Will Lady Dracula, Ilene Lieberman, successfully suck the life out of Broward County's ethics/IG proposal for the benefit of her family and cronies?

2008 Royal Mail stamp of Hammer Films' Dracula, 1958.

This is a follow-up to my post of last Thursday, August 5, 2010
Broward County Comm. Ilene Lieberman is the creepy anti-ethics monster that just won't die. She's the 'Mummy' of Broward County!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/broward-county-comm-ilene-lieberman-is.html

You know what they say, if a horror mask fits...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDTxHg7wyP0




After all the insider talk for a week about what's going to happen Tuesday afternoon on Andrews Avenue at the Broward County Commission meeting at 2 p.m., it's finally time for everyone who's anyone to stand up and be counted and be held publicly accountable.

If it was up to me, of course, I'd love to see a few local high-profile folks in particular show up and say what they personally think about the proposals, so that it's all out there for voters to see, since South Florida pols are notorious for ducking high-profile showdowns on issues like this, even the reformist candidates.

I'll leave it to you readers to figure out why I'd like to see them, but if you are a fairly regular visitor to this space, you probably already have a pretty good hunch why: Chris Smith, Steve Geller, Dan Gelber, Dave Aronberg, Kelly Skidmore, Ellyn Bogdanoff, Ari Porth.

Will any Hispanic or African-American Broward residents speak during public comments, whether high-profile or not? Hmm-m-m... that's a very good question.
Sadly, probably not.

Hey, isn't THAT a news story?
Yes, in other parts of the country, but here in polyglot South Florida, such politically and socially uncomfortable stories like THAT usually never see the light of day.

The afternoon agenda and back up documents are here:
http://205.166.161.204/agenda_publish.cfm?mt=ALL&get_month=8&get_year=2010&dsp=ag&seq=191#ReturnTo0

For those of you unable to get away to downtown Fort Lauderdale to watch the rhetoric and metaphors fly at the three-ring circus, you can watch it LIVE via the Internet but you must use Internet Explorer, as I learned the hard way last year, to my chagrin when using Firefox, with predictable results.
Why IE, I can't say, but that's the deal.
http://www.broward.org/video/

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http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/07/1766485/villains-of-ethics-reform-in-broward.html

Miami Herald
Villains of ethics reform in Broward dream up new strategy
By Fred Grimm
August 8, 2010

You've got to appreciate the brazen hand behind this latest attempt to eviscerate ethics reform in Broward County. Same way you watch, with perverse fascination, horror movie villains creeping back from oblivion to wreak more mayhem.

In June, a mighty burst of public outrage cowed the sinister forces behind a contrivance to kill reform. Rather than vote an ethics package up or down, the novel strategy would have shipped the proposed ordinance off to the black hole of judicial review, leaving it to languish until after the fall elections.

The notion dripped with contempt for public sentiment. As if commissioners could ignore the county's spate of scandals and indictments and guilty pleas. Or the federal and state investigators bumping into one another around county hall.

Just a few days before County Attorney Jeff Newton (on behalf of ethically conflicted Commissioner Ilene Lieberman) offered up the subterfuge, ousted commissioner Josephus Eggelletion was in state court to face sentencing on a bribery conviction. (Added atop his federal prison term.)

Such a howl went up across the county that Newton's proposal quickly disappeared, leaving the commission with a deadline and -- everyone assumed -- only two options. Either adopt the ordinance created by the Broward County Reform Commission, word for word, or the measure automatically would be placed on the fall ballot.

Not in this movie. Newton and the unseen hand (AKA Lieberman) have dreamed up yet another strategy to undo reform. Newton would have commissioners adopt the reform ordinance at Tuesday's meeting, keeping it away from the angry voters. Then commissioners would adopt a series of amendments designed to exempt the commissioners and their family members and county staffers from most of the new reforms.

Commissioner Suzanne Gunzburger characterized Newton's amendments as a "thinly veiled political attempt to kill ethics reform.''

Newton's so-called "glitch'' ordinance would allow commissioners to keep their seats on bid selection committees. They could still lobby other local governments. Their family members and staffers will not, after all, face strict limits on lobbying. The restrictions on lobbyists' gifts for family members would be gutted. And sitting commissioners would be exempt from certain ethical rules that would be applied to new, incoming commissioners.

"I was absolutely appalled, disgusted, fed up,'' said Broward Ethics Commissioner Robert Wolfe Jr, suffering from an unhappy sense of déjà vu. "We just went through this a couple months ago.''

