Comparing and contrasting Fort Lauderdale with Hallandale Beach

The Sun-Sentinel's Broward Politics blog had this interesting post yesterday afternoon by Brittany Wallman about Fort Lauderdale Comm. Carlton Moore and the controversy about whether or not he should be allowed to vote on his successor next week.

To which I responded with... well, at least tried to.

But as has been the case so many times in the past, the comments wouldn't go through as written, despite doing everything I was prompted to do.

"Oh well, I don't really need their website to comment do I" he said with a laugh.
____________________________________________________
Broward Politics blog
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
New Fort Lauderdale commissioner will be appointed Tuesday
Posted by Brittany Wallman at 4:15 PM

Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Carlton Moore will be replaced Tuesday, Nov. 4, the day his resignation takes effect. He has served on the City Commission since 1988.
Commissioners in June agreed to let Moore have a vote on who will replace him. The interim commissioner who is selected will stay until the city elections in the spring.
But Mayor Jim Naugle apparently has changed his mind. He said at the Oct. 21 meeting that Moore shouldn't be allowed to vote on the matter.
Read the rest of the post at: http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2008/10/new_fort_lauderdale_commission.html


This story has a lot of resonance for me.

Unfortunately, the City of Fort Lauderdale CAN'T beat the current Broward record of voting for an interim Commissioner less than fifteen minutes after a resignation is announced, currently held by the City Of Hallandale Beach, set on August 5th.

Another big difference is that FTL will be voting for the replacement the day the resignation of Comm. Moore is official, while the City of HB voted for Comm. Fran Schiller's replacement, Anthony A. Sanders, less than fifteen minutes after news of the resignation was made public.


This quick un-publicized vote came at Mayor Joy Cooper's insistence, despite there being well OVER three weeks before Comm. Schiller's resignation would become official.


In fact, there was still another regularly-scheduled HB City Commission meeting BEFORE the Schiller resignation would be official.

But a publicly scheduled meeting with proper advance notice given, where the citizens of HB could gather and publicly discuss the matter, likely in front of local TV news cameras, was NOT at all what Mayor Joy Cooper wanted.

So the vote went ahead -with Comm. Schiller NOT voting on her successor- but with Comm. Dotty Ross voting for Pastor Sanders despite publicly saying that she knew almost nothing about him, even remarking that he hadn't so much as filled out a form that she could look at.

See for yourself at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2063633124352034112

That's just a small example of the difference between how the Cities of Fort Lauderdale and Hallandale Beach practice democracy in the year 2008!

A New Low in HB? Yes! Condescending Deal Results in Sanders Selection as Interim Commissioner

The front door to what is supposed to be the Hallandale Beach "community center" on the beach and State Road A1A. But over a year since it passed over from The Beach Club -which I loathe- to the city, there is still not a single sign identifying it as one belonging to the citizens of Hallandale Beach, Florida. August 2, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier


My comments follow the story below, which has grains of truth in it, but not nearly as many as you'd think -or it deserved.



I will have a much longer post here Thursday evening, with the sorts of details you won't hear or see anywhere else.
_____________________________
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbhallandale0807sbaug07,0,5145503.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hallandale Beach City Commissioner Francine Schiller resigns
By Ihosvani Rodriguez
August 7, 2008

HALLANDALE BEACH
Two-term City Commissioner Francine Schiller stunned many at City Hall late Wednesday by announcing she was resigning from her seat because of health reasons.


The announcement brought both tears and controversy during the commission meeting.


Schiller, 66, who has been battling a number of health issues for the past four years and who now uses a wheelchair, issued a letter of resignation during Wednesday's meeting, indicating she will step down Aug. 29.


"I just can't physically do it anymore," she said after the meeting.




"If I can't devote 100 percent to the city, I just can't do it."

Schiller, a real estate agent first elected to office in 2001, represents the city at large and would have been up for re-election in November.



The announcement brought tears to some on the dais, including City Manager Mike Good, who publicly read Schiller's resignation letter.

"She has put a lot of heart into this community and I know this is something that is very difficult for her," Good said, pausing briefly to compose himself.

Mayor Joy Cooper and Vice-Mayor Bill Julian also fought back emotions while taking turns thanking Schiller for her years of service.

Schiller said very little publicly during the meeting.


Plans to fill her seat immediately drew controversy.


Cooper nominated city activist Anthony Sanders, a pastor at Higher Vision Ministries in the western areas of Hallandale Beach.



Commissioner Keith London, who participated in the meeting by telephone, sounded appalled by the urgency.


"We just found out about this 10 minutes ago and now we're supposed to appoint somebody without digesting it? I find that inappropriate," London said.

"We need to look out to the community and see what they have to say."



London asked to postpone the appointment but received no support.


Sanders, who could not be reached late Wednesday, will serve out Schiller's term until the November elections.
___________________________________
As it happens, the last person I spoke to after the last Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting prior to last night's meeting, in June, was Pastor Anthony Sanders.



If I'd known then what I know now, I'd have advised him in all good conscience to use his considerable influence and organizing skills -on the outside!- to help cobble together a new city-wide coalition of forces to put on the city commission individuals that will work for everyone's benefit, instead of the entrenched City Hall crew, whose myopic Chicken Little vision and non-existent follow-through on policy and process has proved so unsuccessful and unpopular.

It quite literally scares residents away from attending City Hall events and participating because of their hi jinks and convoluted thinking.

There's a lot of people who want BIG CHANGES!


Instead, though, in my view, perhaps because he's more religious than me, he's chosen to close his eyes and hope for the best, and try to work from within a City Hall hydra that has no rhyme, reason or... demonstrable sense of purpose.


Especially as it involves the city bureaucracy serving residents with the caliber of service they deserve: courteous, efficient and practical.


