A day in the life of McClatchy's Miami Herald, as viewed by a reader who's largely given up on them fixing their problems, or surviving long-term

Above, November 12, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier of a Miami Herald vending machine on U.S.-1/S. Federal Highway in Hallandale Beach, Florida.

UPDATED 11/13/10

I guess I hardly need mention to anyone living in South Florida that the prices posted on this vending machine haven't been accurate for quite some time, but then the Miami Herald management's foolish insistence in the recent past that only charging Broward readers a quarter, while already charging fifty cents in Miami-Dade, would get them more readers and eyeballs on their ads, never made any sense either, though from a distance, it might've sounded good in theory.
Say from Sacramento, Calif., the home of McClatchy Company, which owns the Herald.

Even their own reporters and columnists knew this, as prior to their finally charging the same amount in both counties, it would've been rare for any phone conversation I had with a Herald reporter or columnist to end without them bringing the subject up, which told me in no uncertain terms that it was clearly a sore subject.

For the better part of the 14 years I lived in suburban Washington, D.C., in Arlington, VA, and caught the Metro train into downtown Washington for work during the week, whether from the Clarendon Metro station or the Ballston station, I happily paid fifty cents for the Baltimore Sun from a vending machine on my way down into the station -since the 1990's- while paying less for the Washington Post, because it was a very smart, well-written and well-edited newspaper.

The Sun, a newspaper I first read as a kid in North Miami Beach while growing-up a devout Orioles fan, is not what it once was, owing to a lot of curious moves made by parent Tribune Company, but on any given day, it's still usually much better than the Herald and the Tribune-owned Sun-Sentinel combined, and was well worth the price.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/

People in South Florida, especially serious people, will always be willing to pay more for quality, but they want to see it first.
That quality they seek is seldom if ever seen in the current version of the Miami Herald.

So what's the plan for the Herald's future, if any?

Exactly.

Back on September 18th, I emailed the following thoughts of mine, most of which were written while once again exasperated by what kind of product the Herald was producing.

I sent it to a couple of dozen or so of the usual well-informed, media-centric folks I know in Florida and around the country who get my observations before I usually share them here with you all later in the day, often after getting insightful comments, corrections or head's ups from them about related (or worse) MSM screw-ups closer to them geographically.

In light of what I wrote here on November 3rd about the Herald's truly dreadful coverage of the recent Giants-Rangers World Series, that is, their mentioning NOTHING about Game 2 the following day, on a Friday morning, while the South Florida edition of the New York Times, printed up in Deerfield Beach, 25 miles north of me, had a page-and-a-half of stories and columns, plus nice photos and box score info.

The Miami Herald's dismal Pony Express-style coverage of The World Series -compared to the New York Times- is a bad omen for readers
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/miami-heralds-dismal-pony-express-style.html

The following email is also in that vein, and all came together one particularly frustrating day about nine weeks ago, when I was checking the Herald's website for some information and noticed something quite troubling, which was not good news for either Herald readers or serious-minded people in South Florida who continue to ponder this simple question:
What's going on at One Herald Plaza?

-----

The Miami Herald's staff finally smells the coffee.
But is it too late?

Back on Sept. 1st, I sent an email to Edward Schumacher-Matos, the Herald's Ombudsman (the one without either a blog or a weekly column, but rather some once-in-a-while thing) because that was the day where an armed intrusion took place at the Discovery Channel HQ in suburban D.C. -a Maryland building I've been in dozens of times- yet it took the Herald hours to put something about it online.

This, even while a nice but not great photo of actress January Jones of Mad Men fame remained online just below the masthead for hours, while nothing about the story up in Silver Spring, being shown on LIVE TV for hours on the cablenets, was there.

It was just the latest in a VERY long line of jaw-dropping and galling editorial and content decisions at the Herald in the recent past that befuddle the Herald's dwindling number of readers.

In fact, I was so dismayed that I actually wrote Hallandale Beach Blog fave, Alan D. Mutter, creator of Reflections of a Newsosaur blog fame, and mentioned here often,
http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/ and asked him -only half-jokingly- if there was any chance that one of his savvy Venture Capital friends in Silicon Valley might want to reinvent themselves, and play the role of a media mogul, and perhaps take the Herald off of McClatchy's hands?

I even told him, "Trust me, the concerned and conscientious people in South Florida would've be very much indebted!"

Sadly, Alan replied that he didn't know of such a person.
But then I presumed that such a person even exists, oui?

-----

Date: Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 4:52 PM

Subject: Surprise! Takes over THREE HOURS for Herald website to mention hostage drama at Discovery Channel HQ in Silver Spring. Sleeping on the job, Just like Herald's Broward coverage!

To: Edward Schumacher-Matos

September 1st, 2010
4 pm

Dear Mr. Schumacher-Matos:

Nothing in this email is about the Herald's spotty coverage of Broward County in general or Hallandale Beach, and to a less degree, of Hollywood, in particular.
The paper's unsatisfactory coverage of them is what is is.
Reality.

Did you know that there are media sites overseas that have had something about this hostage story for a while now, yet the Herald has nothing almost three hours later but STILL has prime space at the top for

Kardashians

New fashion collection

They're cute girls and all and I get their appeal, but why has the paper completely
OD'd on them?
Seriously..

You should have one of the Herald's interns check and see how many times in the past six months there hasn't been something about them in the Herald.

Or how many times, since she was hired two years ago, Myriam Marquez has written anything at all about something going on in Broward County or of particular interest to readers there.

