Hallandale Beach seems to be in the news A LOT these days, and when has that ever proven to be a good thing in the past 12 years? From unchecked real estate development to lectures by unethical city officials about the need for the public to become properly "educated" about the law, things are getting worse not better in Hallandale Beach government

Hey Lazarow, take in a few extra NA meetings. Have a district meeting yourself. http://t.co/JGfK2qV0ie

— Chaz PBRFestivusPole (@TweetsByMAOS) May 7, 2015

https://www.myactsofsedition.com/blog/2015/05/06/michele-lazarow-political-blogging-sociopathic-asshole-whose-feelings-i-hurt-he-is-a-small-little-man-behind-a-keyboard/

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What happened to Hallandale Beach Commissioner Keith London? http://t.co/eq8PXDyl6Q

— Chaz PBRFestivusPole (@TweetsByMAOS) May 5, 2015

https://www.myactsofsedition.com/blog/2015/05/05/what-happened-to-hallandale-beach-commissioner-keith-london/

Just a warning to my readers.
I have been patiently biding my time for six months since the November city election.

To be honest, I've been more patient than I ever expected to be, given how disappointing things have gotten with people in a position to exercise leadership, especially among people I thought I could trust.

Well, the days of waiting for the right time to begin the release of a mountain of Hallandale Beach and broward-centric news, information and analysis about what happened before and after the election that, unfortunately, you never read or heard about elsewhere, is coming to an end.
Not to give too much away but I can tell you with some authority that a veritable avalanche of hard cold facts is about to descend on this part of Broward and South Florida, courtesy of yours truly.

And more to the point today, given the spot-on tweets above by Friend of the Blog, Chaz Stevens, like me, someone who has strongly supported Keith London and Michelle Lazarow in the past, my upcoming blog posts will seek to explain in detail why SO MANY people are unhappy with the performance of EVERYONE on the Hallandale Beach City Commission, including London and Lazarow.

More than ever, in a highly-apathetic yet highly-tribal community like Hallandale Beach, where for far too many years there were always too few people doing any of the necessary heavy-lifting to make this a genuinely pro-reform city, where instead time and energy was spent defending self and ego and not enough old-fashioned hard work spent solving and resolving real-world problems in this very poorly-managed city, the last thing this community needed was the pro-reform people we trusted and elected to NOT do the job expected of them.
And worse, see them become arrogant, condescending and disconnected to the residents and Small Business owners and their legitimate concerns.

How have things changed for the better in the past six months?
They haven't.

---

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Hallandale Beach ditches hotel moratorium

By Susannah BryanSun Sentinel
May 8, 2015 7:39 PM

Hallandale Beach

A moratorium on hotel permits was quickly shown the door this week after developers warned it would doom economic growth throughout the city.

It might have been one of the shortest moratoriums in city history, lasting only a few weeks.

At the commission's request, City Manager Renee Miller declared a moratorium April 16 to give staff time to research the impact of hotel-condo developments on nearby neighborhoods.

Read the rest of the article at:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-hotel-moratorium-hallandale-20150508-story.html

Per the article above, and specifically the absurd comments: "I don't want to fine our residents. I want to educate our residents. I am in favor of holding off on this until we educate the public more."

So sayeth Hallandale Beach Commissioner Bill Julian, who for YEARS illegally and egregiously parked his car in the ONE and ONLY Handicapped Parking spot located at North Beach, next to The Beachside Cafe, knowing full well that his pals at the Hallandale Beach Police would NOT issue him a fine like they would you because they knew exactly whose car it was.

And just in case they didn't, he always made sure to leave his official ID right on the dashboard for everyone to see.
Julian didn't need to be "educated" about the law -he knew he was breaking it!

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/stone-cold-fact-bill-julian-serial.html

No longer a secret in Hallandale Beach: More details on Bill Julian's longstanding anti-democratic tendencies while HB City Commissioner - he wanted to require residency of 3 years in order to run for local office in HB!; The worst enemy of Bill Julian is a smart voter who pays attention and who possesses a good memory; @MayorCooper, @SandersHB, @AlexLewy

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/no-longer-secret-in-hallandale-beach.html

Oh, you mean THAT Julian?

Julian, the only one of four HB City Commissioners last May 20th who didn't vote for Etty Sims to be among his Top Three choices of the 8 semi-finalists for interim Commissioner when he had the 

chance. Julian was the idiot who rated Sheryl Natelson the highest of the final three - Leo Grachow, Etty Sims, Sheryl Natelson- despite the fact that she didn't know the answers to most of the questions asked of her, and completely whiffed on all three fact-based questions posed to all the three candidates by Comm. Michele Lazarow, unlike Etty Sims and Leo Grachow.

