Showing posts with label Red Broward. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Red Broward. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

The news story hiding in plain sight is often news that #SoFL newsrooms simply have no interest in covering, whether fairly or with bias. In any case, Rod Velez's legal qualifications to serve on Broward School Board will soon come to a head, as Gov. DeSantis may again have to replace an elected official in Broward County

The news story hiding in plain sight is often news that #SoFL media newsrooms simply have no interest in covering, whether fairly or with bias. In any case, Rod Velez's legal qualifications to take office on Broward School Board will come to a head soon, as Gov. DeSantis may again have to replace an elected official in Broward County.



For several weeks since the August 23rd primary election, the talk among Broward's political chattering class -and in the South Florida news media, to the the extent it ever appeared- had been about whether or not Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would AGAIN remove Donna Korn if she won the Broward School Board At-Large seat that was the subject of a runoff race last Tuesday vs. Allen Zeman

Their race, which Zeman won 51% to 49%, was the subject of a recent large group email blast of mine as well as a subsequent blog post here on Oct. 19th.

The Korn Conundrum: Broward School Board At-Large candidate Donna Korn, who's already been removed by Gov. Ron DeSantis bec of a Grand Jury's recommendations, remains unpopular with the public and unable to defend her track record. But her opponent, Allen Zeman, is not just someone who is largely unknown, but has a troubling history of claiming things to be true that are NOT. Of actually lying with impunity. What should Broward County voters do?

https://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-korn-conundrum-broward-school-board.html

But while that subject generated at least some attention, what had NOT been discussed publicly in the 1,001 ways that you would expect or anticipate for a subject as serious as whether or not a candidate was even qualified to run for elected office, were many facts coming to light via myriad stories and rumors re Broward School Board District 1 Rod Velez, and his eligibility status to represent Hallandale Beach, Hollywood and Dania Beach if he was, in fact, elected, as a result of a prior felony conviction.

Things first began to dribble out a few weeks ago from his opponent in the runoff, Marie Murray Martin, the daughter of former District One incumbent Ann Murray, who was one of the four School Board members removed in late August by DeSantis, who was running to replace her mother. 

Using her Facebook campaign page and other Social Media of her mother, friends and supporters in SE Broward and elsewhere, Martin was successfully able to get uncorroborated information about Velez into the sunshine and online that local Miami and Fort Lauderdale- based news media had ignored reporting publicly in the ways that, well, they have literally patented over the past 25 years.

(As I have written since starting this blog in 2007, having previously lived in Chicago and Washington, D.C. and knowing dozens of well-known Beltway journalists, columnists and 
editors at top-tier news organizations well enough to go to ball games, movies with them, or, attend barbecues at their homes, no media market in the USA more avidly ignores reporting 
more stories of public interest and consideration than the South Florida news media, print and TV. They think that TOO!
Too many "reporters" here act like wannabe-corporate publicists for the powerful, affluent and influential, not curious investigative reporters, or, at least semi-skeptical representatives of the public pushing back consistently against the taxpayer-paid PIOs of South Florida about what is fact and what is fantasy.) 

That is to say, Marie Murray Martin ran to replace her mother on the Broward School Board dais WITHOUT ever speaking publicly or in-person at any event in Hollywood or Hallandale Beach the past few months about all the many ethics and corruption questions surrounding her mother for the past 12 years, to say nothing of the ones about her mother's consistently poor judgment and inability and unwillingness to tell the truth to area parents.
Or, to even look them in face without Murray having lots of BTU members around her -or Robert Runcie in tow- to run interference and keep the public quiet.

Ann Murray was notorious for being a no-show at education events in Hallandale Beach the past 16 years -even before she ran and got elected- as I have always been quick to remind readers here and my Followers on my Twitter feed, @hbbtruth

As you regular readers of the blog know well, ethically-challenged Ann Murray has been the subject of DOZENS of fact-filled and and photo-filled posts on this blog over the time she has been an embarrassing hand grenade of an elected official, always ready to explode in the faces of residents, parents and stakeholders in this area who want better quality education oversight and accountability.

