Three weeks from tonight, everyone will be asking, "What's Kendrick Meek going to do for a job now?"

For reasons that are pretty obvious to anyone who's got half-a-brain and who's been paying close attention, the slippery-slope part of Kendrick Meek's political career begins in earnest three weeks from tonight, when I expect him to lose the first competitive election he's ever been in, losing to Jeff Greene in the Florida Democratic U.S. Senate primary.
That will be to the great consternation of condescending liberal Dems all over the state, who were ready to serve the nomination up to him on a silver platter despite his clear lack of accomplishment, almost as an offering of penance.

Sure, because having two people with such low name recognition and actual accomplishment as Alex Sink and Kendrick Meek at the top of the ticket is such a compelling narrative. LOL!

While it's still indeed possible for people of little-to-no consequence but lots of ambition and a ton of family connections to get elected to the U.S. Senate, especially if you are from a state with a small population -and I met many such people in my 15 years in Washington- Kendrick Meek has finally had his Close Encounter of the Third Kind -Contact- with the new dynamics of Florida being the fourth-largest state in the nation.

That's a lesson that many pols in this state learned the hard way a few years ago, when it was clear that the old ways of creating a working coalition that wins had changed forever, especially when you threw the Internet and Social Media into the mix.
Apparently, Kendrick Meek didn't get the memo.

Perhaps that memo was sent to him in Washington while he was in Haiti immediately after the earthquake in January, playing the role of melodramatic pol for all the assembled network TV cameras, behavior which left a very bad taste in many Florida voters' mouth.

And yes, before you ask, I did, in fact, catch Meek on Fox News in those first few hours after the quake struck, when he was LIVE with Geraldo Rivera and just happened to have a video-camera with him.

(I actually snapped a screenshot or two of that interview with my camera after I got over my initial shock of seeing Meek there, but I wasn't able to pull up the photo from the computer archives before posting this now.)

Meek's knee-jerk orthodoxy in casting congressional votes with seemingly little thought, his inability over several terms to develop a reputation for being either an expert in some field, a respected deep-thinker, or a person with the personal skills to persuade more independent-minded centrist Members on an important vote, and his general lack of accomplishment has left a wide opening for someone who would exploit those self-evident weaknesses with vigor.

In Jeff Greene, he's met someone who enjoys tweaking him over his mediocre track record and who can call him out on all these things, not just one, and actually put his money where his mouth is.

-----

So what do you think Kendrick Meek's next job will be after his term is up in January?

Send me your best prognostications, either practical or sarcastic or both, and after a time, but before the August 24th primary, I will run some of them here for the amusement and edification of other Hallandale Beach Blog readers around the world, where of late, our friends in Sweden have come on strong to pass Italy for 8th place. Just chalk it up to the appeal of Timoteij and Molly Sandén.

FYI: The photo of Kendrick Meek at the top of this post is from a piece of Jeff Greene direct mail that I received Tuesday afternoon.
As much as people talk about Greene's vast financial resources, the thing that's most noticeable to me as a former political operative and political junkie, as well as a South Florida voter who has kept all the campaign lit that's been sent this year, regardless of the particular office, is that his direct mail is simply more interesting, attractive and well-designed than anyone else's.
That still counts for something.

FL Senate Race: Marco Rubio on Fox & Friends, CNN's "The Situation Room"; WSJ articles on Rubio vs. Crist; Rubio video: "Ideas To Reclaim America"

Much to the consternation of the MSM, the "Anybody but Marco" campaign is not working despite the summer swelter and Charlie Crist 24/7 TV. Very soon we'll ponder in this space what Kendrick Meek's next job will be based on his experience as an inherited rubber stamp.
I invite suggestions to this space.

Rasmussen Reports

Poll of Likely Voters, Florida Senate Race, July 6, 2010

Marco Rubio 37%

Charlie Crist 33%

Jeff Greene 18%

500 Likely Voters, MOE +/- 4.5%

Marco Rubio on 7/21/10 Fox and Friends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_ojR45bbMo



Wall Street Journal
Crist Uses His Old Party as a New Foil Senate Push Gains as Florida Governor Sets Himself Off Against State's GOP, With Some Firepower From Obama Camp
By Peter Wallsten

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla.—Florida's Republican-led legislature will gather Tuesday on the order of Gov. Charlie Crist—and then is expected to quickly refuse his call for a state-constitution ban on offshore oil drilling in Florida waters.

While no real legislative action seems likely to come of the special session, the showdown has become a signal event in Mr. Crist's campaign for the U.S. Senate and in his transformation from a rising Republican star to a political free agent.

Read the rest of the article at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704229004575371810495691530.html

-----

Wall Street Journal
Washington Wire blog
Fla. Senate Race: Intrigue on the Democratic Side
By Peter Wallsten
July 20, 2010, 7:00 AM ET

Among the many intriguing aspects to the Florida Senate race is the drama unfolding on the Democratic side. Polls show a dead heat between the party’s establishment favorite, four-term Congressman Kendrick Meek of Miami, and political neophyte Jeff Greene, a billionaire former derivatives trader.

There are competing schools of thought within the party about what result to hope for from the Aug. 24 primary, and what the result might mean for the general election.

Read the rest of the post here: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/07/20/fla-senate-race-intrigue-on-the-democratic-side/

-----
Marco Rubio on 7/20/10 "The Situation Room" on CNN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7YRpFkypSk



-----

Rubio Launches "Ideas To Reclaim America"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAh0R-HlXlE



Rubio campaign web site: http://www.marcorubio.com/ideastostrengthenamerica/

Sayfie Review's Power Play of May 14, 2010: Will there be a special session on oil drilling? Will Charlie Crist's lead in U.S. Senate race last?

Sayfie Review's Power Play of May 14, 2010 with Alia Faraj-Johnson.
Guests: Orlando Sentinel's Aaron Deslatte and Gannett's Political Editor Paul Flemming.
Will there be a special session on oil drilling? Will Crist's lead in U.S. Senate race last?

