Showing posts with label Beach safety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beach safety. Show all posts

Monday, October 1, 2012

It's long past time to put the BEACH back in Hallandale Beach. For there ever to be a successful balance between business, town, and nature in Hallandale Beach, Mayor Joy Cooper must first be kicked-out of City Hall in 5 weeks; @MayorCooper

Late afternoon, North Beach, Hallandale Beach, FL, February 10, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.
It's long past time to put the BEACH back in Hallandale Beach. For there ever to be a successful balance between business, town, and nature in Hallandale Beach, Mayor Joy Cooper must first be kicked-out of City Hall in 5 weeks; @MayorCooper
While it might look nice and inviting from afar, the sad and galling reality for far too many Hallandale Beach residents who want to enjoy their public beaches, is that in the ten years under Mayor Joy Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew at City Hall, the city's highly-paid top bureaucrats and the city's ineffective Dept. of Public Works -now headed by Hector Castrothe public beaches have been consistently neglected and poorly-maintained for MANY, MANY YEARS.

A frequent sign of the times for beleaguered Hallandale Beach residents and their guests at the city's public beach area: Above, snapshot of a poorly-maintained public beach -finding a used condom near one of the few park benches at North Beach at 4 p.m. on a Friday holiday afternoon on a beach full of families. January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.
In fact, there are several places at the beach where it's self-evident to even the casual observer that the city is NOT even in compliance with its own rules or ordinances -or even state laws- and hasn't been since I moved here in late 2003. 
To say nothing of showing initiative or common sense there.




Mid-afternoon, North Beach, Hallandale Beach, FL, April 8, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

Yet despite the fact that the beach is an invaluable resource and the reason that many people have consciously chosen to live in Hallandale Beach instead of somewhere else in south Florida, Mayor Cooper and 3/4ths of the City Commission -and those bureaucrats- have chosen to squander time, energy and large sums of money on one terrible idea after another elsewhere in the city because of either personal connections or their push for the furtherance of crony capitalism, rather than in making the investment in making the public beaches cleaner, more attractive and more interesting for residents and guests alike. 

More recently,  in her role as head of the Florida League of CitiesMayor Cooper has neglected the city even more than usual, as she has flitted from one part of the state to another, acting like a Queen Bee.
Believe me, the people she meets in other Florida cities in that FLC capacity have no earthly idea of what a poor job she has done for years by any sort of objective measure. 


Above, July 26, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, 

In 1999, while I was still living and working in the Washington, D.C. area, Hallandale voters went to the polls and decided to overwhelmingly approve a charter question asking whether the name of the city should officially be changed to Hallandale Beach.
As I understand it, the slogan that was used at the time was something along the lines of "Put the beach back in Hallandale."

In my opinion, in the year 2012, after all the dozens of fact-filled and photo-filled posts I've posted here documenting the deteriorating conditions of the city's public beaches, it's long past time to not only put the BEACH back in Hallandale, but to put genuine oversight and meaningful financial accountability to taxpayers in it as well.


That will clearly NOT happen if Joy Cooper and her thin-skinned, myopic and  and aggressively-negative personality is returned to office on November 6th, because she has had ten long years to display such abilities and respect for the citizens and resources of this city, and yet everyday, we see further signs that she lacks both the ability and desire.

It could hardly be more obvious.

Consider the following excerpts from my post of January 17th, 2009:

Sometimes, coincidences happen for a good reason, and I think such is the case today.
I was already in the process of writing something that I was going to post this weekend about the deplorable conditions of the beach, when the Broward Palm Beach New Times' Juice blog did a piece yesterday afternoon that covers much the same ground.
It's just below my comments 

Have you all read Hallandale Beach Commissioner Keith London's interesting email yet about developments at last week's HB City Commission meeting -which I didn't attend- regarding conditions at the beach?  Here's the germane portion for this email:
There was a presentation from two high school students requesting the implementation and participation of a beach clean up in the City of Hallandale Beach.  During the clean up, the waste will be sorted, measured and cataloged by type and volume of waste on the beaches. The students informed the Commission that in past clean-ups, cigarette butts accounted foe 46% of the waste. 
Armed with this information, I made a motion requesting the city attorney the feasibility of a creating a future ordinance "to make smoking illegal on City of Hallandale Beach public beaches".The Motion passed 3:2. London, Ross, Sanders for, and Cooper and Julian against.
I really commend these high school kids and only wish I'd been there to speak with them afterwards, to say so in person, since that's the kind of positive reinforcement they need.

If high school kids are so appalled by what even they can see at their beach that they actually feel compelled to show up at City Hall to complain about it -and we'll assume that they don't share that public policy gene like us- just remember they're NOT the only ones to notice, just the only ones with enough resolve to press the issue.
How truly embarrassing for this city!!! 

