A Joe Carollo clone? Thomas Campenni, the Martin County man serving as plaintiff in the lawsuit vs. State of Florida re Property Tax Reduction ballot measure seems like he must be normal... Until you spend just a few minutes investigating his background. Then 📉!.

A Joe Carollo clone? 

Thomas Campenni, the Martin County man being named as plaintiff in the lawsuit vs. State of Florida re Property Tax Reduction ballot measure seems like he must be normal... 

Until you spend just a few minutes investigating his background. 

Then   .

Per my friend Steven Paul Schneider's The 7 & Beyond Substack post this afternoon,

Broward Attorney Duo File Constitutional Challenge Lawsuit Hours Ago
Case Filed In Leon County Circuit Court Attacking Validity Of State Ballot Measure On Property Tax Reduction
Steven Paul Schneider
June 11, 2026

https://stevenpaulschneider.substack.com/p/broward-attorney-duo-file-constitutional/comments

As Mayor of Stuart, a la ex-Comm. Joe Carollo in Miami, Thomas Campenni seems to have been constantly breaking the city's charter, violating state law and even found time to sic the city's code enforcement on one of his many perceived "enemies," which as most of you know, is Classic Carollo. Among other things.... 

Miami hits pause on Joe Carollo’s $770K pension settlement post legal challenge
By Ladra on May 28, 2026

https://www.politicalcortadito.com/2026/05/28/miami-pause-joe-carollo-pension-settlement-legal-challenge/

Campenni is a former City of Stuart City Commissioner (Sept. 2014 - May 2018) and one-time Mayor, a board member of the watchdog group, Martin County Taxpayers Association, so, someone who fancies himself as a political watchdog as "the publisher of Friends & Neighbors of Martin County. I am your government watchdog. I report on our local governments including the municipal, county and school board. Our newsletter and other articles and blogs are to inform our friends & neighbors in Martin County."

When you spend even just a few minutes trying to find out who he is, you realize that he doesn't ever mention that he was forced to resign as Stuart's mayor. Uh oh, serial ethics violator and all-around creep.

----

Embattled mayor of Stuart resigns in aftermath of ‘pig’ comment about police

By Al Pefley | WPEC-CBS12

PUBLISHED: February 2, 2017 at 7:52 AM EST | UPDATED: June 6, 2018 at 7:19 AM EDT

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2017/02/02/embattled-mayor-of-stuart-resigns-in-aftermath-of-pig-comment-about-police/

---
Tom Campenni: Stuart Commissioner described as 'bully,' accused of violating city charter

By: Meghan McRoberts
Posted 11:19 PM, Jun 22, 2017 and last updated 8:59 AM, Jun 23, 2017

Some employees of the city of Stuart consider Commissioner and former Mayor Tom Campenni to be a “bully.”

Others say he abuses his power and intimidates employees.

These are some of the findings in an 11-page investigative report released Thursday by Coral Gables attorney, Robert Norton.

Read the rest of the amazing story of corruption in plain sight at

https://www.wptv.com/news/region-martin-county/stuart/tom-campenni-stuart-commissioner-described-as-bully-accused-of-violating-city-charter

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I'm sure there's more where this comes from, but then I only had about 15 minutes to let my fingers do the sleuthing in-between some other things I'm doing this afternoon in advance of World Cup-palooza starting in earnest, so...

ICYMI yesterday in my email to many of you: 

This sounds vaguely 1301-ish. City of Miami to finally put voter referendum on November ballot, 10-years later, re Rickenbacker Marina deal. 

Excellent sleuthing by Elaine de Valle at Political Cortadito! 

"The whole reason the city ended up in court was because it kept trying to change the rules after the game was over. So now commissioners are left with a choice that feels very Miami: Approve sending a decade-old deal to voters largely as negotiated, or risk wandering back into the legal swamp that produced years of lawsuits in the first place."  😏😒😠

Back to the future: Miami to sell voters a 10-year-old Rickenbacker Marina deal
By Ladra on June 10, 2026

https://www.politicalcortadito.com/2026/06/10/miami-referendum-rickenbacker-marina/

---

BBC

The immersive venue putting World Cup fans pitch side

The COSM venue in Los Angeles combines cinema, stadium, and technology to recreate the World Cup atmosphere. With 8K cameras, a 12K screen and immersive audio, fans are put right in the middle of the action without entering a stadium. The venue offers a glimpse into how sport could be experienced in the future.

