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Showing posts with label Broward County Ethics Commission. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Broward County Ethics Commission. Show all posts

Monday, June 15, 2015

Thoughts on the continuing Burnadette Norris-Weeks ethics problem in Broward County: Thru her actions, attitude and behavior, Broward SOE attorney Norris-Weeks has come to personify the worst unethical excesses of Broward County's pay-to-play culture and the insider's sense of entitlement that pro-reform pols and citizens have fought hard to eliminate.

Thoughts on the continuing Burnadette Norris-Weeks ethics problem in Broward County: Thru her actions, attitude and behavior, Broward SOE attorney Norris-Weeks has come to personify the worst unethical excesses of Broward County's pay-to-play culture and the insider's sense of entitlement that pro-reform pols and citizens have fought hard to eliminate.

 Since last Spring when I took advantage of the Ultra Music Festival being downtown to also take some photos for the last time of what was then left of the partially-destroyed Miami Herald building from directly in front of One Herald Plaza -a building overlooking Biscayne Bay that I had been in dozens and dozens of times from the 1970's thru the mid-'90's when visiting The Miami News, but which by this time was also missing some of the letters from its iconic sign- I've been meaning to write something about what I have long sensed is the real lack of backbone and community engagement and push back among many of Broward County's current and in some case well-known civic groups and their leadership that, in the abstract, ought to be doing MUCH MORE publicly to lead the fight to make Broward's future better for everyone.
Not least, among those in civil society who actually follow the letter and spirit of the law, especially ethics laws meant to provide transparency to the public and inspire trust in institutions by them.

Push back by actually taking people to task by putting their feet to the fire and publicly embarrassing them or shaming them when their unchecked egos, ambition and sense of entitlement to go off the charts the way that Burnadette Norris-Weeks has clearly done the past few years, given that in the current environment, with our present collection of sleepwalking news reporters, she has absolutely no fear that the South Florida news media would ever hold a mirror or TV camera up to her, and show it to the public to inform them and educate them about her behind-the-scenes dealings.
As would happen in most though not all parts of the U.S. -or at least used to.

 So, to better understand this vexing issue involving one Broward insider's ego and over-the-top sense of entitlement, I've posted this collection of information in reverse chron order, most recent at top.

I remind many of you, especially you newcomers to the blog, that for many months, I was often the only Broward citizen present at those early morning meetings of the Broward County Ethics Commission meetings at Broward County Govt HQ, which I dutifuly videotaped and took notes on to be entirely accurate, in-between sips of McDonald's coffee.

Week-after-week, month-after-month, I saw who was and who was NOT trying their best to fullfill the hopes of Broward's long-frustrated citizens on the issue of finally getting the much-needed, stronger ethical rules for Broward elected officials and employees and the people they interact with. I saw who was and who was NOT making the honest effort to change the unacceptable status quo that then-existed and markedly improving it in both letter and spirit.

So with that in mind, I can tell you that Burnadette Norris-Weeks was NOT a Profile in Courage 
then and she was NOT years later when serving on the appointed Broward County Charter Commission, where she had the rare opportunity to serve the long-term best interests of Broward citizens, businesses AND incorporate notions of Good Government Best Practices.

But instead of doing that, Norris-Weeks voted AGAINST Broward citizens like you and me from even being able to vote at the polls that November, and to decide the outcome of the issue of a countywide-elected mayor for Broward County, as the public would be able to do in 99% of America.

But NOT here in Broward County, and Burnadette Norris-Weeks was one of the small handful of people who voted AGAINST you and I even being able to vote for or against it, much less, voting and deciding it one way or the other.

A helpful reminder from me in 2009 of Burnadette Norris-Weeks' anti-democratic sensibility: 

And now we read that last week Norris-Weeks was appointed by ethically-challenged Broward County Comm. Dale Holness to the new incarnation of the Broward Charter Review group. 
Why?

