Showing posts with label Tom Lauder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tom Lauder. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Some things never change, like the abysmal level of #ethics in Hallandale Beach. Names change, roster of allies change, but HB determined to see itself as special and deserving of special rules, not ones the rest of world and Florida are governed by

Some things never change, like the abysmal level of #ethics in Hallandale Beach. Names change, roster of allies change, but HB determined to see itself as special and deserving of special rules, not ones the rest of world and Florida are governed by
Below are my Twitter responses to Red Broward blogger Tom Lauder's piece from last Tuesday 
about some very curious doings behind Hallandale Beach City Hall at the Cultural Center, a place where the city's self-evident political, racial and social polarization are always present during Early Voting.
 
@RedBroward BUSTED? Hallandale Beach Commissioner Caught With Illegal Voter Card Targeting African-American Churches
That polarization, especially its racial component, is something that I have personally witnessed to my amazement dozens and dozens of times the past 15 years, which was often carried-out with the help of former Mayor Joy Cooper and her campaign supporters, always so quick to help someone who can help them out when nobody is looking.
But nothing compares to the skullduggery that takes place on the actual Election Day, esp. at the neighborhood sites in Hallandale Beach, where you can be forgiven for plausibly thinking the Balkan Wars of the 1990's were still taking place.
Yes, for so long, rather than fighting over what were the best ideas or best solutions for the city's many longstanding problems, problems and imperfections that I can literally recite from memory, what you find are years-old personal and political grievances writ large never far from the surface, complete with the motley cast of characters and hangers-on always play to type and cliché, with fist-fights, calls to 911 and then the rush to cast themselves as a victim to their friends and the general public. It's all so sad and pathetic and... predictable. 

(I even recall the Election Day scene at Ingalls Park in southwestern Hallandale Beach within the past ten years, where several Hallandale Beach police cars were forced to respond to a call about an actual fight involving involving Dr. Deborah Brown herself, where about 6-8 HB cops were positioned afterwards in the area to keep Brown and her Cooper-supporters from trying to physically intimidate or verbally harass supporters of pro-reform candidates at Ingalls Park that I knew. Yet another low in a sea of so many head-shaking things under Cooper's reign of ruin.)

Most of you know will know nothing at all about this matter below, but on the chance that you have been thinking about things other than elections today, five days before the real Election Day, it's a sad reminder that so many of the things that I and so many of you have fought against for many years, namely, against unethical behavior, doesn't just exist but THRIVE in a city of less than 5 square miles.
A city where it should actually be quite easy to reach residents, Small Business owners and voters if you were serious about communicating your concerns and solutions.
By the way, please don't sleep on the #scoop that I mention below regarding what former HB Mayor Joy Cooper did when contacted by the Office of the Broward Inspector General and the Broward state's attorney regarding the only arrest made in the entire years-long HB CRA scandal that wasted tens of millions of dollars.
http://www.broward.org/InspectorGeneral/Documents/20130418OIG11020FinalReport.pdf

http://www.broward.org/InspectorGeneral/PublicationsPress/Documents/OIG11020-201405219-BrownMemo.pdf

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https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2014-05-20-fl-hallandale-band-director-arrest-20140520-story.html
School director charged with stealing city funds
Robert Nolin, Sun Sentinel

The director of a private arts school in Hallandale Beach — and onetime recipient of a city humanitarian award — has been charged with bilking thousands in city funds earmarked for a student trip.

Deborah Brown, 52, Hallandale Beach, surrendered herself to Broward Sheriff's investigators Monday on a charge of grand theft. A warrant had been issued for her arrest last week with bond set at $1,000.

Brown, band leader for Gulfstream Middle School in Hallandale Beach, is also director of the Palms Center for the Arts, a nonprofit school for drama, dance and music. In March 2010, she received a $5,000 grant from the city's Community Redevelopment Agency for a class trip to Washington, D.C.

According to police reports, Brown only spent $323 on the trip. The remainder she diverted for private use: $2,000 in cash withdrawals for herself and her brother; $683 for a payment to an Orlando resort timeshare; $258 for a rental car; and $200 in cellphone costs.

The fund diversion was uncovered during an audit of the city's CRA by the county's inspector general.

In January 2010, two months before the alleged theft, Brown received Hallandale Beach's Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award for 25 years of community service.

City spokesman Peter Dobens said Brown was never a city employee and only received grant money for her after-school music program. "We haven't had a relationship with her for a couple of years," he said.

Despite the arrest, Brown will retain her band leader job. Under School Board policy, employees charged criminally will not be disciplined until their case is concluded. "It doesn't affect her current job status," district spokeswoman Nadine Drew said of the arrest.

Mayor Joy Cooper said Brown's educational work has benefitted the community. "Dr. Brown has helped many needy children through PCA's art programs," she said.

rnolin@tribune.com or 954-356-4525

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"The Broward County Inspector General’s Office has launched another inquiry into Hallandale Beach’s Community Redevelopment Agency, three years after finding the city “grossly mismanaged” millions of dollars in CRA funds."
http://www.floridabulldog.org/2016/06/browards-inspector-general/

Joy Cooper did this WITHOUT ever telling the elected HB City Commission about the letter she received from law enforcement, never asking them what they thought should be done, or even having a recorded vote on the matter.
Instead, Cooper wrote back that her good friend, the convicted Dr. Brown, did NOT have to pay back the thousands of dollars she stole that, according to her own CRA application, was supposed to help kids, a fact that she took full advantage of when she was using the money to buy cosmetics or help pay for her condo.
Just as she had done previously dozens of times, Joy Cooper just decided she would nudge the elected City Commission out of the way and substitute her own very bad judgment.
Predictably.
So yes, you are right, I have provided you with a bit of a scoop, since I first heard about it when it took place, but I ask you, how come the South Florida news media has STILL never reported on this fact, despite it taking place LAST YEAR?
Why didn't they mention it?
   
