Bob Norman 3/27 column on Hallandale Beach's purchase of Tower trailer park

What follows is an excerpted version of an email I sent to some friends and colleagues around the area almost two weeks ago, after reading Bob Norman's March 27th column in the Broward Palm Beach New Times.
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...well, to say the least, this recent Bob Norman story in The Broward Palm Beach New Times leaves out a ton of context.
The sort of important nuanced details which, if mentioned, would make it NOT quite such a one-sided David vs. Goliath narrative, which is clearly Norman's intent here, as it so often is in his columns.
(And me in particular, I love David vs. Goliath stories, for obvious reasons.)

I say that from the p.o.v. of someone who actually attended the HB City Commission meetings last year on the subject, and who attended the subsequent public forums held at the HB Cultural Center, taking copious notes as per usual.

Now I don't claim to know or have all the pertinent facts in this real estate deal, but having been there, and taken notes, I think I'm in a better position to comment about what was said and discussed, and the general tenor of the meetings, than Norman, whom I never saw at any of these meetings.

The Miami Herald's Jasmine Kripalani somehow managed to find time in her busy day to make it to the public forum, but I guess Norman was too busy.
Perhaps howling at the moon or fulminating against someone in authority that got under his skin.
From my vantage point in the room, he was a no-show, so keep that in mind while you read his column.

As it happens, in my opinion, that public forum was largely an ad hoc attempt by the city to respond -finally- to the universally negative PR media hit they took all over the area, as this story rolled out, often being greatly exaggerated in the retelling far beyond what really happened.

That Cultural Center public forum was very lively and featured a number of Tower Mobile Home and RV Park residents who verbally attacked everyone present from the city who was involved in the process, including HB Mayor Joy Cooper and City Manager Mike Good, and trust me, they didn't mince their words, either.

I'll leave it to you to decide whether it was more lively and engaging -if erratic- than a City Commission meeting because Mayor Cooper was NOT in a position to wield her trusty gavel, since for much of the meeting, she was leaning against one of the walls up towards the front, listening and talking to other city officials and occasionally making comments.

I truly wished it had been televised, because it would've been Must-See TV that night on the local 6 p.m. news.

Having been witness to what transpired there, I should mention some things which would not be apparent to you if you relied solely on what's been said around town about that meeting, and in subsequent stories and columns, like Norman's.

Many of the residents, though well-intentioned, mis-spoke about basic, commonly-known facts, which was, perhaps, understandable, given how angry and mad they were, and in some cases, were perhaps not entirely comfortable speaking in public.

But I also think it's fair to say that there were a lot of people present who didn't want to know the facts, and didn't make any serious attempt to understand what the process was.

They just wanted to protest and threaten, and in some cases, may've honestly believed (or been told) that if they showed up and hollered a bit, the city would change their mind about the acquisition.
(You and I both know that was simply never going to happen.)

That was their right, of course, to do as they saw fit, it's just that in all fairness, their behavior and demeanor should be brought up, since it's never mentioned in Norman's column.

The deal itself really hit home the morning after the Commission approved the deal, when Local10/Channel 10 sent out a film crew to the Tower Mobile Home and RV Park, and reporter Jeff Weinsier found residents who knew nothing about the deal and what that meant for their future.
It was very powerful and compelling stuff.

That first segment with the despondent residents aired at Noon, and later in the afternoon, Mayor Cooper was interviewed at City Hall, forced to respond to the criticism for the 6 p.m. newscast.

http://www.local10.com/news/13814914/detail.html
Video didn't work last week, as is often the case with non-recent video on Channel 10's website, as opposed to Channel 4's, which I never have a problem with.

See also http://www.sharedemergency.com/New%20TowerMobileHomePark2.0.htm and
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v1529128TMBTprQs?searchId=1590881681615605565&rank=1
FYI: Sound didn't work at beginning, and is produced by group clearly opposed to city's effort.

Vice Mayor Julian, portrayed in Norman's column here as the sympathetic-if-clueless HB official who really wants to do the right thing, after-the-fact, was, to my recollection, actually one of the chief cheerleaders for the project when the City Commission voted to approve the deal.

