Holding a mirror to R.J. Intindola - May be time soon to publicly open-up on know-it-all ex-HB CM, and reveal 'inconvenient' facts he avoids

Taking a peek thru the rusty wrought-iron fence on S.W. 4th Street, you can catch a glimpse of the Old World Charm that surely must've been old Hallandale Beach City Hall. That computer monitor has been there the ground for at least four years that I know of. It's broken though, perhaps a casualty of the move to the new building over ten years ago. It's only your money! August 21, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier

I received this delicious out-of-the-blue tip on Tuesday night about a Facebook posting by former Hallandale Beach City Manager R.J. Intindola.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, Sep 27, 2011
Subject: R.J. Intindola posted on facebook
R.j. Intindola
Keith London, city commissioner for Hallandale Beach, Florida is attempting to hijack the charter review committee. He is a power hungry elected official intent on dwindling down the Council-Manager form of government.

Now I don't do Facebook myself, although there is a widget at the end of each blog post that allows you to post it to your own Facebook page if you want to.

(In case the link above is weak, it's at http://www.facebook.com/people/Rj-Intindola/1435804512 )

Next week it may be time for me to publicly open-up on this guy who had the gall to berate me in emails because I said publicly what anyone paying attention could see -that he was biased.

Biased, that is, in that he thought nearly everything he did was was nearly perfect when he was City Manager of Hallandale Beach.

Hardly.

And by open-up, of course, I mean revealing inconvenient facts he tries to avoid.

You mean R.J. Intindola the know-it-all expert whose brand-new HB City Hall parking lot was a veritable lagoon when it opened, so much so that even the Miami Herald actually did multiple stories about it?

Yes.

The same CM who f-'d up the sale of the old City Hall, a move the city is -typically- STILL paying for public policy-wise, as it wastes away and is a longstanding public nuisance to the neighborhood for over ten years, while generating what exactly?

No jobs, no nothing. Zero.

Yes.

You can see for yourself, even via Google Maps.

When you type in "Hallandale Beach" you get this

Hallandale Beach, FL

maps.google.com

And what do you suppose is Icon "A" on that map?

Yes, the eyesore that is old HB City Hall!

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=hallandale+beach,+fl&hl=en&ll=25.981194,-80.148354&spn=0.096909,0.173378&gl=us&t=h&z=13&vpsrc=0&layer=c&cbll=25.981206,-80.148274&panoid=bsN1D5nEqiv-B3RL2AbxOg&cbp=12,243.38,,1,7.16

The R.J. Intindola that asked to be considered for HB City Manager post-Mike Good last year, and who got very upset that nobody-but-nobody wanted him back?

Yes.

The R.J. Intindola that doesn't even live in Hallandale Beach?

Yes, that R.J. Intindola!

And then there were ALL those self-congratulatory comments of his last year in the reader comments of the The BrowardPalmBeach NewTimes website when Thomas Francis and Bob Norman wrote the truth about what was happening here, wherein HB political commisar Andrew Markoff -who believes in appeasing Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew- sucked-up to him in his comments like a hungry puppy, swallowing everything whole, while generally denouncing Michael Butler, Keith London and myself in particular -and many of you by proxy- as,

essentially, the anti-Christs of HB.

BrowardNewTimes

Absentee City Manager Getting Golden Parachute

By Thomas Francis

June 10, 2010 at 11:12 AM

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/06/mike_good_hallandale_severance_package.php#Comments

Somebody needs to hold a mirror to Intindola and shoot some holes -i.e facts- into his Bunyonesque Tall Tales, and if I have the time next week, I'm going to start that process rolling, along with some comments about the true state of the disastrous HB Charter Review Commission that is, as I stated last week, the proverbial HB dog-chasing-its-tail.

Like Mark Antonio, Intindola's great so long as you take his word for it.

Or don't know the true facts.

Just ask him -he'll tell you how wise he is.

Without you even asking...

For the record, on my blog today, I've gone ahead and expanded that email of yesterday with some photos to indicate the degree of sheer obliviousness of current HB City Manager Mark Antonio to yet another issue that has-and-is going on in the very city he's supposed to be managing.

But which he's completely in the dark about!

These weren't even the most telling photos, either, merely the ones that were easiest to find on my computer early this morning of the dozens and dozens I've recorded over the years when Antonio was Mike Good's highly-paid Asst. City Manager, prior to Comm. Bill Julian's typical ass-backwards sabotaging of the City Manager search last summer that taxpayers were already paying for -BEFORE the public could actually meet the short list of candidates- which resulted in Antonio getting the very job that even Mayor Cooper didn't originally want

him to have..

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/code-red-follow-up-to-my-red-flags-in.html

Just remember, Antonio is planning on leaving in June.

