Rep. John Mica fires back at commuter rail critics; Lebowitz reveals all

Monday June 9th, 2008
1:45 p.m.


Received my Central Florida Political Pulse earlier this afternoon and finally noticed the interesting story below that should be of interest to all of you.


For both good and bad sometimes, the one thing that Rep. John Mica of Winter Park -and brother of former Rep. Dan Mica- has always been known for is his dogged persistence.


Based on my experience of seeing him in person at congressional hearings, as well as his comments and persona at Florida-oriented functions in D.C., my sense of things is that Mica won't be giving up the fight for a commuter rail in Central Florida ant time soon.


I also expect that he realizes that the most recent approach, whatever its intentions, simply failed to take into account that the popular sentiment of Central Florida residents alone would not guide elected officials behavior.


He also probably figures it's time for someone like him to use his influence while he has it to force some other third parties, with power, influence and smart upper-management, who've been sitting on the public policy sidelines of this fight, and to FINALLY get suited up and into the game.


To become more fully engaged supporting the common sense transit approach, before Central Florida becomes more paralyzed than South Florida.


You can't win with just diplomats, and it's always good to have someone on your team who's willing to push and cajole others and make crystal clear the reality of their situation.


Make clear that his memory's working fine, thank you, and that his future actions and behavior will be, in some fashion, directly related to their willingness to participate, work hard and share the financial burden of getting things done, rather than simply talking things to death.


That approach clearly has about as much efficacy up in Central Florida as it does down here.


John Mica's just sick-and-tired of Paralysis thru Analysis.


I wish that more local and state elected officials were taking that approach on transit down here, but...


In my opinion, in this particular case, Mica's unwillingness to simply give up on this issue is very helpful, since his spirited marshaling of the facts will, if nothing else, help prevent mis-information from being the coin of the realm down here in the future, where it might be recycled to fight commuter rail locally, along what should be a natural transit-oriented corridor along the FEC tracks.


You know, the place that the City of Hollywood is actively engaged in, however imperfectly, even to the point where Bernard Zyscovich specifically mentioned the positive tangible effect of a commuter rail line, with a station on Hollywood Blvd., on its downtown area last Thursday at the public forum I attended at Hollywood City Hall.


Meanwhile, as with so many things, the City of Hallandale Beach snoozes at their peril.


That point was underscored by the fact that last Monday, at the most recent public presentation by EDAW's Donald Shockey of the city's Master Plan, I was the only person to ask questions about the so-called transit corridor, and whether or not EDAW drew up any projections in their plan that contemplated the tangible effects on the city of a future commuter rail.


One that connected Hallandale Beach residents to their jobs and diversions in both downtown Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.


One that would encourage development away from the beach and Hallandale Beach Blvd. and get it focused on points west, maybe even to the Northwest!



As it happens, I was the last member of the public to ask questions that night.



While they used certain generic transit phrases in their presentation and the documents that were printed, for all practical purposes, from my p.o.v., the answer to my question was Nope!


In late February at the Hallandale Beach Cultural Center, when the much-anticipated and overdue Hallandale Beach Transportation Study was presented by Kenneth J. Kelgard of HDR Engineering, I was concerned by some of the thing I was hearing, like traffic measures conducted during the slowest part of the calendar year.


But I was more concerned by what I wasn't hearing.



Finally, when given a chance, I took the microphone and asked, among other things, why as a HB resident, I needed to go to Hollywood or Aventura in order to attend a SFECC public forum.



Why were none ever scheduled in Hallandale Beach to get the input and thoughts of HB's own residents, when that might've been possible?



Hallandale Beach City Manager Mike Good said that he would have his staff find out if there'd ever been a possibility of that happening, but I've yet to hear anyone at Hallandale Beach City Hall publicly speak about this matter at any meeting I've attended in the intervening three months.



Both locations were easy enough for me to get to, it's just that the folks at Hallandale Beach City Hall were asleep at the switch when it counted, and weren't pro-active about getting a formal presention scheduled at the Hallandale Beach Cultural Center when it might've benefited everyone concerned.


Frankly, to actually have some FEC commuter rail facts interjected into that debate locally would've only been an improvement, since I've met so many people over the past two years around here who have no tangible sense of what it's all about.


What they do recall is usually some hazy remembrance of something they heard in a two-minute local TV news report from early 2007, and is usually incorrect.


