My comments follow the Herald articles by Breanne Gilpatrick.
Six days later, the Sun-Sentinel has still never mentioned the issue of the proposed building moratorium or the Hollywood City Commission meeting.
_______________________________
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/breaking-news/story/796479.html
Miami Herald
Hollywood to discuss downtown building ban
By Breanne Gilpatrick
December 2, 2008
Hollywood will consider putting the brakes on the high-rise developments sprouting up near Young Circle Wednesday, with a proposed temporary moratorium on downtown building until commissioners approve a development blueprint commissioned several years ago -- but never ratified.
The moratorium, which will be discussed at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, would stop the city from issuing building permits to construct new buildings or expand old ones in the portion of downtown that runs from Fillmore Street south to Monroe Street and from 22nd Avenue east to 16th Avenue.
If approved, the proposed building ban would likely last until at least next spring, and would exclude any properties used for government offices or educational facilities.
In 2006, commissioners imposed a similar moratorium on beach development, while approving new height limits and landscaping and open space requirements for new projects along the coast. That ban lasted about 18 months.
Critics say the downtown moratorium is too broad and would hurt economic growth downtown. But some commissioners say the city also needs to consider how major projects will affect their hopes of drawing visitors to Young Circle.
''Our objective is to make sure that buildings that are going to be in Young Circle for the next 50 years conform with the vision that we have for the city,'' Mayor Peter Bober said.
Several years ago, commissioners asked Architect Bernard Zyscovich to draft a Downtown Master Plan for the area surrounding Young Circle, where the city and Downtown Community Redevelopment Agency have spent millions on renovations. Zyscovich completed that plan in 2004, but its zoning regulations were never adopted.
Since then, commissioners have signed off on major downtown projects that have exceeded the height regulations and zoning limits included in that plan.
Most recently, commissioners voted 4-3 in favor of a 22-story apartment tower and office complex off Young Circle, known as ArtsPark Village, even though Zyscovich and some residents said the project was too dense for the area. Wednesday's City Commission meeting will start at 1 p.m. at Hollywood City Hall, 2600 Hollywood Boulevard.
The moratorium discussion is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
_______________________
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/798324.html
Miami Herald
Hollywood commissioners reject downtown development moratorium
By Breanne Gilpatrick
December 3, 2008
Hollywood commissioners unanimously rejected a proposed development moratorium Wednesday that would have put the brakes on the high-rise projects sprouting around downtown.
Supporters of the proposed moratorium said it would allow the city to use the economy-induced development lull to revise and adopt a downtown master plan architect Bernard Zyscovich completed in 2004 for the area near Young Circle. That development blueprint has yet to be ratified by the city.
But during two hours of debate, commissioners said the moratorium would hurt growth downtown and punish developers who have tried to work with the city to revise their projects. They also said the moratorium was cobbled together without an adequate study to research its impact.
''We are trying to bring our downtown to life,'' Commissioner Linda Sherwood said. 'And the word moratorium says `Uh-uh, don't come. We're going to make it very hard for you.' ''
The moratorium, which would have extended into next spring, would have included the portion of downtown that runs from Fillmore Street south to Monroe Street and from 22nd Avenue east to 16th Avenue. It generally would have stopped the city from issuing building permits for the construction of new buildings or the expansion of old ones, if those projects exceed the density limits allowed by the city's current zoning rules.
Commissioners imposed an 18-month moratorium on beach development in 2006, while approving new height limits and landscaping and open space requirements for new projects along the coast.
Since the city's downtown master plan was completed in 2004, commissioners have signed off on major downtown projects that have exceeded the height regulations and zoning limits included in that plan.
In other business Wednesday, commissioners reversed a decision made last month and opted to privatize trash pickup -- following resident complaints that the proposed plan to keep the service in-house would have eliminated bulk trash pickup and raised fees.
The privatization plan, which was originally proposed to fill a budget gap, will take several dozen city employees off the payroll.
____________________________
By the way, since I've forgotten to mention it in the past, the public library next to the
Hollywood Beach Community Center, was one of my old stomping grounds when I first came down here from D.C., and stumbled upon it completely by accident.