Flemming notes that for Crist to lead the three-way race for U.S. Senate with Marco Rubio and Kendrick Meek, Crist must hold 40% of all Democrats currently supporting him, something that's unlikely in the Fall once Meek starts advertising and Obama starts coming down regularly for campaign and fundraising events.

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



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

Public corruption in plain sight: latest on Nelson Santiago no-bid deal highlights difference in political cultures/openness b/w HB & Hollywood

Above, the screenshot I snapped on Monday of
the "Client" web page of the Ear-Q Corporation
website. http://www.ear-q.com/

You'll notice that it not only has a photograph of
Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper, due to
their creation of her personal website, but also
features the official City of Hallandale Beach
icon.

It also features The Future Foundation Inc.,
which seems to be the 'favorite son' charity over
at Hallandale Beach City Hall.

A Google search proves quite instructive.
Where's their website?
It can't be found.

But a search does turn this up thru a cache:
The Future Foundation, Inc is a Not for Profit Corporation dedicated to providing educational and cultural arts experiences for youth residing within the City of Hallandale Beach. Activities and events are provided free of charge to our participants. The Future Foundation also provides grants up to $5,000 to non-profit organizations to support their efforts to provide opportunities for education and arts to our youth in our community.

Guess where their mailing address is?
Hallandale Beach City Hall.

Guess what's the first thing on the city's website,
under FAQ?

1.	How to Contact the Future Foundation

http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/FAQ.aspx?QID=181

And when you click the provided link,
www.thefuturefoundationhallandalebeach.com.
what do you get?

Server not found

If you believe the number-one FAQ that people
accessing the city's perfectly awful website want
to ask is this, you are sadly mistaken.

But in Joy Cooper and Mike Good's 'alternative
reality' where the city is well-run, perhaps it is.

What more can you say about such people?
A lot more...

Today I'll try to explain how, among other things,
the recent troubling episode involving Dr. Nelson
Santiago and his no-bid contract from the
City of Hallandale Beach further illustrates the
wide gulf in political cultures and openness between
the City of Hollywood and Hallandale Beach.

More than is usually the case, actual facts matter
here.
So, like our friend Joe Friday from Dragnet,
here are the facts that are known as of now.

Back in mid-January, I received both the agenda
and all pertinent docs for Hollywood's Technical
Advisory Committee ONE ENTIRE WEEK
before their meeting about a property in north
Hollywood Beach.

A property that, quite frankly, I didn't know much
about or have any opinion about one way or the other.

I didn't go to the actual meeting and have no idea
of how the committee ruled.

But if I had wanted to spend a few minutes finding
out about it, the City of Hollywood had given me
a reasonable amount of time to come up to speed
with it via the docs that were filed with it.

I bring this up because when I first received it,
I quickly realized that this simple example of a
computer-generated email offered an insight into
the vast differences between how things are
routinely done in Hollywood and how dreadfully
they have been and continue to be done here
in Hallandale Beach, since I returned to South
Florida from the Washington D.C. area in late
2003.


In November, two weeks before HB Planning
& Zoning Board meeting on the Diplomat
LAC, the Hallandale Beach Commission
vote 4-1 against Comm. Keith London's
common sense motion to put the LAC proposal
application and related onto the HB city website.

So, even as Mayor Joy Cooper was ripping
HB citizen taxpayers at the very same Commission
meeting and calling them "uninformed" and
"uneducated" for opposing the city's RAC proposal
-done to get in before Amendment 4 is
approved this coming November by Florida
voters- Commissioners Cooper, Julian, Ross
and Sanders didn't say or do ANYTHING about
actually getting pertinent information on the
Diplomat project into the public realm,
so they could read it and make sense of it.

So what happened?
Precisely what the Mayor, the City Manager and
the Diplomat all wanted.

The Diplomat tag team of Debbie Orshefsky
and Suzanne Friedman and their consultants
got to have their meetings around town without
worrying about HB and Hollywood citizens actually
being able to see the relevant docs actually in print,
and raise questions based on what they themselves
had said or promised to do.

(They were aided in this effort by someone who is
a longstanding paid "spy" for the city, more details
of which you'll be hearing about this weekend on
my blog. As you anticipate that, though, ask
yourself this simple but troubling question:
In the year 2010, what sort of creepy elected
officials are so craven that they think it's actually
appropriate to pay someone in the city to spy on
their neighbors, like they were a member of the
Soviet era Secret Police, or KGB?)

Keeping with their policy of NOT officially putting
the agenda or all relevant information for City
Commission and P&Z meetings on the city's
website until the Monday morning of the week
of those meetings -despite the fact that the
deadline for agendas is 5 p.m. Friday-
because the December P&Z meeting was moved
to a Tuesday to accommodate a Wednesday
afternoon City Commission meeting, the
relevant documents were not placed on the
city's website until about 28 hours before
the meeting started.
Twenty-eight hours.

On a project that directly affects the lifestyles
and Quality of Life of thousands of HB and
Hollywood residents and visitors.

So how this pertain to the recent no-bid contract
awarded to Joy Cooper's internet guru friend,
Dr. Nelson Santiago?

First, a quick recap using selected excerpts of
my own Monday blog post to connect-the-dots.

As you may recall from my previous emails and
blog postings, no-bid contracts awarded to pals,
cronies and political supporters of HB City Hall
are nothing new, and the specialty of Joy Cooper
and Mike Good.

This recent case with Santiago is but the latest
example of thousands of taxpayer dollars being
given to people, thru grants and CRA loans,
whose degree of demonstrated expertise in a
particular area is, perhaps, rather secondary
to their personal connections and political
support of the Mayor Cooper's and City
Manager Good's agenda.

For instance, the $25,ooo no-bid contract given
last summer to Debra Brown, where elected city
commissioners were not even told about this until
a week after-the-fact.