But do you honestly trust Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew to choose a new City Manager that will be any different in substance or tone?

Even with a city election less than six months later that's highly-likely to sweep-out some of the current Crew of sleepwalkers out the door and bring in pro-reform candidates who believe in actually PERFORMING their duties and providing genuine financial accountability and oversight for the city's beleaguered taxpayers and business owners and making sound public policy?

I don't.

-----

http://www.changehallandale.com/

www.KeithLondon.com

http://www.facebook.com/KeithSLondon

Code Red! Follow-up to my 'red flags' in Draft audit report, troubles in Hallandale Beach; HB City Manager Mark Antonio: Oblivious or Ignorant?

Above, looking northwest at the Hallandale Beach City Hall and Police Dept. HQ, 400 S. Federal Highway,Hallandale Beach, FL.

On this one block alone, there are several examples of graffiti, much of which has been there for YEARS.

Shh-h-h! Don't wake (tell) HB City Manager Mark Antonio. He doesn't know anything about it, despite working in the building since it was opened over ten years ago. August 7, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier

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

Code Red! Follow-up to my post re 'red flags' in Draft report -Audit troubles in Hallandale Beach; HB City Manager Mark Antonio: Willfully Oblivious or Ignorant?

Below is an excerpt from an email I sent out Tuesday afternoon to the well-informed citizen taxpayers of Hallandale Beach who strive to be kept abreast of what's really going on in this city, something they don't get from local TV station newscasts or the Miami Herald or South Florida Sun-Sentinel, as they know better than anyone.

Would those entities zero-in on HB City Manager Mark Antonio's glass jaw: his seemingly neverending ignorance of the city he is responsible for managing, a person who, quite literally, CAN'T or WON'T see what is right in front of him?

Nope!

In my email, I didn't use these photos below, which I'm sure if they knew it, would come to the dismay no doubt of HGS, Kadian, Doloe Greys and est, the main graffiti 'authors' you see EVERYWHERE in Hallandale Beach's 4.2 square miles.

It's hard to imagine that they don't laugh everyday as they drive thru town and see their handiwork no matter what part of the city they're in, at HB City Hall and the HB Police Dept.'s laughable half-assed efforts to eliminate it. Meanwhile, the City Manager, Police Chief and Mayor keep their heads buried deep, deep in the sand.

But Hallandale Beach's citizen taxpayers are NOT LAUGHING!

-----

I've held off writing about the Draft audit report prepared by Marcum Rachlin on my blog until this article came out, which I originally thought was going to be next week.

I did so despite the fact that the Broward Bulldog had used photos I took and have used on my blog without my permission, because the story here about all the troubling 'red flags' in the audit is more important than my personal pique.

Broward Bulldog

Audit report shows missing records and disarray in Hallandale Beach’s redevelopment agency

September 27, 2011 at 6:14 am

By William Gjebre, BrowardBulldog.org

Hallandale Beach has failed to properly track city land acquisitions, developer agreements and loans to businesses, according to a draft of an audit obtained by the Broward Bulldog.

Suspecting there were problems, city officials in August 2010 ordered the audit by an outside firm to review management of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), which handles agency-owned property and provides loans to businesses.

Read the rest of the post at

http://www.browardbulldog.org/2011/09/audit-report-shows-missing-records-and-disarray-in-hallandale-beach%E2%80%99s-redevelopment-agency/

That said, you all missed an unbelievable HB City Commission meeting last night, the second and final reading of the city's FY 2011-12 budget.

It featured more lies, half-truths and flat-out mis-statements of fact being, uttered on the dais than you usually hear even at a Miami-Dade County or City of Miami meetings, and having gone to plenty of those over the years...

Though I hadn't planned on speaking, once City Manager Mark Antonio said something I knew from experience was untrue about the city's (non-existent) effort to fight graffiti in the city, I got SO upset that I found myself going up and letting him know in no uncertain terms that I was personally insulted by his willful ignorance of self-evident facts that are all around us.

The facts we see everyday living in this city with so much promise but, which stays at unsatisfactory mediocrity, on purpose, because of who runs things at Hallandale Beach City Hall.

I specifically reminded Antonio -and everyone else in the room and watching on TV- that it was common knowledge that there has been graffiti on every single light pole and county/FDOT sign on U.S.-1, on the west side, from in front of Gulfstream Park Race Track down to the Aventura/County Line, including in front of HB City Hall for YEARS.

Including the Entering Broward County sign and the Lawton Chiles sign.

The "Entering Broward County" sign that's also been at the top of this blog since it was created in 2007. (Except I use the clean graffiti-free one of 2007.) Below, the Lawton Chiles Trail sign.