As we all know from our travels, in many if not most American communities fortunate enough to have a beach, especially those dependent on tourism, the beach is an invaluable resource that's esteemed, treasured and given extra care and concern.

It's a place where city officials and elected officials constantly visit and hover around to keep track of not only its physical and aesthetic condition, but also to gauge the mood of resident and visitor beach-goers to see if there's any problems or concerns there they need to be aware of.

They are pro-active, NOT reactive and slothful and full of excuses as they are in Hallandale Beach. 

That public sentiment is often an early indicator of the residents' collective feeling about the town itself, since when resident taxpayers feel that a place as high-profile as the beach is going downhill, and not being properly looked after, it's only natural that they suspect that other things in the city they can't see are falling apart, too.

It's only human nature, but it's something the City of Hallandale Beach has been in utter denial about for years, as one problem after another has been left to fester there.
Yet when confronted with the reality, they've instead put their heads in the sand.
The evidence is all around you.

That's why I and many other HB residents I've spoke to over the past 18 months want the city to emulate the City of Hollywood, where the city's Parks and Rec. Dept. manages their award-winning beach, doing a great job that makes them the envy of South Florida.
Just because our beach is so much smaller doesn't mean it has to be managed SO poorly and with so little regard for either safety or aesthetics.

The citizens of this beach-side city deserve MUCH BETTER than they get with regard to beach maintenance and overall attractiveness, and over the next week or so, I will be posting numerous photos to my blog to illustrate the exact nature of the problems I've witnessed first-hand over the past two years.
And letting others in the South Broward area who have an interest know about it, too.


Ask yourself a question: If a well-managed but land-locked city like Coral Springs had a beach this size, what would it look like and how would it be managed?
Now compare that image in your head with the current reality of ours under Mayor Joy Cooper.  
'Nuff said!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

When Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper writes "Setting the record straight about the lifeguard contract" in her "column" in the faux newspaper, what she really means is... that it's her way or the highway, facts be damned



When Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper complains about "negativity" in her "column" in the faux newspaper that HB taxpayers are forced to subsidize against their wishes, like she did recently, above, what she REALLY MEANS is how much SHE hates when well-informed and attentive Hallandale Beach residents who want the city to be run much better than it is now -and has been for years- tell the truth about her own unsatisfactory performance in office the past ten years. And the very real culpability of top city officials.


People like myself and many others that I regularly mention by name here on the blog.

This is because of Cooper's own well-known thin-skinned ego and longstanding inability to see what regular residents see all around them -how Cooper's myopia continually gets in the way of solving problems.


The resounding proof of that came to me this morning, just a few minutes ago actually, via an email I received from my friend Csaba Kulin, who is vacationing with his wife and family and their grandchildren in Ohio.


It gives you more than enough proof, as if neededabout what HB Mayor Joy Cooper really thinks about HB residents actually, well, taking serious matters like beach safety seriously, and genuinely paying attention to the city's very own details.

Surprise!

Yes, here in Hallandale Beach, Cooper thinks it's her way or the highway -facts be damned.

The only thing I've edited below is removing the email addresses.


---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Csaba Kulin 
Date: Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 9:51 AM
Subject: The Mayors Response

From:"Csaba Kulin" 
To: "Cooper, Joy" 
Cc: "Vice Mayor Anthony Sanders", "Commissioner DorothyRoss", "Commissioner Keith London", "Commissioner Alexander Lewy"

Subject: Re: FW: Agenda Item 11-B IN-House Lifeguard Program, 8/1/2012
Date: Wed 08/01/12 09:46 AM

Honorable Mayor,
There is a reason a reason I am negative at times. I found out more detail from the Miami Herald article about the Lifeguard Project than from the city's official Agenda's supporting documents. Where was the PowerPoint presentation link in the Agenda?
Still missing the Budget numbers associated with the project. Projected salaries and benefits for the new positions? Do you have it? Will the Commission and the residents find out after the item has passed?

The pool company charged $334,000 and that included a profit. Why does it cost 2 times as much for the City to do the task without a profit?
Talking about insulting. The documentation included with Item 11-B insults my intelligence and most of our residents trying to form an informed opinion. The residents have the right to know, ahead of time of the meeting, all the details of how you are going spend our money.
Yes, someone dropped the ball at the City by NOT monitoring the lifeguard program sufficiently.

