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Showing posts with label lifeguard fired. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lifeguard fired. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

When Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper writes "Setting the record straight about the lifeguard contract" in her "column" in the faux newspaper, what she really means is... that it's her way or the highway, facts be damned



When Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper complains about "negativity" in her "column" in the faux newspaper that HB taxpayers are forced to subsidize against their wishes, like she did recently, above, what she REALLY MEANS is how much SHE hates when well-informed and attentive Hallandale Beach residents who want the city to be run much better than it is now -and has been for years- tell the truth about her own unsatisfactory performance in office the past ten years. And the very real culpability of top city officials.


People like myself and many others that I regularly mention by name here on the blog.

This is because of Cooper's own well-known thin-skinned ego and longstanding inability to see what regular residents see all around them -how Cooper's myopia continually gets in the way of solving problems.


The resounding proof of that came to me this morning, just a few minutes ago actually, via an email I received from my friend Csaba Kulin, who is vacationing with his wife and family and their grandchildren in Ohio.


It gives you more than enough proof, as if neededabout what HB Mayor Joy Cooper really thinks about HB residents actually, well, taking serious matters like beach safety seriously, and genuinely paying attention to the city's very own details.

Surprise!

Yes, here in Hallandale Beach, Cooper thinks it's her way or the highway -facts be damned.

The only thing I've edited below is removing the email addresses.


---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Csaba Kulin 
Date: Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 9:51 AM
Subject: The Mayors Response

From:"Csaba Kulin" 
To: "Cooper, Joy" 
Cc: "Vice Mayor Anthony Sanders", "Commissioner DorothyRoss", "Commissioner Keith London", "Commissioner Alexander Lewy"

Subject: Re: FW: Agenda Item 11-B IN-House Lifeguard Program, 8/1/2012
Date: Wed 08/01/12 09:46 AM

Honorable Mayor,
There is a reason a reason I am negative at times. I found out more detail from the Miami Herald article about the Lifeguard Project than from the city's official Agenda's supporting documents. Where was the PowerPoint presentation link in the Agenda?
Still missing the Budget numbers associated with the project. Projected salaries and benefits for the new positions? Do you have it? Will the Commission and the residents find out after the item has passed?

The pool company charged $334,000 and that included a profit. Why does it cost 2 times as much for the City to do the task without a profit?
Talking about insulting. The documentation included with Item 11-B insults my intelligence and most of our residents trying to form an informed opinion. The residents have the right to know, ahead of time of the meeting, all the details of how you are going spend our money.
Yes, someone dropped the ball at the City by NOT monitoring the lifeguard program sufficiently.

--- jcooper wrote:

From: "Cooper, Joy" 
To: "'ckulin"
Subject: FW: Agenda Item 11-B IN-House Lifeguard Program, 8/1/2012
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2012 19:59:20 +0000

BTW is there a reason your tone in these emails are always negative and insulting?
From: Cooper, Joy 

Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 3:58 PM
To: Cooper, Joy
Subject: RE: Agenda Item 11-B IN-House Lifeguard Program, 8/1/2012

From: Cooper, Joy 
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 3:54 PM
To: 'ckulin'
Subject: RE: Agenda Item 11-B IN-House Lifeguard Program, 8/1/2012
Thank you for you comments.

From: Csaba Kulin 
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2012 5:49 PM
To: Cooper, Joy; Vice Mayor Anthony Sanders; Ross, Dotty; London, Keith; Lewy, Alexander
Subject: Agenda Item 11-B IN-House Lifeguard Program, 8/1/2012
Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor and City Commissioners,

The City Commission should not blame “outsourcing” for the fiasco with the Lifeguard Program. Blame whoever was responsible for monitoring the program. Someone dropped the ball. Someone has to monitor all outsourced programs.

The City Manager is asking for blank check to create a new program called “In-House Lifeguard Program” without any meaningful documentation.
How could you vote “YES” based on the documentation provided in the Agenda?
Who is going to staff the life stations? Fire Rescue, Police or parks personnel?

For the next fiscal year the City Manager budgeted $334,000 for Lifeguard Services. Where is the “fiscal impact” of the CM’s request?
Is the new program cost neutral?