In fact, as is his norm, I specifically recall him congratulating City Manager Mike Good and his staff "for the great job they did" in securing the property for the city at the price they did.
(I'll have to look at my notes again, but that's how I recall it.)

At that point, it was so utterly predictable to me how the whole thing would shake out -and blow-up in the city's face.

It's Hallandale Beach.
Of course it's going to blow-up in their face from not being properly prepared!
Why would you expect this time to be any different from any other time?

Personally, I suspect the city didn't do more to prepare that community for a simple reason.

They didn't want to publicize their efforts for fear that another party would swoop in and make a competing bid, perhaps offering more cash up-front to get the deal done.

Simply put, the city didn't want to be in a bidding war!

(Don't know the financial terms the city made as to whether it's one big lump sum payment to the property owner, or spread out in order to decrease personal tax liabilities. I strongly suspect the latter.)

Based on Norman's version of events, William Julian would seem to be born-again, having switched sides now that he's cast a vote that he regrets.

(Actually, what I think Julian really regrets is making a vote that might actually matter to voters in the city next time he runs for re-election.
The video of him at that City Commission meeting that night might prove VERY helpful to any prospective candidate running at the same time as Julian, who, in case you forgot, came in second in total votes to Keith London when they ran last March.)

http://www.floridaworkforcehousing.net/showDiary.do;jsessionid=C3130FA3D21F1EA8329EAFBEB1908267?diaryId=808
Updated: Hallandale Beach vice mayor no 'greedy scumbag developer,' to fight for Tower Park elderly

But did you happen to notice what was missing from Julian's aspect of the story, something fundamental to the narrative itself?

What was missing were questions from Norman to Julian about why he voted for the acquisition in the first place, if he now thinks it's so obviously a bad deal for the community.

It's that sort of tortured logic one constantly encounters when one enters the city limits of HB, which, of course, is not really any kind of logic at all.

Much as was the case with John Kerry, Julian, having already voted for it, now would like to vote against it.

To me, it speaks to the unevenness of Norman's column that he never includes any comments by someone who could actually speak to the city's real (long-term) rationale for the deal, though to me, it seems rather self-evident.

(Why would Norman not ask someone, anyone, that basic question? Perhaps because he knows he wouldn't like the answer, since it would directly undermine the very premise of his column. Maybe, for once, the city actually showed some smarts, even if unintentionally and cruelly.)

Here's my own theory, borne of knowing the area reasonably well and how people around here usually think.
Which is why, perhaps, things don't get done.

The property on Old Federal Highway directly across the street from the Tower trailer park -immediately west of the U.S. Post Office- will prove in the long-term to be much more valuable and desirable -and marketable- as a result of the deal.

It's far easier to sell young, upper middle-class Soccer Moms (and their spouses) on the idea of moving into a condo in Hallandale Beach, IF, instead of being near some commercial strip on Hallandale Beach Blvd., and its often nightmarish morning and afternoon traffic, as is the case now with The Duo, they're across the street from a nice new green park, adjacent to one with soccer and baseball fields -Peter Bluesten Park.

Plus, the ballpark, being closer to the FEC railroad tracks, has lights which are just far enough away as to not make them annoying at night.

Additionally, once it's finished, they'll just be three blocks away from the new Village at Gulfstream Shopping area across U.S.-1.

Frankly, that's a much better marketing hook than selling the idea of buying a condo located across the street from an old run-down trailer park, which, as anyone who lives in the area can tell you without exaggeration, often attracts a lot of very strange characters at night.

I've even heard people at the beach sitting on a bench near me discuss it like it's common knowledge, and they're just stating the obvious.

When/If the FEC commuter train becomes operational, as I suspect it will, with an HB train station located on HBB, less than a ten-minute walk away, residents of that condo will have quick access to downtown Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.

Buh-bye to 1-95 gridlock!

Now that's a powerful marketing hook!

