Dwight Stephenson for Broward County Commission

Tried to submit this as a comment to the Sun-Sentinel's
Broward Politics blog relative to Scott Wyman's Friday
post about Art Kennedy applying for consideration for
the now open seat on the morally bankrupt Broward
County Commission.

But since the newspaper has yet to fix the longstanding
bugs that for at least a year have caused reader comments
to frequently be rejected because of the paper's half-assed
software, it was bounced back and rejected.

Probably for the best anyway, since there are so many
politically and socially maladjusted people who comment
there whose grip on reality is tenuous at best.

You know, the people who don't know anyone who ever
voted for Reagan either of the times he won in a landslide?

Here's that post and some associated material:
Fort Lauderdale pastor applies for Eggelletion seat
Posted by Scott Wyman on September 25, 2009 03:54 PM

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2009/09/fort_lauderdale_pastor_applies.html
-----------
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The day after corruption arrests: Eggelletion's office open -

By Scott Wyman, Tonya Alanez and Robert Nolin

September 24, 2009
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/miramar/sfl-broward-corruption-bn092309,0,7088546.story
-----------
Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board
September 24, 2009
Broward arrests sends strong message
-THE ISSUE: Broward officials arrested on corruption charges.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-broward-corruption-m092409sbsep24,0,1092553.story
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South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Michael Mayo
From powerful to pathetic in one fell swoop

September 23, 2009

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-corruption-mayocol-b092309,0,7490931.column
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Biography of Acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey H. Sloman
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls/USAttorney.html
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Bob Norman
Hall of Fame Dolphin Dwight Stephenson's Firm Dragged Into Federal Probe
September 25, 2009
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2009/09/miami_dolphin_dwight_stephenson.php
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As anyone who has ever met him can tell you,
Dwight Stephenson is a person of great personal
and moral integrity, and is blessed with great
enthusiasm and a can-do spirit.
http://www.dstephenson.com/

Like so many of us here, he desperately wants this
area of Florida to be SO MUCH better than the
mediocre morass of myopic incompetency and
situational ethics that it currently is with the present
occupants, since that's not good for anyone and
repels dynamic businesses and people from
relocating here.

If you don't believe me, just contact The Broward
Workshop and ask the folks there.
http://www.browardworkshop.com/

Broward County's well-known reputation for
corruption and pay-for-play government makes
it uninviting for savvy companies that have the
sort of well-paying management jobs this area
desperately needs more of down here for all
sorts of reasons, not least, the brain power to
take over so many of the atrophying and chronically
under-performing extant civic groups that are
little more than cults of personality.

Dwight Stephenson is precisely the sort of person]
that Broward's beleaguered citizens, regardless of race,
class or ethnicity, could rally behind and have faith in,
because his myriad decisions, even when you might
disagree with them, would always be based on facts
and what was best for the WHOLE COMMUNITY,
not just the lawyer/lobbyist/fixer crowd that so
dominates the pay-for-play Broward County
Commission.

In many so-called 'progressive' communities
across the country, even in places much smaller
than Broward County, he's someone who'd already
have a much-higher political profile and perhaps
already be in office somewhere.
(Since May of 2007, he's been a member of
the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission.)

But like so many Broward citizens who have
something to contribute but who are utterly
aghast at what they see and read on a daily basis,
he's resisted getting more involved because of
the longstanding taint of corruption and incompetency
that is so high on Andrews Avenue and the various
political dens across the county that Bob Norman
at his Daily Pulp blog and the myriad Sun-Sentinel
reporters at the Broward Politics blog regularly
connect-the-dots on.

I would heartily endorse Dwight Stephenson
for the Broward County Commission.

IF a voter referendum passed that allowed
Broward citizens to vote for a County Mayor
instead of the self-serving, self-selecting format
favored by the current County Commission
-who in the recent past selected representatives
for the Charter Review Commission who
were AGAINST the idea of voters even
getting the chance to vote last November
on that issue themselves, like anti-democratic
Miramar mayor Lori C. Moseley and
Cooper City mayor Debby Eisinger-
I'd vote for Dwight Stephenson for County Mayor.

Acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sloman:
Keep up the great work and MORE investigations,
PLEASE!

Voters Remorse: Ann Murray on thin ice in August with constituents after latest Broward School Board debacle

My comments follow the articles.
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/1192203.html

Broward schools chief keeps his job through 2014
By Patricia Mazzei
August 19, 2009


The Broward School Board unanimously extended Superintendent Jim Notter's contract by three years Tuesday following an annual evaluation that praised the schools chief.

Notter's contract was extended until June 2014, with a possibility of a further extension until 2015. It does not come with a raise unless other district staff members also get one -- something not in the plans this year.

"We're being responsible and doing what's right,'' School Board member Ann Murray said. "We have confidence in what he's doing.''

Notter, who is paid $299,000 a year, voluntarily cut $26,000 from his compensation last month. He was appointed superintendent in 2007.

Reader comments at:


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Going into Tuesday, of the many people in South Florida
-far too many!- whose perennial sub par performance
DIDN'T merit having their contracts renewed -while
they still had time left on them to prove their worth-
the two most obvious were U-M head football coach
Randy Shannon and Broward School Supt. James
Notter.

Both have gotten to their present post thru the insider's
route and both are examples to me of the South Florida
version of the Peter Principle, Banana Republic 2.0.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle

That's the stealth version that's employed when news
reporters, TV cameras and the well-informed public
aren't around to see what's really going on, and asking
their pesky questions.

And now we read that after Ann Murray's been
largely invisible to her constituents for months,
as I wrote about just the other day, she's now
suddenly the one who singing James Notter's
praises after his contract was renewed unanimously?
What am I missing, exactly?

Murray ran on a platform last summer of changing
things dramatically at the Broward School Board,
and not becoming a compliant clone of the existing
members and the pervasive culture of corruption
and cronyism that's made the system a cesspool
and laughingstock.

After emailing this article to a well-informed Broward
friend who WAS a self-admitted 'strong' Murray
supporter, they replied simply, "Invasion of the
Body Snatchers."

Now even Murray's most-fervent supporters are
starting to realize know that her performance on her
audition does NOT bode well for her re-election
prospects next year, as well it shouldn't.

If she'd actually done what she promised, Murray's
name ought to be the one that's on the tip of Broward
taxpayer's and reporter's tongues for zealously defending
the work product of School auditors in revealing possible
School system complicity in over-billing by AshBritt,
but where has she been?
Invisible.

I might've made a mistake in voting for Murray last year,
but trust me, I won't repeat that mistake NEXT YEAR.
And I'm far from alone on that score.

And what about School Board member Jennifer Gottlieb?
What exactly has she done of late to show anyone paying
attention that her performance is one marked by either
merit or a commitment to zealously guarding the taxpayers
wallet?

Tell me, does her being referred to as "nice" by most
people I interact with at civic events or public gatherings,
somehow translate into her having a guaranteed govt. job
for life, at least in Broward County, regardless of how
poorly she actually performs those oversight and legislative
roles?

I keep wondering if my time in Washington around people
who were well-known and highly-regarded for good reason,
makes me, therefore, somehow unqualified to comprehend
what Jennifer Gottlieb's special ability or talent is, to the
extent that she's able to get elected to public office for no
discernible reason.

I say that because I've yet to see anything on South Florida
TV or read anything in any newspaper or blog, that left me
clearly thinking afterwards that I'd seen some glimpse into
some expertise, skill or insight that could reasonably explain
why Gottlieb got elected in the first place.
That has never happened.

That doesn't make Gottlieb unique in South Florida,
of course, just part of a very, very long list of people
down here who prove the ultimate validity of the
Peter Principle.
http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2009/ca20090331_822526.htm

This area has always been noted for having more
unqualified candidates than other parts of the country,
and that's been true for decades.

