That is, why there's so very little public accountability on behalf of city taxpayers for public funds at Hallandale Beach City Hall, especially when it involves City Hall cronies and people they are used to rewarding for political support, no matter how preposterous the planned use of the funds.
In the case at hand, in the letter at the bottom, that involves among others, Jessica Sanders, the wife of HB Comm. Antony A. Sanders.
That you've seen so little mention of it elsewhere only proves what I and so many others paying attention here have been saying, not only about the state of the South Florida news media in the year 2011, but how utterly delighted Joy Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew are that the press is sleeping on the job.
That makes it much easier for them to keep doing what they're doing and avoid detection.
But before I share with you a letter about the nitty-gritty reality of failed policies and wasted tax dollars in this city -Hallandale Beach Weed and Seed- let's look at the fantasy world of HB mayor Joy Cooper as expressed in yesterday's Miami Herald, which carried a Guest Op-Ed from her in her role as head of the Florida League of Cities, just one of the reasons that she is around less-and-less.
Well, besides her home in Colorado.
http://www.miamiherald.com/201
Miami Herald
February 11, 2011
We want to work with the governor
Florida’s cities wholeheartedly share Gov. Rick Scott’s objective of creating jobs and fostering an economic climate in which employers and families can thrive. Our cities can play a key role in this important mission, and cities stand ready to work shoulder to shoulder with Scott.City officials want to create a new partnership with state leaders. This is why, as president of the Florida League of Cities, I created the Keys to the Cities Task Force. The task force created Keys to the Cities — a resource to provide additional insight into issues important to Florida’s cities, coming from the perspective of more than 400 communities in which the majority of Floridians live, work, learn, worship and play.
The task force’s document, which can be found at www.floridaleagueofcities.com, has focused on the following areas:
• Improving fiscal accountability and responsibility
• Making government smarter
• Investing in opportunity
• Fiscal responsibility for the future
• Managing and sustaining recovery
We believe that, working with the governor and the Legislature, we can take our state to higher levels of excellence by promoting smart policies that couple spurring growth with respecting the long-term principle of home rule.
Keys to the Cities extends a hand of friendship and cooperation across the levels of government to provide the new administration with a valuable blueprint for building this important relationship to benefit Floridians.
As the government closest to the people, a city has a unique bond with its residents. Each one of Florida’s 410 cities is unique. But no matter their size or scope, all cities have the same goal: to deliver varied, high-quality services in an efficient and responsive manner; enhance residents’ quality of life; and promote education, employment and economic development.
We understand the challenges and opportunities Scott will face. With an eye on building a better and more-prosperous future, the cities look forward to opening a proactive and productive dialogue with state leaders. We stand ready to provide assistance to achieve the overarching goals we share.
Joy Cooper, mayor, Hallandale Beach-----
Improving fiscal accountability and responsibility?
Really, how about starting in the city where you have been mayor for so long?
How about real tangible consequences for city employees and contractors who DON'T do their job promptly and fail to deliver a dollar's worth of work or service for a dollar's worth of taxpayer's funds?
How about YOU and your Rubber Stamp Crew stop voting to break the city's very own requirements for who can be given CRA grants and loans, especially when they don't meet most of the very low thresholds, not just one?
But no, you and your cohorts prefer to make excuses for why the city's own rules must be continually trampled.
That's YOUR track record, year-after-year.
And where are the positive results?
Which leads me to the letter below that was sent to Hallandale Beach city manager Mark Antonio and stamped January 26th by his office.
It speaks volumes, and it's just the tip of the iceberg of longstanding problems in this city that Cooper and City Hall have ignored, hoping nobody would notice.
In the weeks and months ahead on this blog, since the local media shows no genuine curiosity for stories that once upon a time, real reporters responded to -esp. after you give it to them on a silver platter- you'll see more and more photos and video here of these problems.
My aim is that whenever possible, to work on cutting out the middle-man: the South Florida news media.
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As always, to keep up with the latest fiasco or spectacle in Hallandale Beach under the Cooper & Antonio regime, go to my friend Michael Butler's blog, Change Hallandale,
http://www.changehallandale.com/