( I should know. The flexibility and dependability of mass transit, in this case, WMATA, the Washington D.C. Metro, http://www.wmata.com/ is why I chose to live in Arlington County and not in Washington itself.
I lived in D.C. for the first 18 months I was in the area, including six months on Capitol Hill
near Senator and Mrs. Moynihan on East Capitol Street, and a year living in Tenleytown
on Nebraska Avenue next door to the Japanese Ambassador's residence. のバスサービス

See http://southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/2007/01/when-reporters-choose-sides-play.html )

So in many ways, from the city's p.o.v., it would be a long-term investment that might pay big dividends in the future, making that part of the city a more desirable place to live than it is now.

Not that I necessarily think the city fully realizes all the things I've just put out on the table for you here, though!

For now, the city talks about that area being used as some kind of park area, and many talk about it being an important future component of the city's Master Plan.

That may well be so, but I'd bet money that five years from now, at the very least, it'll be a medium-sized condo complex.

Frankly, for all we know, some future pro-reform mayor of Hallandale Beach might be moving in there in the next few years, once that project is complete, since the water pipes for it have already been put in place over the past few years, esp. on S.E. 8th Street.

That's the street, that, four years later, still lacks the yellow rectangular Street Hump signs parallel to the humps, as is common in the rest of the city.

This, despite Planning Director Christy Dominguez continually saying at the all-night public meeting last year on the DOMUS project, how terribly concerned they all were at City Hall with road conditions on that street and the surrounding area.
What a laugh!

I specifically mentioned it to the mayor and city manager when they came over to my seat that night during a break, even mentioning how many times I've contacted City Hall over the years trying to get it dealt with.

What's happened since?

Zero.

While it may seem like a small thing, it's illustrative of the city's longtime inability to do things
competently, efficiently and with courtesy.

That's why it's been such a longtime bête noire of mine.
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http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2008-03-27/news/trailer-trashed/
Broward Palm Beach New Times
Trailer Trashed
Hallandale draws a bead on its most vulnerable citizens
By Bob Norman
Published: March 27, 2008

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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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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

Postponed: PnZ mtg. today re Diplomat Golf Course condos

Just got the news this morning about the postponement of today's Hallandale Beach Planning and Zoning Board's meeting on the Diplomat's plans for at least 1,300 more condos in the postage stamp duchy that is Hallandale Beach.

Yesterday afternoon, I swung by the area to see if they had the posted meeting signs that conform to the new and improved rules.

While I didn't personally see them, camera at the ready, perhaps they were removed after the meeting was postponed. But wouldn't that have just necessitated changing ther date and time on the posted sign?

The city's website this morning reads: Planning and Zoning Board – Diplomat Land Use Plan Application. The Planning and Zoning Board Meeting for December 12th regarding the Diplomat Land Use Plan application has been canceled and deferred to the January 23, 2008 Planning and Zoning Board Meeting. For additional information please call (954) 457-1378.

I spoke to some of the members of the HB Planning and Zoning Board after their last meeting, and based on what I saw and heard that particular Wednesday, they seem to be exercising their mental muscles and experiencing a "born again" moment, at least, compared to other parts of the city's body politic.

I say that based on what a few members expressed to me afterwards, the most important of which was that no matter what, they are NOT going to allow the upcoming Diplomat hearing to even start unless they all have all the pertinent land use info days before the hearing, instead of the usual HB modus operandi.

That, so I infer from the comments of the Board, is where the developers' materials are sort of dropped off at the last minute for staff to digest and review, leaving the Board in the awkward position of being behind the learning curve as far as knowing the material well-enough to pose the sort of probing and pertinent questions a subject like this demands. Go figure!

In particular, I congratulate PnZ member Arnold Cooper for saying at length and with some conviction, that he'd seek to postpone the upcoming hearing, rather than allow it to start with incomplete info and not enough time to review it.
Sort of makes me wonder how long this pattern of gathering info at the last minute has been going on. It would explain a lot of what I see around the city.

Hmm... if only the HB City Council had actually worked like this last year before they approved Gulfstream/Forest City's Village of Gulfstream project, months before the city's own consultant's transportation study was completed for a city currently rated "D" on road congestion.

Along those same lines, Mr. Cooper wondered aloud, to some laughter, how it was possible that, a whole year later, with roughly 4,000 more units out there, that HB could still be rated a "D," on road use.
It was all I could do to stifle myself from laughing out loud from my seat towards the middle of the chambers!

