Some informed thoughts and useful facts re recent Florida Bulldog article on Hollywood Comm. Peter Hernandez and his curious (and ineffective) efforts to kill the Hollywood Beach CRA. This is a perfect example of his 3 years in office so far, and why he should face tough & articulate competition in 2016

Some informed thoughts and useful facts re recent Florida Bulldog article on Hollywood Comm. Peter Hernandez and his curious (and ineffective) efforts to kill the Hollywood Beach CRA. 
This is a perfect example of his 3 years in office so far, and why he should face tough  & articulate competition in 2016

My comments are below the recent article and the public comments so far at their website.

I've held off on sending this for two weeks -plus its publication in Miami Herald on Sept. 20th- to allow a little more time to develop for people to both respond to what's written there and for the City of Hollywood's budget process to play itself out.

I wouldn't bring it up if it wasn't an important subject -CRA's- AND something I've previously

discussed publicly, including in conversations with some of you over coffee and bagels at Panera Bread and other eateries hereabouts.

Most of it was sent out as an email by me on Wednesday afternoon to people around Hollywood, Hallandale Beach and South Florida, and a few folks in Tallahassee.

Dave

Hollywood Beach CRA the target of moves to cut its funding, or kill it http://t.co/5Q7Zyyu4X1

— Florida Bulldog (@Florida_Bulldog) September 15, 2015

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Florida Bulldog
Hollywood Beach CRA the target of moves to cut its funding, or kill it
By William Gjebre, FloridaBulldog.org
September 15, 2015 at 6:28 am

Hollywood City Commissioner Peter Hernandez says the Beach Community Redevelopment Agency should be abolished because it has had increasing property tax funds for its use — at times exceeding its needs — while the “rest of the city is starving” to pay for operations and needed improvements.

While his proposal has yet to gain support from his colleagues, Hernandez and other city commissioners, who also serve as directors of the CRA, have directed the city’s staff to explore options that would redirect the Hollywood Beach CRA funds left over at the end of the year to the city. Such a revenue give back would mark a first for a CRA in Broward.

Read the rest of the article at: http://www.floridabulldog.org/2015/09/hollywood-beach-cra-the-target-of-moves-to-cut-its-funding-or-kill-it/

Well, where to even begin?

Not once in this Florida Bulldog article do you see a single instance where Hollywood Commissioner Peter Hernandez speaks with any sort of specificity about any serious 
attempts by him to make a motion that would annually CAP the specific amount of money the Hollywood Beach CRA has control over.

For instance, like publicly recounting the first date that he brought it up as a topic for debate on the dais -as well as the most recent time- and summarizing what his particular logical arguments consisted of then, plus what he's learned from losing the argument that day and changed to make it more reasonable and likely to pass.

Also noteworthy for its complete absence from the Bulldog article is Hernandez detailing 
any efforts he has personally made to engage the larger Hollywood community in the weeks and months prior to his bringing it up the first time on the dais at City Hall. 

In other words, the very first thing that I and most of you know from experience would be necessary to change and improve public policy in Hollywood, regardless of the issue, given how much more of an engaged political/social culture exists in Hollywood than in other broward cities, esp. Hallandale Beach.

A level of public participation and engagement citizens and Small Business owners fully expect, and for good reason.

(Just wondering: Why has Comm. Hernandez ALSO done such a consistently dreadful job publicly of informing/educating Hollywood area residents and 
businesses about what's really going on these days with the myriad milestones of the TriRail Coastal commuter line that will run thru HIS district? 
It's positively dumbfounding! 

Even by the most charitable of standards, Hernandez has remained a virual cipher publicly about the one non-tourism issue that can most rapidly and 
dynamically improve the economic condition of Hollywood in general and its downtown area -and his neighborhood- in particular: the TriRail Coastal line. 

Frankly, I would be very surprised if his opponents in next year's election don't 

choose to ask him those very same questions in a much-less friendly way.

Wouldn't be surprised if they didn't demand some reasonable explanation from him about why he's seemed asleep at the wheel on this issue, judging by his lack 
of energy or effort.

He has nothing specific about the CRA funding issue or TriRail on his campaign's 
Facebook account,

http://www.peterforhollywood.com/index.html which doesn't seem to have had anything added to it in well over three years. So much for communicating.)

Based on my continuing conversations, emails and phone calls with Hollywood citizens, 
residents and Small Business owners, especially those over on the Beach, unless Comm. Hernandez has been acting with the sort of stealthiness that characterized the Manhattan Project, he seems to have made exactly ZERO public attempts to engage the larger Hollywood community beforehand, so that he could then make the logical case from the dais that he and his arguments represent a tangible segment of the community who want to reform the CRA by enacting a CAP.

We can all agree that a well-appointed tool box is a good thing to have around, since you never know in advance what specific tool you might need to resolve a problem around the house or office. 

But just as there's a big difference between reforming the Beach CRA and eliminating it 
completely, it's troubling to me and many others in the community that Comm. Hernandez 
seems so consistently eager to use a hammer or a saw on the problem he sees -perceives- instead of what perhaps the problem more reasonably seems to require: a well-placed screwdriver to tighten certain things up accountability-wise so that the public is satisfied.

Even worse than his bad choice of tools, though, in the opinion of some who pay attention, Comm. Hernandez seems to be woefully naive on what the logical negative consequences would likely be for the city as a whole in eliminating the Beach CRA, both as a practical matter and from a PR point-of-view. 

The latter angle -PR- carries much more weight here than in does in most communities given that tourism and hospitality -and specifically, projecting a family image- is Hollywood's economic bread and butter now and for the forseeable future.

So, despite there being plenty of options in the tool box to accomplish his goal -whatever that actually is- Comm. Hernandez seems to have compounded his problem by being apathetic and naive about engaging the Hollywood community at large.

This, DESPITE the fact that a CLEAR MAJORITY of well-informed people I know and respect in Hollywood -with very different political ideologies- are largely in agreement that more serious reforms are and have been needed at the Hollywood Beach CRA over the past few years.

And some of them have been implemented.

Most of them believe that the first step in beginning to bring back increased public support to Beach CRA activities is capping its yearly spending, and removing the (perhaps unfair) illusion that it operates like it has an unlimited credit card.

(The VERY same thing that Hallandale Beach residents believe to be the case with its long troubled CRA -but for MORE and different reasons- who have also been desirous of having better oversight tools like a CAP.)

In fact, an even larger number of people probably support this CAP approach to the CRA than probably agree on any other aspect of Hollywood public policy that I can think of. 

Not only was I persuaded many years ago to the merits of a CAP on the Hollywood Beach CRA, but so was my friend, former Hollywood Balance Sheet blog co-editor Sara Case, before she left Hollywood for DC.