The ethics commission had spent a year hammering out a package. Not as tough as some wanted. But adopted unanimously. All the while, Wolfe said, certain county politicians, some with profound conflicts of interest, worked behind the scenes to dilute the effort. Now comes this so-called glitch amendment. (Hardly more than a week after Broward Commissioner Diana Wasserman-Rubin was formally charged with seven counts of unlawful compensation.) "There's a culture here that just doesn't get it,'' said the frustrated Wolfe.

It's the sequel to Nightmare on Andrews Avenue. The same scary, sneaky creatures back from the murk, still determined to kill reform.

Reader comments at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/07/1766485/villains-of-ethics-reform-in-broward.html?commentSort=TimeStampAscending&pageNum=1

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Robert Weschler picks up the ethics baton and carries it forward at his excellent blog at www.cityethics.org

Yet Another Underhanded Attempt to Water Down the Broward County Ethics Commission's New Ethics Code Fri, 2010-08-06 14:36
http://www.cityethics.org/content/yet-another-underhanded-attempt-water-down-broward-county-ethics-commissions-new-ethics-code

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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Broward Politics blog
Broward County Attorney Newton denies effort to thwart ethics reform
By Brittany Wallman August 9, 2010 09:34 PM

Broward County Attorney Jeff Newton wrote a letter Monday defending his latest proposed changes to the Code of Ethics county commissioners will vote on Tuesday.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/08/broward_county_attorney_newton.html

Broward County Attorney Jeffrey J. Newton's letter to Miami Herald re Fred Grimm column here:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/BdCCResponsetoFredGrimmColumn080910.pdf

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This was the 2009 Broward Politics video interview with Bill Scherer on ethics in Broward County that I had on the blog for quite some time.
His comments still ring true!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsXY8oaABoA





See also:
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/stamps/content1?catId=32300674&mediaId=76000716
http://www.hammerfilms.com/news/uk-cult-classics-celebrated-on-royal-mail-stamps

To see the Royal Mail stamps commemorating the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games:
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/stamps/content1?catId=123500769&mediaId=126000848

Selling American Brad Friedel to Fulham, not James Milner deal to Man City, is why Aston Villa's Martin O'Neill is quitting as manager

I'm listening to The Monday Night Club with Marc Chapman on BBC Radio 5 live now, which is how I heard this surprising bit of news.

Aston Villa owner, American Randy Lerner is clearly clipping Martin O'Neill's wings and selling players rather than strengthening team, with January's apathy in acquiring a player to move up a leading reason for why season ticket sales are down 40%.

O'Neill doesn't want to settle for mediocrity after bring team back to some semblance of quality, a view shared by hardcore Villa fans who don't want to be seen as "feeder club" for Big Four.

In listening closely, another thing that has clearly changed is that Lerner's no longer considered the 'Good American' owner by Villa fans -compared to the reviled Glazer family from Tampa at Man U- as his Greta Garbo-like mystery act has gotten old, esp. with local media whom he ignores but for one meeting a year.

Apparently, Lerner also refuses to speak to the Premier League's TV people, which is a nice bit of sabotage that you'd never see in the NFL, which does everything it can to appease the TV networks that pays the huge rights fees.
I guess having billions gives you more chances to be spiteful or stupid in unusual ways.

Some commentators on the show say that O'Neill may succeed Sir Alex Fergusion at Manchester United in a few months, while others openly wonder if his hands-on style and thin-skinned personality can handle the different expectation of the Man U fans and owners, where actual championships, not simply improving, is the expectation.

FYI: My promised analysis post on England's horrific 4-1 World Cup loss to Germany in late June, and all the sharp finger-pointing that has resulted from its wake, is close to being finished now that I've digested manager Fabio Capello's press conference this morning, which revealed that, in my opinion, things are, in fact, as bad as English football fans feared.
He even brought up the Frank Lampard goal that was dis-allowed.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hP_re4YSJVLLrrDXvDxWfIBqmnzw
Really!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/5live/#two

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/chat/r/t-10167532/index.html

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/431874-if-aston-villa-sell-james-milner-is-it-necessarily-a-bad-thing-for-them

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2010/08/09/2063197/revealed-the-full-extent-of-the-power-struggle-that-provoked

Cause and effect or just coincidence? Whatever the case, Saturday's Herald Editorial puts Hallandale Beach City Hall on the grill and fillets them

