Charlotte Greenbarg sounds the alarm about Broward back-scratching in action: Bob Norman: Lieberman in China; Looks, walks & quacks like a duck? Duck!

Thought you'd find this of interest, though some of you may've already received Broward Coalition president Charlotte Geenbarg's email.

At the bottom, I've added Charlotte's spot-on email to the Broward County Commission yesterday, plus the copy of the amendment Comm. Lieberman wants to have heard on the 14th, after her trip to China, which I sent many of you on Monday.

I've seen ducks up close before -this ethics amendment of her's looks like a duck to me.

Perhaps we should all get a t-shirt printed-up reading: "One of my commissioners went to China but all I got was much-weaker ethics laws."

By the way, for those of you who don't know your Texas geography, Tarrant County includes Fort Worth, and it's county pop. is 1.7 million, says the guy whose family first moved to the Hill Country of Texas in 1855.


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charlotte Greenbarg
Date: Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 12:59 PM
Subject: Bob Norman: Lieberman in China
To: Charlotte Greenbarg

This probably isn't the best time to visit China;
all travel should be on hold until the County gets it act together, ethically and fiscally.

Personal note: When we were in business late 70s, 80s and until 1993 when we sold and retired, the Chinese government offered to provide at no cost to us for 2 years all the labor we needed to manufacture our orthopedic soft goods and the famous black belt w/suspenders that my late husband perfected. We said no thanks. First, we'd have to lay off the factory full of people who supported families, many single moms, and second, we knew that once they made our goods, they'd go back to China and undercut us, probably with inferior products.

Charlotte

-------

BrowardPalmBeach NewTimes

Daily Pulp blog
Lieberman In China
By Bob Norman, Tue., Aug. 31 2010 @ 10:43AM

While the Chaitgate corruption investigation rages on, Broward County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman won't be at today's commission meeting. She's gone to China.

Lieberman's office confirmed she left for Beijing yesterday as part of a delegation representing the National Association of Counties. She will be there for ten days to "promote econcomic development."

​The commissioner, who has come under intense scrutiny in the State Attorney's Office investigation of the dealings of dirty developers Bruce and Shawn Chait, is currently the president of the Florida Association of Counties, which is affiliated with the national group.

Read the rest of the column at:
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/08/lieberman_in_china.php

Reader comments at:
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/08/lieberman_in_china.php#comments

------
Charlotte's email to the Broward County Commission last night at 7:50 p.m.:

Ladies & Gentlemen:

You've just had (5 p.m. today) an item added to tomorrow's agenda, dealing with the selection of an insurance provider. Staff tied on the selection (Commissioners are no longer on selection committees now that the Ethics ordinance has passed) between Coventry and Aetna.

Problem is that the Florida Assoc. of Counties (FAC), President of which is Comm. Ilene Lieberman, contacted each Commissioner re: this selection. Turns out that the FAC would get $2/month for each enrolled employee if Aetna gets the contract. This is a statewide "arrangment" that FAC has with Aetna.There's nothing wrong per se with the company Aetna; but the "arrangment" waddles and quacks.

Furthermore, FAC Pres. Lieberman is presently in China representing FAC.

So how is this connected to Item 51? Well, we need an open record of who gets and gives what to whom. We wanted
full public disclosure when we demanded an Ethics ordinance. When FAC has an event (and the National Assoc. of Counties and others likewise), there are sponsors for the open bars, for example, and those sponsors are often law firms and lobbyists that do business with counties or have clients who do. But we don't know that, do we? It's not easily available information. And there's the rub.

You need to let the Ethics Ordinance continue to take effect before you begin to make any changes, and Item 51 is a very large change.

I am copying my members on this communication, and know from many, many meetings, emails and conversations that they totally agree with this position.

Sincerely,

Charlotte Greenbarg

President

The Broward Coalition, Inc.

-------

Wendy Murray's cc of her email to the Broward County Commission

Thank you, Wendy!

Charlotte

----- Original Message -----

Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 8:03 AM

Subject: Re: Poster Child for why Item 51 should not be passed

Dear Commissioners,

I agree with both Charlotte and Don.