At some point soon, I may just have to acquaint the Board with some learned bit of knowledge that was dropped on me by several very frustrated employees of the Broward County Traffic & Engineering Dept., just months after I returned to South Florida from Arlington, VA.

In some ways, I suppose, those particular comments to me, made over several months, were the very foundation for my decision to start this particular blog. Obviously, knowing what I know now, I just wish I'd started it sooner.

So you ask, what did these very knowledgable Broward County employees whisper into my ear?

Plenty! Only that thanks to the longtime incompetent policies of the Hallandale Beach Police Dept. and the auxilary folks who work traffic control on Gulfstream's racing days -theoretically, to prevent blocked intersections- continually make a bad situation infinitely worse under the guise of solving the problem, the ultimate indignity.

I asked whether part of it was due to the clear lack of attention that's paid to emerging traffic patterns, since 99% of the auxilary folks I've ever seen assigned to this duty are constantly on their cell phones. You know, as opposed to being actively engaged and pro-active, and actually using their whistles once in a while to stop 'creepers' and actually writing tickets to people who are "blocking the box."

They semi-ignored this low-hanging bit of fruit while nodding with a smile.

But they did say that the manipulation of the traffic light signals actually makes the ingress/egress situation far worse, causing ripple effects that radiate outward from the area, particularly along HBB towards both A1A and I-95.

That actually confirmed some things I'd once read in The New Yorker -Yes, The New Yorker- on traffic about 5-10 years ago.

By their improper use of the signal light at US-1 & HBB, they well, that's a topic for another time.
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The Miami Herald
HALLANDALE BEACH: Diplomat is pushing for more growth - Residents in Hallandale Beach are concerned about a proposal to build condos at the Diplomat Country Club.
By Jasmine Kripalani
November 15, 2007

A developer wants to build another 1,400 condos and town homes in Hallandale Beach, the South Broward city that already has congested streets and at least 1,600 new housing units on the way.
Despite the slow housing market, the owners of the Diplomat Country Club want city approval to build 1,388 units around their 18-hole golf course east of Federal Highway and north of Hallandale Beach Boulevard.

The three buildings will range from 10 to 22 stories.

It's the latest step in Hallandale's transformation from a retirement community to a more diverse -- and more crowded -- city like neighboring Aventura.

The developers hope to sell units for around $600,000 each. They estimate that the city's population would swell by nearly 2,600 people.

But the developer may lack the support from city commissioners."I've made it clear to the developer that I would not support that amount of units," Mayor Joy Cooper said.

Commissioner Keith London said he has called residents to tell them about the developer's intentions.

And some residents who met with developers this month are raising concerns about traffic and construction impact.

"The traffic we currently experience has become unmanageable. If I needed to get to the hospital, could they get me there safely? Would I still be alive by the time I get there?" said Armin Lovenvirth, a 30-year resident of Hallandale Beach and a member of the city's planning and zoning board. "We have huge projects that haven't even begun."

Among them: the 29-story, 118-unit European Club along Hallandale Beach Boulevard between Federal Highway and State Road A1A; and the Village at Gulfstream Park, 901 S. Federal Hwy., which is slated to include 1,500 condos, 70 shops and restaurants and a 2,500-seat movie theater.

Resident Carlos Simmons, 61, said he questions whether the demand is there.

"We have the two structures behind Winn-Dixie," Simmons said, referring to the towering Duo condos at 1725 E. Hallandale Beach Blvd. "I live across the street, on Golden Isles Drive, and there are hardly any lights on at all at night.


"In August, the city placed a six-month moratorium on all new development in order to map out a growth plan. A consulting firm is working on the plan.

The attorney for the Diplomat project said Broward County's population will increase and that's what drives the demand for housing.

'I think we have a responsibility to accommodate the growth and the question is, 'Where do you put it?' ' said Debbie Orshefsky, an attorney for Diplomat Properties. "What we have is a short-term slow down, but long-term, people are moving here and people are having kids."

The issue is scheduled to come before the Planning and Zoning Board on Nov. 28. The board will make a recommendation to city commissioners.