We need a lot more detail before we can give the City Manager a “blank check”.

Sincerely,

Csaba Kulin

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Maksim Samartsev's game of self-deception won't succeed: Next shoe finally drops in Hallandale Beach as WPLG-TV reports that 20-year old Estonian Samartsev -who can't swim- and who was saved at beach by lifeguard Tomas Lopez and other Good Samaritans -resulting in Lopez famously being fired two weeks ago- is now planning to sue and shake the local money tree in six months; #HallandaleBeach, #TomasLopez

Above, looking north on North Beach, Hallandale Beach. April 8, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved
Maksim Samartsev's game of self-deception won't succeed: Next shoe finally drops in Hallandale Beach as WPLG-TV reports that 20-year old Estonian Samartsev -who can't swim- and who was saved at beach by lifeguard Tomas Lopez and other Good Samaritans -resulting in Lopez famously being fired two weeks ago- is now planning to sue and shake the local money tree in six months; #HallandaleBeach, #TomasLopez


Man rescued from drowning considers lawsuit, Attorney says victim was 'close to crossing over'
By Todd Tongen
Published On: Jul 17 2012 05:07:30 PM EDT  
Updated On: Jul 18 2012 01:23:04 PM EDT
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -A man whose rescue resulted in a lifeguard's controversial firing now plans to take legal action.
Maksim Samartsev, who was rescued by lifeguard Tomas Lopez on Hallandale Beach, claims certain areas along the shore are left unmonitored and could be dangerous
Read the rest of the story and see the video at

Not mentioned, probably due to the attorney not wanting Maksim Samartsev to speak and sabotage this flimsy case:

Why was someone who couldn't swim so far out into the ocean?


As for the father, Was the area where his son entered the ocean a property where he himself lived? Yes or no?


If no, why was Maksim swimming there instead of at the public beach north of there?


If yes, why is that not the condo association's problem, instead?

The City of Hallandale Beach and its taxpayers, like all ocean side cities in Florida, are not obliged to provide lifeguards or monitors for every single  stretch of beach or water next to private property -which is precisely what those condos and apartments in that area are, just like an ocean-side hotelany more than they are required to have guards on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway for residents of the city who want to jump into the water on hot days after buying something at the next-door Walmart.

Above, looking north on the Intracoastal Waterway from next to the Hallandale Beach Walmart. Tallest buildings are, left-to-right/north-to-south, on the east side of State Road A1A: Trump Hollywood, The Ocean Palms, Diplomat Oceanfront Residences and The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa. April 8, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.
With this legal stunt, this family is quickly becoming persona non grata in this area for daring to shake down the money tree because of the son's own negligence and immaturity.
They have a funny way of showing their gratitude.

Todd Tongen's report on last night's Channel 10 newscast was precisely why I wrote what I wrote last week: 


Outsourcing isn't the real problem with beach safety in Hallandale Beach, but rather the actions -and in-action- of David Jove, Mike Good and Mark Antonio at HB City Hall; #HallandaleBeach


The longstanding problems at the public beaches lie entirely with the past two City Managers and the last City Attorney -Mike Good, Marc A. Antonio and David Jove- none of whom were known for their hard work, much less the sort of work ethic that inspired confidence among either taxpayers or their colleagues.


No, these three administrators were the type of boss who routinely showed-up at City Hall
late and left early, forcing their highly-paid underlings to have to stay longer than normal to pick up the slack.
And it's not like any of them were known for showing initiative in the first place that helped residents or taxpayers, so...

These three were the ones in charge who wrote and approved the terms of the contract and thereby creating the specific parameters which Jeff Ellis and Associates was obliged to respect and enforce.
That's something that Todd Tongen's colleague at Channel 10, Glenna Milberg, in her completely unexpected knockout-punch of a report, did a great job of connecting the-dots on, completely demolishing the feeble alibis and excuses of Mayor Joy Cooper and former HB commissioner Bill Julian, both of whom voted FOR the contract.



