Only in Broward: Courthouse security apprehends man with gun at entrance, but judges overreact, want armed cop in EVERY courtroom. In a word: NO!

Only in Broward County: Courthouse security catches man with gun at entrance, but judges overreact oh-so predictably, demanding an armed cop in EVERY courtroom.

As if on cue, Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti said he wants $17.2 million for more deputies in courthouses.

In a word: NO!

How can I put this in a way that you will understand -the courthouse security we already have WORKED.

Whether that is because the security that day -Wednesday- was Sherlock Holmes-like or because the person apprehended was stupid enough to put a gun in a gym bag thru a magnetometer at a place that warns you in advance, you be the.. yes, judge.

Here's the line from the Sun-Sentinel article below that tells you everything you need to know:

Though armed deputies roam the courthouses, there are none working in any Broward courtroom unless a judge asks for one or there's a murder trial.

Exactly.

Because an armed deputy is NOT required for every single courtroom.

In any case, what would all these armed cops do on Fridays after lunch?

Hasn't Broward legal blogger JAABLOG already proven time and again that on Fridays, many of the courtrooms in the Main Courthouse in downtown Ft. Lauderdale are empty?

Yes, he has proven it to a fair-thee-well.

Guess they could provide security and walk along the largely tourist-free FTL riverfront and count the number of graffiti 'tags' on the bridge and the poles and the signs...

Is it impossible for even one legitimate Miami-based TV/print reporter in the year 2011 to do a story on the Broward County Courthouse, and for just once, just for the hell of it, actually describe in detail what things are like there on Fridays?

I know that this is expecting a lot since they could NEVER manage to do even ONE story on the financial, historical and political context behind the "fix" that was the Broward County Courthouse Task Force under Chair -and downtown FTL property-owner?- Ilene Lieberman, and the predictable decisions that were made, despite the fact that that story was practically given to them on a silver platter.

And still they blanched...

"It's not a question of 'Do we need a courthouse?' We need it and we need to get it done," said Commissioner Ilene Lieberman who headed the task force.

(See more on that so-called Task Force below, which once included Scott Rothstein.)

It's really NOT that hard to do.

But you have to want to actually do it.

To NOT keep making excuses for avoiding the story and knowing that you will rattle some powerful and well-connected Broward cages in doing so.

To stop procrastinating.

Here in South Florida, the local news media doesn't want to.

Other than Bob Norman.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

After second gunman this year enters a Broward courthouse, sheriff seeks security funding

By Linda Trischitta and Danielle A. Alvarez, Sun Sentinel

8:48 PM EDT, September 28, 2011

FORT LAUDERDALE

After a second incident this year when an armed man entered a Broward County courthouse, the chief judge and the sheriff called for county funding to increase security.

No one was hurt before Francois V. Brown, 39, of Miramar, was arrested Tuesday at the county's south regional courthouse on Hollywood Boulevard.

On Wednesday, Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti said he wants $17.2 million from the Broward County Commission to hire and arm deputies in four Broward courthouses and family court.

Read the rest of the article at:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/crime/fl-broward-courthouse-weapons-20110928,0,7833370.story

See also: http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/2011/09/28/bso-press-conference.aspx

To quote myself from JAABLOG's February 2, 2010 post titled Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me ...

Posted by JAABLOG at 2/2/2010 9:29 PM

2/3/2010 1:40 AM Hallandale Beach Blog wrote:

First, some facts about Tuesday's vote on financing a new Broward County Courthouse, a story that only the Daily Business Review, JAABLOG and I wrote about. Not asking for plaudits, just noting it for historical context.

For those courthouse denizens who animate this blog with their constant contempt of Broward taxpayers thru your comments here, who think that a new Broward County Courthouse is very important, guess what?

The South Florida news media could hardly care less about you. You barely register on their horizon. You are insignificant.

In the days and weeks before the vote, the two daily South Florida newspapers and the four network TV stations sat on their hands and reported nothing about this issue. Neither the Herald or the Sun-Sentinel have mentioned this subject in print or online since last September, when a Guest Op-Ed purported to have been written by Comm. Stacy Ritter was published in the Sun-Sentinel.

Once again, on something very important, South Florida's news media has shown they were sleeping on the job, and let the people down.

Did you EVER see anything last year on TV about the ties that the members of the Lieberman-led Task Force had to the Broward legal establishment, who desperately want a brand new pony?

Preferably, with a brand-new barn and a lifetime supply of feed. On the taxpayer's dime. Nope. There never was one

Watching the coverage Tuesday night at 11 p.m., actually thinking there'd be some interviews -with somebody!- this point was drive home all over again.

At 11:16 p.m. CBS-4's Antonio Mora did a 15-second read without any visuals and said the vote happened "last night," which as we know, is incorrect.

At 11:27 p.m., Local10's Laurie Jennings also did a 15-second read

with archived visuals of yellow tape and leaking ceilings.

There's the press coverage of your shiny new pony.

And why is it that so few usually well-informed people actually know how poorly Lieberman handled the rigged Task Force last year?

I wrote last year on my blog how she and the county administrators didn't follow basic aspects of the state's Sunshine Laws, and instead, tried to fool the public by arranging for the agenda and assorted relevant public docs for the last meeting, which should've been online before the meeting, to be placed online HOURS AFTER the last meeting was already over.

Not that they actually had the final public meeting listed online days before the meeting, since they didn't. Lieberman was the one in charge -the Chair. But the media didn't care -just like now.

Keep up the great work, JAABLOG!

-----------------------------

In case you forget how that vote for taxpayers paying for a new Broward Courthouse went, voting in favor: Ken Keechl, Stacy Ritter, Ilene Lieberman, Al Jones and Diana Wasserman-Rubin.

Voting against: Sue Gunzberger, Lois Wexler and John Rodstrom.