Above, the Heart of Darkness in Hallandale Beach: Hallandale Beach City Hall. Looks like Monday might indeed be a night to remember for Hallandale Beach's long beleaguered citizen taxpayers, so please try to be there in person at 6 p.m. if at all possible so you can see the spectacle yourself. Everyday in Hallandale Beach this summer, we are seeing more and more proof of the sorts of unhealthy and unacceptable qualities that we do NOT want in either elected officials nor in a new city manger. The outcry and controversy over the absurd proposal to give a $15,ooo bonus to someone for simply doing their job - and, in my opinion, an unsatisfactory job at that in acting City Manager Mark Antonio's case- almost obscures one of the most appalling aspects of daily life in this small ocean-side city with the current Cooper Crew in charge, one that I have yet to hear anyone else remark upon publicly, so I'll go ahead and say it now so that others may consider it. It's actually in the form of a a question. How thoroughly perverse and contemptible is it that the only time anything in this entire city can be done quickly by HB City Hall is when THEY attempt to ramrod something truly appalling thru the City Commission without telling the taxpayers of this city about it, to allow a reasonable amount of time for public discussion? Under Mayor Joy Cooper, we have continually seen this brand of creepy anti-democratic and unethical behavior -nothing less than a power-play to thwart the public's will- over-and-over, esp. up in Room 257. Her continual, self-serving brazenness has almost lost its power to shock us. Almost. Since City Commission meetings were not scheduled for the month of August, why couldn't this matter wait until the first scheduled meeting in September, when many HB residents will have returned? You know why and so do I. In contrast to the rapidity and pace they take when there's something for them, consider yet again that THREE YEARS after the city took title to the so-called A1A Community Center from The Beach Club, just steps from the ocean, it's only been open to the public TWICE, and the bldg. elevator is STILL broken and the second floor STILL isn't finished. Why are the city's repairs(!) taking longer than it originally took to construct the entire building? Now there's a question for the ages that I'd like to hear each and every member of the City Commission answer individually, without anyone whispering in their ears. Above, March 3rd, 2009 photo I shot from A1A/ South Ocean Drive that's been anchored on my blog the past 17 months. August 6, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier. The view of the off-limits Community Center from the beach. August 6, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier Do you have some office chairs you'd like to store in a room with a beach view? In the last few weeks, someone in the city seems to have illegally removed Broward County's official warning sticker placed a long time ago near the building front door advising the public that the elevator is, in fact, broken. It was completely missing Friday afternoon when I was there, and the elevator is STILL NOT working, as there is still an artificially-created wooden wall placed between the first floor and the area adjacent to the elevator, near what appears to be an un-opened box of supplies that actually read "May 2010." August 6, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier Yes, the elevator to nowhere. That County sticker had literally faded under the sun's rays, but that doesn't mean the city can legally remove it and not have it replaced or at least put up a similar notice. Typical! In that case, I guess the County sticker was guilty of being a "naysayer," to use Comm. Dotty Ross' favorite frequent word to describe HB's concerned citizens when they speak the truth at City Commission meetings, to her continuing dismay and consternation. On Monday, I'll be posting to my blog some damning photos and video of the A1A Community Center, as it is now, for you to see for yourselves. I'll also have some other photos of items of interest that ought to be brought up publicly Monday night to remind the City Commission that contrary to the mayor's PR spin, Mark Antonio bears a lot of personal responsibility for why things in this city are as half-assed and poorly-run as they are. All they have to do is open their eyes, since the evidence is all around us, but they greatly prefer the world of fantasy to reality, because in that world, they are entitled to whatever they want, no matter how outrageous or absurd. Consider that when the FL League of Cities has their 2010 convention over at the Westin Diplomat from Aug. 19th-21st, do you really think that Joy Cooper or the HB City Commissioners would publicly admit that for all of their waste of taxpayer dollars on things that she and three-fourths of them agreed to over the past few years, items that were opposed by the overwhelming majority of HB taxpayers actually paying attention, there STILL isn't even ONE directional sign in the entire city indicating where HB City Hall or the HB Police Dept. HQ is located? Not one. http://www.floridaleagueofcities.com/ http://www.floridaleagueofcities.com/Events.aspx?CNID=3164 "This year’s conference will continue our focus on learning, networking and idea-sharing." But apparently, NOT listening to taxpayers. Mark Antonio is also the person who seems perfectly content to allow a very dangerous mindset to remain intact at HB City Hall, one that so many of us have been seeing for years, to our utter disgust. That is the mindset where far too many city employees, including Dept. heads