Has FL House Rep. Joe Gibbons been secretly lobbying for approval of Gilbert Benhamou's (incompatible) 2000 S. Ocean Drive condo project on the beach that comes up for approval tonight? I'm told the answer is YES

The following is an email of mine that went out earlier this week to the Usual Suspects that comprise my grapevine throughout the Sunshine State of Florida.
It concerns some subjects that have been much-discussed here on the blog over the years: the nexus of the traditional linchpins of South Florida real estate development, lobbying and ethics.
I know, you're shocked -shocked!
Even more shocked that it involves our own erstwhile carpetbagger of a state rep, Joe Gibbons. 

Hallandale to vote on luxury condo tower planned for beach
By Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel
April 1, 2014
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-04-01/news/fl-spa-to-condo-drama-hallandale-20140331_1_luxury-condo-tower-tallest-tower-proposed-tower
-----

As you read Integrity Florida's Dan Krassner's email below about more proof that Florida legislators cater to the powerful, ask yourself, what is State Rep. Joe Gibbons doing?

As we all know from first-hand experience with him, just has long been the case too with Hallandale Beach Comm. Alexander Lewy, Gibbons loves nothing so much as to propitiate on behalf of influential people 

who can help him later politically.

That's who they are.

So, is Joe Gibbons secretly lobbying people in and around HB City Hall to approve the 2000 S. Ocean Drive project -where the The Regency Health Spa is now- that comes up for approval tonight's 6:30 p.m. City Commission meeting?

13.  RESOLUTIONS/PUBLIC HEARING

A.     A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, APPROVING THE MAJOR DEVELOPMENT PLAN (APPLICATION # 88-13-DB) FOR THE PROJECT KNOWN AS AND LOCATED AT  2000 SOUTH OCEAN DRIVE, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE V, SECTION 32-782 OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH CODE OF ORDINANCES, ZONING AND LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, APPROVING THE ASSIGNMENT OF 32 RESIDENTIAL FLEXIBILITY UNITS IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE III, DIVISION 2, SECTION 32-157 OF THE ZONING AND LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE AND FOR ALL OTHER PURPOSES. (STAFF: PLANNING AND ZONING MANAGER) (SEE BACKUP & BACKUP FOR ITEM #13.B. & #14.A.) (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

ITEM #13.A. WILL BE HEARD IN CONJUNCTION WITH ITEM #13.B. & #14.A.

B.     A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH AND GPH REGENCY, LLC., FOR THE PROJECT LOCATED AT 2000 SOUTH OCEAN BOULEVARD, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME FORM AS ATTACHED HERETO AS EXHIBIT 1; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (STAFF: PLANNING AND ZONING MANAGER) (SEE BACKUP & BACKUP FOR ITEMS #13.A. & #14.B.) (Supporting Docs)

ITEM #13.B. WILL NE HEARD IN CONJUNCTION WITH ITEM #13.A. & #14.A.

14.  RESOLUTIONS/CITY BUSINESS

A.     APPLICATION #143-13-FV, FOR A VARIANCE TO CHAPTER 8, ARTICLE III, FLOOD DAMAGE PREVENTION, SECTION 8-74, ADMINISTRATION, OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH CODE OF ORDINANCES, TO CONSTRUCT THE BUILDING PROPOSED AT 2000 SOUTH OCEAN DRIVE EASTWARD OF THE COASTAL CONSTRUCTION CONTROL LINE (CCCL).  (STAFF: PLANNING AND ZONING MANAGER) (SEE BACKUP & BACKUP FOR ITEM #13.A. & #13.B.) (Supporting Docs)

A well-informed person tells me that that is precisely the case.

Which calls to mind Recommendation #1 from the Krassner email below:

Apply uniform ethics rules for legislators and local officials.  If local officials are banned from legislative lobbying, then apply the same rules to legislators lobbying local officials.

If what I have been told is true, and I believe it is, shouldn't Joe Gibbons' name be appearing on the city's official lobbying list, and since that is his profession, he'd be well-acquainted with the rules, right?

Yes, it should be appearing there. 

But it's not.

Well, would you be surprised if I told you that the city's own Lobbying list -on its website- hasn't been updated since before Christmas, over three months ago?

http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/Current%20Lobbyist%20Registration%20List%2012%2024%2013.pdf

That is to say, last updated prior to the developer's proposed Plat being rejected by the HB Planning & Zoning Advisory Board?

And before it was rejected yet again by the P& Z Board a few weeks ago, to the consternation of the developer and his crew of highly-paid professionals?

No, you wouldn't be surprised because I've written so many times previously over the years on my blog and via emails about how consistently inattentive the City of Hallandale Beach has long been to meeting and following the letter of Florida's Sunshine Laws, and actually making sure that all appropriate public 

information is transparent, ACCURATE and made public ASAP.

NOT updating that list for three months is none of those things.

But if it is NOT on the Lobbying list, and it isn't, shouldn't Joe Gibbons name at least be appearing on the city's official Visitor list then, since that covers interactions regardless of where they occur?

http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6958

Yes, IF the letter and spirit of the law meant anything in this city.