Please inject ethics and integrity into the Broward County Commission by acting openly and with the avoidance of perceived mischief.

Being an elected official is an honor bestowed upon you by the votes of the residents you serve. Public service should be discerning and in the best interest of the residents. It should not be self-seeking nor give the appearance of such.

Truly, I thank you for your service and hopefully, I observe your actions to avoid all perceived mischief while embracing the arms of integrity and character.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Wendy Murray

P.S. Please forgive any typos as sending from phone. Thank you.

Wendy Murray, FEMV, CMCA, LCAM
Director of Business Development
Association Services of Florida
10112 USA Today Way
Miramar, FL 33025
www.associaflorida.com
954-922-3514

----------

Per my email yesterday

http://www.broward.org/commission/Pages/Meetings.aspx

Meeting Agendas

AI-6294		Item #: 51.
Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Date: 08/31/2010 Director's Name: Jeffrey Newton Department: County Attorney
Information
Requested Action
MOTION TO ADOPT Resolution directing the County Administrator to publish Notice of Public Hearing to be held on Tuesday, September 14, 2010, at 2:00 p.m., in Room 422 of the Governmental Center to consider enactment of a proposed Ordinance, the title of which is as follows: AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA, RELATING TO THE CODE OF ETHICS; AMENDING SUBSECTION 1-19(b)(1) OF THE BROWARD COUNTY CODE OF ORDINANCES, TO ALLOW COUNTY COMMISSIONERS TO ACCEPT ACCOMMODATIONS PROVIDED FOR OR ARRANGED BY PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS NACo AND FAC TO ATTEND OR PARTICIPATE IN OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS OR EVENTS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR INCLUSION IN THE CODE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (Sponsored by Commissioner Ilene Lieberman)
Why Action is Necessary
The proposed Ordinance was prepared by the Office of the County Attorney at the direction of the Board of County Commissioners at its Commission meeting of August 17, 2010.
What Action Accomplishes
The proposed Ordinance amends the Code of Ethics to provide an exception to the gifts restriction and prohibition, allowing County Commissioners to accept accommodations to attend official events and functions that are provided for, or arranged by, state, regional, national, and international organizations, including the National Association of Counties (NACo) and the Florida Association of Counties (FAC), which promote the exchange of information or the professional development of elected public officials, thereby saving Broward County the cost or potential cost of such attendance.
Is this Action Goal Related
Previous Action Taken
Summary Explanation/ Background
The proposed ordinance amends the Code of Ethics to provide an exception to the gifts restriction and prohibition, allowing County Commissioners to accept accommodations to attend official events and functions that are provided for, or arranged by, state, regional, national, and international organizations, including the National Association of Counties (NACo) and the Florida Association of Counties (FAC), which promote the exchange of information or the professional development of elected public officials, thereby saving Broward County the cost or potential cost of such attendance.
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary:
Fiscal Impact Statement by Office of Management and Budget attached as Exhibit 3.

------
See also: http://205.166.161.204/adv_search_results.cfm?fp=ADVSRCH
for the Motion to Direct and Motion to Adopt requested by Comm. Lieberman and County Attorney Jeffrey Newton.

------

In case the link to Bob Norman's column of last Monday above -which mentioned Hallandale Beach mayor Joy Cooper- doesn't work for you:

Our Politicians at the Trough
By Bob Norman, Mon., Aug. 23 2010 @ 3:23PM

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/08/florida_league_of_cities_dinner.php

------

Speaking of ducks, if only South Florida news reporters would start paying closer attention and boning-up on the context and backstory of these sorts of stories, maybe even showing-up en masse to the County Commission meetings just to humor citizens like myself, and started channeling Le Canard enchaîné.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Canard_encha%C3%AEn%C3%A9

Of course, the Chained Duck intentionally has very limited info on le Internet, which they explain away thusly at http://www.lecanardenchaine.fr/:

"Mais notre métier, c'est d'informer et de distraire nos lecteurs, avec du papier journal et de l'encre. C'est un beau métier qui suffit à occuper notre équipe."
But our job is to inform and entertain our readers, with newsprint and ink. It is a wonderful profession that's sufficient to occupy our team.