That is also where I first heard about Sara Case and then later, her great website, Balance Sheet Online. http://www.balancesheetonline.com/
Sara has a slightly different p.o.v. from me about Young Circle, but as always, she had some very interesting stuff on the site well in advance of last Wednesday's City Commission.
http://www.balancesheetonline.com/cra.htm
Before I get distracted by the comments about Young Circle, I wanted to mention, in case you didn't already notice, that I added this video to my site about two weeks ago, as I've always loved this film's energy and spirit:
Olivia Olson "All I Want For Christmas Is You" from Love Actually (2003)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkihOkI_7eM
Sadly, another year I'm NOT one of Barbara Walters' "Most Fascinating People"
___________________________________________
Watched last Wednesday's Hollywood City Commission meeting live via computer, rather than going up there and good thing, too, in retrospect.
They had quite an embarrassing situation developing there, as after about two hours, it was apparent there was really no STRONG support for having a building moratorium, especially after Hollywood business people who usually disagree with each other, actually agreed that it was bad idea.
Hollywood Planning Director Jaye Epstein admitted under questioning that he thought it was a bad idea, too.
Which begs the question about how the staff report came out, huh?
Mayor Peter Bober was not at all pleased with things at the end, even though he admitted during the course of the meeting that he supported the idea, in theory, behind a temporary building moratorium, which I also can appreciate.
Though it was supposedly announced two weeks ago, most people seemed to know nothing about the issue being on the commission agenda until Tuesday's Herald story, including me, and I
receive the advance notice email about meetings from the city
A few friends and acquaintances of mine, who are usually very on top of things up there, were also caught flat-footed until I shared the news with them.
They have an interest in it because first and foremost, they want the general area to be better and more inviting, and to have more attractions/amusements of the sort that attracted them to Hollywood in the first place.
But they also have kids attending the Hollywood Charter School, a double A-rated school that's currently located on the property that's gotten the most attention.
The school itself has always been a key part of the puzzle of the SE corner of Young Circle, but a piece that Comm. Fran Russo in particular has long seen as the biggest obstacle to getting that area developed quickly and the way she believes it ought to be done.
I refer to theses women collectively by shorthand as "Dynamic Hollywood Charter School Moms, Inc."
(I sent one of them an email about it before I went to last Wednesday's Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting, whose big issue was who would get the city's lobbying contract: Ron Book, Corcoran and Associates, Larry Smith...
A post on that subject will be forthcoming this week once I re-think some more notes I took at the meeting.)
So, getting back to first getting word of the agenda, Downtown Hollywood CRA Director Neil Fritz admitted under cross-examination that he didn't find out about it until the day before.
Speaking of cross-examination, an attorney for one of the property owners affected by the proposal objected right away to the usual waiving of quasi-judicial procedures for the meeting, which explains a lot and was my first hint that it would be somewhat of a circus atmosphere.
And I was not disappointed on that score.
People took advantage of the opportunity to play Perry Mason Jr. by cross-examining each other with more leeway than you'd normally expect or see at other commission meetings.
Naturally, as you'd expect, a few people went a bridge too far, and were reproached by property owners' attorneys, who metaphorically cold-cocked their testimony, which elicited chuckles from the crowd.
My sense of things, having gone to all but one of the Zyscovich forums held in Hollywood on the
zoning and creative re-thinking that needs to take place, was that lots more people than usual said that Bernard Zyscovich needs to finish his work on zoning sooner than the expected March/April,
even past supporters of his.
Understandably given the economic realities of the current economy and real estate in South Florida, Bernard Warner, the head of WSG, said that they'd have major financial problems with Block 55 (SE corner of Young Circle) if the moratorium was put in place.
In the first hour of the hearing, when it seemed to be stuck-in-the-mud looking for traction, Comm Patty Asseff commented that she felt like she was wasting her time be being there, and that if things didn't get moving forward, she'd consider taking an early exit.
Much later, Comm. Linda Sherwood called out a few fervently anti-build types with numbers purporting to show that they rep only 33% of the group they said they were speaking for, which made me laugh.
She really zinged 'em!!!
My overwhelming sense of things is that as far as the Hollywood commissioners are concerned, the tail (Zyscovich) had been wagging the dog (the city) for long enough.