Time to end 'free ride' for the Broward Legislative Delegation on Broward taxpayers' back; they should pay ALL costs of an office few citizens know of

Below is a copy of an email that I sent Friday afternoon to Broward County Administrator Bertha Henry about a longstanding problem that I first noticed many months ago.

I also cc'd Broward County Commissioners Sue Gunzburger -who represent my part
of SE Broward on the Comm.- Barbara Sharief, Chip LaMarca and Florida State Senator Ellyn Bogdanoff of Fort Lauderdale, who in 2010, as a House member, was the Broward delegation's head, and who was a leader in the fight for stricter and more meaningful ethics legislation, as I have noted many times here previously.

Theoretically, I could have sent her the email at any point within the past four months and been just as correct as I was yesterday.
But a recent confluence of events: catching up on some noteworthy news articles I'd once seen and set aside to read again some day, plus, perhaps, some plain common sense kicking-in, had caused me to re-examine some public policy principles and look at them in a new light.

One of them concerned govt. officials who believe that it's perfectly reasonable for individuals who use certain govt. services not generally used by everyone else to pay their fair share.
Shouldn't that principle extend to the elected officials themselves?

Here. my logical conclusion is that if a service being provided by govt. is not available to other parties, it's only fair for elected officials who use it to pay for the true costs of the service themselves in proportion to some agreed-upon standard.

And yes, in case you were wondering, this is precisely the very problem that I alluded to earlier in the week in my post about the Florida House voting to repeal the red-light camera legislation they only approved just last year, and the nearly-invisible support for Broward County taxpayers by the Broward legislative delegation


May 6th, 2011

Dear Ms. Henry:

Problems continue to exist on the website of the taxpayer-supported
Broward Legislative Delegation Office.
http://www.broward.org/legislative/Pages/Default.aspx

To cite but the two most obvious ones, the pdf map used to show the
individual House and Senate districts have the names of some FORMER
members listed, NOT the current ones, for instance, Ellyn Bogdanoff,
David Rivera and Jeff Atwater are still listed.

http://www.broward.org/Legislative/Documents/housedist.pdf
http://www.broward.org/Legislative/Documents/senatedist.pdf

Is it really too much to ask that it actually be current, accurate and
meaningful for Broward taxpayers?
I mean seriously, today is, supposedly, the last day of the 2011 session.
Shouldn't the info have been accurate BEFORE the session ever started?
It's worse than embarrassing.

Given the current state of the public purse in Broward County, perhaps
there needs to be a change instituted, wherein that particular office
is paid for DIRECTLY out of the individual legislative member's office
accounts, rather than through the wallets and purses of Broward
taxpayers.

My experience the past few years is that despite what it may say on
the website, the office seems to exist almost exclusively for the
professional benefit of the individual legislative members and NOT
the Broward public it's supposed to represent and benefit.

In what TANGIBLE ways do the people of Broward actually benefit?
Instead, it seems like an abstract, unfunded mandate from Tallahassee.

I make my suggestion for the most obvious reason: if the individual
legislative delegation members were forced to pay for it themselves,
they'd have more incentive to actually make sure that it was accurate,
timely, professional and actually worthwhile to the public, but because
it isn't, it's exactly what it looks like right now -completely useless.
In this case, a self-evident useless mess that costs money.

I defy you to find any current relevant information on the site
at all.
In fact, I'd be very interested in knowing exactly when the last
two additions to the site were actually even made.
From the looks of things, my own guess is that it'd be sometime
between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I look forward to your response, Ms. Henry.

--
Despite it being a Friday, to her great credit, Ms. Henry quickly responded and wrote the following:

I have forwarded your email regarding the Legislative Delegation Office to its executive director, Sandy Harris. As to not having the information on the County’s website up to date, the appropriate staff will contact Ms. Harris to get corrected information.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

-------
I'll post whatever response I get, obviously, but the larger issue is NOT the incorrect names that are on the map but whether it's at all appropriate for Broward County taxpayers to be paying for a service that ONLY benefits state legislators.
I do not believe it is.

I don't want to do away with Ms. Harris' job, rather I simply want Broward legislators to pay ALL the costs associated with the office they currently have provided for their use, which includes her salary and benefits, whatever that happens to be.
An office that probably ought to be physically located elsewhere, don't you think, so that space in the Broward County Govt. HQ can actually be used for something that actually BENEFITS the Broward residents who own it?
Yes, the days of providing free or reduced office space should be over.

Under this new financial scenario, that will likely mean that some of the Broward legislators will have to make some hard choices about how they use their office accounts, and may well have to do without something they previously used.
So be it.
Join the crowd.

So as to this new "user fee," divide all the costs associated with that office -personnel, rent, equipment, office supplies, et al- by the number of people living in Broward based on the 2010 U.S. census.
Having now arrived at the cost to each citizen, multiply that number, X, by the number of Broward residents in that legislator's particular district, Y, and you arrives at the amount that legislator must pay, Z.

If they collectively want to spend more or less, fine, but as they're already using taxpayer funds in the first place, now, they'll have to take full financial responsibility for what level of service they want, and they will feel and bear the true cost directly.
No more using the Broward County taxpayer as the 24/7 ATM that's always loaded with cash.

Very simple.
As easy as X,Y, Z.

No red-light camera meetings at Broward County Commission until after FL legislative session ends -if then; SB 672

There will be no continuation of the rather-heated discussion on red-light cameras in Broward County at the County Commission until AFTER the current 90-day legislative session in Tallahassee is concluded -if then.

Basically, at Tuesday's Broward County Comm. meeting, in reference to another question, Comm. Sue Gunzburger, acting in her role as the presiding officer or "mayor," said that there wouldn't be a meeting to follow-up on that rather amazing March 1st meeting that I -unfortunately- missed seeing in person but watched via streaming, that had so many people amused and appalled in equal measures.