Lifeguard company resigns amid firing scandal
Fired lifeguard receives key to city
By Glenna Milberg, gmilberg@Local10.com
Published On: Jul 09 2012 06:39:57 PM EDT  
Updated On: Jul 10 2012 11:12:48 AM EDT
Article and video at:

In short, three highly-paid city employees who were well-known for NOT paying close attention to detail and for NOT looking-out for HB taxpayers best interests, once again went thru the motions and didn't consider something that was entirely foreseeable -sometimes the contractor life guards would have to leave the city's lifeguard stands to save/help a swimmer not in their zone.


Above, looking east at the Atlantic Ocean on North Beach, Hallandale Beach. April 8, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

It had nothing to do with the subject of outsourcing and everything to do with the longstanding garbage-in, garbage-out, HB-style public administration.
The sort that explains why months after lifeguards told me that the city's two lifeguard stands were still NOT grounded, a fact I know because the lifeguards told me so months ago.

Below are my other three previous posts on the Tomas Lopez firing controversy story that made Hallandale Beach an international punchline two weeks ago, which, unfortunately, also led to hundreds and hundreds of bad and inaccurate stories, essays and columns being written by people from hundreds and thousands of miles away who DIDN'T know the true facts.


In many cases, lots of people who should know better used the incident as a pretext to resurrect old ideological arguments against their own personal hobbyhorses, which didn't inform or illuminate but only served to remind us all over again how truly desperate some reporters and columnists are to win an old argument, no matter the facts, no matter how far away from the action their nice air conditioned desk is.
Fortunately, Channel 10 saw the story for what it was.


Tomas Lopez, the Fired Lifeguard at the Center of the Storm in Hallandale Beach, will be a guest on Sunday's "This Week in South Florida with Michael Putney" at 11:30 a.m. on Channel 10, after ABC News "This Week"; #hallandalebeach

Tomas Lopez story results in predictably anemic response by Hallandale Beach City Hall as growing public outrage re harsh treatment of lifeguard Lopez by his company, Jeff Ellis & Associates -an unpersuasive form letter- shows City Hall's longstanding myopia remains. Story has touched a nerve all over the world about moral imperatives and importance of doing the right thing despite strong possible negative consequences. We desperately need to change the culture and personnel at City Hall ASAP!

Lifeguard Tomas Lopez helps save the day at the city's public beach but get's fired for his trouble. Meanwhile, Hallandale Beach City Hall continues to act neglectful and NOT do what it's legally supposed to do around the beach areas, and nothing happens. Nobody is fired. Just more mindless bureaucratic apathy and incompetency from the same old crew!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

A new voice for civic engagement in 2012: BetterBroward; World Shocked over Firing of Lifeguard Tomas Lopez in Hallandale Beach, FL; a WPLG-TV video connects-the-dots on the extent of the city's negligence in public oversight

North Beach lifeguard stand, Hallandale Beach, FL. May 30, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved


The following is the first post of a new website that's been created by my friend and fellow
Hallandale Beach civic activist Chad Lincoln, a concerned citizen with a very strong desire for genuine financial accountability and transparency in public policy decision-making in a city that has seen precious little of either the past ten years, and who, like me and many of the others whose names I've mentioned here frequently, is unwilling to stand on the sidelines and let the status quo crowd continue to keep this city under their cynical thumb.

I encourage you to take a look at what he's written since it's a topic that we've not only all been
discussing for a week straight now, but also because he and I are among many concerned
residents of this city who realize that this whole incident at the beach recently could well have
had a much more tragic ending.

It also only underscores the extent to which basic oversight responsibilities of the HB City
Commission on a whole host of issues have been effectively outsourced to Mayor Cooper and the various city managers to decide for them, with 3 of the 4 elected commissioners -Ross, Sanders, Lewy- largely reduced to the role of Rubber Stamps, a role that that, oddly enough, they seem more than happy with, though it's NOT exactly my idea of checks and balances in a democracy.