IF this city was well-managed and there was a genuine fidelity to following laws among the powers-that-be at HB City Hall, elected and otherwise.

But here in Hallandale Beach, as I can personally vouch for, that is NOT the case.

The very city that continues to act like they were/are above the law by continuing to use the photos and images of mine they stole and have been using illegally for nearly four years, including on the front of the official city map, without my legal permission or paying me one cent, is proof positive of that.

It's time for the news media to start asking Joe Gibbons some hard questions about his stealthy lobbying style and the sorts of curious deals he has tried to strike for himself.

Maybe someone in the news media should ask the Board of Directors at the Parker Plaza condominium complex what sort of deal Gibbons had with them.

I've heard tell that Gibbons was so cocky that he was practically spending the keep-quiet money already before the developer decided that they couldn't afford the price Gibbons and the Parker Plaza folks wanted. 

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Dan Krassner <dan@integrityfl.org>
Date: Mon, Mar 31, 2014 at 7:10 AM
Subject: Report: Energy industry exerts outsized political influence in Florida

Nonpartisan government watchdog group Integrity Florida released a research report titled  "Power Play: Political influence of Florida's top energy corporations". Click here to read the report. Click here to read the press release. The findings conclude that, increasingly, the Florida Legislature sets its agenda and policy outcomes based on the needs of large political donors rather than the public interest.  In one recent example, the sitting state senate president openly explained his position on a public policy issue as supporting whatever one major campaign donor tells him to support.  A large Budweiser distributor contributed nearly $300,000 to political candidates and committees aligned with Senate President Don Gaetz and had the edge on its smaller craft beer industry competitors. A similar pattern exists for the energy sector in Florida where the Florida Legislature maintains a traditional, regulated monopoly-utility model.  This report examines the political influence of the state's four largest electric utility companies: Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy (formerly Progress Energy), TECO Energy and Gulf Power. These four corporations registered, on average, one lobbyist for every two state legislators each legislative session between 2007 and 2013.  For the last five election cycles, these electric utilities were among the largest donors to state-level campaigns in Florida. In the same period of time, the policy wins for the four electric utilities included rate increases for customers, legislation that allows early cost recovery for nuclear facilities that have not been built, the defeat of a proposal that would have increased electric bill transparency and the removal of consumer-friendly state regulators who opposed two proposed rate hikes.  Summary of Research Findings   Major campaign donations.  Electric utilities contributed more than $18 million to state-level candidates and party organizations between the 2004 and 2012 election cycles. Significant lobbying.  Lobbying spending by Florida's four largest electric utilities was more than $12 million between 2007 and 2013. Revolving door and cronyism.  Electric utilities have made a point of hiring former state regulators and have employed the firms of several sitting state legislators. Higher electric bills for consumers.  Floridians have faced higher electric utility bills from each of the four corporations examined in this study in recent years. Anti-consumer regulations.  The Florida Legislature and the Florida Public Service Commission routinely side with electric utilities rather than consumers.  Summary of Policy Reform Recommendations   Apply uniform ethics rules for legislators and local officials.  If local officials are banned from legislative lobbying, then apply the same rules to legislators lobbying local officials. Put inspector general reports online.  Inspector general investigative reports and audits should be posted online by the Florida Public Service Commission and all state and local agencies. Put gift and client disclosures made by all state and local officials online. Require additional disclosure for political donations from government vendors and companies regulated by the Public Service Commission. Establish electric bill transparency.  Unbundle bills with detailed disclosure of rate components. Sincerely,    Dan Krassner Co-Founder and Executive Director Integrity Florida Ben Wilcox Research Director Integrity Florida     Integrity Florida is a nonpartisan research institute and government watchdog whose mission is to promote integrity in government and expose public corruption.  More information at www.integrityflorida.org.  STAY CONNECTED