(That was the meeting where large mayoral egos collided, as Hallandale Beach mayor Joy Cooper and Pembroke Pines mayor Frank Ortis continually jockeyed to respond via the public microphone to various commissioner's hardball questions and prodding for more information about their respective city's program, and what was and wasn't done in the name of safety. And, of course, the larger issue of whether or not it was all just a smoke-screen to conduct a money-grab in the case of Hallandale Beach's infamous red-light camera on U.S.-1 and Hallandale Beach. Blvd.

My post on that March 1st meeting:
My own little red-light camera 'rainout' at the Broward County Commision this morning; HB begins phase two of red-light camera money-grab today
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/my-own-little-red-light-camera-rainout.html)

The reason is because the whole issue could well be moot by this summer since there is a very reasonable chance that given the sentiment towards outlawing them, the FL legislature will make that law allowing them a one-year wonder and repeal them.

Florida SB 672, sponsored by Sen. Rene Garcia of Hialeah, would repeal last year's law allowing red-light cameras, moved out of the Senate Transportation Comm. in a 4-2 vote on Wednesday.
http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2011/672

Voting to keep red-light cameras: Arthenia Joyner and Lizbeth Ben­acquisto.

Next up for the bill is the Senate Community Affairs Comm.
http://www.flsenate.gov/Committees/Show/CA/

Comm. members include:
Chair -Senator Michael S. "Mike" Bennett (R)
Vice Chair -Senator Jim Norman (R)

* Senator Paula Dockery (R)
* Senator Anthony C. "Tony" Hill, Sr. (D)
* Senator Garrett Richter (R)
* Senator Jeremy Ring (D) of Margate
* Senator Ronda Storms (R)
* Senator John Thrasher (R)
* Senator Stephen R. Wise (R)

Sen. Garcia is widely-expected to run for mayor of Hialeah later this year, as current mayor Julio Robaina is among those actively running for Miami-Dade County mayor in the race to succeed recalled mayor Carlos Alvarez.

-------
Bill to repeal red-light cameras squeaks by first Senate panel
http://www.sunherald.com/2011/03/29/2983459/bill-to-repeal-red-light-cameras.html

Brent Batten:
Red light cameras keep company in the black
Posted March 28, 2011 at 4:34 p.m.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/mar/28/brent-batten-red-light-cameras-legislature-672/

http://reason.com/blog/2011/03/30/red-light-cameras-at-risk-in-f

Controversial red-light camera issue on Tuesday morning's Broward County Commission agenda at 10 a.m.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Broward Politics blog video:
Broward County Clerk Howard C. Forman says mushrooming red-light cameras -and tickets- will create new pressures on resources/finances of Broward Courts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=B-n3bKZnZs4

Article at: http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2011/02/broward_courts_clerk_forman.html

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Broward Politics blog is at: http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/

-----
Tuesday morning's Broward County Commission agenda includes the red-light camera issue, which is why I will likely be there on Tuesday IF I can switch some things around in my schedule.

Regardless of whether I can attend Ruesday morning in person or not, I will post the information and photographs I want to make them aware of here on the blog by 9 a.m. and email it to them.
Please come back here Tuesday morning so you can see for yourself what this program looks like in Hallandale Beach, and judge whether or not it seems reasonable or well-executed.

Red-light cameras in Broward County is agenda item #23 for March 1st, starting at 10 a.m.
http://205.166.161.204/agenda_publish.cfm?mt=ALL&get_month=3&get_year=2011&dsp=ag&seq=233#ReturnTo0

My friend and fellow Hallandale Beach activist Csaba Kulin penned this email earlier this afternoon about this issue.

Honorable Mayor Gunzburger, Vice Mayor Rodstrom and County Commissioners,

I am not a supporter of "red light" cameras not because I want people to break the law and get away with it. I am against it because my city, Hallandale Beach has done such a poor job installing a red light camera about a year before the State actually allowed them. The City made it a "code violation" and collected about 2 million dollars for not stopping twice or three times prior to turning right on red. That is not the issue I am writing about now. We will fight that battle with our City Commission.

I understand you will vote on allowing the cities to tie into the County's traffic control system. I am not in favor of it but if you do I urge you to make a small amendment to the ordinance.

If they want to tie into the system, any intersection with traffic cameras should have a "count down" device next to it, similar to the one you see at cross walks. That would warn law abiding citizens to get ready to stop and avoid rear end collisions. Cities collect plenty of money from fines to absorb the additional expense.

I hope you decide to consider my suggestion, it would make red light cameras safer and more palatable to the residents of Broward County.

Sincerely,

Csaba Kulin

Vice President

United Condominium Associations of Hallandale Beach

Late this afternoon, a post by Brittany Wallman bout the red-light camera issue was posted at Broward Politics blog.

Broward's Rodstrom offers counterproposal to red light cameras
By Brittany Wallman February 28, 2011 06:11 PM

Drivers already hate sitting at red lights. Maybe they’ll get to hate it for two seconds longer. One Broward County commissioner suggests that would be a better way to keep motorists safe from red-light runners than watching them with enforcement cameras.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2011/02/browards_rodstrom_offers_count.html

-----

The bill in the Florida State House to repeal red-light cameras is Bill 4087, which was filed by State Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-New Port Richey, and the companion in the State Senate is Senate Bill 672, filed by Sen. Garcia, whose district is based out of Hialeah.

Broward Politics YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/BrowardPolitics

Thoughts on red-light camera laws in Hallandale Beach & Broward and their possible repeal; four days until Broward County Comm. votes on the issue

Tomorrow I'm sending a Public Records Request to Hallandale Beach City Hall about traffic incidents for the past four years that will tell us PRECISELY where incidents/accidents actually occur, as well as where red-light running ACTUALLY takes place in this city.

Given how things are routinely done in this city, where facts and common sense rarely-if-ever intersect, I feel pretty confident that they will NOT be the two geographic locations in HB where the city specifically placed their two red-light cameras, with the second scheduled to begin operation on Tuesday on west-bound Hallandale Beach Blvd. & N.E. 10th Terrace, near the IHOP on the NE corner of the intersection.
Yes, right near the last traffic signal before I-95.