You encounter them on north-bound U.S.-1/Federal Highway as you leave the City of Aventura and Miami-Dade County and begin your cosmic journey thru Broward County by going past Gulfstream Park Race Track and the Village of Gulfstream Park retail center -and lots and lots of graffiti!

Over two years ago, every single street light pole and sign from the Dade County line north to the S.E. 3rd Street entrance of Gulfstream had graffiti on it, with some having multiple 'tags,' including ones directly across from HB City Hall and the Police Dept. Yes, I still have those photos.

As you may've heard, Broward is NOT the Land of Lincoln. August 14, 2011 photos by South Beach Hoosier

I mean I've posted many photos of it on the blog since starting it and have even included it in emails to some of you.

Until last night, I didn't know a single soul who didn't know all about it.

Now I do: HB City Manager Antonio.

He doesn't see the signs in front of his own building.

Despite having worked at HB City Hall since that building was built, Antonio expressed complete surprise that such a thing was true.

I told him and everyone else that all they had to do was walk out the door -you can hardly miss it.

My friends, it's all still there as of 2:30 p.m. today and I will be posting about a dozen, or so hard-to-miss examples of this on the blog this weekend, including some graffiti, on a HB Police car that acts as a scarecrow off U.S-1 that just sits there week-after-week, month-after-month.

(Yet another example of crony capitalism & favoritism?)

Guess what?

You don't have to be a member of an elite DOJ anti-gang task force to know that when people feel completely free to place graffiti on the side of a city police car, knowing that everyone will see it, you are clearly losing the war, in part, because the leaders of the city: City Manager (Mike Good & Antonio) Mayor Cooper, the former and current Police Chiefs, Magill and Fluornoy, are SO oblivious.

Oblivious being the word I used to describe Antonio to his face last night.

Graffiti welcomes you to historic Old Hallandale Beach City Hall on West Dixie Highway & S.W. 3rd Street, Hallandale Beach, FL. This bit of longstanding graffiti is on the east side of the old HB City Hall, which is next to the current HB Fire/Rescue Dept. HQ. Not that you can find a single directional sign in the entire city telling you where THAT is.

That's how they do it here! August 7, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Taking a peek thru the rusty wrought-iron fence you can catch a glimpse of the Old World Charm that surely must've been old Hallandale Beach City Hall. That computer monitor has been there on the ground for at least four years that I know of. It's broken though, perhaps a casualty of the move to the new building over ten years ago. August 21, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Because if you aren't oblivious, guess what, then you're knowingly lying to the community, and failing to do your job.

Appeasement and willful ignorance like Antonio's is not a public policy that works, and our current unsatisfactory reality proves that more than anything I can say.

It's right there for everyone to see.

More of what the Rubber Stamp Crew running Hallandale Beach don't see - graffiti on the Mardi Gras casino directional sign on north-bound U.S.-1/Federal Highway, Hallandale Beach, FL. Keep it to yourself, okay? August 21, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Hallandale Beach City Hall: "FREE AND OPEN TO PUBLIC" What, no cash bar?; The European Club, Gulfstream Point and 2010 budget come under scrutiny

Looking east at the middle of the Village at Gulfstream Park on U.S.1 and SE. 7th Street.
Notice the graffiti on the bottom of the Forest City sign?
It's been there for WEEKS,

A future blog post of mine this week will concern all the graffiti along HB roads that is continually ignored by the city and FDOT, particularly along HBB and on U.S.-1 opposite somnolent HB City Hall. (Shocker!)
Going north from the Aventura line, almost every street light pole has graffiti on it, some more than others.

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

"FREE AND OPEN TO PUBLIC"
What, no cash bar?
HB's Stealthy City Hall Will Pretend to Care
What You Think This Week
Sunday September 13th, 2009
9:15 p.m.

This was actually one of the easiest emails I've written because when HB City Hall makes so many screw-ups in one week, all I have to do is point them out and get out of the way.

Be sure to see the previous email at the bottom to learn more about who's behind Gulfstream Point.

Based on the city's toothless shopping cart ordinance, which continues to be ignored on a daily basis by Code Enforcement, just like they ignore other obvious violations for months and years at a time, in my opinion, that Dept, needs to be privatized toute-de-suite!

All photos below from September 7th, 2009 by South Beach Hoosier
---------------
The first item below was added to the city's website calendar since Wednesday morning, since I
actually copied and pasted the whole calendar then to an email page so I'd have it handy

and searchable.

What does it say that City Manager Good and Mayor Cooper care so little what you think and about your input that they don't even give you one week's notice about this?

Have any of you seen even ONE sign, anywhere in the city promoting Monday's event?
I haven't and neither have you -there aren't any.