and Managers, as well as individuals in the City Manager's office itself, like Jennifer Frastai, seem to believe that there is no punishment for their NOT doing their job competently and professionally. Why do you suppose that is? Perhaps because there is currently zero personal and professional accountability over there, which is one of the reasons why I started my blog in the first place a few years ago, after dutifully going thru the proper channels over there and seeing nothing happen. I knew from my conversations with people I met in the area that I wasn't the only person who saw it and was outraged at the oblivious attitudes there, especially on public safety matters, where i received nothing but lip service. This lack of accountability has been particularly notable over at DPW in the 18 months that John Chidsey has been busy mismanaging it, as one project after another languishes. For instance, to name but one very obvious example, the water fountain directly in front of the A1A Community Center has been broken and without water since LAST August. One entire year! In other cities, if they don't have the part they need, it might be ten days or so, but here, over a year!. August 6, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier The empty water fountain looking towards A1A/South Ocean Drive that nobody at HB City Hall ever notices. August 6, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier Looking at the fountain towards the HB Fire/Rescue Station next door to the off-limits Community Center. And speaking of city employees who don't do their jobs and Dept. heads who could care less, let's not forget that recycling comes under DPW, where Chidsey has been especially ineffective. There are dozens of examples I could cite here -many of you know them by heart, I know- but here's a new one. On Friday, over the entire North Beach area there was but one blue recycling bin visible. And it wasn't really on the beach where it could be used by beach visitors, but between the sidewalk and one of the showers. Why ONE for at least five acres and not near the visitors? That's the way the city employees want it. Because the DPW employees don't care about recycling or doing their job, just what's easiest for them, and for them, hiding the recycling bins or making them impractical to use is their answer for making less work. Below is a photo I snapped in the city's parking garage on Friday after parking the car. Three bins stacked on one another near the entrance. But this is actually an improvement. Two weeks ago, the day of the city's Parks Master Plan meeting at the Community Center, there were three bins stacked on top of one another VERTICALLY. That wasn't by accident, it's the way they fixed them to make sure that nobody used them. And by nobody, I mean the HB taxpayers who already paid for them It's just another example of HB city employees cheating taxpayers of an honest day's work, but then that's hardly unusual when the people at the top are among the worst offenders. In case you didn't see it last week, the excellent Jackie Bueno Sousa column in the Herald that compelled me to invite her to Monday's meeting, complete with reader comments is at: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/03/1760023/if-government-cries-poverty-take.html?commentSort=TimeStampAscending&pageNum=1 Here's the editorial that appeared in Saturday's Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/07/1765501/local-perspectives.html Miami Herald Editorial August 7, 2010 Local perspectives HALLANDALE BEACH IS MONEY NO OBJECT HERE? You would think city commissioners and Mayor Joy Cooper would know better by now. In 2007 the commission and Mayor Cooper gave themselves a whopping $55,000 pay raise without bothering to notify the public first. As a result, a hailstorm of outrage from local residents rained down on City Hall, and the chastised officials rescinded the raises. But now city officials are up to the same old game: Hastily and secretly spending taxpayers' money like it grows on trees. First, they were so desperate to get rid of former City Manager Mike Good that they agreed to pay him an overly generous severance package worth $366,653 in total. Now, the mayor and commission majority want to reward interim City Manager Mark Antonio with a $15,000 bonus on top of his $145,000 annual salary. And, if it hadn't been for Commissioner Keith London, they would have signed the bonus check without benefit of public notice or input. The talk of a bonus for Mr. Antonio came at the end of long budget workshop session that lasted past midnight last week. Residents had left, and while a video camera was recording the session, the broadcast of the meeting had gone off the air. The commission turned to an evaluation of Mr. Antonio and generally praised his work. That prompted the interim manager to ask for a $25,000 bonus. Mayor Cooper countered with an offer of $10,000. Eventually the $15,000 figure was negotiated. That's when Mr. London blew the whistle for a timeout, saying a vote on the award of the bonus should happen in a public meeting for residents to observe and comment on. So, eager for some reason to ensure that Mr. Antonio gets his bonus sooner rather than later, the commission set a special meeting for 6 p.m. Monday at City Hall for the bonus vote. Mysteriously, they just couldn't wait for the next scheduled commission meeting. Commissioners and Mayor Cooper had better be prepared to justify why Mr. Antonio deserves a bonus simply for doing what he was hired to do. And to explain why they're so willing to be fast and loose with taxpayers' dollars. Reader comments at:

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http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/07/1765501/local-perspectives.html?commentSort=TimeStampAscending&pageNum=1

Date: Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 4:17 PM
Subject: I'm inviting you to see a City Commission that doesn't believe your Wed. column -they're giving a $15,000 bonus to an Interim City Manager for doing nothing

To: Jackie Bueno Sousa
Cc: "Gyllenhaal, Anders", "Schumacher-Matos, Edward",
Thursday August 5th, 2010 4:15 p.m.

Thursday August 5th, 2010
4:15 p.m.

Dear Ms. Sousa:

I'm writing to you today after having considered doing so many times in the
recent past after reading one of your telling, spot-on columns.

The specific reason I'm writing now, though, is your column of yesterday,
If government cries poverty, take a close look

It might surprise you to know that despite the lip service given by many
South Florida public officials to matters of tightening belts and other
budget cliches, there are, in fact, still many more cities in South Florida
that are largely in denial about both the current economy and their
own fiscal responsibilities in that new era requiring tougher choices,
and actually having to say NO occasionally.

In short, the need to spend taxpayer's money wisely in a logical and
responsible fashion with a modicum of oversight, is still a rumor to them,
as they much prefer to remain in 'laisssez les bon temps rouler' mode.

I know this because I live in one of those cities in denial:
Hallandale Beach.

On Monday night, the HB City Commission is preparing to give a
$15,000 bonus to the interim City Manager, Mark Antonio,
who has been a placeholder for barely two months, a few WEEKS
of which he was actually away on vacation, apparently, out-of-the-
country, so I'm told.
Antonio's salary and benefits already total just under $200,000
as an Ass't. City Manager for a city that's 4.2 square miles.

The last CM, Mike Good, an incompetent and unprofessional person
who was living proof of the Peter Principle, was fired by the City
Commission many years after he SHOULD'VE BEEN, on account of,
well, he simply wasn't showing up for work.
At all.

And when Good showed up, he was often late for meetings that
couldn't start until he was present, and I'm not talking about showing up
late as a negotiating tactic with a union.

No, for years he was often completely unavailable by phone to both
the City Commission and his own staff -completely incommunicado.
His wife often claimed not to know where Good was when she was
finally reached.

In fact, as Comm. Keith London noted at the time, Good was even late
for the special City Commission meeting that HE requested to discuss his
over-the-top golden parachute that was larded with things that nobody
in South Florida could get, and that for a city of HB's size, were shameful.
But the City Commission caved-in

Again, in the opinion of myself and many other pro-reform citizens
in HB that want genuine accountability and transparency at City Hall
instead of the stealthy and unethical behavior that's been the M.O.
for years, Good should've been fired for cause years ago, but
Mayor Joy Cooper ignored his longstanding problems because
Good allowed her to do whatever she wanted to, with nary a discouraging
word about her misguided policies or her routinely violating the state's
Sunshine Laws up in Room 247, away from the view of TV cameras.

This unethical and unprofessional behavior was going on for years at
HB City Hall, not that the Herald ever felt the need to see it or share
the news with your readers, since there has only been a Herald reporter
present at an HB City Commission meeting only once since June of 2008,
a complaint of mine and other HB residents that I've discussed frequently
in the past with Mr. Gyllenhaal.

(That reporter was Breanne Gilpatrick and she was only there
because it was a joint City Commission meeting with Hollywood,
her beat at the time.)

It might interest you to know that at the time that Good was fired, the
collective HB City Manager's office salaries were more than that of
next-door Hollywood, despite Hollywood being more than three times
as large in size physically, and three times as large in population.
Really.
And what do we have to show for it?

Giving that much extra money -for what exactly?- to the same person
who just a few months ago, illegally orchestrated an effort to prevent
me from accessing a public city meeting in Room 247 at City Hall,
and then canceled it while I tried to make my way upstairs to be the
only citizen present, is a non-starter.

If anything, Monday night should be an opportunity for HB residents to
finally purge themselves of all the angst and anger they've been having
to carry around all this time, and to describe in detail, in front of the entire
community, ALL the longstanding problems that have STILL NOT been
fixed or resolved to anyone's satisfaction by the City Manager's office
over the past few years, despite plenty of notice.

(Ones that are thoroughly examined in detail on my blog, complete
with photos.)

And since you're not in a position to know, it's a City Manager's
office that has included Mark Antonio ALL that time.

