Another weekend of 'Chicken' with the public's safety in Hallandale Beach as City Hall continues to ignore self-evident safety problems at RR crossing

Darkness on the Edge of Town, 6:20 p.m. Looking at S.E./S.W. 3rd Street FEC Railroad crossing from S.E. 1st Avenue. February 3, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.


South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/hallandale/fl-hallandale-crossing-closing-20110202,0,1531328.story
Hallandale Beach Boulevard to close at FEC tracks for 3 days
Crossing will be rebuilt from Feb. 6-9
By Michael Turnbell, Sun Sentinel
6:40 PM EST, February 2, 2011

HALLANDALE BEACH
Hallandale Beach Boulevard will be closed at the Florida East Coast Railway tracks east of Dixie Highway for three days starting Sunday.

The crossing will be reconstructed.

The closure will begin at 6 a.m. Sunday. The crossing will reopen at 6 a.m. Feb. 9.

There will be separate detours for cars and trucks.

Eastbound automobile traffic will be detoured south on Dixie Highway, east on Southeast Third Street and north on Southeast First Avenue. Westbound traffic will be directed north on Northeast First Avenue, west on Northwest Third Street and south on Dixie Highway.

Eastbound truck traffic will be detoured north on Northwest Eighth Avenue, east on Pembroke Road and south on Federal Highway. Westbound truck traffic will be directed north on Federal Highway, west on Pembroke Road and south on Dixie Highway.

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For those of you living in the S.E. Broward County area who need the above information to be placed into its proper perspective, and for the even larger number of you readers who want some added insight into how even small things in the city I live in can reveal deep Grand Canyon-like examples of longstanding incompetency on the parts of several parties and agencies,
pay attention.

The street described above as the temporary east-bound route, S.W. 3rd Street and S. Dixie Highway, is where the city's Fire-Rescue vehicles usually come screaming eastbound across the FEC Railroad tracks a few times a day -with ZERO firetruck warning signs on any of the nearby streets, including U.S.-1 -a longstanding problem throughout the city.

Hallandale Beach Fire/Rescue truck.
February 4, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.


That street is noteworthy for being near pitch-black at night, a longstanding fact well-known to not only many lower-level City of Hallandale Beach employees, for many, many months, but also to HB Fire Chief Daniel Sullivan and HB City Manager Mark Antonio.

In fact, the Fire Chief's office is less than two blocks away.
http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/index.aspx?nid=24

As it happens, City Manager Antonio was reminded of this in December at a public meeting on the myriad problems experienced by business owners along Fashion Row, held at Dekka, just five blocks north of that intersection.

Dekka, 139 N.E. 1st Avenue, Hallandale Beach, FL (954) 455-2616 ‎
February 4, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.


Absolutely Fabulous 20 N.E. 1st Avenue, Hallandale Beach, FL (954) 455-5200
February 4, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

My friend Michele, who owns the popular boutique above, was given nothing but grief from HB City Hall and Code Compliance for the longest time about her desire to actually IMPROVE the appearance of her store, costing her un-necessary time and money. Why?
February 4, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.


The graffiti-scarred parking lot sign for Nick's Restaurant, off Fashion Row, next to the FEC railroad tracks, the most obvious of several graffiti targets on Hallandale Beach Blvd. near the railroad tracks. In Hallandale Beach, as I've written here on the blog before -and will be doing again soon with lots and lots of photos- graffiti stays on surfaces large and small for months and years at a time, as if, somehow, customers don't notice it and it don't wonder if an area is sketchy.
Where in the world is the Hallandale Beach Chamber of Commerce and where are the HB police? Good questions!
February 4, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.


I know that City Manager Antonio knows that area on 3rd Street and the FEC is pitch-black because the person who reminded him of this simple public safety fact at that meeting was me.

What's happened since?
NOTHING.
Their patented specialty.

In fact, the block east of Dixie Highway there -adjoins the former City Hall complex as it comes to the city's Fire/Rescue HQ- is as dark as a black hole, and has been an accident waiting to happen for MANY, MANY YEARS.