Meanwhile, PAL, as usual, has its signs -for this weekend's antique sale at the Cultural Center- on the medians along the major roads, esp. HBB, which NO other group in town can use.
Nope, just PAL

Here's the city's website calendar as of Saturday afternoon:
http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/CurrentEvents.aspx?vm=0

Go ahead, John and Jane Q. Citizen, click the
"More Information" link and see what you get.

City Manager/City Commission Forum - Sep. 14
FY 2009-2010 CITY COMMISSION PROPOSED BUDGET

Where:	City Commission Chambers
When:	6:00 P.M.
Cost:	FREE AND OPEN TO PUBLIC
[ More Information ]

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

As you can see, after clicking, you get no
more information than you already had,
below
http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/CurrentEvents.aspx?EID=2383

September 12, 2009

News Flash 2010 Census Community Forums Community Resources Customer Satisfaction Survey Directions E-mail Notifications / Notify Me Emergency Management Flood Hazard Prevention Forms Hallandale Beach Happenings Important Water Issues Parking Permits

You are here: Home > Events Calendar We strive to keep you informed of what's happening in the city. There are many ways for you to view events. View by Month by clicking on the "<<" or ">>" buttons on the Monthly Calendar. View by Calendar Type by choosing the calendar you want to view, i.e. "City Council" or "Parks and Recreation". Click on the corresponding hyperlink or select the calendar from the drop down box. Title: City Manager/City Commission Forum Date: September 14, 2009 Description: FY 2009-2010 CITY COMMISSION PROPOSED BUDGET Address: 400 South Federal Hwy City Commission Chambers Hallandale Beach, FL 33009 View Maps: Google | MapQuest | Windows Live | Yahoo! Location: City Commission Chambers Hours: 6:00 P.M. Contact: 954-457-1340 Cost: FREE AND OPEN TO PUBLIC Return to Previous Page | Calendar View

Hallandale Beach
400 South Federal Highway
Hallandale Beach, FL 33009
954-458-3251

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Home | Contact Us | Archive | Bids | Site Map | Employees Only

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

City Manager Good's proposed city budget is at:
http://fl-hallandalebeach.civicplus.com/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1205

---------------
re 9/16/09 HBCC meeting at 7:30 pm re Gulfstream Point (918 S. Federal Hwy.) and Broward County library lease

Doesn't the city or Gulfstream Point have to legally put up public notice signs for this?
There weren't any there as of Thursday.
(There also were no signs outside the library, as other cities would require to be posted on a lease that was ending that was coming before a commission.
Zero!)

Gulfstream Point is the proposed tall, skinny and ugly office project north of the Steak & Shake on U.S.-1 that I first wrote about on August 22nd, that will also include a hotel element.

Yes, TWO hotels within a block of the Aventura border/countyline on what is, essentially, one large block on U.S.-1, just steps from the Hampton Inn.

But the real kicker, of course, is that it's across the street from the southern-most entrance to the
Village at Gulfstream Park, which means it'll be a traffic nighmare for HB and Aventura residents,
since as I can tell you from personal daily experience, there are already so many U-turns and near-collisions
there in that one block stretch as it is, right now.

And at night -shocker!- it's very, very dark owing to the street lights that only work occasionally.

When I spoke to someone at Development Services in person at HB City Hall days the day after my Aug. 22nd email (below), and asked when Gulfstream Point would be coming up before the City Commission for further action,

I was told probably not until the end of the year, and maybe not until early next year.
And here we are three weeks later!

This was printed in the Herald on Sept. 6th.



-------------
re 9/15/09 HBCC meeting at 5:05 pm re city budget
Yes, the map of the city is upside down!
This was printed in the Herald on Sept. 6th.

-------------
re 9/16/09 HBCC meeting at 7:30 p.m. city recycling program, lot maintenance
Once again, the map of the city is upside down!

This concerns the future of ugly and poorly-maintained development lots, such as The European Club.
What an eyesore!

My blog post on this topic Wednesday will have photos and video of what a mess it is similar to the below,
and other examples throughout the city.

This was printed in the Herald on Sept. 6th.
------------------





The empty financial black hole that is The European Club is mocked by the Westin Diplomat and the
Trump Hollywood in the horizon on A1A. Looking NE from the p.o.v. of Hallandale Beach Blvd. and Three Islands



Many of these advertising panels have been on the ground or torn for MONTHS
And the long pipes next to the sidewalk don't add much to the ambiance, either.
It cries out poor management and proper lack of supervision by both the developer and the city.



Once upon a time, what The European Club was supposed to look.



Don't you love their open door policy?
But the gate doors are actually supposed to be locked and secured to prevent vandalism, criminal mischief and, oh right, fires, like to those wooden pallets that have been on the lot for YEARS.





These last two photos highlight the fact that the HB City Commission already passed an ordinance a few years ago regulating shopping carts that quickly became the butt of jokes on the Internet.

