Political futures of Joe Gibbons and Alexander Lewy are part of the subplot of Wednesday night's crucial vote re the future Quality of Life of Hallandale Beach as City Comm. considers approval of GPH Regency, LLC's incompatible condo project at 2000 S. Ocean Drive

LOTS of readers @ my blog are searching 4 "Joe Gibbons" & "Parker Plaza" And I know why: http://t.co/5ljdt5CI7l, http://t.co/gnC3LI4ijL
— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) April 14, 2014

The news last week that Hallandale Beach City Commisioner Alexander Lewy will resign effective in May -story below- really makes what will happen Wednesday night at the continuation of the City Commission's 9-hour April 2nd meeting re GPH Regency, LLC's incompatible project at S. Ocean Drive, flanked by the very large beach condominiums, The Hemispheres and Parker Plaza respectively, much more interesting.
(That was a new low -and record-length for a HBCC meeting.)

The reason is that so long as Lewy was a candidate, the threat of alienating all those very well-informed and highly-motivated Super Voters on the beach -esp. at The Parker Plaza and The Hemispheres- would've been politically unappealing for Lewy, even though he's got a consistent record of being reflexively pro-development.

Even to the point of refusing to postpone for a few weeks the vote on the Beachwalk project next to the Intracoastal Bridge in August of 2012 until the majority of the residents most directly-affected by it had returned from from their summer out-of-town, and could actually be in attendance and make their concerns known.

But Lewy wasn't interested in doing that, even though it would've been the right thing to do, given that the waterfront site had been empty for MANY YEARS, and was sold for a song.
How could waiting 4 more weeks possibly throw everything out-of-kilter?
It couldn't, of course, but like his colleagues, Lewy didn't care.
Instead of doing the right thing for a change, Lewy insisted the vote be held and voted for it while the nearby property owners whose lives would be most affected were left to simmer with their justified anger -out-of-town.

Now, without the abstract threat of thousands of affluent and well-informed voters on the beach withholding their votes from him in the upcoming August primary for the Florida House 100 seat if he were to cast a vote for that incompatible project before us now, Lewy is free to vote for the developer and not have to deal with the logical consequences of such a decision.


-----------
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Alex Lewy quits Hallandale Beach commission, drops out of state House race
By Anthony Man
Sun Sentinel
11:53 AM EDT, April 10, 2014
Original post | 10:40 a.m.
Updated | 11:47 a.m.
sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/broward-politics-blog/sfl-alex-lewy-quits-drops-out-20140410,0,3001497.story

Considering all the typing she was doing, this ought to be two full pages of play-by-play, with useful analysis and context of all the players and their motivations.

Reporter seems to have missed more of the meeting given pertinent facts that are missing.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Luxury condo wants to call Hallandale Beach home

By Susannah Bryan, Staff writer

10:18 p.m. EDT, April 2, 2014

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/hallandale/fl-spa-to-condo-hallandale-vote-20140402-13,0,1950721.story

Not Mission Accomplished:
Meeting of the Board of Directors 
September 18, 2013 

7:30 P.M. - The Plaza Room 

http://parkerplaza.org/files/Minutes_-_09-18-13.pdf

Some prescient mid-2013 thoughts re 2014 Florida House 100 race: Sunshine State News calls it a "Democratic Battleground" for next year's open seat, with carpetbagger Joe Gibbons term-limited, but the new FL-100 district is now more Moderate and MUCH MORE Hispanic than old one was; Liberals Joe Geller and Alexander Lewy DON'T want to amend 'Stand Your Ground' but to kill it, putting them in a sub-minority position within both the state and the area -the 13%. Residents are NOT interested in giving away useful tool that makes at least some criminals think twice before attacking them; This seat is tailor-made for a certain kind of smart, personable and articulate Moderate interested in public policy that works, not partisan politics, but will one emerge, and if so, will they be from Aventura or Sunny Isles Beach? And will that Moderate candidate be a Female?

