Ron Gunzburger sees a LOT of amusing things at his beach; I only see incompetency at mine!

Well, it's a whole new year with the same old cast of South Florida and State characters and their grab-bag of personal, ethical and public policy problems they never solved, plus, a whole new cast of characters and personalities who are just waiting for their moment in the sun, to alternately amuse, irritate, bewitch, frustrate and vex those of us who know what is efficient, logical and common sense in the rest of the world.  

 

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Looking northeast from north-bound U.S.-1 towards Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino, with the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa and The Beach Club condo towers in distance.

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

The new Village of Gulfstream entrance north of the Aventura/Miami-Dade County line.

 

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

You can see the construction of Village of Gulfstream continues apace even as the track prepares to open on January 3rd.  I've taklen dozens and dozens of photos over the past few months of Village of Gulfstream and will be posting them soon, hoping to do a compare-and-contrast sort of thing, so you can see the progress taking place there.

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I think I've mentioned here in the past at Hallandale Beach Blog that, with certain limits, I try to take full advantage of helpful technology and tools out there to be a well-informed citizen and blogger, though there are certain things, like widgets for headlines or sports scores or videos, for instance, that I try to stay away from because it only makes the "look" of the blogs, such as they are, appear even more cluttered.

As an example, I make extensive use of Google Alerts on my various email accounts and use them as a fishing net to capture information in both popular media as well as far-flung and obscure sources about people, personalities, places and ideas that may be of interest to both me and anyone swinging by the blogs for a few minutes during the course of the day.

Given my own wide-ranging interests and the topics I've written about here over the past two years, some of those Google Alert terms seem self-evident at first glance: "Gunzburger," "Steve Geller," and, of course, "Hallandale Beach," while others, though less popular, like "SFFEC," "Broward MPO," and "South Florida Regional Planning Council" have a habit of really delivering gold the few times a month where they are caught in the net, even if I don't appear to make use of them right away.

(Not to be redundant, but I was forced to remind a friend over the weekend that about 85% of all the things I've written over the past year have yet to ever be put online, as I'm waiting for just the "right time" and circumstances to drop them online so they'll have maximum effect.

So keep that in mind over the next few weeks as you wonder where the "sudden" avalanche of posts came from.)

Though it's obviously a term that I get multiple hits on per week, "Gunzburger" actually delivered some unexpected laughs this morning when my inbox brought forth the following.

It seems that Ron Gunzburger, the son of Broward County Commissioner Suzanne Gunzburger and founder of the hugely popular eponymous political blog, Ron Gunzburger's Politics1.com, http://politics1.com/, seems to routinely encounter more amusing things at the beach he goes to than I do -and I'm looking hard for the odd and the unusual, camera in tow.

Google Web Alert for: "Gunzburger"

Twitter / Ron Gunzburger: says Al Franken is good en ... Twitter is a free social messaging utility for staying connected in real-time. The URL for the above is http://twitter.com/RonGunzburger/statuses/1094662837, then click the red-colored link marked Ron Gunzburger, which should take you to:  http://twitter.com/RonGunzburger   Well, personally, the highlights of the above include:

 "and am now watching some idiot swimming in the ocean wearing a football helmet, pads + jersey"

"had another WTF moment: just saw a guy trying to get his pet ferret to stay on his surfboard, before they went into the ocean"

I have definitely got to find out where this beach he's talking about is!!!

No, the public beach in my city, Hallandale Beach, the one that Mayor Joy Cooper threatened in October to start charging the public for access to, is far from that interesting and colorful one described by Ron Gunzburger, wherever that is.

It's an indictment of HB's current City Hall Crew and city employees that the beach is in the poor physical and moral condition it's in, where all sorts of weird and curious things happen around there, with a wink-wink and a closed eye here and there for a pal, and where pretending to do something gets treated the same as actually doing it.

In the weeks to come, I'll be publicly writing about (exposing) some of that incompetence, malfeasance, public corruption and moral turpitude, and I'll do so knwoing that I've already successfully communicated back and forth with some interested government officials who are far removed from Hallandale Beach and Broward County's tentacles and orbit of cronyism.

