Errant driver's crash highlights Broward's embarrassing neglect of property; give that driver an award!

My comments follow the article.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-broward-government-building-hole-20100312,0,6587586.story

Driver runs red light, puts big hole in Broward government building, police say

By Alexia Campbell and Scott Wyman, Sun Sentinel

March 12, 2010

FORT LAUDERDALE

A vehicle hit Broward County's personnel building early Friday and left a huge hole in a wall, forcing government workers to relocate.

The accident at Andrews Avenue and Broward Boulevard happened at 1:53 a.m., said city Fire Rescue spokesman Matt Little.

A woman ran a red light on Andrews, lost control of her vehicle and hit the wall, said police spokesman Sgt. Frank Sousa.

The woman was treated by Fort Lauderdale firefighters and then taken to Broward General Medical Center, Little said. Her injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, Little said.

No one was in the building at the time, said county spokeswoman Judy Sarver.

Officials determined the building is unsafe until repairs can be made.

The county will have to temporarily relocate its job application processing services, which were handled in the building, Sarver said. People seeking county jobs should go to Broward's government website — http://www.broward.org — to apply online.

Sarver said the damage was still being assessed Friday and county officials were not sure when the building would reopen.

Reader comments at:
http://discussions.sun-sentinel.com/20/soflanews/fl-broward-government-building-hole-20100312/10

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Unfortunately for Broward taxpayers, the errant
car didn't crash into the hideously dirty East side
of the Broward County Personnel Building facing
Andrews Avenue, which has been an absolute
abomination for at least three years -to the eternal
shame and discredit of County Administrator
Bertha Henry and the entire Broward County
Commission.
I've been taking photos of it for that long, every time
I go to the Broward Govt. HQ at 115 S. Andrews Ave.,
Fort Lauderdale, for Charter Review, Ethics, Planning
Council and County Commission meetings.

It's almost like Broward County is channeling the
management geniuses at Hallandale Beach City Hall!
And by geniuses, of course, I mean the motley crew
of incompetents who make our city a laughingstock.

January 26, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier


Same building a month later.
February 25, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier


January 26, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Above, the Broward Legislative Delegation meeting
of January 26th, 2010 at the Broward College HQ
on East Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, which
met to discuss a bill creating an Inspector General
to be an ethical bloodhound tracking Broward's
many miscreant pols.
http://www.broward.org/legislative/

That's Miami Herald reporter Amy Sherman
on the far left wearing the red top and blue jeans.

Recognize anyone else, public policy sleuths?
Well, there's state Sen. Chris Smith, state Rep.
Ellyn Bogdanoff, the Delegation Chair, and
Broward Coalition president Charlotte Greenbarg
and...


January 26, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Looking north from the SW corner of Andrews Avenue
and Broward Blvd. Fort lauderdale.
You can see where people have written and drawn
things on the dirt-caked wall.

Oh, and there's also a caved-in metal utility cover
directly in front of that building on the corner,
next to that pole, that will absolutely break your
ankle if you're not looking.
You're lucky if you get off just being tripped.
That's been there for at least two years.

February 25, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier

It's like the County, with all the resources taxpayers
have given it, STILL can't quite figure out some way
of getting a pressure-washer there to completely zap
that while building and work its way south to the
Broward Govt. HQ, since the whole sidewalk smells
like an ashtray -with a urine chaser!

What a great welcome for visitors and Broward
taxpayers alike to the official home of Broward
County!

January 26, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier

That area is also where buses deposit the homeless,
with predictable results.



See: Broward Politics Hanging in Stranahan Park
http://www.youtube.com/user/BrowardPolitics#p/u/4/NQCEokl23Hg



and Broward Politics: Billy the panhandler, age 48
http://www.youtube.com/user/BrowardPolitics#p/u/5/rkA-TE_aT-M



On my way to the Broward Planning Council's
meeting re the Diplomat LAC last month, I swung-by
the McDonald's a block away to grab some McMuffins.
On the way back, I snapped this shot of someone, below,
sleeping on the sidewalk of Broward Blvd. at 8:55 a.m.
Two blocks from Fort Lauderdale City Hall.