@RedBroward BUSTED? Hallandale Beach Commissioner Caught With Illegal Voter Card Targeting African-American Churches






















More tomorrow re the ethical scandal behind the ethical scandal at Hallandale Beach City Hall that the South Florida news media has slept on the past 18 months.
Even if you think you know how thin-skinned, self-referential and flat-out LOW former Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper was prepared to go in order to hold onto power, you just won't believe the level of chutzpah Joy Cooper can show, even to law enforcement officials.
Really!
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Thursday, October 18, 2018

How do you solve a problem named Mike Satz? Speculation by Buddy Nevins on whether Broward's state's attorney should run for re-election after 42 years in office gives me a chance to piggy-back and raises some questions of my own regarding Satz & Co's underwhelming performance and the state of ethics in Broward County and Hallandale Beach today, as per Joy Cooper

How do you solve a problem named Mike Satz? Speculation by Buddy Nevins on whether Broward's state's attorney should run for re-election after 42 years in office gives me a chance to piggy-back and raises some questions of my own regarding Satz & Co's underwhelming performance and the state of ethics in Broward County and Hallandale Beach today, as per Joy Cooper

 How do you solve a problem named Mike Satz?

Now there's a question...

 As veteran Broward County political observer and Broward Beat blogger Buddy Nevins writes about and speculates about some of the behind-the-scenes moves swirling around whether Broward State Attorney Michael Satz will defy common sense yet again and run for re-election after being in office since 1976, and who might or should run for the office if he doesn't, I hold a mirror up to Satz and his many past failures to act in ways that I believe he should have.

 That includes one huge lingering question that so many people in Hallandale Beach, Hollywood and other parts of South Florida routinely ask me when I'm minding my own business somewhere, regarding the arrest last December by the FBI of then-Hallandale Beach mayor Joy Cooper on multiple felony counts: "Dave, what took Satz so long?" He sat on almost five years of audiotapes of Joy Cooper bragging about her influence to undercover FBI agents posing as real estate interests.






So, continuing on the subject of Satz, per this story and tweet below by blogger Red Broward, i.e. Tom Lauder,
Hallandale Beach Mayor Keith London Pays Disgraced Former County Commissioner With PAC Funded By Developers & Casinos
https://redbroward.com/2018/10/15/londonpac/

 First, I have known and communicated with Tom for many years. I meant to his tweet on Monday afternoon when I first saw it and read the piece.
I even meant to respond to the other day via a tweet storm but got tied up with something else before I really could.
Then, once I started, I didn't have enough time or energy to do it justice the way I wanted to... folks, real tears!
I discovered that my beloved laptop's not working properly so that what I wrote and saved as a file there on Monday night when I got home isn't available for me to write and post here now.
So, that said, I've added a smaller ad hoc version of that response of mine to Tom's story and tweet below my own tweet.

There's more at: https://twitter.com/RedBroward/with_replies

 Tom: I appreciate that you have a very different take than me re Keith London, now Hallandale beach mayor and someone that I have known for roughly 12 years, many of them when he and I spoke or saw one another 3-4 times a week at times when things were going crazy at South Florida's #1 home of chaos, Hallandale beach City hall.

 That's your right, of course, but Keith -whom I haven't spoken to for longer than 45 seconds in more than 5 years, despite so many people even now persisting in thinking that we're somehow tied to the hip like we often seemed to be years ago- has to deal with reality and one of them is that #Gaming and #Gambling interests have ALWAYS mattered in a small city with two separately-operated casinos & race tracks. (The town and this part of Broward was run by Organized Crime just a few decades ago, as any historian can tell you, and as I know you know as well.)

Not to tell you what to think or how to write your posts and tweets but... personally, I think it'd be a good idea to remind your readers when you write about people associated with Hallandale Beach's "gaming interests" who are communicating with or helping Keith with some effort of his, like it's some sort of nefarious plot, you simply need remind them to take a look at a map and see that Gulfstream Park Race track & casino and its Village at Gulfstream are, literally, across the street from Hallandale Beach City Hall.
AND it's still THE largest employer in the city, such as it is.
That explains Gulfstream Park's interest in what goes on across the street.

But that said, I also need remind you that I have personally been one of the -if not THE- biggest critics of Gulfstream Park's management and its operations in the city for the entire length of the 11 years that I have had my influential blog that LOTS of well-informed people in South Florida read to get insight and perspective they don't get elsewhere.
It's why so many people call me and write me to tell me something or even argue a point, including TV/print reporters and newspaper columnists, some of whom are outside of South Florida but who have an interest in what goes on in South Florida, good and bad, whether in Miami, Tallahassee or Washington, D.C.
It's why reporters and bloggers and other, like you, tag me in their tweets, because they know I know the score and can usually add something to what's on the table.

 At HB City Commission meetings as well as many public events and especially on my blog, I have openly laughed at and enjoyed publicly poking large holes in Gulfstream's feeble excuses for all sorts of actions they've taken over the years, including their well-known propensity in the past to use ex-mayor Joy Cooper as their personal go-to person to get everything they wanted.
Sometimes, as in 2013, that included quite justified large fines for operating against the city's own code and trying to get away with things simply because of who they are -used to calling the tune.
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/gulfstream-park-race-track-casino-will.html

 Cooper, typically, loved to say she'd take care of it and tried to ram waivers of fines down the HB City Commission without any documentation or even any staff prep, and ignore their proscribed government oversight role. Cooper didn't care, but she also didn't get her way because I let the public know what was what. And one TV reporter in particular - Bob Norman of Local10.

