re 'Zyscovich Plan' and Crist going GREEN in Miami this week

Yours truly stayed up 'til 2:15 Monday morning so I could be sure of successfully taping Fellini's ROMA on Turner Classic Movies, http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=196970 which I haven't seen since the early-to-mid '90's, when I saw it at the National Gallery of Art film series.
http://www.nga.gov/programs/film/

One of the biggest things I still desperately miss about being down here and not up in Washington is getting big doses of culture like that during the summer -for free!- in an auditorium that has an A/C that can really crank out cool air.
(And then meltas soon as I take one step outside afterwards into the summer swelter.)

I watched the Olympic Trials for gymnastics on NBC Saturday and Sunday night, and was pleased to see that Coconut Creek's Jana Bieger was solid as a rock in all of her events, since she looks like a good bet to qualify for the trip to Beijing, if things go okay at Camp Karolyi in Texas.
See http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2008/06/lonely-jana-bie.html and http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/other/sfl-flspolyrdp23sbjun23,0,94678.story

I'll have a post pretty soon over at South Beach Hoosier with my thoughts and observations on the Women's trials in Philadelphia, and my pleasure at finally deciding to download the software to watch the Men's trials live on Universal Sports, via the internet.

Never having watched a live sporting event on my own computer before, it was fantastic to not only be able to watch live, but the picture quality and perspective were truly amazing.
I was literally dumbfounded!

I'll share the download info in that future post so you can try it yourself, as it'll prove invaluable once the Beijing Games start in 44 days. http://en.beijing2008.cn/
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Well, we might have a second-rate, Third World transportation system down here in South Florida, but you can't deny we can throw meetings together like nobody's business!

See a veritable wonk soup of acronyms and descriptions from the FDOT Planning webpage, which I found over the weekend while looking for something else entirely.
http://www.dot.state.fl.us/planning/generalinfo/calendar.htm

Noticed that Gov. Crist will be back down here on Wed. & Thurs. for a green conference at the Miami InterContinental Eyesore, once they get rid of those pesky mayors and their retinues of flacks and hangers-on: 2008 Serve to Preserve Florida Summit on Global Climate Change
http://www.myfloridaclimate.com/env/home/

Be there or be square -or simply watch the webcast.
http://www.myfloridaclimate.com/env/home/webcast_watch_it_live

They seem to have invited nearly everyone who could figure out a coherent way of getting the words "climate" and "strategy" into a company or organizational name.
Why didn't I think of that?
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Recommend you peruse this example of a fair-minded guest Op Ed, in this case, on the contentious issue of Alligator Alley privatization: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/20/guest-commentary-alligator-alley-proposal-should-b/
Since I have to play the role of the scold on both of my blogs more often that I wish were necessary, reminding government employees or pols what their moral and fiduciary duties and responsibilities are to the taxpayer, I didn't want to let something positive pass by without my sharing it with you all, insignificant though it may be to the whole scheme of things.

I had something happen to me while driving last week which, while not as historic as Paul Revere's Ride, was historical hereabouts, and almost in the category of epiphany.
Or, this being South Florida, the gateway to Latin America, magic realism.

Last Wednesday night I was at the joint Bernard Zyscovich/Hollywood CRA joint meeting at Hollywood City Hall to hear what's come to become known in shorthand as "the Zyscovich Plan," as well as the expansion of the Downtown CRA and Zyscovich's ideas for implementing a coordinated plan in Hollywood that is both logical and attractive for business and residents, yet avoids the parochial sort of us. vs. them fights that will be inevitable without design regs that everyone agrees on beforehand.
See http://www.zyscovich.com/search.cfm?p=1&term=Hollywood

As previously mentioned, I'd been to the previous forum on this subject, where my hand was at pains to keep up and jot down all the interesting things Bernard Zyscovich was saying throughout his Power Point presentation and in the Q&A afterwards.

Because this more formal meeting drew a larger turnout than the prior one among the usual suspects of Hollywood's public policy and punditry world, the meeting was moved from its original location in Room 219 to the Commission Chambers.
As someone who was originally standing in the hall outside Room 219 before it started, I was glad to see such common sense so rapidly deployed.

Among the folks there, of course, was Mr. Warner from WSG Development, the man who seems to be rapidly gaining the reputation for being the most honest and reasonable developer in the Hollywood area. http://www.wsgdevelopment.net/

I also finally got the opportunity to formally introduce myself to Sara Case, the editor of the Balance Sheet Online, and a member of the new Hollywood Charter Review Committee, which is no doubt swimming in about 1,001 good suggestions.

I really admire her hard work and dedication to an area that she so clearly loves, and only wish that there were more folks with her aptitude and enthusiasm liberally sprinkled throughout South Florida, not least of all, here in Hallandale Beach.

