Showing posts with label Fran Russo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fran Russo. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Doug Hewett named new Hollywood City Manager; Hardly Breaking News: New year of 2012 already showing that the old bad habits of Miami's local TV news operations won't die -apathy!

Looking west at Hollywood City Hall following the Hollywood City Commission meeting that led to the selection of Doug Hewett as the new City Manager. 
January 6, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier.


Continuing their policy of the new economic realism, wherein stories about celebrities, diets and/or plastic surgery for women, toys for affluent people and their over-indulged kids, and crime stories involving women in danger or peril -especially mothers!- are deemed more important than what happens in local government that actually affects everyone -in part because they have lots of South Florida advertisers who want the not-so-educated female demographic for whom that is 'must-see TV'- Miami's local TV news operations threw a collective wet blanket on the big news coming out of Hollywood City Hall late last Friday afternoon.

Hollywood, Florida's 12th-largest city, selected 40-year old Fayetteville, N.C. Assistant City Manager Doug Hewett to be their new City Manager on a 5-2 vote, following hours of presentations by the six final candidates on what their strategy/ideas might be in their first few weeks in the position if they were selected to get the city moving forward.

The hiring of a young, personable, savvy and very well-regarded public administrator, who over a few shorts days seemed to pick-up on the small nuances of what makes Hollywood and its neighborhoods and its civic activist community unique and very hands-on, after touring the city and talking with many of the city's most well-known involved residents and civic activists, is a move that represents the final piece of a puzzle that many Hollywood taxpayers and observers firmly hope will stabilize what had become a very rocky ship of state of late in 2011 after the dismissal of former City Manager Cameron Benson, with bitter cleavages emerging all over the city between political/neighborhood activists and Fire/Police union members and their enthusiastic/exasperating supporters.

As I've stated in this space previously, many of the latter are still visibly outraged over the results of the September public referendum that forced much-tougher financial terms on their members -roughly a 12% pay cut to prevent actual dismissals of Fire/ Rescue and Police- and as of this writing, there are at least two city commission candidates backed by the unions who've already filed their paperwork to put that lingering animus to work for them as they challenge incumbent commissioners  Heidi O'Sheehan from District 3 and Richard Blattner of District 4.

Owing to election changes necessitated by the successful passage of a charter issue by Hollywood voters, rather than having staggered elections this year, ALL six city commissioners and Mayor Peter Bober are up for re-election this November, with only Comm. Fran Russo publicly announcing that she will be not be seeking re-election in District 5, which consists of most of Hollywood west of the Florida Turnpike.


For a few observers in the Hollywood Commission chambers who were really paying attention to the larger public policy picture last Friday -like your humble blogger, for instancethe real news of the day lay more in who was completely missing from the Commission chambers rather than the selection of the certain someone who might soon be calling it home.

That is to say, noticeable by their collective absence.
Indeed, as Sherlock Holmes is forever reminding us, the absence of evidence is, in fact, evidence of a sort.

Showing that the old bad habits of last year that we have remarked upon so many times here on the blog -and in animated conversations and emails with so many of you readers- that have left so many tens of thousands of concerned South Florida residents quite literally appalled at what passes for news coverage at Miami's English and Spanish-speaking TV stations, were, in fact, NOT left behind in the dust-bin of history after all, even while more traditional subjects are shunted aside, Miami's CBS4, NBC6, WSVN-TV 7 & Local 10 News were all no-shows at Hollywood City Hall.
As were their Spanish-speaking colleagues at local TV news outlets at Channels 23, 41 and 51, despite the fact that there are lots of Spanish-speaking residents in Hollywood.

But yours truly videotaped the entire proceedings, as well as Thursday night's public get-together of the six final candidates at Hollywood's Arts & Culture Center on Harrison Street.

I plan on posting the comments that I videotaped last Thursday night by CM-designate Doug Hewett and his presentation of Friday afternoon on my blog and YouTube Channel within the next few days.
I'll need to do some editing first and break up his presentation into 3 or 4 segments, since his presentation was the longest, albeit, also the most interesting one to listen to.

Former McKinney, TX City Manager Frank Ragan received the second-most votes last Friday afternoon and was a very compelling candidate, with lots of tangible qualities and talents that surely would've helped Hollywood, based on his impressive resume and facility for talking about his accomplishments without any un-necessary boasting.
He particularly grabbed the full attention of Hollywood Commissioners Linda Sherwood and Richard Blattnerwho voted for him on the first ballot.