Debra Brown is the sister of Comm. Anthony
A. Sanders confidante Josh Brown, who was
part of the team who received a $90,000 grant/loan
from the Hallandale Beach CRA for a perfectly
dreadful business plan.

A plan which is little more than an extended
propaganda arm of City Hall, despite the fact
that his team didn't even meet the then-existing
low standards that the city had in place for
eligibility to make sure that the money is for
a serious purpose that promotes the specific
written goals of the city's CRA, the most
important of which is what?

Yes, eliminating "blight."

So, how exactly are giant screen TVs being placed
in east-side Hallandale Beach restaurants and
businesses as well as the common rooms of
expensive condos on State Road A1A, running
nothing but paid ads and blather from the likes
of Mayor Cooper and the city, accomplishing
that particular goal?

Especially since the city already has
complete control of an existing cable
TV channel, which they have completely
mis-used for years.

This isn't 1982, where many small businesses in
South Florida weren't properly wired and have
access to Cable TV, and so couldn't play CNN
near the front register of their businesses,
like a dry cleaning shop, or in the middle of
their barber shop or beauty salon.

It's a plan so bad that that they were forced to
admit that they couldn't get a bank loan for it.

Now that the city has given them money, many
recipients have either moved the TVs after they
were originally hooked-up due to either customer
complaints and annoyance, or outrage at
finding-out they were lied to when they were
first told that the TVs were from the City of
Hallandale Beach, with signs to that effect
sighted near some of the TVs at condos.

Theses TVs don't do anything to alleviate blight.
It's all a not-so-clever fig-leaf for a political deal
and money to change hands and promote
Joy Cooper and Hallandale Beach City Hall.
Period.

It's using money for a purpose that most HB citizens
would be opposed to on its face because of stupidity,
if they even knew about it, but because it also
personally benefits people who are supporters of
Comm. Sanders, and longtime Cooper & Good
crony and cheerleader Joe Kessel, it gets approved.

(Does my telling you the facts here make me an official
"naysayer," to use the latest term Mayor Joy Cooper
throws around to describe opponents of her's, after
having already called them -including me- "Nazis"
while at HB City Hall, Room 257,

where Cooper also described Comm. Keith London
as "a Hitler" to another elected Hallandale Beach official,
who, characteristically, said and did nothing upon hearing
this slander?
Then naysayer it is, and proudly so.)

For instance, to cite but one example, the team,
such as it is, didn't actually own any property within
the City of Hallandale Beach, a standard which previous
applicants had to meet.

If there was nothing 'fishy' about this particular contract,
why did it not appear on the City Commission's agenda
that day, along with relevant staff and supporting docs
on the city's website, and come up for a vote by the
elected HB City Commission, instead of secretly
brought-up instead by unelected Good thru "Other"?

It's precisely because they didn't want HB citizen
taxpayers to know about it in advance that Good
and Cooper did this.

That's the exact same route thru which Good,
Police Chief Thomas Magill and Fire Chief Daniel
Sullivan have all been rehired within the past
18 months.
Also in Room 257.


Without it EVER appearing on the public agenda,
without the public being given the opportunity to
speak about them and their past performances.
You know, like a normal city?

Can you name another city in Florida where
the re-hiring of the City Manager, Police Chief
and Fire Chief would intentionally be handled
in such a secretive and manipulative way
in order to keep the public completely in the
dark?

No, only Hallandale Beach under Joy Cooper
and Mike Good would be so brazen as to
attempt to foist this on this city's residents,
regardless of what the state's Sunshine Rules
say, but with the implicit cooperation of noted
wink-wink HB City Attorney David Jove,
it was "Mission accomplished."

And believe me, they're very happy they got
away with it, too.

Add it all together and it sounds to me like a
very intriguing news story and the basis for
formal ethical and criminal investigations by
multiple State of Florida and Broward County
agencies and LEOs.

And failing that, the FBI.

And it's all 100% true.

-----
Previous emails and blog posts on this subject:

Monday March 8, 2010
A simple question re Dr. Nelson Santiago's no-bid contract in Hallandale Beach
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/simple-question-re-dr-nelson-santiagos.html

---

March 5th, 2010
9 p.m.

Over the next few days, I suspect that we will all learn a great deal more
about that other co-host of the since-postponed Kendrick Meek fundraiser
planned for Mayor Joy Cooper's home tonight, Dr. Nelson Santiago.

He appears to have some very interesting ties to Mayor Cooper, her
personal website and a no-bid deal from the City of Hallandale Beach
regarding the 2010 Census.

Yes, no-bid contracts, the specialty of Hallandale Beach City Hall
under Joy Cooper and Mike Good!

Time to put on your Sherlock Holmes caps and start some
serious sleuthing!

Dave

----

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/curious-doings-kendrick-meek-postpones.html

Friday, March 5, 2010

Curious doings: Kendrick Meek postpones fundraiser at Mayor Cooper's house; Alexander Lewy's postage gift from Hallandale Beach taxpayers



Forwarded message
From: Mayor Joy Cooper & Dr. Nelson Santiago <invite@eventbrite.com>
Date: Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 4:47 PM
Subject: EVENT POSTPONED!!!: CONGRESSMAN KENDRICK MEEK for U.S. SENATE

Due to scheduling conflicts we have postponed the event in Hallandale Beach. If you were planning on attending please call (305) 655-3213 for alternate arrangements. You are invited to the following event: KENDRICK MEEK for U.S. SENATE Location: Home of Mayor Joy & Dr. Harry Cooper 301 Holiday Drive Hallandale Beach FL Can you attend this event? Respond Here For more information click here

A simple question re Dr. Nelson Santiago's no-bid contract in Hallandale Beach

Above, part of the crowd at the Hallandale Beach Eco-Fair
held at Hallandale Beach City Hall on February 27th.
Typically, though it would seem self-evident for such an
event, there were zero blue recycling bins present.
That's typical of what passes for planning at Hallandale
Beach City Hall, which is why things are the way they are.
February 27, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier.