Better Broward -The Voice of  Reason in Hallandale Beach

World Scrutinizes Hallandale Beach, Channel 10 News Discredits Mayor Cooper

Chad expects the site to be up on WordPress within the week.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Outsourcing isn't the real problem with beach safety in Hallandale Beach, but rather the actions -and in-action- of David Jove, Mike Good and Mark Antonio at HB City Hall; #HallandaleBeach

North Beach, Hallandale Beach, FL. May 30, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. 
© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved
Outsourcing isn't the real problems with beach safety in Hallandale Beach, but rather the actions -and in-action- of David Jove, Mike Good and Mark Antonio at HB City Hall; #HallandaleBeach
Based on the eight-plus years I have of seeing how often Hallandale Beach has been mismanaged, the issue of outsourcing beach safety on the city's public beaches to third-party contractors has never been the main problem, though it seems to have become one now in the eyes of a lot of people who don't know all the facts, including some local and out-of-state reporters, who are latching onto that as a convenient straw man they can attack, often for political reasons.
While it's understandable to a certain extent for people who don't know the true extent of how badly run things are here to think that must be the problem, it isn't.


People, esp. residents of this city, feel a need to explain away the justifiable anger and upset they have over what has happened here recently that's gotten the name Hallandale Beach into headlines and stories all over the world for all the wrong reasons.
But they'd be better off looking closer to home at people whose names they already know.

The real problems lay at the desks -and feet- of a handful of highly-paid people who formerly toiled at Hallandale Beach City Hall.
People who'll be making more then $3 Million in pensions in the future for time they were given credit for that was actually done PRIOR to the current pension plan.
Yes, millions of dollars.


In my opinion, based on all I know and have observed from the center of the storm, the real problems with beach safety in Hallandale Beach are in the actions and non-actions of former City Attorney David Jove and former City Managers Mike Good and Mark A. Antonio.


Yes, the buck stops with them, and what's left over for sloppy seconds rests entirely with the ineffective and tone-deaf fivem-member Hallandale Beach City Commission, that with the exception of Keith London, never actually wanted to look under-the-hood to see what was really going on, even though oversight, rather than policy-making, is actually what most local officials are better at than policy-making.
Here, unfortunately, they are bad at both, since taking some pride in being diligent about mastering the pertinent policy information is not a trait the majority of the commission necessarily values.


Now, though, with Jove, Good and Antonio out of the picture, this city's residents have inherited all manner of bad public policies and unsound decision-making that we'll be paying for and dealing with for many, many years, to say nothing of the huge pensions their assistants will be receiving for the very same reason -credit given for prior years under a different plan, not actually work done under the pension plan in question.


A pension plan pushed on the HB City Commission by yet another former City Manager, R.J. Intindola, who the city's own figures show pockets an EXTRA $96k a year because of this plan that was approved one year before he retired.
A pension plan that ran counter to what the majority of local governments were then migrating to.

Trust me, here on this blog in the coming weeks and months, you will be getting the genuine jaw-dropping pension numbers on these characters -and others- that will animate at least some of the coming political campaign conversation in this town the next 16 weeks until Election Day.
Teaser Alert -NOT: Bill Julian's fingerprints will be on it.

Bur that's in the future, so for now, let's turn our attention back to the topic du jour, beach safety and the incident that brought it to worldwide attention.
My comments after the article. 

--------------------------------------
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Fired Hallandale Beach lifeguard to receive key to city; contract with company may sink
By Ihosvani Rodriguez, Sun Sentinel
5:42 p.m. EDT, July 6, 2012

HALLANDALE BEACH—
City leaders plan to give the lifeguard who was fired earlier this week the key to the city while considering showing the door to the private company that canned him.

Mayor Joy Cooper said Friday she remains horrified by the way Tomas Lopez, 21, of Davie was fired for leaving his post on the beach to help rescue a drowning man outside the company's legal boundaries. Lopez worked for Jeff Ellis Management, an Orlando-based firm that has been providing lifeguard services for the city since 2003.

"I know people across the country are as outraged as I am," Cooper said. "This doesn't reflect our culture. We are a small, caring community."

The city plans to issue Lopez the symbolic key during a ceremony on Monday. The unidentified man who needed rescuing is also expect to attend the event, the mayor said.