Trust me, it won't be pretty.
In fact, it will be grim.

Consider that your Sunday public policy section, Issues & Ideas, did not have the word "Broward" in it anywhere.
Or any story or column about some issue, personality or idea of particular relevance in Broward
Again.
For at least the second week in a row.

Do you know how many times THAT fact pattern has been true this year?
I did, I really did, but I stopped counting because it was so disturbing.
And pathetic.

The other day, in reference to the glacial and practically non-existent coverage of the Broward School Board races last Tuesday, and their lack of updates online, I compared the Herald's pace to the Pony Express on my blog.
In retrospect, I might've been exaggerating, but not quite in the way you might imagine.

In a day or so, I'm going to show that a careful analysis of Herald stories since last year's approval of the Marlins Stadium by the M-D County Commission, 5 of the 9 commissioners who approved it never had a story written about them in the ensuing 14 months that ever said anything at all about them and their vote on the stadium's financing, or any possible second-guessing or doubts from constituents.
ZERO.

That explains a lot.
Like why the paper was beaten soundly by a website on the stadium financing story due to a leak.

If someone with that info had tried to give the info to the Herald, unless they immediately got savvy reporters Matthew Haggman and Charles Rabin on the phone, unlikely, do you know what the Herald reporters and editors would've said or done?
Nothing.

The same response that Herald readers in South Florida routinely get from reporters and editors, like Beth Reinhard, Jay Ducassi and dozens of others when they contact them.

Those Herald employees first response is to call other people rather than call you back or return your emails about solid news you know or possess, even when you have photos that corroborate everything you say.

I know this first-hand and so do many other people I know who closely follow what goes on in Broward County and South Florida.

And guess what, the Herald daily shows that lack of context or understanding of the area they purport to cover, which is why so many readers constantly complain that the Herald's local news and govt. stories have an unusually high degree of fact and context problems, and are usually more notable for what is left out, often the most important aspect of why something happened -or didn't.

But unless you are there in person, like I am so often, you wouldn't know anything about it.

Seriously, when are we going to see the positive changes the Herald needs to make it viable and engaged?
What's the plan?

Not the silly one that got in print a few months ago, but a real plan that actually benefits readers who want real news?

The Herald's current plan of ignoring news because it's not in Coral Gables, Doral, Miami or Miami Beach is NOT working and is repelling readers from both the physical paper and the website, for reasons like why I wrote this in the first place: sleeping on the job!

From my perspective, the ship is still listing and there are NO ships around to rescue any survivors, if any.

I will leave to another day the confounding situation with reporter Alfonso Chardy and why his disingenuous professional behavior is allowed to continue apace, like nobody really noticed what he did a few weeks ago, blatantly lying to Herald readers in a news story.
But notice we did.

Not just me, but full-time print and TV reporters from around the state.
I know that because they contacted me to tell me they noticed, too.
And those are facts.

(About an hour later, after some website magic happened, I added.)

P.S. Congrats! It only took over three hours and continuous coverage on the TV cablenets for someone at the Herald to finally post something online. I can only imagine how things will be in the future when some blogger scoops the Herald that Fidel Castro is dead.

------

Well, as you might imagine, despite having exchanged cordial emails with him in the past, I never heard back from the Ombudsman, whose email address I have since deleted from my computer, since really, what's the point?

If the Herald's current and recent management care so little about their own readers that Schumacher-Matos lacks the tools or frequency he needs to be taken seriously by Herald readers, the sorts of things other large newspapers provide -and the facts clearly show they do- why continue to kid myself and think my emails to him will accomplish anything other than temporarily venting some of my dismay?

Which is why many of the past emails I've penned to him over the years but never actually sent, keeping in DRAFT instead, will be now be revisited here on the blog when similar situations occur in the future at the newspaper, as they inevitably will, since the Herald keeps making the same mistakes over-and-over.
They won't stop digging the hole they're in.

To use an image that I've often used here in the past, their behavior is akin to a dog chasing-its- tail -initially amusing, but ultimately, fruitless and irritating.
Like many current network TV programs.

I forgot to mention above in my prologue that in my second email to my media-centric pals, friends and acquaintances here in Florida and around the country, I also sent them a link to Bob Norman's spot-on Daily Pulp post of Sept. 17th about the greatly rising frustration level of the Herald's own employees.

It's so good, I have it here and urge you to read the entire thing, including the reader comments, whose frustration with the newspaper and its management is clear .

BrowardPalmBeach NewTimes
Herald Reporters to Management: Stop Mimicking Twitter and Focus on Serious Journalism

By Bob Norman
Friday, September 17 2010 @ 5:57PM

The following letter appeared yesterday on the Miami Herald's internal memo board, Readme. Signed by numerous veteran reporters and editors, it was posted the same day 49 more layoffs were announced at the depleted newspaper.

-----------

Sept 2010
OUR HOPES FOR A BETTER HERALD:

So, it's Saturday night, and you want to hear live music. Among your choices: going to the Hard Rock Cafe to hear Shakira (or Seal or Ringo Starr or Reba McIntyre); or going to a bar with an open mike. At the Hard Rock, you'll hear a polished, professional artist.
At open mike night, you'll probably hear people with day jobs singing Sweet Caroline ... perhaps lustily, probably off key.

Nothing intrinsically wrong with that open mike bar. But we'll bet most people, with
the ability to choose, would go hear the pro.