Those facts I glean from the city, which will likely be grudgingly given, I'm sure, will likely leave us all pondering why those two locations were chosen if they are NOT the sites of the highest traffic incident rate?

Seriously, when you cut yourself or get a scrape by accident, do you not put a Band-aid on the exact location of the cut/scrape?
You certainly don't put it on the back of your elbow if that's not where the problem is.

No, as we've all suspected from the get-go, in this particular city, those red-light cameras are where they are because in this city -as opposed to the rationale of other cities that may actually let self-evident facts guide their decisions- it's about generating revenue, NOT safety-prevention.

Later tonight or tomorrow, if I can, I will try to post photos -and maybe even some video- to my blog and YouTube Channel of my most recent visit to the red-light cameras last week.

And if you're of a mind to, in anticipation of next week's vote at the broward County Commission, let your two County Commissioners know what you think about this issue, too, one way or the other:
"Comm. Suzanne Gunzburger" <sgunzburger@broward.org>,
"Comm. Barbara Sharief" <BSharief@broward.org>,

Also, be sure to see Michael Mayo blog post of Tuesday and the Sun-Sentinel's editorial.: Red light cameras a bust for greedy South Florida cities
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2011/02/red_light_cameras_a_bust_for_g.html

Red light and turnpike cameras not quite clicking
THE ISSUE: Red light, turnpike cameras not quite clicking
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/fl-dlyons-editorial-cameras-22211-20110222,0,2860391.story

---------

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-broward-redlights-20110222,0,1384399.story

Broward doesn't want red light camera laws repealed

County vote a clue, one week before this issue comes to a head here

By Brittany Wallman, Sun Sentinel

7:18 PM EST, February 22, 2011

County commissioners Tuesday said they don't like a state bill that would yank the wheels off the red light camera enforcement program.

They voted against supporting a bill that would do just that, a week before this issue comes to a showdown in county hall.

Viewed as a litmus test for the county's support of red light camera enforcement, Tuesday's vote bodes well for cities seeking permission to tie into county traffic lights. The devices have turned into a legal nightmare for cities that have them, but Broward cities are still clamoring for cameras. Some who have them want more. The program in many cities has been on hold, bottlenecked at the county.

That tie-up could be dissolved as soon as next week. Broward County owns the traffic signals across the county, and county permission is needed for cities who want to tie into the light system for enforcement. Commissioners are scheduled to vote on that on March 1.

This week's vote was pushed by one commissioner, Barbara Sharief, of Miramar, who strongly opposed the use of the cameras. She hoped her colleagues would join her in supporting a state bill that would repeal the law underlying the enforcement in cities and counties across Florida. Only John Rodstrom and Kristin Jacobs agreed to vote on her side.

Sharief said it's clear that intent of the enforcement isn't safety but rather "another tact our state and cities are using to balance their books.''

In Broward, the experience for cities has been rocky, and cities are complaining they're not bringing in the ticket revenues they expected, or are even losing money.

The Broward League of Cities supports the use of the cameras, though, and cities like Pembroke Pines are eager to put up more of them. They argue that the cameras aren't in place to make money but rather to make Broward's drivers safer.

Pines Commissioner Angelo Castillo, a camera supporter, horrified county commissioners with details of a traffic accident he was in last week. The chain of events started with one auto running a red light, he said. It hit a car, which hit Castillo's car. He wasn't hurt, but he said in an e-mail that had someone been on foot or on a bike crossing the intersection, the impact would have killed the person instantly.

The women in the car that was struck were bloody and screaming for help, he said in an e-mail he sent to public officials throughout the county.

"The driver's leg was mangled in an indescribable way as she crawled out of her vehicle. I saw a clump of the daughter's hair sticking out of one of the cracks her head made in the passenger windshield upon crashing into it,'' he wrote.

One company, American Traffic Solutions Inc., or ATS, dominates the market on red light cameras in Broward, and wants to wrap its wiring around Broward's, public works director Tom Hutka said. The vote next week would allow ATS, or any red light camera company, to do that.

ATS has cameras operating already in Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale and Hallandale Beach. It has cameras coming soon in Sunrise, Plantation, Margate and Davie. And it's in talks with Tamarac, according to Charles Territo, vice president of communications for ATS.

Reader comments at:
http://discussions.sun-sentinel.com/20/soflanews/fl-broward-redlights-20110222/10

Hallandale Beach civic activist Csaba Kulin asks some reasonable questions re red-light camera laws as applied in HB, Broward County & Florida

Below is an email about Traffic Infraction Detectors, what we all call red-light cameras, that my friend and fellow Hallandale Beach and Broward civic activist Csaba Kulin penned earlier today to Broward County Commissioners Sue Gunzburger of District 6 and Barbara Sharief of District 8.

As you know from my many previous posts here on the subject of legislative redistricting, despite its relatively small size in the southeast corner of Broward County, just north of Miami-Dade County and the City of Aventura, just as is the case for congressional representation in Washington, D.C. -Frederica Wilson and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz- this city is also -foolishly- divided for representation before the Broward County Commission up on Andrews Avenue, in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
http://www.broward.org/commission/Pages/default.aspx

District 6 map, Gunzburger:
http://gis.broward.org/maps/webPDFs/CommissionDistricts/comdist6.pdf

District 8 map, Sharief:
http://gis.broward.org/maps/webPDFs/CommissionDistricts/comdist8.pdf

The comments should be of interest to you regardless of whether or not you live in Hallandale Beach or Broward County, since in their own way, they get to the heart of the issue as these laws have been enacted and complied with here.

My next blog post, later today, will also be about red-light camera laws, their application, and next Tuesday's big vote before the Broward County Commission on whether those laws ought to be repealed.

