Friday, August 26, 2016

On the Joe Geller Watch! Florida state Rep. Joseph S. Geller's curious and unsavory behavior gets more noteworthy by the month. Today: rigging an election, and earning his title of "Corruptocrat Extraordinaire," coined by Stephanie Kienzle, @dwightyoakamfan

On the Joe Geller Watch! Florida state Rep. Joseph S. Geller's curious and unsavory behavior gets more noteworthy by the month. Today: rigging an election, and earning his title of "Corruptocrat Extraordinaire," coined by Stephanie Kienzle, @dwightyoakamfan  

August 26th, 2016

My savvy friend and fellow South Florida observer and blogger Stephanie Kienzle has a post today about FL state Rep. Joe Geller, who since his election to the state legislature in 2014 has represented southeast Broward County and parts of northeast Miami-Dade County.
But NOT very well in the estimation of most reasonable and objective people I talk to and hear from all around the area and up in Tallahassee, who've been carefully noting what 
Geller actually says and does, as opposed to what we would all probablyprefer he do.
You know, like leading by example?

In the year 2016, shouldn't residents of this area be able to count on someone who is an elected official, at a minimum, to NOT be so egregious about demonstrating his own remarkably consistent poor judgment in public and private with respect to ethics, propriety 
and, yes, public appearances?

Yes, we should, to answer my own question, but once again, Stephanie has news today about the latest Joe Geller antics, and as usual, it's NOT something positive for responsible people in our part of South Florida who believe in old-fashioned concepts and notions like public transparency, public accountability and fair play.
But as Stephanie cooly and accurately notes, "Who didn’t see this coming?"

Sadly, nobody who has ever taken a hard look at Joe Geller's sorry public track record.

For those of you who are new to the never-ending Joe Geller Watch, I've pasted below some past posts of Stephanie's about Geller since late last year for you to consider carefully. 
Taken individually or collectively, it all all adds up to yet more pieces of the unethical puzzle that fit the fact pattern that Geller clearly seems intent on creating for everyone to see.




Jason Bloch and Joe Geller team up in transparent attempt to rig an election. (Who didn’t see this coming?)

Disenfranchise all the voters
Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Jason Bloch is so afraid of losing his cushy appointed-not-elected seat on the bench, he tried to have his opponent, Marcia Del Rey, eliminated from the race.
Just a few weeks before Tuesday’s upcoming election, Jason Bloch filed a lawsuit on August 10, 2016 “asking Judge Jerald Bagley to enjoin Del Rey from running in Tuesday’s judicial election after she allegedly filed incomplete financial disclosures in May,” according to an article posted yesterday in the Daily Business Review.
Judge Jerald Bagley bitched slapped Bloch and his lawyer, Joseph S. Geller, the sleazy, breezy CoverBoy of politi-corruption in Miami-Dade County.
Read more at:  http://www.votersopinion.com/2016/08/26/jason-bloch-and-joe-geller-team-up-in-transparent-attempt-to-rig-an-election-who-didnt-see-this-coming/


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, Apr 27, 2016 at 3:12 PM
Subject: Franzie Watch: Sneaky Pierre and Sleazy Joe, doin’ what comes naturally

Franzie Watch: Sneaky Pierre and Sleazy Joe, doin’ what comes naturally

Apr.27, 2016Evil Twins
The day North Miami Beach faux-councilman Frantz Pierre and corrupt lawyer-slash-politican Joe Geller joined forces, it was a match made in heaven.
Or, I should say, in hell.
The lawsuit engineered by Frantz to take over the Haitian Evangelical Baptist Church is now in the hands of the Third District Court of Appeal.  Pending the determination of that appeal, in the form of a Petition for Writ of Prohibition filed by the Defendants, the lower court granted the Defendants an Emergency Stay of its previous Order granting the Plaintiffs a Temporary Injunction.
Read more at:  http://www.votersopinion.com/2016/04/27/franzie-watch-sneaky-pierre-and-sleazy-joe-doin-what-comes-naturally/

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, Apr 22, 2016 at 12:23 PM
Subject: Copy that!