Consider just the following things off the top of my head:


Look at the photos I've shot and placed on this blog, indicating longstanding, self-evident governance problems.



(Ask yourself how such things can be allowed to continue, year after year, and nobody is ever held accountable.)




Right in front of the city hall complex?

Right on U.S.-1 at the county line?

What an awful way to make a bad first impression, over and over again, and cement its reputation to residents, neighbors and visitors as a city that can't get out of its own way, even when it thinks it knows what it's doing.

After getting static from one city agency that told me to make a FOIA request when I asked for some info that had been mentioned at a City Commission meeting the night before, I spoke to two people from the City Manager's office last November, Jennifer Frastai and Franklin Hileman, speaking for a good hour in a small conference room about several self-evident problems around the city that've never gotten resolved.

I gave both of them all my contact info, with multiple emails, and specifically asked that after they followed through and investigated the locations I gave them, to contact me, because they'd see that it was only the tip of the iceberg.

Well, since then, I've seen them at many city functions, but they have NEVER contacted me or spoken to me in the nine months since, despite my being rather easy to get in touch with.

I mean I get email from people all over the country asking me about the various stages of development of certain real estate projects here, so how hard should it be for them to contact me when I go to every City Commission meeting?

Do you think Hollywood or Aventura would tolerate the slackness and lack of attention to detail in their employees that's epidemic here?

Nope!

How is it that a so-called "community center" over on the beach and State Road A1A, just over a year since the city took possession of it, STILL doesn't have any policies guiding its use, and still bears the name of the realty company that used it -a year ago?



(My many photos of this facility taken over the past year will be posted here tomorrow, indicating the physical neglect over the last 12 months, and the city's indifference to residents who pass by it everyday, not knowing it's theirs.)



Want more?



The recycling facility at Ingalls Park has had holes in the dumpster lids for at least the past three months, making putting cardboard in it completely pointless.



That is, now that they have lids again, since they were missing for a few months.



This facility, the city's central recycling facility, has zero directional signs on nearby roads, even on Hallandale Beach Blvd., despite being only a block off that main drag.

Spoke to many other residents outside of HB City Hall Chambers last night about the shameful, under-handed and anti-democratic turn of events, a new low, even for the Joy Cooper crew at HB City Hall.

And trust me, it's one that will definitely tarnish the good reputation of Pastor Anthony Sanders, if comments among HB citizens I spoke to tonight are any guide.

I spoke to Channels 4, 6, 7 and 10, plus some folks at the Herald about the hard-to-believe spectacle I witnessed, with lots of facts and anecdotes, but the tragic drama up in Pembroke Pines was clearly the focus of South Florida's news reporters, so nothing was said on the air last night.

Maybe somebody in South Florida's media will be motivated today to find out why there's such a rush to get someone approved here, even when there's still a few weeks to go before the resignation takes effect.

Of course, the problem is that rather than doing the right thing, Dorothy Ross voted yes after having just uttered the words, "I don't even have his resume."

With her latest example of bad judgment, so goes the benefit of the doubt Ross had with me, hanging on as it was by just a thread.

She made my decision easy: I won't be voting for her in November!

I'll be spending some time at the Starbucks on Hallandale Beach Blvd. around Noon, talking to other HB residents and civic activists who are not at all pleased with what transpired last night.

If you feel likewise, feel free to swing by if you can, or tell others.

Sitting in the audience, watching Mayor Cooper and Comm. Julian grinning from ear-to-ear after their maneuver, I can only imagine how angry Comm. Keith London was, having to listen to the meeting on the telephone, as once again, common sense procedures that were used when he was considered for an interim position on the commission were bypassed, and HB citizens' legitimate concerns were pushed aside so that Joy Cooper can try to score political points.

This time, conveniently, right before an election.

Even at the cost of transparency and accountability from the city's citizens.

Be careful what you wish for, Pastor Sanders!

As you'll understand from reading information I'll have here, while he is on the City Commission, Anthony Sanders will have to recuse himself from any votes involving Forest City agenda items
-like their current request for $$$- since one of his groups gets funds from them.

Description from Nov. 7, 2007 in City of Hallandale Beach documents:
hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/ 2007-11-07/title/supp_docs/documents/doc1.doc

Pastor Anthony Sanders is also a long time resident of the City of Hallandale Beach. He is the CEO of Eagles Wings Development Center and Pastor of Higher Vision Ministries, Inc. Through his non-profit organization, Eagles Wings, his faith based church and his affiliation with Weed and Seed, Pastor Saunders is known for his work in the community. Pastor Saunders helps young people feel a sense of accomplishments, and he works to help the less fortunate in the community.

You can also just do a search on the blog in the upper left corner, using "Sanders"

See also:
http://www.hallandalebeach.org/files/2007-11-07/item%206b/supp_docs/documents/doc8.pdf

Sanders gave invocation before Florida House of Rep. on April 12, 2007
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?PublicationType=Session&DocumentType=Journals&Session=2007&FileName=Bound_House%20Journal%20No.24,%20April%2012,%202007%20(Thursday).pdf

Per the above, more recently, on June 11, 2008, Sanders gave the invocation before the joint City of Hallandale Beach-City of Hollywood City Commission meeting at HB Cultural Center.

Dude, Where's Julian's Car?

The warning signs in evidence outside of the Aventura Target., just a few blocks south of the Hallandale Beach City Hall.
Who would've ever guessed this was the gold standard?
June 13, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier


I actually posted some of this last night but pulled the photos later in the evening so that I could make the story complete.
__________________
Before I left the house yesterday for the Hallandale Beach Cultural Center for the Special Joint Meeting of the City of Hollywood & City of Hallandale Beach City Commissions there, I was of a mind to make a prediction to all of you.

It's one that I could've made months ago or even last week, and been all but certain of being proven correct about.