This is, after all, a part of the country where someone
who genuinely couldn't speak English, ran for Congress
not once but three times in the 1970's and '80's.
And got votes.

Gottlieb's big accomplishment over the past year has
been what, exactly, urging the School Board to cast
a meaningless ceremonial vote last Fall against the
proposed constitutional amendment that would ban
gay marriage?
Like anyone cared what they thought?

I should also mention here that a lot of the well-informed
people I've spoken to and become friendly with since
last November's election, have made a point of telling me,
almost always with a resigned sigh in their voice,
what a big disappointment Jennifer Gottlieb has been
to them.


How they are truly dismayed at the extent to which she
not only carries the water like a drone for the Broward
Teachers Union, the BTU, but also for her starring
role in what happened to Lincoln Park in Hollywood,
after the whole neighborhood made such an inspired
effort to make it more attractive and useful for everyone.

Contrast that with how it looked immediately after the
School system got hold of it and neglected it.

The latter effort is particularly galling to some folks in
Hollywood, even among those who don't live in that
immediate neighborhood, who continually bring it up
in conversations with me about other Broward County
matters -as if I'd forget.

But the truth is, what really rankles these folks to their
core is how the two of them together, Gottlieb and
Murray, have really caused them to doubt their own
ability to judge people, i.e. political candidates.

Some have told me that while they may well have
voted for long-shot candidates in the past, in other
places they've lived, since they (and their families)
moved to South Florida, they've really tried to be
diligent about finding out facts about local candidates'
background and experience, however they could.

Obviously the Internet has been a big help with that
effort, because they now could look for archival
articles and columns online and have more info to
base their decision on, and pass that info along to
friends and family

They stated that because of this effort to be well-informed,
they rarely had voted for someone for whom they
had immediate voters' remorse for.

But the practical experience of Gottlieb and Murray
in office, as opposed to them in campaign mode,
had really disabused these folks of their belief that
once in office, the two would be diligent representatives
of the public who'd be more demanding and more
assertive about the actions and policies of the Broward
Superintendent and his staff.

Instead, they elected two women who just shrug and
vote for whatever the pack wants, consequences be
damned.

To those community activists in particular, who really
pride themselves on not just keeping well-informed
about what's going on hereabouts, but even knowing
what's going to happen BEFORE it does, and why,
the combination of first Gottlieb and now Murray
BOTH being such self-evident wash-outs on reform
and accountability, and not making any tangible
difference for Broward kids and taxpayers, represents
a real big poke in the eye.
And it stings!

Like me, these folks in Hollywood and elsewhere
around the county are recalculating and recalibrating
their political antennae to make sure that those very
mistakes are not repeated in 2010.

It's my belief that Broward County simply can't
afford more wasted votes on people who fail the
basic test of being truthful before and after an election,
and faithful to their constituents' best interests at all times.

Those wasted votes on the Broward School Board
have had very real consequences, because they've
empowered an otherwise clue-less and tone-deaf
person like School Board member Stephanie Kraft
to show voters and taxpayers her true colors.

On June 16th, Kathy Bushouse of the Sun-Sentinel
captured this institutional tone-deafness perfectly in
her Broward Politics blog post,
School District may ask voters to approve higher taxes
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2009/06/school_district_may_ask_voters.html#comments
which concluded quite ridiculously:

Voters may be more inclined to support a tax increase if they
know what they might lose without it, said board member
Stephanie Kraft.
"Honestly, I've already gotten several e-mails from people saying,
'What about that project? What about that project? " Kraft said.
"A lot of people have indicated that they may not be opposed
to doing something to get those projects built."

That's the very creepy mentality that's gotten the county's
taxpayers into the dire situation that Bob Norman has
been writing about aggressively for months from his
Daily Pulp blog, even as local South Florida TV stations
have largely washed their hands of even trying to explain
the story or identify who the villains and heroes are.