Prior to meeting her, I had dropped her a public policy or head's-up email every now and then, since first starting my own efforts early last year.
Frankly, given how much time I spend in Hollywood, and the memories I have of it starting in 1968, I just wanted her to finally be able to connect a face in the crowd to the public policy emails she's been on the receiving end of.

As I describe her website on my HBB blog roll: http://www.balancesheetonline.com/
Blog -Balance Sheet Online: A Hollywood (FL)-based public interest, community affairs blog on south Broward County and environs, led by Editor Sara Case. My kind of blog: Identifies areas of concerns and proposes solutions, but takes no prisoners among elected officials or the chattering class!

After the meeting was over, I had to wait for the traffic light south of City Hall to change in order to get out of the parking lot, but once out, driving east on Hollywood Blvd., I was quite amazed to find myself catching every single green light, the exact opposite of my experience earlier getting to the meeting in the rain via S. 1st Avenue, the street parallel to W. Dixie Highway.

Continuing east approaching Young Circle, the area that's been the subject of so much genuine enthusiasm and anger, I then caught the green light at the bottom of Young Circle -which has never happened in four years.

I then continued home south on U.S.-1 and by the time I'd passed Hollywood Central Elementary, I was pinching myself, because this feat of catching nothing but green lights had, so I'd been told by griots, never been accomplished by anyone who had lived to tell the tale.

Well, I made it all the way home south of Hallandale Beach Blvd., 3.1 miles, with nary a red light but the first one.

Naturally, once I stepped thru the door and sat down on the couch, I couldn't help but wonder, "Was it all a dream?" (Like Bobby Ewing's season-long shower on Dallas?)
No, it really happened to me in the Traffic year of 2008.

Upcoming early June posts at Hallandale Beach Blog

Have been very busy the last few days cobbling together some thoughts and observations -along with some helpful and explanatory photos and fact sheets- regarding the following recent public meetings I've attended, and some other stories I've been putting together over the last few weeks, ready to drop them here when the timing was right:

1. Monday's meeting in Hollywood of the South Florida Regional Planning Council regarding the Miami River, and residential development along the waterway at the possible risk of marine industries livelihood.

2. Monday night's presentation at the Hallandale Beach Cultural Center of the most recent edition of the evolving city Master Plan, as put together by the Miami Beach office of EDAW and ERA (Economic Research Associates) of Washington, D.C.
Coincidentally, ERA is located in the very building where I worked when I first moved to D.C. 20 years ago.

I was the last member of the public to speak at this forum and will discuss those questions and why I asked them soon in my post about the event.

3. Wednesday's Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting on installation of red light cameras at certain busy intersections (on private property), as well as the requirement of installation of external surveillance cameras for HB businesses operating after 11 p.m.

4. Thursday afternoon's Hollywood CRA/Zyscovich Plan Public Forum at Hollywood City Hall, on Young Circle/Downtown Hollywood zoning.

Owing to the necessary delay in getting the dozens and dozens of interested and opinionated residents into Hollywood City Hall under the new security protocol, the first time the city has had an event of great interest at city hall since it was implemented, I had the opportunity to speak for a few minutes with both Mayor Peter Bober and Commissioner Linda Sherwood (District 6) about some things going on in Hollywood and in Hallandale Beach.

I saw many familiar public policy faces there, including some who had also been at Monday's Master Plan meeting in HB.

I'll hope to post soon the exact info on when Thursday's public forum will be available for watching on the city's website, since anytime Bernard Zyscovich speaks, there's always a great deal that someone can learn about combining beautiful aesthetics, dynamic and intelligent planning, with some common sense, based on successfully learning the lessons of what has -and hasn't- worked in other cities in similar situations.

Though I wrote as fast as I could over the course of the two hours, just as was true when seeing Zyscovich at other forums in the area -and the Beach CRA forums on Johnson Street in particular- when someone that smart and insightful is ad libbing, it's hard to always concentrate on what you're writing while listening attentively to what he's imparting, because he really makes you think.
Which is to say, that I will be watching the video of the forum also, just to make sure my notes are correct.

5. The apparent move of the Baltimore Orioles' spring training games from Fort Lauderdale up to the Daytona Beach area, to take the place of the Dodgers.

Due to my deep dis-trust of the Orioles front office management, borne of my experience as a longtime Orioles fan since 1970, and former Mini-season ticket holder (20-30 games a year at Camden Yards), I've seen this particular move coming to fruition since last year.

I strongly suspect that I'll have a take on this issue, along with some facts, that you won't find anywhere else in South Florida, blog or otherwise.