The Miami Herald, we would argue, is becoming the newspaper equivalent of open mike night. Or a flea market.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/09/miami_herald_reporters.php

There are 177 reader comments!

See also McClatchy Watch on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/McClatchyWatch

McClatchy Watch website, while defunct since before last Christmas, is still online:
http://cancelthebee.blogspot.com/

Broward Comm. Stacy Ritter plays her indignant card -again- in Sun-Sentinel's Broward Politics blog video of her sounding off on "paparazzi''

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h5d2utn39w&hd=1

Broward Politics YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/BrowardPolitics
Website: http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/

Below, some other politically-oriented or current events-themed YouTube Channels you may want to peruse or subscribe to, like yours truly.

I'm still subscribed to The Hotline TV and Sayfie Review, but neither has posted anything new in one month and four months respectively.
http://www.youtube.com/user/HotlineTV
http://www.youtube.com/user/sayfiereview


MyActsofSedition YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/actsofsedition
Website: http://www.myactsofsedition.com/

Change Hallandale Beach YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Butler1Mike
Website: http://www.changehallandale.com/

BrowardPalmBeach NewTimes YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/BrowardPalmBeach Website: http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/

Newt Gingrich YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ngingrich

Red Eye Recap YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/RedEyeRecap
Website: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/red-eye/index.html
Red Eye airs weeknights at 3am ET, 12am PT, on Fox News Channel.

I'm always saying here that "seeing is believing" -yes, you can quote me on that- but since so many South Florida print/TV reporters I've talked to in the past have expressed interest in shedding a well-needed light on some of these problems, often after hour-long, in-person conversations at their studios, news rooms or over at Panera's, only to actually do nothing
about making that story idea a reality, more direct action is necessary.
Well, I'm eliminating the middle-man -the South Florida news media.

After Thanksgiving, as part of some changes and additions I'm making to the blog and to the Hallandale Beach Blog YouTube Channel, which I have greatly under-utilized thus far, I will finally get those videos I've been promising here since... well, quite a while ago.

I plan on finally posting key highlights (or low-lights) of not only Hallandale Beach and Hollywood City Commission/CRA meetings, Broward County Commission meetings, and the myriad South Florida civic meetings I hit, but also video of some longstanding Quality-of-Life problems throughout SE Broward and NE Miami-Dade that have proven troublesome or irritating to local citizen taxpayers, and which in many cases, have largely been ignored by the appropriate authorities, or incompetently managed.
No more.

While that will principally be in Hallandale Beach, Hollywood, Aventura and the odd world north of North Miami Beach, Home of the Chargers, I will also be posting video of what I observe and find troubling in Miami, Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale and other parts of South Florida as well.

Please check back there again soon: http://www.youtube.com/user/HallandaleBeachBlog

Bob Norman's take on the 28 charges against Broward County Comm. Stacy Ritter, noted misanthrope

Commissioner Stacy Ritter's Nov. 10th video press release concerning findings of the Florida Elections Commission on an elections violation complaint.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqDU4a1rsYA

Bob Norman of the BrowardPalmBeach NewTimes is really on top of things in Broward County today, even more so than usual, as he reports that Broward County Comm. Stacy Ritter, the same indignant person who sent a comment to my blog in June telling me that I should've contacted her to get her side of a story before I simply linked to a newspaper story on ethics legislation by the Sun-Sentinel's Brittany Wallman -featuring a quote from FL State Rep. Ari Porth, as if Ritter would've even responded- now thinks it might be time to prevent Broward County citizens and interested parties from taking photos of the County Commission during public meetings.
Yes, the same Commission that supposedly works for them.
My post from June:
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/broward-county-commissioner-stacy.html

Ritter seemingly only wants a taxpayer-paid photographer who serves as a PR tool for the ruling political class to be allowed to snap-snap at public meetings.
Perhaps that person, whoever it is, knows Ritter's 'good side.'

The side Ritter certainly didn't show when she showed nothing but contempt when she ripped my friend, Charlotte Greenbarg, President of the Broward Coalition -who wanted the most stringent and far-reaching ethics legislation possible- when Ritter appeared before the Broward Country Ethics Commission.
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/bestof/2009/award/best-political-activist-845585/

Almost as if Ritter didn't even consider that her comments at a public meeting of great civic importance would be recorded, or that a transcript would be made.
Typical.
As I remarked later:

I wonder if Comm. Ritter is still angry about the public finding out via my email to Bob Norman of the Broward Palm Beach New Times a few months back about what she said about civic activist and Broward Coalition President Charlotte Greenbarg before the Broward Ethics Commission, one of the few meetings of theirs that I missed towards the end, where I was often the only member of the public present for the entire meeting?

Knowing that nothing actually beats seeing her own sarcastic words in print, I emailed those indignant words of Ritter's over to Bob Norman, who had the good sense to run them in his January 25th, 2010 blog column for everyone to read for themselves.http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/01/monday_quick_takes.php

Personally, after being back down here for seven years, and having attended many Broward County Commission meetings, I have yet to see a good side of Ritter's personality, or even see some sterling quality demonstrated by her that commends her for her current job.
But then that pre-supposes that one actually exists.
-----
BrowardPalmBeach NewTimesStacy Ritter Hit With 28 Election Charges, Complains She Feels "Stalked"
By Bob Norman, Wednesday., Nov. 10 2010 @ 3:00PM

The Florida Elections Commission found probable cause this morning to charge Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter with 28 election violations.