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0nr3f4y/watch

Speaking of 2026 #WorldCup, wanted to get in a plug for my savvy #HollywoodFL friend, Mark Rowe, owner of super-successful

@MickeyByrnesPub

, THE best place in all of #Broward to watch the matches on BIG SCREENS w/savvy, knowledgeable  fans -NOT bandwagon types!

https://x.com/hbbtruth/status/2064809110407651417

I'm not FIFA, you're FIFA!

Dave 

David Bruce Smith  

My blog, now eponymous, , formerly called Hallandale Beach/Hollywood Blog: 

http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @hbbtruth, https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/with_replies
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-bruce-smith-b945b376/

Instagram: @hbbtruth https://www.instagram.com/hbbtruth/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidSmith0215  

https://x.com/hbbtruth/status/2065166601641398317

No más! #FL20 Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick RESIGNS in disgrace minutes before she can be expelled from Congress this afternoon; Florida redistricting thoughts

So, as some of you have been reminding me for a bit -often quite sarcastically- I've been kicking myself for NOT remembering to post this email of mine to about 125 or so people in Hollywood, Broward, Miami and Tallahassee weeks ago, so, today I'm combining news and emails of mine from today and from March 31st, 2026.

It both connects-the-dots and makes clear my own longtime POV on my blog and on my Twitter feed since returning to South Florida after 15 years of living and working in the Washington, D.C. area, and spending ENORMOUS amounts of time on Capitol Hill: ethics and integrity matter.

April 21, 2026 2:25 pm

No más! #FL20 Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick RESIGNS in disgrace minutes before she can be expelled from Congress this afternoon

SCM remained as defiant as ever, as do the other #SoFL Dem reps who want to argue process, racism or otherwise ignore the $5-plus million taxpayer that went adios.
She was scheduled to be expelled from Congress at 2 pm, even as DWS was arguing that she should get the benefit of the doubt -and due process- until her trial in Miami.
But as per usual, DWS did NOT wait for due process with unscrupulous George Santos of NY last year.

As of 2:15 pm, the same 99% of #SoFL media who knew and STILL know nada re the case against Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and who were no-shows at her ethics hearing, STILL NOT reporting today's news.

I personally believe that it's 100% that IF the Florida state legislature does the mid-census redistricting process in the next few weeks that Gov. DeSantis has been hinting/talking about since last year, what is now #FL20 is going to be configured in VERY different and interesting ways that allow much-smarter and much-better qualified candidates to run to represent parts of Broward and Florida in Congress.

Based on some recent conversations and lengthy emails I've had with some very well-connected people in both Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. that I know and respect very highly -and who have a rep for being prescient- I now have some very good leads on who some of the possible Congressional candidates are who MIGHT run for the 4 CDs that would be changed if the redistricting process goes forward.
Some are names you'll recognize, while some are under-the-radar right now from a Florida media perspective.

More on that within the next few weeks!

Friendly reminder: One of my former housemates from the 15 years I lived in #ArlingtonVA is now in Congress, representing a state far from Florida, and was both the former Senate Majority Leader and then Attorney General of their state.

Dave
--------------

March 31, 2026

No más! Sun Sentinel Editorial Board throws in the #Broward towel on Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick -whom they never truly vetted in the first place, as has often been discussed by me in past blog post, Tweets and personal conversations and emails with SO many of you over the past few years:

"Whether by her own resignation or a two-thirds vote of the House on expulsion, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick needs to go."
So, truly the unkindest Broward cut of all!
The liberal Broward mouthpiece that didn't even bother to cover last Thursday's House ethics hearing in-person, finally gives up the ghost. 

The newspaper DID finally post something about the hearing, on Saturday, but it was an AP dispatch written by two non-SFSS reporters.
https://apnews.com/.../congress-ethics-cherfilusmccormick...

Sun Sentinel Editorial Board :
Whether by her own resignation or a two-thirds vote of the House on expulsion, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick needs to go.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/.../congresswoman-should.../
https://www.facebook.com/share/1L49iSSFBV/

IMO, unsurprisingly, showing the lack of conviction and integrity we've come to expect from them over the years, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis, #FL23 Rep. Jared Moskowitz and, of course, #FL25 Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, despite the tsunami of damning evidence of public corruption and sense of entitlement do NOT currently think that SCM should resign from Congress, as mentioned yesterday in the only thing that the newspaper's one and only political reporter, Anthony Man, has actually written since last Thursday's powerful and damning hearing. 

Really.

The ONLY thing! How embarrassing!

