Broward's present/future problems in a nutshell: Not enough leadership, too much Kristin Jacobs-like behavior -Fighting over scraps: a meaningless job

Broward's present/future problems in a nutshell: Not enough leadership, too much Kristin Jacobs-like behavior -Fighting over scraps: a meaningless job that nobody respects.

No, not fighting over important ideas, a principle or even an issue that nobody else is willing to stand up for that demands some public illumination and a degree of long-overdue oversight,

or even fighting for something supported by her campaign donation friends, but rather a fight over a dubious position that nobody outside S. Andrews Avenue knows about, cares about or respects.

You know, just because you buy a $6.99 Captain's hat you come across at Marshall's doesn't make you a real captain or mean that Broward citizens have to salute you.

Though some will, apparently, like lobbyist Seth Platt, who Tweeted,

Seth Platt

Grats to John Rodstrom as the New #Broward County Mayor &@Kristin_Jacobs as the New Vice-Mayor

15 Nov

The same prescient Seth Platt the lobbyist who said in 2010, when polls showed Allen West doing well in FL-22, "POLLS DON”T MEAN SQUAT"?

Yes, that one.

Well, for those of us NOT dependent upon the kindness of Broward Commissioners to survive or make a living, this is yet the latest in a series of HBR Case Studies of why, in large part, Broward County government is in the mess and funk it's in.

Yes, the intersection of Dysfunction Junction, just like its colleagues at the Broward School Board.

They're in the same boat, but all paddling in different directions.

So where's the surprise that they're drifting?

Really, all this Sturm und Drang over a position as vice-mayor of Broward County that was not decided by actual Broward voters, but, like the so-called mayor's position -yes, I use lower-case for undemocratic titles- voted upon by less people than who will decide who's homecoming king and queen at any high school any of you can think of?

Decided by less people than the ones who decided who would be in charge of Rush at the Chi Omega house at FSU? (And to be honest, one less important than the latter...)

Just because nine people think something is important does not mean that I and other Broward residents who are paying attention have to agree to the pretense and say that it's important, too.

I reject the premise.

Peruse and decide for yourself - in chronological order:

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Broward Politics blog

Broward's Kristin Jacobs digs in heels for vice mayor post

By Brittany Wallman

November 15, 2011 12:38 PM

Broward County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs is the vice mayor now, and the vote was unanimous., But that eventual result didn't come easily for her.

Jacobs had to fight for that title, even forcing her colleagues one by one to announce whether they supported her bid.

Read the rest of the post at:

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2011/11/browards_kristin_jacobs_digs_i.html

BrowardBeat

Commissioners Squabble Over Meaningless Job: Vice Mayor

By Buddy Nevins

November 15, 2011

Does Goody Two Shoes, known to most of us as Commissioner Kristin Jacobs, have some mud on her soles after today’s divisive vote on who will be the next Broward Vice Mayor?

Read the rest of the post at:

http://www.browardbeat.com/kristin-jacobs-fights-for-meaningless-job-vice-mayor/

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Broward Politics blog

The ugly fight for the Broward vice mayor title: behind the scenes

By Brittany Wallman

November 16, 2011 11:04 AM

A lot of backroom deal-making, threatening and vote-gathering led up to Tuesday's Broward County Commission vote on who would be vice mayor, observers told me afterwards.

Read the rest of the post at:

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2011/11/the_fight_for_the_broward_vice.html

Voting for a county-wide Broward Mayor who'll either show vision and leadership -or not- who's voted directly by -and held accountable by- Broward voters, is a long overdue idea and reality that has once again been dismissed by the status quo crowd on S. Andrews Avenue.

Not that it has ever really gotten a fair shake in this county since I returned to South Florida eight years ago, given who comprised the Broward Charter Review Commission.

Lots of apologists for the way things are now, save Ted Mena and Michael Buckner among a few CRC members who deigned to show any foresight and gumption for the public's right to decide those things themselves.

Though I don't know them very well, I'd vote for either one tomorrow for County Mayor before I let Broward's lobbyist crowd foist one of their longtime pals upon us as a stalking horse.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Broward Politics blog

Broward commish kills countywide mayor proposal, again

By Brittany Wallman November 2, 2011 08:09 AM

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2011/11/broward_commish_kills_countywi.html

And yet for this dubious position of vice-mayor, to read the accounts, Kristen Jacobs is like a wild hog going after a bone, and woe onto anyone or anything getting in her way.

