While that's clearly a very sad reflection on a whole host of issues re journalism and passive local news coverage in South Florida in the year 2008, it doesn't change the fact that I was the first person to make the news public.
It doesn't mean that I'm always right, of course, but it does tend to show that contrary to your recent blog comments, my blog is generally comprised of a little bit more information than just 'personal opinions' as you described it.
By the way, per your post on
William Ayers, on 9/11, I got off the D.C. Metro at the Metro Station just past 8:30 a.m., went up the elevator and put my Walkman on to re-join the Howard Stern Show, which I'd been listening to on my daily morning walk from my home to the Ballston Metro station.
Once in D.C., I took the elevator that comes up next to the
Olsson's Bookstore and walked the few blocks to my consulting job at a law office on Pennsylvania Ave. It was across the street from DOJ and the FBI HQ, and the last thing I'd read on the ride in from my place in Arlington was the
William Ayers piece in the
NYT.
If
United #93 had used The Mall as its flight path into the U.S. Capitol building, as many have surmised, I'd have been able to see the approach from my floor, high above the street, and if it had gone into the White House, I'd have heard it from four blocks away.
As it was, from our large porch, we could see the smoke far past the Old Post Office across the street, and over at The Pentagon.
If the national media had made a reasonably serious effort to interview
Ayers last year and get the whole story in mind-numbing detail, this whole issue would be old news, but when he said no thanks, they said,
"Okay, we give up."There were no
Barbara Walters or
Diane Sawyer full-court presses to get
Ayers and pin him down.
And so, instead, here we are.
________________________________
Wednesday October 8th, 2008
3:00 p.m.
Dear Michael:
A couple of hours before last night's tepid and poorly-conducted HB CandidateForum, while I was writing on my blog about the sort of questions I hoped wouldbe asked of the candidates to elicit some insight into their thinking -as opposedto the silly ones that were actually asked!- I received this completely randomand un-expected email from Mayor Cooper, which I suspect I was not supposedto receive.
(Or maybe I was? She's so dis-organized it's hard to tell at times.)
As opposed to the mayor's crazy out-of-the-blue, post-midnight email screed to us a few weeks back, the one where she criticized us and took us to task,for, among other things, simply wanting to get together with others in the community who want to change the longstanding dysfunctional culture of cronyism and secrecy here in Hallandale Beach, as if she had some sort of royal veto power over citizens like you and I and the First Amendment.
(Per my previous comments to you, I'll finally be posting her email to us on my Hallandale Beach Blog site soon, and I'll dissect it with some vigor.
I also plan to run more photographic proof from around the city of her 'reign of ruin' that simply can't be refuted.)
If you look closely, you'll see that it is the same AOL email address that Mayor Cooper uses for her revisionist tracts/Commission accomplishments(!) that the South Florida Sun Times foolishly runs as if they were true, in lieu of, well, simply sending someone to cover HB's twice-a-month Commission meetings and reporting on it like a real newspaper.
Call me old-fashioned, but she really shouldn't use personal, non-official email to discuss pending city action, esp. one where she has evinced a very strong personal bias, since it leaves her and the city's taxpayers open to all sorts of legal consequences.
And just to drive home the point of how dis-organized Mayor Cooper is, the email references Mr. Aristides Pelecanos, whose name the mayor mis-spells as "Peliconas."
Wow, for a guy whom she personally has it in for, you'd think she'd know how to spell his name by now.
After Bob Norman of the Broward Palm Beach New Times recently cited my blog post on the mayor's absurd over-reaction to Comm. London showing some fortitude, and refusing to back down on his assertions that City Manager Good and his office had once again refused to provide docs in a timely fashion so that he could review them prior to a vote -in this case, the final 2009 HB City Budget- I reminded you and many others in the community of the devastating Norman column last summer on Mayor Cooper's all-out attempt to make Mr. Pelecanos a former resident of HB.
And in case you forgot, Mayor Cooper all but admits that she wants Mr. Pelecanos in foreclosure. Such a delight, our mayor!
Broward-Palm Beach New Times
Storming the Castle
Hallandale Beach and a Broward judge are trying to drive a man from his home
By Bob Norman
published: August 23, 2007
In Florida, the old adage about a man's home being his castle isn't just talk. It's the law.It's almost Holy Writ...
-----------------------------------------------
I revisited the whole issue of Comm. London's comments, and show why I knowthey're true: because I was there when he asked for the docs and have photographicprooof that I was there. The individual that the mayor is emailing here wrote the following on The BPBNew Times website following the publication of the Norman story:
"Complete B.S. Mr. Norman never investigated any "so called" facts.
Never contacted the Golden Isles Homeowner's Association and never spoke to Mr. Pelecanos neighbors.
A journalist should investigate the story and all facts before publishing it.