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@AnneBoca re #HallandaleBeach's threat 2 #DeerfieldBeach as #Broward "laughingstock" -Battle where ALL residents lose was clinched by HB :-(

— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) May 9, 2015

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/deerfield-beach/fl-deerfield-public-comment-20150505-story.html

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Getting to the point: Deerfield Beach tries to shorten public comment time
By Anne Geggis, Sun Sentinel

May 5, 2015 9:48 PM

Deerfield Beach

Step up to address the Deerfield Beach City Commission and you'd better make it snappier.

Shaving one minute off the four minutes allotted each person during the public comment period is one of the new rules proposed for City Commission meetings.

But other rules that Commissioner Joseph Miller proposed to tame what can be a colorful and lengthy part of the city's twice-monthly commission meeting did not get a receptive audience Tuesday night.

A proposal to set a flat 20-minute limit for all public comment and other rules failed. But City Commission members agreed that it might be a good idea to prohibit speakers from loaning or transferring their allotted speaking time to others.

"I'm hoping to get a little more organization," Miller said..

But Deerfield residents have a lot on their minds.

Tuesday's topics for the public comment period included fears of soil poisoning by big agribusinesses, Hallandale Beach's threat to Deerfield Beach as the laughingstock of Broward County, and the cost of Broward Fire Rescue. Resident Joe Hines is a regular at the lectern on that topic — bringing a garden hose with him last month to demonstrate how he believes the city is getting hosed on its public safety contracts.

Resident Kathy Naggi said she doesn't think the public has been demanding too much air time.

"To me, 45 minutes to listen to the taxpayers and the citizens is no big deal," she said.

The resolution will be up for more discussion at the next meeting May 19.


Coming soon -

The Continuing Follies and Sorry State of Policing in Hallandale Beach under Police Chief Dwayne Fluornoy: Crime, public safety, bad judgment, lack of accountability...

Under Flournoy, the public perception is that things are going from bad to worse, even while he and his City Hall apologists continue to dramatically understate the lack of support Flournoy has in the community among residents and Small Business owners who pay attention

Blogger, corruption-fighter and Friend-of-the-Blog Chaz Stevens getting his due yet again, as Buddy Nevins of Broward Beat connects-the-dots on what we've known for awhile: "Blogger Beats Sun-Sentinel Like A Drum"; irrelevancy of South Florida Sun-Sentinel

So, did you happen to read this the other day?
More thoughts re the almost-complete irrelevancy of South Florida Sun-Sentinel and blogger, corruption-fighter and Friend-of-the-Blog Chaz Stevens getting his due yet again.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel gets scooped again by eccentric blogger http://t.co/ixrnJ1ilY2
— Buddy Nevins (@Buddynevins) February 12, 2014

Broward Beat
Blogger Beats Sun-Sentinel Like A Drum
By Buddy Nevins
February 12, 2014

Blogger Chaz Stevens has done it again – prompting prosecutors to launch an investigation of a city official.

This time it is Jonathan K. Allen, city manager of Lauderdale Lakes, who is being probed for alleged bid rigging.

Stevens has been pounding Allen for quite some time.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.browardbeat.com/blogger-beats-sun-sentinel-like-a-drum/

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See my previous blog posts below about Chaz doing what others, including (unfortunately) the vast majority of South Florida's reporters, were reluctant to do: actual investigating and fact-checking and holding elected officials and govt. bureaucrats accountable.
Where there's smoke there's not only fire, in South Florida, there's usually incompetency & corruption, too.  

December 6, 2010
South Florida's apathetic news media; Giving credit where credit is rightly due: Buddy Nevins: "Blogger Chaz Stevens Scores Again"
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/south-floridas-apathetic-news-media.html

April 17, 2011
Blogger Chaz Stevens vindicated, Sylvia Poitier arrested: An ethical journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/blogger-chaz-stevens-vindicated-sylvia.html

June 27, 2011 
A visit to The Institute for the Advancement of Political Corruption, in Deerfield Beach, is a trip your kids will never forget! And neither will you!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/visit-to-institute-for-advancement-of.html

October 7, 2013
Chaz Stevens' latest blog post is a reality gut-check for the State of Florida re their lax enforcement of rules and laws re municipal CRAs, including where he lives in the Grand Duchy of Deerfield Beach, where bureaucratic self-enrichment is a tradition, not a rumor
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/chaz-stevens-latest-blog-post-is.html

Find more on Chaz here:

@TweetsByMAOS - https://twitter.com/TweetsByMAOS
www.myactsofsedition.com

Chaz Stevens' latest blog post is a reality gut-check for the State of Florida re their lax enforcement of rules and laws re municipal CRAs, including where he lives in the Grand Duchy of Deerfield Beach, where bureaucratic self-enrichment is a tradition, not a rumor

Welcome to the Hallandale Beach CRA! The familiar, graffiti-filled view greeting visitors looking south on U.S.-1/Federal Highway near the very dumpy-looking eastern entrance to the Mardi Gras Casino and Dog Track -the former Hollywood Dog Track- just two blocks south of the Hollywood cityline on Pembroke Road. Sure, why care about how shabby things have looked for years on one of the three main roads in the city when the CRA Board isn't going to spend any CRA funds there, but only in NW Hallandale Beach -where 13% of the city lives- despite the fact that the CRA also includes residents in NE, SE and SW, covering a majority of the city, including the area where HB City Hall is located. Yes, that's how the CRA here rolls. October 2, 2013 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2013 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

Chaz Stevens' latest blog post is a reality gut-check for the State of Florida re their lax enforcement of rules and laws re municipal CRAs, including where he lives in the Grand Duchy of Deerfield Beach, where bureaucratic self-enrichment is a tradition, not a rumor. 

And in Hallandale Beach, where pointed criticism of spending tens of millions of CRA dollars with little to show for it years later is something that City Hall and the mayor who's been in charge just shrugs off, the reality that they'll waste millions more just to score and secure political points IS staring everyone in the face. 
But who's doing anything about it? 


On Sunday Chaz painted just the latest portrait he's done over the years of Broward County CRAs in action, in this case, from his vantage point on the far north side of the county, thus proving that the City of Hallandale Beach CRA in southern Broward, under duplicitous Mayor Joy Cooper, doesn't have the market to itself on dubious nonprofit logrolling, crony capitalism and bureaucratic self-enrichment.

(Though to be sure, Cooper's fervent efforts and those of her Rubber Stamp Crew to funnel what could be millions of scarce CRA dollars onto small parcels of land located on a one-way street that DOESN'T generate much traffic -and that her own neighbors would NEVER visit no matter what is actually built there- instead of being smart and faithful to the law's original intent and actually spending those funds in a way that'd actually eliminate blight, and bring new jobs to the CRA at prime spots on main streets with lots of traffic like U.S.-1 and Hallandale Beach Blvd., does bear much more public scrutiny from the local citizenry and press corps than it's gotten up to this point, requiring as it does some actual legwork and showing-up once in a while.)

And, of course, as we learn everyday, it's not just in Broward that CRAs and the elected officials who run them are ignoring the spirit and letter of the law of the original CRA enabling legislation in Tallahassee intended to eliminate blight, because there's everything -and then some- that's been going on for years in New Smyrna Beach, too, which we last chronicled here on May 1st:

Local FL news coverage that is making a positive difference: In another FL city beset with egregious examples of CRA ethical shenanigans and rampant crony capitalism, Volusia County publisher Henry Frederick takes his responsibility to the community seriously, and asks hard questions about public ethics, government accountability and journalistic credibility. His fact-based straightforward questions are blunt when necessary: Is the Daytona Beach News-Journal protecting New Smyrna Beach Mayor Adam Barringer? And if so, why?; @NSBNEWSnet

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/local-fl-news-coverage-that-is-making.html

So, with all that as helpful predicate and palate cleanser for our main course, here's Chaz's piece from Sunday, complete with a great photo of the scene-of-the-crime:

The $3.4M ECC building is leased 10 years for $1.00. http://t.co/8Gn5ZnBH69
— Chaz Stevens (@TweetsByMAOS) October 6, 2013

MAOS blog

THE $3.4M ECC BUILDING IS LEASED 10 YEARS FOR $1.00

By Chaz Stevens 10/06/2013 

http://www.myactsofsedition.com/2013/10/06/the-3-4m-ecc-building-is-leased-10-years-for-1-00/

So the Deerfield Beach CRA is buying property for an over-inflated price, property with no actual CRA purpose, and then leasing it back to the City? Why?

Because they have the gall to try and seemingly nobody with any real power in this state has the will and resolve to try to stop them.

So why would they stop on their own? 
They won't until someone or something stops THEM.

Anyone in the future writing the history of the endemic anti-taxpayer sentiment and municipal public corruption in South Florida of the past 30 years will have more than enough material to choose from and will necessarily have to have several chapters on an era where cities and CRAs acted like they were a combination of robber barons, 1920's Florida land speculators and Robert Moses.

But even that wasn't enough for some city's CRAs, so they proceeded to not only walk up to the line of what is permissible or justified, but then brazenly jumped that line and openly dared anyone in the state to do anything about it, including anyone in Tallahassee.