Don't know how I can connect-the-dots any
clearer than this.

Dr. Nelson Santiago is an academic PhD,
not a medical doctor.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/earqcom
http://www.ear-q.com/

Santiago was one of the three co-hosts of a
fundraiser for Kendrick Meek's U.S. Senate
campaign last Friday night at the HB home
of mayor Joy Cooper and her husband,
which was postponed the day before.

As it happen, rather interestingly, Dr. Santiago
is also a person who has recently been involved
in creating Cooper's personal website.

Unbeknownst to 99.99% of the city's taxpayers,
Santiago was also awarded a no-bid deal by
the City of Hallandale Beach, i.e. City Manager
Mike Good, regarding the 2010 Census.

I don't know the exact amount involved.

Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. at the HB Cultural
Center is the first of a series of scheduled
City Commission/City Manager Quadrant
meetings scheduled over the next few weeks.

There are going to be a lot of HB residents
present who are not at all happy with the
recent and future direction of this city and
its anti-democratic, anti-transparency policies
under Cooper and Good, of which the
recent Diplomat LAC issue is but the most
recent and egregious example of the local
citizenry being both ignored and marginalized.

They wants some questions answered.

As you may recall from my previous emails
and blog postings, no-bid contracts awarded
to pals, cronies and political supporters of
HB City Hall are the specialty of Joy Cooper
and Mike Good, and this recent case with
Santiago is but the latest example of
thousands of taxpayer dollars being given
to people, thru grants and CRA loans,
whose degree of expertise is, perhaps,
rather secondary to their personal
connections and political support.

If there is nothing 'fishy' about this
particular contract, why was it made
a no-bid deal, without the benefit
of a vote by the elected HB City
Commission, instead of the unelected
Good, since the upcoming 2010
Census is hardly Breaking News?

This December community newspaper
"article" even has a photo of the mayor
next to her internet guru:
http://www.communitynewspapers.com/html/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3792&Itemid=77

Add it all together and it sounds to me
like a news story.

Curious doings: Kendrick Meek postpones fundraiser at Mayor Cooper's house; Alexander Lewy's postage gift from Hallandale Beach taxpayers

Above, two pieces of mail I received recently within
days of each other that had one common link:
Alexander Lewy, candidate for Hallandale Beach
City Commission.
One, the yellow postcard from Hallandale Beach
Crime Watch, the redoubt for what are arguably
some of the most bizarre people in the city -and
biggest defenders of the corrupt mindset
at City Hall- had its postage paid for by Hallandale
Beach taxpayers.
March 5, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

I guess it goes without saying that I've NEVER
given Hallandale Beach mayor Joy Cooper
my email address or asked that she send her odd,
rambling, and largely incomprehensible comments
to me and others throughout the area.

But write them she has, completely out-of-the-blue.
(Or, as my smart screenwriting friends out
in Santa Monica are wont to say,
"apropos of nothing.")

To me, the reason for Cooper's crazy emails
is a simple one to diagnose: she's an obnoxious
bully and can't tolerate the fact that I and others
in the community -like many of you- continue
to tell the verifiable truth about what's really
going on in this city under her reign of ruin,
and she doesn't like it one bit.

So she sees conspiracies when there are none,
just Americans simply exercising their basic rights.
And does that ever make her angry!
It's what's caused her to lose her cool so much
at City Commission meetings, even more so
than in the past.

Just last month, for instance, at an evening
Commission meeting, while I was just minding
my own business in the back of the Commission
Chambers, video-recording the meeting and
trying to keep awake at what seemed like an
especially boring agenda, she decided,
out-of-the-blue, that she needed to vent.

While in the middle of hectoring Comm. Keith
London about something, likely for having an
opinion different than her's, she made a typical
snarky reference to "the videographer" in the
back of the the room.

Yes, she really said that and she really
is that petty and insecure.

I will try to post that video here soon so you
can see it for yourself.

I didn't crack a smile at the time but truth be told,
I could hardly contain my amusement at Cooper's
latest crack-up, and was almost tempted to pop
her ballon blurt-out the truth, which was that with
such a boring agenda on tap that night, the only
reason that I was there in-person was that there
was nothing particularly good on TV that night
until 9 p.m.
That's it.

I should mention that this was the same meeting
where before allowing Comm. London to speak
on something, she asked him how long he was
going to speak, saying she wanted to know
because she was going to leave the room.
And exit she did.

Slithering away like an angry snake.

That's the Joy Cooper School of Incivility
that's so tangibly creepy that over the years,
thru repeated childish public displays, she has
personally repulsed HB residents from even
thinking about attending City Commission
meetings, that they don't, which,
counter-intuitively, she actually likes.

Joy Cooper is so dis-connected to the reality
of this city and smugly anti-democratic by nature
that she actually believes -and has been heard
saying- that few people regularly showing-up
at these HB City Commission meetings is actually
a positive thing.

Really.

Even I was floored by this the first time someone
told me, but I've heard it from so many people
over the years by people with no tangible connection
to one another, or even an axe to grind with her,
that I've accepted it as Conventional Wisdom,
at least to the extent that something like this is
possible here in HB.

Cooper genuinely believes the lack of attendance
is a sign that HB residents are happy and the city
is well-run, which couldn't be further from the truth,
of course, as anyone could tell from a conversation
or two with any concerned residents who pay
attention, or from even a cursory drive around
town, where there is ample evidence that the
longstanding problems that have plagued
City Hall for years are actually getting worse.

Mike Good & Company are actually doing
a worse job than before because this unelected
person and his staff have gotten more brazen
about their spending decisions and general
managerial incompetence, which is scary to
contemplate.

But then Joy Cooper has to believe these grand
delusions of hers, doesn't she?

It's a coping mechanism, since she can't allow herself
to acknowledge the reality that her misanthropic,
thin-skinned personality wrecks civility here
-and where everyone but and her pals is wrong-
and is the real reason that residents of this ocean-side
city stay away from City Hall in droves.