If only the Sun-Sentinel and Herald were both like-minded and high-minded, and focused their energies on the very large task before them in Broward County, a target-rich environment for corruption with a Capital "C" rather than waste their resources. But no.

Miami TV news reporters have no such excuses.
Instead, the latter do "news stories" on eyelash operations, or get sucked into doing stories on bus shelter advertising signs bought by Hollywood film studios to promote an upcoming film with the word "virgin" in it, which got on the air last night on Channel 4 at 11:11 p.m.
http://cbs4.com/watercooler/Still.A.Virgin.2.1887590.html

Which only makes me ask: If a dog chases its own tail, is that news?
As we all know from personal viewing experience, in South Florida TV circles, dogs that chase their own tails are golden!

Will Lady Dracula, Ilene Lieberman, successfully suck the life out of Broward County's ethics/IG proposal for the benefit of her family and cronies?

2008 Royal Mail stamp of Hammer Films' Dracula, 1958.

This is a follow-up to my post of last Thursday, August 5, 2010
Broward County Comm. Ilene Lieberman is the creepy anti-ethics monster that just won't die. She's the 'Mummy' of Broward County!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/broward-county-comm-ilene-lieberman-is.html

You know what they say, if a horror mask fits...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDTxHg7wyP0




After all the insider talk for a week about what's going to happen Tuesday afternoon on Andrews Avenue at the Broward County Commission meeting at 2 p.m., it's finally time for everyone who's anyone to stand up and be counted and be held publicly accountable.

If it was up to me, of course, I'd love to see a few local high-profile folks in particular show up and say what they personally think about the proposals, so that it's all out there for voters to see, since South Florida pols are notorious for ducking high-profile showdowns on issues like this, even the reformist candidates.

I'll leave it to you readers to figure out why I'd like to see them, but if you are a fairly regular visitor to this space, you probably already have a pretty good hunch why: Chris Smith, Steve Geller, Dan Gelber, Dave Aronberg, Kelly Skidmore, Ellyn Bogdanoff, Ari Porth.

Will any Hispanic or African-American Broward residents speak during public comments, whether high-profile or not? Hmm-m-m... that's a very good question.
Sadly, probably not.

Hey, isn't THAT a news story?
Yes, in other parts of the country, but here in polyglot South Florida, such politically and socially uncomfortable stories like THAT usually never see the light of day.

The afternoon agenda and back up documents are here:
http://205.166.161.204/agenda_publish.cfm?mt=ALL&get_month=8&get_year=2010&dsp=ag&seq=191#ReturnTo0

For those of you unable to get away to downtown Fort Lauderdale to watch the rhetoric and metaphors fly at the three-ring circus, you can watch it LIVE via the Internet but you must use Internet Explorer, as I learned the hard way last year, to my chagrin when using Firefox, with predictable results.
Why IE, I can't say, but that's the deal.
http://www.broward.org/video/

-----

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/07/1766485/villains-of-ethics-reform-in-broward.html

Miami Herald
Villains of ethics reform in Broward dream up new strategy
By Fred Grimm
August 8, 2010

You've got to appreciate the brazen hand behind this latest attempt to eviscerate ethics reform in Broward County. Same way you watch, with perverse fascination, horror movie villains creeping back from oblivion to wreak more mayhem.

In June, a mighty burst of public outrage cowed the sinister forces behind a contrivance to kill reform. Rather than vote an ethics package up or down, the novel strategy would have shipped the proposed ordinance off to the black hole of judicial review, leaving it to languish until after the fall elections.

The notion dripped with contempt for public sentiment. As if commissioners could ignore the county's spate of scandals and indictments and guilty pleas. Or the federal and state investigators bumping into one another around county hall.

Just a few days before County Attorney Jeff Newton (on behalf of ethically conflicted Commissioner Ilene Lieberman) offered up the subterfuge, ousted commissioner Josephus Eggelletion was in state court to face sentencing on a bribery conviction. (Added atop his federal prison term.)