Considering what drives by there everyday, should a road that crosses a railroad track really continue to be one of THE unsafest streets in all of S.E. Broward instead of one the best lit?

Yes, it seems counter-intuitive to logic based on other places I've lived, but that's how HB City Hall rolls!
No detail is TOO obvious or TOO large to be... noticed.

It would be a shame if someone got injured or killed there this weekend because of the added traffic there and longstanding negligence, which would be a slam-dunk for any attorney suing the city and the county and the...

Just feet away, in fact, on south-bound Dixie Highway, there's a speed limit sign -on a pole with a street light that's been out since March- that has been completely obstructed for nearly a year.

The public safety negligence in the city and that area in particular is so well-known that it was memorialized forever a few years ago when Google's Street View came by and caught it on film, a fact I've already highlighted on my blog a few times.
See for yourself!

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=W+Dixie+Hwy,+Hallandale+Beach,+Broward,+Florida&aq=&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=34.671324,89.824219&ie=UTF8&geocode=FctVjAEdtgk5-w&split=0&hq=&hnear=W+Dixie+Hwy,+Hallandale+Beach,+Broward,+Florida&ll=25.981869,-80.148332&spn=0.009606,0.02193&z=16&layer=c&cbll=25.981839,-80.148301&panoid=mdakDjW2f1cLUn7nr-skpA&cbp=12,187.3,,0,4.65

The Broward County Transit bus stop there, hidden by a hedge, is so dark and grim at night that it might as well just be a stop on the way to the morgue in a Friday the Thirteenth film.
Just saying... be careful.


The three photos on this page were taken within ten minutes Thursday night, and you can see the complete lack of appropriate road lighting.
In fact, the only light that you see in the photos, besides that emanating from auto headlights, are from signs and reflecting material caused by my camera's flash.
If I hadn't used the flash, you wouldn't even see that.

Trust me, when you're there, it's even darker than these photos depict.
And it has been like this for a long, long time.

In the upside-down world of Joy Cooper/Mike Good/Mark Antonio, it's yet another success story!


Darkness on the Edge of Town, 6:25 p.m. Looking at S.E./S.W. 3rd Street FEC Railroad crossing from S.E. 1st Avenue. February 3, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.


Darkness on the Edge of Town, 6:30 p.m. Looking at S.E./S.W. 3rd Street FEC Railroad crossing from S.E. 1st Avenue. February 3, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.




Bruce Springsteen - Darkness On The Edge Of Town (Live 1978) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqGld8_HpOQ


Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Candy's Room
Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ. 1978 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oTFJhhWW8g

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

City of Hollywood gives you chance to socialize/hobnob/people watch and shred your inhibitions -along with your old docs on Saturday at City Hall

Above, Hollywood City Hall, looking west from the half-circle in front of the Hollywood branch of the Broward County library. June 2, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
(When you look up Hollywood City Hall on Google Images, my photo is the first one you see. And the third!)

Finally, one of those shredding parties you've heard about and seen videos of at odd hours of the night on YouTube or one of the TV cable nets when you couldn't fall asleep, but never actually knew about beforehand, so you always missed out.
Well, today's your lucky day, because now you know!

Below, the press release just coming over the Hallandale Beach Blog transom from Hollywood City Hall about Saturday's event in their parking lot

It's been my own experience that local TV stations around the country love these events almost as much as the people with boxes and boxes of docs to shred, since it often provides a fascinating look at what people -and Americans in particular- hang on to (or hoard) until there's finally a time to cast it off.


Good Riddance Day - New York Post
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1jhSEICf-k

Of course, IF there was a night-time bonfire and a nearby barbecue, say, for some local charity, now THAT would be a great double-feature!

Maybe that's what we'll do in Hallandale Beach one day in the future between HB City Hall and the Cultural Center, when the day finally arrives that the city employees running City Hall are actually responsive to citizen taxpayers and have their best interests at heart, something that's definitely NOT the case today.