Copy that!

Apr.22, 2016imitation
The latest issue of Le Floridien is now online, including an article about the North Miami Beach absentee ballot fraud lawsuit filed by Michael Joseph against Phyllis Smith.
In Michael Joseph Absentee Ballot Fraud Case Moving Forward; Dismissal Denied,  Le Floridien reported:
On September 21, 2015, Phillis Smith’s lawyer Joe Geller scheduled an October 6, 2015 hearing for his Motion to Dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that plaintiff Michael Joseph failed to name the North Miami Beach Canvassing Board as an “indispensable party” to the lawsuit. This bogus claim was an obvious distraction to stall for time. In response, the plaintiff noted that the complaint already named the individual members of the Canvassing Board as defendants, and that “there is no statute or relevant case law” that naming the individual members, “carries any less weight than naming them collectively” as a body.
Hmmm.  That sure sounds familiar.
Read more at:  http://www.votersopinion.com/2016/04/22/copy-that/


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, Apr 3, 2016 at 3:03 PM
Subject: Memo to Tallahassee #HouseClown Joe Geller: Time’s up!

Memo to Tallahassee #HouseClown Joe Geller: Time’s up!

Apr. 3, 2016hello-times-up
If you’re one of Joseph S. Geller’s constituents who aren’t happy that he voted FOR the right to openly carry firearms on college campuses you’ll be even more upset with his 2015 voting record.
In addition to his February 3, 2016 “yea” vote on House Bill 4001, which he claims was an accident, he made two intentional, and highly questionable, decisions during last year’s regular legislative session.
On April 24, 2015, Representative Joe Geller voted AGAINST Senate Bill 604, which requires the owners of websites to “clearly disclose” their contact information to consumers.
Apparently, Joe believes protecting the privacy of internet scammers is more important than protecting the public from fraud.
But that’s not the worst of it!
Read more at:  http://www.votersopinion.com/2016/04/03/memo-to-tallahassee-houseclown-joe-geller-times-up/


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, Feb 6, 2016 at 7:56 PM
Subject: #HouseGenius. Oh, Joe. Say it isn’t so!

#HouseGenius. Oh, Joe. Say it isn’t so!

Feb. 6, 2016
Photo: Trevor Bach, Broward/Palm Beach New TimesPhoto: Trevor Bach, Broward/Palm Beach New Times

Attorney Joseph S. Geller wants to be the City Attorney for North Miami.
Florida State Representative Joseph S. Geller can’t even figure out how to vote on the House floor.
The Miami Herald Naked Politics reported that on Wednesday State Representative Joe Geller accidentally voted “yes” on the very bill he “railed against” the night before.
He also cast a “yes” vote for his seatmate, Orlando Democrat Randolph Bracy, on a bill that will allow open carry on college campuses.  The bill passed overwhelmingly in the House, but is expected to be voted down in the Senate.
Read more at:  http://www.votersopinion.com/2016/02/06/housegenius-oh-joe-say-it-isnt-so/


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, Jan 11, 2016 at 3:35 PM
Subject: Joe Geller: Lawyer, Politician, Corruptocrat Extraordinaire

Joe Geller: Lawyer, Politician, Corruptocrat Extraordinaire

Jan.11, 2016
Political Promises
When is a law firm not a law firm?
Apparently, it all depends on Joseph S. Geller’s definition of the word “is.”
Joe’s been scurrying around North Miami City Hall like a rat, trying to snag the position of City Attorney for his firm, Greenspoon Marder.  He’s made it perfectly clear that despite his continuous duties in Tallahassee as a Florida State Representative, his firm is chock full of lawyers who would be at the disposal of the Mayor and Council around the clock.
And yet, when it comes to defending North Miami Beach “Councilwoman” Phyllis Smith against an absentee ballot fraud lawsuit, Joe claims to be a lone wolf.
Consider the irony.