I checked the website of the group mentioned below which is sponsoring today's John Mica Regional Rally for Rail, he Central Florida Partnership, but didn't see many specifics.
http://www.centralfloridapartnership.org/index.php?src=events&submenu=about&srctype=detail&category=Meeting&refno=4


Hopefully, there'll be more specifics available by tomorrow morning, and I might even be able to catch some local Orlando TV 11 p.m. news segements from tonight, via my computer.


Closer to home, if you haven't already started reading Larry Lebowitz's insightful Miami Herald series on the broken promises and consequences of Miami-Dade's vote for the half-penny tax increase six years ago, get with the program and get on the bandwagon.


Sunday June 8, 2008
Dade transit watchdog finds its power limited
A special panel was meant to be a watchdog over the transit tax, but government attorneys and politicians took away most of its bite.
http://www.miamiherald.com/428/story/561866.html


Monday June 9, 2008
Some Metrobus routes motivated by politics not need
http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/563276.html


Congrats on the great series, Larry!!!


Your head must ache from all the negativity and incompetency you encountered and wrote about, knowing you couldn't possibly include everything you found out about.


I commiserate.

I know the feeling.
___________________________________
Central Florida Political Pulse

Mica fires back at commuter rail critics
posted by Mark Skoneki on Jun 9, 2008 11:10:57 AM


Jay Hamburg just filed this report


In an effort to rebuff critics of commuter rail, U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, released a national study today that shows the proposed liability agreement is in line with about 20 other similar freight-and-commuter arrangements around the nation. "It will debunk some of the myths relating to commuter rail liability," Mica said of the study done by the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Highways and Transit and Railroads Subcommittees. Some opponents of the $1.2 billion Central Florida commuter rail project have attacked the proposed no-fault liability arrangement between the state and CSX.

Both sides were to carry $200 million liability insurance for the 61-mile system to run from DeLand to Orlando to Poinciana.


To read the rest of the story, go to: http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/06/mica-fires-back.html

For more information on the issue of liabilty agreements, see
CSX Safety Issues Cloud Liability Deal
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/apr/22/na-csx-safety-issues-cloud-liability-deal/
and the Central Florida Political Pulse archive stories on commuter rail
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/commuter_rail/index.html

Upcoming early June posts at Hallandale Beach Blog

Have been very busy the last few days cobbling together some thoughts and observations -along with some helpful and explanatory photos and fact sheets- regarding the following recent public meetings I've attended, and some other stories I've been putting together over the last few weeks, ready to drop them here when the timing was right:

1. Monday's meeting in Hollywood of the South Florida Regional Planning Council regarding the Miami River, and residential development along the waterway at the possible risk of marine industries livelihood.

2. Monday night's presentation at the Hallandale Beach Cultural Center of the most recent edition of the evolving city Master Plan, as put together by the Miami Beach office of EDAW and ERA (Economic Research Associates) of Washington, D.C.
Coincidentally, ERA is located in the very building where I worked when I first moved to D.C. 20 years ago.

I was the last member of the public to speak at this forum and will discuss those questions and why I asked them soon in my post about the event.

3. Wednesday's Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting on installation of red light cameras at certain busy intersections (on private property), as well as the requirement of installation of external surveillance cameras for HB businesses operating after 11 p.m.

4. Thursday afternoon's Hollywood CRA/Zyscovich Plan Public Forum at Hollywood City Hall, on Young Circle/Downtown Hollywood zoning.

Owing to the necessary delay in getting the dozens and dozens of interested and opinionated residents into Hollywood City Hall under the new security protocol, the first time the city has had an event of great interest at city hall since it was implemented, I had the opportunity to speak for a few minutes with both Mayor Peter Bober and Commissioner Linda Sherwood (District 6) about some things going on in Hollywood and in Hallandale Beach.

I saw many familiar public policy faces there, including some who had also been at Monday's Master Plan meeting in HB.

I'll hope to post soon the exact info on when Thursday's public forum will be available for watching on the city's website, since anytime Bernard Zyscovich speaks, there's always a great deal that someone can learn about combining beautiful aesthetics, dynamic and intelligent planning, with some common sense, based on successfully learning the lessons of what has -and hasn't- worked in other cities in similar situations.

Though I wrote as fast as I could over the course of the two hours, just as was true when seeing Zyscovich at other forums in the area -and the Beach CRA forums on Johnson Street in particular- when someone that smart and insightful is ad libbing, it's hard to always concentrate on what you're writing while listening attentively to what he's imparting, because he really makes you think.
Which is to say, that I will be watching the video of the forum also, just to make sure my notes are correct.

