Monday, July 30, 2012

Wow! Hallandale Beach is in The Washington Post: WaPo's Jason Horowitz ponders Jewish-American voters' feelings towards Mitt Romney and President Obama's treatment of Israel thru the prism of Hallandale Beach. HB's Sage Bagel as the NEW poor man's Algonquin Round Table!



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Above, looking east from in front of the RK Sage Plaza retail strip at Hallandale Beach Blvd. (State Road 858) and S.E. 8th Avenue in Hallandale Beach, FL, home of Sage Bagel and Deli. In the distance is one of the three condo towers from The Related Group's The Beach Club on the beach and State Road A1A. Google Maps' Street View, circa 2011.
Wow! Hallandale Beach is in The Washington Post: WaPo's Jason Horowitz ponders Jewish-American voters' feelings towards Mitt Romney and President Obama's treatment of Israel thru the prism of Hallandale Beach. HB's Sage Bagel as the NEW poor man's Algonquin Round Table!
The Washington Post
Jewish voters ponder Romney
By Jason Horowitz
July 30, 8:57 PM
HALLANDALE BEACH. Fla. — Moments after Mitt Romney completed his ode to Israel in front of Jerusalem’s old stone walls on Sunday, reporters asked Sheldon Adelson, the casino mogul and a financial rabbi for the presidential campaign, whether the speech would convince Jewish voters back home to vote for the Republican.
“If they hear it,” answered Adelson, who was with Romney in Israel and has pledged tens of millions of dollars to pro-Romney super PACs. “Yes, for sure.”
Read the rest of the article at:

Hmm-m... could our very own Sage Bagel become the new Versailles, the "The World's Most Famous Cuban Restaurant" on Calle Ocho and the place where all U.S. presidential candidates and state-wide candidates are required to visit when they campaign for the first time in South Florida, for a press op, drinking café con leche?

Yes, more powerful than any law, it's a South Florida political and media tradition!
The mind reels at the possibilities!

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Sage Bagel and Deli
800 E. Hallandale Beach Blvd.
Hallandale Beach, FL 33009 
(954) 456-7499

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Versailles Restaurant
3555 S.W. 8th Street,
Miami, FL 33135 
(305) 444-0240

Sarah Tressler's savvy Magna Cum Laude brain + taut stripper's body + self-evident journalism hypocrisy = Internet story that will not only NOT die, but which is being turned into a book. That will be a best-seller! Sarah will get the last laugh.


CNN video: Sarah Tressler is suing the Houston Chronicle for firing her as a reporter for not previously disclosing on employment form that she's also a former exotic dancer. May 11, 2012.
http://youtu.be/VK4jnXFER6U





In the future, perhaps women who used to be news reporters will be turned down for jobs because reporting is, as Renata Adler insinuated, essentially an immoral exercise, because telling a story is essentially, choosing which lie to share.
But for now, at least in Houston, it's newspapers who look down their noses at the Magna Cum Laude grads they hire as reporters who strip because the newspapers are so damn cheap.



CBS Houston

Angry Stripper Sarah Tressler Now Published Author
By James Hollingsworth, CBS Houston
July 27, 2012 1:58 PM

All Sarah Tressler ever wanted was to be a journalist, and now she’s the published author of Diary of an Angry Stripper.
Composed entirely of blog posts about her tales of moonlighting as an exotic dancer in Houston’s gentlemen’s clubs, Tressler’s tell-all book is receiving national attention after the Houston Chronicle fired her from her job as a high society reporter, and sparked a scandalous controversy for both her and the newspaper.
Read the rest of the post at:
http://houston.cbslocal.com/2012/07/27/angry-stripper-sarah-tressler-now-published-author/


As you might imagine with any story involving titillation, story-telling and beautiful women, the British news media are all over this story:


The Independent

Journalist Sarah Tressler is sacked after her secret life as a stripper is exposed
By Guy Adams
June 28, 2012
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/journalist-sarah-tressler-is-sacked-after-her-secret-life-as-a-stripper-is-exposed-7893589.html


Sunday, July 29, 2012

By any reasonable measure, FL-17's Frederica Wilson is ineffective in Washington, D.C. -except for drawing negative attention to herself for her silly hat fixation, which renders her a cartoon. Why does the South Florida news media continue to give Wilson a "hall pass" and never PRESS her to answer serious questions? Mutuality of interests! Wilson doesn't want to be asked tough questions and the press corps DOESN'T want to ask them!