But in the end, that's the Commission's own fault, of course.
I also thought I'd mention that the city's online connection had lots of problems over the course of the two hours, which is unusual, since it's usually close to excellent.
There were lots of frustrating frozen images on the screen for 2-3 minutes, even while I could hear the audio.
But even the audio seemed more muddled and inaudible more frequently than usual, perhaps because so many hand-held mikes were being used for public participation when there was cross- examination.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
College football news and memories; National Football Foundation honoring Wilber Marshall
I'm watching this now!
-----------------------------------
Some college football news worth reading about from some emails I received over the weekend straight from the National Football Foundation.
You'll note that former Gator great Wilber Marshall is among the new class,whom I watched and followed closely with the great Super Bowl-winning Bears and Redskins teams while I was living in Chicago/Evanston in the mid-'80's, and then later in Washington, D.C.
He was such a joy to watch!
Just the sheer anticipation of the hits he was about to deliver used to get my friends literally jumping out of their chairs when we'd watch them on TV.
I'd love to see a game b/w that '85 Bears team and the '91 Redskins team that was so methodical and powerful. Having seen both in person, at Soldier Field and RFK Stadium, it'd be a hell of a game to watch.
Now that I think about it, that's one of those match ups that ESPN should've thought of a few years ago when they had that series that incorporated contemporaneous film footage to have teams of different eras play one another to determine who was better.
I usually avoided watching those qhen they were on TV, mostly because I disagreed with the selection of the teams, since it always seemed to have the bias that because the great Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers won the Super Bowls, they'd win the fantasy games.
But the problem is, as we know, that the best team doesn't always win, which is why having the 1968-69 Baltimore Colts team that lost to the Jets in Super Bowl III play the Len Dawson-led Chiefs team that won the Super Bowl a year later against the Vikings, would've been a great match. Don Shula and Unitas/Morrall against Hank Stram and Len Dawson?
Or what about the the great high-powered Vikings team with Randy Moss that choked against the Giants in the NFC championship, actually play the Ravens team that won that year?
Hell, I'd watch those games now!
See Jon Saraceno's great USAT column on Wilber Marshall before the Bears-Colts Super Bowl downpour down here: Marshall's torments not likely to fade
I'm someone who from an early age, while growing up in San Antonio, then Memphis and finally Miami, followed college football more closely than just about anyone I ever met, reading Sports Illustrated and SPORT magazine from cover-to-cover, devouring all the books, films and videos on the subject and its history, while also meeting lots of people involved in it from the 1970's on.
That also included someone who played for one of the best teams of the era, the University of Michigan Wolverines, who was also football family royalty of a sort.
The person in question is Dave Elliott, a Wolverine defensive back from the early 1970's and the son of former Illinois and later U-M head football coach Pete Elliott, who himself later became the Executive Director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, who was one of my counselors when I attended the Bob Griese-Karl Noonan sports camp up in Boca Raton, three summers in a row from 1971-'74.
His personality and mine were somewhat similar, so we spent a lot of time talking about what it was like to play at a prominent big name school like Michigan, where there were always big expectations, plus, having a family name that was as well known as his was in the Midwest.
Plus, of course, his name was Dave, also.
He was also a key witness to my making an interception of Bob Griese in a flag football game and running about 80 yards for a touchdown, using my speed and moves to twice fake out a lunging Griese, who was my then-idol.
This was back in a time and place when I and all the fellow campers there in pre-cable, pre-ESPN America also knew where every single pro athlete who was at camp had gone to school, with Big Ten schools Purdue and Iowa being most prominent because that's where Griese and Noonan had gone and starred.
(This is the same camp where I first met future Emmy-winning sportscaster Roy Firestone, who I'd stay friends with for years -and who recommended I go to Syracuse- back when he was a U-M student who also toiled at Ralph Renick's WTVJ-Channel 4, back when they had the best sports talent in town under Bernie Rosen.
Roy and I kept in touch for many, many years, even after he left Miami and was doing very well out in LA. When it came time to consider schools, after the financial aid situation made it clear that USC was untenable, much to my disappointment, Roy recommended Syracuse to me over IU because of the growing pub of the Newhouse School of Communication, and the possible synergy b/w my own personality and career interests.