--- jcooper wrote:

From: "Cooper, Joy" 
To: "'ckulin"
Subject: FW: Agenda Item 11-B IN-House Lifeguard Program, 8/1/2012
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2012 19:59:20 +0000

BTW is there a reason your tone in these emails are always negative and insulting?
From: Cooper, Joy 

Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 3:58 PM
To: Cooper, Joy
Subject: RE: Agenda Item 11-B IN-House Lifeguard Program, 8/1/2012

From: Cooper, Joy 
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 3:54 PM
To: 'ckulin'
Subject: RE: Agenda Item 11-B IN-House Lifeguard Program, 8/1/2012
Thank you for you comments.

From: Csaba Kulin 
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2012 5:49 PM
To: Cooper, Joy; Vice Mayor Anthony Sanders; Ross, Dotty; London, Keith; Lewy, Alexander
Subject: Agenda Item 11-B IN-House Lifeguard Program, 8/1/2012
Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor and City Commissioners,

The City Commission should not blame “outsourcing” for the fiasco with the Lifeguard Program. Blame whoever was responsible for monitoring the program. Someone dropped the ball. Someone has to monitor all outsourced programs.

The City Manager is asking for blank check to create a new program called “In-House Lifeguard Program” without any meaningful documentation.
How could you vote “YES” based on the documentation provided in the Agenda?
Who is going to staff the life stations? Fire Rescue, Police or parks personnel?

For the next fiscal year the City Manager budgeted $334,000 for Lifeguard Services. Where is the “fiscal impact” of the CM’s request?
Is the new program cost neutral?

We need a lot more detail before we can give the City Manager a “blank check”.

Sincerely,

Csaba Kulin

re Lifeguard & public safety situation in Hallandale Beach: Still smarting from negative worldwide publicity following lifeguard Tomas Lopez's firing, Hallandale Beach to start a new safety effort at beach based on... well, what exactly? City's fake solutions as outlined in today's agenda DON'T solve real safety problems at public beach; #HallandaleBeach

 
July 31, 2012 photos by South Beach Hoosier.© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved


re Lifeguard situation in Hallandale Beach: Still smarting from negative worldwide publicity following lifeguard Tomas Lopez's firing, Hallandale Beach to start a new safety effort at beach based on... well, what exactly? City's fake solutions as outlined in today's agenda DON'T solve real safety problems at public beach

I really can’t believe that on a day when I have a friend from overseas visiting the area, and when I ought to be doing something other than this, I’m back at my computer writing -yet again- about another completely avoidable situation the City of Hallandale Beach has gotten itself into for all of their usual reasons -lack of attention to detail, and lack of proper accountability by the city's elected officials and oversight of the city's top bureaucrats.

Today's important HB City Commission meetings at 1 and 7 p.m. regarding public safety on the city's public beaches, and the unsatisfactory solutions proposed, i.e the In-House Lifeguard Program (Item 11B)
could best be described thusly: the city's so-called "plan" is no plan at all.
At least not one you would want to bet your family's life on.

July 31, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier.© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved


What you see on the agenda in terms of info is very underwhelming and not a good sign of out-of-the-box thinking by new City Manager Renee Crichton.
Especially since in my opinion, the City Commission, and more specifically, the prior two City Managers and City Attorney bear most of the blame for the current situation because they were NOT payng attention to details when they needed to, but were, instead, just going thru the motions.

Originally, before I saw the posted agenda, I was just going to suggest that the commission members limit their comments during the meeting out of deference to to our new Estonian friend Mr. Samartsev’s recent desire to “shake the money tree” hereabouts in six months. 

But in actually reading the agenda, I noticed that they are, regrettably, once again prepared to rush into a dark tunnel without any knowledge of whether or not a a train is already inside the tunnel and coming right towards them, without any tangible plans, budgets or supporting documents, just a desire to DO something.
And to DO that right away. 

The very thought of that gives me shivers down my spine, and ought to do the same for you if you live anywhere around here.

Generally when you outsource a function that's usually been performed by city employees, it does NOT mean that you sign the contract and forget about it until the next time the contract comes up for renewal. 
The City Manager, along with appropriately-designated subordinates, needs to be on top of the outsourced function for signs of problems as well as to make constructive improvements when indicated.

You don't micro-manage the function, per se, but the city must ensure that the contract's terms are being properly adhered to, whether that's all their employees being properly licensed, or doing regular spot inspections to ensure that the work was performed to the specific standards the citizens of this city have a right to expect, considering they're paying for their own safety.

But even all these weeks later, I'm still hearing from various sources that this is NOT at all how things were done routinely under former City Attorney David Jove or the former City Managers, Mike Good and Mark A. Antonio, because there's so little evidence to the contrary.

And then again, there's the personal experience of actually having seeing them in-person for years and seeing with my own eyes how underwhelming their own performances were for city taxpayers and residents, so strong was their desire to keep the mayor happy.