Company officials have since apologized to Lopez over the firing and offered him his job back. Lopez has turned them down. The company also announced it would be looking at its emergency protocol policy and possibly retooling it.

But those revisions may come too late, given that Lopez's firing seems to be an international public relations nightmare for both the city and the private firm.

The incident and the company's contract could become an election issue for most city commission members who are seeking re-election in November. Some of the political opponents, including former Vice Mayor Bill Julian, have already made it a campaign issue by pushing for the services to be provided in-house. When it comes to beach safety, Julian said "the real issue is that I think we can do better. We need to bring back our own guys."

Commission members, including Cooper and her bitter political nemesis Commissioner Keith London, have each said they want to revisit the idea of contracting out lifeguard services.

London, who is facing Cooper for the mayor seat, told residents and supporters in an e-mail sent Friday that the incident has provided the opportunity for a second look at beach safety.

"During a time when Hallandale Beach is attempting to attract more visitors with families and young children, I believe this is an opportunity, in light of a near tragedy, to review and potentially enhance the services provided by our first responders," London wrote.

The city began outsourcing the lifeguard responsibilities nine years ago as a cost-cutting measure. In 2009, the city renewed a three-year contract with Jeff Ellis Management worth roughly $1 million.

The contract is set to expire in September.

In firing Lopez, company supervisors said he ran past the boundaries the firm is contracted to protect. Company officials initially said Lopez put swimmers in his area in jeopardy and the firm could've been sued. A review of the contract specifically indicates that the boundary must be protected at all times.

The company is required to reimburse the city $100 for each day a lifeguard is not present.

In 2007, the firm reimbursed the city $500 after it pulled its lifeguards off the beach because of rough conditions. A woman nearly drowned while the stands were left empty and had to be rescued by beach guards from adjacent Hollywood.

Hallandale Beach is the only city in Florida the company provides ocean lifeguards. It does provide guards at community pools for numerous municipalities around the county, including in Hallandale Beach, Dania Beachand North Lauderdale. The lifeguards have said they get paid $8.25.

Dania Beach considered hiring the firm in 2005, but residents and employees vehemently opposed the move saying they were worried about the quality of the company's ocean-rescue training.

Gerry Falconer, president of the lifeguards group United States Lifesaving Association's southeast region, said the company has never sought certification through his association. He said there are several companies that provide similar services around the country, but most are designed to provide lifeguards at public pools.

"It's apples and oranges. At a wave pool, if things go bad, you can just hit a switch and turn the waves off," he said. "You can't do that on the ocean."

Company officials have long stood by its own certification training called the International Lifeguard Training Program, which they say includes ocean training and recognized by insurance companies.

Lopez said Friday he underwent the company's lifeguard training at a pool, which consisted of rigorous swimming and physical exercises. He then had training on the beach after he was hired.

Company president Jeff Ellis could not be reached for comments on Friday. He did say earlier this week he plans to provide city officials with results of an investigation about this week's incident.

Mayor Cooper said she plans to address the issue at the commission's first meeting in August.

-----

To me, outsourcing lifeguard duties on the city's public beaches were never the main problem here, but rather former City Attorney David Jove NOT doing a satisfactory job of completely spelling-out the city's reasonable expectations and requirements in the contract at the time, and subsequently, the City Managers and City Commission's complete failure to provide adequate oversight and suggest timely contract changes when appropriate.
Our old friend, lack of oversight, is the central problem, like dozens of other issues that we all could name that have long plagued this community.

Everything else devolved from that, including HB City Hall's failure to ever talk to the lifeguards themselves, just like the city NEVER spoke to the city's Mini-Bus drivers before they came out with their Transportation Master Plan. 
Really!

Why wouldn't you speak with your own employees and contractors first to see what suggestions they had before you spend so much money, so you can be sure to get the input of people who deal with a situation on a daily basis and incorporate their valid concerns or suggestions?
It's completely counter-intuitive and an example how often common sense has been ignored in this city over the years because that was NOT the way City Manager Good and Antonio wanted things done.
With them, it all started with themselves -top-down, despite the fact they they are not the ones who set policy.