 Local10: Mayor wants $52K fine against Gulfstream Park waived
No vote taken on waiving fine at Hallandale Beach budget meeting
By Bob Norman, Reporter, bnorman@Local10.com, and Ben Candea, Senior Web Producer, bcandea@local10.com
Published On: Oct 04 2013 06:13:16 PM EDT   
Updated On: Oct 04 2013 11:51:10 PM EDT
http://www.local10.com/news/mayor-wants-52k-fine-against-gulfstream-park-waived/-/1717324/22282006/-/p0vivbz/-/index.html


My intimate knowledge of the facts and not just the prevailing media or party narrative, along with some demonstrated shrewdness, plus, actual results, are why I've succeeded in getting negative stories about Gulfstream and other parties on local Miami TV newscasts when they've acted in truly egregious ways that shocked any reasonable person's idea of propriety.
In this case, Gulfstream Park was used to carrying a Big Stick -and was not afraid to use it.
But I'm not afraid of bullies.
Guess how that turned out in the end because of me?

 But all of that said -and it's easy to find on my blog's archives- it is demonstrably true that the Diplomat Hotel and its management team and crew of legal and PR mouthpieces also had a TON of influence at HB City Hall and used that influence and leverage routinely to get what THEY wanted, too, even when HB residents made clear that they were against it, including, famously, the 2009 RAC plan that called for multiple condo towers to go up around their golf course north of F-rated Hallandale Beach Blvd. that were all over twenty-five floors and would have ruined many residents quality of life, including people on Diplomat Parkway who paid thru the nose for homes with unobstructed golf course views and who did not want their home in near-perpetual shade.

 Gulfstream has tried to exploit that perception and beat them at their own game. It's that simple.

 So when writing about the amount of campaign funds that Gulfstream Park gave, be sure to mention that while Gulfstream backed both Michele Lazarow and Annabelle Taub-Lima in their pre-acrimony days vs. Diplomat-backed, ethically-flawed ex-HB Comm. William "Bill" Julian, they still got out-spent by the Diplomat and its minions desperate to get Cooper's pawn Julian back on the dais to do her bidding.
Just saying, proper context and perspective have a place in the Keith London pieces you write.
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Monday, June 15, 2015

Thoughts on the continuing Burnadette Norris-Weeks ethics problem in Broward County: Thru her actions, attitude and behavior, Broward SOE attorney Norris-Weeks has come to personify the worst unethical excesses of Broward County's pay-to-play culture and the insider's sense of entitlement that pro-reform pols and citizens have fought hard to eliminate.

Thoughts on the continuing Burnadette Norris-Weeks ethics problem in Broward County: Thru her actions, attitude and behavior, Broward SOE attorney Norris-Weeks has come to personify the worst unethical excesses of Broward County's pay-to-play culture and the insider's sense of entitlement that pro-reform pols and citizens have fought hard to eliminate.

 Since last Spring when I took advantage of the Ultra Music Festival being downtown to also take some photos for the last time of what was then left of the partially-destroyed Miami Herald building from directly in front of One Herald Plaza -a building overlooking Biscayne Bay that I had been in dozens and dozens of times from the 1970's thru the mid-'90's when visiting The Miami News, but which by this time was also missing some of the letters from its iconic sign- I've been meaning to write something about what I have long sensed is the real lack of backbone and community engagement and push back among many of Broward County's current and in some case well-known civic groups and their leadership that, in the abstract, ought to be doing MUCH MORE publicly to lead the fight to make Broward's future better for everyone.
Not least, among those in civil society who actually follow the letter and spirit of the law, especially ethics laws meant to provide transparency to the public and inspire trust in institutions by them.

Push back by actually taking people to task by putting their feet to the fire and publicly embarrassing them or shaming them when their unchecked egos, ambition and sense of entitlement to go off the charts the way that Burnadette Norris-Weeks has clearly done the past few years, given that in the current environment, with our present collection of sleepwalking news reporters, she has absolutely no fear that the South Florida news media would ever hold a mirror or TV camera up to her, and show it to the public to inform them and educate them about her behind-the-scenes dealings.
As would happen in most though not all parts of the U.S. -or at least used to.

 So, to better understand this vexing issue involving one Broward insider's ego and over-the-top sense of entitlement, I've posted this collection of information in reverse chron order, most recent at top.

I remind many of you, especially you newcomers to the blog, that for many months, I was often the only Broward citizen present at those early morning meetings of the Broward County Ethics Commission meetings at Broward County Govt HQ, which I dutifuly videotaped and took notes on to be entirely accurate, in-between sips of McDonald's coffee.

Week-after-week, month-after-month, I saw who was and who was NOT trying their best to fullfill the hopes of Broward's long-frustrated citizens on the issue of finally getting the much-needed, stronger ethical rules for Broward elected officials and employees and the people they interact with. I saw who was and who was NOT making the honest effort to change the unacceptable status quo that then-existed and markedly improving it in both letter and spirit.

So with that in mind, I can tell you that Burnadette Norris-Weeks was NOT a Profile in Courage 
then and she was NOT years later when serving on the appointed Broward County Charter Commission, where she had the rare opportunity to serve the long-term best interests of Broward citizens, businesses AND incorporate notions of Good Government Best Practices.

But instead of doing that, Norris-Weeks voted AGAINST Broward citizens like you and me from even being able to vote at the polls that November, and to decide the outcome of the issue of a countywide-elected mayor for Broward County, as the public would be able to do in 99% of America.

But NOT here in Broward County, and Burnadette Norris-Weeks was one of the small handful of people who voted AGAINST you and I even being able to vote for or against it, much less, voting and deciding it one way or the other.

A helpful reminder from me in 2009 of Burnadette Norris-Weeks' anti-democratic sensibility: 

And now we read that last week Norris-Weeks was appointed by ethically-challenged Broward County Comm. Dale Holness to the new incarnation of the Broward Charter Review group. 
Why?

What possibly justifies this woman's continual bad judment and curious sense of ethics and propriety from being represented over-and-over on important Broward panels in ways that are genuinely harmful to both Broward citizens and the larger business community?
Why should the public expect anything different from her this time but more of her anti-citizen actions that prevent genuine accountability and oversight, to say nothing of actual improvement in governance?