​The nature of the charges aren't clear, but they are based on a voluminous complaint filed by Hollywood attorney Brenda Chalifour, who was present at this morning's hearing at the Senate Office Building in Tallahassee.

Ritter did not attend the hearing, though her Tallahassee lawyer, Mark Herron, was there in her stead.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/11/stacy_ritter_hit_with_28_elect.php76 comments as of 9:40 p.m.

See also:

Previous NewTimes articles on Stacy Ritter:
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/search/index/collection:all/keywords:%22Stacy+Ritter%22/limit:50/

Previous Hallandale Beach Blog posts re Ritter: http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Stacy%20Ritter

Stacy Ritter's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/stacyritter3

Federal appellate court victory for free speech: Court strikes down Disclosure Laws imposed upon Colorado neighbors opposed to local political issue

Below is an email I sent out this afternoon to a few dozen well-informed citizens, elected officials, reporters and columnists throughout Florida and parts beyond the Sunshine State.

-----

The press release below was forwarded to me by my friend, Charlotte Greenbarg, President of the Broward Coalition, to whom I am, as always, very appreciative. http://www.browardcoalition.org/

Just so there is no confusion on this point, I'm specifically sending it because of the Sampson v. Buescher case.

I guess I hardly need tell you that despite how important this story is. it has NOT appeared in the Miami Herald or the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, which, sadly, things being the way they are down here, also means that it has NOT been mentioned on local Miami TV newscasts, and given a local perspective.

For more information on the case and to see the legal brief, see:
http://makenolaw.org/blog/6-ballotissues/120-campaign-finance-red-tape-in-colorado and http://www.campaignfreedom.org/legal_center/detail/sampson-v-buescher-10th-cir and http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/11/09/tenth-circuit-strikes-down-disclosure-requirements-for-small-ballot-measure-campaigns/ and http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?xmldoc=In%20FCO%2020101109081.xml&docbase=CSLWAR3-2007-CURR

Speaking of free speech, later this week, I'm making a Public Records Request to the City of Hallandale Beach about one of their many ridiculous or unconstitutional ordinances, which I wrote about on the blog last year in a post titled, Unconstitutional Power Grab: Hallandale Beach Considers Taxing Political Candidates for Free Speech
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/unconstitutional-power-grab-hallandale.html

This particular one requires anyone in this city posting a political campaign sign in public, whether for an individual candidate or an issue or referendum, to place a deposit of hundreds of dollars at HB City Hall.
To me, that sounds like regulating free speech.

I'm going to find out which of the dozens of candidates who have run in August and November for judicial and legislative races, both local, county-wide and statewide, complied and who didn't. And what attempts, if any, City Hall has made to collect their (illegal) $$$ from candidates and political committees, and or any fines.

Given how very poorly run this city is, I think you can well imagine what my low expectations are about this, which causes you to wonder why it was foisted upon this city in the first place, doesn't it?

Part of that law also would've initially given the unelected City Manager the sole authority to intentionally place campaign materials on city property if HE determined it would be in the public interest, NOT the elected City Commission.

Try to think of another city in Florida besides Hallandale Beach that would propose something so clearly preposterous and anti-democratic?

Not that the city's separate common sense rules for the legal placement of campaign signs, which city candidates are given when filing their paperwork, was followed, as this photo I snapped below -on Election Day- illustrates.

Above: Not just against common sense and city rules but gauche, to boot: Alexander Lewy.

This may be allowed in your city, but it is NOT in this one, and Alexander Lewy already knew it. Lewy doesn't care.

Even after I personally warned him two weeks before the election after seeing his signs illegally placed on City Hall property that was forbidden, even after the city's Code Compliance Dept. subsequently removed several of his campaign signs clearly on HB City Hall property where they were NOT permitted, Alexander Lewy would NOT obey the city's own rules.
In a few days, he'll be a HB City Commissioner.

Perhaps we'll see in a few months how lax the city's Code Compliance Dept. is when there are campaign signs advocating the recall of some sitting HB city commissioners.

I have a strange feeling they will suddenly become rather zealous in their enforcement, rather than simply look the other way, as is the case now with so many other self-evident code problems that remain problematic for weeks, months and years in this city.
Especially when the guilty party is the city itself.

Call it a hunch or simply call it past experience watching how things get done here.
Or don't.
Insert your own variation of the Goose: Gander maxim here.

If you didn't receive my email about it yesterday, please check out this interesting resource, which references a recent conference in Boca Raton focused on -really- municipal ethics with an emphasis on ethics in land use.
http://lawoftheland.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/readers-invited-to-access-culture-of-corruption-materials/


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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

November 9, 2010

Major Legal Victory for Free Speech

Federal Court Strikes Down Disclosure Laws

Imposed upon Colorado Neighbors

Arlington, Va.—A federal appellate court today held that six neighbors in the tiny subdivision of Parker North, Colo., should not have been forced to register with the government and comply with burdensome campaign finance laws simply for opposing a ballot issue involving the annexation of their neighborhood.

In Sampson v. Buescher, Judge Harris L. Hartz of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, writing for a unanimous court, recognized the severe burden Colorado’s campaign finance laws imposed on grassroots political activists. In his opinion, he wrote, “The average citizen cannot be expected to master on his or her own the many campaign financial-disclosure requirements set forth in Colorado’s constitution, the Campaign Act, and the Secretary of State’s Rules Concerning Campaign and Political Finance.”