Such a howl went up across the county that Newton's proposal quickly disappeared, leaving the commission with a deadline and -- everyone assumed -- only two options. Either adopt the ordinance created by the Broward County Reform Commission, word for word, or the measure automatically would be placed on the fall ballot.

Not in this movie. Newton and the unseen hand (AKA Lieberman) have dreamed up yet another strategy to undo reform. Newton would have commissioners adopt the reform ordinance at Tuesday's meeting, keeping it away from the angry voters. Then commissioners would adopt a series of amendments designed to exempt the commissioners and their family members and county staffers from most of the new reforms.

Commissioner Suzanne Gunzburger characterized Newton's amendments as a "thinly veiled political attempt to kill ethics reform.''

Newton's so-called "glitch'' ordinance would allow commissioners to keep their seats on bid selection committees. They could still lobby other local governments. Their family members and staffers will not, after all, face strict limits on lobbying. The restrictions on lobbyists' gifts for family members would be gutted. And sitting commissioners would be exempt from certain ethical rules that would be applied to new, incoming commissioners.

"I was absolutely appalled, disgusted, fed up,'' said Broward Ethics Commissioner Robert Wolfe Jr, suffering from an unhappy sense of déjà vu. "We just went through this a couple months ago.''

The ethics commission had spent a year hammering out a package. Not as tough as some wanted. But adopted unanimously. All the while, Wolfe said, certain county politicians, some with profound conflicts of interest, worked behind the scenes to dilute the effort. Now comes this so-called glitch amendment. (Hardly more than a week after Broward Commissioner Diana Wasserman-Rubin was formally charged with seven counts of unlawful compensation.) "There's a culture here that just doesn't get it,'' said the frustrated Wolfe.

It's the sequel to Nightmare on Andrews Avenue. The same scary, sneaky creatures back from the murk, still determined to kill reform.

Reader comments at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/07/1766485/villains-of-ethics-reform-in-broward.html?commentSort=TimeStampAscending&pageNum=1

-----

Robert Weschler picks up the ethics baton and carries it forward at his excellent blog at www.cityethics.org

Yet Another Underhanded Attempt to Water Down the Broward County Ethics Commission's New Ethics Code Fri, 2010-08-06 14:36
http://www.cityethics.org/content/yet-another-underhanded-attempt-water-down-broward-county-ethics-commissions-new-ethics-code

-----

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Broward Politics blog
Broward County Attorney Newton denies effort to thwart ethics reform
By Brittany Wallman August 9, 2010 09:34 PM

Broward County Attorney Jeff Newton wrote a letter Monday defending his latest proposed changes to the Code of Ethics county commissioners will vote on Tuesday.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/08/broward_county_attorney_newton.html

Broward County Attorney Jeffrey J. Newton's letter to Miami Herald re Fred Grimm column here:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/BdCCResponsetoFredGrimmColumn080910.pdf

-----

This was the 2009 Broward Politics video interview with Bill Scherer on ethics in Broward County that I had on the blog for quite some time.
His comments still ring true!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsXY8oaABoA





See also:
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/stamps/content1?catId=32300674&mediaId=76000716
http://www.hammerfilms.com/news/uk-cult-classics-celebrated-on-royal-mail-stamps

To see the Royal Mail stamps commemorating the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games:
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/stamps/content1?catId=123500769&mediaId=126000848

Broward County Comm. Ilene Lieberman is the creepy anti-ethics monster that just won't die. She's the 'Mummy' of Broward County!

2008 Royal Mail stamp of Hammer Films' The Mummy, 1959.
"Its evil look brings madness! Its evil spell enslaves!"

In my opinion, based on what Buddy Nevins has forthrightly described in his Wednesday BrowardBeat column, below, Broward County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman won't stop selling her office's influence to the highest bidder 'till she's in prison shackles.

Sadly, it's that simple, and it's about time the statute of limitations ended for all of her many apologists in the South Florida community, including certain media members, who, for reasons that nobody can honestly explain, still keep giving her the benefit of the doubt.
Enough with the excuses already!

Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar, and Lieberman is exactly what she looks like: an unrepentant offender of the community's ethos, which is really saying something for how low we actually are now -and how much lower she will go.