If you wonder why Broward County is still mired in the state of continual funk it's been in for years, and why no matter where in the county you go, the public (and the news media) consistently is bewildered at what they hear about what's REALLY going on, wonder why the public has so very little trust and respect for Broward's myriad govt. agencies and functions, it's because of the accurate perception that establishment insiders like Norris-Weeks have consistently used her position to give herself unfair, anti-competitive advantages over others.

And the public perception that Norris-Weeks, when on Broward govt. panels, uses that role to further special interests, NOT for the benefit of the majority of Broward taxpayers and Small Business owners, who are very much against crony capitalism and pay-to-play govt., is right in the records for everyone to see.
Once Broward gets around to making it public a year later...

So tell me, why haven't you or I seen a single story yet on Norris-Weeks' multiple episodes of curious behavior and bad judgment on Channel 4, 6, 7 or 10's newscasts? 

Or in the Miami Herald?

Good question.



But first things first...
Clearly, one of the few times that one of the most ardent opponents of ethical reform in Hallandale Beach, Andrew Markoff, was said to be correct.



Broward Elections Lawyer Owes Nearly $11,000 In Broward County Taxes 
Posted on January 29, 2015 by Red Broward

Commissioner: Ban elections office attorney from politics  
WRITTEN BY THE SUN-SENTINEL POSTED: 06/04/2015, 02:29PM 

Broward Beat
Some Commissioners Fed Up With Elections Chief
By Buddy Nevins

 It was Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes’ turn in the barrel this week.

 Snipes got grilled – her word for the 30-minute cross-examination was “bullied” – by Broward County Commissioner Mark Bogen on Tuesday.

 Like a prosecutor questioning a murderer, Bogen started out something like this: “Would you agree the most important thing for any supervisor is to run efficient and impartial elections?”

 It went downhill from there for Snipes.
Read the rest of the post at 
www.browardbeat.com/some-commissioners-fed-up-with-elections-chief/







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Broward Beat

 By Michael J. Ryan

The following is an open e-mail Mayor Mike Ryan of Sunrise calling for a policy governing political activity by any Elections Office lawyer.
The background:  Commissioner Mark Bogen last week called for a clear policy governing Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes’ attorney. He did this after discovering that the office lawyer Burnadette Norris-Weeks had actively taken part in campaigns.

Read the rest of the column at:
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Broward Beat
By Buddy Nevins

Burnadette Norris-Weeks — the beleagued Elections Office attorney who is embroiled in a fight over her politicking — obviously hasn’t heard the age-old expression: If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Norris-Weeks has lashed out at Sunrise Mayor Mike Ryan for daring to criticize her actions — campaigning for candidates at the same time she is supposed to be an impartial Broward Elections Office official.

Read the rest of the column at:


Other than the fully-engaged reaction from Sunrise's mayor, I'm unaware of anything by the people who ought to be The Usual Suspects.
Just silence from The Broward League of Women Voters, The Broward Workshop, The Broward Alliance CEO Council, or even the Good Government Initiative at the University of Miami, under former Miami-Dade County Comm. Katy Sorenson, who was long known as the most pro-reform supporter of strong and effective ethics on that ethically-challenged and corrupt group that seems to be on perpetual probation for crimes against taxpayers and common sense.

 How much of this is because of business and political connections, large and small, and how much of this is because of race, and the fear of being taken apart publicly for simply saying the facts aloud while the local news media largely averts its eyes for whatever reason?
That latter point is something that Buddy Nevins references above in his June 5th account of Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes appalling performance the past few years and the public criticism of her that has only grown MUCH LOUDER.

Up to a point.
And that point in my opinion is the same one that explains the silence now on Norris-Weeks.
Commissioners won’t say much of this publicly because of politics:Its politically incorrect to attack one of the few black office holders in Broward.Perhaps more important, Democrats – eight of the nine commissioners  — fear they would be alienating their base in the African American and Caribbean American community if they publicly condemn Snipes.
Another aspect of this whole matter that I have written about a lot in recent emails but not yet here on the blog concerns the selection by crony capitalism-loving Broward Comm. Dale Holness of Burnadette Norris-Weeks to the Broward Charter Review panel for the second time in a row: why does #SoFL have so many more unethical and incompetent political and government officials than other areas of the U.S. its size? Especially among African-Americans?

 Is it the lack of a large enough pool of educated, Middle Management types who DON'T depend on the public payroll for their personal & professional advancement?

You don't have to be a political junkie or news junkie to realize that #SoFL and #Broward are lacking in the very type of people who in most parts of the country actually make up a good portion of the middle management of well-run companies that actually manufacture tangible consumer and industrial goods, instead of selling the hope of sand, surf and sun to visitors.

Also, how is it that in the year 2015, the Broward Workshop,with all the access to resources and media professionals they have, do NOT have a Twitter feed? 
Seriously.
Their charming and always-helpful Exec. Director, Kareen Boutros, is someone whom I like, after first meeting her at the previous edition of the Broward Charter Review meetings in 2008, but it's time for them to get into the 21st Century.

I'm grew up and was educated in South Florida in the 1970's, but still I continue to be #dumbfounded and #frustrated by what is tolerated and passes for "Normal" around here that would simply NOT be acceptable behavior and conduct in the rest of the U.S. then or now.
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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Latest on the Curious Case of AT&T, the City of Hallandale Beach, the Hallandale Beach CRA, and AT&T's Non-compliance with Florida's Sunshine Laws -Why is the City of Hallandale Beach renewing a contract with AT&T, a firm that does NOT COMPLY with state law?; the mysterious text messages to/from Mayor Joy Cooper, City Manager Renee C. Miller and lobbyist Judy Stern to prevent the Broward County Commission from authorizing an independent audit of the HB CRA so HB residents could know where all the million$ went


Above, my photo of Hallandale Beach City Hall Complex, August 7, 2011. Back when the lights on the city's monument sign actually came on at night.

