Showing posts with label Florida Trend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Florida Trend. Show all posts

Monday, November 6, 2023

re Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody's office fighting a ruling on lobbying restrictions on Florida's elected officials: The cautionary tale of Steve Geller and Joe Gibbons track record makes a reasonable person realize we NEED even stronger and more meaningful ethics laws in the Sunshine State



re Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody's office fighting a ruling on lobbying restrictions on Florida's elected officials: The cautionary tale of Steve Geller and Joe Gibbons track record makes a reasonable person realize we NEED even stronger and more meaningful ethics laws in the Sunshine State 

As I have told most of you loyal readers of the blog via emails or in-person since before 2018 -some of you, in fact, SEVERAL TIMES!- I truly wish the Florida law mentioned last week in Florida Trend, below, had been a state law in effect back when: 

a.) Present-day Broward County Commissioner Steve Geller was a state senator, with a public office located at Hallandale Beach City Hall no less.
In theory if not practice, Geller was supposed to be representing the citizens and stakeholders of Hallandale Beach in the Florida state Senate in Tallahassee, yet at the time, was free to legally lobby AGAINST their interests -as well as those of HB's elected officials- on behalf of any of his lobbying clients, and,

b.) Joe Gibbons, the ex-Hallandale Beach City Commissioner and then-Florida state Representative -so, like Steve Geller above, in theory, representing the interests of citizens and small business owners of Hallandale Beach and West Park in the Florida House of Representatives in Tallahassee- yet, Gibbons was legally free to lobby AGAINST the interests of the city's residents, stakeholders and elected officials, on behalf of his other clients. And did.

Clients that Hallandale Beach citizens and stakeholders were completely unaware of, even if a particular project he was somehow financially involved in was being discussed on local TV newscasts or in the Miami Herald or South Florida Sun Sentinel, since unless his name is specifically mentioned, how would you know he was connected to it?
You wouldn't.

In one particular egregious case regarding Joe Gibbons WHILE he was a Florida state Representative, a case that I chronicled here on the blog MANY TIMES at the time, Gibbons was working FOR the interests of a large, well-heeled South Florida real estate development company involving a VERY UNPOPULAR development proposal on the beach. Specifically, one proposed for 2000 S. Ocean Drive.
What is now referred to as 2000 Ocean, below.





A proposed development that was opposed by both the city residents living closest to it, at the Parker Plaza condos, as well as the majority of the rest of the community.




The latter, a reflection of the fact that the city's elected officials, City Manager and CRA officials seemed even more intent than usual in bending over and rushing the project through with as little public engagement and input, and handicapping the public by NOT making PUBLIC INFORMATION available to me and them as soon as it was available.
(Yes, not only the common thread but actually the default position of Hallandale Beach elected officials and City Managers since I first returned to South Florida 20 years ago, after working and living in Washington, D.C. for roughly 15 years, often on behalf of some of the largest of Fortune 500 companies, and the nation's most influential law firms, PACs and lobbying groups.)

Typically for Broward County pols, where no interest looms larger than self-interest, Joe Gibbons did all of this while he was running against first-term incumbent Beam Furr for his Broward County Commission seat representing SE Broward County, including Hollywood. 
If you were a normal person, you'd think that the issue would have caused the South Florida news media to be all over it, given that it was happening while Gibbons was campaigning for public office again.
But you'd be wrong.

As I wrote about many times here on the blog, absolutely ZERO members of South Florida's press corps, print or TV or even NPR affiliate WLRN, were interested in asking any hard questions about that particular arrangement, despite the unethical optics of it, to say nothing of the huge amount Gibbons reportedly would have received if he had succeeded: $200,000 according to well-informed people involved in the process.

And the worst part of all, a FACT that I wrote about then on my blog and in emails to many of you, Gibbons NEVER even did the bare minimum the city's extant ethics and lobbying laws REQUIRED.

That is, Gibbons never filed the required lobbying docs at HB City Hall, as every other lobbyist is required to do, yet he had many conversations with City Commissioners and top city staffers at the time, including several with unethical Comm. Anthony Sanders, a man who later was forced out by Broward Inspector General John Scott because of Sanders steering nearly a million dollars in HB CRA funds to his family and friends, naturally, because the city was unwilling and unable to do even the most basic oversight of the millions of dollars in the city's CRA pot.
(For the record, the Miami Herald has STILL never reported in-print that he was forced to resign -or else!)