A week before the election, perhaps sensing that the race was perhaps getting away from her, not surprisingly, a dam broke and a wall of unflattering information about Velez came gushing out, most of which was not independently corroborated. Little wonder where that was coming from, given the glaring apathy of the South Florida news media.


Now, in the days since the election where Velez won 52%-47%, there's finally some reporting.
Some, not much, and to be honest, WLRN radio barely counts.
Once upon a time it might've, especially before the pandemic, but that was YEARS ago.

When I lived and worked in Washington, D.C. from 1988-2003, I listened to NPR's D.C. affiliate, WAMU 91.3 FM, on average about 8 hours a day, Monday thru Friday.
That was largely because I was in an office setting most of the day when I wasn't in a meeting, over on Capitol Hill for a hearing or meeting or doing some handholding of a client over there or some nearby bar or restaurant.
But since I returned to South Florida, well, WLRN has become far too too smarmy, dupliitous, stridently liberal, and too predictable.
Even worse in my opinion, far too incurious or unwilling to challenge the Democratic government orthodoxy that has so badly served the public here for so long in ways large and small, whether housing, transportation, ethics, or business development.

These days, WLRN is more more like NPR's Junior Varsity, and their JV B team at that, with the same likes and dislikes, and the same fetishizing of some subjects and places beyond anything that makes sense. That is, if it's in Wynwood it gets on air, Hallandale Beach or Hollywood, no chance.
No chance at all!

WLRN is actually worse than Tampa Bay's NPR station, WUSF-FM, where they at least try to have someone on once in a while with an alternative POV.
Here, it's always the same names and same voices saying the same things that make no sense.
 


Now there's some informed talk among some usually-informed people here and in Tallahassee that Gov. DeSantis could simply say that the rules are the rules, and remove Velez and say that he was not in compliance with Florida law regarding former felons voting and being legally qualified to run for office.
Then, presumably, replace Velez with an interim person until another election can take place in a few months, since saying that he broke the law and leaving him in place is even more problematic for a guy like DeSantis, who clearly does not like unnecessary drama that can go sideways.

Here's a snapshot of some of what was going on this weekend while you were watching the Dolphins big 39-16 win against the Cleveland Browns or otherwise staying away from local politics and government.








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Wednesday, October 19, 2022

The Korn Conundrum: Broward School Board At-Large candidate Donna Korn, who's already been removed by Gov. Ron DeSantis bec of a Grand Jury's recommendations, remains unpopular with the public and unable to defend her track record. But her opponent, Allen Zeman, is not just someone who is largely unknown, but has a troubling history of claiming things to be true that are NOT. Of actually lying with impunity. What should Broward County voters do?

The Broward County Public Schools HQ, home of the Broward School Board, long the hotbed of flat-out unethical behavior, egregious cronyism, and corruption of the sort that you seldom see in the 21st Century

The Korn Conundrum: Broward School Board At-Large candidate Donna Korn, who's already been removed by Gov. Ron DeSantis because of a Grand Jury's recommendations -which were not publicly released because several Board members fought their public release- remains unpopular with the general public and seems unable to defend her track record in-person. 

The problem for voters aas well as Broward County parents, students and taxpayers is that Korn's opponent, Allen Zeman, is not just someone who is largely unknown to the residents of Florida's fourth-largest county, but someone whom it fairly be said to have a troubling history of claiming things to be true that are... NOT. Some people even say he lies with impunity.

How many people do you know who'd claim that they'd been promoted to Admiral quicker than anyone in the history of the U.S. Navy? Who would even think of saying such a thing?
Tom Lauder of Red broward has been all over this story even as most of the South Florida news media have taken a pass on holding Zeman to account, to say nothing of asking why Korn is running for an office largely on a campaign based on campaign signs.. 

So, what should Broward County voters do?