I'm contacting you to formally invite you to come up here on Monday night
for a 'fact-finding trip,' so you can see for herself what really happens with
taxpayer's dollars.
You will see that more than is true in most places, in HB, seeing
REALLY is believing.

Then, you can compare HB's version of "pain" to what you wrote about
in your column yesterday.

I'd be happy to talk or meet with you in the days prior to the meeting if
it's your intent on attending, and even have some other pro-reform folks
available to speak to you if you wish, since it's likely to be quite a scene
on Monday night.
This meeting is the proverbial 'last straw."

----------------------

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Keith London
Date: Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 12:32 PM
Subject: Special City Commission Meeting Agenda for the$15,000 bonus for Interim City Manager and a Charter Change August 9, 2010 at 6:00 PM
To: "Commissioner, Hallandale Beach - Keith London" <klondon@hallandalebeachfl.gov>

Everyone,

Please note there is a special City Commission meeting scheduled for Monday, August 9, 2010 at 6:00 PM in city commission chambers.

Attached please find a copy of the Agenda as well as the back-up information.

The first agenda item is a fifteen thousand ($15,000) bonus to Interim City Manager Mark Antonio. This was approved on a 4:1 vote after midnight on Friday, July 30, 2010 during the city's budget workshop. The item was discussed after the Channel 78 broadcast of the meeting had ended.

I suggested to my fellow City Commissioners that this item be discussed only with proper public notice. They unanimously agreed and the issue will now be discussed at this meeting.

The second item for discussion is the hiring of an INTERNAL AUDITOR. There will be a discussion and decision regarding amending the City of Hallandale Beach Charter to allow the City Commission to hire an additional employee. This individual will report directly to the City Commission, just like the City Manager and City Attorney do now.

If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me on my cell phone or by email.

Thank you,

Keith

Keith S. London

City Commissioner

Hallandale Beach

954-457-1320 Office

954-494-3182 Cellular

http://www.keithlondon.com/

Special Meeting August 9 2010.pdf As I'm finishing this post it's less than 36 hours before this "Special" HB City Commission meeting is to start Monday night at 6 p.m. Guess what? Surprise! The city's third-rate website, which city taxpayers have been paying thousands of dollars for every month, STILL doesn't have the public agenda for this meeting available nor the staff document. http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/ But I have it for you above, thanks to Comm. London. What better current example could I come up with for why Hallandale Beach needs big changes? Be sure to also see my friend Michael Butler's comments over at Change Hallandale Beach at http://web.me.com/mike.butler/Change_Hallandale/Welcome.html

Broward County Comm. Sue Gunzburger's email to Broward civic activists about ethics reform and Tuesday's Commission meeting

On Thursday, Broward County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger, who represents me here in SE Broward, sent the email brlow out via her campaign office to her supporters, Broward civic activists and the South Florida news media to make them aware of what was afoot with next Tuesday's Commission meeting, the subject of my blog post yesterday, concerning Buddy Nevins comments at Broward Beat.

Outrage: Commissioners To Debate Gutting Ethics Reform
http://www.browardbeat.com/outrage-commissioners-to-debate-gutting-ethics-reform/

The email below was sent to super-activist Charlotte Greenbarg, the President of the Broward Coalition, who thoughtfully forwarded it to me. http://www.browardcoalition.org/

------

Stand with Sue for Ethics Reform

** Urgent Action Needed **

Dear Charlotte,

It seems County Attorney Jeff Newton, working again in stealth coordination with at least one of my colleagues, is conspiring for a second attempt to torpedo ethics reform. Click here to read respected political journalist Buddy Nevins' new column exposing this latest scheme to derail ethics reform.

In the Agenda and backup for next Tuesday's Commission meeting (Item 8 -- and the related amendments -- on the 2 PM Agenda), Mr. Newton is actually proposing that we adopt the proposed Ethics Code (Agenda Item #7) ... and then vote minutes later to totally gut it. This is outrageous!

The County Attorney's so-called "glitch" ordinance proposal (Item 8) is a joke. It is nothing but a thinly veiled political attempt to kill ethics reform. It provides a lengthy "cooling off" period of many months before the ethics reforms would even take effect.

Why is this lengthy delay needed? Do any of my colleagues really need 120 days or more time to become ethical and comply with the new Ethics Code before it takes effect? I hope not.