5. The apparent move of the Baltimore Orioles' spring training games from Fort Lauderdale up to the Daytona Beach area, to take the place of the Dodgers.

Due to my deep dis-trust of the Orioles front office management, borne of my experience as a longtime Orioles fan since 1970, and former Mini-season ticket holder (20-30 games a year at Camden Yards), I've seen this particular move coming to fruition since last year.

I strongly suspect that I'll have a take on this issue, along with some facts, that you won't find anywhere else in South Florida, blog or otherwise.

Hallandale Beach Master Plan meeting tonight at 7 p.m.

Hallandale Beach Blog will be at the meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at the HB Cultural Center about HB's Master Plan, and will likely have some questions about City Hall's priorities in the process, and the city's absurd signage situation within that plan.

I'll be curious to see whether tonight's meetings addresses an issue that everyone in the city knows about that -but which the Commission never talks about at their meetings- and that's whether or not ant logical signage improvement will occur so that the city can stop being a laughingstock.

Will it be directly addressed, or punted for YEARS down the road because current officials lack either the competency, common sense or will to see to it that those longstanding problems are finally addressed?

As to the Master Plan itself, while I agree with most aspects of it, in my opinion, the Hallandale Beach Town Center area near the Hallandale Beach City Hall should be the lowest priority, not among the first, which is what I fear will be the case with the current cast of characters.

That's certainly not what citizens from northwest Hallandale Beach want to hear after feeling that they've been getting the short end of the stick for so long.

Or anywhere else in the city, for that matter.

The very thought of it is rather preposterous, given how much open space the city currently wastes in the area between HB City Hall and the Cultural Center, as I have discussed before with many other city residents.
Would it kill them to put a picnic table out there somewhere?

I was in Hollywood yesterday morning at the meeting of the South Florida Regional Planning Council -saw DPW Director Brant and some HB city employee's faces I recognized- and I later took some photos of the signage in the immediate area around Hollywood City Hall for purposes of contrast.

I then posted the photos to the HBB blog last night, if you haven't noticed them, so you could see what sort of simple, common sense Hollywood employs in helping people get around town.

As to the timeline for the Master Plan and what gets funded first, it seems to me that it's now time for members of the Hallandale Beach Commission to weigh in and state what their priorities are, so that citizens can decide whether or not that reflects the popular will or not.

It's key for purposes of comparative advertising for this November's election and beyond.

Lest the Commissioners and the Mayor talk in such a way tonight that you would think otherwise, to avoid making the hard decisions of what aspects of the plan are initiated first, it's NOT the job of an un-elected City Manager like Mr. Good and his staff to make those final decisions.
he's an administrator.

Policy decisions are to be made by elected officials.

That's what elections are for.

Conveniently for everyone, there are two seats up in November.

Fran Schiller's seat and Dorothy Ross, with the latter running for re-election.
__________________________________________
If you can't make it to the meeting, here's the info from late December's presentation at the Hallandale Beach Cultural Center, which doubtless has been modified slightly since then after input from citizens and city staff:

Homepage of Designer of Master Plan: http://www.edaw.com/

HDR Engineering's Transportation Plan:
http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/DocumentView.asp?DID=604

Power Point Presentation: http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/DocumentView.asp?DID=645

If you have any comments on the Master Plan, direct them to the city at: MasterPlan@hallandalebeachfl.gov

If you can, please send a cc of your email to me here as well, at hallandalebeachblog@gmail.com
I won't run your comments without your approval, but will mention what aspects of the plan are deemed positive and which ones need to go back to the drawing board.

HB ignores city website's problems and Gulfstream Park

Thanks for swinging by the Hallandale Beach Blog to take a peek at what's going on around the area and my take on that, good, bad and in-between.

I've been juggling quite a lot of things in the air over the past few weeks, both personal and professional, so apologize to those of you who make a point of giving me some of your time occasionally, to see what's what in this part of Southeast Florida, hard by Gulfstream Park Racetrack and the Atlantic Ocean.

I've still got a lot of HBB posts in frozen storage, waiting for your eventual perusal, that I've already written, and hope to defrost them over the next few days, perhaps even before the next scheduled City Commission meeting on Wednesday April 2nd.

They're waiting, not-so-patiently, for some fact-checking inquiry emails I sent out to some third parties, so I can post them without having any doubts as to their factual accuracy or contentions.
Over the next few days, I'll expect to post some of those for you to compensate for the paucity of posts here lately.

I think you'll see that the wait was worth it, since there are many areas of discussion and debate that I've not commented on since the beginning of the year.