Sara even wrote as much on the blog, something I was reminded of recently when going thru some old email, and found her responding to someone who'd refused to really see what had been going on with the city's budget, and then suggested how it could be reformed and improved.

So what does Comm. Hernandez prefer to do instead of organizing Hollywood citizens and businesses in favor of a meaningful CAP that gives a degree of certainty? 

He blusters and seems to make ill-conceived threats that he seems to be in no serious position to carry out.

The truth is, I can't honestly say that I know Comm. Hernandez very well , since I don't, and I've never pretended otherwise on my blog or in my emails to many of you. 

I suspect Comm. Hernandez would likely recognize me on sight ONLY if I was wearing my trademark red IU ballcap, while standing behind my video-camera and tripod recording something at Hollywood City Hall, while I took copious notes.

In short, the position I've been on so many occasions over the years on so many issues large and small. 
Otherwise, to him I'm a complete stranger. 

Which is fine by me.

Whether its because he so loves the "working man" persona he's created or simply his muddled way of thinking, I can't say, but a few things are clear to me.

One is that my own sense of things from first-hand observations of him and conversations with Hollywood friends and citizens who keep on top of things at Hollywood City Hall is that Comm. Hernandez, whether intentionally or not, has created the impression that he is someone who actually enjoys being seen as combative, even when it's not necessary, and often even when it's actually MORE injurious to his particular argument, case or cause.

That doesn't make him unique in Broward or South Florida local govt., of course, but it is the particular sterotype he has largely helped craft for himself, based on his own actions and words and votes.

From a distance, it seems that what he has really built is more of a self-constructed cage than a public platform for fully engaging the community.

Perhaps because of either his ambition or ego, Comm. Hernandez not only doesn't seem to appreciate that his continuing to act like the tactics he regularly employs are actually working -when it's clear to nearly everyone that they aren't- but he also seems blind to the fact that when he specifically talks about the city having more money to spend, he has
NOT made the case that a majority of Hollywood citizens or Small Business owners necessarily believe that's a good idea.

For good reason - they DON'T!

When Hollywood citizens I know and respect hear a Hollywood Commissioner say that they want more money to spend, given what has happened there in the recent past and what was required -a bitter referendum on the city's budget priorities- those citizens immediately grab for their wallets or purses to make sure they are STILL there.

They ALSO begin to immediately suspect the Commissioner who publicly says they want more money to dole out at City Hall wants to give an even higher share of the city's limited budget to the Police and Fire Depts. -with the resultant increased pension costs and negative financial consequences sure to follow.

THAT particular approach is NOT a public policy decision those Hollywood citizens I know and respect will support, since it took so long for the city to rein those things in in the first place.

They don't want to go back to how things used to be.
If you missed my recent email to Hollywood's City Manager about what's going on with the TriRail Coastal commuter line, I've placed it on my blog here, so take a look: 

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-tri-rail-coastal-commuter-train-in.html

I've included some helpful Google Maps to connect-the-dots a bit.

Dave
Twitter: @hbbtruth, https://twitter.com/hbbtruth
https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/with_replies
http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/HallandaleBeachBlog

Questions are being raised -again!- about South Florida reporters' curious notions of journalism, esp. continuing to leave out important context & questions about ethical conflict-of-interest -and burying the lede- re the City of Hollywood, Broward County PBA, Traci Callari & Eleanor Sobel. "Hollywood suing pension boards over perk known as '13th check"

I'll admit it: I really hate lazy, incurious reporting that's neither accurate or timely, and which doesn't ask the questions that NEED to be asked to give proper context, yet, wants to take a bow for their effort anyhow.
And South Florida in the year 2015 is positively swimming in this sort of bad journalism.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hollywood suing pension boards over perk known as '13th check'
Susannah Bryan, Staff writer
July 12, 2015

City Hall is taking on all three employee pension boards, saying their leadership broke state law by sending lucrative "13th checks" to retired firefighters, cops and other employees periodically over the past nine years.

The payouts have ranged from $200 to more than $26,000. The cost of the payouts next fiscal year comes to $9 million for all three pension boards, city officials say.

Hollywood commissioners agreed Wednesday to file a lawsuit against the pension boards for sending the checks to retired workers despite the pension plans being severely underfunded.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/hollywood/fl-pensions-hollywood-13th-check-20150710-story.html

Quick, can any of you tell me what important context is NOT mentioned at all in the above Sun-Sentinel article about the City of Hollywood's financial priorities, and where questions about any
prospective voting conflicts faced by City of Hollywood Comm. Traci Callari are, in my opinion, the buried lede?

For those of you who have either known me personally for a while, or perhaps have Followed me for any amount of time via the blog or Twitter, the answer is rather obvious.
Callari's own husband, James, i.e. Jamie, a City of Hollywood detective.
He's mentioned unfavorably in this 2005 NewTimes piece about the way the Broward PBA has for years attempted to make the HPD its puppet,
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/hollywoods-finest-6314673
and mentioned in this one from 2013 about his curious notions of.. well, let's just say it's NOT good.
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-02-02/news/fl-dea-hollywood-clash-20130202_1_dea-agent-cones-hollywood-police-officer

Given what seems self-evident, Comm. Callari's husband would likely be slated to receive a generous check in the future if the city continued to do business in an obviously prejudicial way to current and future taxpayers and its own financial future. 
What's the reason that it isn't mentioned at all so that any reader reading this story might know this salient fact from the outset and be free to draw their own conclusions about Comm. Callari's sense of priorities, whatever they are, such as they are?


Correct. 
Once again it's asleep-at-the-wheel Sun-Sentinel beat reporter Susannah Bryan, the same reporter I've written about so often in this space because of my and many other SE Broward residents dissatisfaction with her.
Residents, civic activists and business people in Hollywood AND Hallandale Beach who want to know all the pertinent facts. 

For instance, last September 26th:
Some informed commentary, context and important facts that you didn't read about in Susannah Bryan's recent Sun-Sentinel article about Hollywood City Manager Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark and some of her critics re the 'million-dollar mistake.' Trust me, you'll thank me later!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/some-informed-commentary-context-and.html

Bryan consistently fails  to summon up enough strength or energy to actually ask reasonably-hard, pointed or even follow-up questions of public officials and city bureaucrats, especially in Hallandale Beach after they say and do things that logic can not explain by any stretch of the imagination.

Yes, the very same beat reporter that, years after-the-fact, has NEVER written at all -much less, knowledgeably- about the Broward PBA (intentionally?) breaking Hollywood's voter-approved city charter law about campaign election reporting requirements and contribution limits in Hollywood city elections.
Those new rules came about after Hollywood's appointed Charter Review Comm. responded to the public by getting it included on the ballot.