What possibly justifies this woman's continual bad judment and curious sense of ethics and propriety from being represented over-and-over on important Broward panels in ways that are genuinely harmful to both Broward citizens and the larger business community?
Why should the public expect anything different from her this time but more of her anti-citizen actions that prevent genuine accountability and oversight, to say nothing of actual improvement in governance?

If you wonder why Broward County is still mired in the state of continual funk it's been in for years, and why no matter where in the county you go, the public (and the news media) consistently is bewildered at what they hear about what's REALLY going on, wonder why the public has so very little trust and respect for Broward's myriad govt. agencies and functions, it's because of the accurate perception that establishment insiders like Norris-Weeks have consistently used her position to give herself unfair, anti-competitive advantages over others.

And the public perception that Norris-Weeks, when on Broward govt. panels, uses that role to further special interests, NOT for the benefit of the majority of Broward taxpayers and Small Business owners, who are very much against crony capitalism and pay-to-play govt., is right in the records for everyone to see.
Once Broward gets around to making it public a year later...

So tell me, why haven't you or I seen a single story yet on Norris-Weeks' multiple episodes of curious behavior and bad judgment on Channel 4, 6, 7 or 10's newscasts? 

Or in the Miami Herald?

Good question.



But first things first...
Clearly, one of the few times that one of the most ardent opponents of ethical reform in Hallandale Beach, Andrew Markoff, was said to be correct.



Broward Elections Lawyer Owes Nearly $11,000 In Broward County Taxes 
Posted on January 29, 2015 by Red Broward

Commissioner: Ban elections office attorney from politics  
WRITTEN BY THE SUN-SENTINEL POSTED: 06/04/2015, 02:29PM 

Broward Beat
Some Commissioners Fed Up With Elections Chief
By Buddy Nevins

 It was Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes’ turn in the barrel this week.

 Snipes got grilled – her word for the 30-minute cross-examination was “bullied” – by Broward County Commissioner Mark Bogen on Tuesday.

 Like a prosecutor questioning a murderer, Bogen started out something like this: “Would you agree the most important thing for any supervisor is to run efficient and impartial elections?”

 It went downhill from there for Snipes.
Read the rest of the post at 
www.browardbeat.com/some-commissioners-fed-up-with-elections-chief/







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Broward Beat

 By Michael J. Ryan

The following is an open e-mail Mayor Mike Ryan of Sunrise calling for a policy governing political activity by any Elections Office lawyer.
The background:  Commissioner Mark Bogen last week called for a clear policy governing Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes’ attorney. He did this after discovering that the office lawyer Burnadette Norris-Weeks had actively taken part in campaigns.

Read the rest of the column at:
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Broward Beat
By Buddy Nevins

Burnadette Norris-Weeks — the beleagued Elections Office attorney who is embroiled in a fight over her politicking — obviously hasn’t heard the age-old expression: If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Norris-Weeks has lashed out at Sunrise Mayor Mike Ryan for daring to criticize her actions — campaigning for candidates at the same time she is supposed to be an impartial Broward Elections Office official.

Read the rest of the column at:


Other than the fully-engaged reaction from Sunrise's mayor, I'm unaware of anything by the people who ought to be The Usual Suspects.
Just silence from The Broward League of Women Voters, The Broward Workshop, The Broward Alliance CEO Council, or even the Good Government Initiative at the University of Miami, under former Miami-Dade County Comm. Katy Sorenson, who was long known as the most pro-reform supporter of strong and effective ethics on that ethically-challenged and corrupt group that seems to be on perpetual probation for crimes against taxpayers and common sense.

 How much of this is because of business and political connections, large and small, and how much of this is because of race, and the fear of being taken apart publicly for simply saying the facts aloud while the local news media largely averts its eyes for whatever reason?
That latter point is something that Buddy Nevins references above in his June 5th account of Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes appalling performance the past few years and the public criticism of her that has only grown MUCH LOUDER.