I stuck with IU and dropped him a line every so often of what was going on in Hoosierville as Coach Knight made college basketball relevant to someone who grew-up when the U-M didn't have a team.
I stuck with IU and dropped him a line every so often of what was going on in Hoosierville as Coach Knight made college basketball relevant to someone who grew-up when the U-M didn't have a team.
Years later, when Roy came back for a family visit to Miami, and I was home from Bloomington for either the summer or Christmas, I showed up unexpectedly with my mother at WKAT over on Miami Beach -which had been the Braves weekend affiliate- when Chris Myers -now of FOX-TV- had a radio show, and had announced the night before that Roy would be a guest.
I figured I'd just say hi and talk for a few minutes before he had to go inside.
To Roy's surprise and mine, because Chris and I and the producers had chatted for a bit before the show, Chris surprised me by inviting me -and my mother- to go on the air with Roy for about an hour, as he recalled one great Roy anecdote after another, and I threw in a few when I could.
It was quite a blast.
Even now, I still recall a younger Roy up in Boca Raton going back and forth with Earl Morral's son, Matt, also a counselor, about whether the rock group Deep Purple would remain a studio band, or would tour. Odd the things your brain remembers!)
My conversations with Dave Elliott and his descriptions of what it was like to live in a real Midwestern college town like Ann Arbor, plus all the other stuff I had observed and absorbed by osmosis, are one of the reasons that I always knew from junior high school on, that I'd leave South Florida in the rear view mirror when it came time to go to college.
I wanted a college experience that was more like the ones I saw broadcast every Saturday on ABC's college football broadcasts with Keith Jackson and Chris Schenkel, than the all-too apathetic and blase reality of late '70's South Florida.
Bloomington offered me all the things I wanted -and much more.
I was totally captivated by the college experience that ABC presented in their three hours and knew that was exactly what I wanted, and that while Gainesville or Tallahassee might be fine for some of my friends, I and most of my smarter friends were getting the hell out of Florida, toute-de-suite!
That's why we headed to Princeton, Charlottesville and Boulder...I recall having game programs of the Liberty Bowl games when I was six, asking my father's friend to get the game program for me for the 1968 Alabama at U-M game at the Orange Bowl, the first night college football game ever televised in color, and years later, when I was at North Miami Beach, seeing the photos of the NMB head football coach and an assistant coach who had played for that Hurricane team.
At my South Beach Hoosier blog, http://www.southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/ I mention the following under the split-U logo and Sebastian the Ibis:
South Beach Hoosier's first U-M football game at the Orange Bowl was in 1972, age 11, against Tulane in the infamous "Fifth Down" game.
In order to drum up support and attendance for the U-M at the Orange Bowl, that game had a promotion whereby South Florida kids who were school safety patrols could get in for free IF they wore their sash. I did.
Clearly they knew that it was better to let kids in for free, knowing their parents would give them money to buy food and souvenirs, perhaps become a fan and want to return for future games.
The ballgame made an interesting impression on The New York Times, resulting in this gem from the "View of Sport" column of Oct, 14, 1990, labeled 'Fifth Down or Not, It's Over When It's Over.'
"In 1972, aided by a fifth-down officiating gift in the last moments of the game, Miami of Florida defeated Tulane, 24-21. The country and the world was a much different place that fall because The New York Times took time and space to editorialize on the subject.
''Is it right for sportsmen, particularly young athletes, to be penalized or deprived of the goals for which they earnestly competed because responsible officials make mistakes? The ideal of true sportsmanship would be better served if Miami forfeited last week's game.'
South Beach Hoosier hardly needs to tell you that this was YET another New York Times editorial that was completely ignored!
Before going to my first U-M game at the Orange Bowl in 1972, a friend's father often would bring me home an extra 'Canes game program. That's how I came to have the Alabama at U-M game program from Nov. 16, 1968, which was the first nationally-televised college football night game in color. (A 14-6 loss to the Crimson Tide.)