I say this only because it's hard not to notice a curious situational behavior that occurs week-after-week, month-after-month, year-after-year....

And when the person engaging in this odd and noticeable behavior is someone who's always quick to lecture or harangue others about matters of ethics, or even the appearance of impropriety, well, you could say that it really rankles those of us who've been paying close attention for a while.

People like South Beach Hoosier, the one-man band at Hallandale Beach Blog.

Makes you wonder how everyone else in the city could see the same thing and just wink at it,
like it's nothing to take note of, or that nothing can be done.

But that's hard for SBH to do, especially given the particular track record of the person involved
with regard to ethics, appearances and propriety of the person at fault.
http://www.ethics.state.fl.us/opinions/06/CEO%2006-005.htm

The person in question is Hallandale Beach Vice Mayor William Julian, who continually uses
the city-operated security camera system as if it were designed and created for his exclusive use when it comes to the matter of where he parks his car.

Yes, the William Julian who was the instigator of the pay raise grab last year in which he tried to triple the pay of commissioners while away from the public's view.
See my July 31, 2007 post Come for the HB Pay Raise Grab, but Stay for the Fireworks!

That not only violated the spirit and meaning of Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine Law, but made Hallandale Beach a state and national laughingstock, and the butt of jokes for months afterwards in South Florida about it's lackadaisical stance towards governance and the rule of law.
http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/main/b2f05db987e9d14c85256cc7000b28f6!OpenDocument

(Which, as noted here many times, continued with the odd behavior of Police Chief Thomas Magill trying to railroad two of his own officers, and the other questionable and substandard police policies and procedures which he is largely but not solely responsible for.

That the city's Police Dept. was "Accredited" last year, despite what we now know about its many shortcomings, only speaks to the lackluster levels of investigation that go into determining a police dept.'s level of professionalism.
It takes more than a sticker on a police car to make the Police Dept. professional.

For more on that, see my April 14th post, "Dial M for Magill" -and mendacity! and my January 19th post Hallandale Beach Blog Time Machine: August 2006 and http://www.topix.com/content/trb/2008/01/hallandale-beach-to-pay-to-settle-one-of-two-former-police-officers-lawsuits )

The first few photos below were taken by South Beach Hoosier on February 29th, 2008 at the all-day City Commission/CRA meeting at the HB Cultural Center, but they could have just as easily been taken at many other meetings and activities held there.

Those include the recent city Hurricane Forum, which, not surprisingly, given the very poor job of promotion the city did, was much smaller than expected, which even the eternally-optimistic South Florida Sun-Times felt at pains to point out, and which Channel Ten's Rob Schmidt said in his report that night.



In each and every one of these situations, rather than using good judgement AND the reserved parking space that he and the other members of the commission have, in his case, right next to Mayor Joy Cooper's spot on the south side of the City Hall, near the sidewalk which connects to the Post Office, Julian consciously chooses to park his car so that it is directly beneath the city's security camera.

There's plenty of parking available and he has a reserved spot, but it's not good enough for him.

Clearly there are special rules in the city for William Julian.

As I've mentioned in this space before, those particular security cameras, like their cousins in the general City Hall area, like the public parking lot to the east of City Hall near his reserved parking space, DON'T have a single warning sign anywhere near them saying something simple like "Security Cameras In Use."

That's the simple but clear warning written on the signs near the cameras in the nearby Aventura Target parking lot, once they were erected.

It's been months since those security cameras were erected on HB city property and yet you'd never spot a single sign, as is common sense and practice in the rest of the country.

And even worse, in a City Hall where so little attention to detail is paid, as I've stated here months ago, the parking lot light closest to the security camera nearest the east-side entrance of City Hall, has been out since before the camera was installed.

So much for follow-through and common sense.

If you're going to put up cameras, how about you actually making sure they get the best possible picture, instead of having them be in the dark?

The view of William Julian's car as you exit via the sidewalk entrance to the Hallandale Beach Cultural Center, taken prior to the lunch break of that day-long meeting.

Front view of Julian car taken during the lunch break.


Here, still on that lunch break, you can more clearly see that Julian's car is parked directly below the city's security camera, which is mounted on the white street light pole.

Is Julian afraid of parking his car in the city parking lot that has dozens of Hallandale Beach Police cars just feet away?

If so, then how should regular Hallandale Beach residents feel about the possibility of crime?


On another day, all the stars are aligned in this photo.
Bravo!

June 5, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

The reserved parking spaces here clearly say Mayor and Vice Mayor.

Across the street is the U.S. Post Office.

So why the confusion?

June 5th, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

On my way over to the public library next door, I see that, as usual, it's just another day of parking in front of Hallandale Beach City Hall for as long as you want, without a care in the world.

Or a worry that a Hallandale Beach policeman might actually give you a warning or a ticket.

But if the city intentionally doesn't put up a sign saying "Tow Away Zone, Emergency Vehicles Only," as would be the case in any other normal city or town, even in South Florida, then everyone gets to pretend that the Fire Trucks and ambulances can just fly or hover over these cars.

And that they won't really be in the way of emergency vehicles.

I've often seen cars parked like this for 3-4 hours even with plenty of parking nearby.

June 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

After mailing something next door at the Post Office, on my over to the Joint City of Hollywood and City of Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting, I notice that some people can park where their assigned spots actually are.

June 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

After the joint city meeting was over and I was walking out...

Guess what I spotted?

June 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

So long 'till next time!

For more, see William Julian

As they say, this is but the tip of the iceberg of the craziness that masquerades as normalcy in Hallandale Beach.

____________________________________________

FYI: The only known public punishment for Messers Julian, Dorothy Ross and Fran Schiller for violating the law was this being posted.