If we were Amish, perhaps we could simply shame Lieberman or shun her or banish her, but... well, we're not Amish.

I am SO going to be in the front row of the Commission Chamber for that meeting!

And so are dozens of South Florida civic activists and bloggers. But will South Florida's news media actually leave their air-conditioned offices and show-up?

Or what about lawyer/lobbyist Steve Geller, who'd per$onally benefit from what Ilene Liberman's trying to do?
Hmm-m-m... now that's a question!

-------

BrowardBeat

Outrage: Commissioners To Debate Gutting Ethics Reform
By Buddy Nevins
August 4, 2010

Can the ethically challenged Broward County Commission sink any lower?

Commissioners will consider next week a set of amendments to gut proposed ethics reform.

The amendments are supposedly authored by the county attorney’s office. I see the hand of Commissioner Ilene Lieberman in this.

Lieberman has consistently argued against ethics reform. She has been accused in the past of using the county attorney’s office to further her aims of derailing any new ethics laws.

To read the rest of the post:
http://www.browardbeat.com/outrage-commissioners-to-debate-gutting-ethics-reform/

-------
See also:
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/stamps/content1?catId=32300674&mediaId=76000716
http://www.hammerfilms.com/news/uk-cult-classics-celebrated-on-royal-mail-stamps

Latest on Broward County ethics debate, inc. Verbatim Minutes of June 18th, 2010 Broward County Ethics Commission meeting

In case you never got around to seeing it the first time I mentioned it, please take a moment to look at Robert Wechsler's excellent take on the transparently self-serving excuses being foisted on Broward's citizen taxpayers in the fight against getting meaningful ethics legislation here with real teeth, and consider bookmarking his blog, too.
http://www.cityethics.org/Blog-RobWechsler

The Broward County Commission Should Not Be Challenging the Constitutionality of a Lobbying Provision
http://www.cityethics.org/content/broward-county-commission-should-not-be-challenging-constitutionality-lobbying-provision

(He had a newer post on Monday relating to something I have below,
A Second Constitutionality Opinion in Broward County, Just Like the First http://www.cityethics.org/content/second-constitutionality-opinion-broward-county-just-first

His first post was written on the 18th, the same day as the Broward Ethics Commission meeting -which I missed, unfortunately.

I have the Minutes to that meeting, including the Verbatim Minutes, the Real McCoy as it were, to use a phrase I've never used in a blog post before.
Guess I'm just in an idiomatic mood!

While not exactly a Stieg Larsson page-turner, it makes for some interesting reading.

I've also included Brittany Wallman and Scott Wyman's spot-on Broward Politics posts from Friday and Monday afternoon on the latest development in the ethics power play that has slowly morphed into a morality play -and jobs bill.
That is to say, jobs for the commissioner's spouses and family if they can finesse it.

You also want to be sure to read the reader comments, too, since one of the folks who read it and had something to say is Comm. Stacy Ritter.
She and that "gifted" golf cart and what many Broward citizens believe is her larger-than-life sense of entitlement were the subject of Michael Mayo's Mayo on the Side blog column on Friday, also at the bottom.

And not that you asked, but I like the Netherlands to win the World Cup.

I have a few World Cup-related posts on the way that I've heretofore chosen to keep in Draft, including one on the England National Team (ENT) that I'll be calling, modestly,
The Bungle in Bloemfontein: How English football culture's weaknesses were exposed again, with nary a silver lining to be found.

1. June 18th, 2010 Broward County Ethics Commission Meeting Minutes http://www.broward.org/EthicsCommission/Documents/06182010Minutes.pdf

2. June 18th, 2010 Broward County Ethics Commission Verbatim Minutes
http://www.broward.org/EthicsCommission/Documents/06182010MinutesVerbatim.pdf

Code of Ethics Ordinance - Final Approval
http://www.broward.org/EthicsCommission/Documents/CodeofEthics2010%20-%20Final%20%20Approved.pdf

-----
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Broward Politics blog
Broward's ethics ordinance legally wobbly but could be adopted, lawyer says

Posted by Brittany Wallman on June 28, 2010 04:25 PM

The proposed cleanup of Broward County government could move forward despite questions about its constitutionality, under a scenario proposed by an outside attorney hired by the county.