To wit, is there any actual rhyme or reason for cities using red-light cameras and where they can be physically located regardless of facts, or a means of checking government over-reach and abuse?

Once they've had some time to respond, I'll of course post the commissioners responses to Csaba's comments here on the blog.

--------

Honorable Mayor Gunzburger,

During a recent private conversation with HB Commissioner Anthony Sanders and during the February 2, 2011 HB City Commission Meeting the topic of the more and more unpopular "red light" cameras came up. They were sold to the HB City Commission and the residents as a "safety" measure, we always knew it was a "money grabbing" device.

About one and a half years ago the first "red light" camera was installed on the SE corner of US 1 and Hallandale Beach Blvd. During this time about 2 million dollars of fines were levied primary affecting the residents east of US 1 turning right on red.

Recently another "red light" camera was installed on Hallandale Beach Blvd. and NW 10 Terrace, in front of IHOP, pointing westward. This camera by it's location will target residents of NW neighborhood turning right on red. Some of the residents of that area are already economically challenged and a $158.00 ticket would be significant hardship for them to face. That area technically is in Commissioner Sharief district of Hallandale Beach, so she may be also interested in the issue.

Commissioner Sanders voted for original "red light" camera ordinance and I have tried to convince him to reconsider his position in light of the new developments. His answer was that "if Hallandale Beach would repeal the "red light" camera ordinance and remove the cameras the State of Florida or Broward County would install new "red light" cameras and get all the money".

During the February 2, 2011 HB City Commission Meeting the question came up again and the the police officer making a report gave a somewhat confusing answer. He just danced around the issue without giving the residents a clear and convincing answer.

I would appreciate your help, as far as you know, in answering the following questions:

• Is the State of Florida allowed by current law to install "red light" cameras in cities not having their own cameras?
• As far as you know, did the State install any "red light" cameras?
• Is Broward County allowed by current law to install "red light" cameras in cities not having their own cameras?
• Does Broward County intend to install "red light" cameras in cities not having their own cameras?

Sincerely,

Csaba Kulin

President, Fairways North, Inc.

Vice President, United Condominium Associations of Hallandale Beach

-----
See also

FDOT Traffic Infraction Detectors (Red Light Running Cameras)
http://www.dot.state.fl.us/trafficoperations/Operations/RLRC.shtm

FDOT Traffic Infraction Detector Placement and Installation Specifications,
July 1, 2010
http://www.dot.state.fl.us/trafficoperations/Doc_Library/PDF/Traffic%20Infraction%20Detector%20Placement%20and%20Installation%20Specifications%20July%201,2010.pdf

Speed and Red Light Camera Laws:
http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/auto_enforce.html

Tone-deaf billionaire owner of Miami Dolphins looks for Broward County tax money -$225 M- to renovate (his own) stadium. Sure, how much do you need?

My comments follow this very thorough story by the Sun-Sentinel's Scott Wyman and Co.

-------

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/fl-broward-stadium-dolphins-20110105,0,5932754.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel'
Dolphins look for Broward aid to renovate Sun Life Stadium stadium
By Scott Wyman, Sun Sentinel
9:07 PM EST, January 5, 2011

The Miami Dolphins want Broward County to share its tourism tax revenue to help pay for a $225 million renovation to its stadium in Miami-Dade.

Dolphins CEO Mike Dee has been meeting with area hoteliers, business executives and tourism officials to pitch the idea of rewriting state law to allow Broward to spend its tax money outside the county. The Dolphins argue that Broward has benefited heavily from past Super Bowls at the Miami-Dade venue and that a new stadium would help ensure their return in the future.

Broward played host to the Super Bowl headquarters in 2010. That game, along with the subsequent Pro Bowl, generated $333 million for South Florida businesses. Dee said a renovated stadium could add about $2.5 billion to the South Florida economy through 2040.

"This is a community decision," said Dee, who publicly unveiled the idea in a speech Wednesday at a Miami chamber of commerce lunch. "This is about the ability to continue to bring big-time events to the community."

Although South Florida has been home to both the 2010 and the 2007 Super Bowls, the chance at more games has been in doubt because of the condition of the 23-year-old Sun Life Stadium. NFL officials have made clear that while they enjoyed the area's amenities, that is not enough to return. Newer and fancier venues have been chosen for future games.

The Dolphins last year unveiled plans for a renovated stadium that include a partial roof over the seating area and seats closer to the action. But after spending $300 million on stadium upgrades over the past six years, the team has maintained that it cannot make the investment by itself.

Broward County commissioners, who control the tax dollars that tourists pay to stay at hotels, reacted skeptically to the Dolphins proposal. Broward and Miami-Dade have flirted with cooperation on sports venues before to no avail.

Commissioners said that Broward has many needs of its own for the tax dollars, which already go to promote tourism and pay for the debt on the construction of the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise. The tax money has been a key feature of plans to both expand the Broward County Convention Center and build a nearby hotel for convention-goers.

"There would have to be a lot of sweetener in the pot before I would even think about it," Broward Mayor Suzanne Gunzburger said.

Commissioner Lois Wexler said she opposes any additional use of tourism dollars to support professional sports teams. Meanwhile, Commissioner John Rodstrom, one of the primary architects behind the construction of the BankAtlantic Center, said he would want to see a significant sharing of revenue or taxation from the stadium in order consider a deal — even suggesting that the county line be moved to split the stadium.

"I'm willing to listen to any plan, but you have to put it into the context of the dollars that come out of it," Rodstrom said. "We're being asked to fund a stadium that is not in our county. We all recognize how important the Super Bowl is, and it would be good if we could get it every couple years. But we also have other needs in Broward."

The Dolphins have sought Miami-Dade hotel taxes for at least a year, but had not previously included Broward tax money in the plan. In another significant shift, Dee also is pledging Dolphins financial support for a stadium renovation.