This shopping cart on Three Islands, just a few steps from the driveway of a HB Fire Station, has been in the
same exact spot for AT LEAST three weeks.

So tell me, why would you expect the city's ordinance about the maintenance of development lots to be any better enforced if they ALREADY ignore what's right in front of them?
--------------

re 9/16/09 HBCC meeting at 7:30 pm
re Water and Wastewater Impact Fees
This was printed in the Herald on Sept. 6th.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael Butler
Date: Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 2:47 PM
Subject: Re: What and where is
Gulfstream Point Hotel and Offices? Any idea?

David, its a pencil thin highrise, already approved by the city commission.
the platting must be done, or the city could be sued.

On Aug 21, 2009, at 2:39 PM, Hallandale Beach Blog wrote:

I've never heard of it and when I do a Google search, this press release is the only reference to anything with the actual name Gulfstream Point Hotel and Offices.
How in the world can that be?

Is it this property?
www.hallandalebeach.org/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1113 which is north of the Steak and Shake restaurant on U.S.-1, just north of the countyline?
I was at this HB P&Z meeting in April and because it was a plat, apparently HB's policy is to NOT require a public notice sign for the public to become aware of the change, a public policy that I think ought to be changed to allow for maximum scrutiny.

I even swung by there before the meeting started to see if there were any signs and took photos of the sheer nothingness.

Have you seen this yet?
http://www.thevillageatgulfstreampark.com/images/inserts.pdf
I'm curious whether the traffic numbers cited are accurate.

Meanwhile...
Magna Entertainment Creditors Allowed to Sue Chairman
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aDZ9U8v5fDTM

It's mentioned in the last paragraph below.
------------------
http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/55948/

Newswire Today (press release)

2020 Ponce Receives Certificate of Completion

re Broward Politics blog: Facebook debate; Wed. mtg. in Hollywood re Johnson Street

May 19th, 2009

1 p.m.

You might recall that the Miami Herald recently

ran a lengthy story about the topic of Facebook

which NEVER discussed the legal aspects of this

sort of social networking tools for public officials

and or govt. agencies.

I read the story closely three times just to make

sure I wasn't missing it.

Nope, the Herald never mentioned it, even while

I kept waiting for them to discuss the obvious reason

for concern in the next paragraph.

(Secret coded messages, for instance, to let

people/lobbyists know inside info, as I've

heard has already happened elsewhere in

the country.

The ol' hiding-in-plain sight angle!)

Par for the course at the Herald of late, sad to say,

that particular paragraph never ever appeared.

See also: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/1042555.html

As of now, I plan on being at the workshop at

Hollywood City Hall Wednesday morning at

11 a.m. to discuss the future of the Johnson Street

area of the beach -now that Marriott took a powder-

which was long one of our family's hangouts after

we moved here 41 years ago, and a place my

two younger sisters and I knew like the back

of our hand when we were growing-up down

here, when they had trampolines there.

http://www.hollywoodfl.org/docdepotcache/00000/876/AGEN%2005-20-09%20Joint%20CRA.pdf

That's before the regular Hollywood City

Commission meeting at 1 p.m.

Later tonight, I'm going to try to post something

about that meeting here along with some links to

photographs of the Johnson Street area over the

past 40 years.

I may even try to swing by Johnson Street before

Comm. London's Resident Forum meeting at

the HB Cultural Center at 6 p.m. -his last one

until September- and snap some recent shots

of the bandshell.

Then I'll have a means of comparison, as well as

show the original renderings from the printed

presentation that Marriott and Zyscovich

put together from

over two years ago. which I immediately thought

was the best of the myriad hotel proposals

presented at the time, in large part because of

the public entertainment aspect to the plan.

Trust me, if NMB had had a bandshell/stage like

Hollywood's while I was growing-up down here

in the '70's, especially AT THE BEACH over

at Sunny Isles,

I absolutely guarantee you that my friends and

I would've figured out a way to mobilize and

convince the powers-that-be at NMB City Hall

to give us the go-ahead to make sure that high

school age kids in NMB got the opportunity

to play there for at least 2-4 hours a month on

Friday or Saturday nights, so that people could

get the valuable experience of performing LIVE,

whether as part of an organized school or church

effort, an actual musical group or as a solo act.

It would've been a big improvement over the

impromptu music that took place once in a while

over on the Intercoastal side of Haulover Beach

that I used to be witness to.

Located right near the water, while not exactly

California hip in ambiance, like it would be in

some TV show or film set in Santa Monica, Malibu

or Santa Barbara, it was better than nothing.