By any reasonable measure, FL-17's Frederica Wilson is ineffective in Washington, D.C. -except for drawing negative attention to herself for her silly hat fixation, which renders her a cartoon. Why does the South Florida news media continue to give Wilson a "hall pass" and never PRESS her to answer serious questions? Mutuality of interests! Wilson doesn't want to be asked tough questions and the press corps DOESN'T want to ask them!
As of just a few days ago, according to THOMAS, the legislative database maintained by The Library of Congresshttp://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php the following are the 14 attempts at legislation sponsored by FL-17-Representative Frederica Wilson, who is my rep, since January of 2011, when she first took office.

Among the things you'll notice right away is that of the 14 bills -only two in 20127 of the 14 have 2 co-sponsors or less, 5 of the 14 have NONE.
None!.

Of course, every Member has their relative strengths and weaknesses and as I learned from being there for 15 years, at one point, living five blocks from the U.S. Capitol, not all are cut out to be or are even interested in being writers of legislation, the THOMAS Jefferson.

That being the case, and her clearly not being of them, given the objective facts below, perhaps her strength is in persuading others.
I've heard that from her apologists.
Where's the evidence?

Can you name anyone in Congress who looks to Wilson to decide how they'll vote.
No, first because she has proven to be a very liberal Rubber Stamp, and secondly because last year she was one of THE most frequently absent Members in the whole country.
Again, not one of the worst for the Florida delegation, one of THE worst for the entire U.S. House of Representatives.

When did you ever hear this fact mentioned on a local newscast on Channel 4, 6, 7 or 10?

And where was the Miami Herald?

Well, as has been their tried-and-true template for the past few years, their go-to strategy for how they've dealt with members of Congress that it doesn't want to offend, as was the case recently when the Herald completely ignored New England reporters calling-out Debbie Wasserman-Schultz self-evident hypocrisy to her face re her tax returns, not wanting to say anything negative about her, the Herald said nothing and printed nothing.

They just played the waiting game. 

So, rather than note the hypocrisy when it actually happens -you know, reporting?- the powers-that-be just say let's wait a bit.
It was the same with Kendrick Meek dozens of times, and even supporters of his knew this.

Again, when his successor, Frederica Wilson, wound-up with one of THE worst attendance records in the entire U.S. Congress last year, the Herald waited forever to mention it -this year!
About her 2011 attendance!

Nothing about it when it was actually happening!
Why?

Yes, Wilson had surgery in November, but what about the first ten months of 2011?
Again, not among the worst attendance records for Florida, among THE very worst for the entire 435-person Congress.

That's a question that the Herald/McClatchy reporters and columnists in DC and Miami never asked Wilson to explain.
So where was she?

Yes, it seems that no matter where your faithful blogger looks or turns, whether at Hallandale Beach City Hall, the State Capitol in far-off Tallahassee, with carpet-bagger state Rep. Joe Gibbons and state Sen. Eleanor Sobel, or with U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson in Washington, D.C., he is over-represented by ineffective Rubber Stamps with no history of being serious and thoughtful statesmen, where being effective and right on public policy is more important than party.
*Reminder: as a result of congressional redistricting, a subject of so much discussion on this blog the past 18 months, FL-17 is morphing into the new FL-23, as my new Voters's Registration card from the Supervisor of Elections reminded me when it came in the mail a week ago.
1. H.R.2574 : Jobs Now Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 7/18/2011)      Cosponsors (None) 
Committees: House Education and the Workforce 
Latest Major Action: 9/8/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. 
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.

2. H.R.2575 : Drive to Stay Alive Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 7/18/2011)      Cosponsors (2) 
Committees: House Transportation and Infrastructure 
Latest Major Action: 7/19/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. 
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

3. H.R.2582 : Homeowners' Defense Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 7/19/2011)      Cosponsors (None) 
Committees: House Financial Services 
Latest Major Action: 8/22/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. 
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity.

4. H.R.2723 : Social Security Protection Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 8/1/2011)      Cosponsors (15) 
Committees: House Rules 
Latest Major Action: 8/1/2011 Referred to House committee. 
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Rules.

5. H.R.2724 : Medicaid Protection Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 8/1/2011)      Cosponsors (10) 
Committees: House Rules 
Latest Major Action: 8/1/2011 Referred to House committee. 
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Rules.