*I'll be updating this post over the next 24-48 hours, as my first draft of this post crashed with some interesting info somehow not saved, so I'm basically reinventing the wheel on this. 😒

Here's a small look at how it's going thus far from my perch on the At-Large seat, watching with dismay that the choices are so dismal and unappealing.
And I haven't even posted my words and concerns about how many people I know who find the unappealing District One Broward School Board race between Marie Murray Martin, daughter of disgraced recent School Board member Ann Murray, subject of dozens of fact-filled columns here at the blog in the past, and Rod Velez, endorsed by The South Florida Sun Sentinel but someone not without his own ethical problems staring us in the face. 
That post re District 1 will be posted within the next week

Some of the most fervent and opinionated independent-minded education activists as well as Deep Blue Broward Democrats I know have told me that under no circumstances will they vote for any of these four candidates because they, literally, do NOT want to be blamed for having thrown them a lifeline. 
When I joked with them that they were engaging in a  little bit of pro-active election denialism -which is a favorite go-to subject on PBS' News Hour show- even BEFORE the votes are counted while the never-ending early voting takes place.
They laughed -weakly- at hearing that because they know how it makes them look sort of hypocritcal, but they literally want these four people to just... disappear.

Sort of like those Donna Korn campaign signs on high-traffic Hallandale beach Blvd. disappeared that I reference below, based on my own first-hand observations.
I'll have a column about the Murray vs. Velez race here within the week.


While some of you were sleeping the past few weeks...






 All from RED BROWARD @RedBroward:

September  21, 2022
“Admiral” Allen Zeman Tells Sun-Sentinel He Had “Admiral Rank”
https://redbroward.com/2022/09/21/admiral-allen-zeman-tells-sun-sentinel-he-had-admiral-rank/#comments

September 20, 2022
“Admiral” Allen Zeman Hired Roger Stone “Protégé” To Work On His Broward School Board Campaign
https://redbroward.com/2022/09/20/admiral-allen-zeman-hired-roger-stone-protege-to-work-on-his-broward-school-board-campaign/

August 19, 2022
Admiral Z-Man?!? Broward School Board Candidate Allen Zeman Says He Was “Promoted To The Admiral Rank Faster Than Anybody In The History Of The Navy.”
https://redbroward.com/2022/08/19/admiral-z-man-broward-school-board-candidate-allen-zeman-says-he-was-promoted-to-the-admiral-rank-faster-than-anybody-in-the-history-of-the-navy/

I'll be updating this post over the next 24-48 hours, as my first draft of this post crashed with some interesting info not saved, so I'm basically reinventing the wheel on this. 😒

Monday, March 21, 2022

Shameful! South Florida Business Journal, showing no regard for ethics, aims to give an "Achievement Award" to Keith Koenig, Robert Runcie's #1 financial backer, apologist and puppet-master, who as the front-and-center FACE of #Broward's White Biz Estab., did NOT want to know the truth abt rampant corruption, thievery, + incompetency, just wanted to ensure access to BCPS contracts! He loves the $ gravy train that is BCPS!

Shameful! South Florida Business Journal, showing no regard for ethics, aims to give an "Achievement Award" to Keith Koenig, Robert Runcie's #1 financial backer/apologist, who was the front-and-center FACE of #Broward's White Biz Estab., who did NOT want to know abt rampant corruption, thievery, + incompetency, just wanted to ensure access to BCPS contracts! He loves the $ gravy train that is BCPS!

Like so many other galling things that we've observed in the South Florida media scene of 2022, just when you think that you have a reasonably-informed understanding of just how low low really is, there's someone or a platform who by sheer dent of their sheer imbecility, takes your breath away with their brazen disregard for the known facts and the history of the area.

Someone who will act as if all the evidence of unethical behavior and conduct you see all around you is really not there. It's all just our imagination we are told. Or, possibly a frame-up.

But what are we to make of all the self-evident fingerprints belonging to people whose names are well-known to us, and whose alibis, excuses and explanations for why they looked the other way fails every smell test?