They facilitated this process by hiring only CRA attorneys who would tell them exactly what they wanted to hear, at hundreds of dollars an hour.

And some people speculate that even includes CRA attorneys trying to figure out how the CRAs could avoid having to comply with Public Records Requests under Florida's Sunshine Laws and having to disclose (embarrassing) public records, and even blaming third-parties like AT&T for the failure to comply.

Yes, CRAs acting exactly like well-connected members of an organized crime group and CRA attorneys acting like old-style mobster lawyers.

And yes, you're right, again, that sort of mentality sounds more than a little bit like exactly what has been going on for many, many years in Hallandale Beach.

And remind me again, this effort of the CRA in Deerfield Beach Chaz describes eliminates blight how, exactly?

To quote the newly-revised editions of Shakespeare: "Rotten...Denmark...CRA...Broward County...Florida..."

A visit to The Institute for the Advancement of Political Corruption, in Deerfield Beach, is a trip your kids will never forget! And neither will you!

Today I make up for an oversight of mine and give more attention to someone who actually deserves it.

Someone who is the anti-Kardashian - Chaz Stevens.

Despite being at polar ends of Broward County, Deerfield Beach to the north and Hallandale Beach to the south -right next to Aventura in Miami-Dade County- these two cities are Kissin' Cousins in the world of South Florida municipal corruption and indifference to public appearances.

If a different person was in charge at the Broward State's Attorney's office, it's not so far-fetched to imagine that they'd have a temporary office located at those two respective city halls to make it easier for the investigators to get the requested docs -and save gas money from driving to-and-from the SAO's office in the Broward Courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

But - sigh- we have the person we do until next year's election.

----

Excerpt from an email I sent Chaz Stevens about six weeks ago:

May 15th, 2011
10:55 p.m.

Dear Chaz:

I'd have said something congratulatory to you by now about this morning's Herald article but I've been having constant computer problems all weekend.
Je me regrette!

I'll try to post a comment on the Herald's site on Monday and will, hopefully, reference it on my blog later on Monday, after some time has settled to see which of your naysayers -who've never done anything themselves- come out of the woodwork to rain on your (long overdue) parade.

Longtime bomb-throwers like West Hollywood Dissident and Unowho, et al, who never seem to be right in either their predictions or their after-the-fact analysis when they've publicly attacked you, me, Keith London and many others we could name who want to reform this part of the Sunshine State.

I'm thinking that my comments at the Herald might be better taking one of them to the woodshed, as opposed to my simply saying what I think.

But who knows, perhaps I'll rise above the fray... and pay no heed to the peanut gallery of misfits that spins their wheels on other people's blogs and websites trying to make excuses for their

favorite political pets (miscreants) in Broward that we have been given in such generous amounts!

Instead, perhaps expose them at my blog for the frauds they are.

Cheers!

-----

In my comments above, I was referencing certain people who CONSTANTLY used Bob Norman's then-extant blog at the Broward NewTimes to go off-topic from what he'd written about, to delve into picayune matters that 99% of Norman's readers could care less about, including their various feuds with other readers, anonymous and otherwise.

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Miami Herald

Activist uses email blasts, blog to keep politicos honest

By Daniel Chang

May 14, 2011

Chaz Stevens is not a professional investigator, yet his digging has led to several Deerfield Beach officials facing corruption charges.

Prosecutors secretly admire him. Defense attorneys openly loathe him. And followers of Broward politics can’t seem to get enough of him.

Still, it’s hard to know what to make of Chaz Stevens, the rabblerousing activist who wields email blasts and a website — myactsofsedition.com — like a bludgeon, heaping scorn and ridicule upon, and leveling criminal complaints against his hometown public officials.

Since launching his tech-savvy anti-corruption crusade in 2007, Stevens’ tips to the State Attorney’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have led to the arrests of three Deerfield Beach politicians for corruption, including ex-Mayor Al Capellini and former commissioners Stephen Gonot and Sylvia Poitier.

It’s a track record that might earn Stevens a great deal of respect and admiration — if only he didn’t take such conspicuous pleasure in degrading his targets with equal amounts of scurrilous name-calling, innuendo and condescension, delivered with a generous helping of narcissism.

“I have only one thing to declare,’’ Stevens blogged this week after a Broward jury convicted Gonot. “My genius.’’

Indeed, Stevens filed the initial complaint that led to an FDLE investigation of Gonot in 2008, then followed up with leads for investigators and prosecutors, including an email he sent last week to Assistant State Attorney David Schulson, the prosecutor, who had already rested his case but reopened it to share the new evidence with the jury.