Dorothy Ross is running for re-election to the commission.

www.hallandalebeach.org/DocumentView.asp?DID=359

In the Hallandale Beach workshop on Community Redevelopment ...

For Immediate Release-
Hallandale Beach Commissioner Raise Revoked

Hallandale Beach, FL-In a publicly noticed Special Meeting of the Hallandale Beach City Commission on Community Redevelopment, Housing, and Growth Management held Friday afternoon, Vice Mayor Bill Julian made a motion to revoke the salary increase approved by the Commission earlier in the week. Commissioner Dorothy Ross seconded the motion and the vote carried 5-0.

Julian, who has been a commissioner since 2001 and a resident since 1955 says, “Working for the public of Hallandale Beach is one of the greatest pleasures of my life. Growing up here and being part of evolving process of the city is extremely rewarding. Monetary compensation, although important, is not the primary objective.”

Currently, Commissioners make $20,500 for the year. “I made the decision to increase the commission’s pay based upon the tremendous increase in the Commission’s workload due to the rapid growth of the City. I have spent the majority of my life in the City of Hallandale Beach. In addition to my service as a Commissioner, I have devoted countless hours to this Community as a Board member of the Broward County Historical Commission, the Broward Trust for Historical Preservation, as an advisor to the Hallandale Historic Preservation Board and as well as many other civic service organizations. I truly did not anticipate the reaction of my Community and would never have proposed this action if I had. I would never do anything to harm this City or Community and therefore I felt compelled to ask the Commission today to revoke our prior action.” Vice Mayor William Julian. Julian’s dedication and service to the residents is well known throughout the community. His past record shows extensive service to the military as well with three honorable discharges from the U.S. Air Force.

Mayor Joy Cooper who has commented openly about the raise notes, “I commend my fellow Commissioners and am extremely pleased that through their own introspection they have determined that an increase in Commissioners’ salaries would not be in the best interest of the City or the Community at this time.”

“I would never do anything to harm this City or Community and therefore I felt compelled to ask the Commission today to revoke our prior action”, concludes Vice Mayor William Julian.

Hallandale Beach Master Plan meeting tonight at 7 p.m.

Hallandale Beach Blog will be at the meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at the HB Cultural Center about HB's Master Plan, and will likely have some questions about City Hall's priorities in the process, and the city's absurd signage situation within that plan.

I'll be curious to see whether tonight's meetings addresses an issue that everyone in the city knows about that -but which the Commission never talks about at their meetings- and that's whether or not ant logical signage improvement will occur so that the city can stop being a laughingstock.

Will it be directly addressed, or punted for YEARS down the road because current officials lack either the competency, common sense or will to see to it that those longstanding problems are finally addressed?

As to the Master Plan itself, while I agree with most aspects of it, in my opinion, the Hallandale Beach Town Center area near the Hallandale Beach City Hall should be the lowest priority, not among the first, which is what I fear will be the case with the current cast of characters.

That's certainly not what citizens from northwest Hallandale Beach want to hear after feeling that they've been getting the short end of the stick for so long.

Or anywhere else in the city, for that matter.

The very thought of it is rather preposterous, given how much open space the city currently wastes in the area between HB City Hall and the Cultural Center, as I have discussed before with many other city residents.
Would it kill them to put a picnic table out there somewhere?

I was in Hollywood yesterday morning at the meeting of the South Florida Regional Planning Council -saw DPW Director Brant and some HB city employee's faces I recognized- and I later took some photos of the signage in the immediate area around Hollywood City Hall for purposes of contrast.

I then posted the photos to the HBB blog last night, if you haven't noticed them, so you could see what sort of simple, common sense Hollywood employs in helping people get around town.

As to the timeline for the Master Plan and what gets funded first, it seems to me that it's now time for members of the Hallandale Beach Commission to weigh in and state what their priorities are, so that citizens can decide whether or not that reflects the popular will or not.

It's key for purposes of comparative advertising for this November's election and beyond.

Lest the Commissioners and the Mayor talk in such a way tonight that you would think otherwise, to avoid making the hard decisions of what aspects of the plan are initiated first, it's NOT the job of an un-elected City Manager like Mr. Good and his staff to make those final decisions.
he's an administrator.

Policy decisions are to be made by elected officials.

That's what elections are for.

Conveniently for everyone, there are two seats up in November.

Fran Schiller's seat and Dorothy Ross, with the latter running for re-election.
__________________________________________
If you can't make it to the meeting, here's the info from late December's presentation at the Hallandale Beach Cultural Center, which doubtless has been modified slightly since then after input from citizens and city staff:

Homepage of Designer of Master Plan: http://www.edaw.com/

HDR Engineering's Transportation Plan:
http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/DocumentView.asp?DID=604

Power Point Presentation: http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/DocumentView.asp?DID=645

If you have any comments on the Master Plan, direct them to the city at: MasterPlan@hallandalebeachfl.gov

If you can, please send a cc of your email to me here as well, at hallandalebeachblog@gmail.com
I won't run your comments without your approval, but will mention what aspects of the plan are deemed positive and which ones need to go back to the drawing board.

Tallahassee Rules Against Mayor Cooper and Comm. Ross

April 3rd, 2008
3 pm

If you use choose to use the information in the DMS letter below, please be sure to credit me, "South Beach Hoosier."

Dave
www.SouthBeachHoosier.blogspot.com
www.HallandaleBeachBlog.blogspot.com
______________________________________
Posted earlier on Hallandale Beach Blog www.HallandaleBeachBlog.blogspot.com

Wednesday April 2, 2008
1:00 p.m.

The State of Florida's Dept. of Management Services http://www.dms.myflorida.com/ ruled decisively Monday against the boisterous and all-too-often, self-serving claims of Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper and Commissioner Dorothy Ross, who voted along with Commissioner William Julian on March 5th to deprive the city's citizens of the opportunity to serve on the Hallandale Beach Police Officers' and Firefighters Retirement Fund.

