afternoon, as I'd originally planned on being up in
Fort Lauderdale for the Commission vote:
February 2nd, 2010
12:45 p.m.
Just called up to Broward Govt. HQ before leaving
to attend and film the public comments portion
of the Broward County Commission meeting on
financing of a proposed Broward Courthouse.
Good thing I made that phone call because they
already voted this morning to approve it, 6-3,
with Commissioners Gunzburger, Rodstrom
and Wexler voting no.
P.S. Just checked JAABLOG before sending this.
http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/
Good thing, too, as he's got more details!
SURPRISE, SURPRISE!
Posted by JAABLOG at 2/2/2010 12:50 PM
The County Commission is building you a new courthouse!
http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/2010/02/02/surprise-surprise.aspx#Comment
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Wednesday afternoon I wrote this:
Per the news below from Chicago's North Shore,
since I lived in Evanston and Wilmette, and had
lots of close friends at IU from New Trier,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
I'm thoroughly aware of the educational/aspirational
mindset there, where the well-educated dual income
parents are VERY into the school, and the kids getting
anything and everything that'll help them.
Sometimes, to an unhealthy degree, since this is the
same school where lots of politically powerful/affluent
parents got their kids into U of I using that special
admission system the Tribune exposed last year.
http://www.
Not that you ever read or heard about that education
scandal down here, of course.
See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Listen to Trib reader Stu's simple logic and tell
me it doesn't sound exactly like something that could
be said of the latest Broward Courthouse fiasco,
when common economic sense fell by the way-side
yesterday:
"If the board were to have done long range capital improvement planning, they could could have gone to the voters with an incremental plan, doing one facility or section every few years. Instead the board appears to have this very large and over reaching apetite wanting everything now."All too predictably, the Broward County Commission
chose to channel David Farragut at precisely the
wrong time as they collectively voted
"Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead..."
Since my email yesterday, I added something to
JAABLOG's excellent second commentary about
the Broward Courthouse vote, which I've pasted
at bottom.
There's lots of insight and good info from other
readers, too.
P.S. I'm lovin' it!
McDonald's brings frappes to Chicago area
http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Chicago Tribune http://www.
New Trier high school building project defeated
By Jeff Long
February 2, 2010A $174 million building project at New Trier high school appears headed for defeat. The margin was about 63 percent against the project and 37 percent with 97 percent of the vote counted.
Officials called the building project at the Winnetka high school vital to bring the North Shore campus into the 21st century and correct lingering problems, such as having a third of the property inaccessible to disabled students.
But residents opposed to the project said in the weeks leading up to the vote that its scope was too vast, and the price tag too much of a burden in today's economy.
Under the plan, a cafeteria built in 1912 would have been demolished, as would a gym that dates to 1928, a tech arts building constructed in 1931, and a music hall built in 1950. New construction would have included a cafeteria, library, fieldhouse, gym, and 41 classrooms.
Reader comments at:http://www.
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JAABLOG
Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me ...
Posted by JAABLOG at 2/2/2010 9:29 PM
http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/2010/02/02/fool-me-once-shame-on-you-fool-me-twice-shame-on-me-.aspx#Comment
Here's what I wrote there, part of which I posted
here on Monday:
First, some facts about Tuesday's vote on financing
a new Broward County Courthouse, a story that only
the Daily Business Review, JAABLOG and I wrote about.
Not asking for plaudits, just noting it for historical context.
For those courthouse denizens who animate this blog
with their constant contempt of Broward taxpayers thru
your comments here, who think that a new Broward
County Courthouse is very important, guess what?
The South Florida news media could hardly care less
about you. You barely register on their horizon.
You are insignificant.
In the days and weeks before the vote, the two daily
South Florida newspapers and the four network TV
stations sat on their hands and reported nothing
about this issue.
Neither the Herald or the Sun-Sentinel have
mentioned this subject in print or online since
last September, when a Guest Op-Ed purported
to have been written by Comm. Stacy Ritter was
published in the Sun-Sentinel.
Once again, on something very important,
South Florida's news media has shown they were
sleeping on the job, and let the people down.
Did you EVER see anything last year on TV about
the ties that the members of the Lieberman-led
Task Force had to the Broward legal establishment,
who desperately want a brand new pony?
Preferably, with a brand-new barn and a lifetime
supply of feed. On the taxpayer's dime.
Nope.
There never was one,
Watching the coverage Tuesday night at 11 p.m.,
actually thinking there'd be some interviews
-with somebody!- this point was drive home
all over again.
At 11:16 p.m. CBS-4's Antonio Mora did a 15-second
read without any visuals and said the vote happened
"last night," which as we know, is incorrect.
At 11:27 p.m., Local10's Laurie Jennings also did a
15-second read with archived visuals of yellow tape
and leaking ceilings.
There's the press coverage of your shiny new pony.
And why is it that so few usually well-informed
people actually know how poorly Lieberman
handled the rigged Task Force last year?
I wrote last year on my blog how she and the
county administrators didn't follow basic aspects
of the state's Sunshine Laws, and instead,
tried to fool the public by arranging for the agenda
and assorted relevant public docs for the last meeting,
which should've been online before the meeting,
to be placed online HOURS AFTER the last meeting
was already over.
Not that they actually had the final public meeting
listed online days before the meeting, since they didn't.
Lieberman was the one in charge -the Chair.
But the media didn't care -just like now.
Keep up the great work, JAABLOG!
While most of South Florida's media suffers from
Super Bowl Swoon, JAABLOG keeps it real!
Kudos!
