Video: Channel 10 investigative reporter Bob Norman on the ethical dealings of Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper and The Related Group's $20k worth of campaign gratitude after her YES vote for their Beachwalk project while the most-affected HB residents were still gone for the summer; @Mayor Cooper, @SandersHB

Above, looking east at Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper's large 2" X 8" campaign sign at the corner of Hallandale Beach Blvd. & S.E. 26th Avenue, at the foot of the west side of the State Road 858 Bridge over the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. October 19, 2012 photos by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

It's the sort of prime advertising location in the city that comes to you when you've been nothing but Bosom Buddies with The Related Group and their merry band of secondary players for years-and-years, like Greenberg Traurig attorney Debbie Orshefsky and Richard Cannone, a Planning Administrator and registered lobbyist for Calvin Giordano & Associates, and not incidentally, the city's former Director of Development Services, whom concerned and observant residents long thought consistently worked harder for big  developers and their minion pals trying to get a deal at HB City Hall than he ever did in representing the best long-term interests of Hallandale Beach residents and taxpayers.

I know because I was one of those concerned and observant residents, which led me to write this about him on November 9, 2010 Addition by subtraction: Richard Cannone leaving City of Hallandale Beach for PA; let's hope his replacement is more forthcoming, honest than he was   http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/addition-by-subtraction-richard-cannone.html

All of these players in the development game have been lavish in their praise for Mayor Cooper after her very hard push in mid-summer for the approval of The Related Group's 31-story project on the water, despite its unanimous rejection by the city's Planning & Zoning Board.

Mayor Cooper was especially eager to vote on this and get it done before most of the HB  residents most directly affected by the project could return here in late August. How much praise?

Over $20,000 worth of praise. 

WPLG-TV, Miami

Bob Norman's Blog

Should it be illegal?

By Bob Norman

Published On: Oct 18 2012 10:20:21 AM EDT  

Updated On: Oct 18 2012 11:07:10 AM EDT

Video is at: http://www.local10.com/news/blogs/bobnorman/Should-it-be-illegal/-/3223354/17039128/-/v2xsce/-/index.html

As we have seen with specificity here on the blog the past two weeks, when you are Joy Cooper and you have lots of generous developer friends, plus their friends, you can afford to buy nice campaign re-election signs with $20,000, even if Team Cooper carelessly erects many of them in places that are illegal under the city's own rules, rules she knows well, having both voted for them and lived with them for the past ten years.

But what are simple rules to you when your real estate development pals are so damn generous with their campaign checks?

And let's not forget strip mall developer R.K. Centers of Sunny Isles, who not only writes incumbents like Joy Cooper big checks, but also allows her large campaign signs to be placed on their prominent properties along Hallandale Beach Blvd. For instance, near the city's one and only Publix. 

R.K. Centers also fully supports Comm. Anthony A. Sanders and former Comm. William "Bill" Julian, whose signs appear in front of the Publix property, with Julian also on the opposite side of the street near two separate entrance to Winn-Dixie and to Panera's, Boston Market and Starbucks.

Together, these two unethical characters are three bricks shy of a load, but the fact that they're not bright or attentive very much appeals to R.K. because it makes it easier for them to get what they want around here, like the very large sign for Five Guys that on Wednesday they sought a variance for at their property at the Sage Bagel Plaza.

The proposed sign  is far too large according to the city's own rules, and was rejected by the city's Planning & Zoning Board. You tell me, what do you think is going to happen in the end when Cooper and Sanders vote on it for a second and final time in a few weeks?

Yes, real estate developers just love Joy Cooper, and it's easy to see why. 
She's the mayor who just can't say NO. 
And neither are Cooper's Rubber Stamps: Sanders and Julian.

Above and below: An open door policy for developers is Mayor Joy Cooper's credo. "Always has been, always will be." At least for another two weeks! (The gate was already open -looks broken to me.)

Looking east towards the Intracoastal and The Related Group's three giant condo towers on State Road A1A/South Ocean Drive, The Beach Club, and to the north by a few hundred feet in Hollywood, Related's The Apogee , still under construction, where the construction crane is pictured. Here's what that is supposed to look like when finished: http://www.apogeebeachcondos.com/

Above, looking northeast from the site of the Beachwalk project towards the State Road 858/HBB bridge, with hotels and condos in Hollywood on State Road A1A in the distance.