Stevens’ tip to Schulson: that Gonot had flown to Las Vegas to participate in a poker tournament the morning after his best friend had cashed a $5,100 campaign check at the center of the state’s theft and misconduct charges.

The evidence provided a plausible motive for Gonot’s theft, and undermined the defendant’s claims that he was overwhelmed at the time with a divorce and the failing health of his parents.

It is unknown whether the revelation swayed the jury’s verdict, but Gonot’s defense attorney, Jeffrey Harris, attempted to discredit Stevens early in the trial, accusing the activist of trafficking in “rumor and innuendo,’’ and questioning why state investigators would take seriously complaints from such a source.

Stevens wears Harris’s remarks as a badge now, and makes no apologies for his clearly biased reporting on Deerfield Beach and on Gonot’s trial, from which he posted exclusive videos of the defendant testifying and provided running color commentary.

“People don’t like me because I am who I am,’’ Stevens acknowledges. “I wish people were smarter to see the message. They get so hung up on the messenger. It’s disappointing.’’

He began his civic activism by ridiculing city politicians with doctored photos and outrageous claims posted on his blog.

An expert in Photoshop, Stevens recalled one occasion where he took a screen grab from TV of Gonot, and edited the photo to look like it was taken from a surveillance camera. Then he alleged the image came from cameras Gonot had surreptitiously planted in city hall.

Stevens shivers as he recalls the “buzz’’ his post created.

“I got calls from city employees,’’ he said, laughing. “The police came and did a sweep of city hall. They didn’t find anything.’’

By 2008, Stevens was looking to take his watch dogging game to another level. He learned to cull public records for the types of facts that could stand up as evidence in a criminal complaint and, eventually, a court of law.

It was a turning point for Stevens’ activism. While his complaints against Gonot and Capellini were based on the investigative legwork of the alternative newspaper New Times and others, Stevens’ complaint against Poitier was the first to originate from his own exhaustive review of meeting minutes, financial reports and other documents.

Stevens launched his crusade against Poitier in 2009, brazenly taking on a matriarch of Broward politics first elected to the Deerfield Beach commission 37 years ago and who also had served on the Broward County Commission from 1985 to 1998.

By his count, Stevens filed 23 criminal complaints against Poitier. But what really seemed to push the 75-year-old politician to the point of exasperation was the incessant taunting and vilifying on Stevens’ blog, in email blasts, on T-shirts and in doctored photographs that he posted online.

In March, Stevens posted a video on YouTube of Poitier on the Deerfield Beach commission dais, threatening to sue the activist for libeling her reputation and calling for “a showdown.’’

He made much hay of this on his website, and even threatened to sue Poitier for defaming his character.

And then the roof caved in for Poitier.

On April 12, state prosecutors charged Poitier with five misdemeanor counts of falsifying records, based on an investigation launched by Stevens’ original complaint. (She has plead not guilty.)

Stevens was overjoyed.

“It’s a glorious day,’’ he crowed in an email blast addressed to the press. Contained in the same email was an example of Stevens’ unflagging activism — a criminal complaint he had filed with FDLE in March, alleging the Deerfield Beach Housing Authority had violated state laws on public bids.

Tom Connick, a Deerfield Beach attorney who represents housing authority director Pam Davis, said Stevens is “flat out wrong’’ about the agency. And though he gives Stevens credit for rooting out corruption among city officials, he takes issue with the manner in which Stevens works.

“There are some things which he has brought to light that appropriately should have been brought to light,’’ Connick said. “There are other things that he claims are problems or issues, and he’s just flat out wrong. They’re not. ... I think the tragedy of Stevens is that he appears to be essentially someone who gets his self esteem by destroying instead of being constructive.’’

Stevens said he piles on the insults and attitude for effect, and suggests it is a strategy.

“It irritates,’’ he said. “It draws attention. ... I’m kind of an attention whore.’’

Connick said Stevens abuses public records laws by issuing broad requests that require hours of manual labor and reams of printed materials. He accused him of making unfounded accusations and degrading women.

But what bothers Connick most is Stevens’ in-your-face style.

“His destructiveness is so overpowering and inextricably woven into his personality,’’ Connick said, “that he’s really a negative factor.’’

To be sure, Stevens’ over-the-top manner has earned him enemies.

He believes someone poisoned his dog, and said he sometimes fears for his personal safety.

Physical threats, though, don’t seem to get under Stevens’ skin like the anonymous comments about him posted online at various local news websites and ridiculing his living arrangements, love life, weight and employment status.

It’s the two-way rule of the Internet, giving equal platform to anyone with a keyboard, a computer and something to say.