6. H.R.2725 : Medicare Protection Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 8/1/2011)      Cosponsors (10) 
Committees: House Rules; House Budget 
Latest Major Action: 8/1/2011 Referred to House committee. 
Status: Referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

7. H.R.2726 : Education Protection Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 8/1/2011)      Cosponsors (10) 
Committees: House Rules; House Budget 
Latest Major Action: 8/1/2011 Referred to House committee. 
Status: Referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

8. H.R.2727 : People's Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 8/1/2011)      Cosponsors (10) 
Committees: House Rules; House Budget 
Latest Major Action: 8/1/2011 Referred to House committee. 
Status: Referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

9. H.R.3507 : Cease Haitian Deportations Act
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 11/22/2011)      Cosponsors (None) 
Committees: House Judiciary; House Foreign Affairs 
Latest Major Action: 12/2/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. 
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement.

10. H.R.3595 : Mandatory Foreclosure Mediation Act
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 12/7/2011)      Cosponsors (1) 
Committees: House Financial Services 
Latest Major Action: 1/12/2012 Referred to House subcommittee. 
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity.

11. H.R.3741 : Rilya Wilson Act
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 12/20/2011)      Cosponsors (109) 
Committees: House Ways and Means; House Judiciary 
Latest Major Action: 1/6/2012 Referred to House subcommittee. 
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

12. H.RES.371 : Expressing support for designation of a "Hear My Cry Day" in schools across the United States.
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 7/25/2011)      Cosponsors (None) 
Committees: House Education and the Workforce 
Latest Major Action: 7/25/2011 Referred to House committee. 
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

13. H.RES.521 : Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should work with the Government of Haiti to address gender-based violence against women and children.
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 1/23/2012)      Cosponsors (55) 
Committees: House Foreign Affairs 
Latest Major Action: 2/3/2012 Referred to House subcommittee. 
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.

14. H.RES.581 : Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the continued deployment of United States military support personnel advising regional forces working toward the apprehension of Joseph Kony is both necessary and appropriate.
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 3/9/2012)      Cosponsors (None) 
Committees: House Foreign Affairs 
Latest Major Action: 3/9/2012 Referred to House committee. 
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Approval for The Related Group's Beachwalk project in Hallandale Beach pays off quickly for Hallandale Beach Comm. Anthony A. Sanders. Follow the money? Okay, here it is: $2,500 on page 4 of Sanders' most-recently filed Treasurer's Report is from individuals & entities supporting Beachwalk's approval, including, predictably, Greenberg Traurig; #HallandaleBeach, @SandersHB, @MayorCooper

Above, Hallandale Beach City Hall, February 13, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved
Approval for The Related Group's Beachwalk project in Hallandale Beach pays off quickly for Hallandale Beach Comm. Anthony A. Sanders. Follow the money? Okay, here it is: $2,500 on page 4 of Sanders' most-recently filed Treasurer's Report is from individuals & entities supporting Beachwalk's approval, including, predictably, Greenberg Traurig; #HallandaleBeach, @SandersHB, @MayorCooper 

http://www.hallandalebeach.org/DocumentView.aspx?DID=2499
See Page 4 of those contributions, items # 17, 20, 21, 22 and 23.

Naturally, this being Hallandale Beach, where there's nothing that's predictable when it comes to bad behavior, also appearing were some predictable names who like the Cooper Rubber Stamp Crew: Comm. Dotty Ross and former Congressman and former city lobbyist Larry Smith and... former HB Commissioner William "Bill" Julian.