Democratic battleground emerges for South Florida open House seat http://t.co/kUSneVdiCv #SSNalerts #sayfie
— Sunshine State News (@SSNAlerts) July 24, 2013

Sunshine State News

Democratic Battleground Emerges for South Florida Open House Seat

By Kevin Derby

Posted: July 24, 2013 3:55 AM

With Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Pembroke Park, facing term limits in 2014, three Democratic candidates are already running hard to replace him in the Florida House. Gibbons, who is now running for the Broward County Commission, represents parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

So far, former North Bay Village Mayor Joe Geller, Hallandale Beach Vice Mayor Alex Lewy and teacher John Paul Alvarez are seeking the Democratic nomination to replace Gibbons. 

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/democratic-battleground-emerges-south-florida-open-house-seat

That's curious!

Voluble former Florida Senate Minority Leader Steve Geller's name never gets mentioned once in this interesting Sunshine State News article I read this morning, and neither do any of his very helpful friends in the area and their well-financed groups & PACS they represent, most of whom will be involved with his brother Joe's FL-100 campaign at some point.

Also never mentioned -whether another more pragmatic candidate from either Aventura, Miami Beach or Sunny Isles may yet emerge and get into the race against three very Liberal candidates, all of whom are Men.

In my estimation, an articulate and personable Moderate candidate focused more on genuine problem-solving, more Transparency and common sense in government, and decidedly less-inclined towards the sort of knee-jerk liberal orthodoxy in the year 2013 that the three current Democratic candidates continually exhibit -candidates who despite lots of time to think of a good answer, STILL CAN'T explain how they'll differentiate themselves before next August's primary- would do quite well in a much-changed legislative district presently represented by term-limited carpetbagger Joe Gibbons.

http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/FileStores/Web/District/2013_Districts/large/H000H9049_district_100wmap.pdf

A district that's changed in important ways and that as of this past November, encompasses everything in the area east of U.S.-1/Biscayne Blvd. at Sheridan Street to State Road A1A, from just south of State Road 84/ Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale on the north, south from Dania to Hollywood and then HB, past Aventura, Eastern Shores, Sunny Isles Beach, North Miami and south of Bal Harbour and Surfside on the east, to the northern parts of Miami Beach.

Among other things, not that you've seen it mentioned anywhere by the South Florida news media, but the new FL-100 has six times as many constituents who classify themselves as Hispanic as African-American.

Hmm-m...

One of the good points of this profile of the candidates is that it specifically brings up Stand Your Ground, SYG.

http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/florida-voters-support-stand-your-ground-laws

Contrary to some Dems & Reps legislators who want to "Amend" SYG to make it "better" by being more specific about the exact circumstances under which it can be employed and used as a valid defense in court -regarding the initiation of contact or what is a reasonable, perceived threat, et al- as the link above says quite clearly, "Amend" is currently supported

by only 31% of FL's population.

So in that respect, both Lewy and Geller are real outliers on this issue by being within that 13% sub-minority that want to kill it entirely by repealing it, putting them in a minority opinion position not only within the state, but in my opinion, also within the immediate area.

Seriously, why would anyone in this area with its constant and well-founded fear of opportunistic crime want to help the criminals and actually make it harder for innocent people to defend themselves?

As a Moderate-to-Conservative person, I think that stand of theirs only further highlights their general incompatibility with this changed district, and their future ineffectiveness if somehow elected to the position.

It's for reasons like that that I continue to believe that a reasonably well-financed Moderate candidate, one who's properly focused on actually fixing problems in the state and improving the area's overall Quality of Life -which HAS clearly been diminishing- and bringing middle-management jobs to Florida, could win the race in November, whether a Democrat or a Republican. 

Even while Geller and Lewy cannibalize each other over the next 12 months over who can be the biggest Liberal before the party primary.

And if that candidate to enter the race believes in what I've set forth as a very sound platform is an articulate and personable Moderate Woman, possibly a savvy and telegenic businesswoman from Aventura or Sunny Isles Beach, even more so.