And so it is that with these questions In mind that I share the rather shocking news with you today that I have just learned that the South Florida Business Journal, despite having plenty of time to vet and choose someone worthy, aims to go ahead and reward Keith Koenig, the CEO of City Furniture, with their 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony in April. 

Koenig is the person who was the safe, White face of Broward's Business Establishment for most of the recent past during the ruinous cult-like reign of Robert Runcie as Broward Schools Superintendent, that only ended recently. Koenig is someone who continually defended someone in great authority who was charged with lying to a grand jury, even while other charges were not brought that should have been.

Keith Koenig is someone who could not be bothered to answer any questions from the South Florida news media at any point over the last few years about his personal role in any of these matters, to say nothing of his personally paying for an attempted public whitewash via $ to Smith-Knibbs PR.

Which, fortunately, failed.

Here's the thread that brought us to today's incredible news... with more information below it that connects-the-dots!

















































Video above of so-called press conference where no questions from media were allowed is at: https://youtu.be/y0EuPhn2FDo

The folks behind it? The Usual Suspects: 


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Puppet-master Keith Koenig's role in this sordid story is below in red. I'm printing this Sun Sentinel editorial and Scott Travis article in its entirety here, so that you will know exactly what was said and written last year, which was easily searchable by the SFBJ if they really cared about... facts.

And optics.

When you reward the people who were in a unique position to demand much better of elected officials and government functionaries but who instead, FOR YEARS, looked the other way, as rampant corruption, incompetency and inefficiency that harmed all the kids in Broward and in many cases kept them in unsafe schools with moldy walls and missing roofs.

All of that, even while lots of honest and forthright people in this community -including me- have been sharing all the known facts about what was going on and didn't blanch from the unpleasant reality. 

Koenig and his gaggle of behind-the-scenes puppet-masters at The Broward Workshop as well as his  many allies in the crony capitalism pay-for-play scene of Broward that is SO dependent on government largesse, teat money, in this case, taxpayer money controlled by Broward Schools and the all-female, all-Democratic Broward School Board, are as morally responsible for the continuing mess that is the Broward Schools as Robert Runcie and former School attorney Barbara Myrick and Schools mouthpiece Kathy Koch.

South Florida Sun Sentinel
Editorial
Here's more evidence of why Runcie has to go
July 21, 2021

Like every school superintendent, Broward County's Robert Runcie says that it's all about the kids.

Whenever a crisis came, however, it was all about Robert Runcie.

Kathy Koch supposedly serves as the school district's chief communications officer. As the Sun Sentinel reported Sunday, however, Koch considers herself to be keeper of the Runcie flame.

After Runcie's April 21 arrest for allegedly lying to a grand jury, Koch secretly organized a rally for the superintendent two days later. To the public, it was to look spontaneous. It was anything but.

Koch worked with such Runcie fans as Keith Koenig, the Broward Workshop chairman and City Furniture CEO, to turn out a friendly crowd. Koch arranged for the school district's TV station to cover the event. As for herself, Koch said, "I would remain invisible."

With the school board set to debate Runcie's status four days later, Koch and others surely hoped that the staged event would save the superintendent's job. It didn't. Runcie had lost majority support and announced that he would resign.

Perhaps Koch hoped that in saving Runcie's job, she could save hers. It's a cushy gig. Koch makes $168,000 from the district and gets to remain as president of Ambit Advertising and Public Relations in Fort Lauderdale.

Barbara Myrick, the school board's former attorney and another Runcie acolyte, ruled that Koch could moonlight. More about Myrick in a moment.

Runcie's fans cite academic progress during his decade running the district. Whatever good Runcie did, however, is outweighed by his record since the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas shooting.

District officials lost track of and mishandled the shooter. Runcie and Myrick sought to cover up that culpability by sanitizing the district's report.

The Sun Sentinel won a Pulitzer Prize for publishing the truth. It made Runcie look bad, but the public deserved - and needed - to hear it.