That Joe Gibbons, who lived in Jacksonville with his family while he was a state Representative, while claiming, falsely, to be a full-time bona fide Hallandale Beach resident, was a great believer of rules for you and me, but NOT for him. Surprise!

Even now we STILL don't know who the real priorities of Steve Geller and Joe Gibbons were when they were public officials in Tallahassee or Broward County: the public or their own financial interests?




---

NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
Florida attorney general's office fights a ruling on a lobbying restriction
Jim Saunders | The News Service of Florida | 10/26/2023

Pointing to securing the “public trust,” Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office has asked a federal appeals court to overturn a decision that blocked part of a 2018 state constitutional amendment imposing new restrictions
on lobbying.

U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom this summer issued a permanent injunction against a restriction on state and local officials lobbying other government bodies while in office. Bloom said the restriction violated First Amendment rights.

But in a 62-page brief filed Wednesday at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, lawyers in Moody’s office disputed that the restriction is unconstitutional and said paid “lobbying by public officials threatens the integrity of and public confidence in democracy.”

Florida’s restriction alleviates the threat of financial quid pro quos and their appearance in a direct and material way,” the brief said. “It prevents elected and executive-level officers, who wield political influence, from taking, or appearing to take, dollars … for political favors … in derogation of public trust.”

The 2018 amendment, which was proposed by the state Constitution Revision Commission, sought to bar public officials from lobbying “for compensation on issues of policy, appropriations, or procurement before the federal government, the Legislature, any state government body or agency, or any political subdivision of this state, during his or her term of office.”

The remaining plaintiff in the case is Miami-Dade County Commissioner Rene Garcia, after Bloom ruled that another plaintiff, South Miami Mayor Javier Fernandez, did not have legal standing.

Garcia, a former state House member and senator, is executive vice president of New Century Partnership, a firm that provides lobbying and other services. Garcia said he turned down at least two clients who sought lobbying services for legislative appropriations in Tallahassee because of the restriction, according to Bloom’s ruling.

In the filing Wednesday, Moody’s office took issue with the injunction applying to officials across the state. The brief said that if Bloom’s ruling is upheld, it should apply only to Garcia.

“Because Garcia’s injury is limited to the fear of enforcement against him, the court could have afforded complete relief by enjoining the state defendants from enforcing the restriction against only him,” the brief said. “By enjoining the restriction as to all public officers in the state, the district court departed from traditional equitable practice.”

Bloom, who is based in South Florida, ruled that the 2018 constitutional amendment and a law that carried it out placed “content-based, overbroad restrictions on speech.”

“Contrary to defendants’ assertion, the in-office restrictions target speech based on the context of the speech and its content,” Bloom wrote.

But the state’s brief Wednesday said that “no matter the public office or the lobbied government entity making political decisions, Florida has a substantial interest in preventing officeholders from being (or appearing to be) bought and paid for in the political arena while holding public office in public trust.”

Bloom did not block another part of the voter-approved amendment that restricts former state and local officials from lobbying for six years after leaving office.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Meanwhile, back in Orlando, transit also stammers and stu-t-t-ers...

Meanwhile, back in Orlando, just as is the case in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, transit also stammers and stu-t-t-ers...

Received some very interesting info earlier yesterday afternoon in my daily email from the Central Florida Political Pulse blog, the Politics blog of the Orlando Sentinel, one of my daily must-reads, in the form of a post by the Sentinel's David Damron titled Orange Mayor Crotty Reveals Lynx Funding Plan.

But after reading it and absorbing the central points, I surprised myself and got to thinking about something else, or rather, some one else -Alex Sink.


Though it's been little commented on so far, don't think that people around the state, esp. those of us with an interest in transportation policy, aren't paying attention to CFO Alex Sink's role in the continuing transit mess in Central Florida -esp. commuter rail- even as she tries to morph her official role into that of a numbers-crunching, truth-telling combination of Agent Dana Scully and Agent Clarice Starling, saving the day right before it's too late.


Since I returned to South Florida from D.C. a few years ago, to the extent that I thought of Alex Sink at all -which I didn't- due largely to some positive words from friends back in D.C. and in Florida who were longtime Lawton Chiles supporters, I gave Sink the benefit of the doubt, even as I wondered why in the world she got so much attention.