Some of those comments will be about what's transpired -or hasn't- since the beginning of the year, as well as thoughts and reflections on the all-day Special HB City Commission Meeting on February 27th at the HB Cultural Community Center.

That particular public meeting attracted a hardcore group of about 2-3 dozen for most of the day, with others drifting in for periods of time to check out what was going on, especially after lunch.

As it happens, for whatever it's worth, one of those late-arriving people was Comm. Dorothy Ross, who was a no-show until approximately 1:22 p.m.

The day resembled nothing so much as a roller coaster, with moments of real insight and lucidity quickly followed by moments of high camp, bathos and over-reaction to reasonable questions posed to staffers.

The scheduled agenda was a discussion of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Lower East Coast Plan Requirements, the EDAW Citywide Master Plan and the Citywide Traffic Study by HDR Engineering, Inc.

I was present from just before the 10 a.m. kickoff until about 6 p,m., and left only because I'd already heard the EDAW presentation before, right after Christmas, which was about 75% complete by the time I split.

Plus, I'd gotten no sleep the night before and the coffee at the Cultural Center didn't agree with me.
Or maybe I'm just too used to the coffee from Denny's and Dunkin Donuts, and the Folgers I buy that I liberally use French vanilla cream with to get it just right.
Next time I'll know to bring my own.

F.Y.I. - According to some on the dais, there'll be an encore performance of the EDAW presentation some night in the near future, though I didn't hear a specific date mentioned.

I'll try to find out when and where that'll be and share the news with you here.

Some past essays that have heretofore not yet posted are due primarily to the photos I've taken not coming out quite as well as I either wanted or expected.

This is especially the case with a series of photos I've taken over the past few months of
a.) construction activities at Gulfstream Park,
b.) the Broadwalk along Hollywood Beach,
c.) ongoing construction of Trump Hollywood,
d.) the unsightly physical conditions of the beach,
e.) current locations of prospective commuter train stations, as well as various activities at
f.) the Arts Park at Young Circle.

The latter issue in particular is still a subject of great frustration with me, for the City of Hollywood's STILL not coming thru on assurances made to me at City Hall last February concerning public safety issues on the east side of the circle.

Plus, there's that old reliable, the complete absence of a single bus shelter, 15 months after the road construction activities on the Circle concluded, and the old bus stop positions were reinstituted, at the largest transit stop in SE Broward.

I hope to arrange a meeting sometime soon with Mayor Peter Bober's staff to discuss some of these matters, since I've been a vocal supporter of his efforts over the years to change the dynamics of Hollywood, a place that I first saw when I was seven-years old.

It's been very frustrating not be able to post certain of these comments, since I aim to be timely and topical here, but I've noticed over the past few months that my photos, whether taken with my old but always reliable Canon camera, or a Fuji disposable, seem, well, blah to be honest, on my Blogger page.

Certainly more so than many of my friends' photos -with similar cameras- on their own blog pages around the country, especially up in the D.C. area.

I hardly need to say here that good photos really help amplify a particular point or contention, so this inability to post many of the photos I've already taken the past year, has caused me lots of aggravation and gnashing of teeth.

I recently got a new digital camera which should hopefully allow me to post my comments and photos in a much more contemporaneous fashion.

Some other examples of posts not published include my observations on the all-day Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting regarding the approval of the DOMUS project's variance on U.S.-1 and S.E. 8th Street, where the Italian restaurant was formerly located, across from Gulfstream Park.

I wanted to write about my conversations with the Norberg family, the antics of State Rep. Steve Geller, in his role as lobbyist and grand inquisitor on behalf of a client, using every legal trick in the book to prevent a nearby Hallandale Beach property owner from publicly opposing his client's request for the change.

I found his performance truly appalling and hope to post a rough transcript of it here later for your perusal.

Considering how much the face and dynamics of Hallandale Beach and U.S.-1 will be changed forever once this gets built, the Herald deciding not to send a reporter, thereby missing the anger, theatrics and histrionics, really speaks to how uneven the Herald's local coverage is.

Not that their national or state coverage is anything to shout about either, with a few exceptions, as I'm constantly mentioning at my other blog, South Beach Hoosier.

Most of these posts will take the form of taking a serious look at some of the sort of everyday things that make me particularly cringe everytime I see them in Aventura, Hollywood or Hallandale Beach, since they are well within the scope and capability of most cities, just not these apparently.