Dee said the Dolphins want to pursue legislation that would allow counties to increase the hotel tax from the current maximum of 6 cents to 7 cents. The plan would then be for Miami-Dade to split its increased tax revenue between the stadium renovations and a rehab of its convention center. Broward currently charges a 5-cent hotel tax and also would be allowed to raise it and spend proceeds outside its jurisdiction.

The Dolphins plan is dividing the region's business community.

The head of the Greater Miami tourism bureau has not endorsed it, and city commissioners in Miami Beach have voted to oppose public funding for the football stadium. Sunrise Sports & Entertainment, the operators of the BankAtlantic Center, issued a strong statement Wednesday opposing the plan as well.

In his statement, Sunrise Sports president Michael Yormark said he believes the Dolphins intend to turn their stadium into a multipurpose entertainment facility that would then compete with his venue. "So their request is, in effect, to use Broward County tax dollars to help a privately owned Miami-Dade facility compete with a publicly owned facility in Broward County," he said.

Broward tourism czar Nicki Grossman, though, described the Dolphins proposal as tantalizing if it means Miami-Dade lands future Super Bowls. She said Broward hoteliers did the "lion's share" of business associated with the Super Bowl, and that the Dolphins training camp at Nova Southeastern University in Davie also pumps at least $15 million into the Broward economy.

Grossman, the president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Broward hoteliers want Super Bowl 2015 in South Florida and that she understands that "in order to get a Super Bowl, the stadium has to be a major player.''

"What they need is a reason for Broward County to get into this game," Grossman said. "My reach into the hotel community says that our hoteliers really want to continue to be Super Bowl hosts, and Pro Bowl hosts."

Staff writer Brittany Wallman, Pro Sports Editor Joe Schwerdt and the Miami Herald contributed to this report.

------------

Ron Book is the lobbyist hired by Stephen Ross and the Dolphins on this Quixotic effort to fleece Broward County taxpayers.

Anyone who saw the embarrassing video 11 months ago of Greater FTL tourism czarina Nicki Grossman reacting to New York City being awarded the 2014 Super Bowl over South Florida and other candidate cities, knows what sort of silly sycophant she is for any corporate interest who'll tell her what she wants to hear.
In my opinion, she's an old-fashioned shill for hire.

When someone actually stumbled into telling the truth for a change about what happened in January, i.e. that the fix was in for NYC to be awarded the game, and that person was the Chair of South Florida's effort, influential Rodney Barretto,
http://www.southfloridasuperbowl.com/Host_Committee/Board_Of_Directors.html
predictably, Nicki Grossman acted just like the corporate puppet she is, and actually criticized HIM, not the shell-game that was perpetrated on them by the NFL at taxpayer's expense.

Surprise!

I know, I know, you don't have to tell me.
You're hoping for a snowy Super Bowl three years hence, too!

Hallandale Beach, failed Diplomat LAC proposal and Gunzburger v. Geller is subtext of Buddy Nevins post: BSO’s Latest Trip To Fantasyland

Disneyland Opening Day - Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rHjoimz5XI

Speaking of Fantasyland, a not-so-funny thing happened to the well-heeled legal and lobbying forces of development behind the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa's efforts to roll over the people of Hallandale Beach and Hollywood and make their Quality-of-Life go straight downhill.

As I extensively chronicled here earlier in the year to a fare-thee-well, a grass-roots coalition of concerned citizens in the community -including yours truly- organized themselves and beat back the Diplomat's efforts, despite being heavily out-financed and out-lawyered and the South Florida nes media largely ignoring the story.

Well, to be completely factual, we had no money and had no lawyer.
But everyone knows that the Diplomat management and their owners STILL want another bite of the apple in the future.

Today, Buddy Nevins gives us a peek at what was going on behind the scenes earlier this year and how the Broward Sheriffs Office was used in the election battle between Broward County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger and Steve Geller.

She voted "No" to development in the spring and she won the election in November. But now we're learning how some of the dots were connected on the developer's side.

-----

Broward Beat
BSO’s Latest Trip To Fantasyland
By Buddy Nevins

It is the season of fantasy.

There is the story of Santa Claus. There is the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Then there is today’s astounding flight of fancy on Sun-Sentinel.com that the Broward Sheriff’s Office actually investigated an allegation of extortion over a union endorsement last year.

The story is more proof that Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti has no business investigating the county commission.

Don’t get me wrong. The story is great.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.browardbeat.com/bsos-latest-trip-to-fantasyland/



Disneyland Opening Day - Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf2TMwtCUr4&feature=related

Disneyland Opening Day - Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0S_r4m9Zhw

Broward political insider wisely intones the truth: "Kristin Jacobs has gone over to the Dark Side." But is she, well, Steve Geller dark? Even I don't think THAT!

At the exact moment that Broward County Comm. Kristin Jacobs foolishly but typically over-played her hand at the August 10th Commission meeting dealing with the adoption or rejection of the ethics reform package proposed by the Broward County Ethics Commission, by uttering the word "McCarthy," I knew that it would appear in a campaign direct mail flyer from Steve Geller & Co., whether from his campaign or from one of the groups involving his Police union and gambling/casino pals like Dan Adkins at The Mardi Gras Casino.

The real questions wasn't whether it would appear but rather how over-the-top would it be. Last week many of us got that answer.
But back to Kristin Jacobs for a moment or two.

Looking at my copious notes from that meeting, which I also recorded 95% of, I wrote the following:
Oh, yes she did!
Kristin Jacobs histrionics go into overdrive as she yells "McCarthy" in a half-filled room.
Geller acolytes hearing/watching this are already blowing her kisses.
Will anyone publicly call out Jacobs for her outrageous and jaw-dropping cry invoking "McCarthy"? he said to himself.
No, they will not.
For reasons that we all already know.

For the record, by that time in the proceedings, I'd moved over to the middle section of the chambers, where later, Sen. Chris Smith showed up in a huff and took a seat right in front of me in the front row, prepared to wax indignant over charges of him "lobbying down."