Go ahead, keep your bone, but don't be surprised when we ask publicly over the next year why of all the things that possibly could've taken the time and energy of nine elected officials, these table scraps are what YOU fought over.

No, we won't be forgetting.

Yes, Broward Comm. Kristin Jacobs, the very same woman whose staff tried to take me to task last year because I wrote on this blog that, in my opinion, she was unfit to be on the Broward County MPO -another mess of a group that gets little public or press attention that I've gone after here on the blog a few times- after she never once attended a single public Transportation forum in Broward of the many I've attended over the years, prior to July, even while hundreds and hundreds of Broward citizens could find the time and energy do so over the same time-frame.

Even on Saturday mornings at the Broward Convention Center.

You won't be surprised to discover that among this interested group of concerned Broward residents, people DID notice who were no-shows, besides anyone from the Miami Herald.

From the looks of things -my own observations and emails from others- Jacobs couldn't even be bothered to show-up and feign interest, even while officials and experts from Tallahassee, Atlanta and Vancouver showed-up at one forum in particular to inform and educate.

They didn't take it well when I told them that the word "transportation" wasn't even on her county bio website at the time, yet she was suddenly on the Board that sets policy.

Now THAT'S Broward County in a snapshot!

I hung up on her office the third time they called me with a bad attitude.

Later she/they sent a letter, one I never opened.

Seriously, how many unimpressive women politicians can one county possibly bear to have at one time.

From north near Palm Beach County to the south near me, just north of the Miami-Dade line, Broward County has some of the most unethical, unsavory, and undemocratic, to say nothing of venal female politicians in the country: this Rogue's gallery includes the duplicitous Joy Cooper, now convicted Sylvia Poitier, anti-democratic Lori Moseley, and Debby Eisinger, the latter of whom voted with members of the majority of the appointed Broward CRC against allowing Broward citizens to vote on whether or not to have an elected Broward County mayor in November of 2008.

How does an elected public official justify voting against elections that allow citizens to determine their own form of govt. structure?

Exactly, but that's just what Cooper City Mayor Debby Eisinger did.

The same woman who fought against tougher ethical standards for Broward municipal officials

It's why she's on that list that goes on and on...

They make me glad that there is some hope out there. that is if by there, you mean NOT here.

I do.

Because of what I've read and seen of her, her unwillingness to play the fool and swallow spin from the wealthy and the well-connected or political parties, her unwillingness to play pretend and accept illusions or fantasy for real solutions to problems, unless something unexpected happens -either to her or to me- if Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs runs for governor of Florida in 2014, I'll support her.

She's a real MAYOR, elected by real VOTERS, winning a run-off 68%-32%, despite being out fund-raised 2-1.

And best of all, Teresa Jacobs has smarts, hubris and moxie, something that can't be said about the majority of the pols in Broward or South Florida.

Just saying...

-----

For more information on this issue, see"

Broward Charter Review Comm. discussion re county-wide elected mayor and composition of County Commission, April 9, 2008, pp 68-126

http://www.broward.org/Charter/Documents/crc_ph_agenda_04092009.pdf

Sen. Marco Rubio on NBC's Meet the Press re federal budget, debt ceiling, Medicare, et al; FL U.S. Senate 2012 possibilities

NBC-TV's Meet the Press video -Host David Gregory speaks to Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida about the 2012 federal budget, the federal debt ceiling, saving Medicare, the (Paul) 'Ryan Plan,' and U.S. foreign policy, to wit, Libya.
http://youtu.be/GdtR7s-nqcE

If you are someone who considers themselves pretty well-informed and are watching the video of this morning's Meet the Press program from outside of the U.S., and get the distinct impression that Sen. Rubio, who has been in office less than four months, is being asked to explain -and or defend- public policies in more detail than many longstanding members of the U.S. Congress you can name, who get nothing but softball questions... take a bow.
You are correct.

Sen. Rubio's YouTube Channel is at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SenatorMarcoRubio

U.S. House Budget Comm. YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/HouseBudgetCommittee

American Roadmap YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanRoadmap

The other U.S. Senator from Florida is Democratic two-termer Bill Nelson, who is up for re-election in 2012. He's a nice enough guy, but NOT nearly as dynamic, savvy or articulate as what this complex and crazy-quilt of a state demands, Florida being the country's fourth-largest.

Sen. Nelson's YouTube Channel is at http://www.youtube.com/user/SenBillNelson

I won't be voting for Nelson next year and currently have no GOP preference, but I am AGAINST a few GOP candidates for the office, the most prominent being the myopic, ethically-troubled Florida State Senate President, Mike Haridopolos; he's bad news personified!