February 25, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Looking east on Broward Blvd. & Andrews Avenue.,
just north and across the street from the Broward County
Personnel Bldg.

Though I'm not posting photos of it, that whole area is
positively crawling with trash and debris everywhere,
two blocks from Fort Lauderdale City Hall.

That area is a real dump and yet the city and the
county just seem to ignore it, like it'll all just wash
away with the next downpour. Not much of a plan!

I sure didn't see any Super Bowl 44 flags over
there in late January like over on East Las Olas Blvd.,
near the Sun-Sentinel HQ, where it was a bit over-
the-top.

January 26, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Looking south on Andrews Avenue & East Las Olas Blvd.,
Fort Lauderdale.


January 26, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier
Super Bowl 44 sign, looking east on East Las Olas Blvd.
& Fort Lauderdale.


January 26, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier
Super Bowl 44 sign, East Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale.


January 26, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier

The dirty and dumpy sign in front of the Broward
Govt. HQ at 115 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale.
In the morning, this immediate area smells like an
ash tray in an old abandoned car that's had its
windows rolled-up for years.

Minutes of Broward County Ethics Commission:
http://www.broward.org/EthicsCommission/Pages/MeetingSchedule.aspx

For more video, see:
http://www.youtube.com/user/BrowardPolitics

http://www.broward.org/planningcouncil/

Perennial defender of the unethical and the slipshod: Joe Gibbons. Call him a serial apologist and be done with it!

My pithy comments about my embarrassing
State Representative, Joe Gibbons, follow the article.

St. Petersburg Times
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/psc-ethics-reforms-sail-through-senate-bog-down-in-house/1077245#
Ethics bill for PSC stalls in House By Mary Ellen Klas and Steve Bousquet,
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE — A bill aimed at tightening the ethics rules at the Public Service Commission flew through the Florida Senate Wednesday and then became snagged by a House committee, which raised red flags about some parts of the measure.

With no debate, the Senate passed the bill aimed at ending improper communications between commissioners or senior staff members and the utilities the agency regulates.

The vote was 39-1 with Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, the lone no vote.

Senate President Jeff Atwater applauded the measure's sponsor, Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, for championing the issue. The Senate made the issue a top priority by approving the bill on the second day of session.

The bill would ban private conversations between commissioners or their staff aides and anyone with a pending rate case. Last year, PSC staff members and commissioners communicated through text and BlackBerry messages with Florida Power & Light representatives as they were awaiting PSC rulings on several issues. A PSC lobbyist also attended a Kentucky Derby party last May hosted by a Florida Power & Light executive.

Fasano called the episodes "egregious violations of the public trust."

The measure doesn't prohibit all communication between commissioners and staffers with utility officials. Instead, it requires that any conversations that take place must be written down and posted within 72 hours.

The bill also requires commissioners to apply the same ethical standards as judges when ruling on a rate case, and it would ban senior staffers and commissioners from leaving the agency and going to work for a utility company within four years.

Minutes after the Senate vote, the House Energy and Utilities Policy Committee debated but did not vote on the companion bill by Rep. John Legg, R-New Port Richey, as well as two other PSC-related bills.

Several House Democrats led the opposition to the four-year employment ban in Legg's bill. The ban would not affect current PSC members or staffers but would apply only to anyone hired after July 1.

"We're going to run people out of the industry or run people out of state," said Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach. "By making it four years, we make the industry less attractive."

Legg argued that when commissioners or key staff members cross over and work for utilities they once regulated, it smacks of "consumer exploitation."

Another PSC-related bill by Rep. Tom Anderson, R-Dunedin, would ask voters to approve a constitutional amendment to make commission seats elected positions rather than appointed. State law now requires a nominating council to recommend candidates to the governor, who selects from that list to choose appointees to the five-member commission.