And when that happens, the first thing to be burned at the charity bonfire would have to be -to steal the thunder from my friend Rob, a local business owner on the city's beleaguered Fashion Row- the city's overly-large code compliance book, which is full of things that nobody alive in the city understands, which even the city's own professional staff was forced to admit at a public meeting recently held at Dekka.

And why does the City of Hallandale Beach continue to be one of THE biggest violators of its own code book in the city, and also NOT follow many existing common sense state laws and statutes?

The evidence for those violations are right in front of you -everywhere- if you just open your eyes, and yet it goes on day-after-day, month-after-month, year-after-year, because HB City Hall consciously chooses to ignore the laws they don't like.

So what does Red Tape sound like or smell like when it's being either shredded or burned? Probably chicken!

-----

City of Hollywood, Florida

Office of the City Manager

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 2, 2011

Contact: Raelin Storey

Public Affairs and Marketing Director

Phone: 954.921.3098

Cell: 954.812.0975 Fax: 954.921.3314

E-mail: rstorey@hollywoodfl.org

Shredding Saturday: Free Shredding to Help Protect Your Identity

Saturday, February 5, 2011

HOLLYWOOD, FL - The City of Hollywood's Office of the City Clerk, Records and Archives Division in partnership with International Data Depository (IDD) is sponsoring a free opportunity for businesses and residents to shred the records and documents they no longer need. On Saturday, February 5, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., IDD will bring its commercial shredding truck to the parking lot at Hollywood City Hall, 2600 Hollywood Boulevard.

By properly disposing of your personal and business records, you can reduce your risk of becoming a victim of identity theft. Criminals often engage in "dumpster diving"-going through a person's garbage in search of copies of checks, credit card statements, bank statements or other records they can use to gain access to your accounts and in the most serious cases, assume your identity. According to a report by TIME magazine online, Florida has the nation's highest rate of identity theft (122.3 reports per 100,000 people). Identity theft is a growing crime that can affect just about anyone, regardless of how careful you think you are. "Our objective is to help prevent identity theft within the South Florida community and promote the importance of shredding," says Jorge Bohorquez of IDD.

Aside from the loss of money, identity theft costs its victims time and can damage their credit. Bring those old checks, credit card statements or other personal and business records that put you at risk to the City's Shredding Saturday event this weekend.

For event information, please contact the Records and Archives Division at 954.921. 3545.

For media inquiries, please contact Raelin Storey, Public Affairs Director, at 954.921.3098.

# # #

Raelin Storey
Public Affairs and Marketing Director
City of Hollywood
954-921-3098 (Office)
954-812-0975 (Cell)
954-921-3314 (Fax)

Darrell Issa, GOP’s New House Oversight Chair, Asks Businesses Which Regulations Burden Them; where's the replication in Hallandale Beach, Broward?

My comments follow this interesting ProPublica story from last Tuesday that I had originally meant to post and comment on before the end of the week, some of which were shared via an email last Wednesday to the Usual Suspects on my email list.
This is an expanded version of that.

GOP's New Oversight Chair Asks Businesses Which Regulations Burden Them
by Marian Wang
A letter from Rep. Darrell Issa asks businesses and trade groups to help identify regulations his Oversight committee should target.

Because of my delay in posting it, it has since been updated, which is the version below.

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ProPublica http://www.propublica.org/

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=B8tYkNV9BxbjLsyaILpmm1BNoB8NYXjY

GOP’s New Oversight Chair Asks Businesses Which Regulations Burden Them

by Marian Wang ProPublica, Jan. 4, 2011, 12:31 p.m.

1/6: This post has been updated.

We’ve noted that many of the incoming Republican chairs of powerful House committees have criticized the Obama administration’s “job-killing [1]” regulation of the financial and energy sectors, among others.

One of these, Rep. Darrell Issa, has sent letters to more than 150 businesses, trade groups and think tanks calling for their input on which regulations are burdening them and hurting jobs [2], Politico reports. From the text of the letter [3], which NBC has posted:

The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is examining existing and proposed regulations that negatively impact the economy and jobs.