July 31, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier.© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

And what about their highly-paid assistants?
The very people whom we all know will have had a large hand in crafting this completely unsatisfactory "plan" being offered up today, as if it was a serious effort.

My own belief is that at the time the contract was signed three years ago, the city didn't have all the pertinent information available that the Commission needed to properly evaluate the relative merits of this company, keeping in mind that they were only going to do or allow what the commission specified, nothing more.

This also makes me wonder now if besides a copy of the contract in a folder, whether the commissioners even have carefully reviewed copies of the actual monthly reports for the past three years.
Have they? 

No, their past performance the past few years does NOT exactly recommend them to us, and cause us to give them the benefit of the doubt.
In fact, their own laughable work ethic and lack of attention to detail causes just the opposite reaction in us and our friends.

Did they have a copy of Jeff Ellis and Associates' own updated procedures and work rules, as well as copies of the insurance policies to hold the City harmless, etc? 
The easiest thing in the world to do is to simply blame the concept of outsourcing and the particular company they hired to do the job, as I wrote here recently.

Rather than do that, the commissioners ought to take a hard look into the mirror and ask themselves a few questions, the most important of which was did the city just go thru the motions on these matters?
It sure seems that way to me and most of the other residents I speak to who have some familiarity with this matter.

Because the company resigned, the City Commission is being asked to allow City Manager Crichton to establish an 'In-House Lifeguard Program.' 
I'm sorry to say that the supporting documents I've seen on the city's website consists of what can charitably be called a list of cities with pools or ocean frontage, with no information on the extent of "Lifeguard Program” of other cities with similar needs. 

How many employees, police/fire rescue personnel full time/part time would be required on the beach? 
No information provided as to the budget of each town for beach patrol.

After all these weeks later, that's simply unacceptable, and no sound person would say the information provided is any basis upon which to make an intelligent and reasonable decision.

In fact, the information provided by city staff seems more like a reason to postpone making any FINAL decisions at todays two meetings until the commission had been provided enough information to make that educated and informed decision, which is the very least we can expect on an issue this important.

July 31, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier.© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

I've heard and read all the same comments on what happened that you all have, on who is at fault, etc., but one thing that is clear is that nobody blames the people hired by Jeff Ellis to patrol the beach.
That is, anyone who actually lives within an hour of here.

They were and are conscientious, efficient and responsible, more than the city had any reason to expect given that they were only being paid less than nine dollars an hour.
Their level of pay didn't prevent them from doing their best and to put the safety of all beach- goers first, whether HB residents or visitors.
Were that current city employees were as conscientious and consistent in the performance of their duties and responsibilities as these lifeguards have been.

In talking to my friend and fellow HB and Broward County activist -and HB City Commission candidate- Csaba Kulin a few days ago on the phone, he later piped in via email with these comments and questions for the commission:

The City Manager should have submitted a budget along with the Resolution as to the cost of her proposal. I know she budgeted $334,000 for the 2012-2013 fiscal years for Lifeguard Services (001-7230-572.34-55).  Is this program cost neutral? 

Does she have any idea of the cost of this venture? 
You do not know and do NOT vote on this until you have a full picture.

If they don't, Csaba and I and many well-informed citizens of this community are in agreement that this will be a replay of what the HB City Commission has agreed to do dozens of times in the past, where inevitably, they'll find out some bit of information too late, after the horse is out of the barn, and then we taxpayers will have to watch in stunned amazement as they try to reinvent the wheel once again, when it doesn't have to be that way.

Some people have even sent emails to me asking why in the name of regionalism and common sense the City of Hallandale Beach doesn't approach the City of Hollywood about using their well-respected lifeguards, at least as an interim solution?
Good question!

July 31, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier.© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

The numerous high-rise condos south of South Beach Park can't really imagine that after everything that has happened in this city the past month, that the rest of the city is going to pay for lifeguards -salary and pensions- for them, if HB residents can't readily use "their" beach, can they?
That's a complete non-starter!
And yet with Joy Cooper in charge...

I fear today's two meetings could well turn out to be real DISASTERS, both financially and policy-wise, which is to say, SNAFU, since the HB City Commission doesn't make good decisions when they have plenty of time, much less, when they are under the gun for good reason and know full-well that the entire city, region and South Florida press corps are paying close attention.

That isn't helped when they are given inadequate information and poor policy choices by the new City Manager and her staff.

They all need better choices and more time, otherwise, someone's life, maybe even someone we know, could be in danger sometime soon -and unnecessarily so.