All October 19, 2012 photos above by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

Greenberg Traurig attorney Debbie Orshefsky at the lectern making the formal Power Point presentation to the Hallandale Beach City Commission for her client, The Related Group, on behalf of their Beachwalk development project on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, with their army of professional hired hands and lobbyists seated in the first thee rows. So why was HB Chamber of Commerce (and Lady-in-Pink) President Carole Pumpian sitting there if she wasn't being paid? Hmm-m... June 6, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. All Rights Reserved.

Back on July 29, 2012, I wrote about the quid pro quo, pay-to-play culture that exists in Broward County and which is more self-evident here more than most other cities, in a blog post I titled, Approval for The Related Group's Beachwalk project in Hallandale Beach pays off quickly for Hallandale Beach Comm. Anthony A. Sanders. Follow the money? Okay, here it is: $2,500 on page 4 of Sanders' most-recently filed Treasurer's Report is from individuals & entities supporting Beachwalk's approval, including, predictably, Greenberg Traurig; #HallandaleBeach, @SandersHB, @MayorCooper http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/approval-for-related-groups-beachwalk.

Approval for The Related Group's Beachwalk project in Hallandale Beach pays off quickly for Hallandale Beach Comm. Anthony A. Sanders. Follow the money? Okay, here it is: $2,500 on page 4 of Sanders' most-recently filed Treasurer's Report is from individuals & entities supporting Beachwalk's approval, including, predictably, Greenberg Traurig; #HallandaleBeach, @SandersHB, @MayorCooper

Above, Hallandale Beach City Hall, February 13, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

Approval for The Related Group's Beachwalk project in Hallandale Beach pays off quickly for Hallandale Beach Comm. Anthony A. Sanders. Follow the money? Okay, here it is: $2,500 on page 4 of Sanders' most-recently filed Treasurer's Report is from individuals & entities supporting Beachwalk's approval, including, predictably, Greenberg Traurig; #HallandaleBeach, @SandersHB, @MayorCooper 

http://www.hallandalebeach.org/DocumentView.aspx?DID=2499
See Page 4 of those contributions, items # 17, 20, 21, 22 and 23.

Naturally, this being Hallandale Beach, where there's nothing that's predictable when it comes to bad behavior, also appearing were some predictable names who like the Cooper Rubber Stamp Crew: Comm. Dotty Ross and former Congressman and former city lobbyist Larry Smith and... former HB Commissioner William "Bill" Julian.

Hmm-m... so why exactly is Julian giving money to one of his own opponents in this November's election? See page 3, item # 11.

That's a good question.

[But then that sort of questionable "logic" is precisely why Julian was thrown-off the commission by voters in 2010, and why this dreadfully incompetent man who for years has exhibited such terrible judgement in continually bringing disgrace to himself and to this town thru his clownish, boorish and illegal behavior -voting to triple his own pay at a City Commission meeting with no citizens or camera present, parking illegally in Handicapped Parking spaces and No Parking Zones all over town for many, many years- MUST be kept away from any position of power in this city. The crazy part now is that Julian acts like people aren't hip to his whole charade as the nice guy who means well. He ISN'T!

He's the guy with a sense of entitlement who consciously parked his own car in those spaces illegally with his Commissioner ID badge right on the dashboard for you, me and everyone else, including the police, could see, instead of following a very simple law. No, Bill Julian is indeed a thoroughly reprehensible and despicable individual who got away with his serial immoral and illegal behavior for years in this town because of his official position. IF he had lived 150 years ago or more in many parts of the Midwest and Plains, he would have rather quickly found himself run-out-of-town by the energized citizenry, angry at forever being made media laughingstocks by his silly prattle, buffoonish antics, tomfoolery and lack of attention to detail, his specialty!]

Okay, let's see if I have this correct.

On June 6th, at its Second Reading before the five-member Hallandale Beach City Commission, Comm. Anthony A. Sanders voted to approve the too-large and incompatible development project by The Related Group on the Intracoastal Waterway -with its octopus-like tentacles stretched over to the city's dirty and poorly-maintained North Beach Park- that I've written SO MUCH about this year on the blog.

And when Sanders spoke, which he doesn't do a lot of, and doesn't do particularly well despite his being a Pastor, he spent almost all of his time talking about jobs and job-training.

Hmm-m... 
I wonder whom he thinks should be involved with THAT?

I think we all know who that would be.