In reality, the proposed delay is a stalling tactic to allow some of my colleagues to orchestrate lawsuits which would seek to kill ethics reform before the effective date. It would also eliminate any criminal penalties for violating the Ethics Code,

Even worse are the proposed amendments, which are purportedly instigated and authored solely by the County Attorney. These amendments would:

• Totally kill the proposed ban on County Commissioners simultaneously collecting a public salary while also earning big bucks leveraging public office by serving as a paid lobbyist.
• Totally exempt Commission spouses/domestic partners from the gift ban.
• Exempt Commissioners, spouses/domestic partners, and Commission personal staff from most of the new ethics bans.
• Exempt all current commissioners from complying with strictest parts of the proposed new Ethics Code.

With your help in June, we were able to scuttle the plot to kill ethics reform with a ridiculous "declaratory judgment" lawsuit. In response, the County Attorney hired -- at taxpayer expense -- attorney E. Bruce Johnson to weigh in with a "legal opinion" denouncing the proposed Ethics Code. Mr. Johnson's lengthy opinion letter seemingly parroted the County Attorney's absurd stance that any real ethics reform was unconstitutional.

What the County Attorney and Mr. Johnson failed to disclose was that Mr. Johnson has a significant financial conflict of interest that should have prevented him from rendering any opinion. You see, Mr. Johnson's own law firm earns money from having one of their attorneys (State Senator Chris Smith) engage in the same shady "lobbying down" conduct that we are seeking to ban. Thus, it was no surprise that Johnson put forward an opinion that the questionable conduct -- the same conduct which puts money into his own pocket -- is fine with him.

On my own, I inquired last month of respected former Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth on this issue. He told me he reviewed the proposed Ethics Code and saw no problems with it. In fact, Attorney General Butterworth told me there was no reason he saw for bringing any declaratory judgment action against it nor for legitimately questioning the constitutionality of the ethics proposals.

Despite this, the County Attorney (and presumably one or two of my colleagues) will not stop until ethics reform is killed. With the sad and disappointing headlines of the past year -- the arrests and convictions -- I couldn't think any better argument would be needed to urge adoption of a tough code of ethics.

HERE IS WHERE I NEED YOUR HELP. NOW.

Please call or email the Broward County Commissioner who represents your district. Demand that s/he vote on Tuesday to adopt the proposed Ethics Code (Public Hearing Agenda Item 7) and reject the so-called "glitch" ordinance (Public Hearing Agenda Item 8) and ALL of the County Attorney's proposed amendments to Item 8.

If you stand with me in support of real ethics reform, please contact your own Commissioner and let him/her (or all of them) know your views on this important issue. Here is the contact information:

District 1 - Ilene Lieberman - 954.357.7001 - ilieberman@broward.org
District 2 - Kristin Jacobs - 954.357.7002 - kjacobs@broward.org
District 3 - Stacy Ritter - 954.357.7003 - sritter@broward.org
District 4 - County Mayor Ken Keechl - 954.357.7004 - kkeechl@broward.org
District 5 - Lois Wexler - 954.357.7005 - lwexler@broward.org
District 6 - Sue Gunzburger - I already stand with you 100% for real ethics reform.
District 7 - John E. Rodstrom, Jr. - 954.357.7007 - jrodstrom@broward.org
District 8 - Vacant
District 9 - Albert C. Jones - 954.357.7009 - acjones@broward.org

Be very clear in your comments to them. Let them know you will not be fooled by any slick political spin or intentionally complicated legal gibberish offered as excuses. The bottom line: Any Commissioner who votes in support of the "glitch" ordinance (Item 8) or ANY of the proposed amendments to Item 8 is an ENEMY OF ETHICS REFORM.

There can be no compromise on ethics. No matter how upset some of my colleagues may be with me for continuing to advance this most honorable cause.

Please get involved right now. I need your help. This cause is too important for anyone to stay silent. Will you stand with me for ethics reform?

Sincerely,
Sue
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This email was the subject of Bob Norman's Daily Pulp blog column Thursday.

BrowardPalmBeach NewTimes
Morning Pulp
By Bob Norman Thursday, August 5 2010 @ 9:04AM

In the latest outrageous bit of behavior from our delinquent Broward County Commission, there is a new plan afoot to gut the new ethics reform. The insidious plan (as it appears on the agenda): The commission will pass the ethics proposals put forth by the Broward County Ethics Commission as they are, as required by law, and then immediately vote on amendments that would exclude themselves and family members from having to follow some of them. Among them is the key provision to bar them and their relatives from lobbying in Broward County.