The truth is that Joy Cooper herself is the reason!

In fact, since many of you may not be aware of this,
though I've known it for quite some time, let me give
you some insight into the upside-down world of mayor
Joy Cooper.

She believes -and has been known to tell
others- that the fact that so many Hollywood
residents show-up at Hollywood City Hall to
participate and share their opinions at Hollywood
City Commission meetings is actually a sign that
the City of Hollywood is poorly-run and managed
by Mayor Peter Bober and City Manager
Cameron Benson.

Incredible but true.

To that I would just say two things:
First, the reality is just the reverse of what Joy Cooper
believes, as any waking person can observe for
themselves, and, two, consider the source.

Even more than people like me simply telling the truth,
though, Cooper can't accept the simple fact that more
people than ever now see thru her preposterous lies,
falsehoods and fabrications, and her smugness and
condescension are now accurately seen by most residents
for what they truly are, instead of foolishly being labeled
'self-confidence.'
Time is definitely NOT on her side.

Personally, I've long suspected that Joy Cooper
and her acolytes and cronies in the community
have mined the city's email alert database for
names and email addresses, and have converted
and used that information for their own purposes,
despite the fact that it's illegal in Florida,
like it is all over the country, to use that info for
any purpose other than for which is was specifically
intended.
'Conversion of govt. property' for personal
use, i.e. the database.

When residents of a city or county sign-up for
an email alert from that entity, say, about Parks
& Recreation, they are NOT giving public officials
permission to use that information for the purpose
of receiving personal emails from them, which
the mayor's have to be, right, since she claims
so zealously that her particular email address is
NOT for city/govt. purposes.

She has to maintain that obvious fiction in order
to maintain the rationale of the city's lawsuit she
initiated against my friend, Michael Butler,
who has also received the same odd rambling
post-midnight emails from her over the years.

(Michael's fact-based website, Change
Hallandale Beach is at: http://changehallandale.com/
See Sun-Sentinel columnist Michael Mayo's
spot-on column about him from October 26th,
2009 here, aptly named,
Score another win for weirdness in Hallandale
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/hallandale/sfl-activist-sued-mayocol-b102609,0,4978569.column )

Yet despite my NEVER having given that email
address to Cooper -and everyone here
knowing that I never would, for reasons
I hardly need get into here- I have recently
been receiving emails from Cooper soliciting
campaign funds for Kendrick Meek's U.S. Senate
campaign.

And what do you know, back in 2008, I received
numerous emails at the same email address from
a Boca Raton woman I've never met or spoken to,
who turned out to be Cooper's campaign consultant.
She was actually soliciting funds for Cooper's
2008 campaign!

Sent to me at the same email address, again,
despite the fact that everyone knows I'd NEVER
vote for Cooper, much less, give her a campaign
contribution.

So, where would she get that email address
and that of so many others in this city who
share my antipathy towards her, who also
have received them?

Curiously enough, over the past ten days, despite
the fact that I have NEVER ever contacted them
before, NOR have I ever received mail from them
before, two separate groups have suddenly chosen
to send mail to yours truly at the same time:
the Hallandale Beach Crime Watch and the
Hallandale Beach Democratic Club, as you
can see from the photo at the top of this posting.

And what a coincidence, both have a connection
to Joy Cooper acolyte/apologist and Kendrick
Meek aide and community hand-holder, Alexander
Lewy, who just happens to be running for HB City
Commission.
Again.

One, from Crime Watch, even has a salutary
message from him, despite the fact that in the
opinion of many, including myself, this group has
very little to actually brag about, especially when
you know what their track record actually is,
and where their personal sentiments lie.

It's a track record and public persona that their
members don't like to hear about from outsiders
who can readily see the facts for themselves.

Yes, the same thoroughly loathsome and self-serving,
back-stabbing Alex Lewy I wrote about in some
detail last Fall in emails to many of you, where I
connected-the-dots on his documented past creepy
behavior and loathsome words.

Frankly, to simply call him a jerk and be done with it
is to lose sight of what he is really all about.

And guess who just happens to be sending out mail
from Crime Watch that HB taxpayers are forced
to pay for -just months from November's
City Commission election- since, conveniently,
they are the only community/advisory group that
HB City Hall pays postage for?

Yes, the answer is Alexander Lewy.

That's how voter outreach and name recognition
works here in Hallandale Beach when you're a friend
of our scheming and misanthropic mayor, Joy Cooper.

Strange things just happen out-of-the-blue and
we're all supposed to believe that it's just our
old friend, randomness.

I get nothing for six-plus years, and then, suddenly,
two things arrive in my mailbox within days of
each other, each with a direct connection to
Alexander Lewy, with his name on one of them?

You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to know
a fact pattern when you see it right in front of your
face.

And when you do a Google Search for Hallandale
Beach Democratic Club, whose name do you see
on the very first result?
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=99414447993
Exactly.

Accordingly, within the next ten days or so,
I'll be re-visiting that email I wrote last Fall
about candidate Lewy's thorough lack of
character and integrity here on my blog,
with updated information, and it won't be pretty.
Especially for those of you who don't know
the story thus far.

Like his pal the mayor, Alexander Lewy's
biggest fears are the truth, and concerned
citizens/voters like you actually knowing
what he says, does and thinks.
The truth is not his friend.
It's ours.

Forwarded message
From: Mayor Joy Cooper & Dr. Nelson Santiago <invite@eventbrite.com>
Date: Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 4:47 PM
Subject: EVENT POSTPONED!!!: CONGRESSMAN KENDRICK MEEK for U.S. SENATE

Due to scheduling conflicts we have postponed the event in Hallandale Beach. If you were planning on attending please call (305) 655-3213 for alternate arrangements. You are invited to the following event: KENDRICK MEEK for U.S. SENATE Location: Home of Mayor Joy & Dr. Harry Cooper 301 Holiday Drive Hallandale Beach FL Can you attend this event? Respond Here For more information click here

Why do Kendrick Meek & Dan Gelber want support of someone like Mayor Joy Cooper, who refers to her political opponents as "Nazis" while at City Hall?

