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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
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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 tรชte-ร -tรชte 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!
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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.