Obviously, one of the things I'm very behind in commenting upon is the City of Hallandale Beach's proposed Master Plan, which was unveiled for the first time just after Christmas at a community forum at the HB Cultural Center before roughly about 100 or so interested city residents.
http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/DocumentView.asp?DID=437

In the next few days I'll also have some thoughts on the two Resident Forums hosted by Comm. Keith London that I've attended recently, including the first one back on February 19th, the night before what was scheduled to be the next-to-last evening Commission meeting of the six-month 'experiment' the Commission voted for last year.

You'll recall that the debate last year among HB residents who showed up at HB City Hall consisted largely of arguing the self-evident point that evening meetings allow the greatest number of citizen taxpayers to attend.

Each Forum with Comm. London was held in Room 192, a small room adjacent to the City Hall Chambers, and lasted roughly two hours, attracting a very vocal and opinionated group of HB citizens.

I was very pleased to be there even under the cramped conditions, especially to hear some honest and passionate back-and-forth about issues that need to be addressed in the city, even if I didn't always agree with every idea I heard.

To state the obvious, these Forums were an excellent idea, and it's a pretty sad reflection on the past civic practices in Hallandale Beach that nobody ever thought to do it before.
(As of today, at least, nobody has ever told me of a prior practice.)

Frankly, it should've been the actual practice of all city commissioners here all along, sort of like a professor's office hours.

There are always some things you just don't want to say aloud in class -or before a microphone at a City Commission hearing.

These Forums provide that opportunity, esp. for the city's residents who are on the shy side.

Before I forget, I did want to second Comm. Keith London's apt comments at the Feb. 27th meeting about something I could hardly believe, though I saw it for myself.

He spoke with what I thought was the appropriate amount of pique regarding the sheer absurdity of members of the Commission being handed documents by staffers after walking into the Cultural Center for that all-day meeting, and being expected to digest 42 pages -over a cup of coffee and a bagel!

Then being expected to digest it all and ask some probing and relevant questions based on what you've read -as opposed to whatever ones you walked in with.

I though those comments were long overdue, but raise an even bigger question.

Why in the world would anyone think that would produce good results?

And why are SO MANY bad practices within the City of Hallandale Beach allowed to persist?
Personally, I've always thought that there ought to be a LOT MORE information available to HB citizens in advance of those City Commission meetings, as well as the Planning and Zoning Meetings, the only two meetings that the city requires COMCAST to televise.

In that respect, the contrast with the City of Hollywood could hardly be more stark, since I routinely receive an automated email notice from them days in advance of a meeting, complete with an agenda and information or links about the topics.

There's no need to reinvent the wheel!

Honestly, the information has already been gathered and inputted by the staff, and the computer does all the hard work, so what's to argue about?

That would allow citizens to print-out whatever parts of the meeting they're most interested in at home, and either bring that print-out with them to the meetings, or refer to it while watching the telecast from home.

Where's the downside to this?

Compare that to what the City of Hollywood does by making everything available at your fingertips.

http://www.hollywoodfl.org/city_clerks/comm_meeting.htm
City Commission Agendas
Regular Meetings are broadcast live on the internet on the first and third Wednesday of each month at 1:00 PM EST. Meetings are also broadcast live on the City's cable television Channel 78.

City Commission Agendas
City agendas are in Adobe Acrobat format (pdf) through DocDepot, an online searchable repository for the agendas, minutes and results. Click here for information on how to download the free Acrobat Reader.
Please click on the DocDepot link, which will open a new window. You will then be able to search by meeting date or a keyword to find a specific agenda.

Also, I've never mentioned it thus far this year, but there continue to be really nonsensical problems with the city's website, a subject that ought to be a subject for future discussion at Commission meetings, so citizens can highlight their real world problems with the site.

Last year, the website caused such incredulity on my part that I made two separate trips to the City Manager's office, last September and October, in order to find out if I was just the latest in a long line of people complaining -or the first.

Once there, I broke it down very simply and asked the secretary/receptionist there to try to access something on the city's website on her computer that the Mayor and City Manager had claimed at an earlier hearing were, in fact, there.

The secretary/receptionist had no luck accessing the info either.

Reason: because it wasn't there.

Their office also seemed to have no idea in September and October that the most recent "Agendas & Minutes" actually posted on the website were from April, counter to what had been said publicly.

Not that you could actually even find the Minutes, though.

Trust me, the problems remain long after the finger-pointing & buck-passing have faded into bad memory.

For instance, at http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/index.asp?NID=226 , as recently as two weeks ago, it was impossible to access the links for Meeting Agendas prior to May 16th, 2007, nor was there any kind of explanation why or even a link to where they were now located.