Sunshine State News, @SSNAlerts  https://twitter.com/SSNAlerts 

Is Hallandale Beach Comm. Alexander Lewy -Lewy the Liar- running for FL House 100 in 2014? Yes, but opponents/voters have a treasure trove of evidence to show why he's a poor choice to represent anyone anywhere, given his uncontrollable know-it-all personality and pro-govt. mindset, and penchant for always thinking he knows best, even when self-evident facts show why he's wrong; Friends Helping Friends Dept.: Last Tuesday Lewy was honored by group at the same address he voted to give $200k CRA loan to (that still owed taxpayers money for previous loan) and voted $50k to just weeks ago. Plus, another deal for Rabbi Tennenhaus; @AlexLewy

Today, after being in cold storage for a week, I'm posting an expanded and corrected version of my email of last Tuesday to some folks in and around South Florida who like knowing what's really going on around here, instead of waiting for the South Florida news media to stumble across it.

----- 

If it's not too much trouble, could someone from the South Florida news media please ask Hallandale Beach Comm. Lewy what specific day he's going to make it official and file his paperwork with the Broward Supervisor of Election's office to run for FL House District 100 next year against Joe Geller?

I mention this because Lewy the Liar doesn't do coy very well.

https://twitter.com/AlexLewy/status/303607631099088896/photo/1

With lobbyists like Bernie Friedman in attendance last Tueday night, Alexander Lewy could well have chosen to make that expected announcement then, with everyone saying what a great guy he is, notwithstanding all evidence to the contrary -like his own words and actions, in and out of office.

Like, well to name but five or 7 anti-Hallandale Beach taxpayer and anti-HB homeowner issues I can think of off the top of my head:

a.) Lewy supported the Joy Cooper-led HB City Commission in their vote for the Diplomat LAC in 2009 over the neighborhood's strenuous objections, which is part of why he received campaign contributions from the Westin Diplomat's law firm when he ran for the City Commission a second time after the Broward County Commission killed the incompatible plan in early 2010. 

b.) Despite Northeast HB neighborhood residents being overwhelming AGAINST Mayor's Cooper's absurd and un-safe proposal to make two-way streets out of N.E. 8th & 10th Avenues between Hallandale beach Blvd. and atlatic Shores Blvd., Lewy initially supported it
and chastised NE HB residents who opposed it. 
But the plan was so lacking in both common sense and safety that in the end it wasn't just the NE neighborhood residents who were AGAINST it, but even the sleepwalking geniuses over at Gulfstream Park, who woke-up long enough to feel obliged to publicly speak out AGAINST what he and the mayor wanted;

c.) Lewy has supported the expansion of the city's VERY, VERY unpopular Red-Light Camera operation, a policy that is so unpopular in this city that it was the number-one cited complaint on a questionnaire for HB residents according to an independently-run survey the city paid for. But he didn't care and has continued to support the policy, 

d.) Lewy supported the Ben Gamla Hebrew Charter School being placed in a largely single-family NE Hallandale Beach neighborhood over the neighborhood's reasonable and common sense objections, despite the fact that students from HB would've been in the strong minority of overall students attending, meaning that it would not have been a neighborhood school but a drop-off site for out-of-town people, with the neighborhood getting all the problems and little positive in exchange, 

e.) Last summer Lewy saw nothing at all wrong with voting on The Beachwalk development project next to the Intracoastal Bridge in August -a project which the city's Planning & Zoning Advisory Board unanimously rejected- despite the fact that most of the affected homeowners in the neighborhood were out-of-town, rather than simply wait 2-4 weeks, so they could actually show-up in-person and have their say about what they and their families will have to live with forever -a 31-story building.

f.) Lewy has publicly stated that despite the fact that the entirety of the city's CRA District does NOT reside within Northwest HB, he DOES believe that almost all of the city's the CRA funds should go there.