In fiscal year 2010, federal agencies promulgated 43 major new regulations. These regulations ranged from new limits on “effluent” discharges to new rules for Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations. The new limits on “effluent” discharges from construction sites will cost $810.8 million annually resulting in the closure of 147 construction firms and the loss of 7,257 jobs. In total, the administration estimated the cost, often referred to as the hidden tax, of the 43 new regulations to be approximately $28 billion, the highest single year increase in estimated burden on record, resulting in thousands of lost jobs. This new burden is on top of the $1.75 trillion estimated burden of existing regulations.

As a trade organization comprised of members that must comply with the regulatory state, I ask for your assistance in identifying existing and proposed regulations that have negatively impacted job growth in your members’ industry. Additionally, suggestions on reforming identified regulations and the rulemaking process would be appreciated. Please submit your response as soon as possible, preferably before January 10, 2010. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact my office at ...

The National Association of Manufacturers and the National Petrochemicals and Refiners Association, two groups that received letters, told Politico that in their responses to Issa they pointed to new EPA greenhouse gas rules as an example of burdensome regulation.

As we’ve written, since being named as the incoming chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Issa has sought to allay fears that he will use his new position—which includes subpoena authority—to initiate partisan investigations [4]. He’s already requested information from many administration officials as well.

“Asking a question shouldn’t be labeled as partisan or political,” his spokesman told Politico. He also said that with their letters soliciting feedback on regulation, “[it] was a broad net that we cast.”

Update: The Hill has posted the full list [5]of recipients of businesses and groups that received Issa's letters.

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Far from the sand and surf and perpetual automobile gridlock of Hallandale Beach, a very sharp congressman from SoCal named Darrell Issa, someone who's familiar with all three in his northern San Diego district, and who became a multi-millionaire thru marrying a quality product, marketing savvy and high-technology -Viper car alarms- is asking some very reasonable questions in his role as the new head of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

But first, the obligatory back-story: When I first moved to D.C., in those pre-Internet days, one of my best and closest friends was a staffer for that particular Comm. when John Conyers was the voluble Chairman, a man with a knack for getting in the national spotlight.

Sometimes, if I had the time, I'd agree to go with her into her office on Saturdays to help her catch-up on work and make sense of things, since that particular high-profile Comm. was constantly being deluged with requests for materials, like testimony from a hearing, that reporters and columnists and TV networks from all over the country wanted.
But mostly reporters, editors and produccers within the Beltway.

Those Saturday mornings of coffee and bagels and CNN in the background, with she and I walking round and round a large conference table with dozens of envelopes laid out on it with the individual reporter's info request on a Post It, and plopping-down whatever they needed, seem rather quaint now, since it could all be done in seconds digitally.

Obviously, much of our banter centered on our own lives and what was going on in town politically, but as you'd guess, it also included her giving me the low-down on which reporters we were helping out were friendly and professional, and who was not.
Over the years, her diagnosis was close to 100%, as I met many of those very same people in work-related or social situations.

(Sometimes, during the summer, after our mail distribution project and whatever else on Capitol Hill was history, we'd head over to the large apt. complex of a mutual friend in N.W. Washington that hosted one of the greatest summer pool scenes in the area.
Sometimes, even epic to be honest.

The only problem -if you can call it that- was that my Congressional staffer 'friend' was very
good-looking, esp. in a bikini. Normally, you wouldn't think that would be a problem, and it never had been before, but.. I came to realize over time that because she and I spent so much time together in and around the pool, I was never going to ever meet any interesting women there, even though they were, quite literally, everywhere.
All because of appearances, i.e. her knock-out good-looks and the first impression appearance that she and I were more than just friends.

I know this because more than once, when I'd get up to grab a Coke from the vending machjne nearby, or while by myself at the deep-end of the pool, hanging on the side, just relaxing, whether to actually find out some intel or merely just a harmless meaningless remark, an attractive woman would say to me, "So, is your girlfriend here today?"

When I'd reply, "Oh, you mean X, she's not my girlfriend, she's just a close friend," I guess I wasn't too convincing, because they seemed disinclined to believe the truth.
Apparently all those hours of us talking and being like book-ends in the pool had led to, well, misconceptions. Ladies and gentlemen, let's just say that that chapter of the book ought to be called "When your friend's beauty kills the best laid summer plans!)