If it had been incorporated into the actual Minutes from those hearings, which would make sense, why was there no information stating that, much less, a link taking you to this magical place? Incompetency or laziness?

As it is, if you try to access the first five agendas on that page, i.e pre-May 16th, you will get the following message:

We're sorry, but there is not a web page matching your entry.

You entered: www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/DocumentView.asp?DID=371&referrer=http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/index.asp?NID=226

Because of numerous bad experiences with them since I moved here, I've never been a fan of the City Clerk's office performance to begin with, for reasons I'll tell you about in greater detail in the future, since it's too exasperating to get into any detail here.

But I will tell you that their passive aggressive attitude towards city residents, almost trying to bait them into getting upset, has twice led me to complain to the City Manager's office since last summer alone.

And those are just the two incidents I actually had the time to follow through on, rather than let it pass without comment.

And trust me, I hear similar complaints about that office too often around town for it to be unique to me.

Another disturbing thing is that on the drop-down menu for the City Commission, the word Agendas appears twice, when it's only needed once, and the first time, it's under the category "Agendas & Minutes."

But, of course, as you might surmise, there are NO actual Minutes to actually be found there, and haven't been since I can remember.

Where exactly are the HB City Commission Minutes since June 20, 2007 on the city's website???

And why are COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY AGENDAS listed under the City Clerk's office rather than their own CRA drop down menu?

And why is the only item listed from almost eleven (11) months ago, May 4, 2007?

And just to make it better, as if that wasn't embarrassing enough, when the page actually opens up, it says, "We're sorry, but there is not a web page matching your entry."

You entered: www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/DocumentView.asp?DID=373&referrer=http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/index.asp?nid=578

Click here to go to the home page

So what happened to that information exactly?

Did it just disappear?

That's par for the course in the inexplicable and serpentine world of HB's City Hall.

Nobody can explain to me why City Advisory Boards and Committees are listed under both the City Commission and under City Clerk on the drop-down menu, when there's no logical reason that someone would think to look there first.

Here's Aventura's simple method of dealing with this:
http://www.cityofaventura.com/commission/advisory.htm#traffic

Logically, Advisory Boards and Committees should have their own line of drop-downs, along with the info I suggested above, along with a page informing the public what their recent activities have been.

And why is there no list on the city website of members of the various city Advisory Boards, with information about their terms, along with information about whom the particular staff contact is?

Again, the City of Hollywood shows exactly how this should be handled to make it easy for everyone concerned:
http://www.hollywoodfl.org/html/CitizensTransportation.htm

On the HB city website, why is the City Manager's photo on the City Commission page, when his is office is a separate entity that works for them, and has its own separate page already?

And why does the City Manager's office page not list the staff's names and their particular areas of responsibility or expertise, so that when you call, you know whom to direct your inquiry to?

Where's a simple flow chart?

And why is there a Calendar function to the right of the Development Services homepage that lists the City Commission meetings, but NOT one on the City Commission's own home page?

That I suggest is crazy.

When the city's website was finally changed, there was much talk about how it'd make things easier.

Did nobody think to run the sort of routine diagnostic or organizational examination of it prior to it coming online to check for problems?

It sure doesn't seem like it.

Speaking of Development Services as I was a few minutes ago, is there a reason why the online version -the only version?- of Current Development Activity In The City of Hallandale Beach
http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/DocumentView.asp?DID=203 has NOT been updated since last February, to reflect any changes?

It's 14 months later!

Plus, we all know what the deal is with The European Club, so why can't the website be accurate 12 weeks into a new year?

Because I had to leave the February 20th City Commission hearing around 10 p.m., right after the discussion of the Pension Board, I never got the opportunity to hear the Commission discuss the pros and cons of Item 8C, about placing campaign finance reports on the city website, though I did read the staff material available.

I'll hope to gave some info on that soon, so we'll BOTH know.

It's yet another common sense move the city should make towards transparency, but that, once again, may in fact be the kiss of death for it.

Finally, though I still have lots on my mind and stored up in the computer, I'll close with this golden nugget for you readers to ponder -and if you have an answer to it, let me know.

It's a matter that should be of concern to everyone in the city who values history and accuracy, since it shows how blind and oblivious the City of Hallandale Beach usually is.

I've personally wondered about it since the first day the city's website changed, and I mentioned it to almost everyone I met at the time, to see if they had noticed it, too.