That is, until it started raining and everybody

ran into their cars like wet rats, and all the older

kids decided to split and go somewhere else in

their cars -without us!- like Greynolds Park

or the Hollywood Fashion Mall (back when

that was THE place if you were bored by the

usual suspects at the 163rd Street Shopping Center.

down the street from my house), leaving

9th-grade me and my friends stuck having

to wait and catch the H bus on A1A back to the

163rd Street Shopping Center.

Very, very un-cool and embarrassing!

In retrospect, given the resource they have

that nobody else around here has, it's pretty

clear that the City of Hollywood should've been

much smarter 25-30 years ago and and figured

out some logical way of better integrating

high school age kids into civic and social

activities than they did, and one way would've

been simple: music.

Have musical competitions or a battle of the

bands, say kids with bands from South Broward

High vs. Hollywood Hills, while integrating

individual singers or jazz or classical acoustic

musicians in-between acts, and maybe combine

the actual high school bands from different

schools for holiday shows or special occasions.

Maybe if they'd done that then, there'd actually

be extant photos of a young Johnny Depp from

Hallandale performing with his band, if they were

composed of Hollywood kids, at the bandshell,

and he'd be better known for his music than his

acting.

See http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/johnny-depp-shows-up-for-ballgame.html

It's not too late for the City of Hollywood to see the

light and make up for all that lost time and give some

talented local kids in the city the chance to perform

live, and create a very positive dynamic there using

resources they already have.

And you use the spirit of competition to get the best

out of the kids.

If you didn't see this yesterday on Channel 4...

Hollywood Neighbors Get Grief From Squatters

http://cbs4.com/video/?id=76643@wfor.dayport.com

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

Brittany Wallman's article from yesterday which

is the basis of this post is at

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-facebook-politicians-b0518sbmay18,0,1817971.story

and the reader comments are at:

http://www.topix.net/forum/source/south-florida-sun-sentinel/TNVRPN21KK2EIEIAI

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

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2009/05/facebook_debate_take_ii_proper.html

South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Broward Politics blog

Facebook debate, Take II: Property appraiser's office defends it

By Brittany Wallman

May 18, 2009

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

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Coral Springs plans to start gathering friends on Facebook

By LISA J. HURIASH, Sun Sentinel

May 10, 2009

There are still some technicalities to work out, but after getting the OK from the Florida Attorney General's Office, Coral Springs plans to debut on Facebook within months.

Mayor Scott Brook, who came up with the idea, said he envisions using the networking site to "talk" to young people the city has not been in touch with.

"It might wind up being the best way for us to communicate regularly, easily and efficiently," he said.

Coral Springs could be the first city in the state to have a Facebook page.

It is the first city to ask the state for a legal opinion about the social networking tool, said Sandi Copes, communications director for the attorney general.

The question is how to make the Facebook page comply with state law, said City Manager Michael Levinson.

The rest is easy: The state said commissioners can't talk to each other on Facebook because that would violate the Sunshine Law requirement that politicians discuss city business in the open. And comments posted to the city's page by its "friends" will be public, too.

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

Miami Herald

THE INTERNET: City leaders finding it sweet to 'tweet' -

Twitter's gone viral with townspeople using it to send community

news blasts and BOLOs.

By HOWARD COHEN, hcohen@MiamiHerald.com

May 5, 2009

Communication at the speed of send has hit city and county halls.

Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn regularly tweets. Cutler Bay Commissioner Ernie Sochin signed up on Twitter this month and immediately posted on the site, Does anyone who knows me think I can say anything in less than 140 characters? C'mon!!

This week, Alec Rosen declared his candidacy for city commissioner in South Miami -- via Twitter. It's a first for Miami politics, he says. "It allows us to communicate directly with people who find something in value in what it is you have to say -- in 140 characters or less," Rosen says. He'll compete for the seat against Rene Guim, who also plans to tweet during his campaign.

Miami Beach public information officer Nannette Rodriguez tweets, too. So does Miami Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, under the name IRL.

Following their every tweet are a host of community activists in Miami-Dade County, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay, Coconut Grove, Doral and elsewhere with fast fingers on BlackBerries, iPhones and laptops. They've all mastered the art of the 140-character missive -- the limitation of Twitter messages.

"I heard this in a seminar once, that it's better to reach 500 people who want to receive your message than sending to 50,000 people who don't care," Rodriguez says.

That quote, by the way, would be too long by 10 characters or so in Tweetspeak.

"It's another tool," Flinn says of Twitter, a social networking site founded in 2006 that has more than 14 million followers who answer Twitter's prime directive: "What are you doing?"

On Twitter, you sign up to follow those you want.

"I'm excited about another medium that . . . encourages participation in our government," Flinn says. "It shrinks the world."

