Above and below, October 3rd, 2012 photos by South Beach Hoosier of 501 N.W. First Avenue, a property owned since 2009 by the City of Hallandale Beach and its beleaguered taxpayers, thus making it a building that is NOT supposed to have political campaign activity in it, or campaign signs on it. And yet it does, doesn't it, and for quite some time, too, courtesy of Joy Cooper, Bill Julian and Anthony A. Sanders. The latter sold it to the city for $235,000, more than it was actually worth, for a purpose the city didn't have then and STILL doesn't have three years later, under longtime Mayor Joy Cooper.
And what do HB taxpayers get out of the deal? Well, taxpayers in Hallandale Beach receive $10 a year in rent from a non-profit group, Palms Center for the Arts Inc., that the city also gives tens of thousands of dollars a year to. Once again, HB taxpayers are taken for granted and taken advantage of thanks to Joy Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.
Hallandale Beach investigated for possible corruption http://youtu.be/XlOgkrL9CWI
Look what I found? More photographic proof of Hallandale Beach's "business as usual" attitude. Special rules for special people named Joy Cooper, Bill Julian and Anthony A. Sanders -once again they break the rules everyone else HAS to follow; Ethics @MayorCooper, @SandersHB, @AlexLewyNo, there's nothing the least bit vague, accidental, oblique or circumstantial about these photos, is there?
What you see are three political campaign yard signs for Joy Cooper, Bill Julian and Anthony A. Sanders on City of Hallandale Beach property -taxpayer property- at 501 N.W. First Avenue, yesterday afternoon, Wednesday the 3rd.
This from the very same three folks at Hallandale Beach City Hall who for years have employed cover-up, finger-pointing and obfuscation more than they've employed common sense and honesty. Yes, and the thing is, I've already spoken to multiple sources who've told me that they saw those same three signs standing there last Saturday morning, before the ribbon-cutting ceremony at nearby Foster Park.
Which is to say that the three of them are and have been in clear violation of Hallandale Beach's own rules governing the placement of campaign signs, as well as basic common sense and standards of campaign integrity -you don't put your campaign signs on government property!
It doesn't just look bad, it STINKS!
Between the three of them, Cooper, Julian and Sanders have been in office in Hallandale Beach for roughly 26 years, so they are NOT unfamiliar with the rules on this subject. In fact, they were given the most-updated copy of the rules that exist when they filed for office and paid their qualifying fees - it was in the packet of documents.
So why do they do it? Why?
© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.
For the very same reason that these three people ALSO place the same campaign yard signs at the dilapidated old HB City Hall that I've written about and photographed so many times over the years that is both an eyesore and a firetrap, to say nothing about it being a dumping ground for junk that neighbors on the south side of it, on S.W. 4th Street, have to look at for months or years at a time, because no responsible parties at HB City Hall are consistently doing their job, paying attention or being pro-active in looking-out for them.
And we all know from experience that this is certainly NOT the sort of behavior that would be tolerated across the street from Joy Cooper's house on Holiday Drive, garbage and junk sitting there for months at a time, rotting away.
But that's what the residents on S.W. 4th Street have had to put up with for years!
But then they don't stop there.
The three of them also have their yard signs on city property next to the city's DPW/Water Treatment Center on N.W. 2nd Street, on the N.W. 8th Avenue corner.
Where they've been for a while, as obvious as obvious could be.
Above, October 4th, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier of Southwest corner of City of Hallandale Beach's DPW HQ/Water Treatment Center, with campaign yard signs of Joy Cooper and Bill Julian and the 2" x 8" sign of Anthony A. Sanders on it. Oops!!! © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.
As we have all learned to our collective regret over the years from first-hand observation and experience, there's what the State, County and City laws, ordinances and rules say, and then there's what Cooper, Julian and Sanders think they can successfully get away with.
They have repeatedly shown, over-and-over, that they DON'T care about those things.
They really don't.
They have the mindset that their sense of entitlement allows them to do whatever they want.
Rules? Rules are for other people -like you and me and their political opponents.
They don't sweat the small stuff because they actually dare anyone to actually try to stop them when they break the rules, written or otherwise.
After all, in the three of them, we're talking about some pretty shady and pernicious characters who have revealed their own lack of character and integrity, over-and-over.
Mayor Cooper had no qualms in telling another commissioner (Julian) that a HB resident sitting by himself (me) at a HB City Commission meeting -before it started- was "a Nazi," before then quickly following-up by calling another commissioner who wasn't there (Keith London) "a Hitler."
In former Commissioner and 2012 Comm. candidate Bill Julian we have someone who thought to use the fact that there were no cameras around in City Hall Room 257 at a City Commission meeting to record him to make a motion to triple the commissioner's salary, and then had the audacity afterwards to publicly say that he deserved to be paid like a corporate executive for all of his work.
Yes, paid like a corporate executive for his job as a part-time commissioner.