(For instance, Florida Trend's May 2008 story, Sink Sees a Silver Lining in Florida's Slowdown
by Amy Keller
http://www.floridatrend.com/article.asp?aID=48843 )



But given that other than Gov. Charlie Crist, Sink has been the subject of more laudatory media coverage than anyone else in the state, where has she made a real difference in the lives of Florida citizens yet?


I've yet to hear Sink say anything either counter-intuitive or politically brave that would really cost her politically in the future, much less, take a principled stand that goes against the personal interests of her usual political/financial supporters. Where's the bold thinking?



Who knows, maybe something will happen in the not-too-distant future that'll give her the opportunity to show her true stripes and abilities, but thus far, given all the ink that's been used on her, color me unimpressed.


Can I really be the only person in South Florida who thinks this?


By the way, you may or may not be aware of the fact that in stark contrast to the popular approach that Gov. Sarah Palin took in Alaska with regard to getting rid of state aircraft, FL pols are much more averse to saying sayonara to their beloved "Wings of Man.'



Just over a year ago in a great Aug. 28th, 2007 post at the aforementioned CFPP, http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2007/08/just-plane-comm.html#more labeled, Just plane common sense, Aaron Deslatte wrote about the efforts to pare just one of the planes from the state's control.


Among the more interesting facts to emerge from that post was this one: Since June 1, state officials have racked up $258,962.50 in air fare on Florida's fleet, according to manifests for the three planes. Records show Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink flew the most in that period, with over $31,000 in air travel used through the summer.Crist came in second, with almost $24,000 in airfare around the state.


(Speaking of that, how funny would it be if somebody in a position to know, floated a rumor that the state airplanes had contained listening devices!? The sheer amount of lies and B.S. told on those planes would stupefy the electorate! And make great columns and newscasts!)

Based on what I've read and heard from across the state, and in myriad conversations/emails with folks much closer to the scene than me, including elected officials, for my money, Sink is THE most over-rated pol in the state, edging out Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, long a bête noire of mine, in case you've forgotten some past blog posts of mine where I've zeroed-in on her.

I really loathe DWS.


I've already written a pretty informative blog post about DWS that'll be coming out within the next week regarding her inclusion in the John Harwood and Jerry Seib book, Pennsylvania Avenue, which I think paints a very unflattering portrait of her personal scruples.

That's not my opinion alone, but rather one that's also shared by many folks around the country who've read the book, and commented to the authors.
In fact I even wrote someone recently and said that I wouldn't bring her up again in future emails because she's too much of a downer!


(The book was the NY Times Book Review's featured review three months ago: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/books/review/Widmer-t.html?partner=rssnyt )


By the way, per some of my earlier blog posts at HBB, and the August 1st post by Gabriel Lopez-Bernal at Transit Miami, http://www.transitmiami.com/2008/08/01/mary-peters-in-miami-today/
my formal request for info and docs about FDOT Sec. Kopelousos and her co-called "public" appearances in South Florida will be sent within the next few days, hopefully by next Monday.

I can hardly wait to read the predictable lame excuses, alibis and PR-spit-shined obfuscation that awaits me.

I will, of course, share it with you once it's in my hands.
______________________________
Orlando Sentinel
Central Florida Political Pulse
Orange Mayor Crotty Reveals Lynx Funding Plan
posted by David Damron on Sep 9, 2008


Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty released a Lynx funding plan Tuesday that would create a long-sought dedicated funding source for the bus system, but would likely do little to head off an immediate budget crunch that could gut some routes and trim service.


Crotty's plan calls for the leaders of Osceola, Orange and Seminole counties to each pledge a certain level of property taxes to fund the system, and lock it into place by establishing a regional transit system between the three governments.
The effort would require voter approval.


It would also put more of the future funding burden on Oseola and Seminole counties, who now contribute roughly $5 million.
Under Crotty's plan, that number would rise significantly to almost double that amount.


"If this is truly a regional asset, like a university or an airport," Crotty said, "then we need to think regionally and pay for it regionally."


To see the rest of the post:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/09/orange-mayor-cr.html

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Bill Nelson as Veep? April's Fool in August.

This is from the Florida Trend magazine email I just received.

Senator Bill Nelson is a nice guy and all, but he was largely a cipher even to politically-savvy Floridians who were actually in Washington for some time when he was in the House and Senate. (Like me.)

He may've been one of the five most anonymous senators from the pont-of-view of visitors to the U.S. Capitol, more likely to be mistaken for a visiting realtor, golf coach or an agri-business lobbyist than anything else.