Professionals who now know what's really been going on here for years, and who, frankly, don't really much care who somebody is, what position they occupy locally, or even how long they've lived here or what sorts of notable charities they're involved with.

They don't care about any of that.

They just care about enforcing laws, regulations, statutes and standards that have been ignored, winked-at and laughed at in the City of Hallandale Beach and at City Hall on South Federal Highway for YEARS.

Which'll translate into some LONG OVERDUE public accountability for what's been taking place here, and some appropriate levels of punishment for all those involved.

While it may be a New Year with a clean slate for you, dear reader, trust me, for the particular cast of local characters that I'm referring to, the slate is anything but clear. 

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Looking south on the beach towards the hulking towers of The Beach Club, whose tall shadows cast such a dark pall on the area for most of the day.

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

My first photo of the year of the iconic Hallandale Beach Water Tower.

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

The side of the lifeguard tower on North Beach describing what proved to a very nice though slightly overcast day in early January.

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Above, one of my favorite places to stop, relax and read is this simple bench on North Beach.

Of course, it's also one of the only places to sit at the beach -not ON the beach- since most of the other benches that were formerly in the park have been removed and NEVER replaced, months and months after the fact.

And HB's DPW keeps the one and only picnic table at the park right near the sidewalk, just steps from the garage entrance, hardly the best place for something like that.

Self-evident matters never adequately explained by the City of Hallandale Beach:

Why is there only one picnic table at a public park next to the beach there, and whatever happened to the green-colored aluminum mesh picnic table that the folks at The Beachside Cafe long ago moved directly next to their property, and treated like it was their property, an overflow if you will, not the public's?

In fact, they continually served alcohol on the beach to people sitting there, even though the nearby posted city signs specifically prohibit the drinking of alcohol on the beach.  Wink-wink!!

Trust me, The Beachside Cafe has no earthly idea of the avalanche of negative publicity that is going to be falling on their head soon.

And it's all richly deserved!!!

 

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Snapshot of a poorly-maintained public beach: Finding a used condom near one of the only two park benches at 4 p.m., on a Friday holiday afternoon on a beach full of families.

And it's far from the only time I've seen condoms on the beach that have been there for days.

I've got the photos to prove it, too.

 
January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Just one of the 14 garbage receptacles on North Beach the day I stopped by -all full of items that are recyclable in normal cities- and none of which had a lid to keep garbage from getting out and flying around on windy days.

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

While I was there that afternoon, there were about 14 garbage receptacles in the immediate North Beach area, many of them overflowing with garbage by 3:30 p.m. -and with no paper towels in Mens room.

Really not surprising for a beautiful day on January 2nd, with most people off from work and just a so-so Cotton Bowl Game on TV.

REMINDER: At the windiest place in the city, Hallandale Beach DPW uses receptacle baskets without lids!

I mentioned this and a number of other concerns about the beach back in August at a public city budget meeting at City Hall, and City Manager Mike Good pledged to follow through on common sense things like that, as well as the recycling bins.

Shocker! Nothing has changed for the better in five months.

Number of blue-colored "recycling" specific bins actually on North Beach and environs last Friday:

ZERO!

Logically, given the size of the area and where the paths are, there should be at least 6-8 of them distributed where they are most convenient for Hallandale Beach residents and guests to use, NOT where they are most convenient for the city's DPW employees.

For the past five months, they've hidden the ONE and only blue recycling bin for the beach near the access road, not even bothering to put it on the beach itself where it can be seen.

Everyone knows it, too.

Just before sundown, about 5:15 p.m.

Looking north from the lifeguard stand on Hallandale Beach's North Beach towards the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, four blocks north, and the crane building the Trump Hollywood, two blocks north of that.

All photos above taken Friday January 2, 2009 by South Beach Hoosier.