 My blog post of this afternoon is a follow-up to several blog posts of the past few several months on several important and related matters, including:

 a.) the issue of the current and past financial state of the Hallandale Beach CRA, but especially since its creation, given the millions of dollars that can not seem to be accounted for and the Broward inspector General's scathing report on it earlier this year alleging "gross mismanagement" of it by the HB CRA Board of Directors (City Commission) and high-ranking city officials; 

Above, the sort of headlines you can get and expect when, despite great citizen opposition, you use your position on the CRA Board to force the HB CRA to give the publishers -who make $200k a year in salary- a $50,000 CRA loan every year, despite the fact that they DON'T actually cover any legitimate news going on in the city, not even at City Hall.
But they do give you, the real head of the HB CRA Board, Mayor Joy Cooper, a "column" for you to spread your ill-considered nonsense and propaganda. Yes, that's right, The South Florida Sun-Times, the faux newspaper that DOESN'T even do Letters to the Editor.
So how exactly does that eliminate blight in this city?

b.) the effort by concerned Hallandale Beach residents, taxpayers and small business owners to get an honest and independent audit of the HB CRA by the Broward County Auditor, and then by the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee in Tallahassee;

 c.) the way that Public Records Requests are dealt with in this city and specifically, my request of a few months ago for text messages between Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper, City Manager Renee C. Miller and Cooper pal and Broward lobbyist, Judy Stern, and their collective efforts to lobby and cajole Broward County Manager Bertha Henry and the elected nine-member Broward County Commission to prevent an audit from taking place as Hallandale Beach taxpayers wanted, so they can finally know where the millions of dollars really went for years with no real oversight or accountability;

 d.) the city's longstanding anti-democratic and anti-taxpayer attitude and past track record of consistently attempting to hide relevant and germane public records from its citizens as long as they could, however they could, and the pernicious and negative effect that continues to have on the city and its citizens, as in this case, it appears on the face of it that the city is attempting to use AT&T as defensive bulwark against having to turn over public records that may prove embarrassing or difficult to justify if made public by Cooper, Miller & Stern.

 For those of you who are new to this issue -that would be Channel 4/CBS4, Channel 6/NBC6, Channel 7/7 News and Channel 10/Local10, the Miami Herald, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, et al- or who've forgotten some of the pertinent details, you may want to re-read Tom Lauder's spot-on piece about this very matter from July,  

 Media Trackers Florida
Hallandale Beach Mayor Fails to Report Texts to Lobbyist During Meeting
By: Tom Lauder 
July 31, 2013
http://mediatrackers.org/florida/2013/07/31/hallandale-beach-mayor-fails-to-report-texts-to-lobbyist-during-meeting
the many stories that have appeared on this at the Broward Bulldog, 
as well as some emails about these matters that I wrote and sent out previously, which appear below the agenda for tonight's HB City Commission meeting.

 So, after all that, here's my email to Hallandale Beach City Clerk Sheena James this morning about these matters.
A lot of information to absorb be sure, but much of it familiar to many of you and it has the added advantage of connecting-the-dots that nearly everyone in a position to help this community's citizens have consciously refused to do, despite all the years of accumulated evidence all around us in this city, and what is -and isn't- over at HB City Hall.
They merely have to open their eyes.

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October 16th, 2013

Dear Ms. James:

Since according to the agenda for tonight's City of Hallandale Beach Commission meeting, as it appears on the city's own website, below, the city seems intent on extending their contract with AT&T, as well as purchasing more IT equipment, software and services from other vendors, I'm formally requesting public records today.

Specifically, I would like to have copies of documents relating to your efforts as City Clerk, as well as those of the City Attorney and CRA Attorney, to bring the city into compliance with the state's Sunshine Laws and the the 21st Century.

What exactly are your collective efforts the past two months to make public records available to the public who already pays the bill for them, under the state's Sunshine Laws?
How exactly is the city preserving text messages of elected officials and city administrators regarding official city business?
According to you, they aren't doing anything.

I'm asking specifically because you failed to provided certain documents to me relative to my Public Records Request for copies of the text messages between Mayor Cooper and City Manager Miller and lobbyist Judy Stern and to others in their efforts to lobby and prevent the Broward County Commission from authorizing the County Auditor to do an audit of the HB CRA.

The verbal and written reason you gave me at the time for the city's failure to comply was to blame AT&T, but you never provided a copy to me of the email or letter sent by you, Mayor Cooper, City Manager Miller and possibly City Attorney Whitfield and CRA Attorney Zelkowitz, asking AT&T for those requested public documents, and their official response.

You'll recall that at the HB CRA meeting where I spoke and brought this matter up, they all said from the dais that they'd "love" to be able to comply but that their hands were tied.

Okay, well I'm interested in finding out specifically how the city and those individuals have actually worked in the past two months, in a tangible way, to untie themselves and the city.
Have tried to change things for the better so that the public CAN finally access public
records in a timely fashion, using a phone service that HB taxpayers have and continue
to pay for.

Again, you never provided a copy of the correspondence to and from AT&T when the 
city failed to honor my request, and the agenda for tonight's meeting reminded me of this fact and failure.

I and many other HB residents seriously wonder why the city is renewing a contract with a company that according to you, the mayor and the city and CRA attorneys, will NOT comply with Florida's Sunshine Laws without the specific request of a court order.
Despite the fact that the records are clearly public records and they're being 
requested by the person with the account, a public official under state law?

I don't see how continuing this bad arrangement where citizens are intentionally left in the dark regarding public policy matters affecting the city is in the public's best interest.

I look forward to hearing from you on this matter.