Hmm-m... so why exactly is Julian giving money to one of his own opponents in this November's election? See page 3, item # 11.
That's a good question.
[But then that sort of questionable "logic" is precisely why Julian was thrown-off the commission by voters in 2010, and why this dreadfully incompetent man who for years has exhibited such terrible judgement in continually bringing disgrace to himself and to this town thru his clownish, boorish and illegal behavior -voting to triple his own pay at a City Commission meeting with no citizens or camera present, parking illegally in Handicapped Parking spaces and No Parking Zones all over town for many, many years- MUST be kept away from any position of power in this city. The crazy part now is that Julian acts like people aren't hip to his whole charade as the nice guy who means well. He ISN'T!
He's the guy with a sense of entitlement who consciously parked his own car in those spaces illegally with his Commissioner ID badge right on the dashboard for you, me and everyone else, including the police, could see, instead of following a very simple law. No, Bill Julian is indeed a thoroughly reprehensible and despicable individual who got away with his serial immoral and illegal behavior for years in this town because of his official position. IF he had lived 150 years ago or more in many parts of the Midwest and Plains, he would have rather quickly found himself run-out-of-town by the energized citizenry, angry at forever being made media laughingstocks by his silly prattle, buffoonish antics, tomfoolery and lack of attention to detail, his specialty!]
Okay, let's see if I have this correct.
On June 6th, at its Second Reading before the five-member Hallandale Beach City Commission, Comm. Anthony A. Sanders voted to approve the too-large and incompatible development project by The Related Group on the Intracoastal Waterway -with its octopus-like tentacles stretched over to the city's dirty and poorly-maintained North Beach Park- that I've written SO MUCH about this year on the blog.

And when Sanders spoke, which he doesn't do a lot of, and doesn't do particularly well despite his being a Pastor, he spent almost all of his time talking about jobs and job-training.
Hmm-m... 
I wonder whom he thinks should be involved with THAT?
I think we all know who that would be.

In fact, in her opening remarks weeks earlier, The Related Group's attorney, Debbie Orshefsky, of Greenberg Traurig, actually wasted little time before pivoting from talking about the basics of the project in her Power Point presentation to an extended pitch aimed directly at Sanders, saying that the developers knew how important jobs and job-training were to him. LOL!
BOOM!

Just like that, Orshefsky went right to the heart of what everyone in the room who follows these things closely knew would be the one-and-only issue that mattered for Comm. Sanders
Jobs for... well, maybe for people like Jessica Sanders, eh?

This, despite the fact that all the commissioners under our city's At-Large system are supposed to represent ALL residents of this city equally, including the very people who live in the neighborhood where the Beachwalk project could be erected.

Wow, it was so patently obvious as to be completely over-the-top, even for Hallandale Beach.
Especially for an excellent attorney like Orshefsky, who is always extremely well-prepared -unlike, oh, Comm. Sanders himself- since regardless of whatever else I or my friends in Broward County might think of the relative merits of the projects that she's become the public face for here in Hallandale Beach, next-door Hollywood or before the Broward County Commission, she is always very well prepared and ready to pounce on a mistake.

Now, though, suddenly, a month later, Sanders has received $2,500 in 2012 campaign contributions from people and entities with an interest in The Beachwalk's  approval.
Approval given during the middle of the summer, when most of the residents who live near the project and who will be most adversely-affected by it, are actually out-of-town for the summer until Labor Day.

Tell me, what do you suppose Village of Gulfstream Park and Beachwalk lobbyist Suzanne Friedman, who wrote a campaign check to him, feels is Sanders' best trait as a commissioner?

Is it the fact that for almost four years in office now -47 months this week- Sanders has carefully and aggressively avoided directly interacting publicly with this community's most well-informed citizens? Hmm-m...

Could it be Sanders' continual refusal over so many months in 2009 to even meet in-person with HB residents living in the very NE neighborhood most adversely-affected by the proposed Diplomat project that both Friedman and Orshefsky worked for, making their jobs easier, knowing that Sanders wasn't going to even pretend to care what those residents thought?

Especially given his refusal to even return their phone calls or emails asking him as an elected representative of theirs to meet with them in the neighborhood itself, so that he could see, literally, their perspective on the matter?
Or the point-of-view they'd be losing if he voted yes, as he did!
Hmm-m... possibly.

Or, could it just be that what Friedman and other lobbyists like her most like about Sanders is that he not only doesn't ask good questions to speak of, but that even the bad ones he does ask, he always asks in such a halting and confusing fashion -like he just showed-up to the meeting and doesn't really quite know what he's doing there or what everyone is talking about- that it throws everyone else off?

Which certainly helps them, yes, given Sanders four-year track record of ALWAYS voting for every single development proposal that has come before him, no matter how poorly thought-out, no matter how unpopular with neighbors or the whole city it might be.

Yes, those feeble and circular questions of Sanders that are so painful to watch and hear in-person, that it's not at all uncommon for people in the commission chambers to get up while he's speaking and leave the room for a few minutes to gather themselves outside, and get a breath of fresh air, because the whole scene inside is too much for them to bear.
Been there, done that.