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, Nov 4, 2015 at 9:40 PM
Subject: Phyllis Smith and Joe Geller, Two Peas in a Pod!

Phyllis Smith and Joe Geller, Two Peas in a Pod!

Nov. 4, 2015Phyllis and Joe
North Miami Beach “Councilwoman” Phyllis Smith and her lawyer, Joe Geller, make quite the pair.
Phyllis hired Joe to defend her against a lawsuit filed by her challenger in the last city council election.  Michael Joseph is contesting the results of the race based on very credible evidence indicating that Phyllis engaged in absentee ballot fraud.
As we are all too painfully aware, the wheels of justice in Miami-Dade County move slowly, especially when members of the politically connected class are forced to defend themselves.  Whether politicos are facing criminal charges, as in the case of North Miami Beach EX-Mayor Myron Rosner, or responding to civil charges, as in Phyllis Smith’s case, time seems to stand still for them.
No such luck for plebes like the rest of us, who could never afford to hire the likes of Ben Kuehne and friends.



SEPTEMBER 17, 2015 
#Ethics still matter in South Florida! Stephanie Kienzle of Votersopinion.com keeps her eyes firmly on what's going on with the VERY CURIOUS legal antics of FL state Rep. Joe Geller, even as most of South Florida's news media keeps ignoring what's right in front of us.
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2015/09/ethics-still-matter-in-south-florida.html

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, August 19, 2016

Controversial and completely-incompatible Chateau Square project in Hallandale Beach deferred until Wed. Sept. 7th; some recent dealings with the Hollywood Police only add to the negative reputation they have in much of the nearby community

I'm re-printing my email of yesterday to Real Estate reporter Brian Bandell of the South Florida Business Journal because it offers me a chance to share with you all some very useful news that I've wanted to share all week, but had put off because I had necessarily planned on doing a number of posts this week on the controversial Chateau Square project, and how I and many other careful observers of this part of Broward County believe it would NEGATIVELY affect the residential and business community of our area if allowed to be constructed exactly as developer Chateau Group wants done.

That is to say, the developer wants this city of under 45,000 people to allow him to construct two forty-story towers on top of a number of floors of retail in a part of Hallandale Beach where the nearest large building within a quarter-mile in any direction is no more than 6-7 stories.
In short, to me, this particular project looks more like something that would be more acceptable or appropriate in the business area of Chevy Chase, Maryland, in suburban Washington, D.C., where similar sized buildings are allowed in their high-density transit-oriented area near various Metro train stations, than it would in small Hallandale Beach, Florida, where the current zoning cap for this particular location is twenty stories. 

Yes, the developer, Chateau Group wants to erect not one but TWO buildings that are TWICE the current height limit under the city's current zoning rules.
And that on top of a few floors of retail
At what is already the busiest intersection in the entire city!

Where the traffic gridlock in this traffic-centric city already has a longstanding home.
Really. 

All photos appearing on this page are by me, South Beach Hoosier, August 2016.
(c) 2016 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

Developer Chateau Group has offered this artist rendering to the city, which has a point-of-view looking SE at the SE corner of US-1/Federal Highway to the right and Hallandale Beach Blvd. to the left. 
Did you notice that the rendering actually shows very few cars on the two roads that actually carry the vast majority of the area's traffic? Accident or intentional? 

It's hard to say, but you'd be surprised at the large number of Hallandale Beach residents and business owners who mention this fact after they are first presented with a copy of this rendering and asked what their initial thoughts are.
They mention it because they actually live and work here and know the reality of what the city's existing terrible traffic gridlock -even in August, sans snowbirds!- can do to your mood and spirit when you want or need to go somewhere.
It's omnipresent.

Holland & Knight's Debbie Orshefsky is clearly a very smart and capable attorney, as I know from personal experience over the years, but no matter how hard she tries to spin the facts about the traffic to her client's benefit, or tries to mis-characterize the everyday reality of life here, there's no way the centrality of daily traffic upon everyone's life in this city can be minimized or ignored by the five members of the Hallandale Beach City Commission when they vote on this important matter in the coming weeks.
And two of the five Commissioners are running for re-election in November: Bill Julian and Michelle Lazarow.