-----
REGULAR AGENDA
CITY COMMISSION, CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2013 6:30 PM

1.    CALL TO ORDER

2.    ROLL CALL

3.    PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

4.    PRESENTATIONS

5.    PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - (To be heard at 6:45 P.M.)(Speakers must sign-in with the City Clerk)

6.    COMMISSIONER COMMUNICATIONS - Items not on the Agenda

A.    COMMISSIONER JULIAN

B.    COMMISSIONER LAZAROW

C.   COMMISSIONER SANDERS

D.   VICE MAYOR LEWY

E.    MAYOR COOPER

7.    CITY ATTORNEY COMMUNICATIONS  - Items not on the Agenda

8.    CITY MANAGER COMMUNICATIONS - Items not on the Agenda

9.    APPROVAL OF DRAFT MINUTES

A.    OCTOBER 2, 2013 REGULAR CITY COMMISSION MEETING (Supporting Docs)

10.  CONSENT AGENDA

A.    A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXPEND THE ANNUALLY BUDGETED FUNDS FOR TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES FROM AT&T BUSINESS NETWORK (AT&T) FOR THE DURATION OF THE PREVIOUSLY APPROVED AND EXECUTED CONTRACT; AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE ALL NECESSARY DOCUMENTS TO EFFECTUATE THE PURCHASES IN THE APPLICABLE FISCAL YEARS; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.(STAFF: CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER) (SEE BACKUP) (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

B.    A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXPEND AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED NINETY ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED SIXTY FOUR ($91,864.00) DOLLARS FOR HARDWARE MODULES, SOFTWARE LICENSES, MAINTENANCE, AND CONSULTING SERVICE FROM SUNGARD PUBLIC SECTOR AKA H.T.E., INC. PURSUANT TO AN EXISTING CONTRACT, AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE ALL RELATED DOCUMENTS TO EFFECTUATE THE PURCHASE AS NEEDED; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (STAFF: CHIEF INCORMATION OFFICER) (SEE BACKUP) (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

C.   A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING THE UTILIZATION OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT SERVICES AND GSA CONTRACTS AS LISTED IN EXHIBIT "2" FOR THE CITY'S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, SERVICE AND MAINTENANCE  PURCHASES FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT OF TWO HUNDRED NINETY THOUSAND ($290,000.00) DOLLARS; AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE ALL RELATED DOCUMENTS TO EFFECTUATE THE PURCHASES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013 - 2014; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (STAFF: CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER) (SEE BACKUP) (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

D.   A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXPEND THE AMOUNT OF FIFTY SEVEN THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY SIX ($57,186.00) DOLLARS TO PURCHASE TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES, FROM SPRINT, INC., UTILIZING THE U.S. GENERAL SERVICE ADMINISTRATION CONTRACT #GS-35F-0329L; AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE ALL NECESSARY DOCUMENTS TO EFFECTUATE THE PURCHASE FOR FY 2013-2014; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.(STAFF: CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER) (SEE BACKUP) (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

E.    A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO RENEW AN AGREEEMENT WITH AWARE DIGITAL FOR SUPPORT AND SERVICES OF CITY SECURITY CAMERA SYSTEM IN FY 2013-2014 IN AN AMOUNT OF FIFTY FIVE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED EIGHTY SIX DOLLARS AND EIGHTY TWO CENTS ($55,486.82), AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE ALL RELATED DOCUMENTS TO EFFECTUATE THE PROJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (STAFF:CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER) (SEE BACKUP) (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

F.    A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO RENEW THE ANNUAL CONTRACT FOR SCHOOL CROSSING GUARD SERVICES FROM STAFFING CONNECTION/ACTION LABOR MANAGEMENT, LLC IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF ONE HUNDRED THIRTY THOUSAND ($130,000.00) DOLLARS; AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE ALL NECESSARY DOCUMENTS TO EFFECTUATE THE RENEWAL FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013-2014; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (STAFF: POLICE CHIEF) (SEE BACKUP) (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

G.   A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING THE PIGGY-BACKING OF THE CITY OF PEMBROKE PINES RFP # PD-08-08 FOR THE RENEWAL OF CAR RENTAL SERVICES FOR FY2013-2014 FROM BUDGET RENT-A-CAR IN THE AMOUNT OF ONE HUNDRED FOURTEEN THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY ($114,440.00) DOLLARS; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (STAFF: POLICE CHIEF) (SEE BACKUP) (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

11.  ORDINANCES ON FIRST READING

A.    AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 2, ADMINISTRATION, ARTICLE I, IN GENERAL, SECTION 2-3, LOBBYIST REGISTRATION AND DISCLOSURE; ENFORCEMENT BY AMENDING REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE REGISTRATION AND ACTIVITIES OF LOBBYISTS; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICT; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (FIRST READING) (STAFF: CITY CLERK) (SEE BACKUP) (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

12.  ORDINANCES ON SECOND READING/PUBLIC HEARING

NONE

13.  RESOLUTIONS/PUBLIC HEARING

NONE

14.  RESOLUTIONS/CITY BUSINESS

A.    A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, APPROVING THE NOMINATION OF LORRAINE JOHNSON FOR THE 2014 DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. HUMANITARIAN AWARD; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (STAFF: DIRECTOR OF HUMAN SERVICES) (SEE BACKUP) (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

ITEM#14.B. & #14.C. WILL BE HEARD IN CONJUNCTION

B.    A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, APPROVING A COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP GRANT AWARD TO SOUTH FLORIDA EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CENTER, INC.; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT TO EFFECTUATE AWARD OF FUNDING; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (STAFF: DIRECTOR OF HUMAN SERVICES) (SEE BACKUP & BACKUP FOR ITEM #14.C.) (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

C.   A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, APPROVING A COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP GRANT AWARD TO HALLANDALE FOOD PANTRY; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT TO EFFECTUATE AWARD OF FUNDING; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (STAFF: DIRECTOR OF HUMAN SERVICES) (SEE BACKUP & BACKUP FOR ITEM #14.B.) (Supporting Docs)