In fact, in her opening remarks weeks earlier, The Related Group's attorney, Debbie Orshefsky, of Greenberg Traurig, actually wasted little time before pivoting from talking about the basics of the project in her Power Point presentation to an extended pitch aimed directly at Sanders, saying that the developers knew how important jobs and job-training were to him. LOL!

BOOM!

Just like that, Orshefsky went right to the heart of what everyone in the room who follows these things closely knew would be the one-and-only issue that mattered for Comm. Sanders, 

Jobs for... well, maybe for people like Jessica Sanders, eh?

This, despite the fact that all the commissioners under our city's At-Large system are supposed to represent ALL residents of this city equally, including the very people who live in the neighborhood where the Beachwalk project could be erected.

Wow, it was so patently obvious as to be completely over-the-top, even for Hallandale Beach.
Especially for an excellent attorney like Orshefsky, who is always extremely well-prepared -unlike, oh, Comm. Sanders himself- since regardless of whatever else I or my friends in Broward County might think of the relative merits of the projects that she's become the public face for here in Hallandale Beach, next-door Hollywood or before the Broward County Commission, she is always very well prepared and ready to pounce on a mistake.

Now, though, suddenly, a month later, Sanders has received $2,500 in 2012 campaign contributions from people and entities with an interest in The Beachwalk's  approval.

Approval given during the middle of the summer, when most of the residents who live near the project and who will be most adversely-affected by it, are actually out-of-town for the summer until Labor Day.

Tell me, what do you suppose Village of Gulfstream Park and Beachwalk lobbyist Suzanne Friedman, who wrote a campaign check to him, feels is Sanders' best trait as a commissioner?

Is it the fact that for almost four years in office now -47 months this week- Sanders has carefully and aggressively avoided directly interacting publicly with this community's most well-informed citizens? Hmm-m...

Could it be Sanders' continual refusal over so many months in 2009 to even meet in-person with HB residents living in the very NE neighborhood most adversely-affected by the proposed Diplomat project that both Friedman and Orshefsky worked for, making their jobs easier, knowing that Sanders wasn't going to even pretend to care what those residents thought?

Especially given his refusal to even return their phone calls or emails asking him as an elected representative of theirs to meet with them in the neighborhood itself, so that he could see, literally, their perspective on the matter?
Or the point-of-view they'd be losing if he voted yes, as he did!
Hmm-m... possibly.

Or, could it just be that what Friedman and other lobbyists like her most like about Sanders is that he not only doesn't ask good questions to speak of, but that even the bad ones he does ask, he always asks in such a halting and confusing fashion -like he just showed-up to the meeting and doesn't really quite know what he's doing there or what everyone is talking about- that it throws everyone else off?

Which certainly helps them, yes, given Sanders four-year track record of ALWAYS voting for every single development proposal that has come before him, no matter how poorly thought-out, no matter how unpopular with neighbors or the whole city it might be.

Yes, those feeble and circular questions of Sanders that are so painful to watch and hear in-person, that it's not at all uncommon for people in the commission chambers to get up while he's speaking and leave the room for a few minutes to gather themselves outside, and get a breath of fresh air, because the whole scene inside is too much for them to bear.
Been there, done that.

-----

Miami Herald

Proposed hotel gets tentative approval in Hallandale Beach - Miami developer Jorge Pérez gained preliminary approval from the Hallandale Beach commission to build a more than $90 million project on the Intracoastal Waterway.

By Carli Teproff

June 7, 2012

Despite concerns over traffic and parking issues, the Hallandale Beach Commission gave its tentative approval for Miami developer Jorge Pérez to build a more than $90 million Beachwalk project on the city’s Intracoastal Waterway. 

The commission voted unanimously late Wednesday night to allow the Related Group to construct a 216-suite hotel and 84 residential units where the once-popular Manero’s restaurant stood. The project would also include improvements to a city park and a beachfront restaurant. 

If the commission gives it a final green light, the hotel would be the city’s first overlooking the waterway and within walking distance to the beach. 

“I think we are all in a consensus that we need a hotel in the city,” said Vice Mayor Anthony Sanders after the meeting. “But we have to achieve some sort of balance.” 

Many in the beachside community say that only having two hotels hampers its ability to compete with other neighboring beachside communities including Sunny Isles Beach and Hollywood. 

“It can only enhance our lives,” said Toula Amanna, the owner of Flashback Diner in Hallandale Beach. “It’s about time we start functioning as a vacation destination.” 

Some details still need to be worked out before any final approval. 

