Hallandale Beach's political corruption is hiding in plain sight -"Your Tax Dollars at Work" Hallandale Beach CRA (City Commission) Says Hands Off to Broward Inspector General; Mayor Joy Cooper's stonewalling initiative begins in earnest, since the true facts are NOT her friend

The iconic Hallandale Beach Water Tower on State Road A1A/South Ocean Drive, looking east towards the North Beach Community Center and the public beach. July 12, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2013 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

Hallandale Beach's political corruption is hiding in plain sight -"Your Tax Dollars at Work" Hallandale Beach CRA (City Commission) Says Hands Off to Broward Inspector General; Mayor Joy Cooper's stonewalling initiative begins in earnest, since the facts are NOT her friends

I was already planning on writing this email to Florida Governor Rick Scott, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Broward Inspector General John W. Scott, Broward County Commissioners Suzanne Gunzburger and Barbara Sharief -who each represent parts of Hallandale Beach- and the de facto County mayor, John Rodstrom, as well as some prominent members of the local South Florida news media, including Miami Herald Executive Editor Rick Hirsch about the unbelievable news that Hallandale Beach City Hall is actually considering defying a lawful request by the Broward IG's office to talk to HB's five city  commissioners and city employees.

But when I received an email from HB Comm. Keith London -a commissioner who actually wants to talk to them about what he knows and has observed over five years, and who wants to find out was REALLY going on- letting me know that there was yet another new development -more active pushback by HB City Hall, which wants to know the questions that will be asked beforehand to the commissioners and officials, people who have resisted telling the truth to a lawfully-authorized government agency whose creation was enthusiastically supported by Broward voters fed-up with the pervasive culture of corruption here, the most-corrupt in the entire state.

You get a full sense of how truly absurd and upside-down this city's government is, and this request is, if you try to think of a single film/TV crime and police drama that you've ever seen where the police, prosecutors or investigators revealed the questions they'd ask to a defendant's defense attorney BEFORE an interview with the client.
Really, just think about that for a minute.
That's the sort of people that HB citizens are used to having decide their city's future.
Is it any wonder they're angry?


Broward Bulldog
Broward Inspector General hits first legal hurdle; Hallandale CRA says hands off
By William Gjebre, BrowardBulldog.org 
June 27, 2012 AT 6:25 AM
http://www.browardbulldog.org/2012/06/broward-inspector-general-hits-first-legal-hurdle-hallandale-cra-says-hands-off/

After I read that article, I decided that I'd go ahead and send that email on Wednesday rather than wait until Thursday afternoon, in case any of them got an early start on the Fourth of July holidays.
The last thing I wanted was for my email to ferment in someone's email inbox for a week.

Below is the email that was sent to these named individuals, along with about 75 other interested parties in Hallandale Beach, Broward County and the state capital up in Tallahassee, which for those of you who are reading this far from me here in south Florida, is about the same distance from Miami as 

Roughly 95% of the people in this community have never been to Tallahassee for more than a few minutes while driving thru, and distance from the state capital here often accounts for why things in South Florida often get quite bad before the state (in the form of the governor or attorney general) is forced to act and do something because of both facts and circumstances.

-----
FYI: re corruption in plain sight -"Your Tax Dollars at Work" Hallandale Beach CRA (City Commission) Says Hands Off to Broward Inspector General

In the near future I'll be sending some of you a copy of my formal Ethics complaint to the Florida Commission on Ethics against Hallandale Beach City Manager Mark A. Antonio.

That will include the proof of his self-evident serial copyright violation, wherein photos taken by me and uploaded to my blog, have and continue to be used illegally by the City of Hallandale Beach on their official website, used unlawfully and posted in city hall offices, as well as illegally modifying those images for their own use on official city documents.

Most galling of all, though, has been to see my work being used illegally on the front of their distributed city maps!

(See my July 12, 2010 photo at top that is on those maps.)

All of this has been done without EVER seeking my permission or paying for the use of my proprietary rights.

This has been going on for more than a year now, and despite my pointedly telling Antonio at a public meeting that what he was doing was illegal, to stop his illegal activity and do the right thing -which I have video of- Antonio and the city have done nothing.

City Manager Antonio has, instead, continued to act like there's nothing that I as a citizen can do to prevent him and the city from continuing to engage in clearly illegal behavior and to use something they have stolen.