This decision follows weeks of bitterness and allegations of parochialism and plain-old selfishness against both Cooper and Ross by active duty Hallandale Beach police officers and firefighters at a series of contentious and highly combative City Commission hearings, which featured dozens of members at the night meeting in February.

What was voted on:
An Ordinance of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida, Amending Ordinance 2004-09, The Hallandale Beach Police and Fire Pension Plan to Provide for the Authority for Two Commissioners to Serve as Members on the Police and Fire Pension Board of Trustees; Providing for Conflicts; Providing for Severability; Providing for an Effective Date (Second Reading)(City Attorney)(see backup) CAD# 002/07

Since Julian's Feb. 20th swing vote against the city's first-responders led to a 3-2 decision to amend the city's charter at the first of two public hearings, threats of a union lawsuit against the city to reverse the decision and members seeking political payback, have animated and roiled much of HB's small political chattering class for the past two months.

The Benefits Administrator further ordered that the original language be reinstated to comply with statutory provisions and warned Mayor Cooper, "No further restrictions or conditions may be placed on these two resident appointees without jeopardizing receipt of future premium tax moneys."

In the near future, Hallandale Beach Blog will seek to discover how much money city taxpayers paid for the privilege of having outside attorney David Tolces sit at the dais for those hearings.

While his legal advice went sour pretty fast, Tolces wasn't without his comic element, as when he said in response to a citizen's question at a hearing asking how much he was charging the city -for telling the mayor what she wanted to hear according to critics- he quipped that the information would be easy enough for someone to find out by simply filing the requisite Public Records request paperwork.

Well, we'll see about that now, won't we, since we know that at least one person will, in fact, try to ferret out that information. For history's sake.

As it happens, the DMS decision was never mentioned at Wednesday morning's regular HB City Commission meeting, which featured city commissioners recommending votes against most of the Broward County Charter Review Committee's recommendations to voters in November.

With rare exceptions, the City Commission largely belittled the efforts and political handiwork of the committee that's worked for months throughtout the state's second-largest county to bring Broward County firmly into the 21st Century, and seeks to take ethical and member districting decisions out of the hands of county commissioners.

As is so often the case at HB city hearings, the agenda ran behind schedule and had the usual procedural screw-ups, as when the mayor plowed thru the agenda and the City Clerk twice failed to remind her to seek public comment.
_________________________________
http://www.miamisunpost.com/archives/2008/03-13/031308newshallandalebeach.htm

Miami Sun Post
Hallandale Beach
Power Play
Firefighters, police rail against amendment to pension board
By Claudia Boyd-Barrett
March 13, 2008

Vigorous protests from police, firefighters and concerned citizens were not enough to sway the Hallandale City Commission last week from approving an amendment that would permanently assign to commissioners two seats on the five-member Police and Fire Pension Board permanently to commissioners.

City Mayor Joy Cooper and Commissioner Dorothy Ross already sit on the board, but its governing ordinance states that city residents, rather than officials, should hold those seats. The amendment that passed on first reading last Thursday changes that language to specify city commissioners.

Mayor Cooper defended her backing of the amendment, arguing that the pension board needed her and Ross' presence and expertise. Vice Mayor William Julian, who also voted to pass the amendment, said having commissioners on the board helps protect the interests of citizens, whose taxes fund the pensions.

Their arguments did not sit well with the police, firefighters and some citizens gathered at the commission meeting.

"I think this stinks of impropriety," police Officer Gary McVeigh said. "It looks unethical. We're just wondering why the adamant fight for this? It makes no sense to us."

Daniel Alford, a firefighter paramedic and pension board member, told commissioners he thought the amendment resulted in a conflict of interest for Cooper and Ross because they would be more interested in looking out for taxpayers than the police and firefighters on the pension plan.

Outside the meeting, firefighter union President Jim Bunce echoed concerns that the commission was violating the city charter by passing the amendment without a public vote.

The Hallandale City Charter prohibits commissioners from holding any other office during their term and says any amendments to the charter must be approved by referendum. Bunce said he would prefer that the pension board seats in question be given to people from the community with professional expertise.

"Out of 50,000 people in this city who could sit on this board, they're saying they're the only two that should," Bunce fumed. "They're stealing power that the public has to give them — they're just taking it!"

However, City Clerk E. Dent McGough said the city was amending an ordinance and not the charter, so it did not need a referendum vote.

Commissioners Keith London and Francine Schiller both voted against the amendment.

It was London who initially questioned the legality of Cooper and Ross sitting on the board after he learned that it is unusual in Florida for commission members to hold such positions. He said he feared the dual office-holding would open the city to potential lawsuits.

"By having two positions filled on both the Pension Board and the City Commission, we have consolidated the decision-making to fewer people, increasing the odds of a wrong decision being made," he wrote in an e-mail.

"Our City Commission should listen to what the people want."London said the Police Benevolent Association was threatening to sue the city if the ordinance passes a second reading.

Commissioner Julian said that the $80 million fund is currently in good standing.
_________________________________
Miami Herald
March 6, 2008

Hallandale Beach commissioners on Wednesday voted to allow themselves to serve on the police and fire pension board.
The 3-2 vote angered many members of the police union who have threatened to file a lawsuit.
The union argues that city commissioners are serving two offices, which is against state law.
But the city's attorney has said that as long as the city's laws allow commissioners to serve on the board there's no conflict.
Mayor Joy Cooper, Commissioner Dorothy Ross and Vice Mayor Bill Julian voted to keep Ross and Cooper on the pension board that oversees $80 million in investment funds.
Commissioners Keith London and Fran Schiller voted against it.
_____________________________________________
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
STAFF REPORTS
March 6, 2008

Hallandale Beach
Commissioners can be on pension board

Despite the threat of a lawsuit from the Broward County Police Benevolent Association, city commissioners Wednesday approved a law allowing them to serve on the city's police and fire pension board.

