Would've been nice if the Sun-Sentinel, for a change -FOR ONCE- actually focused on the myriad reasons why HB citizens have been calling for RLC to go for years, including an honest accounting of the the history of Mayor Cooper, City Hall and HBPD consciously deciding NOT to share public info on traffic accidents so that citizens could actually see where largest number of accidents occurred.
Or why they are supposed to indulging mayor Cooper's edifice complex to the tune of just under $400k.
But once again, when presented with stories on a silver platter about dysfunctional Hallandale beach government and public policy, stories that cried out for some genuine depth in it, the Sun-Sentinel went for the bury-'em-with-quotes approach with the RLC story that left HB's unique circumstances and perspective completely unexplored, and has instead left objective observers just as confused as to why this happened here instead of happening in another city.
And how can they bring the word trend into the story as a hook without ever explaining how it all happened? It's dumbfounding.
What are those elements here that could be found in other cities be that could make it happen elsewhere?
They don't say.
Until that paper is sold and new management, better editors and better and more-enereprising reporters are there, that paper is an afterthought when it comes to local news and political coverage.
No mention at all of the city starting a RLC program before the state authorized one, and with so little attention to detail by the City, HBPD or then-City Attorney David Jove that required warning signs were actually obscured from the public driving by, as I noted at the time with photos connecting-the-dots.
All these years later, there's still ZERO warning signs on either east-bound or west-bound Hallandale Beach Blvd. approaching U.S.-1
Those required warning signs on the median near NW 10th Terrace were NOT there when the city started their program or when the state did but much later.
I know because I have the photos that show that lack of attention to detail at the time, and most of you have already seen them.
They didn't want to do that because they knew that if the facts came out, they'd be hard-pressed to explain why they were so insistent on placing cameras in places that'd clearly generate less REVENUE, including the illegal right-hand turn money they were getting hand-over-fist at the beginning that got the city so much negative media coverage across the state.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hallandale to dump red-light cameras
By Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel
1:30 p.m. EST, January 23, 2014
Video at: http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=91082&sitesection=sesunsentinel&VID=25551375
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hallandale hesitates on $300,000 marquis welcome sign
Commission wants to know what rest of signs throughout city will cost
By Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel
11:19 a.m. EST, January 23, 2014
Yes, I know that marquee in the way it's used here is not spelled marquis, but that's the Sun-Sentinel in a nut-shell!
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Red-light cameras kicked to curb - Hallandale yanks them, but will others follow?
By Susannah Bryan and Ariel Barkhurst, Staff writers
January 24, 2014
As of January 16th, the whole topic of "short yellow" within the context of traffic lights, has never once appeared in the Miami Herald or the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Really.
I was going to mention this salient fact a few months ago in a blog post after some outstanding reporting by WTSP-TV's Noah Pransky on the subject which showed how common the problem was, but held off on doing so.
@noahpransky https://twitter.com/noahpransky
Still the case.
Just saying...
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SaintPetersblog
Short yellow signal problems reveal deeper issues in St. Petersburg’s Traffic and Parking Dep’t
by Peter Schorsch