Stevens, 46, says such comments used to bother him, but that he’s “grown a thicker skin’’ about the personal attacks.

“It doesn’t matter where I live,’’ he says. “It doesn’t matter if I have a girlfriend or not.’’

For the record, Stevens lives with his parents in Deerfield Beach.

“I travel a lot,’’ he said. “It doesn’t make sense for me to have a house.’’

He works as a freelance software designer and website developer, and estimates that he devotes about 60 percent of his free time to activism.

And though he doesn’t get paid for his work, Stevens does enjoy some fringe benefits — namely the attention, but lately something closer to fulfillment.

“Now it has meaning,’’ he said of his activism. “Now it serves a purpose. It serves a public good.’’

This is not Stevens’ narcissism talking.

In April, on the same day that Poitier was charged, Kessler International, a forensic accounting and investigative firm that has audited Deerfield Beach’s community development division and civic festivals, announced it had created a new award called “The Chaz.”

Michael Kessler, chief executive of the firm, said the award will be bestowed annually to an activist with a proven track record of exposing government corruption.

He credited Stevens for reaching out to his financial investigators with leads, which ultimately led to an audit by the U.S. Housing and Urban and Development’s Office of Inspector General, which ordered the city to repay $224,000 in grants after finding that Poitier and another commissioner, Gloria Battle, had violated federal regulations intended to curb special interests.

“He supplied us with a tremendous wealth of information at the onset,’’ Kessler said of Stevens. “If you followed his blog, there were always tidbits of information.’’

And while Kessler also noticed the heavy doses of scorn, ridicule and name calling on the website, he is willing to indulge Stevens’ personality based on his track record.

“You have to take the whole enchilada,’’ he said, “but I think it brings levity to a very serious situation. That levity sometimes can be detrimental, but ... I don’t think I’ve ever seen an email that he’s written that when we went back and looked at the documentation, that the documentation was false.’’

Stevens points out that he’s not a professional journalist or corruption investigator and has no credo he must follow.

“Who cares if you have to put up with my stupid foibles?’’ Stevens said of his brand of activism. “It’s a little greedy that you want a corruption fighter and a grown up.’’

-----

Following his missive this morning:

Subject: DBHA BSC: The Institute for the Advancement of Political Corruption

If you have the misfortune opportunity to have listened to Anus T. Connick's rave review of Deerfield Beach Housing Authority Executive Director Pamela Davis*, you'd not ever want to second guess her credentials. However, according to the published Roles and Responsibilities of the Board Commissioners, doing just that is at the top of their to-do list.

So being that the existing BOC won't allow you and I (mostly me) a chance at that discussion, let's take a moment this morning to discuss an issue regarding Davis' performance and you decide for yourself if she makes the grade.

Speaking of which, we are *not* grading on a curve.

Read the rest of the post at:

http://www.myactsofsedition.com/my_acts_of_sedition/2011/06/the-institute-for-the-advancement-of-political-corruption.html

I wrote the following to Chaz this morning:

Come for the lack of oversight - stay for the star-spangled corruption!

And closer to us, hard by the Broward/Miami-Dade County line, coming soon: another look at what former Congresswoman Carrie Meek has been doing with all that free land and the tens of thousands of dollars that Miami-Dade County has been funneling her way for years.

Teaser Alert: Putting lots of photos of herself on a fact-free website DOESN'T make the project she promised the county an actual success.

Just saying...

-----

http://www.myactsofsedition.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/actsofsedition

Blogger Chaz Stevens vindicated, Sylvia Poitier arrested: An ethical journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

South Florida Sun-Sentinel video:
Deerfield Beach Comm. Sylvia Poitier is greeted by My Acts of Sedition blogger Chaz Stevens at the Broward County jail, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/videobeta/842e7b01-db82-4e2f-9c92-807a5f2c4d24/News/Poitier-confronted-by-blogger-at-jail
Videographer & Editor: Sarah Dussault, Length: 01:29

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WSVN-TV
South Florida politician facing corruption charges
Reporting: Derek Hayward, Posted: 04/14/11 at 6:30 am EDT
Video at http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21004040851597/

There's a new sheriff in town who goes by the name of John W. Scott.
The eyes, ears, mouths and memories of Broward County activists and bloggers are about to be deputized.
Time to Cowboy up!

Question: Where were all the elected officials and activists in South Florida who knew from personal experience that Sylvia Poitier was an unethical crook, and yet did nothing and said nothing, when her reign of ruin could have been ended so very long ago?

And what about the South Florida reporters who consciously ignored this story, except when there was a new development, when they used Chaz's blog for crib notes because of their own inherent laziness?
Yes, we know exactly who you are -and we haven't forgotten!