(I know because I sat in on some those Hollywood Charter Review meetings where increasing the expected levels of ethics and fair-dealing at Hollywood City Hall, and getting increased 
accountability and oversight for the public were stressed. 
As opposed to what actually transpired at Hallandale Beach's Charter Review meetings.)

That charter change took place BEFORE the Broward PBA's zealous efforts of November 2012 to oust several incumbentsand get at least one of their troika of candidates elected to prevent the public from keeping close watch over the purse.

The Broward PBA succeeded in getting Traci Callari on the Commission as a reliable pro-PBA and anti-taxpayer vote after ousting incumbent Heidi O'Sheehan, AFTER the Broward PBA forces were thoroughly trounced at the ballot box earlier by Hollywood voters across the city in a
referendum revolving around issues involving the city's union contracts/pensions and the city's budget hole, a vote that the Broward PBA and its president Jeff Marano has never either accepted or forgotten.

And let's not forget that it was the Broward PBA that got Florida state Senator Eleanor Sobel to have the City of Hollywood investigated by the Florida Joint Legislative Auditing Comm. in Tallahassee, since the Broward PBA endorsed Sobel and agressively worked the polls for her. 
Yes, the same Tallahassee group composed of state Senators and state representatives that Sobel DIDN'T want to see investigate the City of Hallandale Beach and her longtime friend, Mayor Joy Cooper, for their shockingly lax management, year-after-year, of the HB CRA, which saw $80 Million dollars wasted, with near-zero oversight.
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/sandbagged-independent-audit-of.html

Foe those of you who forgot or never knew about Eleanor Sobel's stealthy work to protect her friends and special interest group pals from any legitimate scrutiny and oversight, see my blog posts from:

October 17, 2013
Instead of looking-out for you and your Hallandale Beach neighbors, HB's craven state legislators (Sobel, Gibbons, Jones & Braynon) are doing Mayor Joy Cooper's dirty work in Tallahassee, making excuses for her ten years of oversight/policy failures with the HB CRA; #JLAC
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/instead-of-looking-out-for-you-and-your.html

November 2, 2013 
Latest news re Hallandale Beach CRA: Where are Joe Gibbons, Shevrin Jones and Barbara Sharief hiding? They're NOT adequately representing HB citizens who want to find out where the $80 Million in CRA funds has really gone; Response of JLAC re my inquiry re legislator's letters re prospective audit of Hallandale Beach CRA by JLAC
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/latest-news-re-hallandale-beach-cra.html

November 29, 2013 
Sandbagged! Independent audit of Hallandale Beach CRA was in offing by Florida JLAC, but Hallandale Beach's beleaguered citizens/taxpayers get stabbed in the back by Eleanor Sobel, Oscar Braynon II, Joe Gibbons, Shevrin Jones and Barbara Sharief. Why? To help HB mayor Joy Cooper preserve her facade that everything here is okay; @mayorcooper
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/sandbagged-independent-audit-of.html

Eventiually, the City of Hollywood sued the Broward PBA soon thereafter for breaking the city's campaign finance rules. 
So where exactly have you heard about THAT in South Florida?

For the record, as of today, the South Florida media parties who've never once mentioned these salient facts about Comm. Traci Callari includes the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Miami Herald, News4/WFOR-TV, NBC6/WTVJ-TV, WSNV-TV and Local10/WPLG-TV. 
Plus, rather predictably, the Hollywood Gazette and the South Florida Sun-Times. 
Which means everyone who OUGHT to be investigating and explaining the facts in a useful context.
#Surprise #NotSurprised

Which, of course, is why blogs like mine exist.
Unless something unexpected happens, this specific issue will be covered in more depth soon on my blog, with useful fact-filled links that connect-the-dots, along with a shout-out to former Hollywood civic activist Sara Case, co-editor of the greatly-missed Hollywood Balance Sheet blog. 

Sara, now living up near Washington, D.C., is the only person besides myself to ever mention how very curious it is that such important facts and context about this matter of great financial importance to Hollywood residents and Small Business owners, never seemed to see the light of day in-print or on-air, despite how much people say they want to know MORE about what's really going on at South Florida city halls in general, and theirs in particular.
That speaks volumes about the current sorry state of journalism and the people who populate the news media in South Florida.

Dave
Twitter: @hbbtruth, https://twitter.com/hbbtruth
https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/with_replies
http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/
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Video of the 2009 Hollywood City Commission voting on $30k deal with State Sen. Eleanor Sobel; Sara Case was talking about budget problems even then!

September 20, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Later than I had originally planned, I now finally have the link to the video from April 1st, 2009 at Hollywood City Hall that was the heart of the $30K deal for State Senator Eleanor Sobel that I have referenced twice within the past week, via a post of my own and one yesterday by Hollywood civic activist Sara Case at The Balance Sheet Blog, in light of her formal request to have the State of Florida perform an audit of the City of Hollywood.

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/pol-who-wanted-and-got-hollywood.html

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/hollywood-civic-activist-sara-cases.html

Me, I find her timing and rationale very, very curious, and that would be true even if I hadn't voted in the 2008 primary for Tim Ryan for State Senate, despite the nasty and untrue TV ads paid for by her shadowy supporters at 527s, and electioneering communication groups

A survey done by VancoreJones Communications in June 2008 described Democratic voters in District 31 as "the most angry, despondent and suspicious group we've ever polled.'' But on the plus side: "Despite being very opinionated they can be easily persuaded.''

Just like other 527's did the bidding of Alexander Lewy last year in Hallandale Beach against Comm. Keith London in Lewy's bid to get elected on his second try for office, where I wrote: "Not out of any great magnanimous desire to help the citizens of this city, mind you, but rather to help himself and take his first step in becoming a career politician."

History has proven me prescient.

http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/527/committee-to-protect-florida.asp

You may find it worthwhile to know that using Internet Explorer, you can't find the link on the city's website marked "Archived City Commission" meetings, but the video itself seems to ONLY play using Internet Explorer, since it will NOT work using Google Chrome.

I know that because I have tried and tried over the past few months to see several old Commission meetings that I wanted to reference in blog posts but was unable to.

Above, the webpage using Internet Explorer -list of files is invisible!

Below, the webpage using Google Chrome, a list of files.

Once you get to the blue-highlighted agenda item on the particular Hollywood City Commission meeting you want to view -or even the entire meeting if you choose- the link doesn't work using Google Chrome.

Consider yourself warned!

It's SNAFU!

And there is nothing on the city's website page that tell you that you have to use Internet Explorer to see video of selected agenda items.

A real conundrum that!

I'll be talking to the City Clerk's office about that next week.