Above, the southern border of this project would be US-1/Federal highway and Hibiscus Drive, the latter of which is a one block road that ends prematurely because within the past ten years the Hallandale Beach City Commission foolishly allowed Gulfstream Park Race Track and Casino to build their employee dorms right where the road could have been extended to 14th Avenue, behind the exiting Publix super market, and serve as a local traffic only road -with No Trucks- for people on Us-1/Federal Highway heading east towards Golden Islands. 

 Instead of showing some foresight and long-range vision, since the road extension has been discussed for decades by City Hall because of the growing traffic gridlock problem, the HB City Commission, including two members of the current City Commission -Mayor Joy Cooper and Comm. Bill Julian- voted to approve the three dorms in their current site, instead of requiring Gulfstream to locate them elsewhere on its massive property, which for those of you who don't know the area, is located across the street from... Hallandale Beach City Hall.

 What's directly south of the proposed Chateau Square project? Gulfstream Park Race Track and Casino and the Village at Gulfstream Park retail complex.

 Looking west on Hibiscus Drive towards US-1/Federal Highway.

Did you know that yet another large retail and office complex is planned for directly across the street (US-1) from this proposed development in the site of what was formerly the Acquo 124 restaurant?

Not many people do judging by the startled looks I've received the past few weeks from usually observant people hereabouts when I've told them that something called Peninsula 124 is trying to get built there.

Here's the artist rendering of the proposed Peninsula 124 building, which is on a large sign posted outside the now vacant restaurant. 

But with the news I heard Wednesday night at Hallandale Beach City Hall that voting on Chateau Square had been postponed until September 7th, it gives me some time to get something else off my chest.

 So below is my email to Brian Bandell, though I did not have the photo of the Hollywood Police squad car in the email. 
----
Just saw your tweet to me.

Tried to call you last night from outside of HB City Hall after the decision was made to defer the agenda item, apparently, per the developer, but the cell phone that had your phone number was the same Samsung phone that was stolen recently in Hollywood, along with my dependable SONY Bloggie camera, not the cell phone I'm using now. :-(

By the way... Police presence on Hollywood beach is getting very problematic and disconcerting.

An award-winning chef and restaurant owner from New Jersey whom I met a few weeks ago and have since become friends with -who's considering opening a location in the SE Broward area- actually had his wallet and cell phone stolen on Hollywood Beach this past Sunday afternoon, even though he was only a few feet out into the water when it happened.

When a Hollywood Policeman FINALLY showed up, he was very matter-of-fact about the theft, and despite the fact that my friend could give a very thorough description of the person who stole it, the Hollywood cop on the scene was very disinterested in getting any details, seemingly more interested in heading on to whatever was the next call that came his way.

The wallet had his NJ drivers license, credit cards and ATM cards, CASH, and most heartbreaking, some photos of his young daughter that were one-of-a-kind, and could not be replaced. 
My friend was positively distraught about that, and understandably so.

The cop even said something along the lines of, "What do you want? There are only two police cars on all of Hollywood Beach, so what do you want me to do?"
#dismissive

In the end, my friend was more upset by the cop's attitude than he was by the robbery, esp. when the cop told him that yes, he was going to have to walk a few miles to where he has been staying, since he couldn't do anything to be of help.
My friend, obviously, being in no position to pay for a cab or use Uber because of the robbery/theft.
By the time I saw him when he got back, he was boiling mad and distraught.