But then Anthony Man has been off of X/Twitter since November of 2024, largely to avoid any and all constructive criticism of his "coverage" and noticeable political favoritism and well-known blind spots, so this is par for the course.

South Florida Sun Sentinel
Governor candidate Jolly calls for Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation
Anthony Man
March 30, 2026
Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly called on U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick to resign after a House Ethics Subcommittee concluded she had committed 25 ethics violations, including breaking campaign finance laws.

Jolly, who is a former member of Congress, is the only major Florida Democrat to call for the Broward-Palm Beach County congresswoman’s resignation.

Read the rest of the article at:
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/.../democratic-governor.../

NOT mentioned in the article above - surprise, surprise- IF convicted of all felony counts, SCM faces 53 years in prison. 

53 real years!

Dave

David Bruce Smith  

My blog, now eponymous, , formerly called Hallandale Beach/Hollywood Blog: 

http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @hbbtruth, https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/with_replies
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-bruce-smith-b945b376/

Instagram: @hbbtruth https://www.instagram.com/hbbtruth/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidSmith0215

Another day, another #HollywoodFL taxpayer receives POOR SERVICE at Hollywood City Hall -again! Different problem, different day, different city employee giving unsatisfactory service.

Below, another day, another Hollywood taxpayer receiving POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE at Hollywood City Hall -again! Different problem, different day, and different city employee giving completely unsatisfactory service. C'est la même chose, jour après jour. 😡

Why in the year 2026, can Hollywood Water customers STILL not use the Chrome browser on their computer or mobile phone to allow customers to make online payments? 

Why must the City of Hollywood's bureaucracy be so resolutely backwards and customer unfriendly, and why do the five elected officials who are the City Manager's boss meekly accept this year-after-year rather than prod the City manager and Dept. heads to FINALLY enter the 21st Century -and give employees an attitude adjustment?

This all comes to mind today because I happened to come across the following post at Nextdoor today.
Yes, Nextdoor, the very-far-from-perfect default complaint mechanism for frustrated Hollywood and Broward citizens, residents, taxpayers and stakeholders, since both the city and county are generally SO unresponsive to citizens queries/complaints.
Me, of course, well I prefer the more direct approach: to publicly criticize elected officials and bureaucrats to their face, and afterwards to inform a large audience of well-informed people who commiserate, plus assorted South Florida media personalities.

I've never met Annette, per se, but I HAVE met thousands of people just like her in Hollywood.
And so have you.
Yet what's changing at City Hall?

https://nextdoor.com/p/XtCf8x_7ZPQk?utm_source=share&extras=MzA0MDgzNzQ%3D&utm_campaign=1773249008708&share_action_id=ede3bef5-faf1-4e89-852f-d35f10c2ffd1

For the record, according to Google, who owns it, Google Chrome is THE dominant web browser in the USA, holding over 50% to 60% of the market share across all platforms as of early 2026.

Here's what's on the city's own website as of today:

https://www.hollywoodfl.org/m/faq?cat=34#question-335
What Internet browsers are supported for paying my utility bill online?

Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Firefox are the only browsers fully supported by our utility billing online payment web site. Though several browsers have been able to use our Internet payment system in the past, only these two have ever been fully supported. Use caution when accessing our payment system with other web browsers because certain unsupported browsers have been known to cause problems with payments.

So, a city with a 🤑 budget of millions and millions and millions... can't keep up with the times. 🤔

Yet ANOTHER reason we need my friend Cat Uden on the dais!

By the way, because it's not my intent to write more of these sorts of critical government emails than necessary, going forward, I'm going to try to remember to start posting them on my Facebook page, too, something that I probably should have been doing years ago, and not just to my blog or via a Tweet.

Dave

David Bruce Smith 

My blog, now eponymous, , formerly called Hallandale Beach/Hollywood Blog: 

http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @hbbtruth, https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/with_replies
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-bruce-smith-b945b376/

Instagram: @hbbtruth https://www.instagram.com/hbbtruth/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidSmith0215

Update re the incompatible 1301 S. Ocean Drive project for multimillionaires on Hollywood Beach that The Related Group and Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy have been trying to cram down the community's collective throat for YEARS now

This is what we want to keep, and not let it simply become a memory!
A small reminder of why I and all of my savvy, sensible friends -like Cat Uden- push back so hard versus the serial, nonsensical public policy and misanthropy emanating from #HollywoodFL City Hall the past few years, both the elected Mayor and City Commission, as well as the city's imperious, feckless, and thin-skinned highly-paid bureaucrats. ☀️🌴🏖️😎. 