April 1, 2009

6. R-2009-072 - Resolution - A Resolution Of The City Commission Of The City Of Hollywood, Florida, Authorizing The Appropriate City Officials To Execute The Attached Agreement Between State Senator Eleanor Sobel, State Representative Elaine Schwartz And The City Of Hollywood For Lease Of City Office Space And To Reallocate Funds For The Renovations For New Offices For Senator Sobel In The Old Library Building.

PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

September 20, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

State Senator Eleanor Sobel receives 5,000 sq. feet of improved office space, inc. electricity and water, for only $750 a month for a period of 40 months -the remaining period of her term at the time in 2009- paying no interest.

State Representative Elaine Schwartz is paying $500 a month in rent, which includes the costs incurred by Hollywood for past improvements from 2006.

Florida House and Senate legal counsel contacted City Attorney Jeffrey Sheffel and said that rules on limitations on member's office account expenditures are such that this matter needed to be done in the form of rent rather than checks for improvements.

Video is 23:47 minutes long

Entire agenda is at: http://www.hollywoodfl.org/Media/Archives/CCM/ccm040109/ccm040109_Indexed.pdf

Video for this item is at http://www.hollywoodfl.org/Media/Archives/CCM/ccm040109/ccm040109_Indexed.pdf

Hollywood civic activist Sara Case's spot-on take on the latest move by Eleanor Sobel, Munilytics, and the need for meaningful audits; Margaritaville

Above, looking west at Hollywood City Hall. September 20, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Hollywood civic activist Sara Case's spot-on take on the latest move by Eleanor Sobel, Munilytics, and the need for meaningful audits; Margaritaville

As a follow-up to my blog post of Monday titled, Pol who wanted -and got- Hollywood taxpayers to pay $30k for her new FL State Senate office in 2009 now asks FL legislature for audit of Hollywood!

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/pol-who-wanted-and-got-hollywood.html

I strongly suggest you read Sara's perspective on the rather-sudden concern shown by FL State Sen. Eleanor Sobel -who represents me as well in Tallahassee- on city spending and expenditures at Hollywood City Hall.

Sara also explains what the much-discussed Munilytics report did and DIDN'T say, since there seems to be a great deal of not only genuine confusion by some Hollywood residents about its representations, but also, sadly, some intentional misrepresentation being floated about by supporters of the Hollywood Police, Fire/Rescue Dept. union members who are SORE LOSERS about Hollywood voters rejecting their arguments in last month's referendum on government pensions.

They keep wanting to fight the battle but the war is over -they lost.

I know because many of these same people have written me angry emails, thinking that I'd post whatever they said about the Hollywood CRA and its spending and legality, regardless of what sort of mis-information they attempted to peddle, perhaps assuming that I didn't know the facts.

That was their mistake.

I've been to more Hollywood CRA meetings and workshops than 99.99% of Hollywood residents.

Hell, I not only posted the information about the pre-bid information workshops here on the blog but also posted the city's public notices here so that more residents and concerned people would show-up for the meetings and get educated about what was and was not happening.

I even wrote here about who some of the candidates were to be the new CRA chief under the newly-restructured organizational chart when the Herald, Sun-Sentinel and local TV stations were completely ignoring it.

(In case you didn't know, Jorge Camejo is the CRA Executive Director.)

I not only took notes but videotaped the meetings to make sure that my notes were correct and so that I was ready in case somebody said or did something of note, good or bad, whether Mayor Bober, the City Commissioners, city staff, the public or the competing developers for the six-acre Johnson Street project at Hollywood Beach and The Broadwalk, that was ultimately won by the Jimmy Buffett-themed Margaritaville, despite my own preference for The Hard Rock proposal as a concept and tourism magnet, however imperfect that was.

I didn't stop attending once Margaritaville's won the bid unanimously despite my own reservations about it.

Yet despite this, I received emails from people who clearly DIDN'T do their homework and thought I'd just pass along their nonsense that failed both the common sense and smell test.

Sorry, no sale.

-----

Balance Sheet Blog

STATE SENATOR’S AUDIT

October 4, 2011, 2:33 PM

Filed under: Budget, City Commission

State Senator Sobel – who in 2009 sought and was granted a $30,000 interest-free, non-recourse loan from the City of Hollywood to renovate 5,000 square feet of office space for her use – has suddenly expressed great concern with the City’s finances. She’s requested that the State of Florida audit Hollywood’s finances and her request has been granted.

Read the rest of Sara's post at:

http://balancesheetblog.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/state-senators-audit/

For more examples of that often-inaccurate, anti-Hollywood CRA mis-information being pushed that I noted above, see some of the reader comments to this article:

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Margaritaville resort brings optimism to Hollywood Beach

By Carli Teproff, The Miami Herald

12:00 a.m. EDT, October 5, 2011

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-margaritaville-resort-hollywood-20111005,0,3194149.story

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/04/2437130/future-resort-brings-optimism.html

City of Hollywood presents its side Monday night re Hollywood's Sept. 13th referendum re Police & Fire pension costs

Hollywood civic activist and blogger extraordinaire Sara Case recently sent the following note out to folks to remind everyone in SE Broward about Monday night's HCCA meeting on the referendum taking place in two weeks.

From: Sara Case

Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 4:23 PM

Subject: HCCA's Public Education Meeting on Pension Referendum

Hi All,

Here are the details of HCCA's public education meeting on the Sept. 13 pension referendum election. Please notify your all your association members and friends as this meeting will provide a good opportunity for voters to learn the implications of this special election.

Date: Monday, August 29, 7 PM

Place: Fred Lippman Multi-purpose Center, 2030 Polk Street (large meeting room)

Purpose of Meeting: To provide fact-based information on how the referendum will affect city operations, city services and employees, and city taxpayers -- both if it passes and if it is defeated.

The Interim City Manager Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark will make the presentation.

The exact ballot language can be found at this link on the city website:

http://www.hollywoodfl.org/election/2011/2011referendum_questions.htm

Sara

See Sara's July 20th Balance Sheet Blog post titled Financial problems in Hollywood

http://balancesheetblog.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/financial-troubles-in-hollywood/

-----

Why-oh-why can't the union officials who represent the individual members of the City of Hollywood Police and Fire Dept., Jeff Marano and Dan Martinez respectively, accept the fact that no matter how many times they say it to reporters or their members, the City of Hollywood CRA funds are not "found" money for the Hollywood City Commission to do with as they choose for whatever purpose?

(For that, you have to go to where I live, Hallandale Beach, There, things are so upside-down in the logic and common sense dept., that a perfectly preposterous idea for putting TVs/monitors -that run nothing but local ads- in HB businesses and public areas of condos NOT even in the CRA zone, got approved 4-1, with little to show for it but money down a rat hole. Money that the city is NOT trying very hard to get back from some of the individuals involved, once it went kerplunk.)