July 31, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier.© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Maksim Samartsev's game of self-deception won't succeed: Next shoe finally drops in Hallandale Beach as WPLG-TV reports that 20-year old Estonian Samartsev -who can't swim- and who was saved at beach by lifeguard Tomas Lopez and other Good Samaritans -resulting in Lopez famously being fired two weeks ago- is now planning to sue and shake the local money tree in six months; #HallandaleBeach, #TomasLopez

Above, looking north on North Beach, Hallandale Beach. April 8, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved
Maksim Samartsev's game of self-deception won't succeed: Next shoe finally drops in Hallandale Beach as WPLG-TV reports that 20-year old Estonian Samartsev -who can't swim- and who was saved at beach by lifeguard Tomas Lopez and other Good Samaritans -resulting in Lopez famously being fired two weeks ago- is now planning to sue and shake the local money tree in six months; #HallandaleBeach, #TomasLopez


Man rescued from drowning considers lawsuit, Attorney says victim was 'close to crossing over'
By Todd Tongen
Published On: Jul 17 2012 05:07:30 PM EDT  
Updated On: Jul 18 2012 01:23:04 PM EDT
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -A man whose rescue resulted in a lifeguard's controversial firing now plans to take legal action.
Maksim Samartsev, who was rescued by lifeguard Tomas Lopez on Hallandale Beach, claims certain areas along the shore are left unmonitored and could be dangerous
Read the rest of the story and see the video at

Not mentioned, probably due to the attorney not wanting Maksim Samartsev to speak and sabotage this flimsy case:

Why was someone who couldn't swim so far out into the ocean?


As for the father, Was the area where his son entered the ocean a property where he himself lived? Yes or no?


If no, why was Maksim swimming there instead of at the public beach north of there?


If yes, why is that not the condo association's problem, instead?

The City of Hallandale Beach and its taxpayers, like all ocean side cities in Florida, are not obliged to provide lifeguards or monitors for every single  stretch of beach or water next to private property -which is precisely what those condos and apartments in that area are, just like an ocean-side hotelany more than they are required to have guards on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway for residents of the city who want to jump into the water on hot days after buying something at the next-door Walmart.

Above, looking north on the Intracoastal Waterway from next to the Hallandale Beach Walmart. Tallest buildings are, left-to-right/north-to-south, on the east side of State Road A1A: Trump Hollywood, The Ocean Palms, Diplomat Oceanfront Residences and The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa. April 8, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.
With this legal stunt, this family is quickly becoming persona non grata in this area for daring to shake down the money tree because of the son's own negligence and immaturity.
They have a funny way of showing their gratitude.

Todd Tongen's report on last night's Channel 10 newscast was precisely why I wrote what I wrote last week: 


Outsourcing isn't the real problem with beach safety in Hallandale Beach, but rather the actions -and in-action- of David Jove, Mike Good and Mark Antonio at HB City Hall; #HallandaleBeach


The longstanding problems at the public beaches lie entirely with the past two City Managers and the last City Attorney -Mike Good, Marc A. Antonio and David Jove- none of whom were known for their hard work, much less the sort of work ethic that inspired confidence among either taxpayers or their colleagues.


No, these three administrators were the type of boss who routinely showed-up at City Hall
late and left early, forcing their highly-paid underlings to have to stay longer than normal to pick up the slack.
And it's not like any of them were known for showing initiative in the first place that helped residents or taxpayers, so...

These three were the ones in charge who wrote and approved the terms of the contract and thereby creating the specific parameters which Jeff Ellis and Associates was obliged to respect and enforce.
That's something that Todd Tongen's colleague at Channel 10, Glenna Milberg, in her completely unexpected knockout-punch of a report, did a great job of connecting the-dots on, completely demolishing the feeble alibis and excuses of Mayor Joy Cooper and former HB commissioner Bill Julian, both of whom voted FOR the contract.



Lifeguard company resigns amid firing scandal
Fired lifeguard receives key to city
By Glenna Milberg, gmilberg@Local10.com
Published On: Jul 09 2012 06:39:57 PM EDT  
Updated On: Jul 10 2012 11:12:48 AM EDT
Article and video at:

In short, three highly-paid city employees who were well-known for NOT paying close attention to detail and for NOT looking-out for HB taxpayers best interests, once again went thru the motions and didn't consider something that was entirely foreseeable -sometimes the contractor life guards would have to leave the city's lifeguard stands to save/help a swimmer not in their zone.


Above, looking east at the Atlantic Ocean on North Beach, Hallandale Beach. April 8, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

It had nothing to do with the subject of outsourcing and everything to do with the longstanding garbage-in, garbage-out, HB-style public administration.
The sort that explains why months after lifeguards told me that the city's two lifeguard stands were still NOT grounded, a fact I know because the lifeguards told me so months ago.