A technological mistake allowed Sun Sentinel reporters to see blacked-out portions of the report. When the reporters used that blunder to inform the public, Myrick tried to have them arrested.

Damaging news continued. Two statewide grand juries criticized Broward County for its poor record on enforcing school safety laws that the Legislature passed after the Parkland shooting.

Runcie dismissed such criticism as blithely as Gov. DeSantis ignores rising COVID-19 numbers. Runcie's board enablers forgave him, as they forgave him for bungling the school construction bond that they praised him for getting voters to pass.

Sunday's story made clear again that Koch's priority had become Runcie. Koch tried to defend her actions by saying that she was on personal time. In fact, she was exploiting her professional role and trying to keep the public from knowing about it.

This is a terrible time for any school district in Florida to be looking for a superintendent. Record numbers of them are retiring or switching jobs.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the grind of distance learning is the main factor. But superintendents face unprecedented pressure, especially in this state.

This year, the Legislature again expanded the school voucher program. Republicans in Tallahassee remain focused on privatizing public education.

Meanwhile, DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran offered almost no help to school districts on how to reopen safely last year, as the pandemic raged. Corcoran threatened to withhold money from districts where students stayed home for the second half of the year.

This year, seeking to stoke his presidential campaign, DeSantis falsely accused districts of teaching critical race theory. The Board of Education approved a rule supposedly to prevent indoctrination of students.

Last week, Sarasota County Superintendent Brennan Asplen reiterated that the district teaches to Florida standards and does not use critical race theory. A speaker responded, "You can tell me all year long, 'We're not doing it, we're not doing it.' And I don't believe you."

But Runcie has to go, even if Rosalind Osgood, his chief enabler on the board, seemingly tried to orchestrate as expensive a severance as she could. Runcie had created a cultlike atmosphere. It was Runcie above all.

Myrick already resigned after her own indictment linked to that grand jury. Other top administrators have left. So one early sign of whether Runcie's successor has changed the culture will be whether Kathy Koch keeps her job.

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South Florida Sun Sentinel

Director: 'This is where we get off the rails' - Schools PR chief set up secret effort to save Runcie's job

Scott Travis, South Florida Sun Sentinel
July 18, 2021

The communications chief for Broward Schools orchestrated an aggressive but secret operation to try to save the job of Superintendent Robert Runcie within hours after he was arrested on a perjury charge, newly released documents show.

Amid calls for Runcie to step down or be fired after his arrest April 21, Kathy Koch, a veteran public relations professional, hurriedly organized a pro-Runcie rally on school district property.

She helped some of the county's most prominent business leaders craft their remarks for the event April 23, but she carefully tried to distance herself from the effort, according to emails obtained by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

"I would remain invisible in the conversation," she wrote in her notes.

Koch's campaign failed to save Runcie's job. His last day will be Aug. 10.

Koch, 72, has worked for the district since 2018 and makes $168,000 a year. She said she organized the rally on her own personal time.

"I support the work of this District and its dedicated employees. In my personal time, I have the same rights as all others to use that time as I choose," Koch said in an email to

the Sun Sentinel. "I have supported Mr. Runcie in his role as superintendent."

But critics, including several School Board members, say she's misused her position, putting her boss's interests ahead of Broward County students, parents, employees and taxpayers.

"It is simply NOT the job of the communications department to be a superintendent's personal promotional machine," School Board member Nora Rupert said in a text after the Sun Sentinel asked for comment.

One document that especially raised concerns is two pages of typed notes Koch wrote detailing the many steps she took to organize the April 23 rally, which happened during work hours outside the front entrance of the district's K.C. Wright administrative building in Fort Lauderdale. Runcie had been arrested two days earlier, accused of lying to a statewide grand jury.

The Sun Sentinel obtained the notes, attached to an email Koch sent to herself the morning of the rally, through a public records request.

The notes describe her contacting business leaders, arranging speakers and confirming security in the 48 hours before the rally.