Indeed, Oprah Winfrey recently joined in. The talk show mogul already has 561,764 followers who read her latest revelation: no i'm not wearing a weave to which CNN's Larry King responded on his Twitter page, neither am I.

CHANNELING OPRAH

City officials are tapping their own inner Oprahs.

"Governments need to communicate with their customers -- their residents. What what we are doing for them is providing information on legislative actions or events in the community," says Hilda Fernandez, assistant city manager for Miami Beach.

The city of Miami Beach has had a Facebook and MySpace account for awhile, Fernandez says. "Twitter was the next logical step," she says.

The Beach Tweets are along the lines of the following:

Commission meeting ran late with many items continued til another meeting

Public hearing on New World Symphony agreement to be held on Wed at 2:30PM Details: http://tinyurl.com/c9a7tw, and

TAG, you're it! Report graffiti here: http://tinyurl.com/d4abdg

The Beach does not send out tweets on referendums or other major county decisions immediately, Rodriguez says. A city clerk reviews the information before making it public; Rodriguez types the tweet on her Blackberry or home computer.

The city also has worked with its police department to post information on criminal suspects through its Twitter page, MiamiBeachNews. Miami-Dade has attracted 112 followers for its new page, MiamiDadeCounty.

In Palmetto Bay, Flinn, who has 73 followers so far, has posted council meeting decisions as they happen.

Take this message, which arrived 45 minutes into a recent Palmetto Bay council meeting: Breaking news: PB council just approved new fire station at PBVC. Greater safety for residents. Details on web site tomorrow. Great News

PERSONAL CONTACT

"I want to be aggressive and maintain a personal contact and hope it's another venue for people to reach me on these personal events," Flinn says. "Everything is across the board with communication. There's no excuse for not accessing your local government."

Opponents such as Jim Araiza, who was defeated by Flinn for the mayor's seat in 2006, and Coconut Grove activist Tom Falco agree. They maintain Twitter pages of their own -- ionpalmettobay and GroveGrapevine, respectively.

THE 'WATCHDOGS'

"Every city has to have watchdogs, the media can't cover every event," says Grant Miller, publisher of a chain of community newspapers in South Florida.

Araiza wrote a political column for Miller's Palmetto Bay Community Newspaper until he ran for office in 2006. Now, he tweets.

"My attitude is I'm hoping we can improve people's lives by providing commentary on village news, taxpayer issues, to get more residents involved in community affairs," Araiza says.

After his South Miami PR firm won an award for a social networking marketing campaign for a client, Rosen realized the possibilities for his own run for office. "I didn't want to be the cobbler's kid with no shoes, I should do for myself what I do for my clients."

The drawback? One can swamp followers with too many messages -- the quickest way to lose an audience. Flinn, who has posted 55 updates, is mindful of that possibility.

"The hard part with Twitter," Flinn says, "is to make sure people aren't overwhelmed and that my messages don't get lost in the sheer volume of tweets they get."

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Slightly off-target but still re Facebook, I found this article below by

the Herald's Andrea Torres quite interesting because it raised the

issue of graffiti taggers actually having the gall to use Facebook

to display their crimes, which after I read it, seemed completely

obvious, but hadn't occurred to me before.

I've been snapping shots of graffiti on road signs in HB and Hollywood

for the past few weeks ever since reading this piece, to see if I spot

a particular pattern.

I've noticed that U.S. Postal Sevice adhesive labels are esp. popular,

in that people can write on them at home, carry them with them discreetly

and then slap them on signs at night or very quickly during the day when

nobody is looking.

This is a REAL problem on Hallandale Beach Blvd. and is the reason

why those labels are NOT in the lobby of the Post Office on Layne Blvd.,

across from the Starbuck's I frequent and instead kept at the front

counter where the USPS employees can keep an eye on them.

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

Miami Herald

Graffiti writers vs. police: a game of cat and mouse

By ANDREA TORRES, atorres@MiamiHerald.com

April 12, 2009

Gang unit detectives and graffiti writers are constantly trying to outsmart each other, so secrecy and paranoia are the norm when it comes to the ways of graffiti.

Writers ride a fine line between making their tags famous and maintaining anonymity. Detectives must link the vandal to the tag.

"It has nothing to do with poverty anymore. It doesn't matter what gender, ethnicity, age or socioeconomic status," said Miami Gang Unit Detective Andres Valdes. "We have arrested kids from Coral Gables, Key Biscayne and Coconut Grove."

To navigate Miami's world of graffiti, detectives and writers get in the habit of recognizing hundreds of short catchy names constantly appearing on property. Valdes sometimes rides the metro in civilian clothes to look for trends and patterns.

"You go around looking for tags that you can recognize," said Hialeah Gang Unit Detective Israel Perez. "When they are not in your area, you share that information with other departments."