The developer is going to work with the city to address some concerns, including traffic on Diana Drive and creating more parking to fit the demand. 

“We are going to work on it,” said Debbie Orshefsky of Greenberg Traurig, the lawyer representing the Related Group following the four-hour meeting. 

Orshefsky said the proposed 31-story building on 1.68 acres at 2600 E. Hallandale Beach Blvd., will bring something to the city it doesn’t have: a suite hotel and residential complex. “Mixed use projects make sense,” she said. 

But residents say they also bring traffic. 

Peter Ramirez, who lives on Diana Drive, said parking is already a problem along the residential street, which is lined with condominium buildings. 

“I think you are overlooking the impact it’s going to have on our little neighborhood,” he said. 

Hallandale Beach resident Rodger Reynolds said “there needs to be more thought given to what the city is giving up to the developers.” 

“There are other impacts the city is going to have to pay for because of this project,” Reynolds said. 

In order to build the project, the city will have to turn over the right of way for a portion of unused roadway. There will also be other concessions, including allowing the developer to build 451 parking spaces instead of 619, which is required by code. 

In exchange, the developer agreed to spend $2.5 million on renovation to the city’s North Beach Bark and add a beachfront restaurant — to be managed by the developer — that could generate revenue for the city. In addition, the developer would give the city $200,000 for park maintenance, $250,000 for public improvements and $300,000 for affordable housing improvements. 

Commissioner Keith London said in order for him to vote for the project on final reading, scheduled for June 20, he would want the developer to agree to make park improvements and build the restaurant before or at the same time as the hotel. 

He said the city’s leverage is the road. 

“Without our piece of property, their project cannot happen,” London said. 

Also on London’s lists of concerns: Diana Drive, parking and the amount of money the city would make from the restaurant. The developer has agreed to share profits from the restaurant. 

Commissioner Alexander Lewy shared some of the same concerns. 

“Our requests are not outrageous,” Lewy said. “We need to make sure they would have the least amount of impact on the neighborhood as possible.” 

While some recognize there would be more traffic, others say the city needs a financial boost and more places for people to work. 

“This is a very good thing from what I see,” said Hallandale Beach resident Anthony Lewis. 

“Our town needs these jobs.”

----------

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Hallandale considers 31-story hotel/condo

By Tonya Alanez, Sun Sentinel

6:27 p.m. EDT, June 7, 2012

HALLANDALE BEACH—

City residents rooting for the jobs, beach improvements and infusion of money that would come with a proposed 31-story hotel/condo project outnumbered those bemoaning the accompanying parking woes and congestion at a Wednesday night City Commission meeting.

Beachwalk, with its 84 residential units and 216 hotel suites slated for the plot where Manero's Restaurant used to be, would be the city's biggest development project since the Gulfstream Village expansion in 2007.

"It's a bare lot that's not doing anything for any of us," city resident Joe Kessel told commissioners. "It makes sense to me when we take a property from $2.4 million to $90 million."

The $90-million project would include a small, light-fare restaurant and a five-story parking garage on Hallandale Beach Boulevard at the southwestern base of the Intracoastal drawbridge.

"Jobs, jobs, jobs," another resident, Anthony Lewis, said. "We need jobs. This is a very good thing from what I see."

In unanimous decisions, city commissioners tentatively agreed to let the developer, Related Group, design the project outside current zoning requirements. They also tentatively agreed to give the developer a half-acre sliver of land next to the site.

"It just amazes me you could even consider this kind of project," said Carol Nyren, who lives on nearby Diana Drive. "That is going to change the way everybody on this street lives."

The biggest issue is a shortage of parking spots and the overflow that could end up on Diana Drive. The plan for the project has about 167 fewer parking spaces than the city code requires.

Another concern is the number of people who will actually live and stay at the hotel.

The development would have 84 year-round residential units and 216 two-bedroom suites, which could be rented as 432 hotel units by dividing each suite into a one-bedroom suite with a kitchen and a separate one-bedroom unit.

Because the property is not zoned for residential property, the city would have to give a special approval to allow it.

Commissioners will vote on those specific issues later.

"This is just moving the ball down the field," Mayor Joy Cooper said of Wednesday's decisions.

"Codes are created on purpose, to protect people," resident Peter Ramirez said. "We're overlooking the impact that it's going to have on our little neighborhood."

Representing the developer, Debbie Orshefsky made the hard sell.