As you'll soon see, though, actually, there is.

Antonio and the city are about to learn that stealing doesn't pay, especially when you are so obvious and clumsy about your theft and continued illegal behavior.

But then our great misfortune in Hallandale Beach the past few years has been that THAT has

been the city's template for so many things done here, and who in a position of authority did anything about it?

After the Fourth of July holidays, I'll be visiting the Office of the Broward States Attorney as well as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, complete with all the evidence that connects -the-dots on the copyright matter, the veritable ribbon on the box.

I'll also be offering my assistance to the investigators and agents in charge of discovering where all the taxpayer money and CRA funds went in this city without any reasonable oversight, documentation or proscribed follow-up, to facilitate crony capitalism among friends of City Hall, including the faux newspaper.

My latest thoughts on the continuing issue of the Broward Inspector General's investigation into the illegal and corrupt practices of the City of Hallandale Beach, and their steadfast refusal to cooperate, were posted yesterday morning:

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/cornered-pious-comm-anthony-sanders.html 

One last thought: Some of you, and you know exactly who you are, have greatly disappointed the beleaguered citizens of this community by your continued refusal to get engaged, and even worse, they are completely put off by your continuing to pretend that you don't know anything at all about what has been going on in this city for YEARS.

This didn't just happen overnight.

For those of you for whom this rings true, it would be a big mistake for you to continue to believe that ignoring the sad reality faced by citizens in this city, and the facts-on-the-ground, will somehow work to your long-term benefit.

They won't.

Trust me, though it may be the summer, people in this community are paying close attention to just whom is doing, saying and reporting on what has been transpiring, and that is especially true about them scrutinizing people who are consciously choosing to say and DO nothing at all.

We won't forget.

Sincerely,

DBS, 8-year Hallandale Beach resident

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Commissioner Keith S. London <newsletter@keithlondonformayor.com>
Date: Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 10:10 AM
Subject: "Your Tax Dollars at Work" CRA Says Hands Off to IG

Broward Inspector General hits first legal hurdle; Hallandale CRA says hands off Filed under Hallandale Beach {one comment} By William Gjebre, BrowardBulldog.org  Hallandale Beach’s Community Redevelopment Agency, run by the city’s five elected commissioners, has sent a message to Broward’s new Inspector General’s Office – you can’t touch us. Numerous questions have been raised about the business dealings of the CRA, in which city commissioners also serve as directors of the agency. To read the complete article click here. At least one city commissioner disagrees with the CRA’s position. “The IG does have jurisdiction,” said London, who is running for mayor against incumbent Joy Cooper. A part of the state law, he said, speaks to the mingling of city and state funds and that would give the investigators authority. If called by the IG, London said, “I’ll go; I look forward to it.” One Comments Post a Comment FrustratedInHallandale June 27, 2012 at 9:31 am City Manager said “On our part, we need more information as to why the Inspector General wants to interview commissioners.” Where do you want to start: Buying Sanders property for over the appraised value in a down market? The purchase NEVER being an official agenda item? Jessica Sanders signing her own time sheets? Why is Jessica Sanders in the Hepburn Center, is she a city employee? Giving $50,000 of Weed and Seed money to Jessica Sanders and PCAC never an agenda item? Properties bought with CRA funds and titled in the Cities name? Who voted for all the above items? “On our part, we need more information as to why the Inspector General wants to interview commissioners. There needs to be some structure; what do they want to discuss.” said the City Manager. City Manager, City Attorney, and CRA Attorney can you start with just the above questions? Keeping you informed, Keith Commissioner Keith S. London

Phone: 954-494-3182 613 Oleander Drive Hallandale Beach, FL 33009 email: keith@keithlondon.comwww.keithlondon.com Political Advertisement paid for and approved by Keith S. London for Hallandale Beach Mayor, Non Partisan

Is Mike Haridopolos' ethical case the exception or the rule in corrupt Tallahassee?; Joe Gibbons continues to skate on ethical black ice re residency

Last Sunday's editorial in the Scripps-owned Treasure Coast & Palm Beach newspaper on ethics in the Florida state legislature in Tallahassee -or rather the lack of same amongst some so-called leaders- could hardly be improved upon.

