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Showing posts with label Buddy Nevins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buddy Nevins. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

A Rising Tide May Lift All Boats but... the proposed Wave streetcar in downtown Fort Lauderdale is a bad idea that's the wrong plan in the wrong place at the wrong time. But will simply being a bad and impractical idea be enough for the Broward County Commission to actually kill it? The vote comes today at 2:00 PM - Time to hammer the nails in that coffin!

A Rising Tide May Lift All Boats but... the proposed Wave streetcar in downtown Fort Lauderdale is a bad idea that's the wrong plan in the wrong place at the wrong time. But will simply being a bad and impractical idea be enough for the Broward County Commission to actually kill it? The vote comes today at 2:00 PM  
Time to hammer the nails in that coffin!

Broward Beat
Ft Laud Mayor Dean Trantalis Takes Fight Against Streetcar To The County
By Buddy Nevins









I'll be writing something about these articles and what it represents over the next few days, while also finishing up my big long-promised 2018 blog post re Broward County and its longstanding, myriad transportation problems, something that I've been writing off-and-on for many months, while trying NOT to repeat what I've written in any of the DOZENS of fact-filled blog posts I've penned the past ten years about public transportation.
Posts that often caught people's fancy throughout South Florida and caused them to nod in agreement because of both my persuasive writing and institutional knowledge and memory about a lot of transit elements in South Florida that other residents either never knew about, forgot about, or took place before they moved here.
So, actual context for better understanding the current sad and sorry state of affairs.

Like the proposed Miami-Dade Metrorail Purple Line that would've connected NW Miami-Dade to Downtown Miami and the Dadeland South, which is one of the reasons that people in NW Dade voted for Metrorail in the first place -to achieve a sense of connectedness to the rest of Miami, especially its job center, government center and attractions.

To cite but one simple benefit of that Purple Line that was never built, it'd have allowed allowed Miami Dolphins football fans in South Dade as well as notoriously fickle University of Miami students to go to Dolphins and Hurricanes games via the very large University station in Coral Gables. 
No need to drive and pay for parking.   
Just as they could have done for the Marlins baseball team if it the line was up and running years ago the way it should have been, which would've made building a baseball stadium near the football stadium and thereby utilize the same great road connections the area has, including direct access to the Florida Turnpike.

It wouldn’t be the first time Miamians fell victim to a transit bait-and-switch. Miami-Dade voters in 2002 approved a half-penny transit sales tax that was supposed to pay for a massive Metrorail expansion — one new line would jut out west to Florida International University, while another would connect to the Miami Dolphins’ Sun Life Stadium.
As it turned out, county politicians had promised far more than they could ever deliver in order to win voter support. Making matters worse: a 2008 Miami Herald investigation revealed that the county frittered away much of the sales tax money on raises for the politically powerful Transport Workers Union. A wasteful hiring spree, meanwhile, awarded transit jobs to aides or relatives of at least nine local elected officials.
above from: Miami Herald
All aboard! Imaginary Purple Line created to generate interest in mass transit for Miami
By Michael Vasquez
March 08, 2013 07:50 PM
Updated March 08, 2013 09:26 PM
http://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article1948039.html

 See also http://www.urbanimpactlab.com/purple-line/


But, of course, those same factual blog posts also earned me a lot of animosity from high-ranking people at local transit organizations -like the Broward MPO among others- for daring to hold a mirror up to their consistently dismal performances given the resources they command and their near-anonymous hold on power.
Trust me, there are few govt/agencies in South Florida who are more used to people telling them how wonderful they were/are than the folks at the Broward MPO.

 Which, of course, explains a lot.
The evidence of their collective failure is all around us in Broward
Their failure to take other groups, agencies and elected officials to task publicly and highlight policies and methods that are counter-productive.

 Instead, the Broward MPO is known largely by a sub-niche of people within the political power structure, and as I've tweeted about a few times over the years, is often NOT mentioned in the Miami Herald or the South Florida Sun-Sentinel for years at a time. YEARS.
Despite their stranglehold on policies and seemingly endless resources.
Where's the media oversight and accountability? MIA.

 Though I could be wrong, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one of you reading this today to be criticized 
in public by the head of the Broward MPO after I detailed his and his agency's many failings at a Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting some years ago.
Promises, promises, but where were tangible results that Broward residents, taxpayers and Small Business owners actually wanted? MIA.

Thin-skinned Greg Stuart waited until I could no longer speak before blasting me, then obfuscated instead of simply answering the questions I posed to him because the truth was on my side, not his. As both of us knew at the time.
His aides at the time were not exactly the pick of the litter, either, considering their snide remarks at the time that showed that they were more cronies than transportation experts.