The fact that nobody seems willing to say publicly that even with Dems in charge, he still couldn't get some much-needed funding for long-range Hurricane satellite imagery(?) last year, should tell you something.

VP jokes aside, Bill Nelson going to a foreign funeral would induce nothing but sleepy people in uncomfortable chairs, and he certainly is not qualified to be president.
But then I've never thought Obama was, either, and I was in Chicago when he was there, too.

http://floridatrend.com/article.asp?aID=49607#link3

MIAMI: Obama's Big Veep Surprise: Bill Nelson?
So speculates the Times of London. "Expect the unexpected," the newspaper says. So, step forward Bill Nelson, who represents the swing state of Florida in the Senate where he sits on the armed services, foreign relations and intelligence committees." The story notes that bloggers typing "Obamanelson.com" earlier this week discovered they were redirected to Obama’s official campaign website. No such trick for Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, widely considered a top contender for the veep post. But as the Times notes, the computer situation could simply point to Nelson's "Nebraskan namesake, Senator Ben Nelson, ... Bill and Ben — the long shot men." [Source: Miami Herald] More on politics from Florida Trend:

Florida's future: Leaning Republican, Again

Thursday, July 31, 2008

DOT Sec. Mary Peters in Miami on Friday

I didn't know about this until this afternoon, when I heard it on a WIOD news break during Rush Limbaugh's show, that the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce will be hosting an event Friday in downtown Miami at the Hilton with DOT Secretary Mary Peters.

I followed-up late in the day with friendly Tania Valenzuela, Director, Regional Business Development, at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, and she gave me the lowdown on what's what manana. http://www.miamichamber.com/
American Airlines and MIA are the official sponsors of the event.

I'm mentioning the event here, admittedly, on short notice, so that perhaps someone out there in the South Florida blogosphere might have the means, motive and opportunity to attend, and give us all
a play-by-play later.
(in Pathe News reader voice)
"Today, the Washington Beltway met the Banana Republic of South Florida amidst the tony splendor of the Miami Hilton..."
Think Raymond Burr doing his radio play-by-play from high atop a building in downtown Tokyo, as Godzilla approaches menacingly from Tokyo Bay, as a nation watches helplessly...

When federal public transit policy meets South Florida's notoriously fickle apathy, who wins?
Oh, right.
Everyone loses!

Recent Washington Post stories on Sec. Peters:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/NewsSearch?sb=-1&st=Mary%20Peters&

It's interesting to me that DOT Sec. Mary Peters in Washington can manage to fit this area into her busy schedule, even while FDOT Sec. Stephanie Kopelousos remains MIA from the greater MIA/FTL.

You'll recall that in the past my chief criticism of Kopelousos
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Stephanie%20Kopelousos has been that, regardless of whatever else her particular strong suits may prove to be in the future, as it involves South Florida, she NEVER seems to actually be anywhere.

That is, except at functions full of either schmoozing politicians, engineers or industry people.
But NEVER anywhere that citizen taxpayers can ask herquestions, and make her accountable for the FDOT policies and process that she's responsible for giving direction to.

Meanwhile, if anything happens in Jacksonville:
http://www.floridatrend.com/article.asp?aID=46992

I get the whole "de-centralized agency" mantra I'm always hearing FDOT folks spout on TV, I just want to see her actually down here once in a while, if it's not too much trouble.

I referenced this well-written Florida Trend profile of her last month here, and as I mentioned a few weeks back, I think I may've even spoken to her a few times when she was still working in Rep. Tillie Fowler's Capitol Hill office:

Profile: Stephanie Kopelousos
Hard Road Ahead for State Roads
By Cynthia Barnett
http://www.floridatrend.com/article.asp?aID=49017

To quote Transit Miami's Gabriel Lopez-Bernal in a recent email responding to some comments of mine about Kopelousos having an event in Destin, of all places, http://www.wjhg.com/news/headlines/26001299.html even while continuing to avoid road trips here to give South Florida's taxpayers some answers, "It is interesting that Destin's terrible congestion issues take center stage..."
Indeed!