Over-and-over for years I have heard whining from them and Hollywood beat cops about there being this magic pot of gold over the rainbow.

But showing in many cases the very poor value of a Florida public school education, many persist in ignoring the facts and constructing arguments that result in them getting more, more, more.

It's NOT your money!

Given that taxes in Hollywood will still go up 11% even if this is approved, I believe that if it is rejected, the City Commission should fire about 300 City of Hollywood employees, not the 170 or so suggested in the Herald article below by Carli Teproff that appeared in this morning's newspaper.

Consider the extra people fired both a margin of error and a shot across the broadside that there are far too many people in the city's employ who are NOT earning their paycheck.

I know, I see it every week with my own eyes and have experienced it many times.

The condescension is the worst part.

People with Masters Degrees who think they know everything and are NOT interested in what you say about something, even when you have photographs that show that THEY are doing something that is NOT appropriate or safe, and even likely to lead to injuries to the public.

Nope, they just can't be bothered with your facts, they have workshops to go to.

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Miami Herald

HOLLYWOOD

With YouTube video and city mailings, Hollywood residents are learning about upcoming pension referendum

The gloves are off and both sides are coming out swinging with their campaigns to educate Hollywood voters on why they should or shouldn’t vote to change the city’s pension system

By Carli Teproff

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/28/2376781/with-youtube-video-and-city-mailings.html

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Please be sure to read this excellent overview of the government employee pension situation by the Tallahasse Democrat's Senior Political Writer and Columnist Bill Cotterell.

I meant to mention it here weeks ago when the controversy over whether or not the City of Hollywood and the Police and Fire unions would work things out without a referendum being necessary.

Tallahassee Democrat

Things are tough all over

Government employees everywhere feel the pinch

Bill Cotterell

July 25, 2011

http://floridacapitalnews.com/article/20110725/COLUMNIST03/107250305

------

Here's an interesting article from a year ago that I circulated at the time via an email.

New York Post

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/you_pay_the_price_hNooJsBk9MtO67HvinglHP

City taxpayers foot 90% of municipal pensions

By Susan Edelman

Last Updated: 10:31 AM, July 11, 2010

Posted: 2:10 AM, July 11, 2010

Taxpayers kick in an average $8.60 for every dollar that city employees contribute to their pensions, a sweet deal costing the Big Apple a bundle.

Even though their own retirements are less secure, as private businesses have shifted from traditional pensions to riskier savings plans like 401(k)s, taxpayers' support for rock-solid public employee pension plans is growing. That's because pension funds are guaranteed to grow 8 percent a year -- and taxpayers have to make up the difference if they don't.

Taxpayers' share of city pension costs has skyrocketed more than 900 percent in the last decade -- from $703.1 million in 2000 to $6.5 billion in 2009, according to the city comptroller's annual reports.

The cost is expected to hit $7.6 billion this fiscal year and $8.7 billion next year.

"It's a double-whammy for taxpayers," said E.J. McMahon, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

"If they're privately employed, they shoulder the risks of saving for their own retirement. At the same time, they have to pay a steadily mounting cost of guaranteed pensions for government workers."

Teachers get the biggest bang for their pension contributions -- the city puts in $15.50 for every $1 they contribute.

Taxpayers pay $10 for every $1 firefighters put in, $9 for every $1 from cops and $5.60 for every $1 from transit, sanitation and other civil servants, the 2009 report shows.

"The cost has risen because employee benefits were dramatically increased in 2000, just as the [stock] market began to collapse," said John Murphy, former executive director of the New York City Employee Retirement System, NYCERS, the largest city pension fund.

"In retrospect, it was one of the most irresponsible things to have done," he said.

Many private companies cut back or suspended matching contributions to employee 401(k) plans after the most recent dramatic market downturn in 2008. Some have begun to restore contributions, depending on profits.

Teachers hired after 2008 contribute 4.85 percent of their salaries for their first 10 years, then 1.85 percent a year thereafter.

Cops and firefighters make annual pension contributions depending on their age at swearing in, at most 8 percent at age 20. But in a benefit called "Increased Take Home Pay," the city subsidizes 5 percent of that.

Cops and firefighters are guaranteed an 8.25 percent return on their contributions, and can take loans from the plans up to twice a year, interest-free.

It's only fair, said Anthony Garvey, who recently retired as executive director of the Police Pension Fund.

He said the benefits befit the Finest and Bravest who risk "getting shot or running into burning buildings."

Retire it's on us

Taxpayers kicked in $7.35 billion to the city pension funds last fiscal year, while employees contributed $853.5 million.

An average of: $8.60 to $1

TEACHERS

Average pension: $54,268

Taxpayer contribution: $15.50 to $1

FIREFIGHTERS

Average pension: $53,347

Taxpayer contribution: $10 to $1

POLICE

Average pension: $41,319

Taxpayer contribution: $9.13 to $1

SANIT., TRANSIT, OTHER

Average pension: $24,889

Taxpayer contribution: $5.60 to $1

Source: Comprehensive Annual Financial Report of the NYC Comptroller for fiscal year 2009.

Good news! To better serve and inform, the Hollywood-based "Balance Sheet Online" has morphed into a blog - "Balance Sheet Blog"

The Hollywood-based Balance Sheet Online, always a source of well-reasoned logic and sense of purpose for the well-informed South Florida citizen who wants to know more about what's REALLY going on there, has changed its format from that of a website to a blog, and will now bear the nom de plume, Balance Sheet Blog.

Below, an excerpt from an email I received from Hollywood civic activists and co-editors Sara Case and Laurie Schecter on Saturday the 26th:

Based on reader request, we have moved the Balance Sheet to a blog format. One advantage of the new format is that you will be able to post your own comments.

If you wish to continue receiving email updates, you must sign up ON THE BLOG to receive them. Click the link below to get started.

If you have bookmarked the Balance Sheet Online website, you will need to change your bookmark to reflect the new location (link below), http://balancesheetblog.wordpress.com/

PS If you discover any bugs in the new format, please let us know so we can work them out.

Call For Change: Continuing financial & morale problems at City Hall lead Hollywood civic activist Sara Case to say "Something's Wrong at City Hall"

Hollywood City Hall, looking west from the half-circle in front of the Hollywood branch of the Broward County library. June 3, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier

A Call For Change: The continuing financial & morale problems at Hollywood City Hall have led Hollywood civic activist Sara Case to write at Hollywood Balance Sheet Online: "Something's Wrong at City Hall."