When X took off on vacation in the summer, she was kind enough to let me drive her very sporty car. You know, to keep it in good condition!

I was only too happy to oblige her by driving up to Camden Yards on weekends for Oriole games -instead of taking the MARC baseball train from Union Station- or drive over to Annapolis with a date on the Chesapeake.
Those were the days!
End of back-story

To me, one of the great things about Issa, compared to many other congressmen, and GOP congressmen in particular, is that he's never forgotten his roots, when nobody wanted to help him, or the red-tape he dealt with when first starting his company.

He hates red-tape but he also hates business people who talk in generalities -and has little regard for execs born with a silver spoon- so the idea that he is in a key position to tell many well-known American businesses who have complained for years about red-tape of one sort or another, to finally be specific or shut the hell up, is great news for taxpayers and small business owners who aren't cronies of pols or officials in their city, as is the case here in
Hallandale Beach.

Speaking of HB, Issa was the person who personally bankrolled the beginning of the successful recall effort in 2003 against Calif. Gov. Gray Davis.
Hmm-m-m... speaking of recalls, I'll soon have some news about the possibility of one here in the coming months.

He is being very clear -identify what specific rules or regs are problematic to them.
Now if their business is poorly run and not delivering a good quality product or service to consumers at a price they can afford, I think we'd all agree that the regulations are the least of the problems.
But if they're doing what they need to do to remain competitive, well, then, it'll get very, very interesting, and we all benefit from hearing the unvarnished truth.

The recent meeting I attended on the discontent on Fashion Row in HB revealed to me the the true level of the city's myopia with burdening businesses with the most ridiculous rules -practically inviting them to leave the city .

Hallandale Beach City Hall's chronic inability to accept their fair share of the blame for how things are going in this city, much less, show some common sense, was demonstrated over-and-over again.

I wish we could see something like Issa's effort replicated here in Hallandale Beach and Broward County in general, where a public forum could be held to find out what are the most consistently contentious items of disagreement, and why are certain businesses/entities seemingly allowed to violate code compliance -and common sense- for years.

And why the city itself is one of the very worst offenders, something that is self-evident to anyone paying close attention.
Like yours truly.


South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-12-31/news/fl-cn-fashion-0102-20101231_1_business-owners-paint-fashion-row-district

Hallandale Beach working to boost Fashion Row District
By Sergy Odiduro
December 31, 2010

After years of wrangling with Hallandale Beach, Michele Lazarow is finally going to paint her building purple.

"For years I have been trying to paint my building. I gave up and then I thought I would paint a mural," said Lazarow, owner of a clothing and accessories boutique in the Fashion Row District, which is situated along Northeast First and Second avenues, north of Hallandale Beach Boulevard.

She told officials at a recent meeting that she struggles to boost her store's visibility while adhering to city codes, and that she often received conflicting information.

"I felt like my head was going to explode," she said.

City officials are now reaching out to business owners like her.

"We have met with the Fashion Row District to get some of their concerns," said Liza Torres, manager of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. "We want to create a district committee to present their priorities and goals so that we can bring it back to the commission."

At the meeting, a range of planned improvements for the area was discussed, including creating a two-way street and increased police patrols. Also discussed were expedited permitting and commercial loans and grants offered by the CRA.

Participants were urged to fill out a survey ranking goals for the district, including landscaping, increased public parking and signage improvements.

Mayor Joy Cooper said the outreach is part of an overall strategy to jumpstart the area.

"We want to make it a fun and funky district where there is entertainment and shopping, creativity and artists, and bring it back to what it used to be during its heyday, but with a little bit of edge," she said.

The district, formed in the 1960s, was a haven for tourists and bargain hunters who sought out trendy and unique clothing and accessories. But the rise of nearby shopping malls and large retail stores have hurt the area.

Some merchants said that dealing with a labyrinth of city codes and regulations has hurt their competitiveness.