The HB Parks & Recreation may nominally oversee the lifeguard contract, but again, that's in name only, since nobody in that  dept. had or has the power to do anything once the contract was signed. 
No, it all lay with the City Manager's office, and there, Good and Antonio both failed.

For many years, when their supervisors weren't around, the lifeguards have specifically told me exactly what they were missing in the way of resources and tools to do their job to the best of their ability, or what problems they were having with the city NOT doing what they said they were going to do, and taking forever even IF they did it.
Like the state of the lifeguard stands themselves, which are physically sub-par compared to other communities in South Florida.


South Beach, Hallandale Beach, FL. May 30, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. 
© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

And as I've been saying and writing, and as the city already has known for a long time, the lifeguard stations are NOT currently grounded for lightning strikes.
What happens if one is struck overnight during a storm and destroyed, what's the city's back-up plan to have one in place the next morning?
What's the plan?

The truth is that we all already know based on years of experience that there is no back-up plan.
There never is.



Looking south towards North Beach, Hallandale Beach, FL from the Hollywood cityline. Though you really can't see the South Beach station from North Beach, HB City Hall thought they could share one jet ski, when it actually worked! 
What more can you say? May 30, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. 
© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

Whether it was NOT having message boards on the side of the lifeguard stands that they could actually write on anymore because of excessive physical wear-and-tear from the sun and graffiti -and the city being a year behind in getting replacements- or NOT having a single  working jet ski to reach swimmers in peril in strong winds/undertow conditions because the last one was broken, and the city had no back-up plan, and refused to rent one until the previous one was fixed, the problems lay with the city, not the contractor,


Think about the fact that even when it was working, the city expected the two lifeguard stands to share one jet ski among them, separated by hundreds of yards.
When seconds really count!


It's absolutely ridiculous!


But this was how the city "managed" things on the beach on a daily basis for years.
That's NOT Jeff Ellis & Associates' doing, that's the city's!

As I wrote the other day, for quite a long time during the past 2-3 years, the lifeguards had nothing to cope with those sorts of wether/physical conditions, so this whole debate, upsetting as it is, could well have come a whole lot sooner, under much more tragic and deadly circumstances, with genuine drowning victims and lawsuits against the city that they could never possibly prevail in, leaving all of us on the hook.

That they didn't come sooner isn't because of anything the city has actually done, but rather in spite of everything the city HASN'T DONE.

Hope you can attend Monday morning's ceremony at HB City Hall at 10:30 a.m., because my sense of things is that given the amount of lingering concern and anger that remains, it could well prove to be a whole lot more interesting than anything Mayor Cooper is currently counting on.


And don't even go thru the pretense of having a meeting on beach safety in August if you aren't going to require David Jove to answer questions honestly, under oath.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Tomas Lopez, the Fired Lifeguard at the Center of the Storm in Hallandale Beach, will be a guest on Sunday's "This Week in South Florida with Michael Putney" at 11:30 a.m. on Channel 10, after ABC News "This Week"; #hallandalebeach

Tomas Lopez, the Fired Lifeguard at the Center of the Storm in Hallandale Beach, will be a guest on Sunday's "This Week in South Florida with Michael Putney" at 11:30 a.m. on WPLG-TV/Channel 10, after ABC News "This Week."


Fired lifeguard to receive key to city 
Published On: Jul 06 2012 05:44:01 PM EDT
http://www.local10.com/news/Fired-lifeguard-to-receive-key-to-city/-/1717324/15431192/-/136v7nsz/-/index.html

The South Beach lifeguard stand, Hallandale Beach, FL. May 30, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved


This was WPLG-TV/Channel 10- Miami's first report on the unfolding story Wednesday with reporter Jacey Birch.

This was their follow-up on Thursday with reporter Todd Tongen.