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Miami Herald
Proposed hotel gets tentative approval in Hallandale Beach - Miami developer Jorge Pérez gained preliminary approval from the Hallandale Beach commission to build a more than $90 million project on the Intracoastal Waterway.
By Carli Teproff
June 7, 2012

Despite concerns over traffic and parking issues, the Hallandale Beach Commission gave its tentative approval for Miami developer Jorge Pérez to build a more than $90 million Beachwalk project on the city’s Intracoastal Waterway. 

The commission voted unanimously late Wednesday night to allow the Related Group to construct a 216-suite hotel and 84 residential units where the once-popular Manero’s restaurant stood. The project would also include improvements to a city park and a beachfront restaurant. 

If the commission gives it a final green light, the hotel would be the city’s first overlooking the waterway and within walking distance to the beach. 

“I think we are all in a consensus that we need a hotel in the city,” said Vice Mayor Anthony Sanders after the meeting. “But we have to achieve some sort of balance.” 

Many in the beachside community say that only having two hotels hampers its ability to compete with other neighboring beachside communities including Sunny Isles Beach and Hollywood. 

“It can only enhance our lives,” said Toula Amanna, the owner of Flashback Diner in Hallandale Beach. “It’s about time we start functioning as a vacation destination.” 

Some details still need to be worked out before any final approval. 

The developer is going to work with the city to address some concerns, including traffic on Diana Drive and creating more parking to fit the demand. 

“We are going to work on it,” said Debbie Orshefsky of Greenberg Traurig, the lawyer representing the Related Group following the four-hour meeting. 

Orshefsky said the proposed 31-story building on 1.68 acres at 2600 E. Hallandale Beach Blvd., will bring something to the city it doesn’t have: a suite hotel and residential complex. “Mixed use projects make sense,” she said. 

But residents say they also bring traffic. 

Peter Ramirez, who lives on Diana Drive, said parking is already a problem along the residential street, which is lined with condominium buildings. 

“I think you are overlooking the impact it’s going to have on our little neighborhood,” he said. 

Hallandale Beach resident Rodger Reynolds said “there needs to be more thought given to what the city is giving up to the developers.” 

“There are other impacts the city is going to have to pay for because of this project,” Reynolds said. 

In order to build the project, the city will have to turn over the right of way for a portion of unused roadway. There will also be other concessions, including allowing the developer to build 451 parking spaces instead of 619, which is required by code. 

In exchange, the developer agreed to spend $2.5 million on renovation to the city’s North Beach Bark and add a beachfront restaurant — to be managed by the developer — that could generate revenue for the city. In addition, the developer would give the city $200,000 for park maintenance, $250,000 for public improvements and $300,000 for affordable housing improvements. 

Commissioner Keith London said in order for him to vote for the project on final reading, scheduled for June 20, he would want the developer to agree to make park improvements and build the restaurant before or at the same time as the hotel. 

He said the city’s leverage is the road. 

“Without our piece of property, their project cannot happen,” London said. 

Also on London’s lists of concerns: Diana Drive, parking and the amount of money the city would make from the restaurant. The developer has agreed to share profits from the restaurant. 

Commissioner Alexander Lewy shared some of the same concerns. 

“Our requests are not outrageous,” Lewy said. “We need to make sure they would have the least amount of impact on the neighborhood as possible.” 

While some recognize there would be more traffic, others say the city needs a financial boost and more places for people to work. 

“This is a very good thing from what I see,” said Hallandale Beach resident Anthony Lewis. 

“Our town needs these jobs.”

----------

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Hallandale considers 31-story hotel/condo
By Tonya Alanez, Sun Sentinel
6:27 p.m. EDT, June 7, 2012

HALLANDALE BEACH—
City residents rooting for the jobs, beach improvements and infusion of money that would come with a proposed 31-story hotel/condo project outnumbered those bemoaning the accompanying parking woes and congestion at a Wednesday night City Commission meeting.

Beachwalk, with its 84 residential units and 216 hotel suites slated for the plot where Manero's Restaurant used to be, would be the city's biggest development project since the Gulfstream Village expansion in 2007.

"It's a bare lot that's not doing anything for any of us," city resident Joe Kessel told commissioners. "It makes sense to me when we take a property from $2.4 million to $90 million."

The $90-million project would include a small, light-fare restaurant and a five-story parking garage on Hallandale Beach Boulevard at the southwestern base of the Intracoastal drawbridge.