Needless to say, then-Mayor Joy Cooper -since removed from office by Gov. Scott after her arrest for numerous felonies- just chuckled from the dais, completely aware that she could prevent me from refuting what Stuart was saying, but unaware that Stuart was, in fact, making a monkey out of her and the entire Commission.
In short, he took advantage of her great ignorance and was flat-out lying to her -to her face- while he also tried to make an example out of me publicly for daring to challenge him and his band of thin-skinned bureaucrats.   

Per the article, as most of you know, I genuinely do consider Beam Furr a friend and believe he's a real role model for what a diligent, hard-working, well-informed and open-minded South Florida elected official ought to aspire to be.
But I also believe that Buddy is 100% right about what he writes here, especially about SE Broward taxpayers' collective disinterest in ponying up money for a bad idea that's the wrong plan in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 Didn't know until Monday that Broward County would have been responsible for the secretive Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority's share of possible Wave cost over-runs over DDA's agreed-upon share of $3 Million. Why was that? Whose great idea was this?  

See page 4:
I will likely be at that Broward County Comm. meeting today at 2 PM, since it could be must-see viewing in-person, as the transit and transportation industry's contractors and lobbyists have so much "riding on" The Wave, and will be happy to break the bank to turn their people out en masse and try to triangulate every county commissioner, however they can.  

But a county like Broward that's suing the state because they say they want to exert "local control" in their own area re guns, is going to have a hard time arguing the opposite POV here, and urging The Wave go forward in FTL when a majority of the elected FTL City Commission clearly don't want it.

But again, that assumes that logic and reason will plays the deciding role here in making the final decision, and I don't have to remind you where we actually live, now do I?

May 9th 615 PM Update: Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it up to Broward Govt. HQ to see this in person and speak against it because the 2 PM agenda time ended up conflicting with something I had to deal with that I had forgotten about, but I did watch the entire discussion online and was pleasantly surprised that some holdouts, i.e. supporters of The Wave, finally saw the light: #facts

I'm concerned, though, that some people on the Broward County Commission, with the same general facts, would likely have voted for it if it had been in THEIR district. 
Won't name names but it's pretty clear who they area. 
Yes, the Usual Suspects! :-(









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Wednesday, April 18, 2018

So here we are, South Florida, now in 2018, asking the very same kinds of questions as 2014: Supt. Robert W. Runcie - What happened to the 💰💰💰? What happened to the #SchoolHardening at #Broward #Schools that taxpayers/parents were promised? Where ARE the actual #results? #SoFL


So here we are, South Florida, now in 2018, asking the very same kinds of questions as 2014: Supt. Robert W. Runcie - What happened to the 💰💰💰?
What happened to the at that taxpayers/parents were promised? Where ARE the actual ?
Continued inability of Schools & Supt. Runcie to take public criticism, respond appropriately;











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Saturday, May 6, 2017

Bombshell! It's actually worse than I thought! Latest news from Buddy Nevins at Broward Beat has left me dumbfounded: Broward Auditor Blasts Fast-And-Loose Spending By Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau Under Former Director Nicki Grossman; No Meaningful Operating Controls on CVB Spending. #ethics

Bombshell! Just when you thought that things in #Broward County could not get any worse, that the Broward Establishment and its chosen people could NOT show their contempt for rules, common sense and the taxpayers of the county any more than they have in the recent past, they do.
Thing are actually worse than I thought! 

 That's the only conclusion a reasonable, well-informed person like me can draw from the latest news made public Friday by Buddy Nevins at his Broward Beat website. News that has left most of the concerned Broward civic activists, bloggers and elected officials I know and trust dumbstruck by the sheer scope of this scandal, and in my case, for a rare time, left me almost speechless. Almost.

Broward Auditor Blasts Fast-And-Loose Spending By Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau Under Former Director Nicki Grossman; No Meaningful Operating Controls on CVB Spending




Broward Beat
Auditor Blasts Fast-And-Loose Spending By Tourism Bureau Under Nicki Grossman
By Buddy Nevins
May 5, 2017
Broward’s tourism and convention bureau routinely violated the county’s and state spending rules for years, according to a critical audit released this week. Among the shocking findings:
  • Former Tourism Czar Nicki Grossman handed out $178,000 in sales commissions over two years to 14 members of her staff – extra pay based on hotel rooms sold — without having any proof of results, the audit stated.
The audit of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Tourism and Convention Bureau began in June 2016.  Grossman retired after 21 years the same month and was replaced by Stacy Ritter, a former county commissioner.
Read the rest of the post at:





Apparently, the Greater FTL CVB has been run for years just like the Hallandale Beach CRA has been the past ten-plus years under Mayor Joy Cooper, where money goes out the back door without much need to justify it, and with lots of political cover to keep curious citizens from asking pesky questions.
No oversight, no accountability and, seemingly, no proof of anything tangible actually being accomplished required to actually receive $$$.
Just the approving nod-and-wink of the people in charge.

Before continuing on to the Nevins bombshell, I remind you loyal readers of the blog - especially you newcomers!- that I posted something here on the blog about the curious goings on with the Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB as recently as last month. 