Attorney Bruce Johnson weighed in Monday with a memo to the county, saying that parts of the proposed overhaul of Broward County Commission ethics rules would probably not withstand a constitutional challenge. The problematic part, in particular, he said, is a proposed lobbying ban in Broward that would apply not just to county commissioners but also to their family members and spouses or domestic partners.

Read the rest of the post at:

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/06/outside_lawyer_browards_ethics.html

-----

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Broward Politics blog
County attorney defends role in ethics code controversy

Posted by Scott Wyman on June 25, 2010 09:00 AM

Nothing to see here. That’s the official response from Broward County’s attorney concerning the week of controversy that surrounded the botched move to go to court over long-sought ethics reform.

In a memo sent to county commissioners Thursday, County Attorney Jeff Newton rejected allegations that he had been part of a conspiracy to derail reform. He said the concerns he raised about the ethics legislation was, instead, a legitimate response to an inquiry made by Commissioner Ilene Lieberman before the June 15 board meeting.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/06/county_attorney_defends_role_i.html
--------

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Michael Mayo
Mayo on the Side blog
Stacy Ritter: Husband asked for golf cart from developers

Posted by Michael Mayo on June 25, 2010 11:37 AM

Before she was elected to the Broward County Commission in November 2006, Stacy Ritter got a golf cart from the father-and-son developer team of Bruce and Shawn Chait.

"I didn't ask for it," Ritter told me this week. "Russ asked for it."

Russ is her husband, lobbyist Russ Klenet.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2010/06/stacy_ritter_husband_asked_for.html

Rearguard action against Broward County ethics proposals continue; Debra J. Saunders: University of Anarchy and No Consequences at Cal-Berkeley

And you thought summer Sundays were going to be boring?

To me, the key sentence from Debra J. Saunders excellent piece below that I got via The Rasmussen Report on the situation at Berkeley is this one: "Moreover, the rules as written are not enforced consistently."

If you had never heard of the particular problem she opines about out at the home of the University of California's mother-ship campus, you can be forgiven for thinking that this spot-on sentence sounds exactly like one that you or I might used in conversations with friends
to describe the ethical problem, writ large, in South Florida from top-to-bottom, and Broward County and Hallandale Beach in particular.

There's the written law, there's the written and un-written ruies of normal social behavior, and then there's what too many people with power or influence down here -and their pack of cronies- think they can reasonably get away with, often right in front of us, and then look at us
like we're the ones who have a problem.

They just keep nibbling away, never satisfied, undermining our laws and our concept of what local government is supposed to be like thru their sheer ego and avarice.

The larger problem for residents of South Florida is that, in large part, the very elected or appointed people who are actually supposed to enforce those written (and un-written) laws, whether Broward County SAO Michael Satz or Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti or HB City Attorney David Jove, far too often for a healthy democracy, are either oblivious to what's going on right in front of them, or, sadly, looking the other way, so that "the rules as written are not enforced consistently."

The desultory results of that longstanding inconsistency are pretty obvious all around us, and one of the by-products of that is the sheer level of genuine taxpayer anger among so many people who were previously apathetic about local government.

Fortuitously, while I was writing this, I received a timely email from Charlotte Greenbarg that consists of Comm. Gunzburger's email to Broward County Attorney Jeffrey J. Newton
about the needed Ethics Comm. proposals, the same one I referenced Friday and Saturday in some emails to selected people throughout the area about the rearguard action by some on the County Commission to thwart their implementation, by hook or by crook.
Now you can see for yourself what's what.

On Saturday, in responding to my email of Friday, Comm. Gunzburger reminded me again of her own role to get some real teeth in the Broward Ethics Commission proposals, something I've noted and seen for myself since last year.