That this would be contrary to state law and sound public policy and likely lead to lawsuits the city would lose probably makes no difference to him, seeing as how he's consistently shown thru his actions that he believes that it's his job for as much of Hallandale Beach taxpayer and CRA funds to wind-up in northwest HB.

g.) Who can forget Lewy's attempt in July of 2011 to funnel $200,000 to Comm. Anthony A. Sanders' group, Eagles Wings, after midnight at a meeting with few members of the public present and WITHOUT his actually saying their name?

You remember, don't you?

August 27, 2012

To prevent repeat performances of Hallandale Beach Comm. Alexander Lewy's egregious post-Midnight gambit last July to funnel over $200k to Comm. Anthony A. Sanders' Eagles Wings, the new process for funding community nonprofit groups in a suburban Beltway county is precisely what Hallandale Beach needs to emulate; Jeremy Borden in Wash. Post: Prince William changes how it will fund nonprofit groups
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/to-prevent-repeat-performances-of.html

Time after time, Lewy has proven that Hallandale Beach residents and small business owners' initial negative feelings and perceptions of him were correct all along -he was exactly what he seemed to them: a career politician in-training who planned on using them as a stepping-stone.

This fact has been proven repeatedly as concerned residents found themselves face-to-face with him on public policy matters,

As the concerned residents from Northeast HB can attest to, more times than they could count, they've been condescendingly told by Lewy that THEY had "their facts all wrong" when it was actually Lewy who was wrong.

That refusal of Lewy's last August to even consider delaying the first hearing on The Beachwalk for less than a month, something that I honestly thought that even he would be smart enough to see the wisdom of, really left a bitter taste in the mouths of many Hallandale Beach residents who live in that area.

But what Lewy and his band of acolytes fails to understand is how much other concerned HB residents see that refusal to do the right thing as yet another piece of the puzzle in revealing Lewy's true nature, and the larger picture that is his CONSISTENT unwillingness to put the interests of HB residents and homeowners first -and above real estate developers.

In every case, Alexander Lewy has supported real estate developers, NOT the interests of Hallandale Beach residents, parents, home owners and small business owners.
Those were his votes and his opinions and he now owns them for posterity.

It's hard not to notice who almost always seems to come in second with him.

It's also hard not to notice over time that he seems to prefer the momentary flash and illusory pretense that he's an important player who gets to make important decisions, instead of the more low-key and more important role of one of five people in this city entrusted to provide genuine oversight over an unwieldy and generally poorly-performing city bureaucracy that fails too consistently taxpayers.

But we know why, and that's because Lewy genuinely loves government bureaucracy.

In my view and that of many others in this community, Lewy keeps making the wrong decision and keep putting the wrong parties first in part because Alexander Lewy is as stridently pro-government and anti-taxpayer and resident as any politician in South Florida could possibly be in the year 2013.

That strikes me as a very poor starting-point for a candidacy, especially for someone who's actually done very little of consequence or accomplishment in two years in office, and something which even an opponent of average intelligence will no doubt exploit to the fullest.

Lewy has certainly provided the public and any 2014 opponent with an overwhelming mountain of evidence to prove just that.  

-----

In 2011, a group at the same address as last Tuesday's get-together, Chaya Aydel Seminary, was given a $200k loan for property improvements on property that they didn't even own themselves, under the guise of it creating "jobs."

NOT that the city has ever checked to see how many jobs, if any, were actually "created" as a result of CRA loans, as last week's Broward Inspector General report mentioned.
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/why-joy-coopers-rubber-stamp-crew-set.html

This, even though this organization STILL hadn't entirely repaid a previous loan from the city.

Must be nice to have such good friends with money to lend! 

And with such generous 15% forgiveness terms!  

The first link is to the city's staff report, the second is to their support documents.

http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/2011-05-18/Staff%20Reports/00006805.htm

http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/2011-05-18/Item%208E/index.html

See my May 23, 2011 blog post on that agenda item: 

Why? Joy Cooper's Rubber Stamp Crew set to give $200k in CRA loan to entity that fails to meet city's OWN RULES; may already owe $170K from past loan!