I'd much prefer Florida State Senator Paula Dockery or Orange County (Orlando) mayor Teresa Jacobs, both of whom are very smart and articulate people full of ideas who are NOT at all afraid to speak (and vote) against the state political orthodoxy and the establishment of Tallahassee in particular, and Florida in general.
Nor are they afraid to speak against their own party and supporters when they think they're wrong.

For an excellent example of that attitude, read these two Mike Thomas columns from the Orlando Sentinel, since they're positive pieces of a sort that very, very few Florida pols could earn.

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Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/os-mike-thomas-performing-arts-center20101222,0,3790804.column

Teresa Jacobs has to challenge performing-arts center bailout
By Mike Thomas COMMENTARY
8:50 p.m. EST, December 22, 2010

Orlando is $61 million short in getting the performing-arts center off the ground. So the city and arts supporters are hitting up Teresa Jacobs, Orange County's mayor-elect, for an advance on almost half of it.

She might as well get used to people groveling for money.

I have long supported an arts center. But this is like old Uncle Al, flat broke with holes in his shoes, hitting you up for $500 because he's got a sure thing at the track.

Give it to him and you know he's coming back for more.

None of this is a surprise for those of us who have followed the saga of the three downtown venues — the arts center, the arena and the Citrus Bowl.

The county budget-crunchers knew this day was coming back in 2007 when they negotiated the $1.1 billion venues deal with Orlando. They thought Mayor Buddy Dyer and Co. were out of their fiscal minds for taking on this much risk.

So the county built a firewall.

It would give the city enough resort-tax money to build a new Magic arena for billionaire Rich DeVos.

But the performing-arts center and Citrus Bowl would have to get in line behind a long list of priorities already funded by the resort tax.

If Buddy's gamble failed, the county was protected.

On paper, at least. That doesn't take into account the intangible of political pressure that would accompany the request for a bailout. If you don't give us the money, the project will not get built, and it will be your fault.

Now that we are there, what will Jacobs do?

She is, by nature, a cautious fiscal conservative. In fact, it was Jacobs who put a caveat in the venues deal, requiring that the arts center be fully funded before any debt was issued to waste money on a Citrus Bowl renovation.

During the mayoral campaign, Jacobs was criticized for being too focused on details when the job required a big-picture consensus builder. Being branded as the person who killed the arts center wouldn't help that perception.

But there are so many pitfalls here, she could hardly be blamed for doing so. Here are a few of them:

•The city is broke, which raises the question of where it plans to come up with its half of the shortfall. The county also doesn't have a spare $30 million stuffed in a mattress, meaning it could be forced to raid a reserve fund set aside for the convention center. That would be ill-advised.

•This deal would allow construction of phase one of the arts center — an amplified arena for events such as Broadway shows and a small 300-seat theater. Will the city come back for another cash advance when it comes time to build phase two — a 1,700 seat acoustical hall?

•The county could be the money pile of last resort to cover operating deficits. Some of this tab was going to be paid by leasing property next to the center for a hotel and office building. But the economy put the kibosh on that.

There also are disturbing rumors about donors backing out of their pledges, which could create an even deeper fiscal hole for the county to fill down the road.

The problem in dealing with Orlando is that the city is tapped out. So the minute a bulldozer rolls onto the site, the county could find itself sucked into a black hole, from which there is no politically feasible escape.

At a minimum, Jacobs should insist that the city raise its $31 million share of the shortfall first. She then should demand to see an updated list of all donor pledges and the contracts they signed with the arts center.

The county needs some guarantee it won't bankroll operating expenses.

The city must agree not to spend any more money renovating the Citrus Bowl until the arts center is finished and its operating costs are known and accounted for.

Every dime the city spends on that empty stadium is another dime the county probably will have to make up for at the arts center.

Finally, Jacobs should insist the city contact Magic owner Rich DeVos about providing a loan, which would be repaid as resort-tax funds become available. He could take his interest out of the $10 million he has pledged to the arts center.

Jacobs has a lot of options. The worst one is writing out a check for $30 million with no questions and no demands.

-----

Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-mike-thomas-jacobs-arts-021311-20110212,0,351626.column

Orange Mayor Jacobs gives Orlando a dose of reality on arts center

Mike Thomas COMMENTARY
5:59 p.m. EST, February 12, 2011

Business as usual in this town officially ended at noon on Feb. 10.