Monday February 22nd, 2010

Why do elected officials like Kendrick Meek,
Dan Gelber or others in the community want
the support of someone who is as reliably,
demonstrably and brazenly anti-democratic
and misanthropic as Hallandale Beach Mayor
Joy Cooper, who, last year, specifically
referred to political opponents of hers in this
city as "Nazis"?

While I was just a few feet away.

While she was on Hallandale Beach
City Hall property.

For a Hallandale Beach City
Commission meeting.

While talking to another Hallandale Beach
elected official, whom, as you'd expect,
their being a member of her Rubber Stamp
Crew, said absolutely nothing about Cooper
actually having the gall to say this,
and say it where she did.

That reference included yours truly, too,
as she was only too eager to make clear
to this other elected official by specifically
telling them, "including that person
in the room" when I was the only
member of the Hallandale Beach public
present in a large conference room
full of people drawing paychecks from
HB taxpayers.

In the very same breath, having now
warmed to the occasion, Mayor Cooper
then referred to HB Commissioner
Keith London by name and said that
he was "a Hitler," the contempt literally
pouring out of her mouth.

Next Sunday, if you're interested,
you will learn further details and context
about this matter here on my blog, and
also learn the identity of the other HB
elected official, who didn't bat so much
as an eyelash at hearing the mayor
of the city refer to concerned citizens
like YOU and I as Nazis.

That's plenty of time for you to think
about these facts and fully digest them
before she hosts a fund-raising party
for Congressman Kendrick Meek's
U.S. Senate campaign at her home
on March 5th.

But just so there's no misunderstanding...
IF you're someone in the community
who has been on Joy Cooper's side
and who has always made excuses
for her or looked the other way in the
past for her erratic behavior, illegal
and unethical actions, and intemperate
and creepy words, then you are NOT
on the side of the accountability, reform
and transparency that this city and
county desperately wants and needs.

That's your choice, of course, but you
need to understand THAT train is leaving
the station without you, and choices and
votes will be made accordingly.

IF you're not on the reform train, you're
now definitely an opponent of mine and
the people I know and associate with in
Broward County and greater South Florida,
who don't just vote, but who also affect
the votes of others -the persuaders-
and they don't forget.
And neither do I.

Lines are being drawn...

Phosphate strip mining company denied stadium naming rights - 2/18/10 Sarasota Herald Tribune: Mosaic won't buy rights to Port Charlotte Stadium

My comments follow the article.

Sarasota Herald Tribune
Mosaic won't buy rights to Port Charlotte stadium
BASEBALL: Controversy erupted over Tampa Bay Rays deal with mining firm
By Chris Gerbasi, Correspondent
February 18, 2010

CHARLOTTE COUNTY - The county's baseball stadium will continue to be called Charlotte Sports Park after the Tampa Bay Rays and the Mosaic Co. announced Wednesday that they had reconsidered a naming rights deal.

The announcement came as the Rays prepared to open their second spring training camp in Port Charlotte with pitchers and catchers beginning workouts on Friday.
Read the rest of the story at:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100218/ARTICLE/2181068/2416/NEWS?Title=Mosaic-won-t-buy-rights-to-Port-Charlotte-stadium


As many of you who come to this blog frequently
already know, I grew-up in South Florida going
to Oriole spring training games at Miami Stadium
in the early and mid-'70's, during their glory days.


Above, the iconic Orioles decal that was on the
bumper of our Ford family station wagon for
years in the 1970's.


Above, Sports Illustrated, April 12, 1971
Baseball 1971 -their baseball preview issue
Power Personified, Baltimore's Boog Powell

I even saw the occasional Yankees spring training
game in Fort Lauderdale with my NY-born friends
and their parents, or visiting New York brothers
or uncles who'd temporarily abandoned northern
climes for some sun and surf and baseball.


I was such a devout Orioles fan that I even caught
buses from my home in North Miami Beach over
to the then-Biscayne College (now St. Thomas)
in what's now Miami Gardens, where the Oriole
minor leaguers worked-out, so I could see how
they looked first-hand.
(That's where I first saw Don Baylor in person,
#25.)

In the intervening years, on one-week visits back
to the area, I'd see as many Oriole or Yankee
games as I could squeeze-in, and since returning
to the area six years ago, have made many trips
to Fort Lauderdale Stadium, as you know from
my posts here about the lack of public transport
from the nearby Tri-Rail station to the ballpark,
which is dumb-founding.

I first visited the Port Charlotte Stadium in 1987
when I swung by there to visit a longtime friend
on my drive to Miami from Evanston/Chicago,
where I'd been living for a few years, back when
the all-hit, no-pitch Texas Rangers used
it as their spring training home.
http://www.baseballpilgrimages.com/spring/portcharlotte.html

After grabbing some breakfast somewhere the
next morning before starting out on my tour of
the area, we went out to the stadium because the
Port Charlotte Rangers were playing an away
game later that day -and we were so stealthy!-
we were able to get into the ballpark and on the
field without any problem.

(Ironically, this was the same best friend
with whom I had walked on Florida Field
with back in the summer of '79, when I'd
come up to Gainesville for a week-long visit
over the Fourth of July, via Air Florida,
six weeks before I left for the rolling
Hoosier hills of IU in Bloomington.)

My friend explained to me that the outfield
warning track at the time had a unique touch
to differentiate it from other spring training
and minor league ballparks in that rather
than having a typical dirt clay warning track,
this one was made of crushed sea shells,
so that back-pedaling outfielders could hear
the sounds of shells beneath their feet.

Since the stadium was rehabbed, I don't know
whether they've chosen to keep that unique
feature or abandon it.