When I've been at public city meetings or forums and have seen City Hall folks try to give either me or other citizens the run-around or brush-off, rather than simply answer a question or acknowledge a genuine problem, and try to get it resolved as efficiently and expeditiously as possible, I've thought of this one thing until my head literally hurts.

How is it possible that in the City of Hallandale Beach in the year 2008, when there is one entity above every other that has always received and commanded the Lion's Share of publicity for this town, there are ZERO photographs, especially of an historical or iconic nature, of Gulfstream Park anywhere in City Hall's public areas, or a current or past one on the city's website?

Yes, Gulfstream Park Racetrack, the place right across the street from City Hall that employs all those people and brings in all those visitors who spend money here.

In fact, the word Gulfstream never appears on the city's own website page labeled History of the City http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/index.asp?nid=333

How is that at all remotely possible???

Who was the Hallandale Beach genius who decided that made sense?

To me, that's beyond insane, that's reason enough for junking the City's website and starting over from scratch, but this time, asking for citizen input, even of high school kids, because it's indeed certifiable proof of some very poor management and oversight at City Hall.

It's worse that obliviousness, it's routine!

We all know that people who've relocated here and made the kind of financial investment they have into their expensive homes and condos in Hallandale Beach, like over at The Duo, did not sign up to live in a city that gives every impression of NOT having the faintest clue as to what they're doing, and, in the process, give citizens the worst possible return for their investment and taxes, scoffing at normal transparency.

Citizens here are entitled to so very much better than they've been getting at City Hall for years.
Again, how can a City Hall that ignores Gulfstream Park's longtime economic and social contribution to the city over the years, ever expect to be taken seriously by its residents and the larger South Florida community?

Beats me.

To quote the immortal words of young Hamlet, the Danish Prince: "Aye, there's the rub!"

To see photographs and drawings on old postcards of Gulftream Park Racetrack's glamorous past, complete with its royal-palm lined club house entrance, fantastic cantilever grandstand, et al, see: http://www.cardcow.com/search2.php?substring=gulfstream%20park

Come for the Land Speculation, Stay for the Red Tape!

My comments follow the story.
__________________________________________
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbmasterplan0106sbjan06,0,4867253.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hallandale Beach revisiting its master plan for development
Master plan update includes citizen remarks on traffic, affordable housing
By Jennifer Gollan
January 6, 2008

Hallandale Beach
Deluged by proposals for flashy high-rises and gambling hubs, the city last year called a time out to do some urban planning.

A moratorium on new development has been in place since August. The city has hired a consultant to overhaul its 30-year-old master plan, to outline what should be built over the coming decades, and how.

As part of the planning process, more than 60 residents registered their concerns Saturday about everything from the surfeit of traffic to the dearth of affordable housing during a two-hour meeting at the Hallandale Beach Cultural Community Center.


It was the second of four public meetings intended to gather residents' input before the City Commission votes on the plan in February.

The redrafting of the city's plan is driven by an explosion in planned or possible development, including at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino and Mardi Gras Racetrack and Gaming Center.

There has been a related flurry of proposals for condo towers and mixed-use projects to replace the barren parking lots, tired storefronts and dilapidated homes that overtook much of the city beginning in the 1970s.

"Now development is coming at us like a 180-mph bullet train," said Hallandale Beach Commissioner Keith London.

Indeed, more than 1 million square feet of new development — proposed before the moratorium took effect — is pending or already under way, said Richard Cannone, the city's director of development services.

"The catalyst for the master plan was the development of the casinos, which led us to make sure we are developing in an organized way," Cannone said.

The plan outlined Saturday envisioned six mini-downtowns with shops, restaurants and housing.

The goal is to create a pedestrian-friendly city with lush parks and a unique identity, said Donald Shockey, project manager for EDAW Inc., a design firm with offices in Miami Beach that is overhauling the city's plan for a $250,000 fee.

"Because of the economy, we want to make sure we have economically feasible redevelopment well into the future," said Mayor Joy Cooper.

To that end, Joe DeFalco, 78, asked city leaders Saturday how Hallandale Beach could afford the ambitious vision given in the master plan.

"Where are you going to get the money to do all of this?" asked DeFalco, who is president of Tower Mobile Home Park.

"It's not going to be a boondoggle program," said Shockey, "it's going to be done in a phased, measured way."

Jennifer Gollan can be reached at jgollan@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7920.
Copyright © 2008, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
_____________________________________

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbdig01027sbjan02,0,2312417.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hallandale Beach: Master plan concepts to be presented at public forum
January 2, 2008

A public forum on the citywide master plan is set for 10 a.m. Saturday at the Cultural Community Center, 410 SE Third St.