That's when Orange Mayor Teresa Jacobs hit the send button and delivered a scathing review of the planned performing-arts center to inboxes across Orange County.

Her staff uncovered millions in waste, slipshod construction contracts, double-billings and overall gross mismanagement. Given that Orlando is ultimately in charge of building the center, she left City Hall in pretty much the same shape that the Air Force left Baghdad in 2003.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer emerged from the rubble hours later to answer questions like: "Are you embarrassed?"

You better believe it. He also was livid. This was a major breach of protocol. Proper etiquette requires that mayoral combat be conducted by backstabbing in private.

This all began in December when the city made the big mistake of asking the county for $30 million to help cover a funding shortfall for the arts center.

Normally, the county would have put up token resistance before succumbing to political pressure and writing a check.

The days of normalcy are over.

Jacobs said no. And then she unleashed her advisers and staff on an arts-center cost-cutting mission. Needless to say, mission accomplished.

Normally this would have been handled behind the scenes.

But Jacobs and her people grew suspicious of the city's good intentions as the process dragged on.

She also believes that full public disclosure is in the best interest of the public. Judging by her landslide election victory last November, the public agrees.

And so Jacobs gave the public what it voted for. She publicly nuked Buddy.

Somewhere, former Orange Mayor Rich Crotty is either smiling or wincing. Jacobs used to nuke him all the time when she served on the commission.

But just to be clear, Jacobs does not launch unless the target presents itself.

There are bigger problems with this arts center than mismanagement of planning and construction.

The city's reserve fund to cover its bond debt is underfunded. The endowment fund that will be used to help cover center operations expenses is grossly underfunded.

The city's downtown taxing district is tapped out.

Construction of the acoustical hall — the venue most cherished by local arts groups — has been put off indefinitely. And each year of delay will add an estimated $16 million to the price tag.

And then there are the things not in the report.

Last year, Fitch Ratings downgraded the city's Magic arena bonds to junk status.

Orlando has borrowed $90 million, with the loan based on the value of Centroplex property that's not worth half that much. Dyer has thrown $10 million at sprucing up the FloridaCitrus Bowl and now is aiming money at the "Creative Village.

The city's tab for pension benefits exceeds $50 million a year.

And this was on our front page last April: "For the second year in a row, the city of Orlando faces a staggering deficit of tens of millions of dollars and will look to erase the red ink by paring city staff and cutting services."

Yet in December, Dyer said he could cough up an additional $31 million for the arts center.

Jacobs is rightly concerned that she is doing business with Greece.

And when Dyer can't pull any more money out of his magic hat, the county will be the deep pocket of last resort once construction of the arts center begins. Even more disturbing is that the city and arts supporters are in a mad dash to get construction going. Their theory is that everything will work itself out once the bulldozers arrive.

It's a faith-based initiative, whereas the county administration building is filled with fiscal atheists who don't believe in miracles.

So what happens next?

The prevailing theory is that Dyer and the board running the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts will tell Jacobs to butt out and try to get the project started without any more help from the county. That certainly should scare the bejabbers out of big-money donors and city taxpayers.

A better idea is for Dyer to go to Jacobs, get her terms of surrender for more financial backing, let her more-experienced staff help salvage this mess and worry about revenge some other day.

Gov. Crist wisely vetoes SB 1706; Go Shayla!

Just before 10 pm Wednesday night, Aaron Deslatte of the Orlando Sentinel posted to their Central Florida Political Pulse blog the good news that Gov. Charlie Crist had wisely vetoed SB 1706, an ill-conceived bill that had previously passed both houses in Tallahassee unanimously.

It was the Gwen Margolis bill -gift on a silver platter to developers- that would have resulted in an unfair burden on taxpayers while the "build out" dates for large-scale development projects were
extended to three years.

My previous comment on this topic was on June 15th, Crist urged to veto developer-friendly Margolis bill/SB 1706 that'd weaken growth mgmt. reforms
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/crist-urged-to-veto-developer-friendly.html

Deslatte's post also includes the governor's rationale for his veto.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/files/1706.pdf

______________
Orlando Sentinel
Central Florida Political Pulse blog
Crist vetoes development-friendly bio-tech bill
posted by Aaron Deslatte on Jun 25, 2008 9:56:18 PM

Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed a bill Wednesday that critics claimed would have set the clock back on Florida's recent growth management reforms.
The bill, SB 1706, would have broadened a 2007 law that delayed the "build out" deadlines for large-scale development projects like airports, shopping centers and planned communities for three years. The aim of the bill, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Gwen Margolis, was to give developers who've already got state and local approval for their projects more time before they have to complete them -- and help pay for the extra traffic they put on surrounding roads.
But the governor said he was blocking the bill because...