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/why-joy-coopers-rubber-stamp-crew-set.html

Just a few short weeks ago, Rabbi Raphael Tennenhaus, the person who, in all reality, was  the real host of last Tuesday's event, was the recipient of CRA largess to the tune of $50k for purposes that many if not most in this city have a hard time wrapping their heads around.

Which is to say, is there's really THAT MUCH drug abuse going on among Senior Citizens in HB, and it's such a problem, why has it never been publicly mentioned before at a City Commission or CRA meeting?

Very curious...

Should the HB City Commission, acting as the HB CRA, really be giving money to yet another group, for a problem that few who here really thinks exists, and to quote the city's own documents, "However, the statistical impact on Hallandale Beach/HBCRA District

specifically was not provided."

On the face of their own documents, they seem to have almost nobody with either a medical or Social Work background involved:

http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/2012-12-17-HBCRA2/Item%209A/SUPP_DOCS/Documents/Doc8.pdf

More recently, just two weeks ago, yet another Rabbi named Tennenhaus, Levi Tennenhaus, who is also associated with that very same address, was the name party in another CRA agenda item, one that gave him and his wife a real financial break, too.

Below, in blue, are some excerpts from a Draft of comments written by my friend and HB civic activist Csaba Kulin, who was at that CRA meeting, who wrote his thoughts down for the benefit of myself and others who didn't attend the meeting.

I've slightly tightened it up here-and-there for grammatical and syntax purposes, but it's well over 99.99% Csaba's hard work.

The points Csaba makes are just as fundamentally sound now as they were when he first wrote them down, and echo many of the very same points that he and I and many others in this community have been making for many years regarding how things are routinely done in Hallandale Beach. 

Which is to say, why do so many things involving financial grants and loans from the city's CRA and City Commission seem to only benefit a small handful of people, and not just any people, but rather ones who are 'connected' and who have some degree of either social, financial or political pull in this community, especially the latter?

And why is it that the average Hallandale Beach taxpayer and small business owner always seems to come up last on the Totem Pole when it comes to the City Commission/CRA's priorities, compared to their friends and political allies?

Comm. Julian wanted to ask questions about 9 A, the Levi Tenenhaus item. Julian said that he has not seen that as one of the entities getting a grant. He was 100% right to ask questions. I have never seen the Tennenhaus item before, it was not part of the other items. Julian just asked for a simple explanation and he did not get a straight answer. I would love to hear a bit more about it.
 
The way I understand, the applicant got the $40,000 First-time homeowner loan in 2010 to purchase a $215,000 house. The questions in 2010 should have been, was he a first time home owner or just a first time home buyer in HB? Did he really in need the $40,000 or it was just nice to get it? That is water under the bridge, we cannot talk about it, but I'd like to know. It was probably one of the 350 “exceptions” mentioned in the last audit.
 The City/CRA had a second mortgage, on the property to insure that the City/CRA gets re-paid in case of a default. Mr. Tennenhaus wants to expend the house and in order to get a loan he wants HB/HBCRA to "subordinate" its claim to the lender giving the loan. With the construction loan added, the loan amount exceeds 80% of the appraised value and it is NOT allowed.
 
Now, here comes HB/HBCRA to the rescue. We do NOT care if HB/HBCRA gets repaid, as long as the lender of the construction loan gets repaid.

The CM/ED said "no fiscal impact at THIS time". True, but do you think a "second" mortgage is worth as much as a "third" mortgage? I do NOT think so. We will see it in the future.

Just some things to think about today as you wonder why this city that clearly ought to be so much better and attractive than it is now, remains in such a state of funk and confusion.

In case you have problems with the link below, which is how I found out about this

event, it's at 

http://www.jewishpress.com/sections/community/south-florida/chabad-of-south-broward-to-host-annual-dinner/2013/02/28/