Among the advantages, she listed:

-- The city would reap nearly $4.6 million in annual revenue, including $531,000 in ad valorem taxes.

-- The developer would contribute $3.6 million to the city for traffic improvements, affordable housing and other uses.

-- The project would create 260 jobs: 150 in construction, 70 at the hotel and 40 at a beach club.

-- The developer would pour $2.5 million into the city's North Beach Park, making upgrades, building restrooms and an 180-seat indoor/outdoor restaurant. The city would get a minimum of $5,000 a month from restaurant sales.

-- The hotel would operate a free shuttle, open to the public, to the beach.

Murvin Wright liked the sound of it all: "It is a very needed stimulant for the entire community."

The developer is targeting South American investors, who would stay here during their winter, our summer.

"The economy in South America is very robust, and they want to invest in a place where they culturally feel very comfortable," Orshefsky said in an interview during a break from the meeting.

Commissioners listed their sticking points for city staff to hash out in negotiations with the developer, namely ensuring parking would not be a problem, making beach park improvements before building the hotel, and ensuring that jobs would primarily go to Hallandale residents.

Just to remind everyone reading this who may've forgotten, almost everyone in town was in favor of the hotel component, including me.
it's the completely un-needed condos and the give-away with the public park that rankled everyone.

That, plus the refusal by Mayor Cooper and City Manager Crichton to wait until September to bring the matter up after all these many years of that property sitting vacant.

The citizens of this city won't be forgetting that.
No, there's an election 100 days from today!

October 13 Community Meeting re Beachwalk - 31-story mixed-use project at old 'Manero's' restaurant site; new gridlock-inducing plan for HB?

October 13 Community Meeting re "Beachwalk" - the 31-story residential/office/hotel/restaurant/garage planned for the old 'Manero's' restaurant site; new gridlock-inducing plan for Hallandale Beach?

Seriously, a 31-story property right across the street from the Walmart and on the west-side of the already poky, often-gridlocked Intercoastal Bridge on E. Hallandale Beach Blvd./State Road 858?

You're kidding me?

The already traffic-clogged road where out-of-town drivers (and even many locals) heading towards the beach and State Road A1A in the right/south-bound lane, CONSISTENTLY don't realize they are NOT supposed to STOP as they hit State Road A1A?

But despite the utter simplicity of the sign explaining this, STOP they do!

Oh do they ever!

That is, when they don't try to merge back into north-bound traffic at the last possible moment as they come to a stop at the red-light, often blocking both lanes.

Yes, I mean that road! Those drivers!

The only saving grace about this particular project -Beachwalk- is that it isn't that awful mess of a project called Millennium that lobbyist/lawyer and then-State Senator Steve Geller was pushing on behalf of The Related Group a few years ago that was to be located one block east at 2500 E. Hallandalle Beach Blvd.

The building and project that I've alluded to and written about here on the blog any number of times.

That's the VERY SAME building where the popular and well-regarded Padrino's restaurant is located, outside of which a horrific murder took place in February of 2006.

You'll recall that Albert Avenaim's murder was solved NOT by HB Police ingenuity or detection, but rather because but rather thru, the efforts of the alert Walmart employees at their Coral Springs location, after the guilty party, Brian Bethell, tried to use the his victim's credit cards, his second visit there.

That is, one of the credit cards of the three people Brian Bethell murdered.

You'll also recall Bethell felt so confident, he even brought along his girlfriend and her two toddlers, which, I think, tells you everything you need to know about him.,

That murder was one of the defining events that precipitated my creating this blog in the first place, and my second-biggest regret since returning from the Washington, D.C. area after 15 years up there was that I waited so long to start this blog, so that I could've done that particular story justice, given how it just disappeared from the local news media's horizon within a week or so, a fact I've mentioned on more than one occasion to many reporters down here who worked the story at the beginning.

*See more on Steve Geller and this particular murder at bottom of this post.

This one is being pushed by Greenberg Traurig's Debbie Orshefsky, who led the fight last year for the Diplomat LAC on behalf of the owners of the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, that was ultimately rejected by the Broward County Commission, as I chronicled here so many times.

Small comfort!

Info on the Beachwalk project, directly across from WalMart, and adjacent to Intercoastal Bridge is at Hallandale Beach Current Development Activities webpage:

http://www.hallandalebeach.org/index.aspx?NID=805

with plans at: http://www.hallandalebeach.org/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1891

Yes, this is the property that HB City Hall could've bought cheap for $2.92 Million to actually give this city's open land-starved residents public access to the water -but didn't, per my May 5th email to some of you out there.