If you're late to these depressing and troubling stories involving our neighbor to the north, Hollywood, a careful perusal of the following should pretty well bring you up to speed on the particulars on the current financial and morale problems in Hollywood that have everyone I know there in a real funk.

I originally tried to put this together two weeks ago, but ran into continual computer problems with shifting font and sizes and colors, and after an hour of getting frustrated, decided to admit the computer licked me and live to fight another day, hence its tardy appearance now.

Earlier this morning Sara posted something new to the website that is chock full of information and even more dispiriting news, so I decided this post needed to get in front of you today.

Hollywood is a place that I've not only been going to for over 40 years, along with my family, and continue to spend lots of time in each week, but whose principal players at City Hall and environs are ones I'm very familiar with from attending all manner of meetings and functions up there.

I'll be sharing my own thoughts about some of these matters soon in this space, but for now, I thought I'd simply provide a bibliography for those who want to be up to speed.

Be sure to read my friend Sara Case's well-informed take on the problems at the bottom, because she has been paying close attention to the details in ways that the local news media does NOT.

Miami Herald

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/06/2205212/another-corruption-investigation.html

Another corruption investigation hits Hollywood

Anonymous letters accuse City Manager Cameron Benson of using friends to accept graft from company seeking garbage collection contract

By James H. Burnett III

Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober confirmed Friday afternoon that he has asked federal and state authorities to investigate allegations that City Manager Cameron Benson used city employees who were personal friends to accept gifts from a company seeking the city’s garbage collection contract.

The allegations wee made in two typed, unsigned letters City Commissioners received last week.

One letter claims that two years ago, when Hollywood privatized its garbage collection services, “...Benson spearheaded this transition, using several of his close, personal friends, to guide and direct WastePro representatives and lobbyist (sic) during the period when the City’s ‘Cone of Silence’ ordinance was in effect. During this period when City employees are prohibited from actively promoting or otherwise providing bid information to potential vendors,” Wade Sanders and Charles Lassiter, two Hollywood public works employees and purported friends of Benson’s, were wined and dined by WastePro.

The letter says Sanders was given a gift card and money order for home improvement services at one of the meals, and that he used them to buy items for Benson’s vacation home in Nova Scotia, Canada, then personally drove more than 2,000 miles to deliver the items to the house.

“It is common knowledge that Wade Sanders brought several items for Cameron Benson’s second home in Nova Scotia with the money order and gift card received from the WastePro group,’’ the letter stated. “In fact, many of these items were driven to Mr. Benson’s Nova Scotia home by Wade Sanders during one of his recent trips over the last year.’’

WastePro ultimately landed the city contract, and Sanders was promoted to a supervisory position in the city’s Public Works Department.

The letter also claimed that Benson ordered Hollywood Police to buy several generators using city money and had an officer deliver one of the generators to Benson’s parents’ Lauderhill home following Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

Sources close to the investigation said Friday that Benson has acknowledged asking a police officer to deliver a generator to the home of his father, longtime community leader and current Lauderhill Commissioner Hayward Benson. But, the source said the city manager adamantly denies that city money was used to pay for the equipment.

Benson, through a city spokeswoman, declined to comment Friday, citing the ongoing investigation. And efforts to reach Sanders and Lassiter were unsuccessful.

A spokesman for WastePro denied the allegations in the letters and suggested the anonymous charges are being made by opponents of the company’s efforts to secure further garbage contracts with other Broward municipalities.

Bober said Friday that he had no choice except to seek outside help to investigate the claims against Benson. The day before, he asked the FBI for assistance.

He also sought help from the Broward State Attorney’s Office. Hollywood Police Chief Chadwick Wagner wrote Satz’s office as well, to inform Broward prosecutors that he was requesting investigative assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

“I hope none of this is true, but given Hollywood’s history with prior scandals involving public office, and my promises of transparency when I campaigned for this office, I had to ask the question: Would the residents of Hollywood accept the city investigating itself in this matter or would it be more appropriate to have an impartial party do so,” Bober said.

While the letters’ anonymity bothers him, Bober said, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not credible.

“I have seen circumstances in which employees would like to complain about superiors but don’t because they fear that if they’re identified they could suffer repercussions,” said Bober, a labor attorney. “As unfortunate as the situation is, we have to take these claims seriously.”

Corruption claims are not new to Hollywood.

In 2000 former Police Chief Rick Stone filed a RICO (Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization) lawsuit against police union bosses, alleging they helped facilitate criminal behavior on the part of active cops.

In 2007, four Hollywood Police officers were busted for acting as guards and escorts for cash and jewels being shuttled through the city by FBI agents posing as mobsters. The bust was part of an FBI sting aimed at rooting out corrupt cops. That federal investigation was cut short, after then police chief James Scarberry exposed the investigation - a move federal authorities said may have tipped off other cops who might have gotten caught on the take. Scarberry resigned a short term later.

That same year Hollywood Commissioner Keith Wasserstrom was removed from office after a jury convicted him of misconduct for pushing other comissioners to award a multi-million sludge clean-up contract to a company with whom he’d secretly cut a side lobbying deal.

The letters to the Hollywood Commissioners, the first being received on May 3rd:

http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2011/05/10/19/letter_new.source.prod_affiliate.56.pdf

and

http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2011/05/10/19/Anonymous_ltr_2.source.prod_affiliate.56.pdf

CBS4/WFOR-TV video: More Details Released In Hollywood Corruption Probe

May 7, 2011 5:04 PM

Story at: http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/05/07/more-details-released-in-hollywood-corruption-probe/

Hollywood City Hall, looking west from the half-circle in front of the Hollywood branch of the Broward County library. June 3, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Orlando Sentinel

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/fl-hollywood-spending-20110519,0,2446818.story

Behind flashy unveilings, Hollywood facing fiscal crisis

By Ihosvani Rodriguez, Sun Sentinel

9:28 p.m. EDT, May 19, 2011

HOLLYWOOD—

The city has been holding ceremonies lately to celebrate new and shiny things.

Last month there was a groundbreaking for a $7.9 million fire station on the beach. Last week, the signature water tower was unveiled after $680,000 in renovations.

And next month, 1990s musical acts Exposé and En Vogue will be in town for free concerts to mark the grand opening of a $5 million amphitheater in the nearly completed ArtsPark in Young Circle downtown.

For visitors, Hollywood's newest trophies create the aura of a city overcoming a down economy. But for residents who closely follow the city's budget, the new additions gild with rose paint a much more drab portrait of a city in dire financial straits.

"You look at all these new things, but we are not progressing at all," said activist Sara Case, who for years has edited an online watchdog newsletter about city finances. "The city is going backwards."

On Wednesday, city commissioners were forced to dip into the city's rainy-day bank account after learning that staffers are predicting an $8.5 million shortfall by the end of this fiscal year. Staffers said the city is bringing in less money than predicted, and spending more than expected.

