Tonight's Meeting on Redevelopment of Johnson Street Site on Hollywood Beach

Meant to post this press release before Saturday so you

all would be reminded of this in time but got side-tracked.

Prior to attending tonight's meeting, scheduled to start around

7 p.m. or so, you might want to head over to Balance Sheet

Online, and see what Sara Case has written about the topic

of the future of Hollywood's Central Beach,

Hope for Hollywood's Central Beach

http://www.balancesheetonline.com/better.htm

See also:

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/re-broward-politics-blog-facebook.html

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City of Hollywood, Florida

Office of the City Manager

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 10, 2009

Contact: Raelin Storey

Public Affairs and Marketing Director

Phone: 954.921.3098 Fax: 954.921.3314

E-mail: rstorey@hollywoodfl.org

City to Host Public Input Meetings on

Redevelopment of Johnson Street Site on Hollywood Beach

HOLLYWOOD, FL - The City of Hollywood will hold two informal public meetings to gather input from residents on the long-awaited redevelopment of the city-owned Johnson Street property at A1A on Hollywood beach. The first community meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 16 at 7:00 p.m. at Hollywood City Hall in Room 215. At the meeting, City staff will briefly outline an intended Request for Proposal (RFP) process and take public comments regarding the community's desired goals and objectives for the redevelopment. A second, similar meeting will be held for Hollywood Beach residents and property owners on Thursday, June 18 at 7:00 p.m. at the Hollywood Beach Culture and Community Center, located at 1301 South Ocean Drive.

The City is developing a Request for Proposal (RFP) to attract viable redevelopment for this important six acre site situated in the heart of Hollywood's Central Beach District. The purpose of the informal public meetings is to solicit citizen expectations for the redevelopment before the RFP document is finalized allowing shared objectives to be incorporated into the RFP. The City has also established an email address to gather comments. The email address is johnsonstreetrfp@hollywoodfl.org. A special link will also be placed on the City's website to keep the public informed on the progress of the solicitation.

For additional information, please contact Raelin Storey, Public Affairs and Marketing Director at 954.921.3098.

# # #

Raelin Storey
Public Affairs and Marketing Director
City of Hollywood
954-921-3098 (Office)
954-812-0975 (Cell)
954-921-3314 (Fax)

Thursday's Hollywood Charter Review Commission Meeting at 6 PM

Not sure If I'll be there for this since it conflicts with the Pelecanos hearing in Hallandale Beach.

For more information, go to http://www.hollywoodfl.org/html/charter_review.htm

As most of you who read this site regularly know, CRC member Sara Case mentioned below is also the editor of the reform-minded citizen advocacy website, The Balance Sheet Online,
an invaluable source of information on what's happening in and around Hollywood.
http://www.balancesheetonline.com/
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City of Hollywood, Florida Office of the City Manager

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 28, 2008

Contact: Raelin Storey, Public Affairs and Marketing Director

Phone: 954. 921.3098 Fax: 954.921.3314 Cell: 954.812.0975

E-mail: rstorey@hollywoodfl.org

Charter Review Committee to Host Public Input Meeting
Opportunity for residents to weigh in on the City Charter

HOLLYWOOD, FL - The City of Hollywood Charter Review Committee is seeking input from residents on the topics to be considered during the Committee's review of the City Charter.

The Committee will host a Public Input Meeting on Thursday, November 6, 2008 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the new Boulevard Heights Community Center, located a 6770 Garfield Street.

This is the second in a series of three meetings to hear from community members on this important topic.

A third public input meeting will be held on January 8 at the Hollywood Beach Culture and Community Center.

In November 2007, the City Commission established a Charter Review Committee to examine the City's Charter and make recommendations for additions, changes and deletions.

The Committee must make its recommendations to the City Commission by November 2009 for review to determine which ones will be put before voters in a future election, most likely in 2010.

The 11 member Charter Review Committee is comprised of the following individuals: Gary Bagliebter, Kevin Biederman, Miya Burt-Stewart, Terry Cantrell, Sara Case, Gregory Green, Gerald Gunzburger, Charles Howell, Lawrence Legg, Siobhan McLaughlin and Andy Rogow.

For media inquiries, please contact Raelin Storey, Director of Public Affairs, at 954.921.3098. For meeting information, please contact Lorie Mertens-Black, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, at 954.921.3201.
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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hollywood CRC's first meeting
By Ihosvani Rodriguez
May 18, 2008

During election season earlier this year, plenty of politicians were promising major changes to city government.

But the real changes may be the work of a newly appointed group of Hollywood residents.

City commissioners earlier this month appointed nine members to the new Charter Review Board, a group that will comb the city's constitution and recommend changes.

The city last updated its charter 10 years ago.