Initial master plan concepts will be presented and comments from the public received. Residents, businesses and other interested parties are encouraged to attend.
Call 954-457-1381.

Copyright © 2008, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
_______________________________________
Come for the Land Speculation, Stay for the Red Tape!

On the chance that you didn't see the actual print edition of this last Sunday, it had a very different sort of headline: "Hallandale prepares for building blitz"

Wish the Sun-Sentinel reporter had been at the first public unveiling last month, the day after Christmas, when there were more citizens in attendance.

I'll be posting my comments soon on the Hallandale Beach Master Plan itself, which I picked up a printed copy of recently and have been reading in dribs and drabs to refresh my thoughts on the meeting I attended on December 26th.

HB Masterplan Workshop 5503 KB, Last Uploaded: 12/26/2007
http://www.hallandalebeach.org/DocumentView.asp?DID=456

I should say here, though, that while I might disagree with some aspects of it, given the reality of the demographics and personalities here, the presentation itself by Donald Shockey was very impressive in its overall scope, as was his ease with dispensing pertinent facts.

Equally importantly to me was EDAW's true understanding of the myriad underlying problems of the city, and their realization that there's no magic bullet.

Also, contrary to the impression that may've been created by the reporter here, and very much for the better, EDAW, Inc. is an international firm whose closest office is located on Miami Beach, NOT a local firm in Miami Beach with no sense of what's going on outside of South Florida.

I spent quite some time prior to the first public forum looking at their website, then did a Google search to see the sort of plans the firm has produced for past clients, and what the public reaction in those cities were, and suggest you do the same.

(They also did the downtown Master Plan for Boynton Beach
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpschool0107pnjan07,0,5528328.story )

Barbara Faga, EDAW's executive vice president, works out of the Atlanta and Miami Beach offices, and started a blog after writing a book on the intersection of design, development and public policy, http://barbarafaga.com/book/buy.aspx which is quite interesting called designing public consensus.

She even writes about the problems in her own neighborhood in Atlanta associated with unelected neighborhood association officials in a very illuminating fashion.
See http://www.edaw.com/whoWeAre/principals/principal.aspx?key=8931
and http://www.designingpublicconsensus.com/blog/

Referenced blog post re Atlanta is at:
http://www.designingpublicconsensus.com/blog/?p=42

For what it's worth, Design Intelligence named her "one of the top 15 women who are changing the world of architecture."

IF only we could put Ms. Faga in charge of building and implementing a new Marlins ballpark near Chez Huizenga and the Metro that'll be operating near there in 2012.
A beautiful and uniquely Miami stadium, funded largely by a new consortium of far-sighted Marlin owners with a love for architecture, design and South Florida, instead of the current Loria & Co. brain trust, which seems fixated on paying for as much of it as possible with the public's wallet. In what could only be called one of THE worst possible locations, far from its fans.
She could be a Janet Marie Smith for South Florida's baseball fans!

See Ballpark: Camden Yards and the Building of an American Dream by Peter Richmond
See http://www.amazon.com/Ballpark-Camden-Yards-Building-American/dp/0684800489

Here are some links to some local South Florida projects that EDAW is involved with.
They might help you come to some conclusions on thoughts of your own about what, if anything, is missing from the current plans for Hallandale Beach that EDAW submitted to the city, and what needs to be considered or modified.

EDAW Miami Beach office: http://www.edaw.com/whoWeAre/offices/office.aspx?id=66456

Flamingo/Lummus Neighborhood Urban Design and Streetscape Improvements
(for The Related Group)
http://www.edaw.com/WhatWeDo/projects/projects.aspx?back=y&office=66456

One Miami Riverwalk (for The Related Group)
http://www.edaw.com/WhatWeDo/projects/projects.aspx?idx=1&projId=66658467726976686982765048485548534952485051575250&office=66456

Oceanfront Neighborhood Urban Design and Streetscapes (for City of Miami Beach)
http://www.edaw.com/WhatWeDo/projects/projects.aspx?idx=2&projId=6578686982837978745048485248564957485752505251&office=66456

Biscayne National Park Ethnographic Overview and Assessment (for NPS)
http://www.edaw.com/WhatWeDo/projects/projects.aspx?idx=3&projId=6578686982837978745048485348554949485048484957&office=66456

St. Joe West (for St. Joe Land Company)
http://www.edaw.com/WhatWeDo/projects/projects.aspx?idx=4&projId=6578686982837978745048485248555051485250555254&office=66456