Chaz's tireless efforts have finally produced the exact results he predicted -and that his detractors said would never happen.
Game, set, match, Chaz Stevens.


Broward Beat
Chaz Stevens Q & A: Poitier, His Work And How He Got His Name
By Buddy Nevins
April 14, 2011

Blogger Timothy “Chaz” Stevens has been labeled profane. He’s been branded biased. He’s accused of being a shameless self-promoter.

Whatever you think of Stevens, he is unique. No one has shaken up a local City Hall in recent years like this phantom of the Internet.

Read the rest of the post at http://www.browardbeat.com/chaz-stevens-q-a-poitier-his-work-and-how-he-got-his-name/

Do you want to know what's especially delightful about the above Broward Beat post?
The insufferable sour grapes expressed by so many people in Broward County who've continually sat on their asses for years bitching about everything on other people's blogs -like Buddy's and Bob Norman's- but who have never done anything tangible themselves to improve the civic ethos in Broward County, yet who never fail to criticize Chaz whenever they had the opportunity, regardless of the circumstances.



Here's some Breaking News for you: Chaz has the last laugh!




Acts of Sedition video:
My interview with Sun-Sentinel's Mike Mayo, April 16, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDf0iTVN-5s

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Miami Herald
In My Opinion
Deerfield Beach’s Poitier couldn’t be saved from her old ways
By Fred Grimm
April 17, 2011
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/16/2171161/deerfield-beachs-poitier-couldnt.html

Reader comments at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/16/2171161/deerfield-beachs-poitier-couldnt.html#disqus_thread

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Acts of Sedition video:
Deerfield Beach mayor Peggy Noland asks Commissioner Sylvia Poitier to resign, October 5, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIp64ZYIJIM


Chaz Stevens blog, My Acts of Sedition is at http://www.myactsofsedition.com/

His YouTube Channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/actsofsedition

Monday's Broward School meeting at Deerfield Beach Middle School on countywide security procedures -more incompetence!

Below, an email I sent tonight to South Florida
blogger extraordinaire Chaz Stevens of
Deerfield Beach, http://www.myactsofsedition.com/
Saturday April 10th, 2010 9:55 p.m.

Dear Chaz:

While at Panera Bread late this afternoon,
while doing some reading and writing,
I noticed the ad on page 5B of the Herald
-above- regarding an official Broward School
meeting at Deerfield Beach Middle School
Monday night at 7 p.m.

I made a note to myself that when I got home,
I'd go to the Herald's online advertising page,
make a copy and send it along to you for you
to post or mention to your readers, since your
city has sadly become the Ground Zero for
this contemptible behavior at schools.

But when I checked the Herald's advertising
website as I have in the past,
http://newspaperads.miami.com/ROP/Categories.aspx,
the ad did NOT appear for some reason,
so I've gone ahead and snapped a photo of it
with my own camera -with predictable
results.

Still, I think it's legible enough for you to
make out okay.

So, guess who doesn't have anything about
this meeting on their own website?

Correct.
Broward County Schools.
http://www.browardschools.com/

The same geniuses that have at their
disposal, a Cable TV station with TV cameras
that taxpayers have already paid for,
http://www.becon.tv/ but which,
somehow, over the course of the past
few months, could never be used to
televise LIVE or tape any of the
so-called Integrity meetings by
Butterworth & Company,
http://browardschoolsintegrity.org/
have now decided to run a paid advertisement
in the newspaper while neglecting
to mention it on their own website.

Geniuses, that is, if by geniuses you
mean clueless, incompetent morons.

Notter & Company are some kind
of role models for the kids, huh?

Just more proof, as if needed, that all
the Broward School Board incumbents
running this Fall have to go buh-bye.

This is just more evidence that they're
part of the problem, not part of the
eventual solution.
Adios!

-----

So faithful readers, here's the current list
of announced Broward School Board
candidates, which I'll be discussing again
by Monday night:
http://www.browardsoe.org/electioncandidates.aspx?eid=89

Did you notice whose name is conspicuous
by its absence?
I did.
Rhymes with brook.

I actually saw her VERY SWEET decked-out
'campaign' bus rolling north up U.S.-1 past
Gulfstream Park nine days ago, but I got my
camera out too late to actually snap a shot of it
and run it here.

Chaz Stevens' latest video is a reality gut-check for Deerfield Beach; Angelo Castillo's idea on improving voting participation in Broward County

Chaz Stevens' latest video is exactly what I wanted
to do in 2008 with the City of Hallandale Beach's
(COHB) curious purchase of Pastor/Commissioner
Anthony A. Sanders personal property for much more
than its appraised value, as if HB City Hall had more
money than sense. LOL!
Well, history has clearly borne me out on this.