Both detectives and writers take pictures of tags. Writers post them on the Web to brag. Detectives archive them to build or enhance evidence for prosecution.

"We have a Hialeah detective who takes pictures every morning, documents it and archives the information," Perez said.

As the hunt for intelligence increasingly moves from the streets to the Internet, some police departments are going undercover online to befriend vandals.

"That type of work requires an undercover computer that won't track back to a police department as the original server," said Perez, who said Hialeah has yet to provide their gang unit with that tool.

Writers are regularly sharing pictures and videos of their stunts on websites such as YouTube, Flickr, Blogger, deviantArt, Facebook and MySpace.

"They do graffiti for notoriety, so they can't help it," Perez said.

Because most writers start young, detectives frequent schools to get acquainted with kids who may be tagging.

"You keep your eyes open for drawings on their shoes, backpacks, hats or their notebooks," Perez said. "Sometimes they give their tag away."

Valdes said training in schools is the most important part of his job.

"Teachers and counselors are at the front of the battle," Valdes said.

Police said an important part of the training is understanding that gang members and graffiti writers live in two different worlds.

Miami writers, who are generally not violent, belong to dozens of crews identifiable by acronyms with interchangeable meanings. Their only mission is to paint.

"They change the names of their crews like they change their underwear," Perez said. "They are generally very intelligent kids so they get creative with their names."

Graffiti crews are not territorial. They are usually born from friendships in neighborhoods and schools, and that does not define the areas they vandalize.

"A gang is there to make money and it is very organized. A crew is not as organized, they just want to put their name out. It can be artistic," Valdes said. "Gang graffiti marks territory and it is used to intimidate rival gangs. It's ugly."

In the courtroom, the purpose of the vandalism or its artistic value is irrelevant. A Florida statute calls graffiti a "blight" and defines it as criminal mischief.

Most writers who prefer to paint abandoned buildings, freight trains and visible public property believe they are beautifying spaces.

"You go out to paint not with the mind-set that you are going to attack people by hurting their property," said Skott Johnson, a former writer. "You go out to find visible spots for your art."

Some writers vandalize alone at night. Others go out in small groups. Usually while a few paint, a lookout stays alert.

"It's an addictive adrenaline rush," said former writer Jay Bellicchi. "You are a kid, so you move fast, try to stay invisible and hope to be able to outrun the cop."

An arrest can be made if an officer or a witness identifies a writer in the act. More than $1,000 in damage is considered a felony, anything less is a misdemeanor. Police officers estimate the damage.

"For a felony conviction, you need a witness. For a misdemeanor, you need an officer to witness it, and a little corroborating evidence," Perez said. "The witness has to be willing to testify in court."

Detectives sometimes persuade the alleged vandal to produce a written confession. A defense attorney can try to prove the confession was coerced.

"They are not bad kids, so sometimes they tell you everything and you wish you could reward them for their honesty, but that's not how it works," Perez said.

Evidence such as spray paint, different spray-paint caps, markers, books with sketches and pictures can also be admitted in court.

"Evidence gathered during undercover investigations may be subject to a motion to suppress in cases where the officers took shortcuts that violated the law," attorney Kristen Sowers said.

First-time offenders are usually mandated to participate in an early-intervention program that includes at least 100 hours of community service.

"If it's their first time, we sometimes call their parents and we let the kids paint over their own tags," Valdes said. "But it depends on their attitude. If they don't paint it, or we see they are repeat offenders, we arrest them."

Depending on the number of prior convictions, offenders could lose their driving rights and be required to pay fines starting at $250. Municipalities and counties are permitted to establish higher penalties.

"If the graffiti offender is a minor, which is often the case, that child's parent or legal guardian may be held responsible for the payment of these fines," Sowers said.

A vandal could be sentenced to a prison term of 60 days to five years depending on the cost of the damage.

According to the Florida Legislature, gangs and crews are the same in that they have as one of their primary activities the commission of criminal or delinquent acts.

"Misguided artists can be put in prison for years and that shouldn't be," former writer Seth Schere said. "They should have access to an appropriate educational program to help them see they can put their talents to use in other ways."

A graffiti writer can be prosecuted in Florida as a gang associate if the writer has a tattoo naming a crew, associates with one or more known crew members, or has authored any communication indicating responsibility for the commission of any crime by the crew.

"Most of these kids don't have evil in them like gang members do," Perez said. "They end up in jail or special schools with real criminals and get out worse than when they came in."

Police said very few vandals get prosecuted because of lack of evidence, and those who do get punished and return to the streets go back to graffiti with a vengeance.

"I remember arresting DUNCE of DYP and now he is popping up again all over the place. You think he would have learned his lesson," Perez said. "I can detain him again, but he could say that someone else is using his tag and we got nothing."