D.   A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, PROHIBITING THE ISSUANCE OF PERMITS FOR PREFABRICATED HOMES, MODULAR, CONTAINER, AND OTHER OFF-SITE BUILT STRUCTURES FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF SIX (6) MONTHS WHILE ZONING CHANGES ARE IN PROGRESS; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.(STAFF: DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES) (SEE BACKUP) (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

E.    A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, SUPPORTING PROPOSED LEGISLATION AUTHORIZING THE DECOUPLING OF GREYHOUND RACING AND GAMBLING; DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO DISTRIBUTE THIS RESOLUTION TO THE LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION AS ONE OF THE LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR THE 2014 LEGISLATIVE SESSION; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (SPONSORED BY: COMMISSIONER MICHELE LAZAROW) (STAFF:CITY ATTORNEY/CITY CLERK) (SEE BACKUP) (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

15.  ADJOURN

-----
Editor's Note: I never sent that email mentioned below to HB CRA Atorney Zelkowitz, for reasons that were borne out weeks later by his smarmy and dismissive remarks about HB citizens and taxpayers at a recent CRA meeting, where he stated that he implied that he di NOT have to answer questions from anyone not on the CRA Board of Directors, i.e. the elected City Commission, including mayor Joy Cooper, the person at the center of this story on ethics, finances and public policy. 
I also note for the record that the CRA Board never publicly voted to give approval to Miller and Zelkowitz to appear and speak at the Broward County Commission meeting of June 4th on behalf of a policy that disadvantages HB citizens, taxpayers and small business owners. 

Just wanted to give you all a head's up that next week I'll be sending
a pointed email to the Hallandale Beach CRA Attorney, Stephen Zelkowitz.
Specifically, asking him just what IS he doing to make sure that the
Hallandale Beach CRA IS complying with the state's Sunshine Laws?

Specifically asking him what, if anything, he's actually done to follow-up 
on his comments at the city's CRA Budget Workshop that he'd "look
into it" after I brought to light the fact that the City/CRA has adamantly
refused to comply with my legitimate Public Records Request for all
text messages between Hallandale Beach Mayor/CRA Director Joy
Cooper, HB City Manager/CRA Executive Director Renee Miller and
Cooper pal and Broward lobbyist Judy Stern, in the mayor's efforts
to prevent the Broward County Commission from approving a request
at their June 4th meeting to have the Broward County Auditor's office
provide a thorough audit of the Hallandale Beach CRA.

A County Commission meeting at which CRA Attorney Zelkowitz 
himself spoke at, along with Miller, and may've also received those
very text messages -public records- that I have requested.

In case you've forgotten, the damning report the Broward IG's Office
delivered months ago re the HB CRA's performance re millions of dollars
used the words "gross mismanagement" in its title.
The Broward OIG didn't label the HB CRA's years of work(?) with millions
of dollars, for the ostensible effort of eliminating blight, a troubled if
good-faith effort during difficult economic times, rather they labeled it
exactly what it was: "gross mismanagement."

And rightly so -millions were spent and there's no tangible sign
of those millions anywhere within the CRA district, which takes 
up a large part of this city, even while the majority of the current
CRA Board prefers to spend almost all of its budget within one
part of the overall CRA for largely political purposes, even while
other areas of the CRA suffer, despite having more economic 
potential because of better roads and public access.

The city has claimed in their email to me that their communications
provider, At&T, refuses to provide them -the client- the documents
they say they have requested to honor my PRR unless there is a
court order.
The problem, of course, is that it took the city well over over six weeks
to get that fishy and rather convenient answer, and in their last email
to me, they failed to show ANY proof whatsoever that they'd actually
even contacted AT&T.
Hmm-m...

At that HB CRA Budget Workshop of August 1st, where I had and any 
other HB resident who wanted to speak about the CRA and its budget
had to do so before the meeting started because the public wasn't 
allowed to ask questions about what was presented and discussed
by CRA employees, I publicly asked why they simply don't periodically
log those text  messages themselves, as some Florida cities and
counties do for public records purposes, since they are public
information.

They all acted like they didn't understand the concept of doing what is
both smart and prudent and saving themselves trouble down the line.
Clearly, given their dubious track record, not for the first time.

As I have previously discussed, the CRA's record has been noteworthy
almost entirely for its lack of success in its legally-mandated role, 
as well as its almost complete lack of prudent financial oversight, scrutiny
and verification, both by the CRA Board and the city's most-senior 
management.

BROWARD INSPECTOR GENERAL FINAL REPORT RE: GROSS MISMANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC FUNDS BY THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH AND THE HALLANDALE BEACH COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY

That completely unsatisfactory performance is the real reason that I and
many other concerned HB residents believe Mayor Cooper doesn't want
the public to know about her personal efforts to thwart the public's desire
to learn the whole truth, even while she and Miller use resources paid for
by HB taxpayers in doing so.

Mayor Cooper greatly prefers being able to publicly malign and bully the
Broward OIG and engage in self-serving rationalizations, revisionist histrionics
and misrepresentation of the facts, to having a full-and-thorough audit that
serves as a public accounting that'd remove the enormous mistrust and
grave doubt that the citizens of this community have had for years about
the HB CRA under her direction the past ten years.


-----
Speaking of public officials trying to evade their moral and legal obligations
and this,

The Washington Post EPA may have tried to evade Freedom of Information request, judge says By Lenny Bernstein
Published: 4 pm August 14, 2013
A federal judge said Wednesday that the Environmental Protection Agency may have tried to evade a Freedom of Information Act request and added that “numerous inconsistencies” in the agency’s court filings “undermine confidence in their truthfulness.”
As a result, Judge Royce C. Lamberth granted the conservative Landmark Legal Foundation, which filed the request for e-mails of current and former top EPA officials, the right to question them in person and in writing.
“The possibility that unsearched personal email accounts may have been used for official business raises the possibility that leaders in the EPA may have purposefully attempted to skirt disclosure under the FOIA,” Lamberth wrote.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/epa-may-have-tried-to-evade-freedom-of-information-request-judge-says/2013/08/14/d21f27d0-0522-11e3-88d6-d5795fab4637_story.html

------

My email of August 1st, the last many of you heard from me about the Hallandale Beach CRA.