To read the rest of the article, see:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/06/crist-vetoes-de.html#comments

After checking the URL to see if there were any more reader comments before I went to sleep, I went to their front page and saw something the likes of which the Herald wouldn't do in a million years, since it involves well-displayed color photos on their website, one of their most glaring weak spots compared to Tribune newspapers like the Sentinel, the Sun-Sentinel or the Baltimore Sun, the latter of which I still read online every day to keep up on all things Mid-Atlantic and Orioles-related.

Since there were so many awful stories overnight there:
a.) the very suspicious death of prominent Orlando-area developer Steve Walsh,
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-bk-steve-walsh-dead-062508,0,1308559.story and
b.) the news that the 17-year old son of Orange County mayor Rich Crotty was involved in a serious car accident yesterday afternoon that's left a nine-year old girl seriously injured,
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-bk-tyler-crotty-accident-062508,0,7980670.story

I was happy to see something of a positive nature, and that was a great photo gallery the Sentinel
assembled of U.S. gymnast Shayla Worley, late of Orlando Boone High School, who was on last year's world championship team.
She seems to have a good shot at making the Olympic team if she continues her weekend Trials performances at Camp Karolyi -my new favorite phrase. (Except her fall from the uneven bars, of course.)
See her website at: http://www.shaylaworley.com/index2.html

If Shayla and Jana Bieger of Coconut Creek both made the Olympic squad, it'd be great to have Florida so well-represented in Beijing in such a high-profile TV sport, though that'll likely come at the expense of seeing more about some other American athletes in less popular spectator sports, like archery, since Gena Davis won't be on the team.

But why do I have a feeling that Shayla might wind up in Athens as a GymDog?
http://www.georgiadogs.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8800&SPID=4004
Because genuine talent always seeks out the best competition, which is one of the reasons why the GymDogs have won four NCAA titles in a row, including last month's in Athens.

Wish the Dolphins had their attitude and hustle and weren't so soft.

Meanwhile, Tuesday over at The White House:
http://www.georgiadogs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=44931&SPID=4004&DB_OEM_ID=8800&ATCLID=1482549

Shayla Worley photo gallery from the Orlando Sentinel, all 55 photos worth, is at:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/olympics/orl-shaylaworley-pg,0,3578503.photogallery

Crist urged to veto developer-friendly Margolis bill/SB 1706 that'd weaken growth mgmt. reforms

This interesting item was up on the Orlando Sentinel's Central Florida Political Pulse website on Saturday, yet surprisingly, considering how much traffic there usually is to the site once the Sunday morning TV chat shows start up, there were still no comments on it by 11:45 a.m. today, Sunday.

Upon reading the bill, I also better undertood the transit component as well.

In case the link below for Comm. Teresa Jacobs' letter on behalf of the Florida
Association of Counties within the post doesn't work, try
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/files/veto_letter_to_gov_crist_re_1706.pdf

Bill history and votes of SB 1706: Relating to Developments of Regional
Impact [RPCC] at:
http://www.flsenate.gov/session/index.cfm?Mode=Bills&SubMenu=1&BI_Mode=ViewBillInfo&BillNum=1706

The bill passed House 115-0 on April 30th, passed Senate 37-0 on April 25th.
__________________________________________________________________
Orlando Sentinel
Central Florida Political Pulse blog
Commissioner Jacobs asks Crist to veto developer-friendly bill
posted by Aaron Deslatte on Jun 13, 2008 4:33:47 PM

Orange County Commissioner Teresa Jacobs, in her capacity as president of the Florida Association of Counties, asked Gov. Charlie Crist Friday to veto a developer-friendly bill she argues would weaken past growth management reforms.

The bill, SB 1706, extends the "build out" dates for large-scale development projects like airports, shopping centers and planned communities for three years. The aim of the bill, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Gwen Margolis, was to give developers who've already got state and local approval for their projects more time before they have to complete them -- and help pay for the extra traffic they put on surrounding roads.

But granting a blanket, three-year pass to developers means locals could have to find other ways to pay for the traffic growth that occurs around those projects.

To see the rest of the post, please see:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/06/commissioner-ja.html