Read the rest of the post here:
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/08/broward_county_ethics_reform.php

The subject of the Broward County Commission possibly gutting the Broward County Ethics Commission's work was also the subject of a number of posts by Brittany Wallman at the Broward Politics blog of the Sun-Sentinel.
These are in chronological order.

Ban on doing business with the county could hit Broward commissioners
By Brittany Wallman August 5, 2010 08:00 AM
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/08/ban_on_doing_business_with_the.html

Proposed county ethics "glitch'' law lets commissioners go after their complainants
By Brittany Wallman August 5, 2010 11:45 AM
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/08/commissioners_still_could_acce.html

Ethics reform dismantling draws quick foes in Broward
By Brittany Wallman August 5, 2010 05:30 PM
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/08/ethics_reform_dismantling_draw.html

Broward County Comm. Ilene Lieberman is the creepy anti-ethics monster that just won't die. She's the 'Mummy' of Broward County!

2008 Royal Mail stamp of Hammer Films' The Mummy, 1959.
"Its evil look brings madness! Its evil spell enslaves!"

In my opinion, based on what Buddy Nevins has forthrightly described in his Wednesday BrowardBeat column, below, Broward County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman won't stop selling her office's influence to the highest bidder 'till she's in prison shackles.

Sadly, it's that simple, and it's about time the statute of limitations ended for all of her many apologists in the South Florida community, including certain media members, who, for reasons that nobody can honestly explain, still keep giving her the benefit of the doubt.
Enough with the excuses already!

Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar, and Lieberman is exactly what she looks like: an unrepentant offender of the community's ethos, which is really saying something for how low we actually are now -and how much lower she will go.

If we were Amish, perhaps we could simply shame Lieberman or shun her or banish her, but... well, we're not Amish.

I am SO going to be in the front row of the Commission Chamber for that meeting!

And so are dozens of South Florida civic activists and bloggers. But will South Florida's news media actually leave their air-conditioned offices and show-up?

Or what about lawyer/lobbyist Steve Geller, who'd per$onally benefit from what Ilene Liberman's trying to do?
Hmm-m-m... now that's a question!

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BrowardBeat

Outrage: Commissioners To Debate Gutting Ethics Reform
By Buddy Nevins
August 4, 2010

Can the ethically challenged Broward County Commission sink any lower?

Commissioners will consider next week a set of amendments to gut proposed ethics reform.

The amendments are supposedly authored by the county attorney’s office. I see the hand of Commissioner Ilene Lieberman in this.

Lieberman has consistently argued against ethics reform. She has been accused in the past of using the county attorney’s office to further her aims of derailing any new ethics laws.

To read the rest of the post:
http://www.browardbeat.com/outrage-commissioners-to-debate-gutting-ethics-reform/

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See also:
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/stamps/content1?catId=32300674&mediaId=76000716
http://www.hammerfilms.com/news/uk-cult-classics-celebrated-on-royal-mail-stamps

Coming soon: Race baiting in the FL-17 congressional race and the case of the curiously-placed campaign signs

Coming soon: Race baiting in the FL-17 congressional race.
Just because it's low-key race baiting doesn't mean it's NOT race baiting.

You want proof, I've got it, plus, the curious case of the FL-17 campaign signs in Hallandale Beach and elsewhere that keep going up where they are explicitly forbidden: on the property of churches and public schools.
And yes, I've got the photos to prove it. That they've been in some of these locations for so long calls into question a lot of things about the candidates and their campaigns.

I'll also highlight some of the important questions that the South Florida news media aren't asking the FL-17 candidates as Primary Day draws near, while Miami & Fort Lauderdale-area print and TV reporters continue to snooze this summer away in their air conditioned offices, far from the candidates and the voters in a race that will send a new face to Washington to represent them.

To repeat what I said recently, is there a major newspaper in the country doing a worse job of covering an open U.S. House seat than the Miami Herald?

If so, please tell me the name of the newspaper and the CD and a short explanation making the case, and I will be happy to mention it here.
Frankly, I don't think I'll get any takers for obvious reasons.

And trust me, the Herald reporters really, really don't want to leave their office and get out into our sweltering weather, which is why they love forcing the candidates to come to them.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Hallandale&state=FL&site=MFL&lat=25.9856&lon=-80.1417

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My slice of the political universe -map of Florida’s 17th Congressional District

From http://www.govtrack.us/
"We help you keep tabs on the U.S. Congress. This is the independent, nonpartisan website that started the "civic hacking" movement around the United States Congress."