CNN's John Zarrella on the Hallandale Beach story that caused an uproar around the world. http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/05/us/florida-lifeguard-fired/index.html


ABC News Matt Gutman's report from Thursday that aired on Good Morning America
video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player
ABC News video: Correspondent Matt Gutman on Fla. Contractor That Fired Lifeguard For Saving Man Outside Zone Reconsidering. July 5, 2012.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/fired-fla-lifeguard-reinstated/story?id=16716225
Video at http://abcnews.go.com/US/fired-fla-lifeguard-reinstated/story?id=16716225


My first post on this stort from Wednesday
Lifeguard Tomas Lopez helps save the day at the city's public beach but get's fired for his trouble. Meanwhile, Hallandale Beach City Hall continues to act neglectful and NOT do what it's legally supposed to do around the beach areas, and nothing happens. Nobody is fired. Just more mindless bureaucratic apathy and incompetency from the same old crew!
http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/lifeguard-tomas-lopez-helps-save-day-at.html

My follow-up post
Tomas Lopez story results in predictably anemic response by Hallandale Beach City Hall as growing public outrage re harsh treatment of lifeguard Lopez by his company, Jeff Ellis & Associates -an unpersuasive form letter- shows City Hall's longstanding myopia remains. Story has touched a nerve all over the world about moral imperatives and importance of doing the right thing despite strong possible negative consequences. We desperately need to change the culture and personnel at City Hall ASAP!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/lifeguard-tomas-lopez-helps-save-day-at.html

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Tomas Lopez story results in predictably anemic response by Hallandale Beach City Hall as growing public outrage re harsh treatment of lifeguard Lopez by his company, Jeff Ellis & Associates -an unpersuasive form letter- shows City Hall's longstanding myopia remains. Story has touched a nerve all over the world about moral imperatives and importance of doing the right thing despite strong possible negative consequences. We desperately need to change the culture and personnel at City Hall ASAP!

video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player
ABC News video: Correspondent Matt Gutman on Fla. Contractor That Fired Lifeguard For Saving Man Outside Zone Reconsidering. July 5, 2012.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/fired-fla-lifeguard-reinstated/story?id=16716225
Tomas Lopez story results in predictably anemic response by Hallandale Beach City Hall as growing public outrage re harsh treatment of lifeguard Lopez by his company, Jeff Ellis & Associates -an unpersuasive form letter- shows City Hall's longstanding myopia remains. Story has touched a nerve all over the world about moral imperatives and importance of doing the right thing despite strong possible negative consequences. We desperately need to change the culture and personnel at City Hall ASAP!
In short, in the official City of Hallandale Beach response thus far about the incident I discussed here yesterday, that was originally reported by Ihosvani Rodriguez of the South Florida sun-Sentinel, and which blew-up over the Fourth of July holiday to become international news, to the surprise of no one, the city says absolutely nothing about their own longstanding neglect, incompetency and culpability regarding the public beach areas, including the news that I shared with you that the two lifeguard stations on the beach are NOT grounded for lightning strikes, as they are supposed to be.


Lifeguard Tomas Lopez helps save the day at the city's public beach but get's fired for his trouble. Meanwhile, Hallandale Beach City Hall continues to act neglectful and NOT do what it's legally supposed to do around the beach areas, and nothing happens. Nobody is fired. Just more mindless bureaucratic apathy and incompetency from the same old crew!

By the way, if you didn't already know, the lifeguards are supposed to call their own company first in order to dispatch Fire/Rescue to the scene of trouble, despite the fact that HB Fire/Rescue is right next to the iconic Hallandale Beach Water Tower on State Road A1A and Hallandale Beach Blvd., on the border separating HB and Hollywood.  

Hallandale Beach Fire Station 60 is located in the building north of the city's iconic Water Tower on State Road A1A, just south of the Hollywood cityline. May 30, 2012 photos by South Beach Hoosier© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved


When that was done, a lot of the life guards told me at the time that based on their past experience, this policy would inevitably cause casualties.

And I didn't even mention in my email and blog post of yesterday that, as I've noted here previously, for a very long time, the lifeguards lacked a motorized device that would allow the guards to actually respond to people caught in dangerous high wave/strong undertow situations far from shore, which greatly frustrated them and created a lot of anxiety on those sorts of days.
And lest you forget, we had an unusually high number of such days early last year, which was even more troubling when you know the lifeguards lacked the tools they desperately needed.
You'd think the city would've had a back-up plan after the one device they had -to share among the two lifeguard stands- broke.
You'd think that, but you'd be wrong -there was no back-up plan!

