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

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

 

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

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

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

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

 

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

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

----------------------------------------------

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Google Web Alert for: "Gunzburger"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They don't care about any of that.

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

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

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

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

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

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

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

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

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

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And it's all richly deserved!!!

 

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

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

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

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

 
January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

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

January 2, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

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

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

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

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

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

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

ZERO!

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

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

Everyone knows it, too.

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

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

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

__________________________________________

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

William M. Brant, P.E.,

630 NW 2nd Street, Hallandale Beach, FL 33009

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

Email:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cleavage Grows Larger b/w City of Hallandale Beach and Hollywood After Beach One Resort Approved

My comments follow the article.
________________________
www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/hallandale/sfl-flbbeach1020sboct20,0,1304132.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Plan for 41-story hotel divides Hollywood, Hallandale Beach officials
By Ihosvani Rodriguez
October 20, 2008


Hollywood
The neighbors are at it again.

Relations between Hollywood officials and their southern counterparts in Hallandale Beach are once again strained, this time by a proposed 41-story beach hotel immediately north of the cities' common line.

This feud might even end up in court.

In a rare unanimous vote, Hollywood officials on Wednesday passed a zoning change that allows developers to move forward with Beach One Resort at the northeast corner of South Ocean Drive and Hallandale Beach Boulevard.

The vote happened to the chagrin of, and after pleas from, Mayor Joy Cooper and others from Hallandale Beach in the audience.
Cooper joined her city manager in complaining that the hotel would be too tall and would bring more congestion, especially in front of an adjacent fire station.

But Hollywood commissioners, usually known for their bickering, appeared giddy at the prospect of adding a world-class hotel to an area already chockablock with luxurious condos and tourist resorts.

The 477-room hotel is expected to rake $1.2 million a year into the city's coffers.

Shortly after the Hollywood vote, Hallandale Beach officials hurriedly voted to file a lawsuit against their neighbors by Nov. 13.

"We have to be cordial, but we also have to champion our cities," Cooper said Friday.

Only months ago, the commissions met jointly to discuss issues affecting both cities. The sides complimented each other and promised to work together.

But on Wednesday, Hollywood officials killed an attempt by Hallandale Beach City Manager Michael Good to give a presentation of his city's concerns. During Wednesday's meeting, Commissioner Fran Russo said Hallandale Beach has ignored Hollywood's concerns about traffic related to development plans at Gulfstream Park and nearby casinos.

"What did Hallandale Beach give us?" she asked. "Nothing."

Commissioner Richard Blattner said he once tried getting the cities to share public safety facilities and services, but that he was "given the coldest shoulder I've ever received."

Mayor Peter Bober tried to ease tensions.

"There are tough times ahead and the economy is going south and crime is going north," Bober said. "There are a number of issues we have to work on together, whether we like it or not, and it's important we be civil to each other."

Reader comments at: http://www.topix.net/forum/source/south-florida-sun-sentinel/T6QE94US7CE5UAOH4
____________________________
This article only reaffirms my long-held belief about Ihosvani Rodriguez, and I stand by my generally negative opinion of him and his incredible lack of curiosity.

He may well be the least curious reporter I've seen in thirty years, based solely on what he's written about events that he and I have both attended.

While you can't mention everything, of course, his stories seem to barely reach the minimum threshold, and of course, there's always the Sun-Sentinel website where he could add more context and nuance. He doesn't.


For instance, you want some facts not mentioned in his version of events above?

How about the fact that according to Joesph L. Herndon, the attorney of record for developer FORTUNE International, among the three items that the developer refused to negotiate was simply forking over $1.5 million dollars to the City of Hallandale Beach for them to simply fold up their tent -and complaints- and walk away. http://www.fortuneinternationalrealty.com/Fortune/Default.aspx

You may better recognize that particular tactic as attempted extortion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extortion

Honestly, after four years of working towards an agreement with the City of Hollywood, and producing a truly amazing design by Carlos Ott, the developer has enough problems without playing the role of an ATM machine or personal piggy bank for a city government like HB, which
can't properly run, manage their own affairs, maintain or plan their own facilities without embarrassing -thou predictable- results.