I had meant to reference it here sooner as it is that rare newspaper editorial that is hammer squarely hitting nail with both precision and a minimum of fuss. And while it was ostensibly about the efforts of Mike Haridopolos to evade the law, it is, of course, apocryphal for all the other members and the culture of corruption that flourishes in that town hard by the Georgia state line.

The longstanding lack of leadership on ethical and clean government issues by the vast majority of Florida state senators and representatives, Democrat and Republican, save an Ellyn Bogdanoff or Ari Porth, is really a leading indicator of the rather pedestrian character and sub-standard quality of the lawmakers in Florida, the country's fourth-largest state.

My seven years back here in Florida, after 15 spent in the Washington, D.C. area, has informed me that, not surprisingly, with size comes not more quality as we might hope, but rather more of the middling mediocrities, male and female, with parochial self-interest as their number one goal, running from hopelessly gerrymandered districts.
Where never is heard a discouraging word.

Who better to be the poster boy for that sorry lot of self-involved, under-achieving ethically-challenged ne'er do-wells than my very own Florida state representative, Joe Gibbons, the former do-nothing Hallandale Beach City Commissioner?

I seriously toyed with the notion of penning an ode to Gibbons in this space on Christmas Day, wondering where-oh-where he was spending the holiday with his wife and kids: where they live and she works, in Jacksonville, or where he, supposedly, lives, Hallandale Beach.

In case you'd forgotten about Joe Gibbons...
April 18, 2010
In case you'd forgotten what sort of person Joe Gibbons was, here's a quick reminder: Y-O-U are at the bottom of his pyramid
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/in-case-youd-forgotten-what-sort-of.html

November 15, 2010
Do you recall me telling you months ago that FL State Rep. Joe Gibbons no longer lived in HB? Bob Norman hammers some more nails in that coffin! http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/do-you-recall-me-telling-you-months-ago.html

November 15, 2010
Bob Norman in The Daily Pulp blog
House Pro Tem Investigated for Homestead Fraud http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/11/joe_gibbons_investigated_homestead_fraud.php


But as indignant as I was, given the facts we already know with certainty, I didn't want to be cross in the blog on Christmas Day, and waste precious time and energy on someone whom I have so very little regard for, and who in another time and place would already be receiving calls from leaders in this community to either come clean on whether Gibbons actually lived where he claimed to live on his formal candidacy papers, as required by state law, or resign.

Instead, Gibbons continues to skate on thin black ice and the South Florida news media, save Bob Norman, continue to avert their eyes from what is right in front of them.

Why is everyone down here so deathly afraid of not only real competitive general elections, where issues matter, but in calling out politicians who have the gall and effrontery to actually fail the very low threshold that the state currently requires?

That quorum of mediocrity is why those FL state amendments that passed muster with the public in November, which made creating gerrymandered districts harder to draw in the future by these same ethically-conflicted legislators, a very important victory indeed.

Success that needs to be built upon in future elections and replicated at the local level.

Given the rather brazen and egregious acts and forms of self-dealing that seem to routinely go on in Tallahassee, often drawing nothing but blank stares, it's no wonder really that the vast majority of Sunshine State citizens regard every state legislator and staffer in Tallahassee as someone potentially on the make, with his or her hand extended waiting for a 'sweetener,' the only question being the amount.

This is made worse by their ridiculous high self-regard, and the outrageous sense of entitlement they possess, as if they were our betters, which they are not.
Sadly, this same unethical and anti-democratic sentiment is mirrored in most of the state's 67 county commissions, and many of their cities.

As if this was not enough of a burden for this state's citizenry to bear, it's made worse when some pols who were formerly thought to be on the right side of this ethical line-in-the-sand, begin to make noises and whine quite loudly amongst their friends in the chattering class and news media about the indignities they must bear when they are forbidden from so much as even taking a Mentos from a friend.
More on her and her new suffering soon.

-----
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/dec/19/editorial-haridopolos-financial-disclosure-case/ Editorial
Haridopolos' financial disclosure case illustrates need to reform flawed system Editorial board
December 19, 2010

The coziness of it all makes the conscientious person want to scream.

Sadly, no one in the halls of power — in this case, the Florida Legislature — appears to be listening.

To wit, the complaint against Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, was heard recently by the state Commission on Ethics.

Haridopolos had stated in an October news release: "I acknowledge mistakes made on my financial disclosure form from past years. None of these were intentional and once pointed out, I corrected the mistakes. I have filed amended disclosure forms with the necessary corrections."