A surprising revelation for a seasoned journalist like Mr.Norman.Comment by alex berkovich from Hallandale Beach on Oct 8th, 2007, 21:44 pm "
Obviously, since you live in that immediate area and are actually on the GIA, as the Secretary, you'd have a better idea than me of what is actually afoot here, as I have never met this Berkovich person before and frankly, don't even know if they're a HE or a SHE, as it were.
http://www.drberkovich.com/Is Alex Berkovich the husband of the dentist?
In any case, since I know that your honesty and insistence on high a degree of basic fairness must be a real thorn in Mayor Cooper's continuing attempt to muscle the GIA the way she tries to roll other myriad groups in the city, I thought I'd send this along and ask you what you think is going on here.
Frankly, I'd be lying If I didn't say that the whole issue with Mr. Pelecanos sounds like a story that was tailor-made for John Stossel of ABC News 20/20, who loves running segments exposing out-of-control govt. officials trying to use their official power for spiteful or personal reasons and vendettas, as most assuredly seems to be the case here with Mayor Cooper and Mr. Pelecanos.
After reading the email, I checked the City of HB website that you and I and everyone else in the city has been complaining about forever, because of its insipid and secretive nature, to see if they now have information on the webpage for the Community Advisory Committee, formerly Code Enforcement board, that you serve on, as referenced below by the City Clerk's office:
http://www.hallandalebeach.org/index.asp?NID=90 Shocker: blank page!
Once again, the perfect metaphor for life in Hallandale Beach under Mayor Joy Cooper and CM Mike Good in the year 2008.
By the way, at last night's candidate event, I honestly thought that Arturo O' Neill and Carlos Simmons did a very good job of outlining their strong desire to see the city make a clean break from the recent sorry past, and change the city's reputation for breeding a corrupt and corrosive culture at City Hall that repels and repulses HB citizens from participating, or feeling like they can have a say in what happens.
They both spoke clearly and specifically about replacing it with a customer-friendly City Hall culture that insists on accountability, transparency and attention-to-detail, even if that costs some long entrenched people their jobs.
That was very encouraging to hear after listening to the usual pablum from the other candidates!
I have continued to make local residents -and reporters I've spoken to!- aware of the great website you recently started full of facts, graphs and videos to bring to light some of the more disturbing aspects of the city's governance under the current Joy & Mike regime.
http://www.changehallandale.com/I think the spot-on comparison you draw between HB and Hollywood and how much money HB spends on salaries in the City Manager's office for a city over three-times smaller than Hollywood is particularly devastating.
As for the the Dotty Ross video you recently added to the site, having been there when Pastor Sanders was selected 3-1 to be an interim Commissioner just minutes after news of the then-upcoming Schiller resignation, with no advance notice to the public, well, it just makes her words and behavior all the more troubling, yet entirely emblematic of her last four years as a puppet of Mayor Cooper.
-----------------------------------------------------
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 2:36 PM
Subject: Fwd: Code Enforcement Advisory Committee Minutes (Community Advisory)
To:
alex@drberkovich.com
FYI. I was reading these and was concerned that Mike is speaking with the NIP as if he is our representative for GIA? I know we are all working hard to make our area better. This needs to be addressed a the next board meeting. Also the Peliconas house on Holiday Drive will be scheduled for Unsafe structures within 3-4 week. There has to be 2 public notices and certified notice. I was also informed by the city attorney that they could appeal the unsafe structure ruling in the courts. We will see.
The system really protects the homeowner at all costs. Joy
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Jones, Chinta"
To: "Cooper, Joy" , "Good, Mike" , "Julian, William", "London, Keith", "Rafols, Nydia M", "Ross, Dotty", "Sanders, Anthony"
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2008 11:45:13 -0400
Subject: RE: Code Enforcement Advisory Committee Minutes (Community Advisory)
CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA
MEMORANDUM
DATE: October 6, 2008
TO: D. Mike Good, City Manager
FROM: E. Dent McGough, City Clerk
SUBJECT: Code Enforcement Advisory Committee Minutes For your review, please find attached copies of the minutes for the Code Enforcement Advisory Board (now known as the Community Advisory Committee) Meetings held in May and June 2008.
Please transmit to the City Commission per procedure.
REVIEWED:
_______________________________ __________________
D. Mike Good, City Manager Date ______APPROVED ______DENIED ______HOLD FOR DISCUSSION COMMENTS: __________________________________________________ EDM/cj
Attachment(s):2 Chinta Jones AOA II/City ClerkCity of Hallandale beach 400 South Federal HwyHallandale Beach, FL 33009 Tel. 954.457.1340 Fax.954.457.1342
Download all attachments Code Enforcement Minutes May 2008.pdf118K View as HTML
Download Code Enforcement Jun 08.pdf124K View as HTML Download