This is the property to your right on east-bound HBB before you go over the bridge, i.e the old Manero's restaurant location, that Colliers Abood Wood-Fay has been trying to sell forver.

Yes, you're right, why didn't the City of HB snap it up and either make it a park and/or go into a partnership to have a nice public park and private restaurant there so that there would finally be one PUBLIC place in this city with access to water?

That's a good question for City Manager Antonio, Mayor Cooper and the rest of the City Commission.

------

South Florida Business Journal
Related Group buys waterfront site for 60% off
by Brian Bandell
Thursday, May 5, 2011, 3:42pm EDT -
Last Modified: Thursday, May 5, 2011, 4:20pm EDT

After handing over several of its condo projects to lenders, this time Jorge M. Perez and his Related Group are buying a property from a bank.

PRH-2600 Hallandale Beach LLC, an entity ultimately managed by the Miami-based developer, bought a Hallandale

Beach site along the Intracoastal Waterway from TD Bank for $2.92 million.

Read the rest of the article at:

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2011/05/05/related-group-buys-waterfront-site.html

----------

PRH-2600 Hallandale Beach, LLC

Beachwalk

2600 E. Hallandale Beach Blvd

#47-11-DB (Major Development) #48-11-CU (Conditional Use) #49-11-Z (Rezoning) #51-11-RV (Road Vacation)

31-story mixed-use building with 84 residential units, 432 hotel rooms and 1,225 sq.ft restaurant

Pending resubmittal addressing DRC comments

DRC Planning and Zoning Board City Commission Estimated Site Plan Approval: December 2011

P

------

This is excerpted from some past posts here and at my other blog, South Beach Hoosier.

How do I know that Steve Geller represented Millennium?

I was one of the select few to attend a sparsely-attended public meeting that, Millennium was forced to hold in December of 2006 in Hallandale Beach Cultural Center, behind their City Hall.

I got there early, expecting some emotional fireworks because of the rather, predictable concerns about exacerbating the already bad neighborhood, traffic-flow on HBB, the completely out-of-proportion size of the plan, etc., and sat at the table next to Miami Herald reporter Jennifer Lebovich.

Once I got there and had grabbed a donut and some coffee and returned to the table I had all to myself, my biggest thought while jotting down some, thoughts in my legal pad was making sure to leave early enough so that I could get home and not miss a minute of a new episode of LOST.

Really. I'd forgotten to program my VCR.

But then, quite unexpectedly, to my great surprise, in walked Geller and his retinue with trademark showy boisterousness, with him not waiting even two beats before continuing on a rant/harangue disparaging then-Gov.-Elect Charlie Crist in tones that would've been loud enough for everyone in the room to hear if the room had been half-full -wishful thinking- say, 150-200 people.

As it was, counting his Millennium-related crew and the interested public, such as, it was, there were no more than 25 people in that room, so his voice was bouncing off the walls.

To be so self-absorbed as to publicly belittle Crist in front of people -and a, reporter- before he'd even taken the oath of office, showed me the side of Geller I'd often read and heard about, but never seen in person for myself.

But I recognized the type, since I'd had dealings with current Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel in Washington before he was anybody of note, per se, over at the DCCC, and he already had that insufferable attitude and ego thing down pat.

Geller's whole shtick was so over-the-top as to be farcical, and I debated back and forth in my head whether I ought to dispense with pleasantries and the subject at hand, and simply drop my knowledge of what hadn't transpired at 2500 HBB on Geller and Millennium, in front of reporter, Lebovich, once the presentation was over and the Q&A began in earnest.

In the end, having read most of her past articles, I just didn't trust Lebovich's ability to synthesize the narrative and connect all the dots in a way that would get all the pertinent facts out.

Given my interests and background, I've been to hundreds of these sorts of meetings over the years, but listening to the sheer obfuscation and, mis-direction coming out of Geller's mouth, his Pooh-poohing of the patently obvious traffic problems, as if a magic wand had been waved overthem, rendering them invisible, well, it was all I could do to not ask him straight out if he and his colleagues even recognized the name of, Albert Avenhaim -and then go on offense.

But it all would've been wasted on people who either didn't know or who'd already forgotten how bad the safety was there at Padrino's, with parking lot lights out for months at a time and the ones that did work were largely obscured by tree branches.

Who was responsible for the property's maintenance?