IJ client Karen Sampson said, “This ruling is a complete vindication of what we’ve said all along. Campaign regulations and red tape serve no purpose in local ballot issue elections other than to make political participation more difficult for ordinary citizens.”

For a brief and funny video discussing this lawsuit, visit: http://www.ij.org/2504

Sampson and her neighbors first learned about Colorado’s campaign finance laws when they organized to oppose the annexation of their neighborhood into the adjacent town of Parker. The group talked to neighbors, circulated postcards and planted yard signs. But in Colorado and other states, when two or more people spend more than $200 to speak out about a ballot issue, they must register with the state as an “issue committee” and comply with rules and regulations that rival the tax laws in their complexity. Issue committees must appoint a registered agent, open separate bank accounts, and disclose all contributions and expenditures of more than $20 for such things as yard signs and fliers. Because Sampson and the others failed to register with the government before speaking, the principal proponents of the annexation used Colorado’s campaign finance laws to sue them.

“This ruling means that grassroots political activists in Colorado and the other states that compose the 10th Circuit can speak freely without fear of being sued by their political opponents,” said Steve Simpson, an Institute for Justice senior attorney who represents the neighbors in Parker North. “The Court recognized that the states have little or no interest in requiring groups that simply wish to speak out for and against ballot issues to register and comply with complicated disclosure rules.”

A recent study by campaign finance expert Dr. Jeffrey Milyo of the University of Missouri asked 255 people to comply with the registration and disclosure laws, and not one participant managed to do so correctly. The average correct score was just 41 percent. Each person could have been subject to fines and penalties in real life. Like those in Parker North, participants found the red tape was, “Worse than the IRS!” and said it would make them less likely to get involved in politics.

This is yet another important victory in the Institute for Justice’s efforts to protect free speech from government-imposed restrictions in the guise of so-called campaign finance “reforms.”

In March of this year, the Institute for Justice, working together with the Center for Competitive Politics, scored an important legal victory in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of SpeechNow.org, a group of individuals who wanted to pool their money to run independent political ads for or against candidates based on their support for the First Amendment. The ruling struck down federal campaign finance laws that made it practically impossible for new and independent groups of individuals to join together, raise money and advocate for the election or defeat of political candidates.

In May 2009, the Institute for Justice scored another important victory for free speech when a federal court struck down Florida’s “electioneering communications” law—the broadest regulation of political speech in the nation. The ruling freed community groups and educational non-profits across Florida and the nation to speak about candidates and issues on the Florida ballot without registering with the government and navigating bureaucratic red tape.

And on November 23, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to accept the Institute for Justice’s challenge to Arizona’s so-called “Clean Elections” system. That system funnels “matching funds” to government-funded political candidates and punishes those politicians who reject taxpayer money for their campaigns and instead raise money as most politicians have for the history of our nation—through private, voluntary contributions.

Plaintiff Becky Cornwell, who had to comply with Colorado’s laws for the Parker North group, said, “Individuals should not have to comply with complicated rules just to speak. As the group’s registered agent, I was constantly worried about making a small error that would lead to another lawsuit and possibly fines. Thanks to this ruling, I finally feel like my neighbors and I can join together to speak out about the issues we care about.”

In its ruling, the court also rejected the idea that Colorado’s disclosure laws for ballot issues could be supported by an “informational interest,” noting that such disclosure facilitated “ad hominem arguments.” Said the court, “When many complain about the deterioration of public discourse—in particular, the inability or unwillingness of citizens to listen to proposals made by particular people or by members of particular groups—one could wonder about the utility of ad hominem arguments in evaluating ballot issues. Nondisclosure could require the debate to actually be about the merits of the proposition on the ballot.”

Steve Simpson said, “Freedom of speech means that citizens, not government, get to decide whether to disclose their identities when they speak out about ballot issues. For those who don’t trust anonymous speech, the solution is not to listen to it.”

And indeed, research shows that most people do not use such information anyway. IJ Director of Strategic Research Dr. Dick Carpenter surveyed views on disclosure of ballot issue contributors in six states, including Colorado, and found that most people—about 60 percent—do not even know where to find contributor information, nor do they seek it out before voting.

“This is yet another example of an important judicial trend the Institute for Justice has advocated since our founding—that of judicial engagement,” said Institute for Justice President and General Counsel Chip Mellor. “Judges are becoming rightfully more engaged in defending vital rights and striking down laws that exceed constitutionally enshrined limits on legislative powers.”

Milyo’s study, “Campaign Finance Red Tape,” is available at: http://www.ij.org/1620. Carpenter’s research, “Disclosure Costs,” is available at http://www.ij.org/1530 and http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_13_04_6_carpenter.pdf.

# # #

Mendacity at Broward School Board Only Gets Worse and Worse; Ann Murray's shameful votes are like a noose she puts around her OWN neck!

Above, it's the return of the Broward County pol with the completely upside-down sense of right and wrong, Broward County School Board member Ann Murray.
And look who's joining her today, below, her good pal, Jennifer "Hello, I must be going" Gottlieb, the Board's current chair and principal apologist for all things ridiculous and absurd, which is to say every single thing they touch.


Individually and collectively, they continue to set very bad examples for young Broward school children on how to accept responsibility, treat others, how to be a responsible person in society at large, and how to act towards people whom they work for -Broward taxpayers.

As I've previously stated in emails and on my blog, in my opinion, a recall of two Broward County School Board members next spring or summer may well be required to get some semblance of genuine accountability and transparency there.