Hollywood Beach, Florida photo by Catherine "Cat" Uden.

Below, an edited and expanded version of the email that I sent out this morning right around 1:00 am regarding the incompatible 1301 S. Ocean Drive 26-story project for multimillionaires on Hollywood Beach that The Related Group and Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy have been trying to cram down the community's collective throat for YEARS now, despite the vast majority of the community that actually knows the pertinent facts making clear throughout that time that they are firmly AGAINST it. 

Against it today, tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. NO means NO! 

-----

Just a short note before I go to sleep, having received Steve's email/Substack post, at bottom, late tonight and not immediately seeing it in my inbox because of my watching the Winter Olympics on TV: The current Hollywood City Manager, Mr. Keller, is someone whom I have never liked or supported -and who in any case is on his way to retirement in a few weeks.

IMO, he's already checked out and is biding his time. So all that said, he is NOT of a mind to actually do the right thing for the area's citizens re the incompatible 1301 project before he walks out the door, as far as saving THE most natural remaining part of Hollywood Beach for posterity.
Mr. Keller does not care about that part of Hollywood Beach's future, nor does he care about the past memories that so many of us have with it and why, even if we actually preferred using the beach area near what used to be the one-and-only garage off of Johnson Street, we DO want to see it preserved exactly AS IT IS.

So that said, there's no point in any Hollywood resident thinking even for a moment that he's suddenly -magically- going to see the light and change his spots when he's already more than halfway out the door for good right now.

In his letter below to the Broward Planning Council, which I hasten to remind you, also includes Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy, the individual who more than anyone else in Hollywood has tried to cram this Related Group project for multimillionaires -with its $4 million dollar starting prices- down the throats of the vast majority of the community who zealously opposes it, Keller rather conveniently forgets to mention several salient facts, only one of which I will share with you now, owing to the lateness of the hour, 12:55 am. Wednesday morning.

Among the most important of these facts is that Mr. Keller consciously neglects to mention in his recitation of the history of how the City of Hollywood first managed to obtain the 1301 S. Ocean Drive parcel in the first place from The Summit condominium is that there was a precondition/codicil in the contract that the City of Hollywood had to agree to, and then sign an acknowledgement of, in order to receive the parcel years ago.

That precondition was an important one: the property could ONLY be used for community/

recreation/educational purposes. 

Period.

I myself have personally attended several public meetings in Hollywood since this project came forward as a P3 project, replete with all the secrecy of The Manhattan Project -designed to keep residents and stakeholders in the dark- and heard people say they were on the Board of Directors of The Summit condominium -located across the street on the north of 1301- and publicly declare that they have copies of the germane docs that show that the clause was put in the deal to ensure that the City of Hollywood could never go back on the deal in the future. 

Their biggest fear?
A perfectly understandable one given where The Summit is located on State Road A1A and Hollywood Beach, and how the pay-for-play local government hereabouts is conducted: The City would sell the land to a developer that would build something there in the future.
Perhaps something that would tower over The Summit and ruin thereby ruin both its ambiance and the views that at least some residents there enjoy and were paying a premium for, both at the time, and in all of the ensuing years.

IMO, the City of Hollywood is breaking that original deal with The Summit and any halfway honest judge -even in Broward County- viewing the relevant docs would agree and rule that this project simply can not go forward.

And that, of course, would leave Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy with egg on his face, having to explain to the very people at The Related Group and its 1001 minions and the other developer friends of his who dumped close to $100k into his 2024 re-election campaign coffers in its closing weeks, why HE could not get it across the finish line.

But of course this is only one of the many things that is both completely unethical and wrong with the deal. My blog is full of fact and photo-filled posts making those points in ways that are easily understandable in making the case AGAINST it

Letter from Hollywood City Manager Sides with Private Developers on 1301 Project Land Use Designation.
Broward Planning Council Meeting Set for Feb. 26, at 10 am, Room 422, Broward County Government Center; Follow Up Article Coming
Steven Paul Schneider
February 17, 2026
Letter from Hollywood City Manager Sides with…
https://stevenpaulschneider.substack.com/p/letter-from-hollywood-city-manager/comments

See also the anti-1301 Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100080492761252 and Cat's campaign Instagram page at 

https://www.instagram.com/catudenforhollywood/

Dave

David Bruce Smith  

My blog, now eponymous, formerly called Hallandale Beach/Hollywood Blog: 

http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @hbbtruth, https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/with_replies
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-bruce-smith-b945b376/

Instagram: @hbbtruth https://www.instagram.com/hbbtruth/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidSmith0215