[My upcoming blog post later today or Wednesday about Hallandale Beach DPW Director William M. Brant and his department's continuing dreadful performance since he took over, should prove to be a real eye-opener for many, as it'll completely connect the dots for so many self-evident things I've been railing about here.

The photos I'll post as evidence to buttress my points are really quite compelling, and you'll finally see a hint of what I've been hoarding for months for just such a moment as this.
To drop them on his head like a ton of bricks when he refuses to exercise good judgment and management, and instead does little to change the endemic culture of incompetency and cronyism
that is the norm of HB city employees, to the detriment of the minority who are hard-working.
Sorry, that's just not acceptable anymore and neither is threatening public safety by either his stubborness, incompetency or unwillingness to open his eyes.

Trust me, when you see why that post is being written, you'll realize how laughable it is that the members of the City of Hallandale Beach City Commission nominated itself for an 'award of excellence' from the terribly un-objective Florida League of Cities, along with noms for City Manager Mike Good and Comm. Dotty Ross. http://www.flcities.com/muni_awards.asp

Making public news of the latter's nomination prior to her re-election effort, given how truly painful and embarrassing her last term and voting record has been for all concerned -not least, HB citizens interested in genuine reform and accountability- is nothing but a cold-blooded attempt to pull Ross across the finish line one last time, and cement Mayor Cooper's armada of puppets on the commission who are willing to do her bidding without any argument.]

Returning to the facts and issues that were not mentioned, what can you say other than appalling about the City of Hallandale Beach NOT following or respecting Hollywood's written rules of procedure, especially those relating to the requirements necessary to gain status as an intervenor in the matter, with all the legal rights that accrue to that position, like being able to cross-examine
others, for instance.

Yet when HB City Manager Mike Good showed up at HB City Hall early that evening after arriving
from Hollywood's meeting, he was heard to say to anyone within earshot, in this case, longtime HB political activist and HB Commissioner candidate Julie Hamlin -who related this anecdote to me in person- something along the lines of "Guess who was against US at the Hollywood meeting? The usual people."


Hmm-m..."the usual people."
Oh, I think I know whom he means there, and I suspect many of you may have an idea on that, too.
I'm one of them.


To my mind, Hollywood Vice-Mayor Richard Blattner really delivered the most telling punch in the quickly-getting-testy tête-à-tête when he recounted that "THE coldest shoulder" that he's ever gotten representing Hollywood was from the HB City Hall crew of ten years ago, when they treated his entreaties and questions about a matter that also affected Hollywood like he was an interloper,
or some third-rate party favor that they didn't want to hold onto as a keepsake and merely tossed into the garbage can on their way out.

Blattner was a nobody worthy of concern or respect as far as Hallandale Beach was then concerned. (Shocker! Dotty Ross was on that HB City Commission, too.)
His comments towards the end of the back-and-forth were a real punch in the gut to the whole pathetic charade that HB had tried to perpetrate on an unsuspecting public.


Also never explained by Good in either Hollywood or later in his rants against the City of Hollywood at the HB City Commission meeting, much less, NEVER seemingly asked by Rodriguez of Good below:

Why was HB Fire Chief Daniel Sullivan -a good guy in general but NOT without his faults, esp. excessive procrastination, not accepting constructive criticism or responding quickly to problems- was NEVER notified by Good's office about the myriad meetings that were being held.

Whatever else you may think about the project, it certainly WASN'T Hollywood City Manager Cameron Benson or Beach One Resort project attorney Herndon's job to decide whom the city of HB would have present at whatever meetings were held, right?

(At this point, aren't you the least bit curious to find out who WAS there for HB, and whether they even work for HB any longer? I am.)

As all the cool kids on MTV's The Hills might say: "Dude look in the mirror! It's your fault."
(Okay, so I have a bit of a thing for LC, but is that so bad? I love her funny phone commercial)

Or, as the sublime headline of popular Baltimore Sun columnist Susan Riemer had it Monday:
It's not my fault that I'm to blame for all this
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-te.reimer20oct20,0,796965.column

Eight years ago on a July 8th, in another incident he was forced to respond to, the Herald reported: "Regardless of what happened, he's responsible for his actions." Good said. "He's going to be held accountable."