COHB was in a rush to buy this property owned by the
then-Pastor Anthony A. Sanders and his wife, so that
the city could promptly... do nothing with it at all.

Now that they've put HB taxpayers on the hook for it,
one of more than sixty-plus properties that COHB
currently owns, they rent it out at $10 -yes $10-
a month to a group the city wants to co-opt and stay
on friendly terms with for completely political reasons.

But what was the actual rationale for the purchase in
the first place, which was NEVER publicly advertised
on the HB City Commission agenda, but instead,
done under the stealthy rubric "Other," depriving
HB citizen taxpayers of their opportunity to not only
be publicly heard on this unseemly transaction,
but ask for proof of what STILL remains the city's
imaginary action plan?

They have a very vague idea but no actual overall
written plan they can either point taxpayers to,
or are willing to publicly share with them,
IF it even exists on paper.

Meanwhile, COHB's financial situation goes from bad
to worse -see http://changehallandale.com/,
click Budget or Debt - and they STILL can't answer
perfectly reasonable financial questions by residents
about this absurd purchase, despite plenty of time
and resources to do so.

In fact, this specific issue came up again this past week
at a city Quadrant meeting held at the city's Cultural
Center -more on that on Monday, along with video-
and once again, the city's highly-paid staff could NOT
point to something actually either written down
(or approved by the City Commission) that justified
a premium price bring paid for a mediocre piece of
property in 2008.

Like it was a Ken Griffey, Jr. Rookie baseball card
at the pinnacle of the baseball card craze in the early
1990's that disappeared once the actual merchandise
had been sold to the gullible public.
Caveat emptor, mes amis!

For those of you who are late to what Chaz Stevens
has uncovered in his corner of Broward, you can see
what larger point he is proving with 100% accuracy
-and video- along with his latest muckraking adventures,
here, http://www.myactsofsedition.com/ some of which
the Broward Palm Beach NewTimes has written
about quite well, while the Herald and Sun-Sentinel
largely continue to play catch-up.



Video is at:
http://www.myactsofsedition.com/my_acts_of_sedition/2010/03/housing-in-deerfield-beach-a-video-montage.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ActsOfSedition-ABlogAboutDeerfieldBeachPolitics+%28Acts+of+Sedition%29

In today's Broward Beat, Angelo Castillo writes
about a simple plan that results in Broward citizens
taking back voting from bureaucrats, with the added
dividends of increased participation and depriving
anyone from their 15 Minutes by whining about voting
sites or hours.

I love voting in person, but I'm willing to vote by mail
if it increases actual public participation.
http://www.browardbeat.com/castillo-expand-voting-by-mail-keep-city-voting-separate/

Personally, I still wish that Castillo would run this Fall
against the longstanding, ethically-challenged and largely
clueless Broward County Commissioner whose district
includes a small part of HB, Diana Wasserman-Rubin,
but for now, he seems to have decided to make his
re-election in Pembroke Pines his first priority, which
occurred this week with him getting 87.64% of vote.

(And what was DWR talking to Comm. Sanders and
some of his acolytes about over at the city's Hepburn
Center on Monday night?
Some well-informed people hereabouts think that she's
actually considering the possibility of supporting the
out-of-scale Diplomat LAC next week at the
County Commission, the 23rd, in exchange for
Sanders vocal support and his acolytes' help,
which likely won't come for free.
But then you already knew that, right?)

Castillo has more practical ideas and common sense
than 99% of the elected officials pols I run into in
Broward and M-D, and would, I think, make a great
county-wide ELECTED Mayor in the future if the
circumstances ever presented themselves, and residents
could ACTUALLY vote for that instead of the Broward
County Commission crowning one of their members.

I feel this way in large part because he is someone who
is not afraid of new ideas as a solution to resolving
longstanding problems.

Problems that have made and will continue to make
Broward less desirable than it could be with the proper
leadership and hard work.

Me, I'm for diversity -I want smart and honest
people with common sense.

If you're hanging around the house for the next few hours,
at 2 p.m., Turner Classic Movies is showing one of
the best political films ever made, All The King's Men,
based on Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning
novel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_King%27s_Men

No, not the Sean Penn & Jude Law's recent clone,
which I intentionally skipped, but the powerful original that
was so compelling that it won the Best Picture Oscar for
1949, as well as the Best Actor Oscar for Broderick
Crawford.

Here's the film trailer:
http://www.tcm.com/video/videoPlayer/?cid=159099&titleId=27628