I'm not only fine with that, I will be happy to be an active part of making that a reality so that kids, and NOT immature, incompetent and self-involved adults, are the number one priority.

Seriously, how did they not see ANY of these problems coming down the pike?

As I've written in this space repeatedly, these are the same School Board geniuses who between them and Supt. James Notter, couldn't figure out a way to actually have their so-called Integrity public meetings televised on the TV station they already own and operate, and for which Broward taxpayers have already paid for.

Something I publicly wondered about in this very space before their first meeting.

Meetings that, for the record, were never held south of Fort Lauderdale.

Within the next two weeks I will find out definitively from the Broward County Supervisor of Elections how long both Jennifer Gottlieb and Ann Murray get to stay in office from their recent re-election before a recall process against them may begin.

In most places I've lived in this country, to prevent bad-loser referendums, you can't recall someone from public office within six months of them being elected or within three months of them being on the election ballot, but I'm not sure whether or not the fact that both Gottlieb and Murray were already in office prior to the election affects that time-line or not.
Assuming such a rule even exists here in Broward County.

I will keep you apprised as I gather the facts and will also let you know about those Public Records Requests I'm about to drop on the Broward School system.

Just a reminder -the Miami Herald and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel NEVER mentioned anything about this controversy surrounding School Board general counsel Ed Marko and the replacement process until Buddy Nevins at Broward Beat wrote about the Board's expensive parting gift to Marko last week.
Nothing!

Both newspapers never mentioned the interviews or meetings that supposed new-hire James Stokes was present at, meetings that even I mentioned on my blog days before they happened.
In fact, Stokes' name never appeared in print or online at either paper's website.

Sorry, but that's not just completely "Unsatisfactory," that's a well-earned grade of "F"

Above and below, July 13, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier looking south at the Broward County Schools HQ, 600 S.E. Third Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

As we see from today's School Board developments, when a circular firing-squad in Broward County has a deadline, they brook no discussion.
Shots must be fired regardless of the consequences!

Why should logic and reason get into the act NOW when it has been absent for so many years?

And what can you say about shameless Ann Murray -the rep for SE Broward, inc. Hallandale Beach and Hollywood- and her continuing lack of foresight, common sense and gravitas?

Today, rather than do the prudent and sensible thing, vote no or vote to table the motion, Murray voted to do something that should more properly be decided upon by the ENTIRE School Board that properly reflects the new additions from last week's elections.

To call what Ann Murray has shown over the past few years merely a political tin-ear, is to misunderstand what that term means in reality, and underestimates how reckless and unrepentant she's been in doing exactly what she said she wouldn't do if elected.

If Ann Murray, thru her own behavior and cast votes continues to put a political noose around her own neck, am I wrong for wanting to yank -HARD- on that noose and have her recalled from office?
And her pal in chaos and mayhem, Jennifer Gottlieb?
I think not.

-----

The Daily Pulp blog
Broward Politics
Broward School Board Pushes Forward With Bad Deal
By Bob Norman
November 9 2010 @ 12:20PM

The Broward County School Board has a bad case of emeritus.

You might think that after the stink caused by the Broward County School Board's plan to give outgoing Ed Marko a $266,000 salary to serve as general counsel emeritus after he leaves his position, the board members might just throw that idea out the window.

​Yeah, you'd be wrong. Today -- moments ago, in fact -- the board voted 5-2 to approve the position for Marko, though the salary is still up in the air.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/11/broward_school_board_pushes_fo.php

-----
Broward Beat
Farewell Letter Says Volumes About School Board’s Shortcomings
By Buddy Nevins
November 8, 2010

James Stokes’ farewell letter, which he sent when he dropped out of consideration for the job of the School Board’s general counsel, says it all. Stokes appears way too polite to throw brickbats.
However, for a government lawyer, the letter is pointed and it is easy to read between the lines.

It is obvious that the employment contract negotiations with current General Counsel Ed Marko were both insulting to Stokes and prompted him to walk away from the job.

Read the rest of the post at: http://www.browardbeat.com/school-applicants-letter-says-it-all-about-notter-marko/

-------
Mayo on the Side blog
Sun-Sentinel news columnist Michael Mayo
New school board attorney backs out
By Michael Mayo November 8, 2010 11:22 AM

The turmoil keeps coming for the Broward School Distirct: The attorney chosen to succeed longtime general counsel Ed Marko has quit before he started.

James Stokes, the city attorney from Palm Bay, Florida, notified district officials this morning that he is no longer interested in the job.

Stokes was offered the position last month, but his contract terms hadn't been finalized.
The salary was supposed to be in the range of $180,000-$216,000.

Read the rest of the post at: http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2010/11/new_school_board_attorney_back.html

-----

Broward Beat
School Board Back To Step One After Attorney Choice Drops Out
By Buddy Nevins
November 8, 2010

James Stokes, the city attorney in Palm Bay, Florida who was slated to be the new Broward School Board attorney, has decided he doesn’t want the job.

That puts the School Board back at step one in the process to replace longtime General Counsel Ed Marko.