Koch got approval from Runcie on April 21, the Wednesday he was arrested, to hold the rally that Friday, her notes say. Runcie did not respond to a request for comment about this story.

Over the next day, Koch reached out to about a dozen Runcie allies in the business and nonprofit community, edited a letter of support from County Commissioner Dale Holness, wrote a news release for the event, sent the release and her media contact list to an outside public relations firm and organized logistics with district staff and the PR firm, her notes say.

But Koch didn't want the public to know any of this, her notes suggest, so she asked for help from Runcie ally Keith Koenig, CEO of City Furniture and president of the Broward Workshop, a business group that has been one of Runcie's staunchest defenders.

"Spoke with Keith. Agreed he would present it to the Workshop Executive Committee. I would remain invisible in the conversation," she wrote.

Later, she wrote: "Keith presented to Executive Committee. Called him after with plan. He did not want his staff to help and he agreed if I would plan and execute the event, he would pay his PR firm to distribute the press release I wrote to media, and to have someone attend this morning's event."


Koenig said in a text Saturday that he felt Runcie had been unfairly targeted, especially by the Sun Sentinel.

"I supported Bob as a citizen and asked a PR friend to help organize it," Koenig said. "Many of us came together and Bob was grateful."

Koenig added: "As I remember, the event was my idea and I hired the firm that did all the work. ... My recollection was that Kathy did not want to be involved."

Koch's notes show she confirmed the rally speakers with Koenig's PR firm April 22 and asked the company to invite the Broward PTA, the Broward League of Cities and local chambers of commerce.

"I think we should expect anti-RR people to show up," she wrote, referring to Runcie's critics.

About 50 religious, political, business and nonprofit leaders attended.

While planning the event, Koch asked district Safety Chief Brian Katz to alert Fort Lauderdale police, her notes say. She also alerted Juan Ruperez, who manages operations of the K.C. Wright building "to give him heads up."

"However [it] was clear this is not our event," Koch wrote. "In fact, there is a generator being brought so that they are not using our electricity."

Koch's role in the event raises concerns, School Board member Debbi Hixon said.

"I do not think it's appropriate for [district] staff to organize personal events on district time in the context of their district job," she said.

Lisa Maxwell, executive director of the Broward Principals and Assistants Association, said she found Koch's efforts contrary to the job of a government communications chief and a public servant.

"It is imperative that people believe that there is neutrality, that information is simply factual and is not intended to sway opinion or generate an outcome to a specific event - in this case, the protection of the superintendent," Maxwell said. "This is where we get off the rails."

Maxwell said Koch's notes are "probably the clearest example I have ever seen where this has just gone off the rails."

Koch started with the district in November 2018, beating out 158 other applicants. She owns the firm Ambit Advertising & Public Relations, which has been a member of the Broward Workshop and was a strong advocate for Runcie even before she took the district job.

Koch maintained her private firm after she joined the district. Although Runcie initially said she would turn over her Ambit client list to the district's procurement department to ensure there were no conflicts of interest, she declined to do that after then-General Counsel Barbara Myrick told her in 2019 it was unnecessary, emails show.

Koch did not respond to whether she plans to remain with the district after Runcie leaves Aug. 10. She and Runcie have faced frequent accusations that she focuses her PR efforts on the superintendent, not the district.

Former board member Robin Bartleman wrote in Runcie's 2019 evaluation, "Press releases and social media links consistently have [Runcie's] image as opposed to students, teachers, staff or even our logo."

However, board Chairwoman Rosalind Osgood praised Koch's work.

"Kathy Koch is a valued part of the District's team. The Public Relations Office has improved the District's communication to the community tremendously under Ms. Koch's leadership," Osgood wrote in a text message to the Sun Sentinel. "As a Board Member, I have no way of governing what any employee does with their personal time."

Koch's campaign happened during a busy time for her office staff, as they received dozens of media requests from around the country seeking interviews and information about Runcie's arrest, emails show.