After that first ballgame against Tulane, as I often did for Dolphin games if my father wasn't going, I'd get dropped off at the Levitz parking lot near the 836 & I-95 Cloverleaf in NMB, and catch a Dade County Park & Ride bus, going straight to the Orange Bowl.
Once onboard, I'd get next to the window and listen to WIOD's pre-game show on my Radio Shack transistor radio.A few times, I was just about the only person onboard besides the bus driver, which was alright by me. Once at the Orange Bowl, if I didn't already have a ticket, I'd buy a game program for myself and one or two for friends or teachers before heading to the ticket window, since you usually couldn't find a program vendor once inside.
I probably had a friend or my father with me for just under 40% of the U-M games I ever went to, but you have to remember that the team, though blessed with several talented players, like Chuck Foreman and Burgess Owens, was just so-so to average at best, and the games were usually played on Friday nights, so it wasn't exactly high on every one's list of things to do.
Depending upon the opponent, if I was alone, I'd often have entire areas of the Orange Bowl to myself. (Wish I had photos of that now!)
For instance, I had a good portion of the East (open) End Zone to myself against Oklahoma in the mid-70's, when the Boomer Schooner and the Schooner Crew went out on the field after an Oklahoma TD, and the Schooner received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from the refs, as would happen years later in an Orangle Bowl Classic game. (Against FSU?)
I was there for the wins and losses under Pete Elliott, Carl Selmer & Lou Saban, and the huge on-field fight in '73 when under eventual national champion Notre Dame (then under Ara Parseghian), they called a time-out with less than a minute to go, and already up 37-0.
Their rationale? To score another TD and impress the AP football writers; final score 44-0.
Well, they got their wish and beat Alabama 24-23 for the title at the Sugar Bowl.
A year later, thanks to my Mom's boss, who had tickets he couldn't use, she and I saw Ara's last game as head coach of the Irish in the Orange Bowl Game from the East End Zone -in front of the Alabama cheerleaders!!!- in an exciting 13-11 Notre Dame win over Bear Bryant's Alabama Crimson Tide, and a rematch of the '73 national title game.
I was also present for the U-M's huge 20-15 win under Pete Elliott against Darrel Royal's Texas Longhorns, the week Sports Illustrated's College Football preview issue came out with Texas on the cover, above.
I was also present for lots of wins against schools called College of the Pacific, UNLV and Cal-Poly San Luis Obsispo, which I'd then never heard of before.
__________________
excerpt
from Philip Marwill Dec 5
MEDIA ADVISORY
MEDIA ADVISORY
Contacts: Phil Marwill, the National Football Foundation
Email: pmarwill@footballfoundation.com
Dan Sabreen, CBS College Sports Network Email: dsabreen@cbs.com
Dan Sabreen, CBS College Sports Network Email: dsabreen@cbs.com
THIS JUST IN...... from CBS College Sports Network
CBS College Sports Network announced today that the network will broadcast live the National Football Foundation's press conference for the 2008 NFF Annual Awards Dinner, including the induction of this year's College Football Hall of Fame Bowl Subdivision Class.
CBS College Sports Network announced today that the network will broadcast live the National Football Foundation's press conference for the 2008 NFF Annual Awards Dinner, including the induction of this year's College Football Hall of Fame Bowl Subdivision Class.
The press conference will air live from the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York on Tuesday, Dec. 9 from 9:30 - 11:30 AM, ET.
CBS College Sports Network will also provide live streaming video of the press conference available for free to all fans.
The press conference features National Football Foundation Chairman Archie Manning, 2008 Distinguished American Award recipient T. Boone Pickens, NFF Gold Medal recipient John Glenn, NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell and the 2008 College Football Hall of Fame Class, which includes Troy Aikman (UCLA), Billy Cannon (LSU), Jim Dombrowski (Virginia), Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern), Wilber Marshall (Florida), Rueben Mayes (Washington State), Randall McDaniel (Arizona State), Don McPherson (Syracuse), Jay Novacek (Wyoming), Dave Parks (Texas Tech), Ron Simmons (Florida State), Thurman Thomas (Oklahoma State), Arnold Tucker (Army) and coaches John Cooper and Lou Holtz.
CBS College Sports Network is available through local cable operators and nationally via satellite on DIRECTV Channel 613 and Dish Network Channel 152.