Once he was a bit more calm, I shared some fact-filled stories and anecdotes with him about the recent history of the Hollywood Police and how their current not-so-favorable reputation got the way it is today.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, July 30, 2016

The Miami Herald, under the current crew at McClatchy, continues to sink into irrelevancy.... Even when they should have Home Field Advantage on one of the biggest stories going: Zika

Here's the reality of South Florida journalism in the Summer of 2016: While the appearance of the Zika virus in Miami in four people who did not have risk factors associated with all known previous victims in Florida -and reportedly acquired in one of South Florida's most-popular tourist areas, Wynwood- was one of the top stories nationally, and this morning's headline strory in the Drudge Report, under, MOSQUITO NIGHTMARE HITS MIAMI and yet the Miami Herald's version of the story 
appears in today's Miami Herald website NOT near the top, but rather, buried towards the bottom, under dozens of other stories that are of much less consequence and importance to people who live and work in South Florida. 

I mention this because I just checked and it's clear that many of my earlier misgivings about Zika in Miami are going to be coming true this year.

In case you never received my previous emails or read my tweets about him, unlike Hoosier-by-choice me who went to IU from North Miami Beach, Ron Klain is a native-born Hoosier, but he chose to go to Georgetown and then Harvard Law instead of IU. 
Despite that choice, things have worked out pretty well for him, though, since along the way 
Ron's been a Supreme Court Law Clerk for Justice Byron White, was Vice President Al Gore's Chief of Staff and later performed the same duties more recently for Vice President Joe Biden. 
He's now General Counsel for one of the top tech and investment firms in the entire DC area, 
Revolution LLC, a firm with some truly amazing talent and resources, and is lead by former AOL founder Steve Case.

As it concerns today's news, though, Ron was also President Obama's Ebola Czar.
I know from personal experience that Ron has been talking clearly and seriously about the Zika virus funding crisis for many, many months, appearing on many TV and cable TV shows and even written some Op-Eds in the Washington Post to try to educate people and sound the alarm about this. 
Despite his very hard work, the Miami Herald has never mentioned him since noting his Ebola appointment in October 2014.
Do you you see a pattern here?

The Miami Herald, under the current crew at McClatchy, continues to sink into irrelevancy.... 
Even when they should have Home Field Advantage on one of the biggest stories going. 

I've got more posts coming soon about Zika in Miami, including one I've been working on now for over two months.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, July 25, 2016

Tonight's 6 PM meeting at Hallandale Beach Cultural Center re growth, development and transportation -two days before important HB P&Z meeting on giant Chateau Square project- will require some long overdue tough talk and pointed criticism!



re Tonight's 6 PM meeting at the Hallandale Beach Cultural Center re growth, development and transportation... I plan on speaking tonight and relating some telling anecdotes about 3-4 issues that I believe are crying out for some long overdue oversight, accountability and EXPLANATION from the bureaucrats and elected officials at HB City Hall, who've so long preferred to keep their heads down in the sand to being properly engaged with the local citizenry and proactively aware of their concerns.

 No, as my blog has shown for nine years now, these are NOT exactly the sort of people you can allow yourself to give the benefit of the doubt, since they have managed so consistently to break nearly every vow and promise they've made about public accountability and public oversight over the past ten-plus years.

 Which is to say, that they they are NOT the caliber of people you want deciding whether or not the city should allow TWO 40-story buildings -with a large retail and hotel complex as well- to be located at the corner of the city's busiest intersection, U.S.-1 and Hallandale Beach Blvd.
Hard to imagine that something could actually make that area WORSE, but based on what I've seen so far, it looks like this project, if approved, could very well make the city's infamous, gridlocked traffic even worse unless cooler heads and moderation prevail.

 As you can see from the photos I snapped below from the posted signs the developer placed on the site, there will be a very important Hallandale Beach Planning & Zoning meeting re the Chateau Square project at 6:30 PM Wednesday night at Ingalls Park, NOT HB City Hall!





Even from a cursory look at the photos you can see how completely incompatible two 40-story buildings on that corner would be, and the disastrous effect it would have in a city where Hallandale Beach Blvd. is the ONLY East-West street that runs throughout the city, connecting the beach to I-95.
On a street that already receives the lowest possible rating from FDOT.
  
I initially was going to preview my comments for tonight and write about it here, but I have decided that it'll be better if you hear it from me in-person, just like the chagrined people in charge there tonight will have to.
(I plan on posting some of them on the blog tomorrow, along with some tell-tale photos.)