Up to a point.
And that point in my opinion is the same one that explains the silence now on Norris-Weeks.
Commissioners won’t say much of this publicly because of politics:Its politically incorrect to attack one of the few black office holders in Broward.Perhaps more important, Democrats – eight of the nine commissioners  — fear they would be alienating their base in the African American and Caribbean American community if they publicly condemn Snipes.
Another aspect of this whole matter that I have written about a lot in recent emails but not yet here on the blog concerns the selection by crony capitalism-loving Broward Comm. Dale Holness of Burnadette Norris-Weeks to the Broward Charter Review panel for the second time in a row: why does #SoFL have so many more unethical and incompetent political and government officials than other areas of the U.S. its size? Especially among African-Americans?

 Is it the lack of a large enough pool of educated, Middle Management types who DON'T depend on the public payroll for their personal & professional advancement?

You don't have to be a political junkie or news junkie to realize that #SoFL and #Broward are lacking in the very type of people who in most parts of the country actually make up a good portion of the middle management of well-run companies that actually manufacture tangible consumer and industrial goods, instead of selling the hope of sand, surf and sun to visitors.

Also, how is it that in the year 2015, the Broward Workshop,with all the access to resources and media professionals they have, do NOT have a Twitter feed? 
Seriously.
Their charming and always-helpful Exec. Director, Kareen Boutros, is someone whom I like, after first meeting her at the previous edition of the Broward Charter Review meetings in 2008, but it's time for them to get into the 21st Century.

I'm grew up and was educated in South Florida in the 1970's, but still I continue to be #dumbfounded and #frustrated by what is tolerated and passes for "Normal" around here that would simply NOT be acceptable behavior and conduct in the rest of the U.S. then or now.
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Saturday, January 28, 2012

That stink you smell is coming from Wilton Manors' cocky lawyer/lobbyist/mayor, Gary Resnick, who doesn't much care for Ethics rules that negatively affect his own wallet


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Over the past few weeks, many well-informed observers of the Broward political and govt. scene have surely asked others they trust in private, "What is it with Gary Resnick?"
Alternatively, they've asked themselves, "WTF is with Resnick?"

Those of you reading this today obviously know which camp you're in, though you can be in both, of course.
Like me.

Does Resnick honestly think that the Broward County Commission-approved Ethics laws that are supposed to govern the conduct and behavior of all elected municipal officials in Broward, among many others, was just a strong suggestion?

What are the real reasons that have animated Resnick's fervent efforts the past few weeks to figure out a way to obfuscate, blunt and somehow overturn those clear-cut rules on Ethical conduct, so that they do not apply to him and his small fiefdom north of Fort Lauderdale?

There are lots of reasons to choose from, and obviously only Resnick knows the real ones, though surely they can't be the transparently self-serving ones he's been offering up to the local South Florida news media that has drawn gasps of dismay from county residents and activists, can they?
Oh yes they can!

Hmm-m... let me restate that last point.
To be factual, I should say the local South Florida news media in the singular form of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, as they have done the lion's share of the reporting on this issue.
The four English-speaking TV stations and the Miami Herald -with the exception of a two-minute segment by Channel 10's Bob Norman- have yet to engage any of their own reporters, columnists, producers or cameramen in a SINGLE hour's worth of reporting or investigating on the story, and get the answer directly from Resnick and his band of acolytes at Wilton Manors City Hall or outside of his law firm's office.
Why? 

Do I REALLY have to tell you? 
Not if you are a regular reader here and are aware of the shallow-end of the journalism pool that South Florida has unfortunately drawn in these early years of the 21st century.





Channel 10 News
Bob Norman's Blog
Resnick wants to keep lobbying
Published On: Jan 16 2012 09:20:39 AM EST  
Updated On: Jan 16 2012 09:37:09 AM EST
Video at: 

http://www.local10.com/news/blogs/bob-norman/Wilton-Manors-mayor-undercutting-ethics-reform/-/3223354/8148064/-/14v1vb9z/-/index.html


This being Broward County, where it's far easier for a person publicly doing the wrong thing to get friends, acquaintances and supporters to stick-up publicly for their own bad judgment and uncouth behavior than it is for the South Florida news media to find any fair-minded people of stature and accomplishment in the community to point it out, as would happen in other parts of the country, I encourage you to not only watch the Bob Norman video, but to peruse the reader comments as well.