The measure would also ban candidates from accepting campaign contributions from regulated utilities. Florida had an elected PSC until the 1970s.

Also Wednesday, the rate case was back in the news as the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee overruled the PSC's order to force FPL and Progress Energy of St. Petersburg to disclose employee salary and benefits packages as part of their rate case requests. FPL's rate case ended with the company getting $75 million of the $1.3 billion it requested. Progress got none of its $500 million increase.


See also, Sansom wants Rep. Joe Gibbons off panel, from
The Buzz politics blog of Feb. 15, 2010
http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2010/02/sansom-wants-rep-joe-gibbons-off-panel.html

Way to bring attention to yourself, Gibbons!
Another sad and pathetic example of the Hallandale Beach ethical taint,
writ large, as yet another Akerman Senterfitt consultant shows his
version of thinking 'big picture' -creating jobs for pals, cronies and
prospective clients.

For me, this recalls so many exasperating Hallandale Beach City
Commission meetings I've attended in the past where, rather than
do what was right, Gibbons continually tried everyone's patience
and credulity by trying to simultaneously appear both publicly
above-the-fray, yet also a savvy insider and wheeler-dealer,
the latter role of which he was eminently laughable in.

(Not unlike present-day HB Commissioner Anthony A. Sanders'
recent attempts to appear savvy and demanding with the Westin
Diplomat Resort & Spa over their preposterous LAC proposal
rubber-stamped and wink-winked by the HB City Commission.)

In Gibbons' particular case, his two-faced strategy was never more
obvious or absurd than in his long-winded attempts at HB City
Commission meetings to gain concessions or some small handfuls
of sugar from Magna Entertainment's Gulfstream Park
Race Track & Casino.

Instead, all Gibbons accomplished was looking like a two-faced
pol who argues not over matters of principle, but rather over price
-Where's something for me and mine?

Honestly, why do ethical issues continue to be such a serial problem
for my State Representative, Joe Gibbons?

Per my blog post here on Saturday, February 27th,
Missing voices in Broward County's ethics debate are ignored
by South Florida news media. It's our old media friend:
Mr. Lack of Curiosity!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/missing-voices-in-broward-countys.html
discussing last month's very important Broward Legislative Delegation
meeting at the downtown Fort Lauderdale campus of FAU/BCC
on Las Olas to discuss State Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff's common sense
ethics proposal for an IG for Broward County, Gibbons, just like
State Sen. Chris Smith and State Rep. Perry Thurston III,
were no Profiles in Courage, though Gibbons at least voted for it
in the end, unlike the other two, though doing himself no favors with
his comments or attitude.

Plus, Gibbons has always been perceived as an apologist for
Hallandale Beach mayor Joy Cooper and city manager
Mike Good serial incompetence and has consistently looked
the other way when unethical and anti-democratic things
happened either right in front of him, or in his district,
as continues to this very day.

Seriously, when was the last time Gibbons publicly spoke-out
against what everyone paying serious attention knows has been
taking place at Hallandale Beach City Hall for years?

The answer is that Joe Gibbons NEVER has.
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4400&SessionId=64

Whether coming or going, as a Hallandale Beach City Commissioner
or State Representative, Joe Gibbons has never ever been a
Profile in Courage.

He is imminently replaceable in the State Legislature, even if he doesn't
quite have the good sense to realize it.
Fine -all the better.

If a candidate with integrity and smarts ran directly at Joe Gibbons
and his dismal track record, I'd vote for them in a heart-beat and
so would most of the well-informed people I know and respect in
Southeast Broward County.
Just saying...

Missing voices in Broward County's ethics debate are ignored by South Florida news media. It's our old media friend: Mr. Lack of Curiosity!

Earlier today I sent a version of the following email to some
folks around South Florida and the rest of the Sunshine State
who make it their business to pay attention to what's going on
hereabouts in local government, especially as it applies to the
issue of ethics and political miscreants.