__________________________________________

Contact information for the person responsible for the beach in Hallandale Beach, the DPW Director: 

William M. Brant, P.E.,

630 NW 2nd Street, Hallandale Beach, FL 33009

Ph: (954) 457-1600,  Fax: (954) 457-1624

Email:

Contact him and let him know what you really think about the sorry and embarrassing physical conditions of the beach; the complete lack of enough conveniently-located blue recycling bins along the beach; the longstanding garbage that's inside of so-called "protected" plant areas, and along the emergency access road and beneath the Water Tower, much of which has been there for months and YEARS at a time, as my photos will illustrate. 

And then, ask him when was the last (or first?) time he actually spent more than an hour or so at this beach on a busy weekend afternoon.

It probably won't surprise you that after numerous conversations over the past year or so with other Hallandale Beach residents and taxpayers, that some of my future posts here in this space will address the issue of improving the public beach status quo by either privatizing the city's DPW operations on the beach, or completely transferring those responsibilities and funds to HB's Parks and Recreation Dept.

Currently, the latter's only responsibility on the beach is the kids playground equipment and the rental Chickee Huts on South Beach. That's it!

You can hardly be blamed for not knowing that, since there is no information posted on the beachanywhere letting you know whom exactly to contact with comments, complaints, kudos, or suggestions.  Zip.

You don't have to go far to see why moving it to Parks makes more common sense.

In next-door Hollywood, it's the city's Parks and Rec Dept. that actually manages and mainatains their famously excellent beaches, NOT their city's DPW.

And you constantly see city employees around, especially towards the popular Johnson Street area.

Unlike Thomas Magill's Police Dept. in Hallandale Beach, which is apparently afraid of either the sand, the surf or the sun -or all three!- Hollywood's Police Dept. under Chadwick Wagner is not afraid to actually walk/bike around the beach areas and interact with people to provide needed security and a sense of calm, especially on hectic busy weekends.

The contrast between the two neighboring city's styles, and ways of dealing with both residents and gue$t$, could hardly be more stark and self-evident than on this issue.  

re Naming Names Herald-style -Beach One Resort Hotel in Hollywood Passes Round One

October 3, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier
New Notice sign advertising the meeting on the 15th.

Well, I ended up having LOTS of problems posting Naming Names Herald-style -Beach One Resort Hotel in Hollywood Passes Round One a few hours ago, as I lost it a couple of times during the Hurricanes-Seminoles ballgame when very strong area storms knocked out the electricity hereabouts momentarily.

I was literally sick at the thought of having to completely re-arrange those photographs again in the laborious way Blogger forces you to do so.

Plus, I completely lost the draft which explains why I titled that post the way I did.

So, long story short... look at Breanne Gilpatrick's Thursday Herald article on the approval, so far, of the Beach One Resort project at 4111 S. Ocean Drive, i.e. on State Road A1A and Hallandale Beach Blvd., and tell me what's missing from her story?

Go ahead, I can wait.

Are you back?

You have a project that everyone describes as "beautiful," and yet she never mentions the name of the architect who actually designed it, or the name of the developer who hopes to turn it into an iconic reality.

This, in an area that's positively drowning in ugly buildings and developers who throw up schlock and take curtain calls -even when nobody is applauding.

Or the Miami Megaplan.

As mentioned, it's been reduced by 10 floors to be in proportion with the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa down the block and is absolutely gorgeous, resembling a ship's bow.

To answer the first part of the question, it's been designed by world renown architect Carlos Ott, who developed the original concept for the iconic Burj Al Arab in Dubai, http://www.burj-al-arab.com/ , a hotel which Hollywood Comm. Patty Asseff mentioned on Wednesday that she had stayed at earlier this year.

He's also doing the Jade Beach down on Collins Avenue and 170th Street and the Jade Ocean, also in Sunny Isles.

At the Sept. 11th Development Review Board hearing in Hollywood, Mr. Ott looked and talked exactly like you'd imagine an architect with his particular background would look, too: dignified, well-dressed and precise.

Almost more like a veteran character actor deep in his character than a real architect.

Or so I thought at the time. http://www.mosaico21.com/onlinemosaicoxxi/english/design/carlosottstory.htm

For the record, the name of the developer is Edgardo DeFortuna the president of Miami-based Fortune International Realty. See this article on his background.

http://www.sbnonline.com/Local/Article/8736/76/0/Foreign_development.aspx

I should mention here that even the neighborhood critics along A1A who attended that meeting on the 11th acknowledged -and not at all grudgingly- that the design is positively breathtaking.

Still, they couldn't resist the opportunity to say publicly how truly ugly and oversize The Beach Club condos south of the Hallandale Beach Water Tower are, especially in comparison.

This is the old version and height, not the new one, but you get the general idea. http://200.124.202.19/ott/ott.html

Also, as noted previously here, keep in mind that the rendering doesn't show The Sian in between it and the Westin., since it's intended to be an aerial comparison of relative height, not actual physical proximity.

The next time this project will come up for review is the second City Commission reading, on Wednesday October 15th at 1 PM.

To see the portion of Wednesday's hearing on Beach One Resort, complete with Power Point presentation, go to http://www.hollywoodfl.org/Media/Archives/ccm100108/ccm100108_Indexed.pdf and click the blue line on # 23.

PO-2008-20 - Ordinance First Reading - An Ordinance Of The City Of Hollywood, Florida, Waiving The 10 Acre Minimum Acreage Requirement For A Planned Development; Changing The Zoning Designation Of The Property Generally Located At 4111 South Ocean Drive From C-1 (Commercial Low Intensity) To PD (Planned Development District); Allocating Up To 238 Bonus Hotel Density Rooms From The "Hollywood Beach Hotel Room Pool"; Approving The Planned Development (PD) Master Development Plan For The Subject Property (Hereinafter Known As "Beach One Resort Planned Development Master Plan"); And Amending The City’s Zoning Map To Reflect The Change In

Naming Names Herald-style -Beach One Resort Hotel in Hollywood Passes Round One

June 2008 Artist rendering of aerial view of Beach One Resort, Hollywood, FL

Carlos A. Ott, Architect from submitted documents to the City of Hollywood Development Review Board. September 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

This was NOT intended to be an accurate representation of all beach properties along that part of State Road A1A, since SIAN is missing from it, but rather an attempt to show what the general area heights were, with the Westin Diplomat a few blocks to the north and the three condo towers of The Beach Club in HB a block to the south.

The newest proposal by Beach One Resort is 130 feet/ten stories shorter than their original one.

Hollywood Beach Eyesore Continues to Grow

The view of the neighborhood nuisance as seen on April 3rd, 2008 at Hallandale Beach Blog.

My frustration with this longstanding situation on State Road A1A, which lasted for years, led me to placing this photo front and center on my blog for quite some time.

While I was obviously pleased to see that a slit-fence was finally installed there a few weeks ago in August, and even more pleased to see the 25-foot mound of dirt removed, frankly, I never really got the reasonable answer I was looking for from the City of Hollywood about why there wasn't one to begin with, and why that property seemed to have special rules that applied to it, despite how self-evident the problem was.

Honestly, could it have been more evident?

A few times, I spotted City of Hollywood building inspectors in front of the Crowne Plaza -before it officially opened- and walked over to inquire if they knew anything about what was going on with all the dirt that had been flying around the neighborhood for at least 18 months.

Sad to say, their customer service skills couldn't have been worse -un-friendly and un-professional.

Dudes, when you park your City of Hollywood car right on the sidewalk, forcing everyone in the neighborhood to actually have to walk out into the street with traffic, the least you could do is keep the bad work attitude to yourself.

For what it's worth, I did manage to snap a few quick photos of these nominees for Hollywood city Employees of the Month with the bad attitudes.

But I decided not to "out" them by posting their photos months ago, though I could've, since I know they'd have claimed they were "misunderstood," always the last refuge for bad govt. employees.

No, actually, I didn't misunderstand, I just wrote down what you said, the day and time, your license plate tag info, and a general description of you.

That way, in the future, if I see you in the Hollywood City Hall Commission chambers, I can stop, pivot, and segue into your actions and call you out in front of your colleagues as a jerk.

Don't thank me, it'll be my pleasure.

In August of 2007, I finally got so frustrated with the situation that I went to Hollywood City Hall myself, and after describing why I was there, I got the opportunity to speak with someone about it in the Planning Dept.

I asked questions about the property and why it seemed so impervious to the usual rules that apply to areas like that prior to construction, since by then, it had been about 10 months without any slit-fencing of any kind, even while the mound of dirt had grown to be at least 25 ft. high, which was not really what the neighbors next door at SIAN and elsewhere signed up for in the way of beach culture.

Despite my various efforts, it would be almost an entire year before the slit-fence was erected.

For the record, as I've written many times here, though this property has been a neighborhood nuisance for both Hollywood and Hallandale Beach residents for quite some time, when Mayor Joy Cooper obliquely referred to it at the joint HB-Hollywood City Commission meeting I attended in June, from my perspective and that of many others, that was THE first time Cooper ever referred to it publicly, despite it having been a self-evident problem since at least November of 2006.

Mayor Peter Bober -whom I'm a supporter of- wasn't elected mayor of Hollywood until March of this year, so honestly, how could it be that Mayors Cooper and Mara Giulianti and City Managers Mike Good and Cameron Benson could all have ignored something that large at one of the busiest intersections in southeast Broward for so long? 
And at the beach, no less!

Do you really have to ask?

Well, at least there's a new sheriff in town in Hollywood who's interested in accountability and transparency, which is more than can be said in Hallandale Beach.

More comments following the Miami Herald article.

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http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/709814.html

HOLLYWOOD
Hollywood high-rise wins key backing

By Breanne Gilpatrick

October 2, 2008

Hollywood city commissioners tentatively approved a key zoning change Wednesday for a proposed 41-story ocean-side hotel set to join other high-end high-rises near the Hollywood-Hallandale Beach border.

Developers for Beach One Resort sought the change to allow them to build a 477-room hotel on the 1.59-acre parcel at the northeast corner of South Ocean Drive and Hallandale Beach Boulevard.

Once completed, the hotel will join Hollywood's Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, the three-tower Beach Club condo complex in Hallandale beach and other high-rises in the area. Commissioners said the project blends well along the southern stretch of Hollywood beach dominated by luxury hotels and condominiums.

''I love this project,'' Commissioner Heidi O'Sheehan said.

"It's beautiful, and I appreciate that you did look to the Diplomat and you did look at what we already have and it complements that area beautifully.''

Original plans called for a 549-foot-tall building with 51 stories.

But developers worked with the city to lower the height by more than 130 feet, bringing the building in line with the other hotels along that portion of Hollywood beach.

Earlier this year, some beach residents told the city's Planning and Zoning Board that they thought developers were trying to build too much on the parcel and worried the 418-foot-tall building would cast a shadow over the beach.

But the reaction Wednesday was largely positive.

''It's perfect for our community,'' Hollywood beach resident Joe Joynt said.

Because the property sits outside the boundaries of Hollywood's Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, any property tax revenue generated by the project would flow into the city's budget.

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I will have much more to say about the particulars of this project over the next week, as well as lots of details about that Hollywood City Commission meeting that the local media have failed to report or mention, but I wanted to post this information before any more time slipped by.

I attended the Sept. 11th Development Review Board hearing in Hollywood on the Beach One Resort project and attended this past Wednesday afternoon's Hollywood City Commission meeting on it, the first of their two meetings on the proposed 41-story hotel, which will be just north of the Hallandale Beach Water Tower on State Road A1A and Hallandale Beach Blvd.

This past Tuesday night, I sent out an email to some local South Florida public policy folks of my acquaintance whom I knew had an interest in the project, and what it might represent for Hollywood, asking for as many of them as possible to attend the meeting so they wouldn't be hearing rumors and scuttlebut and could contribute some thoughts.

My thinking all along was that many people initially liked The Radius project on Young Circle, too, but we know what everyone thought once it was actually built, don't we?

Where's that curvilinear aspect to it that would have prevented it from feeling like it's going to topple over on top of you, like a top-heavy model or Playmate, when you walk across the street to the Starbucks.