You see, this being Broward, the reader comments contain public cheerleaders for Gary Resnick's behavior and attempts to 'secede' from the county's ethics law, which he finds so troublesome for his personal bottom line.

Not surprisingly, one of them is a longtime pro-union, Democratic Party functionary named Ron Mills, the president of the Dolphin Democrats, which he describes as "Florida's oldest and largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Democratic club."
He is also the person behind the blog called Broward's Blog, http://browardsblog.blogspot.com/

In my opinion, Mills' comments on the Channel 10 website speak for themselves, just like Resnick's audacity and gall.

It seems to me that if, like Mills, you hold your friends to a lesser standard than you would tolerate in others, have such a high tolerance for uncouth and unethical behavior by your friends and people you support politically that you've got no problem in publicly making pathetic excuses for their inexcusable actions or words, you're clearly going to be labeled a hypocrite publicly in the future when you try to use your perch to point-out smaller moral and ethical deficiencies in people whom you oppose politically.
At that point, people are more than entitled to disregard your opinion in the future, given your own opaque outlook on ethics, and the difference between right and wrong.

You tell me, is Resnick doing it and thinking he can get away with being so ballsy because he is an elected official in an otherwise obscure one-horse town, where most people outside that duchy of his prefer cars as transportation?

Is it because Resnick lives in a county where other elected municipal officials rarely if ever criticize or call-out another, and most of the local public policy groups that in other parts of the country might be engaged and call him on the carpet, instead maintain their Hear No Evil, See No Evil and Speak No Evil policy of looking the other way?

Is it because Resnick is an attorney who lobbies other cities in Broward County for his clients, yet has so perfected his wax indignant pose, that when people paying close attention to what he's actually doing publicly use the word "lobbyist" as a pejorative, just like it was applied so frequently and accurately for years to lawyer lobbyist Steve Geller -the previous champion of lawyerly distinctions-without-a-difference- he practically pouts, hurt by your critical words?

Is it because Resnick is so cocky, and thinks that by being upfront about it, that somehow mitigates what he is attempting to do, burrow underneath an ethical fence that is supposed to be a barrier to self-serving behavior, a move made necessary  because of so many recent ethical lapses by elected officials in Broward, big fish and minnows?

In this situation, Resnick truly seems to want to ignore both the spirit and the letter of the law, one passed unanimously-if-unhappily by the Broward County Commission last year.

Or, could it just be that Resnick -like everyone else down here with a pulse and two eyes- knows that the local news media is NOT exactly a beehive of eager worker-bees who give 110% on local news stories, so because he's the Gay mayor of a heavily-Gay city, he thinks that if he gets any sort of serious push-back on the issue, he can always pull out the 'victim card' from his back pocket, flash it to the news media, and maybe even play them a tune on his tiny violin?

Maybe it's some weird combination of all these things that make Resnick think that he and his tiny town are above the rules that govern everyone else.
They aren't, of course, and the proof of that is that you can smell HIS stink all the way down on the Broward and Miami-Dade countyline.
With or without an ocean breeze.

Read the following and draw your own conclusions about this 'character" and watch as things begin to heat up on this issue starting Tuesday, when he attempts to go over, around or under the ethical wall of conduct.