Per the Broward Beat and Broward Politics blog postings
I cite and link to for your perusal, it's worth mentioning that
State Senator Chris Smith and State Rep. Perry Thurston
both voted against Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff's common sense
ethics proposal at the Broward Legislative Delegation public
meeting that I attended three weeks ago at the FAU campus
in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

(Ellyn Bogdanoff, who I think is a very impressive person
and full of moxie and enthusiasm, is running for State Senate
District 25 this Fall, which is currently represented by
Jeff Atwater, who's running for Florida Chief Financial Officer.
See http://www.ellynbogdanoff.com/ and
http://www.jeffatwater.com/)

That BLD meeting was scheduled to iron-out aspects of a bill
that would provide the proper legal framework for an IG
position to be created in ethics-starved Broward County.

Not surprisingly, this important meeting got ZERO coverage
on local Miami TV newscasts, so citizens here heard nothing
about the absurd histrionics and melodrama that took place,
with petty verbal tantrums thrown by Messrs Smith and
Thurston, with an assist to State Sen. Dan Gelber,
chiefly for his wasting so much time chasing-his-tail that
the public's ability to actually speak at the end of the meeting
was greatly compromised, as some people who wanted to
speak, were not able to, including myself.

But at least Gelber voted in favor of it, unlike the other two.
That is, after he lectured everyone in the room as he channeled
a Law prof schooling kids on the intricacies of property law,
when all they really wanted was to retrieve their errant ball
from his front yard.

Instead of dealing with it forthrightly, he chose to use it as a
pretext to share what he, apparently, believes to be his colossal
legal mind.
It would seem Gelber loves to get on a soap box, even when
it's not necessary.

Personally, I was already inclined to support another candidate
for State Attorney General this Fall, but I can tell you after
this particular first-hand experience, State Sen. Dan Gelber,
in person, makes a very poor case for the plausibility of
Dan Gelber the FL AG candidate.
http://www.dangelber.com/

He was every bit the caricature of a preening pol and left many
of the people who attended the meeting dumbfounded, if my
subsequent conversations and emails from fellow attendees
is any indication.

Some even volunteered that they'd actually been leaning towards
Gelber instead of State Sen. Dave Aronberg for AG, but now
were re-thinking that decision.
http://www.davearonberg.com/

I guess I hardly need mention that people who'd be attending this
sort of meeting are more well-informed about what's really going on
here than the average voter and that their opinion, among friends,
neighbors and co-workers, is considerably more persuasive than
any paid ad.

In that sense, Gelber's performance that day was almost like an
in-kind political contribution to Aronberg.

On a more important note, to me, one of the most obvious but
least-discussed aspect of the current Broward County ethics
killing-zone is the almost complete absence of any African-American
or Hispanic individuals or groups speaking publicly for making
stronger ethics both a reality and a priority here, and not just an
abstract idea in a book or political campaign.

All the minority "Usual Suspects" who generally clamor to get
their spin out to the public and news media in order to be thought
of as serious players in this community's future, were and are
almost entirely MIA -Missing in Action!

I can name the exceptions, since I know who some of them are,
like Ted Mena, a former Coral Springs city commissioner and
business owner, whom I met in 2008 while he was on the county's
Charter Review Commission.

He has been a consistent voice for greater public accountability
and transparency in local government and stronger ethical standards.

In my opinion, he'd exactly the sort of person with integrity and
common sense that we need dozens of clones of in Broward County
and local government to flush-out the defective govt. and political
miscreants and ticking-time bombs.

He recently wrote something about the current ethics debacle,
which I've placed at the bottom of this post for you to consider.

But as is the case with so many other issues I could name,
along with you, the South Florida news media hasn't even noticed
this absence of diverse voices on this important issue, even though
we're constantly told -lectured!- by theses same newspapers
and TV stations how important diversity is.

The news media has been too preoccupied the past few weeks by...
well, now that you mention it, nothing in particular.