A well-known Broward political personality who knows a great deal about what is REALLY going on in Broward County, facts aplenty, said something interesting to me after the meeting, when we were outside on the sidewalk, and he was going to speak to some TV reporters across Andrews Avenue about some things before the did their LIVE shots for their respective newscasts.

It's a comment that bears repeating, and not just because it aligns with my own evolving P.O.V. about Jacobs over the past year, since I had always previously given her the benefit of the doubt: "Kristin Jacobs has gone over to the Dark Side."
It's true.

Comm. Jacobs sent me an actual letter completely out-of-the-blue about two months ago -how did she get my home address?- but I never bothered to open it for one simple reason.

I don't want to be pals with the members of the Broward County Commission, I simply want them to be honest, smart and hard-working and stop making this county a laughing-stock that chases families and companies out, or scares them from ever coming here in the first place. Period.

Some seem so used to being around people who defer to them that they forget that some reasonable people just look at them as paid employees.
You know, I don't need to be pals with the cashier at Publix or Panera's, either, just treat them in a civil manner.

The commissioners work for you and me, not the other way around.

Much of the above appeared in an email I sent out to a few dozen people the night of the meeting under the subject header: Perpetually indignant Broward Commission showed its true colors Tuesday afternoon.



August 20, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Above is the Steve Geller campaign mailer I received last week attacking Comm. Sue Gunzburger and using a well-known photo of Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy during the infamous hearings of the '50's. Noteworthy is the fact that there is no return address on the reverse side, though in tiny print -and I do mean tiny, even with my 20/15 eyesight- was the legal Steve Geller campaign disclaimer.


August 20, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

At top of post and above is a recent Gunzburger mailer.
Below is another campaign flyer which contains information on just one of the many reasons while I'll be voting against Geller. Not that this is a surprise to anyone who comes to this site frequently.

August 20, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

And really, please no more emails or letters from indignant Broward County Commissioners.
You're the hired help, not me.
And start working harder, smarter and more ethically or there are going to be some major changes.

Miami Herald rediscovers FL-17 race it's largely ignored; FL-17 candidate forum at FIU's Biscayne Bay campus Thurday at 5 p.m.

Not that they bear ALL the responsibility for this, per se, but why is the Miami Herald once again doing something that's so counter-intuitive by posting this story about a congressional race that they have largely ignored the past year, FL-17, that includes info about a Thursday afternoon candidate's forum, at 11:22 p.m. Wednesday night, instead of showing some sense and doing so Tuesday night for Wednesday's print edition, so more readers and voters would have a chance to attend?

Isn't the candidate forum information time-sensitive?
Seems like it to me!

The Herald's longstanding and almost spiteful refusal over the years to run items like that early when they can actually be of practical use to readers, the final consumers of their product, is really something that gives frequent critics of the newspaper like me, even more ammunition than we need.

Frankly, it makes the reporters and editors seem EVEN MORE distant and removed from the concerns of readers.

In most major newspapers, that particular info would've run in the paper on Sunday, so that concerned readers could make plans to attend.

Yet curiously, events that the Herald or owner McClatchy or previously, Knight-Ridder, was sponsors or co-sponsors of, no matter how parochial or picayune, were/are always given lots of play in advance. We all know that to be true, so why the disparity?

By the way, I'm NOT a big fan of FIU Prof. Dario Moreno, who is quoted below in the story, as I've almost always found his appearances on local TV newscasts or public policy shows -usually Michael Putney's excellent This Week in South Florida (TWISF)- to be the worst kind of sycophantic conventional wisdom, with him offering no original take on anything.

Almost as if he was at pains to criticize anyone, which, perhaps he is.
When I see Prof. Moreno on the tube, I tune-out and change the channel.

There are a number of holes in this story but it's so damn blah, why shoot a fish in a barrel?
Well, because I can.

U.S.-1/Biscayne Blvd./Federal Highway is the dividing line between Kendrick Meek's current 17th CD and the dreaded Debbie Wasserman-Schultz's 20th CD. (DWS)

It might interest the reporters -and those of you living far from here- to know that contrary to what they wrote, ALL of Aventura is in DWS territory.

Is it really too much trouble to expect news reporters to actually know what is and is NOT in the 17th CD when they write about it?
I mean there are maps of it after all, right?

Yes, I even posted one here for you to examine, and there's one anchored on the blog.
Here's the link:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=FL

The east side of West Dixie Highway is the dividing line for the City of Aventura, so the people who live in Miami-Dade County north of North Miami Beach -where I grew-up- and west of Aventura, are, technically in unincorporated M-D County, NOT Aventura, despite what the businesses there may call themselves or what they put on their signs or business cards.
Just ask the Post Office or any Aventura cop -they know.

See this handy map: http://skyhighhomes.com/picture/northeastdademac.pdf

And as discussed here previously, it's why the well-regarded Aventura Waterways Charter K-8 school, which I'd love to see replicated in Hallandale Beach, is NOT really in Aventura proper.

Not that the residents living on the other side of Dixie Highway don't want to be in it, but the City of Aventura powers-that-be don't want 'em because in their minds, pure and simple, the area isn't affluent enough.

I know all about this border not just from living so close to it, but because every time I see my barber in the M-D neighborhood of Ojus, which is in that no-man's land, we discuss it, just like we did yesterday for the umpteenth time.

See the Skylake-Highland Lakes Homeowners Assocation website for backstory at
http://skyhighhomes.com/outside_home.asp, in particular, here:
http://skyhighhomes.com/item_list.asp?subcat=44&subtitle=Annexation%2FIncorporation

As has been previously mentioned here in previous discussions of Meek, DWS and the South Florida CDs, the grand bargain the FL legislature made many years in carving-out the CDs, knowing that Carrie Meek was going to run, was to put as many African-Americans as possible in 17 and as many Jewish voters as possible in the 20th.