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the news of getting people from Point A to Point B...
State contractors continue contributing to Gov. Blagojevich
http://www.ilcampaign.org/blog/2008/07/state-contractors-continue-contributing.html

Think Virginia is short on transportation money?http://hrblogs.typepad.com/the_shad_plank/2008/07/think-virginia.html

Morning Bell: Bringing Accountability Back to Transportation Funding
Posted July 29th, 2008 at 9.11am in Ongoing Priorities. http://blog.heritage.org/2008/07/29/morning-bell-bringing-accountability-back-to-transportation-funding/
________________________________________
A NEW TRANSPORTATION APPROACH FOR AMERICA
Featuring MARY E. PETERS
Secretary of Transportation
U.S. Department of Transportation
August 1, 2008 12-1:30 p.m. Hilton Miami Downtown

I. Welcome and Opening Remarks
Humberto P. Alonso, Jr.
Chair, Greater Miami Chamber Transportation & Infrastructure Committee
Vice President, PBS&J

II. Introduction
Neisen O. Kasdin
Chair, Greater Miami Chamber New World Center Committee
Shareholder, Akerman Senterfitt

III. A New Transportation Approach in America
Mary E. Peters
Secretary of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation

IV. Q&A Session
Neisen O. Kasdin

V. Closing Remarks
Humberto P. Alonso, Jr.


Mary E. Peters was nominated by President George W. Bush on September 5, 2006, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the 15th Secretary of Transportation on September 30, 2006, after spending more than two decades within the industry.

Secretary Peters brings a unique perspective to her role as the nation’s transportation chief, having spent her career working on transportation issues in the private and public sectors, including leading both federal and state transportation agencies. This hands-on experience allows her to understand and appreciate the real-life aspects of planning, building and operating transportation systems on local, regional and state levels.

As secretary of transportation, she is responsible for maintaining a safe, reliable and efficient transportation system, while leading an agency with almost 60,000 employees and a $70.3 billion budget that oversees air, maritime and surface transportation missions.

Prior to joining President Bush’s Cabinet, Peters worked in Phoenix, AZ, as the national director for transportation policy and consulting at HDR, Inc., a major engineering firm. She was responsible for building a management consulting practice and formulating public policy initiatives for the firm's transportation program.

In 2001, the President asked Peters to lead the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). As FHWA Administrator from 2001 to 2005, she placed special emphasis on finding new ways to invest in road and bridge construction, including innovative public-private partnerships that help build roads faster and at less expense. She also was a strong advocate for using new technology to reduce construction time, saving taxpayer money and resulting in safer, longer-lasting roads and highways.

From 1985 to 2001, she served in the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). A fourth-generation Arizonan and an avid motorcyclist, Secretary Peters holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Phoenix and attended Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government Program for State and Local Government

Sunday, June 1, 2008

South Florida transit issues and govt. agencies relative usefulness

It's been mentioned more than a few times to Hallandale Beach Blog (South Beach Hoosier) by recipients of his emails, that he ought to strongly consider using parts of those past emails as building blocks to buttress certain public policy points he's tried to make in the past on the blog.

Up 'till now, I've largely resisted the urge, but today, I thought this one might actually be of enough interest to you all to make posting it worthwhile, so that you might learn what I've learned about some Florida government agencies that are part of the planning process governing transit, but which rather than taking a pro-active approach and being an example of good management -aren't.

It's an excerpt of an email to Gabriel over at Transit Miami, one of the most influential blogs in South Florida for a reason, even if I don't necessarily share their political viewpoint on an everyday basis.

But even when I disagree with what they say, there's usually something to be learned.
__________________________________________________
Dear Gabriel:

Started this email last weekend but decided to wait 'till after Memorial Day to send it along.

Earlier this week, I watched the WGN-TV noon newscast and saw their up-close camera shots of the CTA derailment the same day it happened, and also saw how damn impressive the neighborhood Chicago Fire/EMT response was -one minute.

People living in the immediate neighborhood said that in riding the El the day before the accident, the track seemed "loose" in the same exact spot as where the derailment took place. Can't vouch for whether that's a fact or someone saying something provocative to get attention.
(Temps were in the mid-50's, so unlikely a joint/heat expansion problem.)

The top CTA administrators are really angry because this is the third one since April 21st, and it occurred while the CTA is waiting to hear how much money the state legislature in Springfield is going to give the CTA.

Dave
_______________________________________________
Saturday May 30th, 2008

Dear Gabriel:

From my perspective, long story short of this latest Minneapolis Star-Tribune account of policy and process under a legal microscope after a disaster: there but for the grace of God goes the Sunshine State.

I strongly suggest you run a link to this story at your Transit Miami blog so that folks around the state, with an interest in transit and public policy, might be able to read this for themselves and imagine how this'd be handled here.