I plan on posting some things in the near future on the above topics
and what I observed first-hand, and will try to post some video
I shot up in Fort Lauderdale as well.

----
Broward Beat
Commissioners Loving Ethics Reform To Death
By Buddy Nevins

In Tallahassee its called, “Loving It To Death”.

That is defined as loading up of a piece of legislation with so much unnecessary baggage that it is sure to fail.

Some Broward County Commissioners appear to be using that tactic to kill the ethics regulations that the public is clamoring for.

Read the rest of the story at:
http://www.browardbeat.com/commissioners-loving-ethics-reform-to-death/

----
Sun-Sentinel's Broward Politics blog
Gunzburger runs into trouble protecting proposed ethics code
By Scott Wyman
February 23, 2010

A move by Commissioner Suzanne Gunzburger to protect Broward’s fledgling ethics ordinance ran into trouble Tuesday. Gunzburger wanted to draw up a ballot issue to place the ethics rules in the county charter – meaning they could only be changed in the future by voters. As a task force wrapped up its work to write the code this month, concern grew that the commission could immediately gut or rescind it.

Read the rest of the story at: http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/02/gunzburger_runs_into_trouble_p.html


Sun-Sentinel's Broward Politics blog
Bogdanoff sees passage of legislation to create anti-corruption office
By Anthony Man
February 22, 2010

State Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, said Monday she’s confident there’s enough momentum to win passage of legislation that could lead to creation of an inspector general to police corruption in Broward’s local governments.

Action on the legislation moves to Tallahassee next week when lawmakers gather for the annual legislative session. Bogdanoff said she expects lawmakers will soon put the finishing touches on the inspector general legislation.

The IG would be an independent office with authority to investigate the County Commission, the School Board, independent agencies such as the North Broward Hospital District, and all the cities, towns and villages in the county. The office would have the power to subpoena people and documents.


South Florida Sun-Sentinel
ETHICS AND THE GOVERNMENT
January 20, 2010
By Ted Mena

Most municipalities in our country have a declaration of policy concerning ethics as it applies to municipal employees, which of course is what politicians are in most county and some city governments.

Most of these declarations state that municipal employees are there to work for the citizens of a city or county. These statements of policy also say that it is the responsibility of that person to "act in a manner that promotes trust and confidence in government with complete transparency and honesty in their services, and to avoid even the appearance and perception of impropriety."

It seems to me that some people in Broward County government and the School Board have not read, nor understand, this simple and straightforward statement of policy. Most of these policies are in most cases being ignored here in Broward.

Presently, there is a committee on ethics looking into this matter. They need input from the public as well as the media, who need to step up and publish what these politicians are up to and investigate them to see who else has "conflicts of interest." When I was a city commissioner in Coral Springs, where city commissioners do not get involved in any procurement process at all, I was appointed to the Broward County Charter Review. As a member for two years of this committee, the issue of ethics came up and was looked into. The present Ethics Commission is the result. I can tell you that many of the county commissioners serving in Broward did not want to have this committee on ethics.

One of the reasons that some county commissioners give for being involved in the procurement process is that they do not want county staff to provide them the "backup" on issues before them. They say that they don't have time to read it. But that's what they are paid to do!

(It must be because they are too busy hobnobbing with lobbyists to obtain money to be reelected at parties on yachts or hotel.)

Thanks to Eggelletion, Salesman, and Gallagher, we now have a strong reason to do something about it. Let's put some teeth in the ethic rules and some consequences to misbehavior. We need a watchdog group to make sure these ethic violations do not occur and that this group is independent of the commissioners. County commissioners should not be involved in any role in the procurement process since back in November 2008, the public voted to have the Ethics Commission created. Commissioner Angelo Castillo of Pembroke Pines wrote recently, "We are becoming a community of disbelievers in government to operate effectively..." Hopefully, we will get something done this time.

Ted Mena is a former Coral Springs city commissioner and a Broward County business owner.