These omissions amounted to tens of thousands of dollars in income and personal property Haridopolos failed to report on financial disclosure forms from 2004 to 2008.

The ethics commission heard the complaint but took no action other than to refer the complaint to the Senate Rules Committee — this, in large part, because the commission has no authority to impose penalties. This can only be done by lawmakers. But guess what. The Senate Rules Committee is chaired by Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonsville — a Haridopolos appointee!

So which of the committee's options — do nothing, or recommend to the full Senate that Haridopolos be reprimanded or fined — do you think is forthcoming?

One thing is clear: The system currently in place to require financial disclosure by public officials, and to investigate and penalize alleged violations, is a joke.

What needs to change?

• Require public officials to type the information on their financial disclosure forms. Some forms completed by candidates and elected officials are handwritten and barely legible. The public shouldn't be left to guess at the meaning behind letters and words that are difficult, even impossible, to decipher.

• Provide basic instructions and guidelines for completing the forms properly. Explain to lawmakers what assets and liabilities are. For example, Haridopolos, who listed a $325,000 home as both an asset and a liability on his financial disclosure forms two years in a row, should know the outstanding mortgage on the home — not the home itself — is the liability. A simple explainer on the form might help.

• Require public officials to post all financial disclosure forms online. Now, to obtain a copy of a public official's financial disclosure form, the public must e-mail a request to the Florida Commission on Ethics (disclosure@leg.state.fl.us). The public deserves immediate, online access to these forms. Haridiopolos has championed putting the state budget online. The Legislature should do the same with financial disclosure statements. Even better, create a Web-based form that lawmakers have to fill out online. This would give them fewer excuses when they make errors.

• Give the ethics commission authority to impose penalties. Deferring this step to the Legislature makes a mockery of such investigations.

• Eliminate inconsistencies in Florida's financial disclosure laws. For example, state law contains the following catch-all provision: "A person may amend his or her full and public disclosure of financial interests to add to or modify the information reported on the form as originally filed at any time after filing the disclosure form." There is no accountability when a statute allows a public official to amend a filing "at any time."

• Make it a crime for a public official to knowingly fail to disclose a financial interest in legislation he or she votes for. While this isn't the case in the Haridopolos complaint, it remains an issue that merits prompt legislative action. Not surprisingly, a bill that would have made it a crime for lawmakers to knowingly fail to disclose a financial interest in legislation they vote for was rejected by the 2010 Legislature.

The solutions needed to reform Florida's feeble financial disclosure system are transparent. However, fixing the problem requires honest evaluation and self-scrutiny by the Legislature — and these qualities are in short supply in Tallahassee.

----

More TCPalm opinon pieces at: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/opinion/

------

A few days earlier, The Florida Times-Union, based out of Jacksonville, published this spot-on editorial on the same subject.

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/editorials/2010-12-12/story/legislature-shoring-ethics
Legislature: Shoring up ethics
December 12, 2010 - 12:00am

NICE DEAL ... FOR THEM

- In most situations involving ethics violations in state and local government, the state ethics commission investigates and makes recommendations on penalties. The governor decides on the penalties.

- In the case of violations by state lawmakers, however, the ethics commission investigates, but it is ultimately state lawmakers who decide the penalties of their colleagues. The ethics commission is not allowed to even recommend penalties unless lawmakers ask them to do it.

Our take:
The Legislature shouldn't be deciding ethics penalties for its own members after commission investigations. Those conflicts and others could be avoided if penalties for lawmakers were up to the governor or a combination of the governor and state Cabinet.

The ethics case involving Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos exposes a flaw in the ethics system that lawmakers should fix.

The fox's friends are guarding the henhouse.

It surfaced after Haridopolos admitted he failed to fully note details about property owned and business ties he was supposed to list on his required financial disclosure form, which applies to elected local and state officials at all levels of Florida government.

The disclosures are important because they can help the public spot potential conflicts of interest.

They are safeguards against corruption that help enhance public confidence - provided officials share the details as required.

A Vero Beach man filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics alleging Haridopolos didn't comply. The omissions included a $400,000 investment home in Mount Dora and the names of two clients who paid him more than $120,000 over a five-year-period.

Haridopolos acknowledged the mistakes to commission investigators and then filed amended disclosures.