Koch tried to avoid any interaction with the media during the April 23 rally, her notes show.

"I will be in [K.C. Wright] and am meeting PR firm early, but do not want to be visible in any form at the event itself - to school board members or to media, which might ask me about Mr. Runcie," Koch wrote.

A Sun Sentinel reporter ran into Koch inside the building and asked her why BECON, the district-run TV station that Koch supervises, had a camera crew at the rally if the event wasn't sponsored by the district.

"They're a TV station and it's an event on our property," Koch responded.

BECON was used again on April 26 to benefit Runcie as he recorded a video saying he would be vindicated from the criminal charge.

'Your team did a great job, and I appreciate everyone staying late last night," Koch wrote in an April 27 email to Eric Powell, production manager at BECON.

The video was widely distributed to media, employees and parents on the morning of April 27, hours before the School Board was scheduled to discuss Runcie's future.

At that meeting, board member Sarah Leonardi said she found the use of BECON inappropriate. "Those cameras should have been focused on students and educators."

Runcie realized at the meeting he didn't have the support to stay on long term as superintendent. A majority of School Board members wanted to either fire him or place him on leave. He offered to resign.

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Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Some preliminary thoughts about #Broward's 2021 #redistricting process. Final map gets voted on at what's likely to be a very spirited December 7th meeting, where some political careers may well be snuffed out


Some preliminary thoughts about #Broward's 2021 #redistricting process. Final map gets voted on at what's likely to be a very spirited December 7th meeting, where some political careers may well be snuffed out

Even as I was writing my first draft of this post this afternoon, I got word that an additional Broward County redistricting meeting has been scheduled for Saturday October 30, 2021 at 10AM, but it's... virtual. 🙄 Zut alors!

It's the last "public" meeting to comment before the last 4 draft maps are presented to the Broward County Commission for their thumbs up or down, scheduled for December 7th.

20210927_201323.jpg

My experience in the past is that the Sun Sentinel's Lisa Huriash is usually a fair-minded reporter, with a good sense of perspective re how simple or complicated an issue might be and what's necessary to present an accurate account of what's really at stake.
But here, on the issue of Broward reconfiguring its nine Commission districts, noticeably, she has failed badly

Also not mentioned is that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will be naming two interim Broward County Commissioners next month, as Barbara Sharief and Dale Holness had to resign in order to run in the #FL20 primary election that takes place two weeks from today, on November 2nd.

An election with nearly a dozen candidates where the winner will likely be someone who has failed to get 75%+ of the overall Democratic voters. Most of you longtime readers of the blog know that I hold both of these two Broward Commissioners in very low regard for their serial unethical machinations, serial poor judgment, and propensity for telling self-serving lies and half-truths, and general desire to play #IdentityPolitics at the worst possible times.
You never have to ask whether they are doing something for political reasons: they ARE.

Sharief's District 8 seat is up next November while the Holness' District 9 seat runs thru 2024, so my educated guess is that both seats will be on the ballot in just over a year, one for a full-term, and one to fill out the final two years.
You should start seeing articles next week about who DeSantis might choose and why.

Migration changes face of Broward, bringing new ideas and fresh flavors
By Lisa J. Huriash
October 11, 2021 

There were and are some very obvious and important facts and relationships that, at a minimum, should have been disclosed to readers there, but which, for whatever reason, weren't.

That includes connecting-the-dots on some of the people she quotes who I know with certainty have glaring conflicts of interests as it affects the public and public policy, including on the matter of redistricting, but Huriash stays quiet as a church mouse, which is why I have included the piece by Red 
Broward blogger Tom Lauder that accurately connects-the-dots that Huriash chooses to ignore,

If you can't access the Sun Sentinel article, let me know and I'll try to send a copy to you.

And yes, the Sept. 27 meeting I reference below is the one that was held at the Hollywood Library that I sent some of you an email about last month, before it took place, because there was no info about it anywhere in Hollywood, not even at the library itself, so the librarians knew nothing about it just two days beforehand.
Which is clearly not a good sign of the county's level of engagement on this.