 For those of you who don't know, the Greater FTL CVB has long been a  bête noire of mine, in large part because for so many years, it has seemed clear to me based on all the available evidence that they were able to consistently get away with frequently saying and doing things publicly that could not be substantiated or proven by facts or data more than probably any other group in South Florida.
Even more, dare I say, than the intentional misstatement of facts, misdirection and spin emanating from the Dolphins and Marlins so often the past ten years, which is really saying something. 

Whether stated at public meetings or via pithy comments to the local South Florida news media that rarely holds tourism groups like them to account publicly for what they say, I'd frequently read and hear things that simply didn't add up.
But the local news media, even when presented with information that contradicted what the CVB said, did and said nothing.
Did nothing like actually engaging in some old-fashioned reporting because the media was dependent upon the CVB for both information and access to many important events, esp. ones with well-known personalities and celebrities certain to attend.

That post of April 6th was labeled, Downward Tourism Trend: Broward County's Tourism efforts, as measured by number of hotel visitors, are suffering just as Las Vegas is seeing very positive changes and results in key demographics, including Millennials




Since then, Buddy Nevins on his website -and me in my tweets at @hbbtruth- has publicly questioned what was going on with the Broward Convention Center and efforts to either expand it or move it, because of a desire to have a large, new convention-style hotel attached, something that has been a goal of the Broward Establishment for multiple 
DECADES.



But the lack of an attached convention-style hotel has also been a longstanding problem for the Miami Beach Convention Center, and yet they seem able to still book big events there every year, like Art Basel, because there are so many hotels within a reasonable walking distance.
But it's true that they are NOT able to book larger corporate or industry conventions because of that very same problem. It's a genuine problem that won't solve itself.

So let's review the reality of 2017 for Broward taxpayers, residents and Small Business owners.
Broward County currently has a Convention Center that nearly everyone agrees now is situated in a bad location. A bad location as far as traffic goes and which crowds out economic engine Port Everglades' legitimate current and future expansion needs.

Broward County owns an indoor sports arena situated in a very bad location out near the Everglades that's not only far from the center or even bulk of Broward's population, but which is also NOT near any existing or future mass transit like TriRail.
And for good measure, that sports arena never generates revenue for Broward County taxpayers AND has a very curious management contract that most US cities and counties would never agree to.
But wait, there's MORE!

 We also have in county-owned Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport a place that as we all saw to our dismay and shock in January, quite literally, is full of people who do NOT know what to do in case of a real emergency, like a shooting. 
The County and the airport actually had people in-place there that day who made a horrible situation MUCH WORSE... and given the airport a much-deserved black eye.


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fort-lauderdale-hollywood-airport-shooting/fl-airport-chaos-response-20170320-story.html




Everyone here understands that FLL airport is a hugely important economic engine for the community whose ripple effects are felt all over South Florida, and whose safe, smart and efficient operation is crucial to our area and daily lives.
Yet few people know that it currently lacks an appointed Citizen Advisory Board that can provide a degree of independent oversight and accountability to the community at large that is separate and NOT beholden to the airport's current management, the airlines or the airports contractors and vendors who contribute large campaign funds to County Commission candidates.
We have an airport where most Broward residents no longer comment publicly on the absurd reality that confronts us on a daily basis - when you are at the Tri-Rail Airport train station, you are NOT actually at the airport itself.

You can imagine how dismayed tourists, esp, international visitors, are when they encounter something like that for the first time.
They wonder who would plan something like that, that is both short-sighted and second-rate. And they are right!

 I have been publicly urging for years that the Broward County Commission create an Airport Citizen Advisory Board that can be a voice for the people of this community, who are, let us not forget, also the airport's main clients.
We are the customers.

And yet now these same Establishment Movers and Shakers in the Broward political and business community responsible for most of these problems I've mentioned want to have major input in the future location of a new U.S. Courthouse?
Instead of, say, at a minimum, agreeing and insisting that it be located near a prospective Tri Rail Coastal train station so that people all over the county can access it without a car or the need for more expensive parking garages to be built?



No thanks!!!

In light of what I read in Buddy' Nevins' article today about the audit of the Greater FTL CVB and their predilection for winging-it, I truly wonder if the hotel visitors numbers that I cited in my blog post of last month are even lower than what the CVB publicly stated.
It really makes you wonder what you are supposed to believe, if people put in powerful positions of influence can't or refuse to be bothered to document things that would be required in any other well-run business, much less, one that's affiliated with govt. funds.

Do I need to remind you that as things currently stand, there is NOT an elected, county-wide Mayor for Broward County to ensure that there is positive direction, leadership and accountability for its residents and Small Business owners? I thought not.

 Yes, to quote myself from this blog several months ago, we could definitely use someone as capable, savvy, hard-working and ethical as former Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober as Broward County Mayor when that title really means something tangible.


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