The ethics commission accepted the investigation findings but has no legal ability to recommend a penalty to the state Legislature unless lawmakers ask.

So, by law, the matter went to the Senate Rules Committee for consideration.

It could do nothing or recommend a fine or reprimand to the full Senate for action. And that spotlights a big defect in the system.

As Senate president, Haridopolos is the guy who appoints the committees and their chairmen.
The henhouse effect

In this case, the committee chairman is Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, most recently the head of the Republican Party of Florida and a key Haridopolos ally and friend.

But the ally part would be true of just about anybody Haridopolos would appoint to the committee.

Plus, the committee is now asked to weigh in on an ethics case involving someone who can - at whim - kill any future piece of legislation the members might offer.

In other words, going against the boss in this case is yanking hard on Superman's cape.

Haridopolos' attorney argues that embarrassment is enough of a penalty for his client, especially since Haridopolos admitted the mistakes and moved quickly to correct them.

But that misses the broader point.

A conflict of interest should not be built into the system, but that is the case in the Legislature.

An ethics enforcement system needs the ability to enforce independently and should be beyond the direct influence of anyone who is subject to a decision, whether it be the Senate president or a newly elected state lawmaker who has yet to find the restroom.

In fact, that's the way it works in most cases in state government.

For instance, the governor gets details from the ethics commission about problems with a sheriff and then decides, within the options outlined by law, what will happen - not a committee appointed by the sheriff.

Distance equals credibility If the complaint came in against the governor and the governor was in clear violation, the attorney general would ultimately decide what would happen, not some group the governor appointed that he could leverage or that depended on him for future success.

The governor would make the call on ethics penalties in most cases for the agriculture commissioner, attorney general or chief financial officer.

But state lawmakers get the privilege of deciding what will happen to their own - if anything at all.

Where's the impartiality?

It's like exempting themselves from full application of Florida's Government in the Sunshine Law.

Worse yet, the ethics commission - unlike with complaints against state and local constitutional officers - is barred by law from even recommending ethics penalties to lawmakers involving state lawmaker violations, unless state lawmakers request it.

In other words, the ethics commission is told, if lawmakers want your suggestions on penalties, they'll ask for them.

Adjustments needed

It's rare, though not impossible, for there to be an ethics finding by the commission against a Senate president or other legislative leader.

But infrequency is no reason to avoid upgrading the system.

The ethics commission should be able to recommend penalties about lawmaker violations like they can for everyone else.

But they should be directed to the governor or the state Cabinet for penalty consideration, not lawmakers themselves.

Should lawmakers be able to legally change that process by themselves, they should do it.

If, for some reason, it should require a state constitutional amendment, lawmakers should propose one.

If they won't, shame on them.

Then various citizens groups that advocate for strong ethics and more transparency in government should band together and seek a constitutional amendment as part of a broader move to strengthen the state ethics commission in general.

Having the foxes guard the henhouse never worked on the farm, and it isn't good for state government, either.

-----

Because I have the Florida Commission on Ethics as a daily Google Alert, I not only saw these editorials the day they came out, but also caught an excellent Dec. 17, 2010 Letter to the Editor of Florida Today, the Gannett-owned newspaper in Melbourne, FL, i.e. the Daytona Beach area for those of you reading this from out-of-state, on the sort of character of the attorney hired by incoming Florida State Senate President Mike Haridopolos when the evidence was overwhelmingly against him.
A petty one!

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20101217/OPINION/101216030/1004/
Attorney’s comments were unprofessional

Attorney Pete Dunbar, who represented state Sen. Mike Haridopolos in a hearing earlier this month before the Florida Commission on Ethics, made inappropriate and caustic comments against Eugene Benson, a citizen who first noted Haridopolos had failed to report key financial information for the past five years.

Dunbar’s remarks leaves a sad mark on the legal profession.

Even though Haridopolos quickly admitted guilt, somehow Dunbar felt the only way to represent his client was to imply that Benson was the problem by stating, among other things, “Basically, what you’ve got here is a harassing complaint.”

Several other negative comments were also made by Dunbar.

Is this what our legal profession has sunk to, that even if your client admits guilt, someone else should be blamed?

Alan Zoellner
Merritt Island

See, people really are paying attention to what is going on in the Sunshine State.

Meanwhile. days earlier...

Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/04/1956721/senate-chiefs-mistakes-remain.html
Senate chief's mistakes remain an issue
By Marc Caputo Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos admitted he made an "embarrassing'' mistake when he repeatedly failed to properly fill out financial disclosure forms.

On Friday, the Florida Commission on Ethics accepted Haridopolos' formal admission that he violated the state Constitution by neglecting to detail his investments, a $400,000 home and a consulting job that earned him $120,000 from 2004 through 2008.

But Haridopolos wasn't fined Friday. The commission can't do that under constitutional rules.
That job is up to Haridopolos' fellow senators. And they might not fine him at all.

Haridopolos' attorney, Pete Dunbar, said they shouldn't make him pay any more because the errors were minimal, unintentional and were corrected as soon as Haridopolos learned of them.

"He has paid enough. This is deeply embarrassing,'' Dunbar said Friday after the commission approved Haridopolos' acknowledgement of guilt. "This was a clerical error.''

But it's not going away.

Regardless of what penalty -- if any -- Haridopolos' Senate levies against its boss, the issue is sure to haunt him on the campaign trail.

POSSIBLE RUN

Haridopolos is already putting out feelers for a possible 2012 run for the U.S. Senate against Democrat Bill Nelson, putting the Merritt Island Republican on a crash course with fellow Republican U.S. Sen. George LeMieux. LeMieux's deputy staff chief, Vivian Myrtetus, sent out an electronic Twitter message Friday that linked to a blog with the headline, "Haridopolos guilty in ethics violation.''

Democrats also pounced. Shortly after the commission approved Haridopolos' settlement agreement, the Florida Democratic Party sent out a press release with the headline "Haridopolos Kicks Off 2012 Senate Campaign By Pleading Guilty To Breaking Ethics Laws.''

The ethics case against Haridopolos was brought by a sharp-eyed retiree, Vero Beach resident Eugene H. "Bucky'' Benson, who noticed that Haridopolos failed to write the addresses of his employers, the Legislature and the University of Florida. Benson also spotted discrepancies in the way Haridopolos reported income through MJH Consulting Company, which performed work for a public-relations firm called Syntax Communication and the marketing arm of an appliance company, Appliance Direct.

'BIGGEST FARCE'

In an e-mail to reporters, Benson groused that the ethics commission was "the biggest farce in the world. . . . The Florida Legislature snookered Florida taxpayers into thinking that it governs `in the sunshine' and the Ethics Commission is the taxpayer's watchdog.''

But Haridopolos said he's committed to transparency and open government, which he said is what mortified him about his mistakes. Also, he noted to ethics investigators, he's a college teacher and should've filled out the annual financial disclosure forms properly. He said that after he improperly filled out the forms in a matter of minutes the first time, he repeated his errors year after year.

"I thought I did it correctly,'' he told reporters last month. "I turned in the paper. No one turned it back with a red mark on it saying you did this wrong. And so for 10 years, I thought I did this right. My wife's not happy with me. My newspaper's not happy with me. And I'm not happy with me. It was a mistake.''

Other Florida stories at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/index.html

Do you recall me telling you months ago that FL State Rep. Joe Gibbons no longer lived in HB? Bob Norman hammers some more nails in that coffin!

For those of you living outside of Broward County specifically and South Florida in general, the subject of FL State Rep. Joe Gibbons, and specifically, his NOT actually living in the legislative district he has represented in Tallahassee -as it happens, MY district- is an old and familiar story with me and many South Florida civic activists, elected officials and members of the news media.

People whose job and personal interests lead them to follow what goes on down here at the intersection of government, politics and personal ambition, very, very closely.

My April 18, 2010 post on Gibbons was to the point and appropriately titled:In case you'd forgotten what sort of person Joe Gibbons was, here's a quick reminder: Y-O-U are at the bottom of his pyramid 
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/in-case-youd-forgotten-what-sort-of.html

To quote myself: You might be interested in knowing that just this year, I have been approached about five times at myriad events throughout Broward, all by different but clearly well-informed people, each specifically asking me variations of the same question: Did I know that Gibbons and his family really live in/near Jacksonville, and NO LONGER live in his FL House District?

I didn't.
Who does he think he is, Steve Geller?