Yes, easier said than done.
Especially by you, the person who is being paid close to $250K in salary and benefits to manage a city of only 4.4 miles.

But as many of us have learned the hard way, accepting responsibility for their collective actions and mis-steps has never been the strong suit of either Cooper or Good, as we've seen when measuring their words to their actions, as well as those of city employees who are supposed to work for us, not against us.

The proof of that is all around us everyday as we walk, drive and bike around the city and see the results of all the broken promises, missed deadlines and below-average planning and coordination.
Could those crummy, expensive results staring back at us all be the result of (the so-called) "mis-communication" at HB City Hall?
In a word: no!

Mis-communication?

Mis-communication is when I ask one of you guys to meet me at Starbucks after the Dolphins or Hurricanes game on TV to talk about the campaigns or current events, and you stroll in about 35 minutes late like the character being described in Carly Simon's song, You're So Vain, and you say, "Oh, sorry, I got busy..."

No, Mayor Joy Cooper, City Manager Mike Good and City Attorney David Jove NOT
doing their due diligence in advance of their ill-advised effort, to actually know the Hollywood rules in advance, or not having something on paper about definitely being allowed to speak or give a Power Point presentation, and thinking they were just going to buffalo Mayor Bober and the Hollywood Commission and get special treatment in front of THEIR own citizens, well, that's just sheer incompetency and mismanagement.
That's the HB M.O. in a nutshell, my friends.

The fact that people in the chambers near me were actually giggling when Mayor Cooper, City Manager Good and Development Services Director Richard Cannone spoke with their 'forked tongues,' should give you some idea of how embarrassing a performance it was to watch
from beginning to end.

Tell me, if this presentation of theirs was so powerful and persuasive, why didn't they actually videotape it in advance, just in case, and put it on their own city's backward website for HB residents to see, and then email them or the links to the various interested parties, so they'd know with certainty the city's supposed objections based on facts.
Oh, that's right, HB's antiquated website doesn't allow you to watch anything.

That Rodriguez didn't even mention Mayor Cooper's wild threats to charge a fee to access the public beach -North Beach- near the Beach One Resort property, something she has neither the legal power or authority to do, is, of course, par for the course for him.

But I mentioned it last week because I thought you ought to know the facts.

That sort of desperate attempt by Cooper to lash out and threaten retaliation because of yher own failures is exactly the sort of thing that should've been the sub-header of the story.


Rodriguez might've also cared to enlighten everyone with the news that it was left to unethical, money-hungry HB Commisioner William Julian to reach the nadir of oratory by condescendingly chiding Comm. Keith London for, if you can believe this, having actually attended that second reading in Hollywood -as well as the first reading on October 1st, the second of three meetings, where London was the only HB elected official there- and speaking his mind as a citizen, with Julian saying something about London deserving a star for going, like he was some sort of kindergartner.
Wow! And the hits just keep on comin'!

This from a clown like Julian who never attended any of the three public meetings, just like his fellow puppets, Comm. Dotty Ross and truly disappointing and stoic Comm. Anthony Sanders, both of whom sat on the dais -and their hands- like bumps on a log, saying nothing of any real consequence while all this was going on for hours.

Just when you think the level of representation and discourse here can't get any lower or more embarrassing, you have someone like Julian who didn't attend any of those public meetings four miles away, criticizing someone who does.

That's the sorry but accurate snapshot of Hallandale Beach, Florida two weeks before Election Day 2008.
That's why I'm voting for Arturo O'Neill and Carlos Simmons for Hallandale Beach City Commission on Election Day.

As LBJ's ads said so well and simply in 1964, "The stakes are too high for you to stay at home."
Exactly!
--------------------------------
Hey, so guess which southeast Broward city's public parking lot next to their Police Dept. and City Hall was pitch black again for at least the eighth consecutive night in a row?
(Though probably much longer.)

I'll give you one guess: it's two words.