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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Broward politicans need to choose: Lobbying or public office, not both
Ballot measures would undo new ethics code in some municipalities
Michael Mayo, Sun Sentinel Columnist
January 23, 2012
Wilton Manors Mayor Gary Resnick has taken some heat lately, for good reason. He's been leading the charge to undo some provisions of Broward county's strict new ethics rules for municipal officials, which took effect Jan. 1

Read the rest of the column at:
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-01-23/news/fl-ethics-vote-mayocol-b012412-20120123_1_new-ethics-code-mayor-gary-resnick-broward-cities

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Wilton Manors leaders accused of 'scare tactic' over ethics ballot measure
By Brittany Wallman, Sun Sentinel
9:03 p.m. EST, January 25, 2012
Wilton Manors voters are being encouraged to approve a ballot measure Tuesday that weakens the brand new Code of Ethics. According to Mayor Gary Resnick and City Manager Joe Gallegos, the code requires advisory board members to share their salaries with the public.
But that's not true, Gallegos acknowledged Wednesday.
The Code of Ethics has no such requirement in it, despite what he and Mayor Gary Resnick have said publicly. 
Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/wilton-manors/fl-wilton-manors-misinformation-20120125,0,6413170.story


South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Mayo on the Side blog
Are ethics code foes distorting the truth?
By Michael Mayo
January 25, 2012 09:32 AM
As part of the effort to weaken Broward's tough new ethics code in some local municipalities, are some officials distorting the truth to rally support for their cause?
I ask because it seems salary-disclosure requirements might not apply to appointed advisory board members, contrary to what Wilton Manors Mayor Gary Resnick told me in an interview on Monday.
Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2012/01/are_ethics_code_foes_distortin.html



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My three most recent posts that mentioned both the new ethics laws in Broward County among municipal officials and Gary Resnick's rather strange understanding of them, all from this month, are here in chronological order:


Broward cities need tougher ethics laws, not self-serving pols like Gary Resnick & Debby Eisinger, whom we need like more bad restaurants, more ruined-views of the beach... -NOT at all! 
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/broward-cities-need-tougher-ethics-laws.html 

My coda to "Broward cities need tougher ethics laws, not self-serving pols"; Debby Eisinger's curious fact pattern



Please stick to your guns on stronger ethics and do everything in your power to prevent Mayor Resnick & Co. from beginning the race to the bottom of the ethics barrel in Broward
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/please-stick-to-your-guns-on-stronger.html
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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

I accept the resignation of myopic, ethically-dubious Hallandale Beach City Attorney David Jove with long-overdue, indignant & disgusted glee. Adios!

The positive news below from Comm. Keith London this afternoon about the end of the oblivious reign-of-ruin of David Jove comes at a very opportune time for this city's beleaguered citizen taxpayers, as the public budget workshops begin soon.

But this year, they will be workshops where the onus will squarely be on the city to explain away and defend why SO MANY city employees, city programs and the CRA consistently perform in completely unprofessional and unsatisfactory ways, and why so much money from HB taxpayers continues to find its way into the wallets and purses of the same familiar cronies, year-after-year.
Yes, the corruption tax we pay in Hallandale Beach.

Yes, at long last, David Jove will no longer be able to continue to cause the sort of permanent, lasting damage to the credibility of public policy and adherence to the rule of law at Hallandale Beach City Hall.
FINALLY.

Jove will long be remembered by concerned Hallandale Beach citizen taxpayers not for good reasons but rather for bad ones, very bad ones -over-and-over again.

He was nothing if not the model of consistency in his bad judgments, unsound speculation and general acquiescence to whatever ridiculous and ill-supported policy Mayor Joy Cooper, former City Manager Mike Good and current City Manager Mark Antonio desired, regardless of how damaging it was to the spirit and letter of the law, democratic/civic practices and the financial bottom line of this city's residents.

Jove is, supposedly, among other things, the pro-active person at HB City Hall who is in charge of limiting potential liability to Hallandale Beach taxpayers, yet for years he has continually ignored, avoided or been oblivious to numerous state laws that the city has been in clear violation of, as well as the city's own ordinances.
(Ones I have photos of that drive home how truly oblivious Jove was.)