Sometimes that discussion has taken the form of heated personal conversations around South Florida, but more often than not, it has come in the form of fact-filled, link-filled emails about the rights and responsibilities of public officials in South Florida -and the commensurate responsibility of law enforcement organizations and the news media- to NOT treat Gibbons with kid gloves.

To NOT make excuses for him in public that simply don't hold up to even the lightest form of scrutiny.

That opinionated back-and-forth, with few if any defending Gibbons, has actually happened even a handful of times in the immediate month before the election, as yours truly even toyed with the idea of contacting interim Florida Secretary of State Dawn K. Roberts, http://www.dos.state.fl.us/ and asking that a formal investigation take place, as well as a formal complaint to the Florida Commission on Ethics. http://www.ethics.state.fl.us/

If Gibbons lied on state documents, he needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for each and every violation, and needs to be expelled from the Florida House of Representatives.PERIOD!
Even in the past week, Gibbons' name has continued to pop-up in the news, as last week, Gibbons was named as incoming Democratic leader pro tempore, the No. 2 in the Democratic Party leadership ranks.
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/11/two_broward_democrats_named_to.html

So, that all said, when those very same well-informed people got on their computer today and saw that the topic of Bob Norman's Daily Pulp blog, the most popular and insightful one on current events in South Florida, was the subject of Joe Gibbons and where he lived, they knew they were already better-informed than the majority of the regular readers.

So, how many nights a year does Joe Gibbons actually sleep in his House District?

If his wife and kids live in Jacksonville -and she does- and his Akerman Senterfitt office is in Tallahassee -and it is- and he's making visits to Milton in Santa Rosa County, so close to Alabama that it's actually on Central Time, where do you think Gibbons REALLY lives? 
THAT certainly explains a lot.
Below is the highlighted Google Alert that I received in August that only shines more light on this issue.

OUR State Representative should be running for re-election from -wait for it- Jacksonville, NOT from Broward County. It's my understanding that in order for Gibbons to have been an eligible candidate in the first place, he MUST already live in the House district for which he filed his candidacy paperwork.

Not where he used to live, actually LIVES.
Right now.

The people in this part of the state are entitled to be represented by someone who lives HERE, NOT Jacksonville.
Where's the formal investigation of whether FL State Rep. Joe Gibbons legally met the requirements for office when he filed his paperwork?
That's coming, I promise.

And how long has it been since Gibbons actually lived here in Southeast Broward at least as long as so many of the tens of thousands of wintering Canadian snowbirds?


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Google Alerts
Date: Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 9:58 PM
Subject: Google Alert - "Hallandale Beach

Freedom Fund banquet is Saturday
Pensacola News Journal
Joe Gibbons , D-Hallandale Beach , will be the speaker. Attorney Alishia W . McDonald will be the mistress of ceremony. Gibbons, a Harlem native, ..

FYI: The Freedom Forum Banquet was Aug. 14th in Milton; tickets were $40 per person.

-----
BrowardPalmBeach NewTimes
House Pro Tem Investigated For Homestead Fraud
By Bob Norman
Monday, November 15, 2010@ 10:15AM

State Rep. Joe Gibbons, who has been named the No. 2 Democrat in the Florida legislature, was investigated for homestead fraud earlier this year -- and government records indicate he lied to officials during the probe.

The Broward County Property Appraisers Office investigation also found that Gibbons' homestead in Hallandale conflicted with with another controversial homesteaded property in Jacksonville owned by his wife, Florida Board of Governors member Ava L. Parker.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/11/joe_gibbons_investigated_homestead_fraud.php


And, incredibly, just days ago...
Douglas C. Lyons covers the state capitol for the Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Talk Back South Florida blog
Why not Joe Gibbons as chair of Florida Democratic Party?
By Doug Lyons 
November 10, 2010 09:18 AM

He may not appreciate me using his name as a trial balloon, but here goes ... I believe the Florida Democratic Party needs a shot of new blood. So I'm throwing out a name to replace the current party chair, Karen Thurman, since everyone else is.
My choice would be state Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/theslant/blog/2010/11/xxxxx_12.html

-----

www.sun-sentinel.com/business/custom/consumer/fl-psc-proposals-20091104,0,2671078.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Legislators consider tightening PSC ethics rules Proposal come in light of allegations of "cozy ties" with utilities
By Julie Patel Sun Sentinel
November 5, 2009

Florida legislators Wednesday held the first in a series of hearings on proposals to tighten ethics rules for the Public Service Commission — including legislation to restrict communication between agency staffers and the utilities they regulate.