Steve Geller's client.

Latest info re 4/27 Broward County Commission meeting re unpopular Diplomat LAC proposal

Thanks for asking about that recent email of mine, since I
was going to write about it on Sunday, anyway.

Here's the short story, as I understand it, on how the Broward
County Commission meeting on the Diplomat LAC got
moved back to April 27th -again!:

The vote was originally scheduled for April 27th as the 4th
Tuesday of the month is when the County usually hears
land-use issues.

Comm. Ilene Lieberman apparently said that was bad for
her because she'd be in Tallahassee for the Legislature's last
week, so she wanted it to be changed, because she is clearly
in favor of the project.

Diplomat attorney Debbie Orshefsky said that she would
like it to be postponed until May 11th, since she obviously
wants Lieberman there in-person to vote YES and break
the 4-4 tie of March 23rd.

Comm. Ken Keechl said that because of their own rule about
land-use meetings, it would have to be either April 27th or
May 25th.

If held on May 25th, it would likely miss the deadline for
Group I transmittal to the FL Dept. of Community Affairs
(DCA), which was the target that HB City Manager Mike Good
was shooting for when he began this steamroller effort of his
last year, without any input from our city's elected
officials, I remind you.

Word is that other development projects around the county
that have already received approval from the Broward County
Commission are VERY concerned about the controversial
Diplomat project creating a real bottleneck for them, since
the applications are sent en masse to Tallahassee, not
individually as they are approved.

I don't have a list of those previously-approved projects,
but I'd be willing to bet that some of them are ones that
Debbie and Greenberg Traurig have handled, so they
are well-aware of the ticking calendar.

I've been told by someone that an effort was made to find
out if there was any support at all on the Commission to
have a vote to change the date of the Diplomat meeting
to the 11th as Debbie wanted, but that a fifth vote could
NOT be found to make
that change.

Furthermore, I've heard that the Diplomat may well
pull their proposal the day before, on April 26th, IF
they believe they won't have a fifth and deciding
affirmative vote on the Commission.

That's no reason for us to waste any time, though,
and stop our efforts. This past week, I was able to
discover some pretty damning information that, combined
with information I previously uncovered, will show rather
conclusively that the Diplomat's over-confident proponents
and apologists all over the county -and much closer to home-
have played fast-and-loose with the truth, and I have the
proverbial Smoking Gun that proves it.

I'm going to post this delicious information on my blog on
Monday and suggest that you check it out for yourself,
since seeing is believing.

It's the irrefutable proof that I've been looking for that,
sadly, proves that the caliber of people involved in this
effort were just as duplicitous as I initially said they were
last year.

And -shocker!- they'll even lie to South Florida
news reporters without even breaking a sweat!

That the particular person I've caught in an obvious and
self-serving lie is an attorney only adds to my delight,
since our side in this David vs. Goliath debate has
never had any resources to speak of, let alone, the luxury
of having any attorneys working on behalf of the many
Hallandale Beach and Hollywood citizens opposed to this
out-of-scale project for the simplest reason of all:
Quality-of-Life.

Something that far too many people at Hallandale Beach
City Hall could genuinely care less about if it means they
can get their hands on MORE MONEY.

That's why they've tried so hard to fix this process from
the very beginning, and to keep the germane information
out of the public's hands, something I reminded the County
Commission myself when I got my chance to speak last month.
It wasn't by accident, it was City Hall's plan all along.

I hope you'll be able to find time to attend Comm. London's
Resident Forum meeting on Tuesday at 6 p.m., as I fully
expect that it will be full of residents eager to hear more
details about what's really been going on behind-the-scenes
with the HB City Hall spies, Diplomat apologists and dupes
of Mayor Cooper -like her longtime friend Alex Berkovich's
not-so-subtle performance at last month's meeting, where
he actually got-up from his chair about 30 minutes into the
meeting and went out to the hallway to talk to Mayor Cooper,
and then came back in a few minutes later and said that he
had "heard" that the Diplomat was, perhaps, willing to
modify their position a bit.

I guess a little bird had told him.

Many of them will likely show-up anyway, despite
what we already know about them, or have learned
subsequently, because, quite frankly, they can't help
themselves.

Plus, of course, NONE of the other Hallandale Beach City
Commissioners are willing to actually meet citizen taxpayers
in regularly-scheduled monthly meetings without City Hall
staff present to whisper in their ears.
Except Comm. Keith London.