Oblivious to them despite the fact that he sees them EVERY DAY, some, even right at City Hall while walking from his reserved parking space to his office.
But ignores them he does, at the peril of this city -and any sharp-eyed lawyer who wants to make an example of this city.

Jove should've been fired years ago but wasn't because Mayor Joy Cooper liked having a legal lapdog that did her bidding and who was well-trained enough to do that bidding sometimes without her always having to explicitly spell it out at City Commission meetings.
She relied on his infamous obliviousness and desire to hold onto his job -at any cost.
(And now, thanks to Comm. London, we are learning at what co$t that was, aren't we?)

And Jove did what he could to make sure that dynamic never changed.

I'll leave it to another time in the future to discuss whether or not the former Assistant City Attorney -who spoke-up for both the law and HB citizens' rights once in a while at various city meetings I attended- was abruptly fired two years because she ACTUALLY followed the spirit and letter of the law -and her conscience- by asking or raising questions about some very dubious shenanigans going on in this city that David Jove has ALWAYS signed-off on and winked at.
Or, was she fired because she was a lesbian? Hmm-m...

Personally, I think if this woman filed a lawsuit against the city and told just a little of what she knew about what has been going on in this city for years, she'd win in court.
I only wish it was testimony at a Grand Jury.

This woman's the best-qualified person to be the new City Attorney here, but she will never be asked because Mayor Cooper DOESN'T want well-informed people who ask reasonable and logical questions about what transpires at City Hall to be in a position to change the stealthy and unhealthy dynamic the mayor has created there that gives her the means to get whatever she wants, even if it is completely counter to good public policy.
Especially when it is counter to good public policy!

Like the preposterous Golden Isles Overlay she desperately wants that interferes with HB homeowners rights.
Or, suing HB residents like my friend and fellow civic activist, Michael Butler of Change Hallandale, who want to take advantage of the state's Sunshine Laws in the state Constitution to make sure that the public has timely access to PUBLIC information in the possession of City Hall, information the mayor would prefer to keep quiet.

David Jove? Good riddance to rubbish!

------
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Keith London
Date: Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 12:50 PM
Subject: Resignation Hallandale Beach City Attorney David Jove - Guess how much you will pay him?
To: "Commissioner, Hallandale Beach - Keith London" <klondon@hallandalebeachfl.gov>


Everyone,

City Attorney David Jove has tendered his letter of resignation the last day of employment with the City of Hallandale Beach will be Friday, July 29, 2011

I am attaching the following documents:

  • The resignation letter
  • The 2003 employment contract referred to in the resignation letter (signed and negotiated exclusively by Mayor Joy Cooper)
  • David Jove’s 2010 statement from Principle Financial showing how the estimated pension he will be collecting ($4,400 - $4,900) for the rest of his life from the taxpayers of Hallandale Beach and thanks to the contacts signed by Mayor Cooper

Hiring of a new city attorney will be on one of the next City Commission agendas.

In addition I am providing the following link to Muni Code and the City of Hallandale Beach Charter showing duties of a HallandaleBeach City attorney.

DIVISION 1: - CITY ATTORNEY

There shall be a city attorney of the city, appointed or removed, by a majority of the full commission, who shall serve as chief legal advisor to the commission, the city manager and all city departments, offices and agencies and who shall assure that the city is represented in all legal proceedings and perform any other duties prescribed by this Charter or by ordinance.

(Ord. No. 94-20, § 3, 8-30-1994; Ord. No. 2003-28, § 2, 11-18-2003)

I would like input from “our” residents now and at the City Commission meetings regarding the hiring and compensationof a future Hallandale Beach City Attorney.

Thank you,


Keith

Keith S. London

City Commissioner

Hallandale Beach

954-494-3182 Cellular


2 attachments — Download all attachments
David Jove Resignation Letter 6-2011.pdfDavid Jove Resignation Letter 6-2011.pdf
24K View Download
David Jove Contract 6-2011.pdfDavid Jove Contract 6-2011.pdf
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