In his blog today,
Derelict School Board Wants More of Your Money
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2009/08/broward_school_board_tax_increas.php
and yesterday's post titled,
Hollywood People Stand Up for School Board Auditors
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2009/08/hollywood_folks_stand_up_for_s.php#comments

Norman has shown just what's been going on during
the recent sleepwalking reign of Jennifer Gottlieb
and more recently, while Ann Murray slept.

Broward County School Board's continuing incompetency and the Broward State Attorneys Office

A thoughtful and well-informed friend brought this
Bob Norman column to my attention earlier this
afternoon, and I thought you'd want to know about
it, too.

The reader comments below are as of 5 p.m. today,
but check back later as there may be some additional
comments this evening.

Hm-m-m.. Moss & Associates?
Why does that name sound so very familiar?
Could it just be because they're the construction
company mentioned below in Bob Norman's
Daily Pulp column, which has made so much
money for doing something that was not necessary?
No, that's not it.

Oh, I know what it is.

Moss & Associates, is the same firm that is
a partner in the no-bid contract for the new
Marlins Stadium at the Orange Bowl site by
the genius tag team of commissioners of the
City of Miami and Miami-Dade County.

See:
1.) http://mosscm.com/projects/entertainment/florida-marlins-ballpark.php

2.) http://www.huntmossjv.com/

3.) http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20090730&content_id=6152196&vkey=pr_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla

Say what you will, but obviously, the folks at Moss
clearly know who to make their political contributions
to and how to make sure their campaign dollars
have an economically-beneficial ripple-effect.

Also, for those of you who may not know, the reference
to Sitsonhishands is a thinly-veiled reference to
Michael Satz, our not very aggressive Broward State
Attorney.

He's the longtime incumbent and frequent Bob Norman
foil, who ought to have ordered a team of very curious
professional investigators and forensic accountants to
parachute behind enemy-lines at HB City Hall years ago
-along with coordinated air-drops into other enemy redoubts
like Sunrise and Deerfield Beach- but who, instead,
has done anything of note.

Well, okay, there was, supposedly, according to a
trusted source of mine, a sternly-written letter to HB
City Hall about their snail-like pace on public records
requests and reminding them of their legal obligations
under FL statutes (and our very poorly-defended
Sunshine Laws,) but locally, that's hardly been the
stout defense of the public trust that's been needed
lo these many years.

Maybe it's my imagination, but as a person who
considers himself pretty well-read, honestly, I don't
think I've ever lived anywhere in the country -at any time-
including South Florida from 1968 to the mid-'80's,
where the local news media seemed to evince so little
curiosity or interest in the relative success or failures
of the efforts of the local SAO when it comes to cases
of public corruption and forcing local govt. agencies,
employees and their leaders, to actually follow the law,
as is the case now with Michael Satz.
He's practically invisible.
http://www.sao17.state.fl.us/

Except in Bob Norman's columns.
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/search/?keywords=%22Satz%22&x=25&y=9

In fact, Alberto Milian, who was one of the defense
attorneys who demolished the corrupt lies of Hallandale
Beach and their Police Chief' Thomas Magill in his
attempt to frame two innocent Florida citizens for crimes
they didn't commit, to impress City Manager Mike Good
-for more info on that, see see my April 14, 2008 post
titled, "Dial M for Magill" -and mendacity! at
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/dial-m-for-magill-and-mendacity.html
first came to my attention in 2006 in a Bob Norman
column that mentioned Satz, who had the phrase
The Face Behind The Disgrace just below his photo
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2006/06/its_milian_time.php

Here's an excerpt from the June 3rd, 2006 post titled:
It's Milian Time

The Zapata trial is just one more in the growing list of humiliations for Satz, who had the gall to go after rank-and-file deputies while protecting the obviously corrupt sheriff, Ken Jenne. That isn't just incompetence. It's injustice, more proof that Satz is a very bad seed. And there's no better replacement than Al Milian, who was employed in Satz's office for many years as a pitbull prosecutor. Milian would be tough on criminals -- including those holding elected office and leech off the public trough. Broward County needs this guy.