Frankly, though I've written about transit issues, esp. as they apply to Broward County and the SFECC, as well as the Broward County Charter Review Comm., it just seems a much more natural fit for your blog than mine at South Beach Hoosier or Hallandale Beach Blog.

The insightful Star-Tribune reader comment below about the DFL-friendly law firm being brought in by the MN state legislature to try to undermine NTSB results, sounds 100% plausible to some savvy, politically-connected Dem friends of mine up there, who are rarely wrong about this sort of thing. (As opposed to their sports analysis and predictions!)

Maybe it's just me, playing the role of cynic, but I can totally picture both Dan Gelber and Steve Geller trying pull something like that off here, too, perhaps with Ron L. Book involved for good measure, too.

You know him, he likes to be a 'party' to everything important -sometimes against even himself.
Just something to think about.

(Also, in case you've forgotten, the Republican Nat'l. Convention will be at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul the first week of September, exactly one week after the DNC is held in Denver. Expect a spate of stories on the 35 W bridge come August, right after the Olympics in Beijing.)

As I mentioned to you recently when you gave me a call, in the near future, I'm planning on querying the FDOT Secretary, Stephanie Kopelousos, and find out whether or not she's EVER planning on being somewhere in South Florida where citizens, esp. those with an interest in transit, like you and me, can actually ask her some non-softball questions, rather than the sort of convivial industry forums, govt. official-only chat fests or ASCE events that her agency seems to prefer.

For instance, take a look at what I found when I checked the archives of the Gold Coast Chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers at http://www.itegoldcoast.org/events.html

Curious what you'd find when you go to the link at the bottom, titled, The State of Transportation in Broward County?
I was.

(The URL is http://www.itegoldcoast.org/PDF/ASCE-FES.pdf in case the link is dead when you go to it.)

Answer: An invitation to their New Year's Eve Italian Dinner Party!
On January 12th.

To her credit, in a new and very fair-minded Florida Trend profile of her by Cynthia Barnett, Kopelousos claims that she's anxious to change the way things are done at FDOT, and bring them firmly into the 21st century.

(But the article also points out her weaknesses, the most obvious being her non-engineering background, which, apparently, has always been a predicate for the top FDOT job.)

Those positive qualities notwithstanding, where's the proof that this is resulting in any tangible positive changes for South Florida? http://floridatrend.com/article.asp?aID=49017

While I appreciate that more than most state agencies, FDOT is, necessarily, decentralized, in my opinion, despite her short tenure and clear aptitude for hard work and long hours, given the sheer amount of hard work that's required down here, I think she's got a lot to answer for.

Not least of all, being practically M.I.A. for South Floridians like you and me -and the folks who read our blog posts, here and around the state.

So where's the interaction with taxpayers who aren't engineers and public officials?

(As it happens, I think I actually ran into Kopelousos a few times while I was up in Washington and she was working for the late Rep. Tillie Fowler, whom I always found to be a real straight shooter, just like Rep. Charles Bennett had been earlier for the Jacksonville area when I moved to DC. http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/cebennett.htm )

The other day, largely as a result of the foolish actions in Miami regarding the Miami River, and the common sense of the Charles Lewis commentary, If the Miami River is really dead, why do the bridges go up? http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/080522/story-viewpoint.shtml
I decided it was about time I made plans to attend the next meeting of the South Florida Regional Planning Council. http://www.sfrpc.com/

Well, turns out that it's Monday at their Hollywood HQ.
So naturally I was curious if they'd put up an agenda for Monday on their website, since the meeting was Monday, the next day they were open.
Maybe get familiar with any staff reports in pdf., so I can better follow the proceedings while I'm there.

Do I really even have to tell you that when I pulled up the web page that was supposed to have agendas, it was largely blank? (At least, as seen on my computer monitor.)
Or that their website itself, which needs to be red-done if not tweaked, seems like it was put together by not-too-bright ninth-graders?

Call me old-fashioned, Gabriel, but that's really NOT my idea of proper planning.

It's also NOT my idea of wisely spending taxpayer dollars, either.

Trust me, I'll try to make a point of mentioning all these things at the meeting, if I can.
___________________________________________
http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/19133569.html
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
MnDOT missed opportunities to note bridge flaws, study finds
By Mike Kaszuba, Star Tribune
May 21, 2008

Reader comments are at:
http://ww2.startribune.com/user_comments/comments.php?d=asset_comments&asset_id=19133569&section=/politics/state