Commissioners responded by pulling about $7.3 million from the reserve fund, a move that leaves only about $2 million for such emergencies as a hurricane.

Staffers are looking at slashing a total of about $2.1 million from nearly every city account. That includes cutting membership fees, uniform costs, overtime pay and even sums spent on pens and pencils. Commissioners also declared a "financial urgency," allowing the city to strike new deals with its unions.

On Thursday, Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober told the Sun Sentinel he wants the city's budget director, Cynthia Forrester, fired for making bad revenue and expenditure projections.

"In a year of financial budget crisis, you just can't be off by a number like that and expect to still be working for the city of Hollywood," he said. "They get paid for one thing, and one thing alone, and that is to make those projections. We can't afford to be wrong."

In a written statement issued Thursday, City Manager Cameron Benson said he is looking at "addressing all aspects of the city's finances, from staffing issues to a reorganization of the budget office and other departments."

City activist Mel Pollack, a retired accountant, said he is not surprised by the financial mess.

"I've been talking and writing about this for years," he said. "I've always been the doom-and-gloom guy. But people don't want to hear the facts until it hits their pocketbooks."

In a video of Wednesday's city meeting, Forrester and other budget staffers attributed the shortfall to the very same problems other Broward cities cite for their budget woes: a down housing market and lucrative pension deals for workers.

Staffers also said they are getting less than anticipated from the city's red light-camera program, a gambling revenue-sharing compact with the Seminole Tribe, and a number of state funds. Forrester vowed to keep a closer eye on every expenditure, no matter how tiny.

"We will be looking at every pen and pencil," she told commissioners. "We can't continue to spend, spend, spend. We don't run our checkbooks at home like that."

City officials on Thursday defended as necessities the fire station construction, the amphitheater and the renovations to the water tower. Much of the funding comes from grants and fees, they said. They said the long-anticipated improvements did not lead to the current fiscal crisis.

At the same time, Bober said, some expenditures approved over the last few months would have been more closely scrutinized had staffers alerted the commission sooner to the budget shortfalls.

That includes the water tower.

Commissioners approved spending $590,000 in July 2010 to fix, paint and install new lighting at the 50-year-old water tower on Sheridan Road just west of Interstate 95.

Five months later, the commission approved spending $86,000 more on the tower for an LED screen that flashes the time and temperature. The funds were generated by rising rates of water and sewer fees.

Activist David Mach said he understands spending money on things such as revamping the water tower to attract tourists and give the perception of a happening city. However, he believes city staffers and commissioners need to plan better.

"You still try to do your best to keep the tourist even in a bad economy," he said. "But you have to do this with proper management."

Miami Herald

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/hollywood/mh-hollywood-fiscal-20110519,0,4107109.story

Hollywood draws $7M from reserves; declares "financial urgency"

Mayor: 'Somebody should be fired for this'

By Eileen Soler, The Miami Herald

5:08 PM EDT, May 19, 2011

HOLLYWOOD

Angry and disappointed, Hollywood commissioners have dipped into the city's reserve fund to cover what the mayor called "an absolutely unacceptable and completely inexcusable'' mistake.

"Somebody should be fired for this," Mayor Peter Bober said during the City Commission meeting.

The city had expected to make money through its red light camera program, a gambling revenue share with the Seminole Tribe and increased occupational licensing.

All are falling dramatically short.

"The forecast was not conservative enough. It was too rosy," Bober said.

The city will now dip into its reserves and take $7.3 million, leaving $2 million in city coffers.

The Commission unanimously voted to declare the city under "financial urgency,'' which will allow it to enter into discussions with city labor unions to renegotiate pensions and collective bargaining agreements.

Matthew Lalla, the city's director of financial services, said the problem's largest source is a legacy of prior pension and collective bargaining agreements with city employees including fire and police.

"The situation didn't happen in a single year. The situation reflects seeds that were sown about 15 years ago," Lalla said.

City leaders did not discuss layoffs at the meeting and city spokeswoman Raelin Storey said it is too soon to determine if layoffs or more severe cuts to city programs and projects will happen in the near future.

"It's really hard to say right now how everything will fall out,'' Storey said. "There is a lot of work to do.''

Projects like the ArtsPark at Young Circle, the city's new firehouse and several historical projects that are in the construction process will be completed but all other non-essential projects or projects that have not begun will be reconsidered. Already, however, a 10-page list of cuts throughout city departments indicate slashes in items such as overtime, supplies, advertising, uniforms and tools.

The list, which amounts to $2.17 million in cuts, includes $40,000 for the city's Fourth of July fireworks display and $70,000 in general special events.

Cynthia Forrester, the director of budget and procurement services,suggested that the city stop all unnecessary spending and put all department heads on notice.

"We have advised everyone to be on alert for eliminating items from procurement,'' Forrester said. "Any purchases in progress will be halted."

She said the departments tried make up for the $25 million shortfall it faced when balancing the 2011 budget by reducing costs across all departments without laying off employees or raising the tax rate.

But, she said, increases in foreclosures and decreases in business in Hollywood continue to chip away at city revenue.

"If this mistake was just a little bit bigger we would be insolvent today ," Bober said. "If this were the private sector someone would definitely lose their job."

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Miami Herald

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/13/2228092/criminal-probe-threatens-hollywood.html

Criminal probe threatens Hollywood city manager

During his 9-year tenure as manager of Broward’s third-largest city, Cameron Benson has weathered rough and tumble politics

By Julie K. Brown, The Miami Herald

10:25 AM EDT, May 22, 2011

Canada's Weymouth North is a village the size of a postal stamp tucked amid rolling hills that follow the Sissiboo River in eastern Digby County, Nova Scotia. It is here in a large, 100-year-old Victorian vacation home that Hollywood City Manager Cameron Benson escapes the city's chaotic pace and blistering August heat.

The home - a stone's throw from the rugged but picturesque coastline of St. Mary's Bay - may be a part of Benson's undoing.

Investigators from the FBI, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and others are looking into allegations that Benson accepted gift cards from a waste company seeking a city contract. Then, he allegedly used the cards to purchase home furnishings, and asked a city employee to drive the items 2,000 miles north to deliver them to his Nova Scotia home.

That allegation is a part of many others enclosed in two anonymous letters sent to City Hall charging that Benson, one of Broward's longest serving public administrators, abused his public position.

Benson, 49, born in Hollywood but now lives in Davie, has pretty much remained unscathed during his nine-year tenure as manager. Appointed in 1995, he has shunned the limelight, often relying on a spokesperson to be the public face of the administration. He rarely speaks with reporters and his office on the fourth floor of City Hall is only accessible to those who have a special key card.