Forward this email Integrity Florida Institute, Inc. | 850.321.0432 | 715 North Calhoun Street, #4 | Tallahassee | FL | 32303 ----------- Yes, YEARS after he should have, in what is an obvious ploy to somehow inoculate and ingratiate himself to voters in advance of the Broward County Commission race against former Hollywood City Commissioner Beam Furr next year, after so many years of Gibbons consistently insulting the intelligence of the concerned residents of south Broward County and being an invisible presence, esp. in Hallandale Beach. And he compounds this by being, not incidentally, one of the least-effective legislators in the area, since Joe Gibbons is nothing if not the very picture of a knee-jerk politician. Gibbons actually has the unmitigated gall and ego to think that his personal and political ambitions are more important in the larger scheme of things than the truth, which is that the citizens of this part of the county and state are entitled to be represented in government by someone who actually lives here -all-the-time- not less than eight months out of the year. The citizens of this area deserve to be represented by someone who puts THEIR best-interests first, not his own! Joe Gibbons is the wrong man at the wrong time and he will NOT be missed after he loses next year.  ----- Sun-Sentinel video: Joe Gibbons responds to residency accusations. Video at: http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=91082&sitesection=sesunsentinel&VID=25052122 "I don't think it's right that I'm being kind of dogged like I have been by people who don't have my best interests at heart,'' said Gibbons. You're right, I don't have YOUR best interests at heart, I have the community's. The Southest Broward community that I live in whose residents you have lied to and mis-represented for so many years. You, with your non-legislative job not in Broward or South Florida but up in Tallahassee working as a lobbyist for a powerful and influential law firm. Color us unimpressed by you putting this community's best-interests LAST on your list of priorities for years, even while you drew a government paycheck purporting to represent us. You may've fooled all the lazy and indifferent reporters and columnists in Tallahassee and South Florida who didn't care about FL legislators actually living where they are supposed to, like the Sun-Sentinel's Michael Mayo recently admitted in his own column, but we have been totally hip to your serial lies and intentional misrepresentation all along, Joe Gibbons. So start making plans now to move up to Lakeland next summer and joining your dysfunctional family that has indulged your personal ego and overweening political ambition. You and your serial lies and your weird dysfunctional family obviously need more quality time together to bond! So, this community, the one you consistently put LAST, is going to give you the boot and give you the time to do just that! ------ South Florida Sun-Sentinel County commission candidate — and his wife — say Broward is his home Gibbons defends against residency questions By Brittany Wallman, Sun Sentinel August 25, 2013 He lives in Hallandale Beach. His wife spends most of her week in Lakeland. Their 4-year-old twins live their lives in Jacksonville. This is the family of Joe Gibbons. The state representative and his wife spoke out this week, telling the Sun Sentinel that Gibbons spends most of his time in Broward County. Skepticism about where the 64-year-old lobbyist and Democrat hangs his hat has dogged him since he married a Jacksonville lawyer five years ago and the couple subsequently had twins. Read the rest of the story of a pol coming to terms with his serial lies to his constituents at http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-gibbons-county-candidate-20130825,0,1635095.story A reminder: From things I've personally seen and observed, I believe that there's still yet another big shoe that will drop on Joe Gibbons this year. If everything checks out as it seems to as of now, I hope to be one of the persons dropping that big shoe on him sometime before Christmas. Christmas is the time for giving after all!

More amazing & infectious music that'll hook you from the start by super-talented Full of Keys (Anni Bernhard), from her #GrazingGrounds album: "Silent Agreement" & "Cover My Eyes"; Just MORE proof that everything I've said & written about her is 100% true :-)! @FullOfKeys, #STHLM

FullofkeysOFFICIAL YouTube Channel: Full Of Keys - Silent Agreement. Uploaded January 9, 2014

http://youtu.be/7yHULYTxEt4  

From the second album by Full of Keys The Grazing Grounds
http://www.youtube.com/user/FullofkeysOFFICIAL

Full Of Keys - Cover My Eyes (Stills Video) via Andreas Jismark YouTube Channel. 

Uploaded February 23, 2014. The second track from #grazinggrounds album. http://youtu.be/aha-pf_QrXo

Here are some of the early scheduled dates for the Grazing Grounds tour, so if you are going to be anywhere near Stockholm or Visby in the next three weeks, start making plans to go there with your friends RIGHT NOW.
Personally, I really love the Hotel Scandic Anglais, right around the corner from Sturegatan, which is also where another one of the blog's favorites, Jennifer Åkerman, @jjakerman, and her band Jaxx played last year: 

March 22nd Bunker Bar, Stockholm (Private party) 

March 28th Hammer Bar, Adelsgatan 33, Visby, Gotland

March 29th KGB Bar, Stockholm (Private party) 

April 4th Hotel Scandic Anglais, Humlegårdsgatan 23, Stockholm

Above, singer/songwriter Full of Keys (Anni Bernhard) while recording her second album, "The Grazing Grounds" at Sandkvie Studios in Visby, Gotland, Sweden. 
Ann is wearing the teal-colored Miami Dolphins cap I gave her from my trip to Stockholm in January of 2013. 
Also pictured here are sound engineer and co-producer Linus Larsson and musician/DJ/co-producer Mats Jönsson, April 12, 2013. 

My post on Anni from last summer:
http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/our-full-of-keys-drought-is-finally.html

More information at:
http://fullofkeys.com/ 
Blog: http://fullofkeys.com/category/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fullofkeys 
Twitter: @FullOfKeys https://twitter.com/FullOfKeys 
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/FullofkeysOFFICIAL

See older videos and photos of Full of Keys are at: http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/p/full-of-keys.html

Local10's Roger Lohse shows us slice of unsavory & unethical municipal practices that now pass for normal in South Florida. City of Tamarac (FL) preys upon people rushing to hospital E.R. and issues them red-light camera tickets

ICYMI: While U see desperate people heading to University Hospital's E.R., the City of Tamarac see $$$, via @RLNOOZ http://t.co/1qDrdYC7ax
— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) March 8, 2014

@hbbtruth just wait until you see our story sunday night
— Roger Lohse (@RLNOOZ) February 27, 2014

Local10's @RLNOOZ re "Study: Red-light cameras making some Fla. intersections more dangerous" http://t.co/UR1I5NKeLp #HallandaleBeach #greed
— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) February 27, 2014

Local10's Roger Lohse is on the case...
Red-light violators at hospital intersection in Tamarac ticketed
Published On: Mar 03 2014 12:53:21 AM EST   Updated On: Mar 03 2014 12:55:38 AM EST
http://www.local10.com/news/redlight-violators-at-hospital-intersection-in-tamarac-ticketed/24739270

Make sure you read the comments, 51 as of Saturday at 3:56 p.m.