That's why the 20th CD has the strange shape it does and why Hallandale Beach, where I live, and not listed in the story, a city that's only 4.2 square miles, is actually divided in two, when its small size ought to make it even more important for the it to entirely be in the same district.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=FL&district=17
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=FL&district=20

The Broward County Commission districts also divide the city, albeit on a much smaller scale, since a sliver of NW HB is in District 8, formerly repped by the indicted Diana Wasserman-Rubin, and currently unrepresented at the Commission until November, while 95% of the city is currently repped by Sue Gunzburger in District 6.

http://gis.broward.org/maps/webPDFs/CommissionDistricts/comdist8.pdf

http://gis.broward.org/maps/webPDFs/CommissionDistricts/comdist6.pdf

And you thought that electoral districts were actually supposed to be "compact" for the benefit of residents like the law says?
Nope!

As for the dopey comments of self-serving Broward Democratic Party poobah Mitch Ceasar about possible low-turnout in the Broward part of the district, well, they're typical.

Explain how on the one hand that you'd imagine that people will turn out to vote in the Sue Gunzburger vs. Steve Geller fight for Broward County Commission District 6, but counter-intuitively, not cast a ballot in a primary for Congress?

If anything, it's very likely that the Broward part of FL-17 will have a higher voting-rate than the part located in Miami-Dade County.

I believe I wrote that many months ago in a few posts criticizing the FL-17 candidates who were refusing to come to Broward and campaign in cities like, yes, home sweet Hallandale Beach.
Now THERE'S your real story!

------

Miami Herald

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/11/1772338/1-open-seat-10-candidates-an-unpredictable.html

Florida International University and the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce will host

a candidate forum for Congressional District 17 at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Wolfe University

Center Theater, FIU Biscayne Bay Campus, 3000 NE 151st St. in North Miami.

The forum, co-sponsored by The Miami Herald and Univisión/Channel 23, will be moderated

by WPLG-ABC 10 political reporter Michael Putney.

Marleine Bastien, Phillip Brutus, Scott Galvin, Shirley Gibson, Rudy Moise, André Williams

and Frederica Wilson have confirmed their attendance.

1 open seat + 10 candidates = an unpredictable election

By Patricia Mazzei and Carrie Wells

August 12, 2010

For nearly two decades, nobody has had to figure out how to win Florida's 17th Congressional District.

Neither U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek nor his mother, Carrie -- the first person elected to the seat when it was redrawn in 1992 -- faced more than token opposition, if any.

But now Meek is running for U.S. Senate, and the nine other Democrats vying for his seat are working without a road map to model their races. Forced to devise their own strategies, the campaigns have not focused on capturing votes in the entire district, a safe Democratic seat that stretches from Overtown to Pembroke Pines.

Instead, they are carving out niches, trying to muster just enough votes to eke out a victory in the Aug. 24 primary. The winner will face attorney Roderick Vereen, running without party affiliation, in November.

With so many candidates splintering the vote, one candidate would win the primary with as little as 15 percent of the ballots cast, said Kevin A. Hill, an associate professor of political science at Florida International University.

"Anything could happen in that election,'' he said. "It's a total crapshoot.''

The race is also unpredictable because the district's more than 600,000 residents are as diverse as they come. A majority of voters are black -- mostly African American, though the district has the largest concentration of Haitian Americans in the country -- and there are pockets of whites and Hispanics.

"This election may answer whether it's an African-American seat, a Haitian seat or probably a bit of everything,'' said Mitch Ceasar, chairman of the Broward Democratic Party.

With Meek opting not to endorse anyone in the primary, the candidates have worked to shore up their natural bases as they crunch numbers to determine which is the district's biggest voting bloc.

Frederica Wilson has relied on an existing network in her Florida Senate district, which overlaps with much of the congressional district. The same is true for state Reps. James Bush III and Yolly Roberson and former state Rep. Phillip Brutus. To complicate allegiances further: Brutus and Roberson used to be married to each other.

None of those districts encompass all of Miami Gardens, home to two other candidates: Mayor Shirley Gibson and Councilman André Williams. As the third-largest city in Miami-Dade and the state's largest predominantly African-American city, a well-known official could amass enough votes to win with little need of support from elsewhere.

The same is not true for smaller cities like North Miami, where candidate Scott Galvin is a councilman. As the only white candidate in the race, he could collect votes in Miami Shores, North Miami Beach and Aventura.

Haitian Americans -- who depending on varying estimates make up between an eighth and a quarter of the vote in the district -- could swing the election.

Yet it is unlikely for Haitian Americans to vote as a unified bloc, with four Haitian-born candidates in the running: Brutus, Roberson, activist Marleine Bastien and entrepreneur Rudolph "Rudy'' Moise.

Looking elsewhere for support, Bastien, founder of Haitian Women of Miami, has tried to rally like-minded activists and the female vote. Moise, running with deep pockets after putting more than $1 million of his own money into the race, has gone on TV and sent campaign mailers to become better known.

His media campaign could reach some voters in Miramar, Pembroke Pines and Hollywood, which together comprise about a third of the district. Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober recently endorsed Moise, citing his "real-world experience.''

"The key for the candidates is to somehow make sure Broward does not believe itself to be a stepchild of the district,'' Ceasar said. "If that occurs, then the risk becomes greater that the turnout in the Broward portion is exceedingly low.''

Turnout is expected to be low everywhere. In 2006, the last time Meek drew a primary opponent, about 36,000 people -- or 16 percent -- of the district's 220,000 registered Democrats voted.

This time around the seat is more competitive, but some campaigns and political observers say a candidate could still win with as few as 10,000 votes.

That makes relying on one group for support particularly risky.

And, of course, whoever is elected will have to represent everyone in the diverse district. That tall order could mean a streak of competitive elections among Democrats battling for the seat in the future.

"It is difficult,'' said Dario Moreno, an associate professor of political science at FIU. "That's why the Meeks were so successful.''