Stokes dropped out after negotiations with Marko over his future pay and responsibilities.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.browardbeat.com/school-board-attorney-candidate-drops-out-board-back-to-step-one/

-----

Mayo on the Side blog
Another Broward School Board outrage: $266,654 retirement gift to attorney Marko
By Michael Mayo
November 5, 2010 09:58 AM

Talk about outrageous: On the verge of a big revamp, the Broward School Board is set to give longtime attorney Ed Marko a fat retirement gift: a one-year contract worth $266,654 to serve as "general counsel emeritus.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2010/11/another_broward_school_board_o.html

Addition by subtraction: Richard Cannone leaving City of Hallandale Beach for PA; let's hope his replacement is more forthcoming, honest than he was

Addition by Subtraction: Richard Cannone is leaving the City of Hallandale Beach for Pennsylvania; let's hope his replacement is more forthcoming and honest than he was.
Not that doing so would be difficult, since that's such a very low threshold.

I'll be posting more on the blog in the next few days about this great news about one of the poster children for the longtime dysfunctional and citizen-unfriendly Hallandale Beach City Hall, actually leaving town.
Yes, the theory of addition by subtraction at its very best!

I'll also highlight some prime examples of Cannone's handiwork that make me very glad he's leaving as Director of Development Services, where he and his staff consistently did as little as possible to be transparent with concerned Hallandale Beach citizen taxpayers and business owners.
The very people who paid his salary and his staff's.

His last day is Friday and after that, he is no longer our collective headache and can no longer treat concerned citizens of this very poorly-run city with disdain.

So, speaking of Richard Cannone and his management skills, please explain to me again why in this city, where HB taxpayers are stuck paying thousands of dollars a month for a third-rate city website, the city staff's official documents for the city's Planning & Zoning Advisory Board meetings -and applicant's official applications and submitted documents- don't actually appear on the city website until a a measly 48 hours before the meeting, instead of many days ahead, like in neighboring Hollywood?

If you REALLY want an informed citizenry and have residents and interested parties NOT confused or mis-informed by misinformation or rumors, why do you intentionally wait to make the information public until Monday, when the information is actually complete and available on Friday afternoon?
http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/index.aspx?nid=648

That's a simple question that Richard Cannone could never answer publicly.

Could it just be that HB City Hall wants citizens here to be in the dark and have no information? Yes!

Another simple question is why Cannone's own name doesn't even appear on the Development Services homepage?
Check for yourself at http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/index.aspx?nid=49

Another part of Cannone's legacy here!

Invisible and yet also leaving a bad taste.

Contrary to what Broward NewTimes says, Allen West's win will cause "Unsettling Two Years" for lazy, know-it-all South Florida reporters, NOT voters

Above, September 9, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel & Miami Herald newspaper vending machines in Hallandale Beach, FL. Neither newspaper's Editorial Board endorsed FL-22 GOP candidate Allen West and he won anyway, with momentum on his side at the end. Yes, media 'payback' is going to be a bitch.
And also fun to watch!





Above, September 10, 2010 photos by South Beach Hoosier of just some of the Ron Klein congressional campaign signs on Hallandale Beach Blvd., west of U.S.-1/Federal Highway, Hallandale Beach, FL. Unfortunately for Klein and his supporters, the areas where these signs were placed by his supporters are not only NOT in the FL-22 CD he was running for re-election from, but are actually quite far from it. Yet they were there for weeks.

Contrary to what Lisa Rab of the the BrowardPalmBeach NewTimes wrote on Wednesday -below- Congressman-elect Allen West's win over incumbent Ron Klein will cause "Unsettling Two Years" for lazy, know-it-all South Florida reporters, NOT voters.

And West and his staff will REALLY, REALLY enjoy getting the news media's goat now, and even baiting them occasionally.

This is really great news for South Florida residents and news junkies alike, since the one thing that all civic activists and elected officials I know in South Florida are in complete agreement on, whether they are conservative, liberal or libertarian, is the overwhelming sense of mental and physical laziness of the majority of the South Florida news media, print and electronic.

And in many cases, their almost complete lack of curiosity, causing you to wonder why they are in that profession. Some are like ciphers. It's one thing to have a detached sense of professionalism, another to act like you just don't care or are above it all.

As I've stated here previously, there are a lot of print and TV reporters in South Florida who I believe ought to be in smaller media markets but are here for reasons NOT having to do with either quality or talent.

Oh, and did I mention how many want everything on a silver platter, when THEY want it?

So many show-up for events not really having a good understanding of what previously happened -or didn't- that necessitates another public meeting to take place.
Is it really too much to expect that they do some research and homework before showing-up?

Not that this sounds at all surprising to anyone who comes to this blog regularly, since I'm forever decrying how much worse the South Florida's news media's curiosity and work ethic is now compared to when I was growing-up down here, despite the advent of technology that makes their jobs easier than ever.
The thing is, nobody I ever meet at public policy events ever disagrees with that sentiment.
It's the dispiriting consensus opinion.

Showing-up really matters, as is showing-up on time, and the current crop of reporters, by-and-large, prefer to do their reporting by telephone -or by calling me or other people after-the-fact to find out what happened.

That is simply NOT a satisfactory way to cover news in such a dynamic-if-corrupt part of the United States.
Not by any stretch of the imagination.

If you don't think Allen West and his staff know exactly which members of the South Florida news media were crass, patronizing, punky, condescending and less-than-professional in their months-long coverage of his race against Ron Klein, and some of the nuttier elements of the liberal South Florida establishment, and were phoning-it in from the get-go, guess again.

http://www.allenwestforcongress.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/AllenWestForCongress

You don't have to be a friend of Allen West or even someone who voted for him to know that he is one person who is NOT at all interested in being South Florida's or the national MSM's "pet," like Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, who has STILL never run in a competitive congressional race.