Red-light cameras in Florida are on their way out and Hallandale Beach is FINALLY doing the right thing to end the revenue-generating scheme that has NOT made the city safer, but rather has made it quite infamous in South Florida; Csba Kulin weighs-in with insight and cold stone facts; @RLNOOZ

This video above ought to look familiar to almost anyone who lives in southeast Broward County, or in next-door northeast Miami-Dade County, the most traffic-gridlocked areas in the entire state of Florida. The reason? Lots of video of Hallandale Beach's detested red-light cameras in action!

Local10's Roger Lohse reports:

Study: Red-light cameras making some Fla. intersections more dangerous 

Feb 02 2014 11:34:20 PM EST   
Updated On: Feb 02 2014 11:47:11 PM EST

http://www.local10.com/news/study-redlight-cameras-making-some-fla-intersections-more-dangerous/24251504

@hbbtruth just wait until you see our story sunday night
— Roger Lohse (@RLNOOZ) February 27, 2014

Per the independent survey (by mail) of Hallandale Beach residents that was conducted a few years ago by a Kansas-based company that my friend and fellow Hallandale Beach & Broward County civic activist Csaba Kulin references below, along with some previous emails of mine about the subject, it's important for those of you who are new to the blog or far from here to know that the survey was full of 'loaded' questions that were quite clearly of the City Commission's choosing -i.e. Mayor Joy Cooper's, NOT ones the public wanted to ask and get answers to, which is to say that the questions were deliberately tilted in favor of a positive response for the city to begin with- the red-light cameras were cited by Hallandale Beach residents as one of the 4 worst things about the city, a fact that the mayor consistently underplayed since she was the champion lobbyist of American Traffic Solutions, ATS,

Mayor Cooper consistently failed to see the facts that most of us could see clearly at the time: it was a pretense to increase the city's revenue, not a reasonable attempt to solve actual safety problems in this city that is boxed-in by the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway to ther east and I-95 to the west, and only one road that bisects the city and allows north-south travel, U.S.-1/Federal Highway .

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/whats-worse-galling-audacity-of.html

Mayor Joy Cooper only saw revenue - $$$.

And she was perfectly happy to take money from drivers making legal right-hand turns on red when there was no oncoming traffic, if her cameras said that the drivers didn't wait long enough.

And what was the result of that?

Lawsuits that the city lost and had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in refunds and damages.

Much of that citizen discontent was not just because of simple policy differences but rather as I've discussed here previously, because of the rather egregious and ham-handed way that the city's program and partnership with ATS was rolled-out, with little transparency and public disclosure about relevant details that citizens like me specifically asked for and were entitled to have.
Details that, in the abstract, you'd think the city -any city- would want to have out on the table before the public if they were genuinely interested in getting the real facts out where everyone could see them so that smart choices were necessarily be made.

But Mayor Cooper and Hallandale Beach City Hall weren't interested in that.

Yes, it was yet another in the hundreds of examples over ther past ten years I've lived here where the powers-that-be at HB City Hall, like the HBPD, dis the mayor's bidding and did NOT 
cooperate because they wanted certain results, not a fair discussion and analysis of the problem and the unique geographical factors we have in this city: 3 city streets carry well over 90% of all traffic, and only one road exists that connects the eastern residents of the city on the beach with I-95. 

A complete lack of options.

Plus, there's the city's failure to actually post warning signs like other communities routinely did -where you could see them.

Instead, they had them placed behind a bus shelter located near the entrance to a retail complex -home of The Knife Argentinian restaurant- so that you couldn't  see the sign until you were even with it as you drove north on U.S.-1.

A sign that was located on the inside of the sidewalk, not where you could see it near the curb, as is the case for most but not all of those RLC warning signs in next-door Hollywood.

Even now, as I saw again yesterday, the city's warning sign on NW 10th Court & Hallandale Beach Blvd. is almost impossible for drivers to see given that there are multiple signs in front of it and it's placed in-between trees.  

Just as it has been for YEARS.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Csaba Kulin
Date: Thu, Feb 27, 2014 at 12:24 PM
Subject: Red Light Cameras in WSJ

February 27, 2014

Hallandale Beach Residents,

Due to the relentless hard work of our residents and three courageous Hallandale Beach commissioners, Commissioners Julian, Lazarow and Sanders we can say “goodbye” to the hated red light cameras. Unexpectedly even Vice Mayor Lewy joined the majority, stating in the Sun Sentinel that the time has come to remove them. Only the unrepentant believer in the red light cameras, Mayor Cooper voted to keep it.