And all the while, for years Julian has routinely parked his vehicle in "Handicapped Parking" and "No Parking" spaces at locations all over town, including what used to be the ONLY street-level "Handicapped" and "Handicapped Access" parking spaces at the city's public beach at North Beach.
Above and below, then-HB Commissioner Bill Julian's car in the one and only Handicapped Parking spot at North Beach. He has engaged in similar behavior for years all over the city, and rather than express remorse for what he's done, still seems to feel entitled to do whatever he wants. Special rules for special people! March 21, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.
In Anthony A. Sanders we have someone who for years has refused to return phone calls and emails from residents who wanted to communicate with him.
Refused to come to their neighborhood to hear their side in a policy issue, and who has refused for over three-and-a-half years to meet with the public he works for to tell the truth -and his side- about the city's controversial purchase of his property for $85,000 more than it was worth by any reasonable standard.
And in Sanders, we have a person who has been not the least bit shy -or even clever- in his use of race-baiting in this small city in order to try to hang onto power, the most recent proof of which is that he consciously uses two entirely different-looking "2' X 8" campaign signs in NW and SW, but something entirely different east of U.S.-1.
Can you see what the difference is?
He does something that no other candidate does on their 2" x 8" campaign signs.
He's two-faced with just one face.
He's two-faced with just one face.
Did you figure it out yet?
Correct, in NW and SW Hallandale Beach, Sanders has a photo of himself along with the symbol of his Eagles Wings Development Center to remind residents there who he is and what he looks like.
But on the other side of town, there's no photo of him and no physical reminder of a group that the city under Mayor Cooper and Bill Julian has been giving dollars to for years, with little oversight or accountability.
An organization which, after all these years and all those dollars, STILL doesn't have a website that would in some way explain what they really do -and really do with the city dollars they are given.
An organization which, after all these years and all those dollars, STILL doesn't have a website that would in some way explain what they really do -and really do with the city dollars they are given.
No, on the signs you see as you get closer to the center of this city's population, and get closer to the beach, Anthony A. Sanders not only doesn't show his face, which is ironic, but doesn't even so much as have a slogan on his signs.
Above and below, October 4th, 2012 photos by South Beach Hoosier of the 2" x 8" campaign signs of Anthony A. Sanders on it. Can you guess where each one was located within the city? © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.
Why?
The position of the four commissioner and one mayor in this city is At-Large, which means that Sanders is supposed to represent ALL residents from this city, but he doesn't.
No, it's been made rather clear to everyone for years that in his mind, Sanders only needs to represent NW Hallandale Beach, even though it only represents 13% of the city's overall population, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.
No, it's been made rather clear to everyone for years that in his mind, Sanders only needs to represent NW Hallandale Beach, even though it only represents 13% of the city's overall population, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.
Barely one-eighth of the city!
See my August 25, 2012 blog post titled, City of Hallandale Beach prints analysis that refutes Mayor Joy Cooper's mendacious efforts on red-light cameras - "In summary, there is no safety benefit to the citizens, and there is no financial benefit to the taxpayer due to automated for-profit; @MayorCooper
Perhaps City Manager Renee Crichton and City Attorney Lynn Whitfield should stage a surprise visit over at 501 N.W. First Avenue this afternoon and ask the person in charge (LOL!) if there are ANY political campaign signs of any kind located in the building.
Ask if the location is being used for any political purpose.
And then, regardless of what they are told, look around themselves.
Perhaps with some Code Compliance enforcement officers and some Hallandale Beach Police.
Perhaps some TV camera crews should tag along...
October 3rd, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier of 501 N.W. First Avenue. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.
I mention that last part since I saw campaign signs coming and going from that city-owned building into a vehicle on the east side of it, just steps from the front door, as I watched Wednesday afternoon after 5 p.m., on my way back from an errand in western Hollywood
It was very obvious, and I actually noticed the signs in the vehicle before I noticed the three signs in the ground just a few feet away, because I was going east on Foster Road towards Dixie Highway.
But when I came to the stop signs and saw what was going on, I made a left, pulled over and stopped my car, got out and started taking photos.
Within a few minutes, a series of vehicles came by and stopped, lingered for a few minutes as they saw me taking more and more photos of the outside of the building, and then took off.
Some of them actually came back around a second time while I was on the phone calling some of you, but when they saw that I was still there, and still had the camera in my hand, rather than linger, they stopped at the stop sign, then sped off, seemingly disappointed that they couldn't go inside and get what they'd come by for in the first place as long as I stood outside snapping photos.
Hmm-m... I wonder what that was?
I highly doubt that it was musical instruments.
By the way, some of you may recall that I recently mentioned in an email that some of the largest land owners in Hallandale Beach were more than willing to put their name behind these same three unethical individuals, these "Special Rules for Special People."
RK Centers, The Mardi Gras and The Related Group have all helped these three people who have helped them so many times in the past with YES votes, even when it was contrary to the best long-term interests of the residents and business owners of this community.
Just something to keep in mind as Election Day gets closer...