Commissioners would hear the issue a couple of months later. The final decision could be made by the summer, Mayor Cooper said."I've looked at this development and I'm skeptical of the amount of units and I've been very vocal to them about this," Cooper said. "I would support an expansion of the hotel."

The Diplomat Country Club, 501 Diplomat Pkwy., currently houses the golf course, a tennis center and 60-room hotel. Developers have also proposed expanding the hotel to more than 300 rooms and would do this by rearranging the maintenance facility.

"I would never approve any residential units that would have a direct adverse impact on the championship, 18-hole course," Cooper said.

Orshefsky said the proposed expansion would not affect the quality of the golf course.

Golden Isles Drive Association President Ed Napolitano, 42, said he supports more development.

"I like growth in an area and anything that's going to bring a younger, vibrant crowd," Napolitano said. "I'm all for it."

Copyright (c) 2007 The Miami Herald

HB citizens continue to oppose trash plant on Ansin Blvd.

I hate to admit it but I was a no-show Monday night.

I had really hoped to be at Monday night's meeting at the Hallandale Beach Cultural Community Center to hear what -if anything- Hallandale Beach's elected officials and city
employees were now going to say about the city's proposed trash plant, which the city's officials desperately want.
The reason is because I've known for years about the deep level of frustration -and then, ennui- felt by residents of the NW part of Hallandale Beach, who've long felt they were being treated as second-class citizens -by their own city.

Lest you think after reading the articles below by Thomas Monnay and Jasmine Kriplani, that the individuals interviewed by them were just a handful of the sort of people you can find in any town in the country, always upset and disgruntled by something, regardless of the issue, let me set you straight now: you're wrong.
The level of anger, disappointment and discontent these citizens feel on this particular issue, as well as some others, is quite real, and NOT at all below the surface.
I know this because I recall vividly what I saw and heard at a number of HB City Commission meetings I attended in 2006, where I took my usual copious notes.

During the public comments portion of those 2006 hearings, I heard many speakers talk from the heart about their concerns regarding the proposed trash plant and the negative effect its location would have on them and their part of HB, as well as their perception that the project seemed to be inching closer and closer to fruition, even before they'd get in their two cents.
No matter how many times Mayor Joy Cooper and City Manager Mike Good repeatedly said that it was simply not the case, that there was a process that would be followed, the public
speakers I saw and heard seemed quite unconvinced.
(I wasn't aware then of the whole swimmming pool debacle situation from back in 1993, since that happened while I was still living in the Washington, D.C. area then. That was a devastating fact to drop into the story, which really calls into question the city's past treatment of this neighborhood, )

The clear perception that they publicly expressed then -and continue to express- was that they were HB citizens who'd once again been overlooked and neglected.
Now as I understand it, there'd apparently been either one meeting -or a series of meetings- that had long been planned for Fall 2005, wherein HB city officials and elected officials would meet with citizens from NW HB and specifically address their deeply-felt concerns.

But nature intervened in the City of Hallandale Beach's plans when this area suffered thru a series of hurricanes and powerful storms in quick succession, ones that really shook up the area,
leaving large portions of South Florida, including HB, without electricity for weeks.
Yours truly, in fact, was without electricity for roughly about 17 days, even while I could clearly see the nearby condo towers in Aventura burning bright in the night sky.
Still, I could go to the nearby Target and the Whole Foods on N.E. 213th Street whenever I wanted to get my usual supply of odds and ends.
During the blackout, for the first time since being down here, I even had some coffee at the Whole Foods a couple of times, while reading my New York Times in between bites of bagels. The coffee was NOT nearly as good as Denny's!
But the minute I stepped thru my own door -BOOM!- it was back to living the pre-Thomas Edison days of America.

(For a sports fan like me, this power outage happened at the worst possible time -during the college and NFL seasons AND the World Series between the Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/wsmenu.shtml
Consequently, while I listened to every World Series game on the radio, with Jon Miller and Joe Morgan connecting the dots, I never saw an actual WS game highlight until weeks later after the power had been restored.
That meant that I couldn't watch my old stand-by, the WGN News, the night the White Sox swept the Astros, and see the city of Chicago celebrate its first baseball title since... well, a few weeks before WWI ended in 1917.)