"Jobs, jobs, jobs," another resident, Anthony Lewis, said. "We need jobs. This is a very good thing from what I see."

In unanimous decisions, city commissioners tentatively agreed to let the developer, Related Group, design the project outside current zoning requirements. They also tentatively agreed to give the developer a half-acre sliver of land next to the site.

"It just amazes me you could even consider this kind of project," said Carol Nyren, who lives on nearby Diana Drive. "That is going to change the way everybody on this street lives."

The biggest issue is a shortage of parking spots and the overflow that could end up on Diana Drive. The plan for the project has about 167 fewer parking spaces than the city code requires.

Another concern is the number of people who will actually live and stay at the hotel.

The development would have 84 year-round residential units and 216 two-bedroom suites, which could be rented as 432 hotel units by dividing each suite into a one-bedroom suite with a kitchen and a separate one-bedroom unit.

Because the property is not zoned for residential property, the city would have to give a special approval to allow it.

Commissioners will vote on those specific issues later.

"This is just moving the ball down the field," Mayor Joy Cooper said of Wednesday's decisions.

"Codes are created on purpose, to protect people," resident Peter Ramirez said. "We're overlooking the impact that it's going to have on our little neighborhood."

Representing the developer, Debbie Orshefsky made the hard sell.

Among the advantages, she listed:

-- The city would reap nearly $4.6 million in annual revenue, including $531,000 in ad valorem taxes.

-- The developer would contribute $3.6 million to the city for traffic improvements, affordable housing and other uses.

-- The project would create 260 jobs: 150 in construction, 70 at the hotel and 40 at a beach club.

-- The developer would pour $2.5 million into the city's North Beach Park, making upgrades, building restrooms and an 180-seat indoor/outdoor restaurant. The city would get a minimum of $5,000 a month from restaurant sales.

-- The hotel would operate a free shuttle, open to the public, to the beach.

Murvin Wright liked the sound of it all: "It is a very needed stimulant for the entire community."

The developer is targeting South American investors, who would stay here during their winter, our summer.

"The economy in South America is very robust, and they want to invest in a place where they culturally feel very comfortable," Orshefsky said in an interview during a break from the meeting.

Commissioners listed their sticking points for city staff to hash out in negotiations with the developer, namely ensuring parking would not be a problem, making beach park improvements before building the hotel, and ensuring that jobs would primarily go to Hallandale residents.

Just to remind everyone reading this who may've forgotten, almost everyone in town was in favor of the hotel component, including me.
it's the completely un-needed condos and the give-away with the public park that rankled everyone.
That, plus the refusal by Mayor Cooper and City Manager Crichton to wait until September to bring the matter up after all these many years of that property sitting vacant.

The citizens of this city won't be forgetting that.
No, there's an election 100 days from today!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Video: 60 Minutes reports on Obama's economy in Orlando and Central Florida: Homeless kids living in cars. If you missed this powerful 60 Minutes story last year, see it Sunday night at 7 p.m. Eastern: heart-breaking hard times for kids in Obama's America - Hard times generation: homeless kids, reported by Scott Pelley; #60Minutes, @ScottPelley, @60Minutes


CBS News 60 Minutes Preview: Hard Times Generation. Above, Arielle and Austin Metzger. CBS News anchor Scott Pelley goes to Central Florida to document a slice of life under Obama you may've missed: kids and their parents forced to live in cars. 
See his report on Sunday night at 7 p.m. Eastern.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7389253n&tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel

CBS News 60 Minutes: Hard times generation: Homeless kids,

Video: Local10's Glenna Milberg examines an ethical & financial problem in Hallandale Beach that I've been writing about for over 3 years re Comm. Anthony A. Sanders, who KEEPS stonewalling the public; Keith London: "Broward Inspector General closing in on Hallandale Beach, Mayor Cooper and Vice Mayor Sanders"