Yes, I wish he were already the City Manager in Hallandale Beach, where Mark Antonio will be leaving in June.



Above and below, Frank Ragan addresses the Hollywood City Commission and makes his formal presentation. On the dais, left-to-right, Commissioners Patricia Asseff, Beam Furr, Heidi O'Sheehan, Mayor Peter Bober, Commissioners Richard Blattner, Fran Russo and Linda SherwoodJanuary 6, 2012 photos by South Beach Hoosier.


Personally, I wish that Ragan was already in a responsible upper-management position in either Broward County or up in Tallahassee so he could positively effectuate economic development, trade and investment policies, since the record is clear that he has the ability to see opportunities that other smart people in those positions DON'T.

I can't recall the last time I heard someone who worked for Broward or in Tallahassee say something about those subjects that really impressed me in quite the ways that Ragan, a one-time Hoosier, did in his presentation Friday, a fact that seemed to be shared by Comm. O'Sheehan

Friday, October 7, 2011

Video of the 2009 Hollywood City Commission voting on $30k deal with State Sen. Eleanor Sobel; Sara Case was talking about budget problems even then!

September 20, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Later than I had originally planned, I now finally have the link to the video from April 1st, 2009 at Hollywood City Hall that was the heart of the $30K deal for State Senator Eleanor Sobel that I have referenced twice within the past week, via a post of my own and one yesterday by Hollywood civic activist Sara Case at The Balance Sheet Blog, in light of her formal request to have the State of Florida perform an audit of the City of Hollywood.



Me, I find her timing and rationale very, very curious, and that would be true even if I hadn't voted in the 2008 primary for Tim Ryan for State Senate, despite the nasty and untrue TV ads paid for by her shadowy supporters at 527s, and electioneering communication groups
A survey done by VancoreJones Communications in June 2008 described Democratic voters in District 31 as "the most angry, despondent and suspicious group we've ever polled.'' But on the plus side: "Despite being very opinionated they can be easily persuaded.''

Just like other 527's did the bidding of Alexander Lewy last year in Hallandale Beach against Comm. Keith London in Lewy's bid to get elected on his second try for office, where I wrote: "Not out of any great magnanimous desire to help the citizens of this city, mind you, but rather to help himself and take his first step in becoming a career politician."
History has proven me prescient.

You may find it worthwhile to know that using Internet Explorer, you can't find the link on the city's website marked "Archived City Commission" meetings, but the video itself seems to ONLY play using Internet Explorer, since it will NOT work using Google Chrome.

I know that because I have tried and tried over the past few months to see several old Commission meetings that I wanted to reference in blog posts but was unable to.

Above, the webpage using Internet Explorer -list of files is invisible!

Below, the webpage using Google Chrome, a list of files.
Once you get to the blue-highlighted agenda item on the particular Hollywood City Commission meeting you want to view -or even the entire meeting if you choose- the link doesn't work using Google Chrome.
Consider yourself warned!
It's SNAFU!

And there is nothing on the city's website page that tell you that you have to use Internet Explorer to see video of selected agenda items.
A real conundrum that!

I'll be talking to the City Clerk's office about that next week.


April 1, 2009
6. R-2009-072 - Resolution - A Resolution Of The City Commission Of The City Of Hollywood, Florida, Authorizing The Appropriate City Officials To Execute The Attached Agreement Between State Senator Eleanor Sobel, State Representative Elaine Schwartz And The City Of Hollywood For Lease Of City Office Space And To Reallocate Funds For The Renovations For New Offices For Senator Sobel In The Old Library Building.
PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

September 20, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
State Senator Eleanor Sobel receives 5,000 sq. feet of improved office space, inc. electricity and water, for only $750 a month for a period of 40 months -the remaining period of her term at the time in 2009- paying no interest.
State Representative Elaine Schwartz is paying $500 a month in rent, which includes the costs incurred by Hollywood for past improvements from 2006.

Florida House and Senate legal counsel contacted City Attorney Jeffrey Sheffel and said that rules on limitations on member's office account expenditures are such that this matter needed to be done in the form of rent rather than checks for improvements.

Video is 23:47 minutes long