He declined to comment for this story.

His effort to isolate himself from the public and all but a few close administrators has led to criticism from both citizens and his employees.

"When you ask him questions at any city meeting, he just sits there and doesn't say anything,'' said Dan Kennedy, a longtime businessman and critic. "I ask him something and all he says is 'I'll get back to you' and he never does.''

Benson's supporters, including City Commissioner Dick Blattner, acknowledged that the city manager is not always forthcoming with the public. Blattner says he and other commissioners often have to go to Benson on behalf of citizens with whom the manager has been unresponsive.

"I've heard the complaints, but that's his management style,'' said Blattner. "I would say to [his critics] that if they can't get an answer from him, come to me and I'll get an answer.'

He shoulders a $300 million budget, negotiates contracts with powerful labor unions and has weathered the scandal and corruption that has plagued the city for decades.

As manager, Benson, who earns $205,000 a year, generally sits quietly at city commission meetings, speaks to his bosses only when spoken to and rarely mingles with residents. He has been lambasted for failing to attract development that would provide a strong tax base that would help improve the city's struggling downtown business district and poor blighted neighborhoods.

Dawn Hanna,Ö a community activist for the blighted Royal Poinciana neighborhood, admitted that she has been tough on Benson. But, she added, he has been responsive.

"I certainly have been frustrated with the lack of action the city has taken on homeless issues and safety issues,'' said. "But it's very difficult to figure out where the breakdowns are."

His supporters say Benson is a hard-working, no-nonsense manager who gets the job done. Though demanding, he is measured, hands-on and, in public, even-tempered. He has a good relationship with the city's powerful labor unions and has been able to keep the city ticking despite a free-fall in tax revenue.

"Is the problem the city manager?" asked Commissioner Patty Asseff. "This isn't a blame game. We all have to pull together. The city manager drives the bus, but we have the final say."

Asseff, and most commissioners say Benson has accomplished much in Hollywood, particularly given the weak economic climate, cuts in staff and services.

He is widely credited with helping to transform Young Circle, once a weedy patch of land at the center of the city, into a state-of-art park. ArtsPark cost the city untold millions, say critics, but it's all part of Benson's master plan to turn the city into a family-friendly community and world-class tourist destination.

Commissioners gave him high marks on his past two annual evaluations, commending him for his handling of the budget, personnel and city labor contracts. His only criticism came from Commissioner Beam Furr who noted, "I don't feel that the contracts that were negotiated last year were beneficial to the citizens of the city in the long term."

The anonymous letters, however, could threaten his career in public service, an advocation that runs in the family.

Benson's father is Lauderhill Commissioner Hayward Benson Jr., 74, who has led a life of public service in various government posts.

Unlike his father, young Benson's aspirations were to become a pro football player, a goal that fizzled in 1984 after he was cut from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Since then, he has earned a solid resume, including stints as a planner and economic development specialist with Broward County, the city of Fort Lauderdale and the South Florida Regional Planning Council before accepting the top administrative post in Hollywood, Broward third largest city.

"I had parents who instilled discipline and a work ethic in my life,'' he said in a 1995 interview.

Yet, his successes have often been overshadowed by a city beset by corruption. In 2007, former city commissioner Keith Wasserstrom Öwas removed from office upon his conviction on charges that he secretly cut a side lobbying deal with a sludge clean-up company. That same year, four city police officers were snared in an FBI sting and later jailed for acting as guards and escorts for cash and jewels from FBI agents posing as mobsters.

And last year, another scandal surfaced from a car accident when a Hollywood police officer rear-ended another motorist. In a recording taken while the motorist was arrested, officers are heard discussing how to twist the facts to make it appear that the officer wasn't at fault by saying a cat jumped out the motorist's car, causing the crash.

Blattner admitted that the city has a tarnished image, but the commission is trying to change that. A group of 30 citizens has formed a "New Image Task Force,'' which aims to tout the city's pluses.

Benson is now ensconced in what could be the city's most dire budget year. As of now, they are working to close a $25 million budget gap.

He's had four difficult years in terms of the budget and falling revenues,'' Blattner said. "I think he's done a good job getting through one economic crisis after another.''

There are a lot of fact-filled reader comments at both

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/13/2228092/criminal-probe-threatens-hollywood.html and

http://discussions.sun-sentinel.com/20/soflanews/mh-hollywood-city-manager-criminal-inquiry-20110522/10

Hollywood City Hall, looking west from the half-circle in front of the Hollywood branch of the Broward County library. June 3, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Balance Sheet Online

Something's Wrong at City Hall

May 17, 2011

We've been noticing a series of management failures at City Hall. For example, new details about the complex, expensive and unworkable transaction described below raise troubling issues with fallout that has persisted for four years. See what you think.

Read the rest of the essay at: http://www.balancesheetonline.com/money.htm

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Balance Sheet Online

Hollywood's Financial Crisis

May 22, 2011

Like the prophets of old, Commissioner Furr has been warning of Hollywood's impending budget failure for years, his detailed analyses falling on deaf ears. Instead of addressing the budget's growing structural imbalance, the City Manager found short-term ways each year to balance the budget, all the while digging a deeper hole down the road. As a result, the City is now facing the need for drastic steps to solve a financial crisis.

At last week's City Commission meeting, the City Manager called on his Finance Director and his Budget Director to present the bad news. This is what we learned, only some of which was reported in the mainstream media.

Read the rest of the essay at: http://www.balancesheetonline.com/opinion.htm

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Balance Sheet Online

A Call For Change

June 8, 2011

Staffing Problems -- And The Fear To Name Them -- Hold Our City Back

Do we expect our elected officials to be proficient in the complexities of union negotiating, municipal budgeting, business development, communications technology, or property standards, for example? If we did, who would we find to run for office? We don't hold this expectation because our City Commission is meant to rely on professional staff to perform analyses and make recommendations based on their technical knowledge.

Read the rest of the essay at: http://www.balancesheetonline.com/opinion.htm

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Saw this on Friday at the Hollywood City Hall bulletin board...

Hollywood CRA Strategic Goal Setting Retreat

Monday June 20, 2011 at 8:00 a.m. at the Lincoln Community Center, 2340 Lincoln Street.

City of Hollywood FY 2012 Operating Budget Workshop

Thursday July 7th, 2011 at the City Commission Chambers of Hollywood City Hall from 3:30-5: 30 p.m. Previously scheduled for July 11th.

For more info on what's going on with the Johnson Street Project, aka Margaritaville, see http://www.hollywoodfl.org/html/JohnsonStBeachRFP.htm

Hollywood City Hall, looking west from the half-circle in front of the Hollywood branch of the Broward County library. June 3, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier