Showing posts with label Thomas Magill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thomas Magill. Show all posts

Thursday, December 13, 2018

#murder - Sad news re murder of 2010 Hallandale Beach 'missing woman' Lynda Robin Meier confirms our worst fears -and reminds us of HBPD's incompetency, failure to perform professionally then under Police Chief Thomas Magill. As I wrote about at the time




The very sad news regarding the apparent murder of 2010 Hallandale Beach 'missing woman' Lynda Robin Meier confirms our collective worst fears, but for many of you longtime readers of the blog, it should remind you of lots of things that have been written about and analyzed in this space many times before, namely the Hallandale Beach Police Dept.'s longstanding incompetency, indifference to facts and appearances, failure to perform professionally then under Police Chief Thomas Magill. As I wrote about at the time.

Above, June 4, 2011 photo of Hallandale Beach Police Dept. HQ, across from HB City Hall, by South Beach Hoosier. On the one-year anniversary of Lynda Meier's disappearance, just as has been the case every single day since she vanished on June 4th, 2010, there was no flyer about her on the outside of the HB Police Dept., the City Hall bldg. or the nearby HB Cultural Center. 
Or anywhere in the entire city. SNAFU!


Yes, that jaw-dropping fiasco in 2010 where the Hallandale Beach Police Dept. NEVER put up ANY posters at ANY of the dozens of restaurants, retail stores, parks that residents visit daily, in the days immediately after Meier's disappearance, where a possible witness may've been found. 
Not one.

I know that from personal experience because in the days afterward I walked from I-95 to State Road A1A and personally spoke to nearly every store owner/manager and business owner on that route to inquire if someone from HBPD or HB Crime Watch had come by to ask if they could put a flyer in their window. Not one business ever responded yes to my simple question, and given that everyone wanted to help, they asked ME if I knew why HBPD and Crime Watch NEVER came by.
I told them why and they glumly shook their heads in silent agreement.
And there was no good reason for this failure except failure at every level and a lack of effort.

They NEVER even so much as put one up at next door City Hall, but sure as hell, there was a taped missing poster for someone's pet at the time, right next to the City Hall front door.
But not for Lynda Meier.

Mendacious and incompetent Hallandale Beach Police Chief Thomas A. Magill, who made the small ocean-side city of Hallandale Beach in Broward County a never-ending laughingstock thru his self-serving words, highly questionable actions and disreputable behavior.


Remains found of Hallandale Beach woman missing since 2010, source tells Local 10
Lynda Meier last seen June 4, 2010
By Roy Ramos - Reporter, Jeff Weinsier - Investigative Reporter
Posted: 12:13 PM, December 13, 2018Updated: 6:23 PM, December 13, 2018

JULY 1, 2010 
What's THE worst possible thing you can do during an active search for a 'missing person'? Another tale of HB incompetency under Police Chief Magill

JULY 9, 2010
The answer to my question of last Friday re Lynda Robin Meier will be answered on Saturday morning
https://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/answer-to-my-question-of-last-friday-re.html
SEPTEMBER 12, 2010
100 Days Missing: Lynda Meier of Hallandale Beach has been gone for over 14 weeks, so where are all the "missing" flyers around town?

https://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/100-days-missing-lynda-meier-of.html

JUNE 8, 2011
Lynda Meier's disappearance one-year later: apathy and absence of effort & thought by the HBPD and the South Florida news media loom larger than ever
https://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/lynda-meiers-disappearance-one-year.html


That same mentality by HBPD is what had caused me to get so angry in 2010 with the Meier case because HBPD and HB Crime Watch -the latter then led by Alexander Lewy before he was elected a HB City Commissioner months later- did NOT do the bare minimum you'd expect from such a group, especially in such a time-sensitive case.
The sort of thing that we have all routinely seen done in a TV newscasts, a fictional drama or in motion pictures. Why?
Because it's common sense.

Because we know that people have a short memory and attention span for what seems like inconsequential things/facts that don't fit their daily lives.
So you have to get that information from those people before it completely evaporates.
But those efforts, the sort of thing we all have a reasonable right to expect in case of such an emergency, sadly and rather predictably, didn't take place.

Specifically,they chose NOT to pass out flyers themselves in the immediate area of US-1 and Hallandale Beach Blvd. at the time Meier went to that Bank of America branch to capture the attention of joggers, drivers, pedestrians, or anyone who might've seen something, or even use trained volunteers from the Crime Watch group.

The Police compounded this by also refusing to post fliers in nearby popular stores or restaurants until long past the point that any possible witness had long since forgotten what they might've seen or heard many weeks and months before for a fleeting second.
There was not a single police flier about the 2013 double murder posted on the bulletin board at Panera Bread until July! Five months later!

I know this because I have a photo of the flyer there shortly after it went up -too late.
Many of you received a copy of it from me in an email that July bemoaning HBPD's inability to get out of their own way.

And in case you might've forgotten, Michele Lazarow, the HB City Commissioner who lives closest to where this crime too place, someone who actually lives not so far away, and who'd just been elected weeks before, was NOT allowed to attend HBPD's meeting with the neighborhood.
A meeting that Mayor Joy Cooper was allowed to attend.
What does that tell you?
What sort of image does that convey to the public?

There's so many aspects of these two crime stories that stink to high heaven and still cause me to grieve for these families and their inability to get the closure they need and deserve, to say nothing of the questions never asked publicly about the enormous amount of time it took for HBPD to finally release a photo of a person of interest in the double murder case, and then, made that photo next-to-impossible to find on the city's own website!

But rather than repeat them all here, in case you want to have your memory jarred in a profound way, here are my last two blog post about the double-homicide, though there have been MANY more emails detailing the numerous policy and procedural failings of all the relevant parties and the failure of the South Florida news media to publicly question and criticize what in any other part of the country would be coming under justified criticism.

(If you want to know more details, contact me and we can always meet at Panera Bread or somewhere else and dissect the HBPD blunders all over again.)

FEBRUARY 11, 2013 
Still no new news or facts in Hallandale Beach re January's double-murder of Toronto couple in Venetian Park neighborhood; Important Three Islands neighborhood public meeting tonight at 7 p.m.

SEPTEMBER 6, 2013 
Crime and (No) Punishment in Hallandale Beach: Observations on Rachel Mendleson's spot-on Toronto Star article on January's double-homicide of a Toronto-area couple in the Three Islands neighborhood of Hallandale Beach, which remains unsolved 8 months later. I still believe the Hallandale Beach Police Dept. has done a very poor job of engaging in outreach and making it as easy as possible for the community to access relevant info about the case that could prove helpful, just as HBPD and HB Crime Watch completely botched public outreach in 2010 following the disappearance of HB resident Lynda Robin Meier, who has never been found. Just like others at HB City Hall, HBPD continues to never learn from experience







Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Ineptitude reminiscent of HB City Hall! WCBS-TV: Comedy Of Errors - Cameras Didn't Work At Newark Airport

WCBS-TV, New York
Comedy Of Errors: Cameras Didn't Work At Newark

Sources Tell CBS 2 That TSA Surveillance Cameras Were Inoperable At Time Of Terminal C Security Breach

TSA Apparently Didn't Know Number For Continental To Get Other Footage

It's a tale of shocking ineptitude: CBS 2 has learned a series of missteps unnecessarily added to the mayhem at Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday. The six-hour delay stranded thousands of people, creating extreme crowding and chaos.

The mistakes made at the airport give new meaning to the term "domino effect." It was a cascading series of missteps that cry out for action.

The sign at the Transportation Security Administration screening post at Newark read: "Premises Under Constant Video Surveillance."

What is should add is: "If We're Lucky."

Read rest of story at:
http://wcbstv.com/local/newark.airport.continental.2.1407062.html

Video at:

http://wcbstv.com/video/?id=136879@wcbs.dayport.com

Reader comments:
http://wcbstv.com/local/newark.airport.continental.2.1407062.html#addComments

------

Ineptitude reminiscent of Hallandale Beach City Hall!

You know, the Broward city where the Police Chief,
Thomas Magill, actually shrugged and said at a 2009
HB City Commission meeting that the pitch black
public parking lot in front of City Hall AND the
Police Dept. HQ, which has been that way for a
good part of the past two years, wasn't that big a deal.

And the City Attorney, David Jove, just sits there
on the dais, dreaming of his pension, ignoring the
self-evident public safety and liability issues for the
city's taxpayers.


Who's their boss?
City Manager Mike Good.
That explains it.

Tonight, like last week, last month and last year,
three of the four parking lights closest to the public
entrance to HB City Hall have been out.
Much like they have been for the past six months,
and most of the past two years, but fortunately for
air travelers, the City of Hallandale Beach doesn't
have operational control of an airport!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Kendrick Meek's curious out-of-the-blue Saturday morning Town Hall meeting

A last-minute email of mine that went
out across the transom late Friday night
to interested parties across the Sunshine
State concerned whether or not Rep.
Kendrick Meek would actually be making
what amounts to an in-store appearance
at Hallandale Beach City Hall on Saturday
morning, or go the route chosen by
Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

And therein lies the mystery...

This is an edited version of that email.
-----------------------
Friday September 11th, 2009
11:25 p.m.

Last Wednesday afternoon while up at Hollywood
City Hall for their City Commission meeting on the
explosive Police pension issue, I saw the flyer below
on their public notice board near the City Clerk's
office and snapped a shot of it.

018.JPG

Hm-m-m...
So Congressman Meek will hold a Town Hall
meeting pertaining to Health Insurance Reform
at David Park Community Center, 108 N. Park
Road in Hollywood on Saturday the 12th from
9-11 a.m.

Not to discuss the issue of "health care reform" that
everyone originally bought into for reasons of logic,
compassion and economics, but
health insurance
reform
,
the new tact taken by Obama in his effort
to sell a program that doesn't really seem to exist
on paper so much as in the hands and heads of
Senator Max Baucus's Senate Finance Committee
and staffers. http://finance.senate.gov/

(See Proposed Framework for Health Care Reform,
from Sept. 9th

http://finance.senate.gov/press/Bpress/2009press/prb090909.pdf
Also, see various Baucus, Grassley Policy Options
for Financing Comprehensive Health Care Reform

listed at http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/legislation.htm )

So, having been surprised at coming across this
news nine days ago without having read anywhere
else about it, I made a mental note to myself to use
the photo and mention it on the blog as the date
drew near, which was going to be Thursday.

But literally as I was in the middle of writing about it,
with my list of health care articles and links at the ready
to sprinkle here, I decided to take a break and take
a spin over to the Sun-Sentinel's Broward Politics
blog to see if there was anything percolating over there.

In retrospect, I'm glad I did because it prevented me
from writing and posting something I'd immediately
have had to pull down and make surgical edits to.

What I saw there shocked me:
Congressman Kendrick Meek plans health
care town hall in Broward
Posted by Anthony Man on September 10, 2009 09:52 AM
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2009/09/congressman_kendrick_meek_plan.html

My first thought: Isn't that the same time that
he's supposed to be in Hollywood?

And my second was why is it being held there,
in such a small facility?

I immediately started wondering whether Meek
& Co.
would pull a phony Town Hall like another
South Florida gerrymandered congressperson
who's never had to run a competitive race for
their seat, Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

You'll recall that she recently had a pre-digested
Tele-Town Hall, which has all the civic charm
and spontaneity of a car maintenance manual.
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word...

Then, this morning, the Herald ran a similar
version on page 3B, which is what I had in my
email to you all this morning, at bottom.

This afternoon, I swung by the HB Cultural
Center
to find out why this event was being
held Saturday morning in a facility that barely
holds 100 people, when the Cultural Center
behind City Hall can hold many times that
number.

Well, it turns out the HB PAL is having their
abbual antique sale there the whole weekend,
so that's out, unfortunately.

But still rather curious about how the whole
event seemed to spring up overnight, since
neither I nor any of my well-informed friends
had heard anything at all about Meek actually
coming here until Thursday's Sun-Sentinel blog
post, I asked a someone in a position to know
whether or not an effort had been made to have
it in the Cultural Center in the past few weeks,
or, at a future date, when more citizens could
attend.
"No."

You might recall that during the recent
congressional recess of several weeks,
the deadest and warmest weeks of the
year in Washington, trust me, rather
than taking advantage of that time to
cross the countyline and have a health
care meeting at the HB Cultural Center,
Meek was campaigning all over the state
for the U.S. Senate.

Tonight, around 8:15, I walked by HB City Hall
and was surprised to see that a barricade had
already been erected in the parking lot near
the entrance off U.S.-1.


249.JPG

Looking north towards the barricade from
in front of HB City Hall,
with U.S.-1 to the right.


This, of course, was the 'one trick pony' they
employed for many years, to no positive effect,
at the city's public beach, as a substitute for
their actually patrolling the beach areas like
other South Florida oceanfront cities do,
esp. on busy three-day holiday weekends like
last weekend.

But in Hallandale Beach, under this particular
mayor, this particular city manager and this
particular police chief, that's not the way they
do things.

Which doubtless explains why there are always
so many dozens of police cars glued to the
HB Police Dept. parking lot that are never seen
on the city's roads.
But then what am I saying, you already know that,
don't you?

As you may recall, the real tip-off to potential
miscreants arriving at North Beach, with mischief
on their mind, that they had no reason to fear the
police were those bowls of cat food and water
that were placed directly in front of either the
police car's tires or underneath the chassis.
Day-after-day, week-after-week.


251.JPG
One of the three empty Hallandale Beach
police cars parked near the public entrance
to HB City Hall tonight.
Can't say for sure if it's one of the many
that's been growing roots over near the
Old Dixie Highway entrance to City Hall
the past few years, that were caked with
months worth of dirt.
It was too dark to tell since the three parking
lot lights closest to the entrance -shocker-
weren't working.
Just like last week and last month and...



The ruse is now in place tonight at HB City
Hall as I write this, and as you can also see,
the Meek folks don't want you taking flash
photographs.
Perhaps he thinks he's Amish


247.JPG
Please don't take photos of the Congressman
in the building that your taxes paid for -he's
now Amish!


248.JPG
Why do I have a bad feeling that many
of the Hallandale Beach 108 will
be plants?


250.JPG
Hey, what do you know, the parking lot light
closest to the public entrance
of HB City Hall
is
STILL out.

And, the very light that's closest to the one
and only HB Police Dept.-controlled
security
camera in front of that side of City Hall.


The light that has
NOT worked for 18 of the
21 months since the cameras
first went up.

The light that HB
Police Chief Magill could
apparently care less about seeing fixed,

judging by his pathetic excuses many months
ago when I reminded the
whole Commission
during public comments of a night meeting
he was present at, how poorly the City Hall
area
has lit at night for years, and if they
doubted it, they could just step outside
and
see for themselves.


There are many cities in this country where
my comments would've led
to it being fixed
the next day, if out of embarrassment more
than anything.


But not here in HB.

Months later, that light just keeps on snoozing
thru the night.

That's your Hallandale Beach City Hall in action!


023.JPG

Meanwhile, down the street a few blocks,
on the median of U.S.-1 & S.E. 9th
Street,
I said hello again to our old friend
-the HB sign.


Moved a few hundred feet north many months
ago because of FDOT road construction, despite

its new location, its light STILL doesn't work,
extending its previous futile record
of being out
of commission to well over five years
-
longer than the U.S. fought in WWII.

Another Mike Good/Joy Cooper success story.

Now that I've added a big memory card to m
y
digital camera, I can shoot video
and plan on
doing so Saturday morning, to capture whatever
happens, if anything.

I strongly suggest that those of you with an
interest in attending bring along your own
camcorder to record the action,
such as it may be.

See photo at:
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2009/09/no-bullhorns-no-protesters-at-meeks-town-hall-.html
--------------------------
This weekend, I'll be posting something I've already
written about Meek and the candidates who are
seeking to replace him in Congress, and why they've
been so curiously AWOL in Hallandale Beach,
as well as the pages of the Herald and the
Sun-Sentinel, but for now, I just wanted to pass
this along in case you're up to the idea of asking
about arcane provisions of 3200 at 9 am on a
Saturday morning.

I'll be there with my camera and writing pad at the
ready, hoping for either insight or group dynamic
hijinks, but not really expecting to see either.

------------------
Posted on Fri, Sep. 11, 2009

Meek to hold town hall on Saturday in Hallandale Beach

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek will hold a town hall meeting Saturday in Hallandale Beach to discuss proposals to overhaul the nation's healthcare system.

Meek, D-Miami, represents part of South Broward. He is also running for his party's nomination for the U.S. Senate next year.

The event will begin at 9 a.m. in the City Commission Chambers, 400 S. Federal Hwy., Hallandale Beach.

Doors will open at 8:30 a.m. Space is limited and will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis, Meek's office said.

-- SUN SENTINEL

Friday, December 5, 2008

Continuing patterns of ethical misconduct and behavior at Hallandale Beach City Hall and environs


What follows, with a few typos from the original now cleaned-up, is a copy of the email that I sent today to Governor Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum about what happened on Wednesday afternoon during lunch at Hallandale Beach City Hall, which has not been reported anywhere in the South Florida media, print or electronic.

That's largely because the people directly involved wanted to keep you in the dark.

Which is precisely why they did what they did, when and where they did it.

But now it'll be a matter that everyone can know about, discuss and analyze.

Now, thanks to my efforts, Hallandale Beach citizens, as well as reporters, editors, politicians and other interested parties all over the state know all about it, and can draw their own conclusions.

Most will see a continuing pattern of ethical misconduct that calls into question the fitness of many
elected officials and government officials at Hallandale Beach City Hall, including the Police Dept.

To those who say that things can't be quite as bad in Hallandale Beach as I've described here in this space in the past, despite all the self-evident proof I've offered, including photographic evidence, I simply say read this: ask yourself after reading it whether it seems like these particular people at Hallandale Beach City Hall are, in fact, committed to taxpayer accountability, transparency in their operations and to upholding the letter and spirit of the laws of this state.

In particular, the Sunshine Laws this state instituted to make sure that state, local and agency officials didn't get to just pick and choose what they would and could do in the performance of their duties. (That's why they are requirements, NOT suggestions.)

In this case, as with so many other examples I could cite, I think the facts are pretty clear that they are not.

Wheels are now being put in motion...
___________________________________
To: "Gov. Charlie Crist", "Hon. Bill McCollum", cristopengov@eog.myflorida.com

December 5th, 2008
re Continuing patterns of ethical misconduct and behavior at Hallandale Beach City Hall and environs

Dear Governor Crist and Attorney General McCollum:

Happy Holidays!

As a result of an incident that's occurred within the past 48 hours, I find myself unexpectedly
writing you two today to share the latest sordid chapter in the seemingly never ending efforts of City of Hallandale Beach elected officials and employees to consciously and (illegally) obfuscate and frustrate HB citizens' right to a reasonable amount of transparency and accountability in their official actions.
Ones clearly outlined in the Florida Constitution as well as in Florida State Statutes.

It's long past time for some old-fashioned lessons in accountability, which is where you and some other interested parties around the state come in.

Honestly, at a certain point, after one is constantly confronted week-after-week, month-after-month with examples of the same disturbing unethical and illegal behavior, not to mention, sheer incompetency at running basic aspects of local government, even public safety, it's hard to just chalk-it up to mere "coincidence."

Simply put, it's NOT a coincidence, it's the way that the folks running Hallandale Beach's City Hall want things to be done.
To think otherwise is to ignore all the accumulated self-evident examples of official misbehavior and misconduct that have taken place over the past few years.


It's quite the laundry list, almost a living, breathing bill of indictment.

This past Wednesday afternoon, December 3rd, in City of Hallandale Beach City Hall conference room 257, that was completely devoid of any citizens, the Hallandale Beach City Commission voted 4-1 on an "Other" item that was NOT listed on the public agenda or the city's own website, and for which no backup materials were provided, despite it being a matter of GREAT concern to this city's citizens and residents.
http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/2008-12-03/Agenda%20Outline%20for%202008-12-03.htm


Result? City Manager Mike Good's contract was renewed without any public input or comment whatsoever.
None!

Commissioner Keith London opposed the item being brought up, noting it was being proposed without adequate public notice, without any backup materials being provided, and without any sort of reasonable explanation given for why an empty room, without an opportunity for citizen input, was the appropriate time and place for a vote on the city manager's future and contract.
His concerns appear both reasonable and logical.

Instead of taking a moment to reflect on what they were really doing, though, Comm. London's warnings were ignored by the rest of the Hallandale Beach City Commission.
I was first told of these events Thursday by Comm. London, who said that the entire discussion and vote on the issue took much "less than two minutes."

In any other community, one would be tempted to say the continuing behavior by the folks at HB City Hall "shocks the conscience of the community."

But here in Hallandale Beach, where I've now lived for five years, we've been regularly "shocked."
But the frequency of the misconduct doesn't lessen the severity of the act or its significance.


To Comm. London's legitimate concerns about the protocol and appropriateness of the matter, Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper replied curtly that the meeting was being recorded, as if that itself was sufficient to cover the intentional mis-direction by the City Manager and four members of City Commission, when Mayor Cooper knows full well that the tape of that portion of the City

Commission meeting is NEVER publicly played on the city's -not community's- channel.
Never, as in never ever!

After all, she's one of the persons who made THAT decision the rule.

That's especially troublesome in a city that has often been as much as NINE MONTHS behind in making the Minutes of their City Commission meetings public, and is notorious for NOT processing requests for public documents in a timely and reasonable fashion.
This has been borne out by recent public testimony, where citizens were literally pulling teeth to get what they were legally entitled to from the city.

Voting for the City Manager's contract under these absurd anti-democratic conditions were Mayor Joy Cooper, Vice Mayor William Julian, Commissioner Dorothy "Dotty" Ross and Commissioner Anthony Sanders.
The sole "No" vote was Commissioner Keith London's.

Frankly, this whole sad episode only further exacerbates HB City Hall's well-earned reputation for cronyism, corruption, excessive and illegal secrecy, and a particular disregard for following existing U.S. and Florida laws -as well as common sense- that is anything but appropriate for the year 2008.

It's as if HB City Hall is a world onto its own, where the normal rules of society and the rest of the country, state and county don't apply.
Or common sense or a sense of propriety.


It's almost as if the huge uproar generated last year by the then-City Commission's vote in secret over lunch -just as was the case Wednesday- spearheaded by Comm. Julian, to more than TRIPLE the salary of part-time commissioners, without any public notice or discussion, NEVER HAPPENED.

But it did, to the great embarrassment and consternation of Hallandale Beach's citizens, who watched and read in stunned amazement at the sheer brazenness of the offenders' efforts to self-enrich themselves, with a defiant braggadocio at being discovered.

Instead of the appropriate contriteness, dribbling out came grand pronouncements like:.
1. "Julian said he had planned to propose an even higher increase. He likened the city to a corporation, and said the pay should be commensurate..."
2. "Other people in this position in the corporate world would be making much more money than we are," Julian said.

And these were just some of the comments from the three commissioners that the reporters could actually get into their papers, NOT all the ones actually said!

What didn't happen last year, though, was any actual formal punishment or sanctions against these elected officials who consciously violated Florida's well-established Sunshine Laws, including Julian, Ross, and then-Commissioner Francine Schiller.

I'm still trying to figure out how that was allowed to happen.
Elected officials consciously break the law and face no punishment?

That lack of punishment being the recent troubling precedent that Hallandale Beach citizens have to mull, and not wanting to see that mistake repeated, in the next few days, I, along with other concerned citizens of Hallandale Beach, will make a formal ethics complaint against the individuals involved Wednesday to the appropriate Florida and Broward County authorities, including the Florida Commission on Ethics and Michael Satz at the Broward County State Attorney's Office.

But I also happen to believe that each of your offices have a salutary and instructive role to play here, and need to be involved in investigating this and previous misconduct in the city, of which there is much to choose from.

Besides the conduct and behavior of Messrs. Good, Cooper, Julian, Ross and Sanders in this matter Wednesday, I also find it extremely troubling that, as was true with last year's embarrassing episode, Hallandale Beach City Attorney David Jove seems to have functioned as little more than a "potted plant" in the room, unable to conduct himself in an appropriate fashion that insures that the letter and spirit of Florida laws are followed, and that the public is properly served.
Once again, David Jove has seriously failed to appreciate his unique role as a legal officer, and, once again, failed the citizens and taxpayers of Hallandale Beach whom he works for and has a duty to.

Before Thanksgiving, I wrote about the importance of re-instilling a climate of ethical behavior among elected officials and government employees in this state, and the very corrosive effect that ethical misdeeds had on all sorts of Quality-of-Life decisions, including business and personal decisions on where to relocate, in that particular case, that problem in South Florida as exhibited recently by the City of Sunrise:

Sunshine may be the best disinfectant, but alone, it's no substitute for highlighting govt. misdeeds if the principals involved aren't invested into a system of ethical accountability being their first duty.
The story below in Sunrise could've been handled a lot of different ways, but in the end, typically, it was self-interest that seems to have motivated all the moves by the elected officials, without care for the citizens, whom they see as misguided idealists.
No, just citizens asking to be treated with the level of respect they deserve.
This holiday season, in your travels around the state over the next few weeks,absent your giving out DVDs of the film "1776," it might not be the worst idea in the world for you two to once again use the bully pulpit to remind Florida's public officials that accountability and fealty to ethics is truly the best gift they can give the citizens and taxpayers of this state.
They're the gifts that keeps on giving!

I meant what I said then, but even I wouldn't have guessed that Hallandale Beach would so quickly offer yet further proof during the holiday season that such ethical standards are routinely ignored with impunity for reasons of ego, cronyism and financial enrichment, but so they are.

The corrosive affect on this town of the present City Hall crowd involved in Wednesday's actions -and last year's- and all the ones since then, is positively toxic.
It only further heightens the existing cynicism, further turning-off citizens from participating, because they see with their own eyes when they do show up the overwhelming evidence that there's little point in participating if the very people in charge can "fix" and manipulate the rules and laws to benefit themselves.
And not be punished and held accountable by authorities.

Consider the circumstances surrounding the Chief of Police, Thomas Magill, and what he has done in the recent past, of actually trying to frame innocent people thru fraud. (Below.)

Read the excellent article below by the Sun-Sentinel's John Holland from late January and tell me how many other American cities, let alone, cities in Florida, would've tolerate this sort of behavior and NOT made changes?
It boggles the mind.

How could you reasonably explain the fact that more than ten months after Holland's devastating spot-on reporting on the noxious criminal and abusive behavior of Magill to frame two HB police officers, and have them prosecuted for something they didn't do -which has cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages, after a jury twice rejected the city's flimsy defense in less than a half hour- the whole issue of Magill remaining as Police Chief has NEVER been mentioned in a City Commission meeting?

Meetings that Mayor Joy Cooper leads and controls with a firm grip on the gavel

There are more than enough facts-on-the-ground to suggest that if HB City Hall's predictable behavior and culture of ethical shortcuts and self-dealing isn't changed, there will be extremely negative consequences in the future.

So I have to ask each of you, are you going to be an agent for positive reinforcement, or just ignore the problem when you are made aware of it?
Pretend that it will somehow resolve itself, even when all evidence is to the contrary?

I prefer to think that you will become engaged and see how accurate I've been here in my description, and not just because I voted for you, but rather because you believe implicitly that there really are negatives consequences to society to politicians' unethical behavior.

But let's be clear: this crowd at Hallandale Beach City Hall and environs has no intention of stopping their intentional ethical scandals and insulting disrespect to the citizens and residents of this community.
If anything, they practically dare citizens to do anything to stop them!

I'm calling their bluff.

I look forward to hearing from you two on this matter in the future, and will keep your offices informed about our actions.

Sincerely,

DBS, Hallandale Beach, FL
http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/

Photos tell the story, in this case, one from my blog, Hallandale Beach Blog:,
taken May 8, 2008, the one at the top of this email:

"The sign that greets northbound drivers on U.S.-1/South Federal Highway as they leave the City of Aventura and Miami-Dade County in the rear window.
Unfortunately, it's the perfect metaphor for the City of Hallandale Beach and its elected officials and employees: short-sighted and lacking in common sense.
This sign is placed so far west on the median strip -and practically BEHIND a palm tree- that drivers can't actually read it even if they wanted to.
In any case, because of the longtime gross incompetency and negligence of the city, the spotlights that are supposed to illuminate the sign at night HAVEN'T worked since about mid-January of 2004.
Which is to say, yes, LONGER than the U.S. involvement in WW II.

Welcome to the City of Hallandale Beach!
Begin heavy traffic, chronic red tape and mis-adventures in government!
Rather incredibly, the conditions described STILL existed as of last night, December 4th, 2008."

I told you that the normal rules don't apply here.
I wasn't exaggerating.

_________________________________________
Miami Herald
HALLANDALE BEACH
Commissioners triple pay
By ALIZA APPELBAUM AND JENNIFER LEBOVICH
May 4, 2007

Hallandale Beach commissioners on Wednesday voted to more than triple their salary.


Over a taxpayer-funded lunch of steak and chicken sandwiches on Wednesday, Hallandale Beach commissioners raised their annual pay by nearly $55,000 and catapulted themselves into the salary stratosphere for part-time public servants.

Starting immediately, commissioners will earn $75,000 a year.

In a tight budget year when the Legislature nixed raises for state employees, commissioners in the city of 35,000 voted 3-2 to more than triple their current salary of $21,196.

Discussion of the raise, and the vote, came during the luncheon portion of the city's regular meeting -- the only part that is not recorded.

It will be reflected generally in the city's minutes, which had not yet been prepared on Thursday. "I thought it was outrageous and completely out of line for an elected public official whose work is part time," said Mayor Joy Cooper, who asked commissioners to defer voting on the raise until the city's next budget meeting.

The raise means commissioners will make substantially more than the elected leaders in some of Broward's biggest cities.

Commissioners in Pembroke Pines -- a city of nearly 150,000 residents -- make $23,708, and the mayor gets $46,485.

And commissioners in Fort Lauderdale earn $30,000 a year, while the mayor gets $35,000.

COUNTY SALARY
Broward County commissioners bring in $91,996 a year to oversee an airport, a seaport, parks and libraries for a county of about 1.8 million.

"I'd like to get that kind of pay raise," said Ben Wilcox, the executive director of Common Cause Florida, a government watchdog group. "If they feel like they're worth that. I guess the final decision will be up to the voters the next time they come up for reelection, if they feel like that's too big a pay raise."

Cooper pointed out that the city could face significant revenue cuts in the coming year, depending on what form of property tax relief is passed by the state Legislature, which plans a special session in June.

"This is the absolute worst commission decision ever made in this city's history," said Cooper, who said she won't accept the increase.

Vice Mayor William Julian proposed the raise during the lunch planning meeting in a conference room in City Hall. The issue was not on any publicized agenda.

"If I was in their shoes I would bend over backward to make sure there was full notice and an opportunity for public discussion," said Wilcox. "After all, this is the public's money and they should have, I would think, the opportunity to weigh in on whether they feel the commissioners deserve that increase."

Voting in favor were Julian and commissioners Dorothy Ross and Francine Schiller. Cooper and Commissioner Keith London voted against it.

Julian said he had planned to propose an even higher increase. He likened the city to a corporation, and said the pay should be commensurate. He also praised the commission for lowering the tax rate and maintaining a healthy reserve fund.

"Other people in this position in the corporate world would be making much more money than we are," Julian said. "It is a steep jump, but it just shows how little we received before. I don't think it's out of line at all."

At the meeting, London suggested doing a comparison of salaries of elected officials in other cities before settling on a number.

"I wanted more information and the opportunity to do more research," he said in an interview. "We didn't have enough information at that time to make a decision."

FULL-TIME HOURS
Ross -- who has been on the commission since 1995 -- defended the raise Thursday, saying it's a job that calls for full-time hours. "I'm experienced, I'm qualified, I'm trained and I'm worth it," she said.

Schiller declined to comment. "I think that's an insane amount of money for a commission in a city our size," said Julie Hamlin, a Hallandale Beach resident who lost a bid for a commission seat during the last election.

"It's not responsible at a time when we have a property tax and insurance crisis in the state that is bound to impact our city tax structure," she said.

"It's totally crazy."

'BEYOND BELIEF'
When former Hallandale Beach Mayor Arthur "Sonny" Rosenberg got wind of the raise, he thought he had heard wrong.

"It's tough to comment on it because it's beyond belief," said Rosenberg, who served on the commission for more than two decades and said he made about $9,000 in 2000.

"I think they made a mockery out of public service, and I think Hallandale Beach is going to be the laughingstock of South Florida."

Miami Herald staff writer Roberto Santiago contributed to this report
______________________________
Miami Herald
Hallandale leaders rescind their own big raise
By ALIZA APPELBAUM AND JERRY BERRIOS
May 4, 2007

Commissioners in the city of Hallandale Beach, who thought they were underpaid until they voted themselves a 254 percent pay raise Wednesday, might be feeling underpaid again today.


On Friday, less than 48 hours after they voted to more than triple their salaries from $21,196 to $75,000, chagrined commissioners rescinded their action. The move followed howls of outrage from residents and even their own state legislator, who was wrapping up work on a tough budget year in Tallahassee.

"I am shocked as to their timing," said State Sen. Steve Geller, a Democrat who represents the city.

"The salary increase will not stand," vowed Marie Jose Piedrahita, one of the 35,000 residents of the coastal city, just north of the Broward-Miami-Dade line and home to Gulfstream Park. "We will have it repealed."

A group of citizens had hired the Law Store -- legal experts trained in municipal law -- to help them fight. But before anyone could act, Vice Mayor William Julian, who pushed for the pay raise earlier in the week, had a change of heart and pushed commissioners to hastily roll back the record-setting $55,000 raise.

"I truly did not anticipate the reaction of my community and would not have proposed this action if I had," Julian said Friday in a prepared statement.

Julian joined two other commissioners who voted to raise salaries over a private lunch on Wednesday. Mayor Joy Cooper and Commissioner Keith London opposed it.

"I'm glad that the commission came to their senses and reconsidered this today," Cooper said Friday. "It is a very big relief."

London said he opposed the raise because the commission did not have enough information.

"When I make a decision, I try to make an informed decision," he said.

Some residents criticized the commissioners for taking action outside the public eye -- deciding to give themselves the hike when their actions were not recorded.

And when they decided to drop the unpopular idea on Friday, they did in the midst of an already scheduled, all-day workshop on Community Redevelopment, Housing and Growth Management.

While Florida's Government in The Sunshine Law requires meetings between two or more elected officials be publicized so concerned citizens have ample opportunity to respond, commissioners say they did not violate that law.

Cooper said she feels the vote was legal and took place in a public meeting.

Bill Fielding, a resident who follows the commission's actions, disagrees.

"That vote was steeped in impropriety," he said. "They did the right thing by revoking it."

The Sunshine Law requires that "reasonable notice" be given for a public meeting, but commissioners may have considered this critical, leaving them less time than usual to give notice, said Barbara Peterson, president of the First Amendment Foundation.

Ultimately, a judge would have to decide if a violation occurred, she said.

Miami Herald staff writer Marc Caputo contributed to this report.
________________________________
Miami Herald
Editorial
Local perspectives
May 5, 2007
HALLANDALE BEACH SALARIES ALMOST MATCHED EGOS


Hallandale Beach has the buzz of a city on the verge of a renaissance. Voters here have chosen progressive leaders, as exemplified by Mayor Joy Cooper. The City Commission has been fiscally responsible enough to boast of reduced taxes. Braced by the hoped-for promise of slot machines in the city's two parimutuels, commissioners are well versed in city issues, open to new ideas and committed to citywide improvements.

So why on Earth would three commissioners break faith with residents by giving themselves a $50,000-plus pay raise without even the courtesy of prior public notice? Whatever the reasons, common sense caught up with the trio (helped along by residents' uniform condemnation of the raise) on Friday. The salary hike was repealed by a 5-0 vote.

Vice Mayor William Julian and Commissioners Dorothy Ross and Fran Schiller defied the democratic process in their Tuesday vote to raise their annual pay to $75,000 from $21,196. Ignoring the remonstrances of Mayor Cooper and Commissioner Keith London , the three voted on Mr. Julian's sudden proposal during an unrecorded, informal lunch meeting. No public notice, no public hearing. Even if residents had known about it they couldn't have commented on the proposed raises before the vote.

The three declared themselves worth every cent of the raise because they work for the city full-time. Self-importance apparently puffed up these representatives of a mere 35,000 residents in a city whose charter outlines duties of part-time commissioners. The boost would have made their pay second only to Broward county commissioners' $91,996 salaries and more than twice that of elected officials in Broward cities five times Hallandale Beach's size.

A chastened Mr. Julian on Friday proposed that the raise be repealed. Ms. Ross seconded the motion that was unanimously approved. Maybe it dawned on the three that the city may have to tighten future budgets if the Legislature, as is likely, puts limits on local governments' taxing powers. Such luxurious paychecks would offend residents who see their services cut back. The trio has one more fence to mend. They should tuck in their egos and offer city residents their humble apologies.
________________________________
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
HALLANDALE RESCINDS BIG PAY RAISE - COMMISSIONERS CHANGE THEIR MINDS ABOUT INCREASE WITHOUT PUBLIC NOTICE
By John Holland and Thomas Monnay Staff writers;
Staff writers Joe Kollin, Kathleen Kernicky, Georgia East and Tony Man contributed to this report.
May 5, 2007

The lunch that almost quadrupled their salaries became impossible to swallow just two days later.


Under intense pressure from their mayor and growing criticism across the state, Hallandale Beach city commissioners on Friday unanimously rescinded a Wednesday vote giving them an unadvertised, unprecedented pay raise of almost $55,000 a year.

"I'm extremely happy. I feel like an elephant has been lifted off my back," said Mayor Joy Cooper, one of two commissioners to initially vote against the raise when it came up over lunch during a planning meeting.

The vote for such a large raise without any public notice has many experts on government questioning the propriety of the move.

Barbara Petersen, an attorney and president of the First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee, pointed to what she called several possible problems.

"They don't have to specifically spell out everything on an agenda, but they aren't supposed to be intentionally leaving off important items, and that's where this is really suspicious," Petersen said. "It raises questions of how three people would suddenly, out of the blue, decide to give themselves $55,000 raises without any prior discussions. It just smells funny."

The controversy began Wednesday in an upstairs room at City Hall, during what the city agenda described as a planning and scheduling meeting. Vice Mayor Bill Julian proposed raising commission salaries from $20,500 to $75,000. With little discussion, commissioners Fran Schiller and Dorothy Ross backed the proposal and the vote passed 3-2.

Cooper and Commissioner Keith London voted against the pay raise, which was not mentioned on the advertised City Commission agenda and had not been discussed at prior meetings.

City Attorney David Jove said it is legal for commissioners to vote on city business during planning sessions because they are advertised and open to the public, even though they are held upstairs. "It's a Sunshine meeting," said Jove, referring to Florida's "Government in the Sunshine" laws requiring most meetings to be conducted in public with proper notice.

Under state law, cities must advertise the date and location of their meetings and conduct public hearings on proposed laws and fiscal budgets. But commissioners can approve certain items, such as minor expenses, even though those items aren't part of the regular agenda.

Julian insisted he did nothing wrong when he chose to bring up the matter at lunch instead of during the regular meeting, which is televised.

"I have nothing to hide," he said. "Nobody comes to the public meetings, and this was done in the Sunshine with full advice from our legal staff."

That didn't ease the shock for Cooper.

"When Vice Mayor Julian started talking about it Wednesday, my mouth dropped," Cooper said. "And not only the discussion, but the amount involved was so outrageous."

On Friday, during a special meeting at City Hall, Julian made a motion to rescind the raise, and his colleagues quickly agreed. But Julian later said commissioners deserve the raise because the position is like a full-time job and he would bring the matter up again.

"I'm willing to negotiate. This is not written in stone," said Julian, adding he would be amenable to a salary of $50,000 a year. "This is not the mom and pop commission it used to be."

Some local residents didn't agree.

"It really is ridiculous. The city has a lot of problems and a lot of room to improve," said Mike Butler, a 10-year resident who lives in Golden Isles. "The three commissioners ... who have the most accountability for the conditions we're in today are the same three who voted for this."

The timing of the raise and resulting publicity reached Tallahassee. The Florida Legislature is debating ways to lower property taxes, and considering eliminating them altogether, amid complaints that local and county officials are wasting taxpayer dollars.

"That was the last thing we needed at a time like this when people are dying about property taxes," said State Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach, who served on the City Commission from 2003 until 2006.

Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis, president of the Florida League of Cities, said this could unfairly cast a shadow other cities.

"Hopefully, the Legislature will say that what Hallandale Beach did wasn't indicative of all municipalities and this was just one misguided city," he said.

Assistant State Attorney Tim Donnelly, who heads the public corruption division, said he couldn't comment because the complaint is likely to be investigated by his office. He would only say that a willful violation of open meeting laws is a misdemeanor, while any other violations could result in civil fines up to $500.

Staff writers Joe Kollin, Kathleen Kernicky, Georgia East and Tony Man contributed to this report. _____________________________
Miami Herald
Coumnist Fred Grimm
Commissioners in throes of gambling fever
By FRED GRIMM

May 6, 2007

Experts warned that this could happen.


A quiet seaside town like Hallandale Beach becomes a gambling Mecca, with a casino om the north side of town, another on the south. Suddenly once solid, sober are driven crazy by the scent of easy money. Until even the folks down at City Hall catch the fever.

That's the only plausible explanation for what happened in Hallandale Beach last week. Three city commissioners were obviously consumed by a momentary gambling frenzy. They bet that no one would notice that they had voted themselves the kind of jackpot that would set off bells and sirens at the Mardi Gras's casino.

It is a notorious symptom of gambling fever that the infected no longer grasp the value of a paycheck. Little Vegas Vice Mayor William Julian and Commissioners Dorothy Ross and Francine Schiller voted to up their annual pay from $21,196 to $75,000 as if they were talkin' chump change.

WHEELING OVER LUNCH
They hedged their bets by putting the issue on their luncheon agenda, the only portion of the commission meeting not recorded. As if they hoped no one would notice. As if they assumed what happened in City Hall, stayed in City Hall.

Lunch was a little like an all-you-can-eat casino buffet. Salad, sandwiches, crab cakes, chicken wings, pasta and, for dessert, $53,804 drizzled in chocolate.

Another symptom of gambling fever renders addicts utterly impervious to the warnings of looming catastrophe from relatives, friends, associates. "I begged them to reconsider," Mayor Joy Cooper told me. They dismissed her as Mayor Kill Joy.

Even modest raises have been bad bets in South Florida. Last year, voters in Parkland, where the mayor and commissioners make $2,400 annually, voted down raises. Same thing in Coral Springs. Voters in Miami-Dade County, where the $6,000-a-year county commissioners haven't had a raise since 1957, said no to pay increases.

Commissioners in Cooper City caught so much hell trying after voting to raise their piddling salaries from $6,000 to $15,000, they decided to use most of the extra money on a landscaping project.

The Hallandale Beach caper was even riskier. There was the usual voter reluctance to pad elected officials' salaries. And they voted to raise their salaries even as the state legislature, which will reconvene in June, threatens to whack away at the city's property tax base. "We could lose 40 percent of our budget," Mayor Cooper said.

LIKE HIGH ROLLERS
But there's no reasoning with the fever. Mayor Cooper and Commissioner Keith London warned them, but those three commissioners thought they were on a roll. They were hot. They blew on the dice, tripled their salary and figured to walk out of city hall like a high roller after a good night at Gulfstream Park.

Oh my, what a bad bet. They voted for fat raises on Wednesday. Word got around town on Thursday. By Friday, their folly was splashed across the Miami Herald.

And all hell broke loose. Constituents went berserk. State legislators, after hearing so many complaints from city politicians that budgets were tight, wanted to know how it was that Hallandale Beach was tossing money around like a drunken tourist at the Hard Rock.

The fever subsided. On Friday the repentant gamblers slunk into a commission workshop meeting and voted to rescind their winnings.

They had learned a hard, humbling lesson: If you're going to gamble in Little Vegas, stick to the slots.
____________________________
_____
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
AFTER CRITICISM, COMMISSIONER SAYS HE'LL ASK FOR SMALLER RAISE
By Thomas Monnay Staff Writer
May 8, 2007

Vice Mayor Bill Julian conceded Monday that the $55,000 pay raise the City Commission passed then quickly rescinded last week was "way too much money" but said he plans to bring up the matter again.


"I'm not going to back down, but [the proposed increase] wouldn't be nearly as much," said Julian, 54, who claims he can't make ends meet on his $20,500 annual salary.

Mayor Joy Cooper, who mobilized grass-roots opposition to the "outrageous" raise that was passed without public notice, was unsympathetic.

"I believe we have a reasonable salary for a part-time job," said Cooper, who is working on a proposal to ensure commissioners' raises are capped and approved only during public hearings.

Julian, a retired horse trainer and Hallandale Beach resident for 51 years, came under a barrage of criticism last week after he and Commissioners Dorothy Ross and Fran Schiller voted to more than triple their salaries to $75,000 a year. They voted while having lunch Wednesday during a planning meeting.

Cooper and Commissioner Keith London rejected the raise, which triggered a furor because it wasn't advertised and the public didn't get an opportunity to comment on it.

Some voiced concern that the vote came as state legislators were considering major property tax reductions, which could cut millions from city budgets.

At Julian's request, commissioners repealed the raise Friday during a special meeting on development issues in Hallandale Beach.

"We've all learned from this experience, and our residents should be assured this would never, ever happen again," said City Manager Mike Good.

Ross said of residents' opposition, "If there is something I've learned from this, it's the wakeup call."
Schiller declined to comment.

Commissioners are responsible for adopting city budgets, setting policies and ordinances and responding to residents' complaints, among other duties. They receive an annual cost-of-living increase, Good said.

In Oakland Park, a comparably sized city, the mayor earns $10,400 a year and commissioners $9,000. In Davie, a larger municipality, council members are paid $7,200 a year.

Julian said the demanding nature of the position makes it difficult to work at another job and therefore commissioners should get more pay.

"I know I cannot continue to live on this salary unless I get another job or some kind of raise. ... In a matter of time, my savings will be depleted," said Julian, who was first elected in 2001.

"The mistake I made was that I asked for way too much money," he added.

Julian said he knew the salary when he ran for office, but commissioners have more work to do because a lot has been happening recently in Hallandale Beach, including casinos at the racetracks and new development.

Julian said he would bring the pay issue back for discussion during a budget workshop in the next few months. He said the city, with about $40 million in reserves, wouldn't be affected by tax cuts as much as other cities. Still, he said, any decision would be made only after public input.

Good said Julian would agree that the large, unannounced raise was "poor judgment."
_____________________________
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Editorial
GOVERNMENT - ISSUE: HALLANDALE BEACH GOES FOR THE GOLD.
May 12, 2007

You can take your choice as to the most boneheaded aspect of the Hallandale Beach City Commission's ill-fated attempt to more than triple their salaries. There is:


a.) The money itself was the most obscene aspect.

Good choice. In a city of 35,000, the commissioners were going to raise their pay from $20,500 a year to $75,000 for a part-time job. Incredible.

b.) The way they went about trying to give themselves the raise was unspeakably arrogant.

Another good choice. They didn't have it on any agenda, or do it in front of the public. Instead, it was done with no advertising at a planning and scheduling meeting.

c.) The timing couldn't have been worse.

A fine choice. Local governments are claiming they don't have an extra nickel to spend, particularly with taxes hopefully about to be trimmed, and are warning that services may be cut. And these officials in Hallandale Beach wanted to give themselves a $55,000 raise to $75,000? Enough said.

d.) The comments of Vice Mayor Bill Julian took arrogance to another level.

Fine choice. After Julian and commissioners Fran Schiller and Dorothy Ross backed the proposal, with Mayor Joy Cooper and Keith London wisely dissenting, there was so much criticism that the raise was rescinded. But Julian said there was nothing wrong with the process.

"Nobody comes to the public meetings," he said of bringing up the salary matter at lunch rather than during a regular meeting. "And this was done in the Sunshine with full advice from our legal staff." Nothing like showing respect for constituents, Bill.

There you have four choices to pick for why this pay raise was a terrible idea. And all are correct.

But, there is one more. Julian, who says he has trouble living on the annual salary -- he should have thought of that before running for office -- says he'll revive the raise request, but make it much smaller.

So now we have e.): Julian hasn't learned a lesson from this debacle. Another correct choice.

BOTTOM LINE: Many boneheaded aspects of debacle
________________________________________________
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
DIGEST
May 17, 2007
Hallandale Beach

Tighter rules on commission raises delayed indefinitely

A proposal to tighten the way commissioners approve raises for themselves was postponed indefinitely Wednesday due to lack of support.

Mayor Joy Cooper wanted a change in the city's code so raises could be addressed only during budget workshops, based on the cost of living, and capped at 10 percent. Commissioners Keith London , Fran Schiller and Dorothy Ross said they should know what peers in other cities earn before taking any action.

Cooper's proposal came two weeks after Vice Mayor Bill Julian, Schiller and Ross decided over lunch to raise commissioners' salaries from $20,500 to $75,000 a year. They rescinded the raise two days later, after an outcry.

Cooper joined the others in voting to delay the change, but vowed to keep reviving the issue to avoid a repeat of the unpopular raise.
________________________________
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbhallandale0128sbjan28,0,2207842.story South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hallandale to pay to settle one of two former police officers' lawsuits
By John Holland
January 28, 2008

HALLANDALE BEACH - City commissioners have agreed to pay more than $100,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging Police Chief Thomas Magill falsified evidence, a city board held an illegal meeting and detectives persuaded a felon to lie under oath about a fellow officer.

Mayor Joe Cooper and attorney Alberto Milian, who represents former Hallandale Beach Police Officer Talous Cirilo, confirmed the city's settlement with Cirilo but would not comment further, citing a confidentiality agreement. However, Cooper said the payment was more than $100,000, including attorney fees.
"I'd love to talk about this and tell people what happened, but unfortunately I can't," Cooper said.
Magill referred questions to City Attorney David Jove, who could not be reached for comment.

The settlement comes less than two months after Cirilo filed two lawsuits against the city, alleging wrongdoing in the department and City Hall. Hallandale officials fired Cirilo, alleging excessive use of force, even though a jury acquitted him on battery charges.

Cooper said the secrecy is warranted because a separate lawsuit, filed in federal court by former acting Police Sgt. Mary Hagopian, has not been settled. She promised to speak about the settlement at a later date "if I'm allowed to."

Magill and City Manager Mike Good fired the officers two years ago after prosecutors charged them with misdemeanor battery on prisoner Michael Brack. Early on April 1, 2005, Brack beat his brother as they fought in a moving car, then attacked officers who tried to intervene, according to arrest records and police reports.

Months after the arrest, a civilian employee said Cirilo choked and used a Taser device excessively on Brack.
More than a year later, the State Attorney's Office charged Cirilo with three misdemeanor battery counts. Hagopian was charged with a misdemeanor for using the stun gun on Brack as he struggled with officers in a jail holding area.

Defense lawyers said Magill orchestrated the charges as part of a vendetta against Hagopian and to show his bosses at City Hall he was a disciplinarian. Testimony at trial showed police employees mishandled two key pieces of evidence - a video surveillance tape and software from the Taser - distorting the confrontation between the officers and Brack, defense lawyers argued.

Prosecutors tried the officers separately, but jurors reached the same conclusion, acquitting them after about 15 minutes of deliberation.

After the acquittals, the officers tried to get their jobs back, but Magill and city officials refused.

In one of the lawsuits, Milian accused the city civil service board of holding an illegal meeting outside City Hall on Oct. 9, 2007, one week before a scheduled hearing on the reinstatement.

Florida law mandates that all meetings be advertised and prohibits public officials from meeting out of the public eye or discussing cases with each other. At least six board members met and discussed the meeting in a "knowing violation" of the law, according to the lawsuit.

Good, the city manager, could not be reached for comment.

Hagopian, a 15-year veteran, and Cirilo, on the force for five years, hired different lawyers and filed in different jurisdictions but made the same argument: Magill pressured his internal affairs officers and detectives to manipulate evidence and coerce false statements out of Brack so he could fire the officers and enhance his image as a reformer.

Magill used public money to have officers track down Brack on a Louisiana oil barge, where he ended up after leaving Broward County and forfeiting his bail, both lawsuits assert.

The State Attorney's office dropped all the assault charges against Brack, including the attack on his brother, then used him to testify against the officers.

The chief temporarily assigned several officers to internal affairs without any training, for the sole purpose of building a false case against the officers, Hagopian's lawyer Rhea Grossman said in court papers.

Magill sparked criminal charges against Hagopian "by preparing directly or at his direction police reports containing false or misleading information," Grossman wrote. Both lawsuits contend Magill elicited false testimony and compiled misleading evidence that he took directly to prosecutors.

U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch tossed out four counts last month, saying they belong in state court. He refused to dismiss two others, including one alleging Magill presented false information to prosecutors so Hagopian would be arrested. Zloch also let stand a charge that the city had a policy of not training internal affairs officers that, Hagopian argued, "encourages fabricated evidence for the sole purpose of allowing the whims of its police chief to terminate employees."

Milian said last week that the jury's quick acquittals proved the charges were bogus.

"This case was an abomination from the very beginning, and good officers were hurt," Milian said. "It could ultimately have a chilling effect on officers who want to protect themselves and their colleagues but are afraid because they could get in the same type of situation."

John Holland can be reached at jholland@sun-sentinel.com or at 954-385-7909.

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