The decision, approved 3-2, is mostly a housekeeping change because the mayor and one commissioner already serve on the board.

Under the city's charter, the board must have one police officer, one firefighter and two residents.

Commissioners must approve the appointment of a fifth member who is chosen by the four members.

Union officials say commissioners have a conflict of interest being on the board because they represent the city's interest.

"I do not agree with [the change in the law's language]," said Officer Alex Vera, a union representative. "The [union's] legal challenge will come unfortunately at the great expense of the city's taxpayers."

Mayor Joy Cooper and Commissioner Dorothy Ross, who have been serving on the board, voted for the change, as did Vice Mayor Bill Julian.

"I don't believe there's a conflict of interest," Julian said.

Commissioners Keith London and Fran Schiller voted against it.

Vera said the union plans to sue the city, Cooper and Ross.
___________________________________________
Miami Herald

HALLANDALE BEACH
POLICE AND FIRE PENSION BOARD
BATTLE BREWS OVER A BOARD PROPOSAL
If passed, a Hallandale Beach law would ban residents from serving on a pension board, but a Broward police union is threatening a lawsuit.

By Jasmine Kripalani
March 1, 2008

A Broward County police union threatened to file a lawsuit against Hallandale Beach after the city introduced a law that would ban residents from serving on the police and fire pension board.

Instead, the law would allow only commissioners to serve. But Jeff Marano, treasurer of the Broward Police Benevolent Association, said commissioners could be violating state law by holding two offices.

"You cannot serve two masters," he said in a written statement. "How can we expect a commissioner to put pension issues first when they represent the city's interests?"

Commissioners are scheduled to take a final vote on the issue at a 10 a.m. March 5 commission meeting at City Hall, 400 S. Federal Hwy.

The city has hired an outside firm to counsel it on the issue.

"Based upon the attorney general's opinion, it allows public officials to serve on other boards if there's an ordinance that grants them that authority," David Tolces, the attorney hired by the city.

City Commissioner Dorothy Ross, who has served on the pension board for 10 years said there's nothing illegal about it. She argues that residents lack the experience in overseeing the pension's $80 million investment fund.

"I would be concerned for new people to suddenly be placed on this board making decisions," she said.

Mayor Joy Cooper, who could not be reached for comment, published an editorial in a local newspaper that appeared Thursday.

In the South Florida Sun-Times, Cooper blamed Commissioner Keith London, who brought up the problem of dual office-holding at a commission meeting in January.

"I have been at a loss over this whole circumstance and am not sure of the commissioner's intent," she wrote.

London said his only agenda is to raise the issue before the public.

"When I went to a conference, I learned that this was not best practice throughout the Florida Retirement System," he said. "This is not the norm, not even close to the norm. It needed to be discussed."
_________________________________
http://www.miamisunpost.com/011708newshallandalebeach.htm
Miami Sun Post

Hallandale Beach
Breaking the Law?
City commissioner accuses his colleagues of illegally holding two offices
By Nicole Alibayof
January 17, 2008

A Hallandale Beach city commissioner accused the mayor and one of his colleagues of breaking the law.

Commissioner Keith London raised the question last week about whether or not Mayor Joy Cooper and Commissioner Dorothy Ross can be charged with holding two offices.

Cooper and Ross sit on the city commission and the pension board of the city's police and fire departments.

City Attorney Dave Jove said technically it is not illegal, though holding two offices can be perceived as a conflict of interest.

The commission will discuss whether an amended ordinance or a special election is needed to rectify any problems at its Jan. 22 meeting.

"Certainly I don't believe there's any credibility on concerns that were raised, but I am willing to sit down and talk about the issues that were brought up," Cooper said during the Jan. 9 commission meeting.

"No shame or any bad name has ever been associated with me," Ross said.

"If they ask me to step down, fine, but no one knows more about the pension plan than me."

The pension board consists of five members, two of whom must be residents of Hallandale Beach appointed by the commission, according to the Hallandale Beach City Charter.

Currently Cooper and Ross sit as those Hallandale Beach residents.

However, another section of the city charter forbids the mayor and commissioners from holding any other position, city employment or elected public office during their terms.

Three-year contracts between the city and the police and fire unions have to come before both the commission and the pension board, giving Cooper and Ross greater leverage to negotiate them.

"If that doesn't reflect two bites out of one apple I don't know what does," London said.

The commission wants to amend that ordinance by changing the terminology to refer to elected officials serving on the pension board as ex-officio voting members.

By changing the terminology, elected officials will be allowed to serve on both the pension board and the commission, City Attorney Jove said.

Jim Bunce, union president for Hallandale firefighters, didn't think the language change would be enough.

"An ordinance cannot supersede the charter," he said.

"The charter is clear and there are prohibitions; they should amend the charter and do it right if they want it to be legal."

Bunce worked as a firefighter in Davie for 27 years.

He said the same issue was addressed in Davie and the commissioners were removed from elected office.

His argument worried some commissioners who felt that the charter might have to be amended by referendum.

Cooper, though, said it would take months to create a code to address the problem.

"My primary goal and objective is to make the pension plan successful," she said.

"I don't think you could get more experience or more efficiency than with a commissioner."

A representative for the police union disagreed.

"We are not in favor of commissioners on pension boards," said Michael Braverman, attorney and spokesman for the Police Benevolent Association.

"As the certified collective bargaining agent, it's problematic to go to the same place twice; manipulation by government skews the process."

Vice Mayor Bill Julian and Commissioner Francine Schiller proposed discussing the pension board in greater detail on Jan. 22.