I knew it was a bad idea from the start, thirty eight (38%) percent of our residents did not like it when the City surveyed us. Under the slogan of “the beatings will continue until morale improves”, we had to endure the punishment and enriched the coffers of ATS for several years to come.

There had been a lot written about the issue but today the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) had an article on its front page about “Number of Communities Using Red-Light Cameras Declines”. The article is good reading but please read the more than seventy reader comments. The comments reflect the public’s view on this issue.

I attached a link to the WSJ article for your convenience.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304071004579407413358714386?mod=wsj_share_email

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Date: Mon, Feb 24, 2014 at 3:55 PM
Subject: FYI: Csaba Kulin re the City of Hallandale Beach's Red-Light Camera contract with American Traffic Solutions (ATS) which calls for city taxpayers to shell-out $150k if city terminates contract before Dec. 31 -as they've voted to do

After all the dozens of blog posts and emails I've written on the subject of RLC's over the past few years, and all of the meetings I recorded, trust me when I tell you this: at NONE of the public meetings in Hallandale Beach that I or anyone else attended, before and after the ATS contract was signed and RLC cameras were initially erected -over the intense opposition of the majority of this community's citizens -in part because of where they were put up:  NOT where traffic accidents involving speeding actually happened!- were termination fees discussed.

Least of all, mentioned publicly by Mayor Joy Cooper, who received so much from Arizona-based ATS via campaign contributions funds and emotional support, and whose tune she has always danced and sung in public and in Op-Eds.

There was never any discussion of it or the the amount until AFTER the HB City Commission finally voted to get rid of it and the mayor was on the losing 4-1 side.

We got the specific numbers$ last week, weeks after the vote where both the City Attorney and City Manager couldn't answer numerous basic questions about the contract at the meeting where the vote to rid us of the cameras took place.

To most careful observers of what's going on here, which does not include the Herald or the Sun-Sentinel, the sudden need by City Hall to talk about termination fees seems like a rather ham-handed and obvious attempt by city administrators and city bureaucrats to justify keeping the contract, despite the will of the people actually being expressed forcefully thru the elected City Commission for one of the rare times in the past ten years, albeit years after they should've.

This from bureaucrats who routinely waste money hand-over-fist into the tens of millions.

re Unamortized amounts invested:

Also never discussed when Mayor Cooper and Police Chief Dwayne Flournoy were championing it as a safety measure despite all the evidence to the contrary that it was being done to generate revenue for City Hall: it would be HB taxpayers' obligations to pay for something -equipment- that would not be used if the contract was terminated.

Folks, it's NOT a perishable cake or pizza or a time-sensitive airline ticket we're being forced to pay for, it's metal, wires and software that can be used over-and-over.

So why are we going to have to pay ATS a hidden profit for something that the next govt. foolish enough to use it will also have to pay for?

Question for the media to ask the Mayor and Police Chief: if it's all about public safety, why all these years later are there still ZERO of the required warning signs for it on either west-bound or east-bound Hallandale Beach Blvd. as you approach that U.S.-1 intersection?

See prior posts re RLC's at:http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search/label/red-light%20camera

Dave

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Csaba Kulin
Date: Mon, Feb 24, 2014 at 11:43 AM
Subject: RE: Red Light Camera Contract
To: "Whitfield, Lynn" <lwhitfield@hallandalebeachfl.gov>
Cc: becjuli@aol.com, mlazarow@hallandalebeachfl.gov, alex@hallandalebeachfl.gov, onevision4life@aol.com, rmiller@hallandalebeachfl.gov, Nrafols@hallandalebeachfl.gov

February 24, 2014

Dear City Attorney Ms. Whitfield,

Thank you for your quick response to my e-mail and thank you for your explanation before and during the February 19, 2014 City Commission Meeting. As I stated to you at the time, I did not get your e-mail before the meeting and I did not have sufficient time to read the entire Agreement between the City and ATS. Now I had the time to read the Agreement and I do see the ARTICLES you referred to during the meeting.

To memorialize the essence of your comments let me see if I remember them correctly. Of course, if you remember differently, please let me know.

You told me that ARTICLE 1, TERM of the Agreement reads “the term of this Agreement be five (5) years and shall begin on the date immediately following conclusion of warning period”. That is the reason the Agreement shall not terminate until December of 2014. You are absolutely correct but you did not tell me about the “however” in the clause, the second part of ARTICLE 1.

The second part of the TERM Section reads “if the term of this Agreement extends beyond a single fiscal year of CITY, the continuation of this Agreement beyond the end of any fiscal year shall be subject to both the appropriation and the availability of funds in accordance with Florida law”. The language indicates to me that on less the City Commission budgets funds in the next fiscal year the Agreement is terminated at the end of this fiscal year, maybe earlier if no funds are available. No mention of the City’s obligation to pay ATS any “unamortized amounts invested”.

I mentioned in my comments ARTICLE 7, TERMINATION, Section 7.3, the CITY’s right to terminate the Agreement for “convenience”.
Part 1 of the Section 7.3 reads “In the event this Agreement is terminated for convenience, VENDOR shall be paid for any services properly performed under the Agreement through the termination date specified in the written notice of termination”. I agree, the VENDOR should be paid for services already performed.

Part 2 of Section 7.3 reads “VENDOR acknowledges and agrees that it has received good, valuable and sufficient consideration from CITY, the receipt and adequacy of which are, hereby acknowledged by VENDOR, for CITY’s right to terminate this Agreement for convenience”. This tells me that the VENDOR has received sufficient consideration from the City to cancel for “convenience” at any time. No mention of the City’s obligation to pay ATS any “unamortized amounts invested”.

ATS may argue for “unamortized amount invested” in ARTICLE 7, TERMINATION, Section 7.5. In my opinion, this Section is very poorly worded, ambiguous and unconscionably one sided favoring ATS.

 “Any termination of this agreement by the City shall be without any liability or damages to ATS, except if the Agreement is terminated pursuant to 7.1 above the City shall pay ATS the unamortized amount invested by ATS in the program at the date of termination by the City”. At a minimum, a comma should have been placed between “above and the City” to make the Section easier to read.
What does this above sentence say? The City pays the entire 5 years worth of payments no matter what? Does the City have any contemporary documentation as to the “amortized amount invested” or ATS will give it to the City now?

I cannot understand how the City’s law department “signed off” on the cause and I do not believe our City Commission was made aware of this cause prior to approving the Agreement. Had the City Commission decided to cancel the Agreement one month into the 60 month contract, the City would have been required to pay close to $750,000 to ATS? Am I wrong to assume this?

In my opinion there are sufficient questions concerning this Agreement and a significant amount of money demanded by ATS to hire an outside counsel to advise the City as to the proper course to follow.

You stated that the City Manager has the information as to the dates of grace period and start of the Agreement. She also has documents as to the amount invested by ATS and an amortization schedule of amount invested by ATS. I will ask her for that information.

I hope you will find the time to correct me where I am wrong because I do not want disseminate partial or incorrect information.

Sincerely, 

Csaba Kulin


--- lwhitfield@hallandalebeachfl.gov wrote:

From: "Whitfield, Lynn"
To: "ckulin Bill Julian, "Lazarow, Michele"  "Lewy, Alexander" , Commissioner Anthony Sanders
CC: "Miller C., Renee" , "Rafols, Nydia M"
Subject: RE: Red Light Camera Contract
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2014 23:01:30 +0000

Mr. Kulin

If you look at the contract, the effective date is not until after the expiration of the warning period.  The warning period did not begin until after the cameras and system were installed which was not immediately after the contract was signed.  With the installation of the cameras and the 90 day warning period the contract did not become effective until December 2009. 

V. Lynn Whitfield

City Attorney

(954) 457-1325

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From: Csaba Kulin
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 5:16 PM
To: Billy Julian; Lazarow, Michele; Lewy, Alexander; Commissioner Anthony Sanders
Cc: Whitfield, Lynn; Miller C., Renee; Rafols, Nydia M
Subject: Red Light Camera Contract

Dear Commissioners,

In the short time I had to look over the ATS contract it seems to me that the City entered into a 5 year contract in 2009 with ATS.

ATS signed the Contract February 24, 2009 and the City signed the Contract March 5, 2009.

You can find the signatures on pages 19 and 20 of the Contract.

On less the City signed a 2 year option, the contact is just about expired.

I hope you have time to confirm my findings by tonight's meeting.

Csaba Kulin

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, Jan 25, 2014 at 2:24 PM
Subject: re Sun-Sentinel's incomplete story re red-light cameras getting the boot in Hallandale Beach -just another example of their shallow reporting missing-the-mark 
Would've been nice if the Sun-Sentinel, for a change -FOR ONCE- actually focused on the myriad reasons why HB citizens have been calling for RLC to go for years, including an honest accounting of the the history of Mayor Cooper, City Hall and HBPD consciously deciding NOT to share public info on traffic accidents so that citizens could actually see where largest number of accidents occurred.

Once again, when presented with a story on a silver platter about a dysfunctional HB story that cried out for some genuine depth in it, the Sun-Sentinel went for the bury-'em-with-quotes 

approach that left HB's unique perspective completely unexplored, and has instead left objective observers just as confused as to why this happened here instead of happening in another city.

How can they bring the word trend into the story without ever explaining how it all happened?

What would those common components in other cities be that could make it happen elsewhere?

They don't say.

Until that paper is sold and new management and reporters are there, that paper 

is an afterthought when it comes to local news and political coverage.

No mention at all of the city starting a RLC program before the state authorized one, and with so little attention to detail by the City, HBPD or then-City Attorney David Jove that required warning signs were actually obscured from the public driving by, as I noted at the time with photos connecting-the-dots.

All these years later, there's still ZERO warning signs on either east-bound or west-bound 

Hallandale Beach Blvd. approaching U.S.-1

Those required warning signs on the median near NW 10th Terrace were NOT there when the 

city started their program or when the state did but much later.

