will be asked beforehand to the commissioners and officials, people who have resisted telling the truth to a lawfully-authorized government agency whose creation was enthusiastically supported by Broward voters fed-up with the pervasive culture of corruption here, the most-corrupt in the entire state.

You get a full sense of how truly absurd and upside-down this city's government is, and this request is, if you try to think of a single film/TV crime and police drama that you've ever seen where the police, prosecutors or investigators revealed the questions they'd ask to a defendant's defense attorney BEFORE an interview with the client.
Really, just think about that for a minute.
That's the sort of people that HB citizens are used to having decide their city's future.
Is it any wonder they're angry?


Broward Bulldog
Broward Inspector General hits first legal hurdle; Hallandale CRA says hands off
By William Gjebre, BrowardBulldog.org 
June 27, 2012 AT 6:25 AM
http://www.browardbulldog.org/2012/06/broward-inspector-general-hits-first-legal-hurdle-hallandale-cra-says-hands-off/

After I read that article, I decided that I'd go ahead and send that email on Wednesday rather than wait until Thursday afternoon, in case any of them got an early start on the Fourth of July holidays.
The last thing I wanted was for my email to ferment in someone's email inbox for a week.

Below is the email that was sent to these named individuals, along with about 75 other interested parties in Hallandale Beach, Broward County and the state capital up in Tallahassee, which for those of you who are reading this far from me here in south Florida, is about the same distance from Miami as 

Roughly 95% of the people in this community have never been to Tallahassee for more than a few minutes while driving thru, and distance from the state capital here often accounts for why things in South Florida often get quite bad before the state (in the form of the governor or attorney general) is forced to act and do something because of both facts and circumstances.

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FYI: re corruption in plain sight -"Your Tax Dollars at Work" Hallandale Beach CRA (City Commission) Says Hands Off to Broward Inspector General

In the near future I'll be sending some of you a copy of my formal Ethics complaint to the Florida Commission on Ethics against Hallandale Beach City Manager Mark A. Antonio.

That will include the proof of his self-evident serial copyright violation, wherein photos taken by me and uploaded to my blog, have and continue to be used illegally by the City of Hallandale Beach on their official website, used unlawfully and posted in city hall offices, as well as illegally modifying those images for their own use on official city documents.

Most galling of all, though, has been to see my work being used illegally on the front of their distributed city maps!

(See my July 12, 2010 photo at top that is on those maps.)

All of this has been done without EVER seeking my permission or paying for the use of my proprietary rights.

This has been going on for more than a year now, and despite my pointedly telling Antonio at a public meeting that what he was doing was illegal, to stop his illegal activity and do the right thing -which I have video of- Antonio and the city have done nothing.

City Manager Antonio has, instead, continued to act like there's nothing that I as a citizen can do to prevent him and the city from continuing to engage in clearly illegal behavior and to use something they have stolen.

As you'll soon see, though, actually, there is.

Antonio and the city are about to learn that stealing doesn't pay, especially when you are so obvious and clumsy about your theft and continued illegal behavior.

But then our great misfortune in Hallandale Beach the past few years has been that THAT has

been the city's template for so many things done here, and who in a position of authority did anything about it?

After the Fourth of July holidays, I'll be visiting the Office of the Broward States Attorney as well as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, complete with all the evidence that connects -the-dots on the copyright matter, the veritable ribbon on the box.

I'll also be offering my assistance to the investigators and agents in charge of discovering where all the taxpayer money and CRA funds went in this city without any reasonable oversight, documentation or proscribed follow-up, to facilitate crony capitalism among friends of City Hall, including the faux newspaper.

My latest thoughts on the continuing issue of the Broward Inspector General's investigation into the illegal and corrupt practices of the City of Hallandale Beach, and their steadfast refusal to cooperate, were posted yesterday morning:

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/cornered-pious-comm-anthony-sanders.html 

One last thought: Some of you, and you know exactly who you are, have greatly disappointed the beleaguered citizens of this community by your continued refusal to get engaged, and even worse, they are completely put off by your continuing to pretend that you don't know anything at all about what has been going on in this city for YEARS.

This didn't just happen overnight.

For those of you for whom this rings true, it would be a big mistake for you to continue to believe that ignoring the sad reality faced by citizens in this city, and the facts-on-the-ground, will somehow work to your long-term benefit.

They won't.

Trust me, though it may be the summer, people in this community are paying close attention to just whom is doing, saying and reporting on what has been transpiring, and that is especially true about them scrutinizing people who are consciously choosing to say and DO nothing at all.

We won't forget.

Sincerely,

DBS, 8-year Hallandale Beach resident

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Commissioner Keith S. London <newsletter@keithlondonformayor.com>
Date: Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 10:10 AM
Subject: "Your Tax Dollars at Work" CRA Says Hands Off to IG

Broward Inspector General hits first legal hurdle; Hallandale CRA says hands off Filed under Hallandale Beach {one comment} By William Gjebre, BrowardBulldog.org  Hallandale Beach’s Community Redevelopment Agency, run by the city’s five elected commissioners, has sent a message to Broward’s new Inspector General’s Office – you can’t touch us. Numerous questions have been raised about the business dealings of the CRA, in which city commissioners also serve as directors of the agency. To read the complete article click here. At least one city commissioner disagrees with the CRA’s position. “The IG does have jurisdiction,” said London, who is running for mayor against incumbent Joy Cooper. A part of the state law, he said, speaks to the mingling of city and state funds and that would give the investigators authority. If called by the IG, London said, “I’ll go; I look forward to it.” One Comments Post a Comment FrustratedInHallandale June 27, 2012 at 9:31 am City Manager said “On our part, we need more information as to why the Inspector General wants to interview commissioners.” Where do you want to start: Buying Sanders property for over the appraised value in a down market? The purchase NEVER being an official agenda item? Jessica Sanders signing her own time sheets? Why is Jessica Sanders in the Hepburn Center, is she a city employee? Giving $50,000 of Weed and Seed money to Jessica Sanders and PCAC never an agenda item? Properties bought with CRA funds and titled in the Cities name? Who voted for all the above items? “On our part, we need more information as to why the Inspector General wants to interview commissioners. There needs to be some structure; what do they want to discuss.” said the City Manager. City Manager, City Attorney, and CRA Attorney can you start with just the above questions? Keeping you informed, Keith Commissioner Keith S. London

Phone: 954-494-3182 613 Oleander Drive Hallandale Beach, FL 33009 email: keith@keithlondon.comwww.keithlondon.com Political Advertisement paid for and approved by Keith S. London for Hallandale Beach Mayor, Non Partisan