"Let's see how it plays out," Jove said

Illusion of safety in HB is not the same thing as real safety!; Red Light Cameras not only example of technology that City of Hallandale Beach is using poorly

My comments are below the story. 

________________________________________ 

www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbcamera0110sbjan10,0,4626859.story 

 South Florida Sun-Sentinel 

Security cameras may be required at late-night businesses in Hallandale 

By Thomas Monnay January 10, 2008 

 HALLANDALE BEACH 

Late-night establishments soon may be required to have surveillance cameras both inside and outside to help deter and solve crimes. The proposal, discussed by city commissioners on Wednesday, would affect 24-hour businesses and those with permits to operate after 2 a.m. It is scheduled for a formal public hearing on Jan. 22. Vice Mayor Bill Julian said cameras could have helped police determine who shot and killed Broward Sheriff's Office Sgt. Chris Reyka in August in the parking lot of a 24-hour Walgreens in Pompano Beach. "If there were cameras outside the Walgreens, wouldn't they catch the picture of the person who killed the deputy?" Julian said. "We have the technology. We should use it to give an edge to police." Mayor Joy Cooper called security cameras "a strong tool" against crime. Commissioners Dorothy Ross and Fran Schiller also support the proposal. But Commissioner Keith London was opposed, saying businesses could hire security guards and the city has police to protect residents. "I am almost never for cameras," he said. "If I have to surrender my freedom for safety, then I don't believe in being safe." Julian said most of the city's gas stations, convenience stores and the city's two racetracks already have cameras. City Manager Mike Good said police would work with business owners to determine whether they need cameras. He said those with financial hardship would be allowed to file an appeal, and the city might help them financially. "I happen to support this very much," Good said. The proposal coincides with the city's plan for a $374,371 digital camera system to monitor its municipal complex, fire station, water plant, beach parking garage and park and recreation facilities. 

 Thomas Monnay can be reached at tmonnay@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7924. 

 _________________________________________________ 

To view reader comments on this story, see http://www.topix.net/forum/source/south-florida-sun-sentinel/T0OSHNHPHVBFENVA5 

Generally speaking, I wouldn't comment here on my blog about what someone else has written on one of these Sun-Sentinel reader comment forums, or any media forum for that matter. The reason is a simple one. My experience in looking at reader's comments on newspaper sites is that, more often than not, they're either incredibly inspid, off-topic or mean-spirited snarky just for the sake of being mean-spirited and snarky.

(As opposed to informative yet humorously snarky!) In short, seldom enlightening. While perhaps amusing when recounting the exact context in a car with your friends, otherwise just like a case of hitting low-hanging fruit with an ICBM, otherwise, and therefore just a waste of time. More the sort of thing some mean-spirited office drone does on his computer while on a lunch-break, killing time in between bites of a sandwich, so very pleased with himself and the pseudonym he's chosen. But I did want to specifically bring to your attention comment #12, written by someone who seems to be a William Julian supporter, to help illustrate the small minds a person of his particular qualifications needs to get re-elected in a city the size of a postage stamp. A city which many informed people think would be much better off having someone else in that seat, someone who doesn't suffer such comic bouts of grandeur, witness last year's illegal pay raise grab in the dark that he led, wherein he famously compared himself to a corporate executive. Or, if you prefer, his continued bad judgment by forcing himself into murky ethical situations that reasonably bright high school-age kids with common sense could've resolved. Not that Julian's the only one on the city commission who's like a dead battery, once useful but now merely ballast. One of the truest of all cliches in sports is "addition by subtraction." Used in this context, Hallandale Beach Blog believes the people of Hallandale Beach, and the city's future as a whole, would greatly benefit from William Julian's exit from the city commission. Let him get that executive job he feels is currently being denied him. 

  Here's the comment exactly as it appears on the Sun-Sentinel's website, as of today at 1p.m.: 

Golden Isles Resident AOL 

Thursday Jan 10 

Thank you Commissioner Bill Julian for taking the lead in protecting you city's residents. 

What does Commissioner London fear? Maybe something the voters should know about? 

The truth will come out. We are watching you K.L. 

Frankly, it's exactly the kind of feeble and shrill spewing of venom that you'd expect from a Julian supporter, given the ones I've spoken to over the years. While sometimes semi-pleasant, they fundamentally mistake his length of time in town as effectiveness. 

One clearly has nothing to do with the other. As it happens, that low opinion is very much what TV and print reporters who've covered the city have told me they think of when they think of Julian, to the extent that they think of him at all -which is rarely. 

The Sun-Sentinel reader comment then is a snapshot in time of the kind of person who's currently supportive of a William Julian, yet to my mind, the sort of people who clearly are part of the problem, not part of the solution. 