Among the issues the board will be looking at: term limits, lobbying and ethics reforms and staggered terms for elected officials.

Activist Sara Case, who will represent the beach and downtown areas on the board, said those are some of the issues she wants her group to tackle immediately.

"The major problems we have had over the years have been term limits and ethics," Case said.
"I think our charter is deficient in all of those areas."

She noted the previous mayor, Mara Giulianti, held office for about 20 years and a former commissioner, Cathy Anderson, served for more than 30 years.

In addition to Case in District 1, the members selected are: city activist and motivational speaker Miya Burt-Stewart, District 2; accountant Charles Howell, District 3; attorney Gary Bagliebter, District 4; Central Broward Water Control District Commissioner Kevin Biederman, District 5; mortgage broker Andy Rogow, District 6; corporate executive Gregory Greene, citywide; retired engineer Gerald Gunzberger, citywide; accountant Lawrence Legg, citywide.

The group could start meeting as early as next month.

The board's deadline to report its recommendations to the commission is Nov. 30, 2009. The commission will review the recommendations and vote on possible 2010 ballot proposals.Hollywood voters will have the final word.

Initially, only 16 people submitted applications. A second call for applicants brought in dozens of residents willing to sit through the process.

"We have an unbelievable amount of good, quality people who have stepped forward," Mayor Peter Bober said at the May 7 commission meeting.

"I wish there was a way to appoint everyone."

There were so many applicants, in fact, that commission members said they want to add two more members later this year.

First, they will need to amend and pass an ordinance to increase the membership limit.

Upcoming Radio and TV FYIs

Meant to post this yesterday but was having lots of trouble with my Bell South internet connection, which came and went of its own volition, regardless of my own plans.

Had some recommendations for two Book TV segments on Sunday, featuring new books by authors whom I've greatly enjoyed in the past, Marshall Goldman of Wellesley College, and Simon Winchester, and an overnight radio program early Tuesday morning featuring Richard Florida, whom you can hear and judge for yourself whether my take on him and his work is correct.

I first got turned onto Dr. Goldman when I lived in Evanston in the mid-80's, thru my then-girlfriend, who was attending grad school at Northwestern and who'd taken his classes when she was an undergrad at Wellesley.
(The Wellesley grads in the Washington D.C. area annually have one of the largest and best book fair events of the year, which most of my friends and I have gone to a few times, due to the great finds there. I could always find issues of Foreign Affairs or Foreign Policy that I was missing, for whatever reason.)

The only Wellesley grad I've met since returning to South Florida is Hollywood activist and public policy guru Sara Case, the Editor of Balance Sheet Online. http://www.balancesheetonline.com/
Sara is also a member of the Hollywood Charter Review Committee and was recently appointed by Broward Commissioner Sue Gunzburger to the Broward County Planning Council.

http://cityofhollywoodfl.com/html/charter_review.htm
Next meeting is Thursday, August 7, from 3-5 p.m.
Article 4 - Initiative; Article 5 - Referendum; Discussion on campaign finance reform and suggested topics from Vice Mayor Blattner
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On C-SPAN 2, Direct TV 351

Sunday, July 27, at 7:30 AM
Monday, September 1, at 12:00 AM

http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?ProgramId=9514&SectionName=Politics&PlayMedia=No
Petrostate: Putin, Power, and the New Russia
Oxford University Press. 230 pages. $27.95.

About the Author
Marshall Goldman is a senior scholar at the Davis Center for Russian Studies at Harvard University and an economics professor emeritus at Wellesley College. Mr. Goldman's writing has appeared in several publications, including The Washington Post, The Atlantic Monthly, and Foreign Affairs.

About the Program
Marshall Goldman recounts Russia's economic collapse in 1998 and its reemergence only a decade later as a financial force due to its energy wealth. Mr. Goldman reports that Russia is the world's largest producer of petroleum and the second largest exporter. He details the efforts Vladimir Putin made to renationalize Russian oil and how these profits were used to pay off the countries national debt. This event was hosted by the Southern Center for International Studies in Atlanta.