The curvilinear aspect is something that was added to the WSG project on the southeast corner of Young Circle a few months ago, and is one that will be immediately noticeable about the Beach One Resort, also, something that, if executed properly, will help it become a real iconic property in South Florida.

(As opposed to those South Florida real estate projects elsewhere that bastardize the meaning of the word because their dopey PR folks can't think of another name for ugly and tall, so they call it iconic. As if.)

It holds great promise for being a signature location for Hollywood, a visible landmark for decades to come that shapes visitors first impressions of the city, while also being the embodiment of that ideal that Bernard Zyscovich has spoken about with regard to the area south of Young Circle, i.e. a tangible and visible entryway into the city, to give it a sense of place.

Still, as you can tell from my comments accompanying some photos I've snapped over the past few months of the area, I do have a real fear about the shadows that will be cast upon HB's already tiny beach in the afternoon.

Design, specs, renderings at: http://www.hollywoodfl.org/docdepotcache/00000/812/PO-2008-20.PDF

You can watch a replay of Wednesday's meeting online at: http://www.hollywoodfl.org/city_clerks/meetings_webcast.htm

That's right, you can watch the whole thing, about ninety minutes, complete with graphics on the screen so you can actually follow it at home -unlike the case in Hallandale Beach.

You can even see the running time so you know that when X,Y or Z was said or done, you can tell someone about it and they can find that exact moment.

Imagine that? Graphics and running time and everything.


Meanwhile, Hallandale Beach has COMCAST Channel 78, which might as well be running a test pattern, since it has no information onscreen during HB City Commission telecasts to let you know where they are in the proceedings.

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PO-2008-20 - Ordinance First Reading
An Ordinance Of The City Of Hollywood, Florida, Waiving The 10 Acre Minimum Acreage Requirement For A Planned Development; Changing The Zoning Designation Of The Property Generally Located At 4111 South Ocean Drive From C-1 (Commercial Low Intensity) To PD (Planned Development District);
Allocating Up To 238 Bonus Hotel Density Rooms From The "Hollywood Beach Hotel Room Pool";
Approving The Planned Development (PD) Master Development Plan For The Subject Property
(Hereinafter Known As "Beach One Resort Planned Development Master Plan"); And Amending The City's Zoning Map To Reflect The Change In Zoning Designation. (05-ZJ-21)

September 28, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Looking east towards the Hallandale Beach Water Tower from Hallandale Beach Blvd.

September 28, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Looking northwest from Surf Road in Hallandale Beach towards the Beach One Resort lot, whose fence currently is sporting a Dotty Ross for HB City Commission campaign sign, which will no doubt come as news to the owner. In the past two years, that exact spot, just opposite The Beachside Cafe, has had Tim Ryan for State Senate campaign signs and William Julian for HB City Commission campaign signs. Every time I've seen them, I've wondered who thought they could put a campaign sign on someone else's property, since it doesn't belong to The Beachside Cafe or the City of Hallandale Beach.

But that's symptomatic of the attitude and culture here in Hallandale Beach among many local pols and their supporters: to try to get away with things until you get caught and then feign ignorance when you are.

September 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Looking up at the east facade of Hollywood City Hall on my way into the meeting.

September 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

A rendering of the Beach One Resort looking south on the beach from north of the property, basically around the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa.

September 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

A rendering of the Beach One Resort looking north from State Road A1A.

September 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

A rendering depicting the West/A1A and East/beach elevation of the Beach One Resort.

September 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

A rendering showing the narrow ship-like appearance of the hotel, with the beach to the right.

September 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Looking west towards Hollywood City Hall as I made my way home.

September 6, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Looking east from the north sidewalk of the Intracoastal Bridge, i.e. State Road 858/Hallandale Beach Blvd., towards the Hallandale Beach Water Tower to the left and the north (1850 S. Ocean) condo tower of The Beach Club to the right.

September 6, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Looking north onto State Road A1A from the city boundary dividing the City of Hollywood to the north and Hallandale Beach to the south.

