Csaba Kulin on the reality of Hallandale Beach's population & demographics, and the anti-democratic Charter proposal for 'districting' that insults common sense and mathematics

Csaba Kulin on the reality of Hallandale Beach's population & demographics, and the anti-democratic Charter proposal for 'districting' that insults common sense and mathematics 

Below are two emails from my friend and fellow Hallandale Beach and Broward civic activist Csaba Kulin from the past month. They concern an upcoming Charter issue appearing on the ballot in Hallandale Beach that most well-informed people in this community paying attention quite rightly believe has the potential to make this city's elections even less-democratic and meaningful than they are now. 

And which could actually  decrease overall voter participation while also greatly helping incumbent city commissioners stay in power. 

WTF?

Now you must be asking yourself, who'd knowingly be in favor of doing all these things?

Yes, you already know the answer to that: Mayor Joy Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew of Commissioners Dotty Ross, Anthony A. Sanders and Alexander Lewy.

That it fails the logic and reason test is not surprising, given this crew's past track record,  penchant for mischief and circus antics, but what's surprising is that given the large number of ways that this city's resident taxpayers could actually get genuinely better and more meaningful representation for the entire city on the City Commission, such a ridiculously asinine proposal would be the one approved for the ballot by the Commission.

Surprise!

This while others were not even considered, despite how much more logical, positive and persuasive they are for getting increased citizen/voter participation at HB City Hall and come election time, which this year is November 6th.

Because there is so very much to say on this subject -which, as usual, has been completely ignored by the taxpayer-financed faux newspaper, South Florida Sun-Times- later tonight after the Oscars telecast day or tomorrow, I'll be posting something with my own thoughts on what Csaba has written.

If you didn't see my blog post on Wednesday on what measures Mayor Joy Cooper is considering in order to get her own way on this Charter matter -despite how self-serving that effort truly is- it's well worth reading and can be seen here:

News re Ben Gamla Charter; Csaba Kulin informs us how Mayor Joy Cooper seeks to divide the community again and make-up new rules for her own benefit

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/news-re-ben-gamla-charter-csaba-kulin.html

In that future post I'll also take the opportunity to shine some long overdue light and scrutiny on some particularly galling and condescending remarks made by Comm. Alexander Lewy in a recent email of his, an email that posits a parallel-yet-opposite universe.

Unfortunately, Lewy's condescending email completely ignores the sad and unfortunate reality of this universe, where perpetually-oblivious Comm. Anthony A. Sanders has been a DISASTER in office for all Hallandale Beach residents, a disaster that will mark four years come August.

Trust me, no matter how many times you read what Comm. Lewy says, it never ever makes sense.

And if you're someone who actually endeavors to pay attention to what happens in this ocean-side community in SE Broward County, and who actually knows the truth about what goes on here, Lewy's Twilight Zone-like remarks will only make your head hurt!

-----

January 31, 2012

RE: Districting in Hallandale Beach.

Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor and Members of the City Commission,

During January 17, 2012 City Commission Meeting and several meetings of the Charter Review Committee (CRC) a considerable amount of time was spent on districting versus not districting and if districting, what kind of districting should it be. I believe you have at this time four options in front of you.

1.    The CRC recommendation of a seven member commission, mayor, three at large commissioners and three commissioners elected by districts.

2.    The Mayor suggested that the mayor should be elected at large and one commissioner elected from each of the four districts.

3.    Commissioner Lewy suggested that each chair be given a number and candidates compete for a particular seat number.

4.    Do nothing and stay with the current system.

I believe all versions have the intentions to increase minority representation while remaining fair to the rest of our citizens. The concerns I have is, very little proof, examples and evidence was presented by knowledgeable sources of the unintended consequences of any of the options. Do we increase or decrease minority representation? Do we disenfranchise any other part of the City?  

The CRC did ask the City for the 2010 Census data to be able to evaluate population distribution by Census Tracts. The City did not provide those numbers to the CRC so I had researched it myself. I have attached the data in a spreadsheet for anyone to analyze.  In case you do not have a spread sheet on your computer, I included the data at the bottom of my e-mail.

Please analyze the numbers, keeping in mind that each district must have approximately the same number of residents in it. How you could draw the districts you propose?

I have tried several different combinations of census tracts and I did not find a real good solution. Maybe you will be more successful than I was.

This is an extremely important decision you have to make. It is not something you can reverse on a “three to two vote”. Based on the lack of solid information and the unknown unintended consequences, I would go with the “devil I know versus the devil I do not know”. In other words, I would stay with the current system we had for a long, long time.

I hope this data will help in your deliberations.               

         

Sincerely,

Csaba Kulin

		Tract	Block	Census	Total
	GOLDEN ISLES AND THE BEACH		Group	Block	Residents
SE	Golden Isles	1001	3	1	2,531	6.82%
SE	A1A West side, South End	1001	4	2	2,045	5.51%
SE	A1A East Side	1001	5		2,900	7.81%
SE	A1A West Side, North End	1001	1	4	1,053	2.84%
SE	East of US 1 and South of Hallandale Beach Blvd	1003	3	2	1,017	2.74%
					9,546	25.72%
	NORTH EAST SECTION
NE	East of Parkview, West of Intercoastal	1001	1	1	2,374	6.40%
NE	East of Three Island Blvd, South of Moffet, West of Parkview	1001	2	2	2,117	5.70%
NE	East of Diplomat Parkway, West of Three Island Blvd	1001	1	4	1,287	3.47%
NE	East of NE 14th Ave, West of Diplomat Parkway, North of HB Blvd	1001	1	3	1,214	3.27%
NE	East of NE 8th Ave, South of Moffit, West of NE 14th, North of 3rd	1002	2	1	2,419	6.52%
NE	East of US 1, West of 8th Ave, South Moffit, North of 3rd Street	1002	2	2	791	2.13%
NE	East of US 1 and North of HB Blvd and West of NE 14th Ave	1002	2	2	1,776	4.79%
NE	North of HB Blvd, West of US 1, East of Dixie	1002	1	1	1,218	3.28%
					13,196	35.56%
	SOUTH WEST SECTION
SW	South of HB Blvd, West of Dixie, East of NW 6th Ave	1003	1		2,212	5.96%
SW	South of HB Blvd, West of US 1, East of NW 6th Ave	1003	2		1,091	2.94%
SW	South of HB Blnd, East of SW 10th Ave, West of SE 6th Ave	1003	3		1,579	4.25%
SW	West of US 1, East of Dixie, South of SW 10 Street	1003	4		1,171	3.16%
SW	East of US 95, West of  SW 10th Ave, South of HB Blvd	1005	2	2	2,785	7.50%
					8,838	23.81%
	NORTH WEST SECTION
NW	South of Penbrook, West of Dixie	1004	1		1,006	2.71%
NW	North of HB Blvd, West of Dixie, South of NW 10	1004	2		1,138	3.07%
NW	East of US 95, North of HB Blvd, West of NW 8th Ave	1004	3		2,099	5.66%
NW	South of Penbroke, East of NW 8th Ave,	1004	4		924	2.49%
					5,167	13.92%
					36,747	99.01%

-----

  

February 6, 2012

RE: Districting in Hallandale Beach.

Dear Friends and Residents of Hallandale Beach;

Every eight years the Hallandale Beach City Commission appoints a citizen-led Charter Review Commission (CRC) to examine the City Charter (their Constitution) and recommend changes to the Charter. The City Commission reviews the recommended changes and proposals they agree with are then placed on the ballot to be voted upon by citizens during a regularly-scheduled election or special referendum. The ones the City Commission does not agree with are ignored. 

Residents have the option of putting any Charter changes that are NOT approved by the City Commission on the ballot by what is now a very cumbersome petition process, one that seems designed to make it very difficult to go around the City Commission.

The CRC under former HB Commissioner Tony Musto’s excellent leadership, recommended five (5) specific issues to be placed on the ballot for consideration, as well as a number of recommendations to consider possibly placing on the ballot. All the recommendations are important, but one stands out in my opinion, as the most important change in the way our City is governed. 

That is the recommendation that we elect our City Commissioners by district. 

The impetus behind districting, according to its supporters, is to institutionalize a City Commission seat to the Northwest quadrant of our City. 

It's a noble idea, but the US Census Bureau’s 2010 data indicates that the NW area currently has only 5,167 residents, less than 14% of the city's total population.

Since the current system consists of four (4) City Commissioners elected “At-Large,” without increasing the number of City Commission seats, each seat would legally need to have 25% of the population within it.

In my opinion, the only way that the NW could have a distinct district of their own would be thru a Charter Question being placed on the ballot asking city voters to approve an increase in number from 4 to eight (8) City Commissioners, with the office of Mayor continuing to be voted upon by the entire city.

I have posted the 2010 Census figures at the bottom of this letter for your examination and to give you the evidence you need to have an informed opinion.   

In the interest of disclosure, these proposals would NOT affect the 2012 election and therefore my own candidacy, since if approved, it would not take effect until 2014.

The CRC recommended one method, Mayor Cooper yet another method of districting, but it looks as Comm. Alexander Lewy’s unsound method is moving forward. 

Comm. Lewy suggests that the City number each “seat” on the commission, 1, 2, 3 and 4. Every two years we would have seat 1 and 2, or 3 and 4 up for election. 

As I understand it, there would be no residency requirement to run for either “seat” and every registered voter may vote for a candidate for each seat.

As I see it, Comm. Lewy’s poorly-conceived idea has some major flaws in it. 

Currently, in each election cycle, the top two candidates are elected to a four year term by the number of votes cast for them. The third, fourth and fifth-place finishers go home to try harder at the next election.

In order to better illustrate the fundamental unfairness of what Comm. Lewy is proposing, let me give you a hypothetical situation. 

You have four candidates, two for seat “1” and two for seat “2”. 

Candidate “A” gets 4,000 votes and Candidate “B” gets 3,800 votes for seat “1”. 

Candidate “C” gets 2,500 votes and Candidate “D” gets 2,000 votes for seat “2”. 

Under Comm. Lewy's anti-democratic proposal, Candidate “A” wins with 4,000 votes, of course, yet somehow  Candidate “C” wins with 2,500 votes but Candidate “B” loses with 3,800 votes. 

In my opinion that's totally unfair to Candidate “B” and I think you can see why. 

As has always been the case with an election for two seats, the two top vote-getters should be the actual "winners" in an election in Hallandale Beach.

Comm. Lewy’s very bad idea would literally seek to “divide and conquer” the people of this city.

As always, the best way to make sure that any area of the city is well-represented is to have the highest number of quality candidates running, NOT changing the rules and allowing candidates the ability to to choose an area of the city to represent without them being legally required to live there to qualify.

I strongly believe that every City Commissioner, regardless of where they personally live, must represent, work for and be a strong advocate for the ENTIRE CITY, and not just one part of it to be elected or re-elected. Any candidate for the City Commissioner MUST be acceptable to all areas of the City or he/she will not be elected.

Districting is a major deviation from years of practice in our City. While no one claims that the current system is perfect, the evidence seems clear that there are far too many unknown consequences to the districting idea proposed by Comm. Lewy, and all of them are negative towards actually improving this city.

That is why, given the poor choices we have been given to vote on by the HB City Commission, I recommend that we “go with devil we know, versus the devil we don't know”, and leave well enough alone.

I will vote an emphatic NO on this proposal.

Sincerely,

Csaba Kulin 

		Tract		Residents/ Percentage
		GOLDEN ISLES AND THE BEACH
SE		Golden Isles		1001-3-1		2,531		6.82%
SE		A1A West side, South End		1001-4-2		2,045		5.51%
SE		A1A East Side		1001-5		2,900		7.81%
SE		A1A West Side, North End		1001-1-4		1,053		2.84%
SE		East of US 1 and South of Hallandale Beach Blvd		1003-3-2		1,017		2.74%
						9,546		25.72%
		NORTH EAST SECTION
NE		East of Parkview, West of Intercoastal		1001-1-1		2,374		6.40%
NE		East of Three Island Blvd, South of Moffet, West of Parkview		1001-2-2		2,117		5.70%
NE		East of Diplomat Parkway, West of Three Island Blvd		1001-1-4		1,287		3.47%
NE		East of NE 14th Ave, West of Diplomat Parkway, North of HB Blvd		1001-1-3		1,214		3.27%
NE		East of NE 8th Ave, South of Moffit, West of NE 14th, North of 3rd		1002-2-1		2,419		6.52%
NE		East of US 1, West of 8th Ave, South Moffit, North of 3rd Street		1002-2-2		791		2.13%
NE		East of US 1 and North of HB Blvd and West of NE 14th Ave		1002-2-2		1,776		4.79%
NE		North of HB Blvd, West of US 1, East of Dixie		1002-1-1		1,218		3.28%
						13,196		35.56%
		SOUTH WEST SECTION
SW		South of HB Blvd, West of Dixie, East of NW 6th Ave		1003-1		2,212		5.96%
SW		South of HB Blvd, West of US 1, East of NW 6th Ave		1003-2		1,091		2.94%
SW		South of HB Blnd, East of SW 10th Ave, West of SE 6th Ave		1003-3		1,579		4.25%
SW		West of US 1, East of Dixie, South of SW 10 Street		1003-4		1,171		3.16%
SW		East of US 95, West of  SW 10th Ave, South of HB Blvd		1005-2-2		2,785		7.50%
						8,838		23.81%
		NORTH WEST SECTION
NW		South of Penbrook, West of Dixie		1004-1		1,006		2.71%
NW		North of HB Blvd, West of Dixie, South of NW 10		1004-2		1,138		3.07%
NW		East of US 95, North of HB Blvd, West of NW 8th Ave		1004-3		2,099		5.66%
NW		South of Penbroke, East of NW 8th Ave,		1004-4		924		2.49%
						5,167		13.92%
						36,747		99.01%

Csaba Kulin on City of Hallandale Beach's upside-down understanding of FL's Sunshine Laws, their pattern of intimidation re Public Records Requests; the city's abject failure in providing timely info on CRC meetings for the ENTIRETY of its existence -6 months

Csaba Kulin on City of Hallandale Beach's upside-down understanding of FL's Sunshine Laws, their pattern of intimidation re Public Records Requests; the city's abject failure to provide timely info on CRC  meetings for the ENTIRETY of its existence -6 months!

Below is an especially useful email from my friend and fellow Hallandale Beach and Broward activist Csaba Kulin which he first wrote back on September 2, 2011. I had meant to post it here shortly after he originally wrote it, but having failed to do that, in looking at it again, I think it provides a very good window for many of you to better understand the daily frustration felt by Hallandale Beach residents with respect to longstanding problems in how this city is managed -mismanaged- in so many, many areas.

Even ones that you would think would NOT be controversial.

This despite the claims that the city is ship-shape by those running things at HB City Hall, whether elected officials or highly-paid city employees, like some of the Assistant City Managers, who make $200k in salary and benefits, even while taxpayers wonder what they're actually doing to earn it, given that the city remains a morass, with low morale to match.
Yes, Assistant City Managers pulling THAT in a city of under 40,000 residents.

Csaba's email concerns how this small ocean-side city REALLY operates, and frequently attempts to use all manner of  obfuscation and intimidation to prevent citizens and other interested parties from gaining access to information they are legally entitled to, including, as I've demonstrated here a few times in the past thru personal experience, via email responses with City Hall with inflated and absurd costs for actually providing the PUBLIC INFORMATION, in an attempt to dissuade residents from actually filing.

Csaba's email is to the then-extant Hallandale Beach Charter Review Committee, whose meetings he either attended or watched religiously, gets to his troubling concerns with  the process the City of Hallandale Beach uses to dodge legitimate public discussion and force citizens and other interested parties to file Public Records Requests as a means to silence critics, esp. at public meetings, literally trying to starve them for information.

This often happens when elected officials and city employees are discussing a subject and claim NOT to know the answers they clearly do know, but are reluctant to make them public, for whatever reason.

This is made worse, of course, by a corrosive culture at HB City Hall that completely has it upside-down regarding government in the Sunshine, given that elected officials like Comm. Dotty Ross have felt free to chastise members of the public even BEFORE they can walk up to the microphone to ask their questions, in that case, Csaba himself.

More recently, we have the case of Comm. Alexander Lewy, who publicly steamed-up up on the dais during a City Commission meeting when someone spoke up to say that they were STILL waiting for requested answers from the city, and then Lewy showed bad judgment and lack of self-awareness by commenting publicly that he wanted to know why the citizen of his own city wanted it.

Really.


Instead of taking his oversight responsibility seriously, and asking/directing the City Manager to crack the whip and figure out why this continues to be such a problem, Lewy "killed the messenger." 

In that case, it was longtime Halandale Beach resident and civic activist Dr. Judy Selz, one of the most-respected and civic-minded citizens in this community who was outlining her difficulty in gaining information that she had a Constitutional RIGHT to.

See my previous post of on Dr. Selz here, Dr. Judy Selz zeroes-in on wasteful city spending, angering Comm. Lewy; Keith London's take on Hallandale Beach City Comm. meeting of Dec, 7 2011

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/dr-judy-selz-zeroes-in-on-wasteful-city.html

This sad and pathetic moment not only highlighted how very short of the mark Comm. Lewy has been in office for the 15 months since he defeated sitting Comm. William "Bill Julian, coming in second to Comm. Keith London for the two seats that were up in November of 2010 -you regular readers of the blog will recall that I consistently urged you in the strongest terms to NOT trust or believe Lewy back then, lest you be greatly disappointed by what you had wrought, a phony- compared to his grand promises of being a fully-engaged reformer if elected, but also shows one of the great aspects of Florida's Sunshine Laws that make up the state Constitution.

That is, in this state, citizens are NOT required to have to persuade elected officials or city bureaucrats of the importance or significance or reason for their PUBLIC INFORMATION request in order to receive it.

You'd think an elected official like Lewy would know better than that after more than a year in office.

The second part of this email which is noteworthy is its description of the city's COMPLETE LACK OF EFFORT to keep the promise made by City Manager Mark A, Antonio at the very first CRC meeting -a meeting I personally attended, being one of the two people in the audience in July- to make sure that background information was readily available on the CRC web page on the city's website so that citizens could watch CRC meetings on TV or via streaming and be able to see what was being reviewed and and discussing, so citizens could keep up.

Though Csaba wrote the email in September, it was just as true in October, November and December, since it was NOT until January of this year, weeks after the CRC submitted their final recommendations to the City Commission just days before Christmas, that Hallandale Beach citizens could see any of the information.

Once the CRC no longer existed!

You tell me, what good was it after-the-fact? Exactly.

That's how the public process works here in Hallandale Beach under the current crew at City Hall.

It doesn't, it only pretends to operate in the Sunshine and be competent and efficient.
It's all pretense, a charade.


That's why we need big changes here in Hallandale Beach when election time comes in November, just 33 weeks away.

Trust me, given their disastrous voting records against the best long-term interests of this city's taxpayers, their  complete lack of effort to provide genuine oversight, and consistently oblivious feeling for what's really going on in this city while serving on the HB City Commission, Anthony A. Sanders and William "Bill" Julian, have absolutely failed to earn the trust or respect of the WHOLE community, and do NOT deserve another chance to keep the status quo Rubber Stamp Crew of Joy Cooper in charge, ruining this city's future.
They need to be rejected in November in the strongest possible terms.

----- 

From: Csaba Kulin
Sent: Fri 9/2/2011 12:47 PM
Subject: CRC - Sept. 2, 2011

 Dear Charter Review Committee Members,

After two months of your existence I cannot find any information about your committee on the city's web site so I have to use only the names of the members I had some previous contact with. In my future correspondence if you like me to add the names of the rest of members, delete the name of some of the members or use a different e-mail address, please let me know.

During your last meeting, you mentioned the lack of interest of the residents in the work of the Committee. To some extent you are right but the lack of information available on the city's web site and the summer season can explain some of it. If you add to it the general belief of the residents that your recommendations can be and will be ignored by the City Commission, it is difficult to get real exited. I am an optimist, I will follow your meetings. I hope that you save the more important issues like districting, FOIA, recall any elected official and others for October, when most of our residents return from summer vacation.

During your August 31, 2011 meeting you talked about the City Clerk and his/her responsibility to honor public record requests. In my opinion, timeliness is an issue but there are bigger issues than that. Intimidation and the lack of co-operation are more important.

If I go the City Clerk and I request some information I have good reason to be "public record", the Clerk should have the following options:

*       I should be provided that information as is
*       "Black out" part of the record that is not public record
*       Deny the request with explanation (pending law suit, not in existence etc).

If I am not happy with explanation, I have a right to go to court and sue. As far as I know, in one case (09-22405 (03)) just the opposite happened. HB decided to sue the resident using the resources of the City instead of just "denying" the request. Of course the resident had to use his money to defend himself. The the way I look at it, this intimates me and many other residents.

Lack of co-operation comes in when I request some public record but I do not have the exact name of the items I requested. The City may call it a different name or give an extremely high cost for the request without proper explanation or ways to deduce the costs.

I hope you get a chance to read my e-mail prior to this afternoon's meeting.

Sincerely,

Csaba Kulin

There's a new princess in the world and Sweden has her! (Det finns en ny prinsessa i världen och Sverige har henne!) Prince Daniel declares "Mina känslor är all over the place."

Kungabebisen

http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/nyheter/article14421584.ab

There's a new princess in the world and Sweden has her! Det finns en ny prinsessa i världen och Sverige har henne!

Prince Daniel declares "Mina känslor är all over the place." (My feelings are all over the place.)

For a while at least, it looks like the Swedish royal family will have some happy news to celebrate and most Swedes will have the common sense and proper perspective to cut them some slack for a bit, instead of continuing the personal criticism of the King and Queen regarding their so-called "secrets" -that were NOT really quite so secret after all it would seem- that have come out over the past few years.


As I've stated here previously, Crown Princess Victoria's positive and warm personality and earnest thoughtfulness has helped keep her personally popular among the populace even while her parents have suffered the slings and arrows that many felt were overdue.


Already, hours later, there are stories appearing in the mass circulation newspapers with various "experts" positing that the birth of Victoria and Daniel's daughter will begin the permanent shift away from her parents and usher in a new era towards what she (and her new family) will do in the future, logic that is very hard to argue with, given how unpopular her parents are with some people.


Dagens Nyheter, http://www.dn.se/, had such a story on Thursday titled Focus shifts from challenged king to Victoria, with various media editorial types from different media groups weighing-in on how they thought they'd cover things in the near-future and long-term.


Fokus flyttas från en ifrågasatt kung
Allt ljus på Victoria och nyfödda prinsessan. Hovexperten Sten Hedman tror på en ny era, som kommer att vara väldigt lönsam för medierna.
http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/intresset-flyttas-fran-ifragasatt-kung-till-victoria


Naturally, once everyone got over the initial news, the next question was, so what's her name?
There's the mystery!


We'll all be finding out on Friday morning around 11:30 a.m. Stockholm time, and as I mentioned in an email to someone Thursday night, also named Jennifer, like one of my sisters and my niece, I asked, "So why not name den nya prinsessan "Jennifer" and then Sverige can really celebrate?"


I haven't heard back from her, but popular Stureplan.se blogger/model and longtime HBB favorite Tess Montgomery was already noodling on the name game from her perch in London by the time I came home Thursday:
http://stureplan.se/bloggar/tess/2012/02/23/una-principessa


The DN also has an angle on that naming question, too, with the Conventional Wisdom p.o.v. being Sylvia, like the Queen, the Crown Princess' mother, with some thought towards Astrid, which I like.


Names it WON'T be, based on my own educated hunch, include Chelsea, Hillary, Ashley, Jessica, Shania, Demi, Taylor, Reese, Winona, Juliet, Rachel, Giselle, Alyona, Lexie, Hayden, Angelina, Dakota or Brooklyn.
Or Lisbeth!


Malin or Marin or Marina would be good choices, and some of you out there in the blogosphere far from Miami know why I've always loved Kirsten.
But that would be too much to hope for.


Aftonbladet will be streaming the press conference LIVE at their website, so check it out if you can:
http://www.aftonbladet.se/

Trending at Hallandale Beach Blog: WBAL-TV's Lowell Melser's consistently crisp, thorough & detailed reporting at the George Huguely V murder trial in Charlottesville of Cockeysville native Yeardley Love

WBAL-TV News, Baltimore video: Breaking News: Correspondent Lowell Melser reports on the details surrounding the jury in the George Huguely V trial handing down a 26-year sentence in Charlottesville, VA for the Second-degree Murder of Yeardley Love. February 22, 2012.


Trending at Hallandale Beach Blog: WBAL-TV's Lowell Melser's consistently crisp, thorough & detailed reporting at the George Huguely V murder trial in Charlottesville of Cockeysville native Yeardley Love.

Whether detailing the ins-and-outs of the voir dire process, the Huguely defense team's strategy -and even the health of the defense attorneys- the emotional and evidentiary highs-and-lows of each day before a judge who works long hours and expects as much from the 12-member jury, or revealing the heartbreaking testimony of the Love family, Lowell Melser's reporting from the hometown of UVA, the school my niece currently attends and the one that Yeardley Love had grown-up dreaming of playing for, and as a young woman had grown to love representing for four happy years, has been first-rate and exemplary, a real credit to WBAL.

I've watched Melser's reports since before the trail started, which is of such great interest to me as well as to folks in the greater Baltimore community for the myriad reasons I've mentioned here in my February 6th post, titled, Yeardley Love in our thoughts: UVA & Charlottesville, extended UVA family & U.S. Lacrosse community are bracing themselves for the graphic details/photos that'll emerge in George Huguely V's murder trial starting Monday
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/yeardley-love-in-our-thoughts-uva.html


I had really hoped to have been able to post a few days worth of Melser's stories each weekend of the trial here for you to see, but logistically, that just wasn't going to work out, given how often Google Chrome has been crashing at the worst possible times, making what should've otherwise been a 20-30 minute operation take 90 maddening minutes, instead.
Sorry about that.


Ashley Robertson in The Cavalier Daily in Charlottesville captured the gaping hole in the souls of Yeardley's family about as well as you could, something you probably never saw in whatever TV news story you saw about the verdict or sentencing, but which is important to know:

Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman called Love’s mother Sharon and older sister Lexie to testify about the impact of Yeardley’s death on their family.

Few eyes in the courtroom stayed dry and multiple jurors needed tissues as Sharon Love described losing her daughter just five years after the death of her husband.

“Every year that goes by, I’m afraid I’m forgetting little pieces about her,” Sharon Love said between sobs. “[The pain] never goes away. You just pick yourself up and try to do the best you can for Yeardley.”

Lexie Love’s testimony also evoked tears as she described the emotional pain she suffered from losing a sister she talked to “at least once a day.”

“I’ve never wanted something so bad in my life as to see her again… it physically hurts,” Lexie Love said. “It’s like something’s missing — there’s a huge hole that will always be there and nothing’s going to fill it.”

It just breaks your heart all over again.
At least it did mine.
Yeardley Love and her family are still in our thoughts.


See the whole article here:


The Cavalier Daily 
The Verdict
By Ashley Robertson, Section Editor 
February 24, 2012
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2012/02/24/the-verdict/


-----


http://www.wbaltv.com/index.html 


One Love Foundation: http://www.joinonelove.org/

News re Ben Gamla Charter; Csaba Kulin informs us how Mayor Joy Cooper seeks to divide the community again and make-up new rules for her own benefit

Hallandale Beach Municipal Complex, February 13, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Below, excerpts from my email earlier this afternoon to interested parties in Hallandale Beach, Hollywood, Broward County and South Florida:


Now they tell us! 
"Ben Gamla, ironically, probably spoke Aramaic." 
Rimshot! - http://instantrimshot.com/


With news that he is now trying to tap the Tampa Bay area for one of his Hebrew Charter schools, the first article mentioned in the Google Alert I received today is especially good at describing Peter Deutsch's mendacity, his verbal sleight-of-hand with facts, and his facility for using an air of presumed authority to get his way if he can't simply bulldoze neighborhood opposition out of the way.


Florida Jewish Journal
Ben Gamla Schools: Threat to Judaism and the Constitution
By Rabbi Bruce Warshal
1:46 p.m. EST, February 21, 2012
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/florida-jewish-journal/opinion/fl-jjps-warshal-0222-20120221,0,6894869.story


It goes without saying that it would've been nice for those of us in Hallandale Beach opposed to Deutsch's proposal on N.E. 8th Street, and in particular, his constant belittling treatment of HB citizens and frequent use of bullying tactics, if there'd been some articulate people in South Florida like this particular author writing in local newspapers last year, who could've verbally supported the NE neighborhood's opposition, instead of keeping quiet like church mice.
Oh well, a victory in hand... 


http://www.browardbulldog.org/2011/05/hallandale-beach-neighbors-fight-plans-for-charter-school-pushed-by-ex-congressman-peter-deutsch/


http://www.browardbulldog.org/2011/07/hallandale-to-vote-on-1-2-million-deutsch-land-deal-purchase-would-quell-upset-neighbors/

Above and below, looking east from in front of 416 N.E. 8th Avenue, the former Hallandale Jewish Center that the city purchased last year from Peter Deutsch; main building above, parking lot below. February 20, 2012 photos by South Beach Hoosier.

Speaking of that apparent "victory" though, what do we actually have right now, as of February 22nd, after four years of fighting Deutsch?
Correct, the city owns a property on N.E. 8th Avenue in a largely single-family neighborhood, but it's one with an old building on it -and lots and lots of asphalt.
That's it.
But that's NOT at all what the HB community desired for the property long-term, is it?


Not by any stretch, so make sure you take advantage of the opportunity and ask questions 
and state your own personal preference for ensuring that the future of that property, which the city over-paid for, WILL BE a park or recreational space, at tonight's Town Hall meeting at the Hepburn Center on NW 8th Avenue at 6:30 pm, or the one being held at the North Beach Center on A1A next Wednesday night at 6:30 pm.
The sooner that green metamorphosis begins, the better for the kids.
Especially the older kids.


And now on to my main reason for writing you today, rather unexpectedly.


Those of you who recently received a copy of Csaba Kulin's very-informed email about the proposed undemocratic Charter change re the HB City Commission, should re-read it soon, or, if you no longer have it, look for it on my blog tomorrow, where I will post both his first and second email, and some thoughts on what he wrote.
Here's why it's IMPORTANT.


Having previously used undemocratic methods that violate the spirit of the City Commission's own established recommendations for filling the then-upcoming Commission seat vacancy in August of 2008 -the topic of many past blog posts here- without ever allowing the public to speak, Mayor Joy Cooper is going full-bore to do what she can to ensure that her very own Rubber Stamp Crew stays in place, even if that means she has to use extraordinary measures.


She's trying to head off 'the posse,' i.e. an informed, pro-reform HB citizenry that wants big changes and genuine financial accountability at HB City Hall come November 6th.


As most of you know, the HB City Commission recently voted to have this Charter issue appear on the 2012 General Election ballot in November, believing, quite naturally, that having it in August during a party primary would be a very bad idea, besides the simple fact that many Hallandale Beach residents don't come back to the area until around Labor Day, to escape the awful summer heat.
Comm. Keith London even made a point of reminding his colleagues of these self-evident facts in saying why November was the clear preferred time so that the largest number of voters could participate.


Well, this morning I received a copy of an email from Csaba detailing his experiences last night at Comm. Alexander Lewy's meeting over at Brio, the restaurant at Village of Gulfstream Park closest to U.S.-1. 
And it's a revelation in its own small way, which is why I wanted to share it with you ASAP, with Csaba's permission.


It shows that even more than many of you have privately expressed to me in confidence -via phone calls and emails- of your fears that Mayor Cooper is SO anxious to stay in power in November, after ten years as mayor, that she will attempt to split the community if need be, or even act in a clearly undemocratic manner, to get what she wants.


Simply put, Mayor Cooper does NOT want the largest number of eligible and well-informed Hallandale Beach citizens to have a chance to vote AGAINST this bad Charter idea, enthusiastically supported by her and Comm. Lewy. 
Instead, she wants the smallest number of people deciding its fate, and she wants to get her way, even if that means foisting a 100% vote-by-mail referendum that would happen before November.
This, in a city where there has NEVER previously been a 100% vote-by-mail election.


Again, I plan on posting most of the particulars of this issue on my blog tomorrow, which will also incorporate and analyze some particularly laughable, galling and condescending statements made by Comm. Lewy as well, so go there mañana and check it out and ponder its deeper significance for us.
It's a lot to take in, I know, but we also all know from personal experience that an educated voter is Joy Cooper's worst fear.


-----
N.B. to readers of the blog:


Rather than my trying to characterize Csaba Kulin's email, since I think it speaks for itself as far as Comm. Lewy and Mayor Cooper's myopia about the public's current mood and what they're willing to tolerate, I decided to simply post his words and let you read it for yourself and draw your own conclusions. 
Keep in mind, too, that Michele Lazarow and Csaba have already filed with the City Clerk to run for the Hallandale Beach City Commission, for what are currently the two seats on the dais with terms ending in November, now belonging to Dotty Ross and Anthony A. Sanders.
Michele and Csaba are pro-reform candidates opposed to the stealthy and incompetent way that Hallandale Beach has been mis-managed for many, many years under Mayor Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew, a motley group which over the years has variously consisted of Ross, Sanders, Alexander Lewy and former commissioner William "Bill" Julian, the latter of whom was defeated for re-election in 2010 and who is running again this year, as is Sanders for re-election. 
  
After the meeting Comm. Lewy approached me with a question. Who am I running against in the election? I responded that "I am not running against anybody, I am running for one of the two seats available in November." He than stated that "we must maintain a minority seat on the dais and it would be good for me if I would run for Ross's seat." I reaffirmed that "I intend to get the most number of votes I can and let the chips fall where ever they will." It was not the answer he wanted or expected.

After that, Comm. Lewy started to talk about the hypothetical "numbered seats" idea of his. He wanted to know if there was if there was "numbered seats" who's seat would I run for." I told him that it will not be an issue in this year's election so any discussion is purely theoretical. He tried to trap me to somehow say something different. 

As we all walk out of Brio, we see Mayor Cooper sitting about 30 feet away. Comm Lewy walked over to her for a 10 minute chat while I am talking to two people from the earlier meeting. After another 5 minutes, Mayor Cooper walk over to us and proceeds to tell us that she "enthusiastically" supports Comm Sanders for the commission. After then she said "I made a big mistake before" but now I support Bill Julian for the commission.

Mayor Cooper continued saying that "she is ready to start a petition drive" to put the "residential districting" on the ballot. No discussion, she walked away. After the she left, I asked the two residents standing there with me if they heard what I heard. They said that they heard the same thing. 

As far as Comm Lewy is concerned, I believe he is fishing for another person to endorse in November. He is not comfortable with Julian. 

The Mayor is clearly forming a "slate" of Sanders and Julian to run with her. It is not surprising to me, or to you, but wanted to share it with you anyway.

Sweden's nationally-televised WTF (musical) car crash moment of Saturday night -Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li., performing "Mirakel"; a new low for Melodifestivalen?

Sweden's nationally-televised WTF (musical) car crash moment of Saturday night during Melodifestivalen -Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li., performing "Mirakel"

Proof that, at least in Sweden, some people love a (musical) car crash as long as they are not in it...

No, it's NOT your imagination.

I really HAVE been avoiding mentioning what's been going on thus far at this year's installment of Melodifestivalen, the iconic and nationally-televised song selection contest over five weeks that annually leads to Sweden's choice for the Eurovision Song Contest, this year, taking place in Azerbijan in a few months.

I could get into the reasons why I've NOT mentioned what's doing with familiar Hallandale Beach Blog favorites like Molly Sandén and Timoteij so far, but it's easier to say why I've broken that silence -Sweden's nationally-televised WTF (musical) car crash moment of Saturday night -Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li. 

As always, seeing is believing!

*All screen grabs on this page are from SVT by South Beach Hoosier

To say the least, the reviews of Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li are in and they are so angry, scathing and unmerciless in their pummeling, that it's a wonder that many of my friends and folks I know, like Sofie and Pernilla -who keep coming back to the blog!- who watched the show LIVE Saturday night didn't, well, blow a gasket.

Or make like Elvis and shoot their TV set! 

Though now that I think about it, maybe some of them did, since as of early Monday morning, I have NOT heard from some of them after Saturday night's deltävling 3 -Third heat-of this year's competition in Leksand, like I did after the two previous weeks the past two Saturday nights in Växjö and Göteborg, respectively.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1keVBfBrVI4

I urge you to watch this video ASAP because this video will probably be yanked-off YouTube very soon by SVT for copyright reasons, but it's the only one I've seen that shows how truly horrendous the act was.

Oops! Too late. 

They already hit it and removed it since I saw it a few hours ago.

Since that's the case, watch their performance here on SVT Play's website, which will have the entire show online for viewing until MIDNIGHT Tuesday morning Stockholm/Central European Time (CET), which is one hour ahead of GMT and six hours ahead of yours truly in Miami, in U.S.  Eastern.
So the deadline for seeing this is 6 p.m. Eastern.

Get moving, because the clock is ticking!

Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li appearance starts at 0:45:58 on the vid, ends at 0:50:05.

http://svtplay.se/t/102943/melodifestivalen

I watched the show in its entirety on Sunday afternoon, taking notes.

So, did I mention that people were angry?!!!!

Apparently, more than I thought, there were thousands of people watching TV in Sweden on Saturday night who thought they'd say a big f-ck you to the Swedish music industry, and do it by spending what amounts to about two bucks to text this "car crash" -the favorite metaphor being used among Swedish bloggers to describe this performance the first 36 hours afterward- and send them directly to the Finals in Stockholm on March 10th, at Globen.

Hmm-m... imagine if a participating country's national Eurovision song selection competition was hijacked by the country's usually-friendly folket in order to send the worst possible act to Baku, Azerbijan for the actual European competition...

Hmm-m... now that's a question so preposterous and diabolical that even Stieg Larsson never thought of it while toiling away in Gamla Stan thinking of things for Lisbeth Salander to get upset about!

Yes, it's sort like what the Florida Marlins did in November in announcing their new Miami Marlins logo and uniforms for their new stadium in Little Havana... which was, itself, a rainbow-colored WTF moment as far as most fans were concerned!
Yet typically, the condescending Marlins owners and management act like this finished product is what they always wanted, and don't much care what fans really think.
They're so in love with the idea of being "bold," of marketing themselves in Latin America in pastel colors, that they've lost sight of what the real fans who actually attend their games think.

For those of you reading this outside of South Florida, I honestly DON'T see anyone wearing this stuff around the area, that is, except for the sort of person at the shopping mall who does so clearly to bring attention to themselves.
Like the sort of woman who purchases a new expensive purse or accessory and takes it with them to Sunday brunch and tried to appear blase about it, even while craning her neck to see who notices it.

Miami Marlins New Logo and Uniform

http://youtu.be/mC-zle_rk4g

Here's what some of the Usual Suspects, music-wise, have been saying so far.

Over at Scandipop, 

...it certainly got people talking, as well as voting – “Björn Ranelid” and then “Ranelid” both became wordwide trending topics on twitter last night after his performance.

At the ESC Xtra, which LIVE blogged the show, when it was finally announced that Ranelid & Li  had qualified to go directly to the Finals in Stockholm, along with Molly, they wrote simply,

I am lost for words Sweden. See ya next week…

At the more action-oriented Schlagerblog, which was not so crazy about Molly's song, either, they wrote

The big surprise for the Schlagerboys was how excited we got about Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li. Who'd have thought a bonkers orange bloke wandering around the stage rambling on in Swedish while his granddaughter prances around for the chorus in a glittery frock would be so fab! The best bit was near the end where the key change should have been, when he clearly forgot his microphone was live and started mumbling the words to the chorus. Love it!

I'll have my updates on Molly Sandén and Timoteij and what else is going on in the competition later in the week before Saturday's competition from Malmö.

-----

http://svt.se/melodifestivalen/


http://www.visitsweden.com/