"They talk a lot about beautifying the area, but there aren't enough business owners on the board to push the businesses' agenda," Josh Glansberg said. "There are so many rules and regulations, and they are so unclear that the people that are enforcing them don't even know what they are."

Sue Gordon, who has operated a business in the area for more than 30 years, was cautiously optimistic after the meeting.

City-sponsored 'Fashion Row' meeting tonight at 6 p.m. at Dekka in Hallandale Beach

The City of Hallandale Beach is hosting a 'Fashion Row' meeting tonight at 6 p.m. at Dekka, 139 N.E. 1st Avenue, Hallandale Beach.
It's long overdue!

To me and many other concerned residents of this southeast Broward County city, it sounds exactly like something that... well, in another city, would've already been taking place at least once a year since the Fashion Row idea started, whenever that was while I was working up in Washington, D.C.

My reason for mentioning this now, at this rather late date, is that I just recently found out about it on Tuesday night, and I want as many articulate and impassioned people as possible to make plans to show-up and demand some accountability, since the red-tape overkill and lack of clarity by Code Compliance at Hallandale Beach City Hall is literally killing businesses and jobs here.

It's something that lots of people in town are talking about more and more openly and frequently in restaurants and other meeting places, and many believe that City Hall has been guilty of being too blase about this simmering dis-satisfaction.
Well, now it's all in the open.

I don't currently own a business here in town but in talking to friends and trusted activists in HB who do, it's clear that there are far too many nonsensical sections of the code compliance manual in this city that rather than serve some self-evident public safety or building safety aspect that everyone would support, actually serve to frustrate small business owners who want to improve their property and become more competitive.
And stand out!

Their ability to survive is in question, and un-necessary permit costs and fines are the very thing that will cause them to either move or close-up shop, and there are too few big-picture minded business owners in HB as it is, we can't lose the ones we have.

Just to give you some sense of the dis-connect, as I've mentioned in this space previously, as of today, there are a couple of dozen Fashion Row directional signs still standing, but STILL ZERO of the HB Chamber of Commerce, which you can't find unless you go to City Hall, park your car in the parking lot and walk past their entrance opposite the breezeway from City Hall.
Another genius marketing move -NOT!

Echoing comments I've made here and at City Commission meetings, there's nothing about the location of the CoC anywhere in the city, not even right out front on U.S-1 despite the tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars that have flowed their way, averaging about $50,000 a year, with very little to show for it in the way of tangible results.

I wonder if their Patricia Genneti will have the nerve to show her smug face at the meeting and, ironically, face the music?
I suspect she will be a no-show, even though she is exactly the sort of character who needs to be held to account.

I can hardly wait 'til I hear the questions about the rampant and rapidly-expanding graffiti problem and the city's invisible effort to combat it, not only near the businesses along the F.E.C. railroad tracks and Hallandale Beach Blvd., but all down U.S.-1/Federal Highway, where it is on nearly single every light and traffic pole and bus shelter on U.S.-1 all the way down to Aventura Hospital, just as it was early last year on the east side before The Village at Gulfstream Park opened.

"HGS" positively owns U.S.-1!

I've been taking photos of the problem for years and the fact that the Nick's restaurant parking lot sign on 1st Avenue is completely covered with 'tags' is embarrassing in the extreme.

I'll post some of them here in the next few days when I can lay them out in a way that gives more context to you readers so it'll be clear why this news is so very troublesome.

It often seems that these sorts of Quality-of-Life issues are ignored and forgotten almost as soon as HB City Hall hears about them, as that's been my experince over the past seven years, even when I've connected-the-dots to City Hall officials in excruciating detail.
At City Hall!

Tonight's meeting should be pretty fiery and I plan on being there.


View Larger Map

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=139+N.E.+1st+Avenue,+Hallandale+Beach&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=139+NE+1st+Ave,+Hallandale+Beach,+Broward,+Florida+33009&gl=us&ei=4BABTc7KMIKClAeNkaDnCA&oi=geocode_result&ved=0CBMQ8gEwAA&z=16