You can see the yellow 9/11 Development Review Board meeting sign right next to the bus bench.

As I was leaving the beach area around 6 PM or so, to get back home for the Hurricanes-Gators ballgame, I walked over to it and pushed itdown a bit, but given the heavy winds that day, I had no reason to think the sign would still be there and not on the street somewhere.

Hollywood might want to make a mental note of the simple fact that the beach area is always going to be the windiest place around, so lightweight Notice signs that are planted in the ground, probably should not be used there.

I'm constantly surprised at the number of people in the area who don't realize that the north side of Hallandale Beach Blvd. is, in fact, the entrance to Hollywood.

The sign on the A1A median welcoming you into Hollywood is two blocks north only because that median is the first one on A1A which is wide enough for the sign's placement, since the median on HBB is too narrow.

Much of the confusion no doubt stems from the fact that the city border is farther north on U.S.-1/ Federal Highway, up at Pembroke Road, and many people just assume it's at roughly the same position over on the beach.

That's why even in local sources or on www.flickr.com, you often see incorrect references to the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa and Hallandale Beach.

From the hotel, looking west, the west side of the Intracoastal is HB, but the hotel itself is in the City of Hollywood.

September 6, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Looking west from Surf Road towards the lot and the sign announcing the Sept. 11th City of Hollywood Development Review Board hearing.

Currently, this is the beach parking lot controlled by what some call the rather 'shady' folks at The Beachside Cafe, which charges $5 to park in this unlit and un-supervised lot full of rocks, gravel and potholes. And did I tell you about all the feral cats?

The cats who used to congregate below the 'scarecrow' Hallandale Beach Police car near the entrance to the parking lot?

Even amongst the dumbest of South Florida's criminals, seeing bowls of cat food and water in front of a Police car's front or back tire, day after day, well, it's a bit of a hint that there are no real cops around.

And there aren't, either!

But that's another familiar refrain and subject I won't get into a tangent on now.

September 6, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Looking south from Surf Road towards the HB Water Tower and The Beach Club.

September 6, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Hallandale Beach Water Tower.

September 6, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

This image, of course, will all but disappear once the Beach One Resort goes up.

September 6, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Me and my early evening silhouette.

September 6, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

The dividing line beween sunshine and shadows is a very clear one.

Shadows courtesy of The Beach Club.

The long shadows cast by the condos make it much more difficult for the lifeguards to discern swimmers in the water. Just ask them and they'll tell you as much.

September 2, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

The view of the Beach One Resort lot while standing atop that A1A bus bench, minus about 20 feet of dirt.

September 2, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Looking southeast from the east sidewalk on State Road A1A towards the Hallandale Beach Water Tower, Hallandale Beach Fire/Rescue #600.

I'll have MUCH more soon on that whole crazy area, scene of some shady shenanigans that have taken place there for years, as well as a thorough photographic review of the so-called North Beach Community Center, which has been the subject of many past HBB blog posts.

(See http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/mid-julys-very-odds-and-ends-in.html )

The city took title to it on August 3rd, 2007, but it won't be open to actual Hallandale Beach residents and taxpayers 'till February or March of next year, 18 months later.

Eighteen long months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But not to worry, friends, pals and cronies of the well-connected at Hallandale Beach City Hall have been able to use the building over the past 14 months.

Just not you!

For you, it's closed.

That's life in Hallandale Beach, Florida in the year 2008 under the ruinous reign of Joy Cooper, Dotty Ross, William Julian and City Manager Mike Good.

How many times can I say here that they're a very big part of the problem, not part of any constructive common sense solutions.

Election Day is just 30 days away, so do yourself and the city a big favor and vote NO on Dotty Ross, and cast a vote for reform, accountability and transparency at Hallandale Beach City Hall.

Vote for Arturo O' Neill and Carlos Simmons on November 4th for the Hallandale Beach City Commission.

For more information, see http://www.arturo-oneill.com/ , www.changehallandale.com

Joy_loses_control_-_Clip.mp4 and

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/no-more-joy-cooper/3961248210/?icid=VIDURVNWS05

You'll be glad you did!