Owing to my particular interests and all, I've always
known the name of the State Attorney wherever I've
lived since I was in high school in North Miami Beach.
While I lived up in the D.C. area from 1988-2003,
since D.C. doesn't have a traditional SAO structure,
and the U.S. Attorney for The District performs many
of the same tasks an SAO does, I knew some of
Eric Holder's Asst, U.S. Attorneys, people who
actually prosecuted important criminal cases when
he was in charge.

People I greatly admired and spent time with
once in a while, but they were also people who
really did vary their routes home at night, just
to make sure that someone was not following
tailing them from the parking lot at Judiciary
Square.
So, admittedly, having been up there for so long
and gotten used to how things were handled
there, my frame of reference for understanding
how a guy like Satz got into office in the first
place, and then has been able to entrench
himself all these years, is somewhat fuzzy,
but what gives?

People I trust who are much better plugged-in
to Broward politics and judiciary matters than
I am, with the requisite historical perspective
on the myriad political skulduggery and lobbyist
logrolling of the area, are frustrated they are
unable to adequately answer my simple question.
Why has a very capable and even -dare I say it-
semi-articulate person, NOT run against Satz
under the banner of bringing accountability
and transparency to Broward's city and
county halls of power, besides the usual
criminal justice bromides?
Anyone care to explain it?

I have my suspicions, but I ask because
his record, such as it's been reported on,
sounds more to me like an indictment
than a record anyone would voluntarily
want to run on, given the chance.

Seriously, if you heard that CBS was doing a
one-hour drama series set in Fort Lauderdale,
say a legal or medical series, you know exactly
how they'd try to sell it, don't you?
The expensive boats on the canals and the ocean,
the sun and the sin, sexy people everywhere
doing upscale, sophisticated things before retiring
to their great well-decorated homes.
Nothing about South Florida's endemic traffic,
bad retail customer service, govt. red tape...

And you know in your head exactly how they'd
write the roles of the crusading, crime-fighting
SAO and its staff, even if they were just secondary
players.
I mean who doesn't appreciate a well-executed,
media-coordinated perp walk?

Yes, we've become conditioned to have certain
expectations of people in power.
So, granted that it's coming from a fictional premise,
but why must the actual reality here be so
VERY FAR from what the public would expect in
an SAO and his staff?

In any case, given both HB history and the
specific personalities involved, I'm sure that
Hallandale Beach City Hall will give lip service
to using that economic stimulus money it
just received for some reasonable purpose,
before the City Manager and Mayor decide
to use it on building a moat and a drawbridge,
to better keep critics like me and some of you
at arms-length.



You know, rather than in perhaps making sure the
public parking lot lights directly in front of HB
City Hall or the Police Dept. actually worked.
(The city hall and police dept with no directional
street signs anywhere in the city.)

Last night, barely more than half of them worked,
and one of the ones that didn't was, yes, the same
one closest to the police-controlled security camera,
which has only worked for -maybe- two months since
the security cameras were installed in January of 2008.

August 3, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier
Above, looking west at breezeway entrance to
Hallandale Beach City Hall Municipal Complex
from west-side sidewalk of U.S.-1/South Federal Hwy.
What you can barely(?) see is the public parking lot
light that's closest to the police-controlled security
camera.
It was out of order last night, much as it has been
for 99% of the time since the camera went up last year.
Trust me, when you're there, it's much darker
than it appears here, because I had to use a flash
to even get this mediocre quality photo.

I sure hope those investigative commandos from the
Broward SAO, if they ever show-up in Hallandale
Beach, remember to bring long-lasting flashlights!
They'll need them!

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2009/08/broward_school_board_blows_15.php
Broward School Board Blows $1.5 Million, Has No Money

By Bob Norman

Monday, Aug. 3 2009 @ 2:25PM