Here is what she wrote me:

FYI I wrote a memo to Atty. Newton and distributed it to 2 members of the ethics committee after the vote. That is why the emergency meeting was called.
Sue Gunzburger-


Also, since my blog post of Thursday, the Sun-Sentinel's Brittany Wallman, who, alone, was on top of that recent Broward MPO re-organization story -see my May 20th post re her story, County: MPO is laying off some employees, then bumping up salaries
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/brittany-wallman-is-on-top-of-broward.html- has posted several posts on the Ethics fight on the Broward Politics blog, including one today about Legislative Delegation chair, State Rep. Ari Porth, zeroing-in on Stacey Ritter. Links to those posts of her's are at the bottom.

If you know anyone who works at the Miami Herald, be sure to tell them that you appreciate their completely sleeping on this Ethics story this week, with zero news articles in print, plus this misleadling blog post
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2010/06/will-a-brow-judge-let-commissioners-work-as-lobbyists.html since you know that yet another story about Cuba in the Broward edition of the Herald's Local & State section is a small price for Broward readers to pay.

To paraphrase what others have stated before, in the case of Hallandale Beach in particular and Broward County in general, we may well need some plate tectonics to put us in Cuba before the Herald ever starts putting out a quality product for its Broward residents reflecting where they live.

In the year 2010, while the Herald has a Gay-centric blog and and number of Spanish language blogs, plus ones dedicated to individual TV shows, there are still ZERO Broward-centric columnists and ZERO Broward-centric government/politics blog.
ZERO.

Hardly anyone I know and respect from Broward County bothers to read the Herald's Naked Politics blog anymore because they so rarely have something of interest to Broward County.

Most of the people I know are already hip to the fact that the St. Pete Times Buzz politics blog and the Orlando Sentinel's Central Florida Political Pulse are far superior in every way in their coverage of the rest of the state to the Herald's.

Meanwhile, Broward County remain terra incognita for One Herald Plaza -and it shows every single day you look at the newspaper.

----

Rasmussen Reports
University of Anarchy and No Consequences
A Commentary By Debra J. Saunders
Sunday, June 20, 2010

When activists (who are not necessarily students) were able to delay construction of a UC Berkeley sports center by living in trees for 21 months, there was no review of what went wrong.

When protesters with torches vandalized UC Chancellor Robert Birgeneau's home, there was no review.

But when UC police arrested 46 people demonstrating against higher-education cuts by occupying Wheeler Hall on Nov. 20, there were complaints that police overreacted.

And so -- with authorities, not anarchists in the sights -- a review was born.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_debra_j_saunders/university_of_anarchy_and_no_consequences

See also: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/

------------------------------

From: Sue Gunzburger

Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 8:34 AM
Cc: recipient list not shown:
Subject: Fwd:My Email to Jeff Newton

Many on the commission are trying to water down the ethics code. This is what I sent to our attorney last night.

Mr. Newton:

With little reasonable advance time for review, you submitted a substantive legal memorandum to the Commission for immediate review dated just one day before Tuesday's meeting. In the memo ("Our File: 10-026 - Re: Portions of Proposed Ethics Code that Exceed Charter Authority or are Otherwise Legally Invalid"), you boldly -- and I believe incorrectly -- stated a lobbying ban on the Commission is likely "unconstitutional." This is very troubling.

In said memo, you stated lobbying is a "core First Amendment right" which cannot be restricted except for the narrowest of reasons. You further wrote that a "ban based on the identity of the lobbyist (i.e., County Commissioners, ...)" may be an "impermissible" regulation of speech. You seem to miss that lobbying bans have been routinely upheld and enforced. Congress, the federal executive branch, and the Florida Legislature, even the City Of Hollywood -- among others -- have all adopted long-standing lobbying bans of imposing a ban of varying amounts of years (typically 2 years) during which a former official is prohibited from lobbying his/her former agency or branch of government. These were put in place to prohibit the appearance of impropriety, and all are based upon the identity of the lobbyist (to wit: a former official). To date, not a single one of these bans has ever been struck down by the courts. See:

· Art. II, Sec. 8(e), Florida Constitution - "No member of the legislature or statewide elected officer shall personally represent another person or entity for compensation before the government body or agency of which the individual was an officer or member for a period of two years following vacation of office. No member of the legislature shall personally represent another person or entity for compensation during term of office before any state agency other than judicial tribunals. Similar restrictions on other public officers and employees may be established by law." NOTE: The restriction prohibiting current legislators from lobbying "any state agency other than judicial tribunals" is virtually analogous in purpose to the "lobbying down" ban the Ethics Committee suggested we adopt for sitting County Commissioners. Further, the lobbying ban set forth in the Florida Constitution is explicitly based on the identity of the lobbyist (to wit: a "member of the legislature"). Clearly, your analysis was severely flawed if you failed to note in your memo this nearly on-point provision from within Florida's own constitution.