Publisher's blurb:
http://www.us.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Politics/InternationalStudies/InternationalSecurityStrategicSt/~~/dmlldz11c2EmY2k9OTc4MDE5NTM0MDczMA==

Dr. Goldman was on NPR's Diana Rehm Show on June 8th,
http://wamu.org/programs/dr/08/06/08.php

The most insightful critique of the book was this one by Edward Lucas on his blog about his new book on Russia, The New Cold War: how the Kremlin menaces Russia and the West
http://edwardlucas.blogspot.com/2008/06/marshall-goldman-book-review-petrostate.html

The biggest hole in "Petrostate" is its skimpy treatment of the European Union. An important question facing the EU now, for instance, is whether its energy liberalization policy -- unbundling the wholesale and retail businesses in gas and electricity -- will help or hinder the Kremlin. A fragmented market may be even easier to manipulate. Mr. Goldman's sharp mind would be well-suited to untangling such intricacies.
The unanswerable question is whether the Kremlin -- or more precisely, Vladimir Putin -- will use gas as a weapon to gain international political influence. The optimistic view is that business normalizes politics -- in this case, that Russia's need to be a dependable partner will require it to soften its political edge and conform to international standards of behavior. Pessimists fear that gas dependency will lead to the Finlandization of Europe. On the evidence so far, the pessimists have the better chance of being right.

That this particular angle on energy policy and U.S-Russian foreign policy is hardly ever discussed either intelligently or at length on network TV news goes without saying, not that PBS has much to crow about, either.
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Sunday, July 27, at 7:00 PM

http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?ProgramId=9475&SectionName=History&PlayMedia=No
The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom

About the Author
Simon Winchester is the author of numerous books, including "The Professor and the Madman," "The Map That Changed the World," and "Krakatoa." Mr. Winchester has written for several publications, including National Geographic and Smithsonian.

About the Program
Historian Simon Winchester recounts the life of Joseph Needham (1900-1995) a Cambridge University biochemist who became obsessed with China and wrote "Science and Civilization of China" a twenty-four-volume study of Chinese history and culture that assisted in introducing the West to the East. Simon Winchester discusses his book with John Major, senior lecturer of the China Institute at the Asia Society in New York City.
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http://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/schedule.html

WIOD-AM 610
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
LIVE with George Noory,
Guest: Richard Florida
Book: Who’s Your City?
Website: www.creativeclass.com
Website: www.whosyourcity.com

One of the world's leading public intellectuals, Richard Florida will discuss his work analyzing and predicting future trends in housing, economy, work, lifestyle and community.

Program runs live from 1-5 a.m., and I suspect that guest Florida will be on the first two hours.
As some of you may recall, I'm currently reading his insightful and perceptive book after having watched the author's fascinating apearance on Book TV a few weeks ago.

Who's Your City: How the Creative Economy is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life

Richard Florida contends that in the era of globalization it still matters where people call home and where you live is one of the most important decisions you will make.
From your quality of life to the people you surround yourself with, Mr. Florida determines which cities are suited for certain people.

Richard Florida is Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute and professor of business and creativity at the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
He is the author of several books, including "The Rise of the Creative Class" and "The Flight of the Creative Class."

To see his recent appearance on C-SPAN's Book TV from the Google HQ: http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?ProgramId=9274&SectionName=&PlayMedia=No

For more information, see http://creativeclass.com/whos_your_city/

I've been meaning to suggest that those of you who who are hardcore book readers, might want to consider adding the book blog, Edmund's Saltmines to your list of things to peruse daily, since his list of authors on TV or radio is often quite helpful. http://whitehots.blogspot.com/

re 'Zyscovich Plan' and Crist going GREEN in Miami this week

Yours truly stayed up 'til 2:15 Monday morning so I could be sure of successfully taping Fellini's ROMA on Turner Classic Movies, http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=196970 which I haven't seen since the early-to-mid '90's, when I saw it at the National Gallery of Art film series.
http://www.nga.gov/programs/film/

One of the biggest things I still desperately miss about being down here and not up in Washington is getting big doses of culture like that during the summer -for free!- in an auditorium that has an A/C that can really crank out cool air.
(And then meltas soon as I take one step outside afterwards into the summer swelter.)

I watched the Olympic Trials for gymnastics on NBC Saturday and Sunday night, and was pleased to see that Coconut Creek's Jana Bieger was solid as a rock in all of her events, since she looks like a good bet to qualify for the trip to Beijing, if things go okay at Camp Karolyi in Texas.
See http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2008/06/lonely-jana-bie.html and http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/other/sfl-flspolyrdp23sbjun23,0,94678.story

I'll have a post pretty soon over at South Beach Hoosier with my thoughts and observations on the Women's trials in Philadelphia, and my pleasure at finally deciding to download the software to watch the Men's trials live on Universal Sports, via the internet.

Never having watched a live sporting event on my own computer before, it was fantastic to not only be able to watch live, but the picture quality and perspective were truly amazing.
I was literally dumbfounded!

I'll share the download info in that future post so you can try it yourself, as it'll prove invaluable once the Beijing Games start in 44 days. http://en.beijing2008.cn/
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Well, we might have a second-rate, Third World transportation system down here in South Florida, but you can't deny we can throw meetings together like nobody's business!