I know because I have the photos that show that lack of attention to detail at the 
time, and most of you have already seen them.

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search?q=red-light

They didn't want to do that because they knew that if the facts came out, they'd be hard-pressed to explain why they were so insistent on placing cameras in places that'd clearly generate less REVENUE, including the illegal right-hand turn money they were getting hand-over-fist at the beginning that got the city so much negative media coverage across the state.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Red-light cameras kicked to curb - Hallandale yanks them, but will others follow?

Susannah Bryan and Ariel Barkhurst, Staff writers 
January 24, 2014
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-01-23/news/fl-red-light-cameras-bye-20140123_1_red-light-cameras-camera-programs-american-traffic-solutions

Megan McArdle's remarkable new book proves what we all know inherently about the U.S. identity -and which Michael Barone conveniently reminds us of: Americans learn to succeed by learning from failure; perseverance and motivation matters; @MichaelBarone, @asymmetricinfo

Megan McArdle's remarkable new book proves what we all know inherently about the U.S. identity -and which Michael Barone conveniently reminds us of: Americans learn to succeed by learning from failure; perseverance and motivation matters; @MichaelBarone, @asymmetricinfo

My mother sent me an interesting email this morning from Central Florida about author Megan McArdle's new book because she heard her interviewed today on the Diane Rehm Show, which as I've mentioned many times here previously, I listened to every weekday for 15 years when I lived and worked in the Washington D.C. area from 1988-2003, but less so since returning to South Florida 10 years ago.
When I read her email, I recalled that Michael Barone had written something positive about it recently, below.

Many years ago, probably the late '90's, there was a huge storefront window display on the ground floor of a large office bldg. on K Street & 15th in Washington where a client I did work for frequently had an office.
It's the Southern Railway Building in the Federal Triangle area of D.C. 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/5176785130/ 

It featured some red, white and blue bunting and had numerous photos of Abraham Lincoln -whom I'm distantly related to via the Holmes family- and consisted of a list of the number of times that Lincoln ran for elective office -and lost.
Lost over-and-over and then some.
But he kept persevering -and he learned from his mistakes.

Wish I'd had both a top-quality camera and a blog back then, so I could share the photos of that display with you here!

You can hear Megan McArdle discuss her book here:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-02-17/megan-mcardle-side-down

Americans learn to succeed by learning from failure http://t.co/ihAxHaqGk8
— Michael Barone (@MichaelBarone) February 5, 2014

Washington Examiner
POLICY: ECONOMY
Americans learn to succeed by learning from failure
BY MICHAEL BARONE 
FEBRUARY 5, 2014 AT 5:00 PM

America succeeds because Americans fail and forgive. That's the intriguing message -- or part of it -- of Megan McArdle's new book The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success.

McArdle, a Bloomberg blogger and columnist, stands out among economic writers, and not just because she’s the only woman among them who is 6-foot-2. She combines a shrewd knowledge of economics and practical experience with a writing style that every so often segues into comedy monologue.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://washingtonexaminer.com/americans-learn-to-succeed-by-learning-from-failure/article/2543527

More from Megan McArdle at @asymmetricinfo:
https://twitter.com/asymmetricinfo

You also might want to check out one of my all-time favorite books, The Corporate Steeplechase: Predictable Crises in a Business Career by Srully Blotnick, from 1984.
More insight into business, human behavior and personality types than you'll read just about anywhere.
http://www.amazon.com/Corporate-Steeplechase-Predictable-Crises-Business/dp/0871968401/ref=la_B001HOF9T0_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392663618&sr=1-4

Blogger, corruption-fighter and Friend-of-the-Blog Chaz Stevens getting his due yet again, as Buddy Nevins of Broward Beat connects-the-dots on what we've known for awhile: "Blogger Beats Sun-Sentinel Like A Drum"; irrelevancy of South Florida Sun-Sentinel

So, did you happen to read this the other day?
More thoughts re the almost-complete irrelevancy of South Florida Sun-Sentinel and blogger, corruption-fighter and Friend-of-the-Blog Chaz Stevens getting his due yet again.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel gets scooped again by eccentric blogger http://t.co/ixrnJ1ilY2
— Buddy Nevins (@Buddynevins) February 12, 2014

Broward Beat
Blogger Beats Sun-Sentinel Like A Drum
By Buddy Nevins
February 12, 2014

Blogger Chaz Stevens has done it again – prompting prosecutors to launch an investigation of a city official.

This time it is Jonathan K. Allen, city manager of Lauderdale Lakes, who is being probed for alleged bid rigging.

Stevens has been pounding Allen for quite some time.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.browardbeat.com/blogger-beats-sun-sentinel-like-a-drum/

-----
See my previous blog posts below about Chaz doing what others, including (unfortunately) the vast majority of South Florida's reporters, were reluctant to do: actual investigating and fact-checking and holding elected officials and govt. bureaucrats accountable.
Where there's smoke there's not only fire, in South Florida, there's usually incompetency & corruption, too.  

December 6, 2010
South Florida's apathetic news media; Giving credit where credit is rightly due: Buddy Nevins: "Blogger Chaz Stevens Scores Again"
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/south-floridas-apathetic-news-media.html

April 17, 2011
Blogger Chaz Stevens vindicated, Sylvia Poitier arrested: An ethical journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/blogger-chaz-stevens-vindicated-sylvia.html

June 27, 2011 
A visit to The Institute for the Advancement of Political Corruption, in Deerfield Beach, is a trip your kids will never forget! And neither will you!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/visit-to-institute-for-advancement-of.html

October 7, 2013
Chaz Stevens' latest blog post is a reality gut-check for the State of Florida re their lax enforcement of rules and laws re municipal CRAs, including where he lives in the Grand Duchy of Deerfield Beach, where bureaucratic self-enrichment is a tradition, not a rumor
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/chaz-stevens-latest-blog-post-is.html

Find more on Chaz here:

@TweetsByMAOS - https://twitter.com/TweetsByMAOS
www.myactsofsedition.com

re Hyde Beach Resort project on Hollywood Beach: In the year 2014, nobody at Hollywood City Hall in Planning Dept. or elsewhere was able (or willing) to answer simple question re what happened the night before at its own Planning & Development meeting. Really?

Looking SW at City of Hollywood City Hall. January 28, 2014 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2014 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

Per my last blog post, February 8, 2014, Latest news re The Hyde Beach Resort project on Hollywood Beach -the former Beach One Resort- right next to the Hallandale Beach Water Tower on State Road A1A: goes to the Hollywood Planning & Development Board on Thursday February 13th at 6 p.m.
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/latest-news-re-hyde-beach-resort.html

...since I was at the developer's meeting at Ingall's Park in SW Hallandale Beach re the new 24-hour CVS drug store being proposed for Northeast Hallandale Beach on the NW corner of Hallandale Beach Blvd. & Three Islands Blvd., I was not able to attend that meeting up in Hollywood at the same time.

Looking NW at corner of City of Hollywood City Hall. February 9, 2014 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2014 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

It's patently ridiculous that in the year 2014, that when I or anyone else wants to find out the basics of what happened at the City of Hollywood's Planning & Development meeting Thursday night at City Hall regarding whether Hyde Beach Resort's owners received those flex units they wanted, there's not only nothing on the city's website, but when you show up at Hollywood City Hall in person and go up to the Planning Dept. to find out, as I did, you're told that nobody there at Hollywood City Hall can answer your simple question.

Really?

This failing is definitely something I will bring up soon to Hollywood's City Manager the next time I see her.

Latest news re The Hyde Beach Resort project on Hollywood Beach -the former Beach One Resort- right next to the Hallandale Beach Water Tower on State Road A1A: goes to the Hollywood Planning & Development Board on Thursday February 13th at 6 p.m.

Notice that the artist's rendering of the project above, to the right, which I snapped at Hollywood's Planning Dept. this week -a plan which is completely different in design and scope from the original plan approved by the Hollywood City Comm. for the Beach One Resort, which was truly beautiful- does NOT show the Apogee right next to it 

And also does NOT show the effect of The Related Group's North Beach plans for a building where the old Beachside Cafe was located.

(Which the City of HB had ZERO renderings of at the beach for residents and visitors to see at both its groundbreaking weeks ago or at any point since then, contrary to common sense or any sense of getting the community to buy into it.)

Also NOT shown -the iconic HB Water Tower.

That's THREE neighbors NOT shown in one rendering.

But then the rendering for Apogee wasn't so accurate back in 2012 either, were they?
Just saying.

Below, from February 2012.

February 10, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

My previous blog posts on this very important parcel on A1A are here:

June 2008 Artist rendering of aerial view of Beach One Resort, Hollywood, FL

Carlos A. Ott, Architect from submitted documents to the City of Hollywood Development Review Board. September 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

October 4, 2008

Naming Names Herald-style -Beach One Resort Hotel in Hollywood Passes Round One 

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/naming-names-herald-style-beach-one.html and 

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/re-naming-names-herald-style-beach-one.html

October 18, 2008

Beach One Resort's Approval in Hollywood Provokes Wrath and Harsh Words at Hallandale Beach City Commission
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/beach-one-resorts-approval-in-hollywood.html


October 21, 2008
Cleavage Grows Larger b/w City of Hallandale Beach and Hollywood After Beach One Resort Approved

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/cleavage-grows-larger-bw-city-of.html

December 5, 2008

Sue-happy Hallandale Beach vs. Hollywood re Beach One Resort
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/first-shoes-drop-sue-happy-hallandale.html

JUNE 15, 2012 
Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper's old threats & lawsuits re-emerge as Hollywood's Beach One Resort sues over its access to the beach, the latest shoe to drop in The Related Group's Beachwalk project that'd make HB's North Beach a de facto private beach for The Related Group's properties, NOT a public beach for HB residents
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/hallandale-beach-mayor-joy-coopers-old.html