I hope if you have a few minutes tonight b/w 6 & 8, you will come by to participate.
Or, at least swing by to let me know whether or not you are in town right now.
You see, I've only seen one familiar face since Wednesday morning when I got back into town. :-(

And if you have any helpful suggestions about that pressing matter of concern to me that I discussed last week with some of you via email, all the better if you can manage to swing by and talk!


Above, me in June, pre-recent haircut, while visiting hot and humid Central Florida, which is where heat goes in the summer to get away from it all...

Dave 
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Hallandale Beach loses one of its longtime sparkplugs, and a genuine voice of the people who wanted the city to be so much better: Mary Washington

This morning I received an email with some sad news about energetic, longtime Hallandale Beach community activist, former COHB Director of Human Services and City Commission candidate Mary Washington from her family.

"It is with great sadness to inform you that Mom...Mary G Washington is no longer with us.

Mother passed away yesterday July 19th, 2016.  She really enjoyed receiving and reading your blog and of course was a long time employee and activist with our City.
The wake will be Friday, July 29th, 2016 with the funeral services the following morning at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Hallandale.
 
The church is located at 816 N.W. 1st Avenue, Hallandale Beach.
 
 
At public meetings all around Hallandale Beach on a whole myriad of issues, but especially before, during and after important and often-contentious, marathon-long Hallandale Beach City Commission and P&Z meetings, Mary Washington was always very kind and sweet to me -and I know to many of you reading this as well.
 
When asked, Mary was always willing to share with me the benefit of her great personal and institutional knowledge of the city, its history and people.
From what she told me and what other people have told me about her over the years, she knew nearly everyone who was anyone in this town for many, many decades, and was a loyal friend and advisor to a whole host of people who have tried to make this a better community for the largest number of people, including the city's African-American population, which has been SO poorly served by its city's elected officials and bureaucracy for so very long.
 
To the extent that anyone plausibly could, she would often try to explain to an often-incredulous me, patiently, how this city that has so many great physical advantages, located as it is in a geographic sweet spot in South Florida, with access to both the Atlantic Ocean and an interstate and with a world-famous horse racing facility to lure visitors, Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino, had consistently managed to squander so MUCH of its natural potential, to everyone's detriment.
 
That slow process, of mediocrity being piled upon mediocrity, is how this Broward city has reached its current sorry state of governance that has become so infamous throughout South Florida.
A city where "normal" standards of government accountability and public oversight by elected officials and the staff have been and continue to be almost non-existent, have, over the years, quite rightly made it a media laughingstock.
 
There were years and years of poor choices by elected officials and highly-paid staffers who didn't live here, inadequate oversight and an insular political culture at HB City Hall that actually thought that keeping citizens out of the decision-making process was actually better than letting them participate in a meaningful way.
Years of city leaders failing repeatedly to seize opportunity to do do right by its citizens and Small Businesses owners have definitely left their mark.
 
Since I returned to South Florida from the Washington, D.C. area in late 2003, and began to make my concerns about what was going on -or wasn't- known at public meetings and in emails to others who wanted something better for this community, with me, Mary was gracious and free with her opinions about local issues and people, with particular attention to HB City Hall's careless and frequently combative attitude towards its very own citizens and neighborhoods.
 
With her help, and that of others who had much more personal first-hand knowledge of what was what, I eventually came to see the most-recent history I and my friends experienced here and that I've tried my best to honestly and accurately chronicle here on the blog, as just a case of history repeating itself.
That is, the long history in Hallandale Beach of important information and decisions being both closely held and made by only a handful of people, with the result that HB citizens and Small Business owners were usually the last ones to know what's really going on, despite their best efforts to be as fully engaged and informed as possible.

A problem that has been made worse by a largely absent and incurious South Florida press corps the past ten years, which was either afraid to report what was really taking place here and the logical consequences that one should expect as a result, despite how upfront and predictable it all was, or, they just couldn't be bothered to simply show up, observe and report what they saw and heard in a fair-minded fashion.
 