See a veritable wonk soup of acronyms and descriptions from the FDOT Planning webpage, which I found over the weekend while looking for something else entirely.
http://www.dot.state.fl.us/planning/generalinfo/calendar.htm

Noticed that Gov. Crist will be back down here on Wed. & Thurs. for a green conference at the Miami InterContinental Eyesore, once they get rid of those pesky mayors and their retinues of flacks and hangers-on: 2008 Serve to Preserve Florida Summit on Global Climate Change
http://www.myfloridaclimate.com/env/home/

Be there or be square -or simply watch the webcast.
http://www.myfloridaclimate.com/env/home/webcast_watch_it_live

They seem to have invited nearly everyone who could figure out a coherent way of getting the words "climate" and "strategy" into a company or organizational name.
Why didn't I think of that?
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Recommend you peruse this example of a fair-minded guest Op Ed, in this case, on the contentious issue of Alligator Alley privatization: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/20/guest-commentary-alligator-alley-proposal-should-b/
Since I have to play the role of the scold on both of my blogs more often that I wish were necessary, reminding government employees or pols what their moral and fiduciary duties and responsibilities are to the taxpayer, I didn't want to let something positive pass by without my sharing it with you all, insignificant though it may be to the whole scheme of things.

I had something happen to me while driving last week which, while not as historic as Paul Revere's Ride, was historical hereabouts, and almost in the category of epiphany.
Or, this being South Florida, the gateway to Latin America, magic realism.

Last Wednesday night I was at the joint Bernard Zyscovich/Hollywood CRA joint meeting at Hollywood City Hall to hear what's come to become known in shorthand as "the Zyscovich Plan," as well as the expansion of the Downtown CRA and Zyscovich's ideas for implementing a coordinated plan in Hollywood that is both logical and attractive for business and residents, yet avoids the parochial sort of us. vs. them fights that will be inevitable without design regs that everyone agrees on beforehand.
See http://www.zyscovich.com/search.cfm?p=1&term=Hollywood

As previously mentioned, I'd been to the previous forum on this subject, where my hand was at pains to keep up and jot down all the interesting things Bernard Zyscovich was saying throughout his Power Point presentation and in the Q&A afterwards.

Because this more formal meeting drew a larger turnout than the prior one among the usual suspects of Hollywood's public policy and punditry world, the meeting was moved from its original location in Room 219 to the Commission Chambers.
As someone who was originally standing in the hall outside Room 219 before it started, I was glad to see such common sense so rapidly deployed.

Among the folks there, of course, was Mr. Warner from WSG Development, the man who seems to be rapidly gaining the reputation for being the most honest and reasonable developer in the Hollywood area. http://www.wsgdevelopment.net/

I also finally got the opportunity to formally introduce myself to Sara Case, the editor of the Balance Sheet Online, and a member of the new Hollywood Charter Review Committee, which is no doubt swimming in about 1,001 good suggestions.

I really admire her hard work and dedication to an area that she so clearly loves, and only wish that there were more folks with her aptitude and enthusiasm liberally sprinkled throughout South Florida, not least of all, here in Hallandale Beach.

Prior to meeting her, I had dropped her a public policy or head's-up email every now and then, since first starting my own efforts early last year.
Frankly, given how much time I spend in Hollywood, and the memories I have of it starting in 1968, I just wanted her to finally be able to connect a face in the crowd to the public policy emails she's been on the receiving end of.

As I describe her website on my HBB blog roll: http://www.balancesheetonline.com/
Blog -Balance Sheet Online: A Hollywood (FL)-based public interest, community affairs blog on south Broward County and environs, led by Editor Sara Case. My kind of blog: Identifies areas of concerns and proposes solutions, but takes no prisoners among elected officials or the chattering class!

After the meeting was over, I had to wait for the traffic light south of City Hall to change in order to get out of the parking lot, but once out, driving east on Hollywood Blvd., I was quite amazed to find myself catching every single green light, the exact opposite of my experience earlier getting to the meeting in the rain via S. 1st Avenue, the street parallel to W. Dixie Highway.

Continuing east approaching Young Circle, the area that's been the subject of so much genuine enthusiasm and anger, I then caught the green light at the bottom of Young Circle -which has never happened in four years.

I then continued home south on U.S.-1 and by the time I'd passed Hollywood Central Elementary, I was pinching myself, because this feat of catching nothing but green lights had, so I'd been told by griots, never been accomplished by anyone who had lived to tell the tale.

Well, I made it all the way home south of Hallandale Beach Blvd., 3.1 miles, with nary a red light but the first one.

Naturally, once I stepped thru the door and sat down on the couch, I couldn't help but wonder, "Was it all a dream?" (Like Bobby Ewing's season-long shower on Dallas?)
No, it really happened to me in the Traffic year of 2008.