Below are my other three previous posts on the Tomas Lopez firing controversy story that made Hallandale Beach an international punchline two weeks ago, which, unfortunately, also led to hundreds and hundreds of bad and inaccurate stories, essays and columns being written by people from hundreds and thousands of miles away who DIDN'T know the true facts.


In many cases, lots of people who should know better used the incident as a pretext to resurrect old ideological arguments against their own personal hobbyhorses, which didn't inform or illuminate but only served to remind us all over again how truly desperate some reporters and columnists are to win an old argument, no matter the facts, no matter how far away from the action their nice air conditioned desk is.
Fortunately, Channel 10 saw the story for what it was.


Tomas Lopez, the Fired Lifeguard at the Center of the Storm in Hallandale Beach, will be a guest on Sunday's "This Week in South Florida with Michael Putney" at 11:30 a.m. on Channel 10, after ABC News "This Week"; #hallandalebeach

Tomas Lopez story results in predictably anemic response by Hallandale Beach City Hall as growing public outrage re harsh treatment of lifeguard Lopez by his company, Jeff Ellis & Associates -an unpersuasive form letter- shows City Hall's longstanding myopia remains. Story has touched a nerve all over the world about moral imperatives and importance of doing the right thing despite strong possible negative consequences. We desperately need to change the culture and personnel at City Hall ASAP!

Lifeguard Tomas Lopez helps save the day at the city's public beach but get's fired for his trouble. Meanwhile, Hallandale Beach City Hall continues to act neglectful and NOT do what it's legally supposed to do around the beach areas, and nothing happens. Nobody is fired. Just more mindless bureaucratic apathy and incompetency from the same old crew!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

A new voice for civic engagement in 2012: BetterBroward; World Shocked over Firing of Lifeguard Tomas Lopez in Hallandale Beach, FL; a WPLG-TV video connects-the-dots on the extent of the city's negligence in public oversight

North Beach lifeguard stand, Hallandale Beach, FL. May 30, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved


The following is the first post of a new website that's been created by my friend and fellow
Hallandale Beach civic activist Chad Lincoln, a concerned citizen with a very strong desire for genuine financial accountability and transparency in public policy decision-making in a city that has seen precious little of either the past ten years, and who, like me and many of the others whose names I've mentioned here frequently, is unwilling to stand on the sidelines and let the status quo crowd continue to keep this city under their cynical thumb.

I encourage you to take a look at what he's written since it's a topic that we've not only all been
discussing for a week straight now, but also because he and I are among many concerned
residents of this city who realize that this whole incident at the beach recently could well have
had a much more tragic ending.

It also only underscores the extent to which basic oversight responsibilities of the HB City
Commission on a whole host of issues have been effectively outsourced to Mayor Cooper and the various city managers to decide for them, with 3 of the 4 elected commissioners -Ross, Sanders, Lewy- largely reduced to the role of Rubber Stamps, a role that that, oddly enough, they seem more than happy with, though it's NOT exactly my idea of checks and balances in a democracy.

Better Broward -The Voice of  Reason in Hallandale Beach

World Scrutinizes Hallandale Beach, Channel 10 News Discredits Mayor Cooper

Chad expects the site to be up on WordPress within the week.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Outsourcing isn't the real problem with beach safety in Hallandale Beach, but rather the actions -and in-action- of David Jove, Mike Good and Mark Antonio at HB City Hall; #HallandaleBeach

North Beach, Hallandale Beach, FL. May 30, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. 
© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved
Outsourcing isn't the real problems with beach safety in Hallandale Beach, but rather the actions -and in-action- of David Jove, Mike Good and Mark Antonio at HB City Hall; #HallandaleBeach
Based on the eight-plus years I have of seeing how often Hallandale Beach has been mismanaged, the issue of outsourcing beach safety on the city's public beaches to third-party contractors has never been the main problem, though it seems to have become one now in the eyes of a lot of people who don't know all the facts, including some local and out-of-state reporters, who are latching onto that as a convenient straw man they can attack, often for political reasons.
While it's understandable to a certain extent for people who don't know the true extent of how badly run things are here to think that must be the problem, it isn't.


People, esp. residents of this city, feel a need to explain away the justifiable anger and upset they have over what has happened here recently that's gotten the name Hallandale Beach into headlines and stories all over the world for all the wrong reasons.
But they'd be better off looking closer to home at people whose names they already know.

The real problems lay at the desks -and feet- of a handful of highly-paid people who formerly toiled at Hallandale Beach City Hall.
People who'll be making more then $3 Million in pensions in the future for time they were given credit for that was actually done PRIOR to the current pension plan.
Yes, millions of dollars.