Yes, Mary Washington shared your/our #frustration with Hallandale Beach, but she always hoped for the best.
Despite everything she had been witness to over the years here, Mary remained an optimist.
She will be greatly missed.


Dave
 
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Hallandale Beach loses one of its longtime sparkplugs, and a genuine voice of the people who wanted the city to be so much better: Mary Washington

This morning I received an email with some sad news about energetic, longtime Hallandale Beach community activist, former COHB Director of Human Services and City Commission candidate Mary Washington from her family.

"It is with great sadness to inform you that Mom...Mary G Washington is no longer with us.

Mother passed away yesterday July 19th, 2016.  She really enjoyed receiving and reading your blog and of course was a long time employee and activist with our City.
The wake will be Friday, July 29th, 2016 with the funeral services the following morning at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Hallandale.
 
The church is located at 816 N.W. 1st Avenue, Hallandale Beach.
 
 
At public meetings all around Hallandale Beach on a whole myriad of issues, but especially before, during and after important and often-contentious, marathon-long Hallandale Beach City Commission and P&Z meetings, Mary Washington was always very kind and sweet to me -and I know to many of you reading this as well.
 
When asked, Mary was always willing to share with me the benefit of her great personal and institutional knowledge of the city, its history and people.
From what she told me and what other people have told me about her over the years, she knew nearly everyone who was anyone in this town for many, many decades, and was a loyal friend and advisor to a whole host of people who have tried to make this a better community for the largest number of people, including the city's African-American population, which has been SO poorly served by its city's elected officials and bureaucracy for so very long.
 
To the extent that anyone plausibly could, she would often try to explain to an often-incredulous me, patiently, how this city that has so many great physical advantages, located as it is in a geographic sweet spot in South Florida, with access to both the Atlantic Ocean and an interstate and with a world-famous horse racing facility to lure visitors, Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino, had consistently managed to squander so MUCH of its natural potential, to everyone's detriment.
 
That slow process, of mediocrity being piled upon mediocrity, is how this Broward city has reached its current sorry state of governance that has become so infamous throughout South Florida.
A city where "normal" standards of government accountability and public oversight by elected officials and the staff have been and continue to be almost non-existent, have, over the years, quite rightly made it a media laughingstock.
 
There were years and years of poor choices by elected officials and highly-paid staffers who didn't live here, inadequate oversight and an insular political culture at HB City Hall that actually thought that keeping citizens out of the decision-making process was actually better than letting them participate in a meaningful way.
Years of city leaders failing repeatedly to seize opportunity to do do right by its citizens and Small Businesses owners have definitely left their mark.
 
Since I returned to South Florida from the Washington, D.C. area in late 2003, and began to make my concerns about what was going on -or wasn't- known at public meetings and in emails to others who wanted something better for this community, with me, Mary was gracious and free with her opinions about local issues and people, with particular attention to HB City Hall's careless and frequently combative attitude towards its very own citizens and neighborhoods.
 
With her help, and that of others who had much more personal first-hand knowledge of what was what, I eventually came to see the most-recent history I and my friends experienced here and that I've tried my best to honestly and accurately chronicle here on the blog, as just a case of history repeating itself.
That is, the long history in Hallandale Beach of important information and decisions being both closely held and made by only a handful of people, with the result that HB citizens and Small Business owners were usually the last ones to know what's really going on, despite their best efforts to be as fully engaged and informed as possible.

A problem that has been made worse by a largely absent and incurious South Florida press corps the past ten years, which was either afraid to report what was really taking place here and the logical consequences that one should expect as a result, despite how upfront and predictable it all was, or, they just couldn't be bothered to simply show up, observe and report what they saw and heard in a fair-minded fashion.
 
Yes, Mary Washington shared your/our #frustration with Hallandale Beach, but she always hoped for the best.
Despite everything she had been witness to over the years, Mary remained an optimist.
She will be greatly missed.
Dave
 
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)