After reading this article and getting a sense
of the outrage factor on our West Coast from
just the thought of naming a stadium after a
company involved in this activity, it seems
more clear to me than ever that as far as
their Senate campaign goes, Marco Rubio
would be foolish not to remind voters outside
of South Florida, esp. Independents and
Enviros, about Kendrick Meek's past as
a lobbyist for rock mining interests in western
Miami-Dade County.

I can already see those TV campaign
ads in my head.

Frankly, my experience in South Florida from
going to public policy forums and meetings is
that there are an awful large universe of
well-informed people who don't know anything
about that part of Meek's past, so it's a
target-rich environment to exploit if you choose
to.

Not that it'd be the only reason someone would
necessarily vote against Meek, of course,
but for some voters, that bit of info could prove
to be important context in deciding whom they
vote for.

The FL-17 Congressional race the South Florida news media ignores

My comments follow this pointless Jan. 30th, 2010
Beth Reinhard column on Jeb Bush that didn't
need to be written and which, fortuitously, seems
to have been completely ignored by readers.

Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1454784.html
Jeb Bush is back, and some think he's looking presidential
Beth Reinhard
January 30, 2010

MIAMI — When Jeb Bush left office four years ago, his public appearances were as scarce as bi-partisan man hugs.

He didn't want to upstage his successor in the governor's mansion nor his brother in the White House. Instead, he quietly cashed in by joining corporate boards and an elite speakers bureau, penned policy essays and gave infrequent interviews to conservative media.

But in recent months, as the Republican Party of Florida has grappled with a leadership vacuum, Bush's political profile has grown as fast as the national deficit.

He headlined a fundraiser for Bill McCollum's gubernatorial campaign, starred in a YouTube video touting Jeff Atwater's campaign for state chief financial officer and helped install state Sen. John Thrasher as the state party's heir apparent -- all the while looming on the sidelines of the fierce Republican Senate primary between Gov. Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio.

The capper came Thursday when, at the top of the 7 o'clock hour, right after Vice President Joe Biden, Bush made a rare network television appearance on NBC's Today Show. The intensely private Bush's interview with the overly familiar Matt Lauer rattled Florida political circles.

Was this the beginning of a Jeb juggernaut that would culminate in a 2012 presidential bid?

"My wife called me immediately and said he looked presidential,'' said Thrasher, who as the former House speaker helped Bush lay down his agenda. "I said, `Who knows? We'll see.' I'm ready to go to Iowa any time he's ready.''

Bush's comments about Crist's support for President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan got the most attention, but his call for Democrats and Republicans to work together was the biggest clue to his national ambitions.

"I think that leaders on both sides of the aisle need to figure out where there is common ground and at least focus on that,'' he said. "It's one thing to give a good speech. The other thing is to invite people that don't agree exactly with your point of view to build consensus.''

This from the governor who presided over some of Florida's most hyper-partisan battles of the last decade? Who helped declare his brother the winner of the 2000 presidential recount, threw out affirmative action with the "One Florida'' program, made the FCAT the end-all be-all of the public schools and insisted on getting in between brain-damaged Terri Schiavo and her husband?

But Bush's front-page days are long gone. Lady Gaga could learn a thing or two from the ex-governor, who has stayed relevant without killing us with overexposure. He picks and chooses candidates to support and the causes that matter most to him. He recently made a rare appearance in the Capitol to promote education reforms and helped launch a national group to elect Republican state lawmakers.

Though he hasn't given an endorsement, Bush has been an undeniable presence in the Crist-Rubio race. Consider: His well-placed compliments for Rubio and subtle digs at Crist. The involvement of his family's longtime fundraiser, Ann Herberger, in the Rubio campaign. The reception co-hosted by sons George P. and Jeb Jr. that raised $100,000 for Rubio.

If the race goes down to the wire, or if Crist launches a full-scale attack against Rubio, some Republicans predict Bush will speak out.

"If Jeb is going to publicly support Marco, it's better to keep the suspense building and do it closer to the election when voters are paying attention,'' said Rubio supporter Ana Navarro.
"Jeb Bush stumping through Florida for a Republican candidate makes a difference. Jeb Bush knows that. Marco Rubio knows that. And I suspect Charlie Crist fears that.''


Presidential?
No sane, well-informed person thinks that

Above, a perfect example of the longstanding
problem at the Miami Herald: the non-story
that crowds out the more deserving.

It's been an epidemic over there since I first
returned to South Florida from the Washington, D.C.
area in late 2003, after 15 years of reading
at least 5-6 newspapers most days,
plus countless journals and weekly magazines
covering all aspects of public policy.
Not bragging, mind you, just stating the facts
so you know where I'm coming from.

When I first started to write a few quick thoughts
about this particular Beth Reinhard column last
Wednesday night, February 3rd at about 9:35 p.m.,
more than three full days after it was published,
this column had elicited zero "recommends"
from readers and zero reader comments.
Like it was never seen... a ghost.
And like a ghost, lighter-than-air.

That's very amusing to me because when I first
saw it shortly after it was posted online, I was
initially tempted to leave a biting maybe even
snarky comment about what I thought this
column really shows -contempt for the
diminishing number of Herald readers.

But since as we all know, the Herald's online
comment site allows readers less space to
comment than almost any Florida newspaper
or media site around, and I have an infinite
amount of space here at Home Sweet Blog,
once again I wrote myself a note about this,
and resolved to return to it a few days later.
In this case, I've waited to see how it all
turned-out.

(Someone finally wrote a comment last
Thursday afternoon on the Herald's site
for the Saturday morning column
-five long days of invisibility.)

That it was ignored for so long pleases me
to no end, since it only serves to confirm
once again what I've thought for a long time
about the Herald's downward spiral in
quality and sense of purpose.