Critics have pointed to what they say are "cozy" ties between the two groups.

Members of the Florida House Energy & Utilities Policy Committee heard presentations from the commission's director, the state utility consumer advocate and others that touched on proposed changes lawmakers are expected to deliberate when they convene next year.

The proposals come in the wake of criticism of PSC ties with Florida Power & Light Co. officials that emerged during the commission's public hearings on FPL's proposed $1.27 billion base rate hike.

National utility experts say Florida's utility regulation laws are comparable to those in other states but there some gaps. For instance, a Florida law bars commissioners — but not PSC staffers — from communicating with utility employees on pending matters, such as a rate hike proposal.

"That's an absolute must," said Public Counsel J.R. Kelly, the state-appointed advocate for utility customers, about a proposal to extend the rule to include commissioners' advisors, as other states do.

Among the legislative proposals lawmakers are expected to deliberate.

Electing, not appointing, commissioners. Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, and Rep. Tom Anderson, R-Dunedin, have written bills that would require PSC members, now appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate, to be elected. Candidates would be prohibited from accepting contributions from utility employees.

Expanding restrictions on PSC, utility communications. Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, has filed a bill to make the rules more like those for judges so all communications between commissioners and utility employees are made public. Fasano is drafting legislation that would adopt all the recommendations from a 1992 grand jury report that examined how to improve the integrity of utility regulation, including adding provisions to Florida's so-called "ex parte" law that bars commissioners from communicating with utility employees on substantive pending matters.

The Sun Sentinel reported that a key PSC official and two staffers who have since resigned attended social functions with FPL employees around the time the utility asked for a base rate hike. Others exchanged phone calls and text messages with utility representatives.

Restricting utility hires of government officials. Fasano is drafting legislation to restrict the hiring of former PSC regulators by utilities. In September, the Sun Sentinel identified 18 former regulators and government officials who have been hired as FPL employees, consultants or lobbyists or work for law firms that were hired by FPL.

Public disclosures. Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, is drafting legislation that would require individuals who provide public comments at PSC hearings to disclose any ties to utilities or vested interests. A Sun Sentinel analysis in September found that more than a third of the customers, politicians and business leaders who praised FPL at three South Florida forums had financial or family ties to the company and its employees.

FPL officials have defended their handling of the rate case, saying they want the proposal to be judged on its merits.

Some regulatory experts also recommended fixing what they say is a disparity between consumers' access to regulators and those of utilities.

For instance, most conferences available to regulators are presented by groups representing utility interests. Commission Director Mary Bane told lawmakers the PSC will explore banning PSC members from attending certain conferences at a Nov. 24 meeting on ethics proposals.

Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach, asked Kelly if the Office of Public Counsel's small budget "gives you what you need to bring [rate cases] to a successful conclusion?"

Kelly said it does and noted that the office plans to spend about $300,000 to fight FPL's request to increase base rate by $1.27 billion. Meanwhile, FPL plans to spend $5 million, including $3.7 million from customers' base rates, utility records show.

Broward County Ethics Committee's Thursday night meeting

For those of you who have called or written me
and or otherwise complained at other public policy
venues or on blogs about the fact that the Broward
County Ethics Committee meetings thus far
have been held on weekday mornings, and that
you've been dying to tell them what you really
think the ethics rules ought to be, now's your
big chance.

The Ethics Committee will be meeting Thursday
from 5- 8:30 p.m. at the Broward Govt. Center
115 S. Andrews Avenue, Room 430, Ft. Lauderdale.

Before you go, read this post at FloridaThinks.com
by Cheryl Forchilli, the chair of the Florida
Commission on Ethics, which I recently added
as a Google Alert.

This essay was Wednesday's post at a new public
policy website called FloridaThinks,
http://floridathinks.com/ which just started
last week.

http://floridathinks.com/florida-issues/florida-issues/ethics-watchdog-chair-beef-up-power-to-investigate-punish/

Also, if you missed my recent mentioning of it,
see Rob Wechsler's government ethics blog at
CityEthics.org, http://www.cityethics.org/
where he is Director of Research.

An excellent tool for following the latest
developments on this issue across the country.
http://www.cityethics.org/Blog-RobWechsler