actsofsedition video:  Local10/Miami: "City's pricey purchase." 
On July 26, 2012, Local10 reporter Glenna Milberg went to Hallandale Beach to learn more details about the curious case involving Pastor and City Comm. Anthony A. Sanders' rushed sale of his and his wife's property at 501 N.W. 1st Avenue to the city in 2009 -when the city had ZERO written plans for what it would actually do with the property afterwards!- for about $89,000 more than it was actually worth. Sanders continues to stonewall Hallandale Beach taxpayers about the exact details of this deal as he has now for over three years, and he refused to speak with Milberg on Thursday. Outside of the city-owned property that the city now receives $10 a year in rent for, Mayor Joy Cooper's explanation was unconvincing for HB taxpayers. Three years later she continues to hem and haw when asked simple questions -and to defend the indefensible- as she still can't logically explain what the rush was to buy the property at a higher price, esp. if there was no definite plan in place. It was left to Comm. Keith London -the only vote against the purchase and Cooper's re-election opponent in November- to again explain why this deal was so egregious from HB taxpayer's point of view. It's just one of the dozens of inexplicable and nonsensical things that I've personally observed with Hallandale Beach taxpayer or CRA funds under Mayor Cooper's reign since I moved here. This time, it's drawn the full attention of Broward County Inspector General John W. Scott, who wants the commissioners to explain to him and his agents what actually happened and why. Uploaded July 27, 2012. http://youtu.be/XlOgkrL9CWI
(In case you didn't recognize him, the other individual interviewed at the property by Glenna Milberg  is Josh BrownIf you forgot what the story with him was, go back to my April 12th blog post titled, An IG investigation! Finally! Plus, more curious CRA matters to ponder - William Gjebre in BrowardBulldog: Broward Inspector General's office zeroing-in on Hallandale Beach after numerous reports re city's curious CRA loans and land purchases with no written plan in place for the latter http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/ig-investigation-finally-plus-more.html
 Per that post, you might reasonably ask, whatever became of Brown's failed attempt to commit fraud against the Broward Democratic Black Caucus? I don't know, you might want to ask Broward State's Attorney Mike SatzThat's his job.)
Friday morning I received the following email from Comm. Keith London about the segment with WPLG-TV's Glenna Milberg, above.


Keith S. London - City Commissioner Hallandale Beach
Broward Inspector General closing in on Hallandale Beach,
Mayor Cooper 
and Vice Mayor Sanders
_________________________________________________________
Your Tax Dollars at Work
What every citizen and taxpayer in Hallandale Beach should know about the purchase of Vice Mayor Sanders' property by Mayor Cooper and Bill Julian:
  • The “special” meeting (read minutes from that meeting) to purchase the property was held upstairs behind closed doors in a room far away from the public view.
  • The purchase was NEVER on a listed agenda with all the appraisals provided to the public to this day.
  • In addition, Mayor Cooper and Bill Julian voted and approved the purchase under “OTHER” in the secret meeting. They spent $235,000 on “OTHER”!
  • Commissioner Keith London was the only NO vote.
  • Besides “appraisal shopping”, here is another fact:
    "Mayor Cooper, you conveniently forgot to mention that the sale closed within hours of the vote. In what world other than yours, Mayor, do closing documents get produced and the check clear the bank in less than 12 hours?"
  • Question: "Mayor Cooper, what have you done with the property in the last 3 years?"
  • You leased it to another one of your buddies for 10 dollars per year!
  • That’s good business. Thanks for looking out for the taxpayer, Mayor Cooper!
Keeping you informed,
Keith
Commissioner Keith S. London
Phone: 954-494-3182
FacebookTwitter 

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
I'm reprinting this from above in case it is hard to read:

Your Tax Dollars at Work
What every citizen and taxpayer in Hallandale Beach should know about the purchase of Vice Mayor Sanders' property by Mayor Cooper and Bill Julian:

The “special” meeting (read minutes from that meeting) to purchase the property was held upstairs behind closed doors in a room far away from the public view.
The purchase was NEVER on a listed agenda with all the appraisals provided to the public to this day.
In addition, Mayor Cooper and Bill Julian voted and approved the purchase under “OTHER” in the secret meeting. They spent $235,000 on “OTHER”!
Commissioner Keith London was the only NO vote.
Besides “appraisal shopping”, here is another fact:
"Mayor Cooper, you conveniently forgot to mention that the sale closed within hours of the vote. In what world other than yours, Mayor, do closing documents get produced and the check clear the bank in less than 12 hours?"
Question: "Mayor Cooper, what have you done with the property in the last 3 years?"
You leased it to another one of your buddies for 10 dollars per year!
That’s good business. Thanks for looking out for the taxpayer, Mayor Cooper!
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Chaz Stevens' Acts of Sedition blog: http://www.myactsofsedition.com/
His YouTube Channelhttp://www.youtube.com/user/actsofsedition