In my opinion, based on all I know and have observed from the center of the storm, the real problems with beach safety in Hallandale Beach are in the actions and non-actions of former City Attorney David Jove and former City Managers Mike Good and Mark A. Antonio.


Yes, the buck stops with them, and what's left over for sloppy seconds rests entirely with the ineffective and tone-deaf fivem-member Hallandale Beach City Commission, that with the exception of Keith London, never actually wanted to look under-the-hood to see what was really going on, even though oversight, rather than policy-making, is actually what most local officials are better at than policy-making.
Here, unfortunately, they are bad at both, since taking some pride in being diligent about mastering the pertinent policy information is not a trait the majority of the commission necessarily values.


Now, though, with Jove, Good and Antonio out of the picture, this city's residents have inherited all manner of bad public policies and unsound decision-making that we'll be paying for and dealing with for many, many years, to say nothing of the huge pensions their assistants will be receiving for the very same reason -credit given for prior years under a different plan, not actually work done under the pension plan in question.


A pension plan pushed on the HB City Commission by yet another former City Manager, R.J. Intindola, who the city's own figures show pockets an EXTRA $96k a year because of this plan that was approved one year before he retired.
A pension plan that ran counter to what the majority of local governments were then migrating to.

Trust me, here on this blog in the coming weeks and months, you will be getting the genuine jaw-dropping pension numbers on these characters -and others- that will animate at least some of the coming political campaign conversation in this town the next 16 weeks until Election Day.
Teaser Alert -NOT: Bill Julian's fingerprints will be on it.

Bur that's in the future, so for now, let's turn our attention back to the topic du jour, beach safety and the incident that brought it to worldwide attention.
My comments after the article. 

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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Fired Hallandale Beach lifeguard to receive key to city; contract with company may sink
By Ihosvani Rodriguez, Sun Sentinel
5:42 p.m. EDT, July 6, 2012

HALLANDALE BEACH—
City leaders plan to give the lifeguard who was fired earlier this week the key to the city while considering showing the door to the private company that canned him.

Mayor Joy Cooper said Friday she remains horrified by the way Tomas Lopez, 21, of Davie was fired for leaving his post on the beach to help rescue a drowning man outside the company's legal boundaries. Lopez worked for Jeff Ellis Management, an Orlando-based firm that has been providing lifeguard services for the city since 2003.

"I know people across the country are as outraged as I am," Cooper said. "This doesn't reflect our culture. We are a small, caring community."

The city plans to issue Lopez the symbolic key during a ceremony on Monday. The unidentified man who needed rescuing is also expect to attend the event, the mayor said.

Company officials have since apologized to Lopez over the firing and offered him his job back. Lopez has turned them down. The company also announced it would be looking at its emergency protocol policy and possibly retooling it.

But those revisions may come too late, given that Lopez's firing seems to be an international public relations nightmare for both the city and the private firm.

The incident and the company's contract could become an election issue for most city commission members who are seeking re-election in November. Some of the political opponents, including former Vice Mayor Bill Julian, have already made it a campaign issue by pushing for the services to be provided in-house. When it comes to beach safety, Julian said "the real issue is that I think we can do better. We need to bring back our own guys."

Commission members, including Cooper and her bitter political nemesis Commissioner Keith London, have each said they want to revisit the idea of contracting out lifeguard services.

London, who is facing Cooper for the mayor seat, told residents and supporters in an e-mail sent Friday that the incident has provided the opportunity for a second look at beach safety.

"During a time when Hallandale Beach is attempting to attract more visitors with families and young children, I believe this is an opportunity, in light of a near tragedy, to review and potentially enhance the services provided by our first responders," London wrote.

The city began outsourcing the lifeguard responsibilities nine years ago as a cost-cutting measure. In 2009, the city renewed a three-year contract with Jeff Ellis Management worth roughly $1 million.

The contract is set to expire in September.

In firing Lopez, company supervisors said he ran past the boundaries the firm is contracted to protect. Company officials initially said Lopez put swimmers in his area in jeopardy and the firm could've been sued. A review of the contract specifically indicates that the boundary must be protected at all times.

The company is required to reimburse the city $100 for each day a lifeguard is not present.

In 2007, the firm reimbursed the city $500 after it pulled its lifeguards off the beach because of rough conditions. A woman nearly drowned while the stands were left empty and had to be rescued by beach guards from adjacent Hollywood.

Hallandale Beach is the only city in Florida the company provides ocean lifeguards. It does provide guards at community pools for numerous municipalities around the county, including in Hallandale Beach, Dania Beachand North Lauderdale. The lifeguards have said they get paid $8.25.

Dania Beach considered hiring the firm in 2005, but residents and employees vehemently opposed the move saying they were worried about the quality of the company's ocean-rescue training.