Click screen grab below to enlarge!


























By the way, before the public meeting was held, there was a preview meeting held by the FIU redistricting consultants that was largely composed of area local elected officials, so they'd have a better handle on what the process is supposed to be and the issues involved in creating districts that are roughly equal population-wise, though they're allowed to have up to a 10% variance.
I saw many familiar faces coming out of the room before I and a handful of other Broward citizens went in for the public meeting.


Above, the evening's moderator, FIU professor Dario Moreno, the county's lead consultant on redistricting.

Above, District 6 Broward Commissioner Beam Furr, an official Friend of the Blog. As per usual, we spoke for a bit on some local matters before the meeting started.






Broward Commissioner Steve Geller in center



Because facts matter, and are worth recalling: At least three members of the county commission in the past 20 years not lived in their districts – Ben Graber, Lois Wexler and Stacy Ritter. 

"The law requires your legal residence to be in the district, while apparently your physical body can sleep somewhere else." -Buddy Nevins at Broward Beat, Dec. 4, 2011


Broward Beat
Gerrymander! County Commission Carves Out A Seat For State Rep. Marty Kiar

BY BUDDY NEVINS
December 16, 2011

State Rep. Marty Kiar of Davie is “extremely likely” to run for the Broward County Commission after commissioners on Tuesday gerrymandered District 1 to include Kiar’s home.

The opportunity for Kiar suddenly surfaced late Tuesday when commissioners suddenly placed a tiny sliver of northwest Davie in District 1.  That section just happens to include Kiar’s home.

Districting boundary lines are not drawn by accident at the county commission. Somebody wants Kiar in the race, either the Commissioners Lieberman and Stacy Ritter who redrew the district or those behind the scenes…or both.

Read the rest of the post at


A reminder: After resisting getting a Facebook account for... well, years, because I could not be bothered with one with everything else I was already doing, I finally gave in last month and created a new platform for myself at https://www.facebook.com/DavidSmith0215/,
mostly so that I could finally read and comment on what i saw at the Hollywood Residents - Speak Up group page, https://www.facebook.com/groups/1023412084491625/ which I urge you to join if you are a Hollywood resident not already reading it.

Don't agree with everything there, of course, but it's a much better informed group that a random group of residents, and includes almost daily posts by people I know and trust who want this city to be MUCH-BETTER than it is and has been in recent years. Just like me.

Typically, I comment on both my page and the group page a few times a week, but I'm trying to allow a few days in-between posts, plus, I usually try to mention things that I don't necessarily mention in my popular group emails, here on my blog, or at the very repetitive and often innocuous Hollywood Nextdoor page, so consider checking me out there as well.

Also, if you add my current phone number to your contact list and use WhatsApp, you can even see my occasional commentary on things important and otherwise via the STATUS page, so consider that, too.




Some other Florida redistricting stories worth catching up on:

Miami Herald
Miami-Dade has - a new redistricting map: Let the fights begin over voting boundaries
Douglas Hanks; Staff Writer
October 3, 2021
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article254682422.html


Understanding the Florida Legislature redistricting effort with former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Florida, Peggy Quince.
From WEDU-TV, PBS Tampa: Florida This Week, taped Sept. 24, 2021

Florida lawmakers look to avoid running afoul of courts when redrawing districts
'My promise to you is … we will do this right,' one lawmaker said

John Kennedy, Capital Bureau
USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA

POLITICO Florida Playbook: The GOP’s redistricting promises
Tuesday, Sept. 21, 7:02 AM
BY GARY FINEOUT
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/florida-playbook/2021/09/21/the-gops-redistricting-promises-494407

Florida Trend
Senate kicks off redistricting process
Jim Turner | News Service of Florida | 9/21/2021
https://www.floridatrend.com/article/32208/senate-kicks-off-redistricting-process

South Florida Sun Sentinel