· Section 112.313(9), Florida Statutes - Establishes lobbying bans explicitly targeted at individuals based on the identity of the lobbyist. See the lengthy list of covered job titles encompassed within this section's lobbying ban. I can find no court rulings invalidating, or even questioning, the constitutionality of this provision. Further, many states have virtually identical laws -- all of which appear to remain good law. See: http://www.ncsl.org/Default.aspx?TabId=15334

Secondly, I have questions about wasting tax dollars on a declaratory judgment action that appears concerned only with some general, speculative fear of future harm that may possibly occur at some time in the indefinite future. Until the voters enact it and there is a justiciable controversy, the County cannot in good faith make any showing of a real threat of immediate injury. If and until such time that the voters enact the proposed Commission Ethics Code, any declaratory judgment action would appear unripe for court review. See: State v. Florida Consumer Action Network, 830 So.2d 148 (Fla. 1^st DCA, 2002). What is the purpose of going to court to expend significant tax dollars to challenge reforms that have yet to even be adopted by the voters? This makes no sense from a public policy perspective.

Finally, I have serious concerns about whether the County is the appropriate party to bring the declaratory judgment action seeking to undermine the proposed ethics reforms. Are you proposing -- even if done through contracted outside counsel -- that the County retain outside counsel to bring a legal challenge against the County (i.e., our own Ethics Committee, for which the County Attorney is also legal counsel). Doesn't this raise ethical questions of bringing a lawsuit in which "the fix" is in place, and undermine public confidence? Wouldn't your office also be the legal entity responsible for defending the provisions in court (i.e., the entity against which you are filing the declaratory judgment action)? If yes, it would seem that the “adverse” parties we essentially agents of one and the same master, seemingly intent on derailing ethics reform. It further suggests the two sides would be able to enter into manipulated and deceptive stipulations in court while posting as faux "opposing" parties with the goal of invalidating the reforms. If not an actual ethical conflict for your office, it certainly doesn't pass the smell test for avoiding the appearance of conflict of interest. Further, wouldn't the appropriate party to bring a declaratory judgment action and bear the costly financial burden of the suit be a member of the public (or perhaps one of my colleagues, if s/he feels so inclined) who seeks to invalidate a portion of the Commission Ethics Code once it has been adopted? I simply do not understand why the County is seeking to act as a legal roadblock to thwart the public's very appropriate desire to enact significant ethics reforms for the County Commission.

Let me be very clear: I fully support enactment of the entire proposed County Ethics Code. I am very disturbed by this legal attack -- seemingly coordinated with the assistance of your office -- seeking to undermine these important ethical reforms.

Please share with me your thoughts on the concerns I expressed above.

Sincerely,

Sue Gunzburger
Vice Mayor

-----
Broward Politics blog
Broward political ethics reform vaporizing
Posted by Brittany Wallman on June 19, 2010 08:11 AM

Broward voters asked for a wholesale cleanup of county government, and it appeared a sure thing. Until now.

The political ethics reform that voters demanded two years ago is headed not to the ballot, not to the Broward County Commission rule books, but to courts.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/06/broward_political_ethics_refor.html

-----

Broward Politics blog
Broward delegation chairman singles out county's Ritter
Posted by Brittany Wallman on June 20, 2010 09:13 AM

Broward delegation chairman Rep. Ari Porth, D-Coral Springs, singled out Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter in a recent op-ed column in our newspaper.

I'm re-publishing it now because Porth lambasted commissioners in a written statement today for sending proposed ethics reform to court rather than passing it. He accused commissioners of opposing state efforts at corruption reform, and when I asked his office to name names, this is what they sent.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/06/broward_delegation_chairman_si.html

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.