Is having Jeff Ellis and Associates' dispatchers calling 911 instead of the lifeguards on the scene part of what should be publicly discussed and re-examined while everyone is looking at what took place at the beach on Monday?
Should help for victims really be delayed from being dispatched solely because of company policy?

In my opinion, this whole topic ought to be the subject of a public meeting held at the city's Cultural Center, say, on a Saturday morning at 10 a.m., AFTER Labor Day when everyone is back in town, so that everyone who is interested can attend and hear what's what from Jeff Ellis, the city and any other people who have some knowledge to share, as well as HB residents?

Earlier today, Hallandale Beach civic activist Etty Sims, always a strong voice for common sense, financial accountability and the entire community's best long-term interests, sent the following email to HB City Hall and its denizens.

Along with her comments were links to just some of the dozen and dozens of news sites around the world that have reported on this troubling incident via a Google Alert on HB, a tool which I also receive and have encouraged you all to get as well if you live here, or one for your own community if you're anywhere else in the world.

Among the hundreds of news organizations and websites that have delved into this story are the BBC and ABC News, the latter of which did a three-minute story on it last night with reporter Matt Gutman during ABC Evening News, which was re-run this morning, the video of which I've posted at the top.

Here's Etty Sims' email:

Good morning city commissioners, mayor and city manager,

So Hallandale Beach is in the news all over the country and not for a good reason.
I am sure that you all heard about the incident on the beach.
If you read the comments to the stories on the different news media sites you will see that not only the private company that you, the commission hired to protect our beach goers , BUT the entire city's reputation is beefing affected negatively.

Please let us know what are you going to do about this issue.

if we want to improve our beaches, it is very important that beach goers  not only feel safe on our beach but are actually being protected by someone that cares about people's life and not the bottom line.
Since the lifeguard company's contract is coming  up for renewal, it is a perfect time to look into the different options available.
It is time to bring back the Beach in Hallandale Beach. Please make it a priority and transform the beach to a place that people want to go to. There are too many other options very close by such as Hollywood Beach Broadwalk.

Have a great summer 

Etty Sims


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Meanwhile... I continue to receive email from everywhere, including some thoughtful nuanced email from Las Vegas that gets right to the heart of the matter of what happened on Monday

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: City Manager <CityManager@hallandalebeachfl.gov>
Date: Thu, Jul 5, 2012 at 10:46 AM
Subject: RE: Lifeguard Tomas Lopez helps save the day at the city's public beach but get's fired for his trouble. Meanwhile, Hallandale Beach City Hall continues to act neglectful and NOT do what it's legally supposed to do around the beach areas...



Thank you for contacting the City of Hallandale Beach regarding the beach incident that occurred on July 2, 2012.  I am in close contact with Jeff Ellis of Jeff Ellis Management who has started a full investigation into the termination of their lifeguard.  The lifeguard is not a City employee, but was employed by Jeff Ellis Management, a private company contracted to provide lifeguard services for two city-owned beaches and the Municipal pool.  Jeff Ellis Management has committed to the City that if the lifeguard was terminated in haste, the company would move expeditiously to reinstate his employment.

It has always been the City’s policy that if there is an actual emergency inside or outside of the protected area, the lifeguard must respond. We do however have to ensure that certain safety protocols are followed to ensure the safety of all visitors to the City of Hallandale Beach.  At this time, the City is awaiting the facts of the termination and the results of our internal inquiry and the Ellis Management investigation.  Once the City has the results of the investigation, we can make an informed determination on the future of the relationship with this management company.

The City Hallandale Beach truly values your concerns and comments on this issue. The safety of our Beach patrons and the manner in which this service is provided is paramount to the City.  We are moving swiftly to address the situation.

Renee C. Crichton
City Manager
City of Hallandale Beach
400 S. Federal Highway
Hallandale Beach, FL 33009
954-457-1300 Phone