My comments are after this very timely article.
*Editor's Note: This also had a link to the Tom lauder article cited above.

August 1, 2013

I wanted to let you all know today that since I sent a formal request to the
City of Hallandale Beach six weeks ago, it is refusing to fulfill my Public
Records Request and comply with Florida's Sunshine Laws in providing me
with all the text messages between Broward lobbyist Judy Stern and HB
Mayor  Joy Cooper and HB City Manager Renee C. Miller in their lengthy
efforts to prevent Hallandale Beach residents from getting the true facts.

This, even as the three of them lobbied Broward County Commissioners
and staff, including County Administrator Bertha Henry on this matter, to
prevent a thorough audit of the Hallandale Beach CRA via the Office of
Broward Auditor Evan Lukic.
A thorough audit that HB residents desperately want so they will
finally know precisely what really happened to millions of dollars.

I was told Wednesday in-person by HB City Clerk Sheena James, prior to
the city's CRA Budget Workshop, that the city would be unable to comply
with my request because, rather conveniently, they say their phone carrier
-that is, AT&T, the carrier who is paid tens of thousands of dollars
every year by Hallandale Beach taxpayers for telephone services
used by Hallandale Beach elected officials and staffers-DON'T have
to provide requested public records without a court order, even if the parties
'owning' the phones request them.

Personally, I think HB City Hall is laughing at the idea of their being able
to successfully thwart my honest efforts to get to the truth on this matter,
and get my hands on public records that I have strong reason to believe
contain some very incriminating comments by the three of them, possibly,
even about me.

When I brought this up during my three minutes to speak prior to the actual
meeting, I specifically mentioned that HB citizens would be very interested
in hearing from CRA Attorney Stephen Zelkowitz in the future on why the city
doesn't simply log those messages in a timely fashion, since it seems clear
to me that the city is using the carrier as a buffer to not comply with legitimate
Public Records Requests, and that in any event, there will be requests by
someone at some future point for text messages, since they are public records,
so the city better figure out what they were going to do to comply with the
law.

After I returned to my seat, Mayor Cooper then responded in a semi-sarcastic
manner that she only wishes she could get access to all those messages
(Of hers!)

I was not amused, chiefly because I know the truth is that she does NOT 
want those messages being made public.
In any case, Mayor Cooper then went on to say, rather tellingly, that those
text messages between herself, lobbyist Stern and HB City Manager Miller,
regarding their efforts to thwart an audit, were "private."

No, those text messages about the City of Hallandale Beach and its CRA
were and are public records that I'm legally entitled to see under Florida's
Sunshine Laws.
But that callous and condescending response of hers shows you the caliber
of the individual that the beleaguered citizens of this town are dealing with,
in that Mayor Cooper is someone who has repeatedly shown in the past
that she will use any means necessary to thwart both the spirit and the
letter of  Florida's Sunshine Laws -even to the point of suing a HB citizen-
and she she continues to do so today.

You may also be interested in knowing that Wednesday night at the HB
CRA Budget Workshop, where city management employees out-numbered 
actual residents in the room by a factor of 12:1, I told the assembled CRA 
Board of Directors and the CRA Executive Director (City Manager), along
with the city's various Dept. heads a fact I had already shared with some
Broward County Commissioners and well over a hundred other interested
parties before and after that June 4th meeting mentioned in the article
above.

To wit, despite the fact that the Broward Inspector General's final report was
issued months ago, the city has refused to place a link to the report or the
city's  own response to it on the city's website for residents, taxpayers and
small business owners to read for themselves.

But because HB City Manager Renee C. Miller and CRA Attorney Stephen
Zelkowitz were going to be speaking at that June 4th County Commission 
meeting against the request by HB Commissioner Michele Lazarow and 
former HB Comm. Keith London, and thought that it was important for the 
County Commission to be able to see and review them, they transmitted
both, so Broward County actually had links to both on their agenda for the
meeting.

So, Broward County was given the information that the city has refused 
to provide its own citizens on the city's website, even though the city's
taxpayers and the CRA paid the legal fees in the official city response,
as well as for Zelkowitz to appear at the Broward County Commission.
So we can pay for all of that but we can't see it on the website that
we're also paying for.
That's how things are done here, and it's not by accident.

Yes, the Broward OIG report that characterized as "gross mismanagement" 
the performance of the City of Hallandale Beach officials to describe what
they found when funds are given to people and groups in this city without
anyone actually EVER following-up and checking to see what actually happened
to the CRA funds, or even whether they were actually used for the purpose 
they'd been proposed for in the original application.
Yes, HB City Hall operated on the honor system with all that money.

People and groups that claimed to be non-profits but who weren't according 
to the IRS, and who didn't file required documents, and yet who were quite
content to not properly disclose all sorts of relevant basic information, even
while they strongly resisted almost all attempts at basic transparency to
the  citizens of this community, or to the public at large.

Now you know why the concerned residents of this city so desperately want
the Florida JLAC to perform a thorough audit that will tell us the truth, since
the very people at HB City Hall who are supposed to be providing responsible
oversight of the HB CRA are also the people almost entirely responsible for
the mess it's in, and the great loss of confidence the community has in City
Hall's ability to perform even simple tasks honestly, ethically and competently.

Yet these people, like Mayor Cooper, are also the one who are trying their
best to keep the public in the dark about the facts as long as possible thru
intentional obfuscation, needless finger-pointing and serial misrepresentation.
And the community saw another perfect example of that very thing 
last night, as if we needed another reminder.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, and please DO
let me know when a decision is made regarding JLAC's future intentions
on this important public policy matter to Hallandale Beach's VERY frustrated
citizens.

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