As a result of the storms and hurricanes, the planned meeting(s) on the trash plant were pushed back to the proverbial back-burner, until a sense of normalcy was restored in HB; whatever that is. But in the weeks and months after the recovery -which I think HB did a very poor job of handling, compared to other local municipalities I visited- while HB City Manager Mike Good met with other HB homeowner and civic groups, the meeting he and HB's elected officials and city employees were supposed to have with the residents of NW HB -about the trash plant- never materialized.

So, the perception had become the reality as far as these particular speakers were concerned:
six months after the original meeting(s) was scheduled, many of them remain convinced that HB was using the post-storm and hurricane period as a cover for avoiding that formal meeting, even as Mike Good was meeting with other HB groups.
Other groups that the speakers at those public hearings honestly felt hadn't even the faintest idea as to how they felt about it. Out of sight, out of mind.

See CBS4's story and video at http://cbs4.com/local/hallandale.beach.trash.2.602088.html
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www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbtrash1204sbdec04,0,22094.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hallandale hopes to salvage plans for trash plant
By Thomas Monnay
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 4, 2007

HALLANDALE BEACH
In the face of a public outcry, city officials said Monday they still hope to save money by building a solid waste transfer station on 2.5 acres of industrial land in the city's northwest section.
Neighbors, however, strongly oppose the project, saying it might create a health hazard and bring down property values.
"They're talking about saving money; we're talking about saving lives," said James Tucker, vice president of the Community Civic Association of Hallandale Beach. "We're such a small [city], it's a safety issue to have a solid waste station in our community."

To explain the need for the station and address residents' concerns, city officials held a town hall meeting Monday at the Cultural Community Center. More than 100 citizens turned out, most of them in opposition to the plan.
The project has been planned for a $2.9 million property the city bought last year at 310 Ansin Blvd. The site is in an industrial district just east of Interstate 95 and between Hallandale Beach Boulevard and Pembroke Road that includes warehouses and manufacturing businesses.
Ironically, city commissioners in 1998 rejected a private trash station for the same property, giving as a reason the fact it's in an industrial zoning district.
City officials say the station would save Hallandale Beach more than $1.2 million a year in transportation costs because sanitation workers now travel 2½ hours round-trip to dispose of the city's trash at a Waste Management site on U.S. 27 in Pembroke Pines.
"It's an alternative to address long-term cost to solid waste disposal," Mayor Joy Cooper said. "It's in an industrial area, it's not adjacent to any single residential use."
Cooper said commissioners will vote on the project Dec. 19. She said the city chose not to use another site it owns in the northwest section because that site is closer to residences.
Opponents say the Ansin Boulevard property is not suitable for a waste station because it's blocks away from homes and that is too close.
Carlos Simmons, president of the Community Civic Association of Hallandale Beach, spoke for many of the opponents. "I don't think it should go there. I'm concerned about the environmental issues. I'm concerned about quality of life in general."
Before any vote is taken, Simmons said, a committee should be formed of citizens and civic leaders who would visit a similar trash transfer station in order to be better informed.
Some northwest activists say the city promised to hold several meetings to discuss the project, but now they are concerned residents won't be given enough time to provide feedback.
"We're kind of surprised this issue has come up so quickly," said Jessica Sanders, chairman of the Palms of Hallandale Beach Weed and Seed, a drug prevention and economic development program.
Tony Spadaccia, a waste management spokesman, said his company would spend $1 million to build the station and operate it under a contact being negotiated with Hallandale Beach.
A rendering of the project shows an office building in front of a tall, enclosed structure resembling a huge barn. The property is landscaped with palms, shrubs and other trees.
Spadaccia said trash dropped at the station would be taken to a landfill in Pompano Beach. He said residents would not be charged to drop off their trash and the facility would be cleaned and washed every night.
"There will be no odor, no rodents and no health concerns as a result of this facility," Spadaccia said.