Thanks to Amendment 5 & 6 passing on Tuesday, we just might see such a thing in a few years, and that would be good for everyone concerned.
Plus, competitive races generally (but not always) prevent the sort of endemic lapdog journalism DWS has enjoyed in South Florida for years.

We need more watchdog reporting and less lapdog!

The latest news on Allen West is here: http://www.google.com/search?q=Allen+West

Meanwhile, a year ago...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP2p91dvm6M


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lthfkdb0Gs



Minority GOP Candidates Make History
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j2RBqiNlho


Below, an example of what I'm talking about: opinions masquerading as journalism.

-----

Allen West Wins Congressional Seat, Voters to Deal With Unsettling Two Years
By Lisa Rab
Wed., Nov. 3 2010 @ 6:18AM

Well, it's only two years. But with Allen West serving as the congressman for the coastal congressional District 22 that spans Broward and Palm Beach counties, those years could be rather unsettling.

Read the rest of the screed at
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/juice/2010/11/allen_west_wins_congressional_seat.php

When you're already fighting tradition in your Congressional re-election race, OH-16, there's never enough time. Boccieri vs. Renacci

Politics: Bowled Over by a Wave Election by Ben Werschkul of the New York Times

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIem-m5MSsA

First-term U.S. Rep. John Boccieri (OH-16), representing rural and small-town Ohio across the Ohio River from Pennsylvania, loses his seat in Tuesday's GOP tsunami to businessman and former Wadsworth mayor Jim Renacci, despite enthusiastic visits by Bill Clinton.

An example of the humorous comparative ads run against him.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LweEMzEaSg

So was it his record of voting for nearly every aspect of the Obama economic agenda, or was he always more liberal than his district was, and simply an anomaly swept-in because due to Obama's popularity in 2008, and now, two years later, sent packing because he was always a bad fit?

Well, two years ago, Boccieri became the first Democrat to represent that House seat in almost 60 years, so he was always fighting tradition. On Tuesday, tradition came roaring back in the Buckeye State.

See also TimesCast | Voter Mood in Ohio
http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/politics/1194811622221/index.html


If you haven't already heard of it, please bookmark The Washington Post's helpful website to make sense of who is who in the new Washington called, simply, Who Runs Government, at http://www.whorunsgov.com/

http://video.nytimes.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewYorkTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/politics/

Western Australia residents protest plans for 1,500 male asylum seekers in camp 100 km. NE of Perth, made WITHOUT community input; Minister a no-show!

Video of Thursday night's contentious meeting in Northam from Australia's Channel Ten
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDjL8kWzOIs

NOTIFICATION OF PUBLIC MEETING - IMMIGRATION DETENTION & PROCESSING CENTRE

The Department of Immigration & Citizenship and the Shire of Northam, hereby give notice that a Public Meeting is to be held on Thursday 4 November 2010, Commencing at 7:00pm in the Town Hall, Northam, regarding an Immigration Detention & Processing Centre to be located in Northam. Representatives of the Department of Immigration & Citizenship will be in attendance to provide information on the proposal. Members of the public are invited to attend.

Or so said the Julia Gillard-led government press release.
But that isn't quite how it turned out, is it?
No, instead, you hold a meeting somewhere where hundreds of people have to stand outside at night.

Now that you mention it, the whole idea of top-down government planning and keeping the public in the dark sounds awfully familiar to this blogger.

When you add high-ranking govt. officials NOT showing-up, in this case, the Immigration Minister, Chris Bowen, NOT showing-up in Northam to either talk or to listen to angry citizens who are having this plan shoved down their throat, well, yes, it really does bear a great resemblance to some recent public events I've attended here in Broward County.

But without bully-boy Peter Deutsch's patronizing bluster -or the wail of the dingoes at night as you walk out to the car park- and, of course, without the embarrassing spectacle of Ann Murray or Jennifer Gottlieb refusing to even answer constituents' emails about attending the HB required Ben Gamla Charter School meeting.
(Code Name: AWOL Ann Murray & JenJen.)

And when you toss into the mix some facts not mentioned in the Channel Ten video above, namely, that the meeting facilitator, former WA Labor MP Gavan Troy, ordered the news media there recording and reporting on the meeting, to leave the Town Hall, but they refused to go, while still later, one area MP who did show-up actually left mid-way so that he wouldn't have to answer questions, well, you can see why people there were pretty riled-up.

From the outside, it almost looks like the meeting seemed designed to be a set-up to make the concerned citizens look bad or extremist, but instead, its enormous public failure only made Gillard's government look both incompetent and tone-deaf.

A very bad combination for a government that is held together by little more than Wrigley's chewing gum and the desire to stay in power.

Sydney Morning Herald
Northam, WA, seeks safety guarantee
Josh Jerga
November 5, 2010 - 7:09AM
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/northam-wa-seeks-safety-guarantee-20101105-17g4o.html

Listen to an audio discussion of the detention facility issue here via ABC Radio
WA residents up in arms over detention centre

David Weber reported this story on Friday, November 5, 2010 08:06:00

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2010/s3057316.htm

http://www.visitnorthamwa.com.au/
http://www.youtube.com/user/ten
http://ten.com.au/

Special thanks for the head's up on this interesting public policy story from the Hallandale Beach Blog Special Correspondent in Australia, who alerted me to it early Thursday.
Her identity shall remain secret for now, but for this post, we shall simply call her ATA -All Things Australian.

Rolf Harris - Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D-LmRNdQiQ