To illustrate this, let me bring up something
that will be before us for months this year,

Consider the fact that though we've known
since last summer that South Florida's
FL-17 would have a new face come this
November, rather than take advantage
of that and show local readers and viewers
what's going on, the local media's abysmal
coverage of that congressional campaign
thus far has consisted largely of five
sentences from Beth Reinhard of the
Herald, one of which was a list of candidates
names.
Talk about underwhelming!

The story had all the electricity of a list
of Honorable Mention winners at the
County Youth Fair being read on a
scratchy elementary school PA system.

If you doubt me, here's the proof.
Read it for yourself and try to explain
it away.


Miami Herald
CONGRESS
11 seeking Meek's seat BETH REINHARD
December 2, 2010

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek's campaign for the Senate has unleashed a torrent of candidates vying for his Miami-Dade congressional seat in 2010.

Eleven candidates -- 10 of them Democrats -- are running in the predominantly black district.

Haitian businessman and civic activist Rudy Moise announced he was running in October, held a press conference Tuesday in Liberty City.

The other Democratic candidates are Leroy Adam, Marleine Bastien, former state Rep. Phillip Brutus, state Rep. James Bush III, Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson, state Rep. Yolly Roberson, Roderick Vereen, Miami Gardens Councilman André Williams, and state Sen. Frederica Wilson.

The only Republican candidate is Corey Poitier.

-----

Satisfied?
More than two full months later, that's still
IT.
That's the sum of the Herald's coverage
of FL-17.



So, in a year full of dynamic and interesting
possibilities, where we've already seen the
unexpected occur in Massachusetts, despite
the D.C. and Boston political chattering class
poo-pooh Scott Brown's chances of being
elected to the U.S. Senate, pronouncements
which the people of Massachusetts promptly
and overwhelmingly ignored, rather than
getting pro-actively engaged and follow the
eleven announced candidates themselves
as they to forge coalitions locally and see
how their their opinions and ideas evolve
-or not-on a whole range of issues,
like health care, Cap & Trade, etc.,
what has the Herald and the rest of the
South Florida news media done?

They've chosen to ignore the one new
Congressperson that all of South Florida
knows we'll have, and instead, given much
more political attention to what, exactly?

To Debbie Wasserman-Schultz's phony
anti-democratic Tele-Town Halls, which had
all the excitement of day-old bagels served cold?

No, the Herald and Company completely
downplayed her inability to appear before any
crowd that wasn't pre-selected and staged.

In fact, the Herald's Editorial Board and
the local TV political reporters didn't even feel
the need to go after low-hanging fruit that was
positively begging for some mention.

Even when Town Halls were front page
news stories all over the country, and a small
reminder of what we were all taught was the
cornerstone of participatory democracy,
they resisted the urge to sagely mention that
DWS' aloof, robotic manner and lack of humility
and unwillingness to publicly meet her
constituents -and opponents- when she's
a certified gerrymandered shoo-in, makes it
much harder for labels like DEMAGOGUE
not to stick to her like glue -forever.

Despite all the media kisses and kid-glove
treatment she's received over the years locally,
as well as the likes of MSNBC's Chris Matthews,
and the silly talk of bigger office in store for her,
DEMAGOGUES like her rarely if ever rise in
Washington beyond a certain level.
I saw it on Capitol Hill for myself, year-after-year.

Regardless of how liberal or conservative someone
may be when they vote on Capitol Hill, personality
traits still count for a lot, and Members of Congress
do NOT usually vote for people to fill party leadership
posts who actually irritate or annoy them too much
to be trusted with power.
Nancy Pelosi is the exception to the rule.

It's also why if the GOP ever takes over in the next
few years, it's more likely than not that Mike Pence
of Indiana will be the Speaker of the House, not
current House Minority leader John Boehner,
from Ohio, who rubs a lot of Republican members
the wrong way, and whom many do not personally
find either savvy or trustworthy enough to be Speaker.
(You'll see.)

That's why I wrote years ago on my blog that unlike
was often the case with congressmen who have
represented me over the years, like Dante Fascell,
Frank McCloskey and Lee Hamilton,
two of whom I saw on a weekly basis for years
while I lived in the Washington area, no Member
of Congress would ever think to ask DWS what
she thinks in order to help them make up their
mind on a tough approaching vote.
DWS is a cog in a machine, like The Borg.

Free will does not compute with her.

Her use of pre-selected crowds at her Tele-Town
Halls, in a district where she is guaranteed
re-election, is but the latest and most obvious
proof of that.
I almost feel sorry for her, except for the fact
that she has consciously chosen to go the route
she's gone, so whatever happens to her,
it's her own fault.

Now, with an election to decide the FL-17 seat
in less than nine months, in a year when the
GOP could/may take back 40 House seats,
NONE of the announced candidates has publicly
campaigned in the Broward County portion
of this district, which as it happens, includes
my own part of Hallandale Beach.

Personally, I've never voted for someone
for Congress whom I have not met or
spoken to.
I'm not about to start.

So here's a question.
What would happen if an articulate, well-informed
moderate Anglo candidate were to jump into the
FL-17 congressional race against what is now an
all African-American, all Miami-Dade County group
that doesn't or won't campaign in Broward County?

Would it take something like that for the South Florida
news media to finally pay attention to the campaign
race?

Perhaps not, but at least then some real issues
would finally be raised and discussed publicly,
and the self-evident weaknesses of so many
of the announced candidates could be properly
exposed to voter's scrutiny, and a well-qualified
candidate could actually emerge who represents
the WHOLE congressional district, not just part
of it.

That is NOT happening now.

Something to think about.

In future posts here, I'll have some good
probing questions for you to ask FL-17
candidates, especially if they want to get
votes from the well-informed people I know
and speak to regularly.





Broward County Ethics Committee meets on
Wednesday mrning at County HQ on Andrews
Avenue, Room 430, 8:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

See my previous article on South Florida news
media ignoring the FL-17 race, here. from
Sunday, November 8, 2009
South Florida media blows easy lay-up on health care reform -what else is new?
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/south-florida-media-blows-easy-lay-up.html