___________________________________________ 

My thoughts on the story itself: I don't know how I can make this any clearer -the illusion of safety is not the same thing as actual safety. Once again, almost too predictably for words, the powers-that-be in the City of Hallandale Beach have reached for the safety blanket of illusion, rather than opening their eyes and taking a serious look at the manifest safety problems in the city. And doing something serious about it. THAT is something which has greatly troubled me since I returned to the area from the Washington, D.C. area, and is one of the principal reasons that I started this particular blog in the first place. It's a large part of what keeps me motivated to continue doing it. The city's longstanding and almost cowardly refusal to confront what's directly in front of it, like a person afraid of their own image in a mirror, because it doesn't match the illusion they've created in their mind, is the worst possible kind of governance, given the changing dynamics and demographics of the city now. A great example of this is the scarecrow police squad car left at the beach near the perfectly dreadful Beachside Cafe, a William Julian hangout. No police are EVER actually over there, which the city-contracted lifeguards are the first to point out to you, if you merely ask them. Or the frequent bach goers that I've come to recognize from my hundreds of trips over there on weekends, to read the papers, listen to ballgames and write down some thoughts. It's worse than an ostrich with its head in the sand -it's an ostrich which has done that same move by rote so often that it can't physically get its head out of the sand. That's the City of Hallandale Beach today. Public safety is a matter which should rightly concern anyone living in the city -or near it, like Hollywood or Aventura- who has two eyes that work, and who can clearly see what the city looks like for themself. Anyone who knows me or who has made any kind of serious effort to read more than a handful of my posts here, knows exactly what I consider to be the leading bête noires in any public safety discussion of the City of Hallandale Beach. Ones which are both longstanding and entirely self-evident on any night, especially on U.S.-1, A1A or Hallandale Beach Blvd., yet which are paradoxically among the easiest to actually resolve. These include but are not limited to: 1.) The very poorly maintained condition of streetlights and illuminated street signs. This includes, among others, those right next to HB's own City Hall and Police Dept. HQ, which have been out for well over two years! For over two years, Mayor Joy Cooper, the four members of the HB City Commission and City Manager Mike Good -and his staff- have driven right past those signs every time they leave City Hall chambers following an evening meeting. But still they never see what's right in front of them, less than a bloc away from their own office. 2.) the universally piss-poor condition of public parking lots along Hallandale Beach Blvd. in the city NOT owned by R.K. To cite but the most obvious examples from a long list: a.) the front sidewalk entrance lights and parking lot lights of the Premier Building, which has a gym that lots of people attend at night. (It's also a building where everyone loves to park in the No Parking Fire Lane in front and the 15 Minute Parking Zones set aside for deliveries, too.) These are the same geniuses who after Hurricane Wilma knocked out and broke their plastic identification sign in front of their property, placed the remaining parts of it and all the many downed palm fronds, on the sidewalk in front of an adjoining bus shelter, rather than disposing of them properly. Somehow, yet again, HB's Code Compliance office was blind to this though it could hardly have been more obvious, since they were there for months. (This is not unlike the way the city's Code Compliance turned a blind eye last year to the William Julian campaign sign and wooden support stand that stayed up for so long on north-bound U.S.-1, alongside the east-side sidewalk near the bus shelter on S.E. 9th Street. If I can find it, I have a photo of that sign and support a number of weeks after the election, which I'll post here in the future for illumination. Perhaps I should see if it's still there!) Later, someone from the building placed the large jagged plastic pieces behind sidewalk shrubs, thinking that, somehow, they'd magically take care of themself. They didn't! Just how bad is the street lighting situation along that street, the busiest in the city? Well, consider that a few months ago, having made some mental notes about it after months of noticing it on my walks to and from the beach, I took some photos of the area near the Hallandale Beach Chamber of Commerce. As I write this, the two street lights closest to it have been out for well over 6-8 months, if not longer. If not for the bank across the street having parking lot lights, it'd be a black hole. Even the small auxiliary building lights on the CoC bldg., next to their front door, as well as some of the adjoining offices, were out for months at a time. *I'll leave 'till another time the larger discussion I've had for months in my head -and with lots of concerned Hallandale Beach citizens- on the perfectly preposterous reality that there are currently no directional signs of any kind on U.S.-1, A1A or even on their 0wn street, Hallandale Beach Blvd., directing visitors/residents to the Chamber of Commerce, as would be common sense and practice in even the smallest of hick towns, much less, in a smart and tourist-oriented town like Charlottesville, VA. That's a wonderful city I've been to numerous times, because of all the great historical sites there, as well as UVA, and the annual Virginia Film Festival. Regardless of how you get there, it's virtually impossible to miss the plethora of signs directing you to their Chamber of Commerce/Tourist Office, where people are super-friendly, engaging and accommodating, and have updated information to dispense. Encore performance? It's possible that for the first time since early 2004, when I took a microphone in hand at the HB City Hall chambers and spent about 5-10 minutes absolutely ripping FDOT, their contractors, the mayor, the city manager, the city commission and the city as a whole, for utterly failing to give HB's citizens anything like what they were entitled to -and had already paid for- regarding the U.S.-1 road construction project, that I'll be taking a microphone in hand at meeting tonight to point out the obvious about the cameras. It wouldn't be necessary, though, if the HB city employees we're already paying were doing their job better, which includes the HB Police Department and their camera-loving police chief. The evidence that they're doing a poor job is all around the city, especially alongside the main roads and at over the public beach. At that 2004 meeting, I criticized everyone on the dais and in the front rows of the chamber for the self-congratulatory nature of the public meeting, rather than seriously addressing the numerous self-evident shortcomings and failures of the project, many of which could be seen just steps away from city hall, as I said at the time. Even on the night of that public meeting, there were still lots of streets in the city with large volumes of gravel and rocks on streets that were supposedly finished, including right in front of city hall itself, on the street between it and the U.S. Post Office, S.E. 5th Street. A street that was missing a STOP sign as it hits U.S.-1!!! And let's not forget all the missing bicycle lane signs and the painted "Bike Lane" in the lanes themself, and the... Next time you're at the Hallandale Beach City Hall complex at night, look up at the parking lot light closest to the security camera, pointing northeast towards U.S.-1. The one that's been out for weeks!!! The security camera that doesn't have a posted sign nearby, as required by law? Yes, that one, just like the signage situation at the Publix on HBB, which I've spoken to their manager about many times. (We'll soon see how Publix HQ in Lakeland feels about the apathy in following the law.) Those camera were put in right before their liquor store opened for obvious reasons. Less obvious is why RK and Publix can't or won''t comply with the law Signs must be posted. It's not optional. How long have the cameras at HB City Hall been up without the required posted warning signs? Why don't you ask the city manager, Mike Good, next time you see him, since he's in favor of expanding the concept. Should someone who can't manage their own affairs really being telling others what to do? I think not.