(Perhaps Debbie Orshefsy and Suzanne Friedman and
their PR worker-bees will even make another appearance,
just like in January!)

Is there a more obvious duplicitous dupe than Cooper-acolyte
and HB City Commission candidate Alexander Lewy,
someone who has continually bad-mouthed Comm. London
behind his back for YEARS (and on his Facebook page),
and who calls the public policy meetings that I and so many
others attend, pointless, yet Lewy continues to show-up
at them as if we were none the wiser about what a low-rent
character he truly is?
I think not.

Trust me when I tell you, that duplicitous attorney and
Lewy are about to get the public drubbing and unmasking
of a lifetime this week, and the best part of all is that it's
100% true and verifiable.

That's always been the hurdle for the Diplomat:
they have to lie in order to have a chance to win,
we just have to tell the truth to have a fighting chance.

However it goes on Tuesday night, I'll have my video-camera
with me, ready to record the action, low-lights and hi jinks
that may flare-up with the other side, still clearly upset that
weeks later, we are STILL around.
And now carrying the fight to them.

That's certainly not the way they planned it at Hallandale Beach City Hall last year!

Don't forget to bring your popcorn!

Also, please don't forget about the United Condominium
Association of Hallandale Beach and their monthly meeting
on Thursday the 22nd, at 7 p.m., in the ballroom of the
MarBay Hotel on Diplomat Parkway, with the Diplomat
LAC the main topic du jour.

Adios!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, Apr 17, 2010 at 7:19 PM
Subject: Re: FYI re 2010-04-21 HB City Commission re Flex Units in Diplomat LAC

David, where did you hear the county meeting was moved to May 11th?

----------------
April 12th, 2010

The ad below about the April 21st City Commission meeting ran
in Sunday's Miami Herald.

If you haven't already heard, the Broward County Commission
meeting that was scheduled to re-hear the Diplomat LAC's
incompatible proposal on April 27th, has now been moved to
May 11th.
One month from tomorrow.

By the way, do you think The Masters Golf Tournament the past
week would've looked better or worse on TV for home viewers
IF there'd been constant shots of giant 25-30 story condo towers
looming over the magnolia trees?
Something like this rendering, perhaps?

Above rendering courtesy of Don Boudria
Looking east towards the Intracoastal and Atlantic.

You'd probably have thought that the condo towers seemed
pretty incompatible with what the folks at Augusta
National seemed at pains to keep emphasizing:
nature and green, green everywhere.

Yeah, that's what I'd think, too!

Here's a question I wish I'd thought of asking Debbie Orshefsky
a few months ago:
Are there ANY golf courses in the entire state of Florida where
the respective county approved buildings this TALL to be located
THAT close to an existing residential neighborhood and golf course,
as part of a LAC?

My own guess is that if there were, Debbie would've mentioned it
a few dozen times by now; she hasn't.
I don't think that's a coincidence.

Upcoming HB City Commission meeting re Flex units in Diplomat LAC; imagining The Masters golf tourney with giant condo towers like Diplomat's LAC plan

The ad above about the April 21st Hallandale
Beach City Commission meeting ran in Sunday's
Miami Herald.

If you haven't already heard, the Broward
County Commission meeting that was
scheduled to re-hear the Diplomat LAC's
incompatible proposal on April 27th,
has now been moved to Tuesday May 11th.
One month from tomorrow.

By the way, do you think The Masters Golf
Tournament the past week would've looked
better or worse on TV for home viewers IF
there'd been constant shots of giant 25-30 story
condo towers looming over the magnolia trees?

Say, something like this rendering, perhaps?

Above rendering courtesy of Don Boudria
Looking east towards the Intracoastal and Atlantic.

You'd probably have thought that the condo towers
seemed pretty incompatible with what the folks
at Augusta National seemed at pains to keep
emphasizing: nature and green, green everywhere.

Yeah, that's what I'd think, too!

Here's a question I wish I'd thought of asking the
Diplomat's attorney, Debbie Orshefsky of
Greenberg Traurig, on November 2nd at their
required informational meeting held at the HB
Cultural Center:

Are there ANY golf courses in the entire state
of Florida where the respective county approved
buildings this TALL to be located THAT close
to an existing residential neighborhood and
golf course, as part of a LAC?

My own guess is that if there were such instances,
being the very good lawyer that she is, Debbie
would've mentioned it a few dozen times by now;
she hasn't.
I don't think that's a coincidence.