Thomas Monnay can be reached at tmonnay@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7924.
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/327634.html

Miami Herald
Hallandale neighborhood's residents oppose trash dump site
By Jasmine Kripalani jkripalani@MiamiHerald.com
December 2, 2007

Hallandale Beach's majority black neighborhood might be the site of a new garbage dump, and many residents are saying the whole deal stinks.
''Why here? Why in this neighborhood?'' said Jeri Choice, whose house on Northwest Third Court overlooks the city water plant. "Why can't it be in the southwest or southeast section?''
City officials say the site, 310 Ansin Blvd. in the Palms area near the city's sanitation and public works departments, is the only place available in the 4 ½-square-mile city.
''All the areas being built-out,'' Mayor Joy Cooper said, "this site came up and it was ideal.''
Residents in that part of town have long complained of neglect by city government.
They often bring up the city's decision in 1993 not to repair the Dixie pool at 745 NW Ninth Ave. At the time, the city said the $300,000 needed was too costly.
Instead, the city poured concrete over it and promised residents a skating rink. But too few kids used it and it was eventually shut down.
Cooper said she would like to work with the Broward County School Board to replace the pool.
''We're in full support trying to get an Olympic-size pool there,'' Cooper said. "I'd love to see the pool there.''
There are no minorities on the city commission and none of the commissioners live in the area. Hallandale Beach doesn't have districts. All commissioners are elected at-large. The northwest section hasn't had an elected representative from that neighborhood since they elected John Saunders in 1971. He served until 1979 but has since moved to Plantation.
Last year, residents signed a petition asking leaders to switch from citywide elections to single-member districts. Leaders voted it down.
Environmental and waste experts are scheduled to address residents' concerns about the safety of the dump at a forum on Monday night.
''They are going to put it there, regardless of whether we object to it,'' said Pastor Anthony Sanders, who lives less than a quarter-mile from the proposed facility. "We're going to be the community adversely affected by this.''
He and others are planning to attend Monday's meeting.
On the east side, luxury, ocean-view condominiums are sprouting.
Now their garbage might end up in the northwest section's backyard, where apartments barely elicit a second glance and some businesses display ripped awnings.

STORAGE AREA
Garbage experts and city officials say the facility is not exactly a dump but a ''transfer storage facility.'' The city's 65 tons average of daily garbage would be stored there for only a few hours and taken to a landfill every night, Cooper said.
''The area would be buffered and landscaped. We want residents to understand the process and what it entails,'' Cooper said.
Cooper said experts at Monday's meeting would answer questions about odor, safety and pests.
Jeffery Halsey, a division director for the Broward County Environmental Protection Department, will be among the experts.
''Material will not be stored there overnight. That makes us feel a little better about odor concerns,'' Halsey said. ``We routinely inspect them once every four months to reduce the likelihood of having these problems.''

IN A RUSH
Some residents also said the city is rushing to approve the project.
Last year, when residents heard of the project, the city called a meeting and promised more town hall forums.
The first one is set for two weeks before commissioners are scheduled to vote on the project at an initial hearing.
Waste Management has proposed to build and manage the controversial facility. In exchange, the city would have to approve a long-term contract with the company.
Waste Management charges the city $72 for every ton of garbage it hauls to the landfill.
The city purchased the land for $1.8 million last year, aiming to keep the city's garbage collectors from driving 30 miles to the Waste Management facility at U.S. 27 and Pembroke Road in Pembroke Pines.
The city estimates the new facility would save it more than $1.2 million in fuel, maintenance on trucks and personnel, said Mike Fernandez of the city's sanitation department. The move would allow the city to eliminate some vacant positions.
''`What is the city going to do to give back to the community?'' Sanders said.
State Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach, who was the city's second black commissioner, has suggested setting up a fund from a special garbage fee to enhance the neighborhood.

`SOME ANGER'
''There's some anger in this community because they feel they have been shortchanged,'' Gibbons said.
Ten years ago, there was a bulk trash dump site on Eighth Avenue just north of West Hallandale Beach Boulevard. But that has since been cleaned up and apartments have been built over it.

If you go to the meeting about a proposed garbage dump

• Hallandale Beach commissioners will have an informational meeting about a proposed northwest-section trash transfer facility at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Hallandale Beach Cultural Community Center, 410 SE Third St.
• City commissioners could make a final decision on the issue at a 7 p.m. meeting on Dec. 19 at City Hall, 400 S. Federal Hwy.