Gerry Falconer, president of the lifeguards group United States Lifesaving Association's southeast region, said the company has never sought certification through his association. He said there are several companies that provide similar services around the country, but most are designed to provide lifeguards at public pools.

"It's apples and oranges. At a wave pool, if things go bad, you can just hit a switch and turn the waves off," he said. "You can't do that on the ocean."

Company officials have long stood by its own certification training called the International Lifeguard Training Program, which they say includes ocean training and recognized by insurance companies.

Lopez said Friday he underwent the company's lifeguard training at a pool, which consisted of rigorous swimming and physical exercises. He then had training on the beach after he was hired.

Company president Jeff Ellis could not be reached for comments on Friday. He did say earlier this week he plans to provide city officials with results of an investigation about this week's incident.

Mayor Cooper said she plans to address the issue at the commission's first meeting in August.

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To me, outsourcing lifeguard duties on the city's public beaches were never the main problem here, but rather former City Attorney David Jove NOT doing a satisfactory job of completely spelling-out the city's reasonable expectations and requirements in the contract at the time, and subsequently, the City Managers and City Commission's complete failure to provide adequate oversight and suggest timely contract changes when appropriate.
Our old friend, lack of oversight, is the central problem, like dozens of other issues that we all could name that have long plagued this community.

Everything else devolved from that, including HB City Hall's failure to ever talk to the lifeguards themselves, just like the city NEVER spoke to the city's Mini-Bus drivers before they came out with their Transportation Master Plan. 
Really!

Why wouldn't you speak with your own employees and contractors first to see what suggestions they had before you spend so much money, so you can be sure to get the input of people who deal with a situation on a daily basis and incorporate their valid concerns or suggestions?
It's completely counter-intuitive and an example how often common sense has been ignored in this city over the years because that was NOT the way City Manager Good and Antonio wanted things done.
With them, it all started with themselves -top-down, despite the fact they they are not the ones who set policy.

The HB Parks & Recreation may nominally oversee the lifeguard contract, but again, that's in name only, since nobody in that  dept. had or has the power to do anything once the contract was signed. 
No, it all lay with the City Manager's office, and there, Good and Antonio both failed.

For many years, when their supervisors weren't around, the lifeguards have specifically told me exactly what they were missing in the way of resources and tools to do their job to the best of their ability, or what problems they were having with the city NOT doing what they said they were going to do, and taking forever even IF they did it.
Like the state of the lifeguard stands themselves, which are physically sub-par compared to other communities in South Florida.


South Beach, Hallandale Beach, FL. May 30, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. 
© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

And as I've been saying and writing, and as the city already has known for a long time, the lifeguard stations are NOT currently grounded for lightning strikes.
What happens if one is struck overnight during a storm and destroyed, what's the city's back-up plan to have one in place the next morning?
What's the plan?

The truth is that we all already know based on years of experience that there is no back-up plan.
There never is.



Looking south towards North Beach, Hallandale Beach, FL from the Hollywood cityline. Though you really can't see the South Beach station from North Beach, HB City Hall thought they could share one jet ski, when it actually worked! 
What more can you say? May 30, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. 
© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

Whether it was NOT having message boards on the side of the lifeguard stands that they could actually write on anymore because of excessive physical wear-and-tear from the sun and graffiti -and the city being a year behind in getting replacements- or NOT having a single  working jet ski to reach swimmers in peril in strong winds/undertow conditions because the last one was broken, and the city had no back-up plan, and refused to rent one until the previous one was fixed, the problems lay with the city, not the contractor,


Think about the fact that even when it was working, the city expected the two lifeguard stands to share one jet ski among them, separated by hundreds of yards.
When seconds really count!


It's absolutely ridiculous!


But this was how the city "managed" things on the beach on a daily basis for years.
That's NOT Jeff Ellis & Associates' doing, that's the city's!

As I wrote the other day, for quite a long time during the past 2-3 years, the lifeguards had nothing to cope with those sorts of wether/physical conditions, so this whole debate, upsetting as it is, could well have come a whole lot sooner, under much more tragic and deadly circumstances, with genuine drowning victims and lawsuits against the city that they could never possibly prevail in, leaving all of us on the hook.

That they didn't come sooner isn't because of anything the city has actually done, but rather in spite of everything the city HASN'T DONE.

Hope you can attend Monday morning's ceremony at HB City Hall at 10:30 a.m., because my sense of things is that given the amount of lingering concern and anger that remains, it could well prove to be a whole lot more interesting than anything Mayor Cooper is currently counting on.


And don't even go thru the pretense of having a meeting on beach safety in August if you aren't going to require David Jove to answer questions honestly, under oath.