For more information on how to watch or subscribe to CBS College Sports Network, log on to http://www.sportsline.com/cbscollegesports/ _________________________________________
MEDIA ADVISORY
CBS College Sports Network will also provide live streaming video of the press conference available for free to all fans.
The press conference features National Football Foundation Chairman Archie Manning, 2008 Distinguished American Award recipient T. Boone Pickens, NFF Gold Medal recipient John Glenn, NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell and the 2008 College Football Hall of Fame Class, which includes Troy Aikman (UCLA), Billy Cannon (LSU), Jim Dombrowski (Virginia), Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern), Wilber Marshall (Florida), Rueben Mayes (Washington State), Randall McDaniel (Arizona State), Don McPherson (Syracuse), Jay Novacek (Wyoming), Dave Parks (Texas Tech), Ron Simmons (Florida State), Thurman Thomas (Oklahoma State), Arnold Tucker (Army) and coaches John Cooper and Lou Holtz.
CBS College Sports Network is available through local cable operators and nationally via satellite on DIRECTV Channel 613 and Dish Network Channel 152.
For more information on how to watch or subscribe to CBS College Sports Network, log on to http://www.sportsline.com/cbscollegesports/ _________________________________________
MEDIA ADVISORY
Dec. 9 Press Conference for NFF Annual Awards Dinner & College Football Hall of Fame Bowl Subdivision Inductees
WHO: Former U.S. Senator John Glenn, 2008 NFF Gold Medal recipient
T. Boone Pickens, 2008 NFF Distinguished American Award recipient
2008 College Football Hall of Fame Class - Football Bowl Subdivision (See list below)
2008 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class (See list below)
Archie Manning, NFF Chairman Steve Hatchell, NFF President & CEO
WHAT: Press Conference with access to John Glenn, T. Boone Pickens, the members of the 2008 hall of fame and scholar-athlete classes and the announcement of the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Finalists.
WHERE: The Empire Room at the Waldorf-Astoria, 301 Park Ave., New York, NY, 10022
WHEN: December 9, 2008 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST
HOW: * In person * Conference call by clicking here to register.* Live satellite feed from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (See below for coordinates) or clean feed via a Vvxy line at Circuit #1847 at the Waterfront (Ascent Media) in NYC. You may also contact your news service (ABC NewsOne; NBC NewsChannel; CBS Newspath; Sports News Service, CNN Newsource, Fox Feed, etc.) for specific footage. Permission is granted for use for news purposes only.
NOTE 1: Live satellite and clean feed available of dinner ceremonies starting at 7:30 p.m. (See below for coordinates) or clean feed via a Vvxy line at Circuit #1847 at the Waterfront (Ascent Media) in NYC. You may also contact your news service to request specific footage. Permission is granted for use for news purposes only. The Draddy Trophy winner will be announced live between 8:30 and 9 p.m. during this feed.
NOTE 2: Limited media opportunities at a 4:30 p.m. photo session in the Empire Room and the 6:30 p.m. Awards Dinner (Black Tie Required) in the Grand Ballroom. Previous notification required to Phil Marwill to cover all events.
PHOTOS
NOTE 1: Live satellite and clean feed available of dinner ceremonies starting at 7:30 p.m. (See below for coordinates) or clean feed via a Vvxy line at Circuit #1847 at the Waterfront (Ascent Media) in NYC. You may also contact your news service to request specific footage. Permission is granted for use for news purposes only. The Draddy Trophy winner will be announced live between 8:30 and 9 p.m. during this feed.
NOTE 2: Limited media opportunities at a 4:30 p.m. photo session in the Empire Room and the 6:30 p.m. Awards Dinner (Black Tie Required) in the Grand Ballroom. Previous notification required to Phil Marwill to cover all events.
PHOTOS
For Media Only: The National Football Foundation has established a Web site to distribute photos taken by its photographers during the NFF Annual Awards Dinner and surrounding events on Dec. 9 in New York City. Photos will be provided at no cost for one-time use and for news purposes only with a proper photo credit to: "The National Football Foundation." All other rights will be reserved. High resolution photos will continuously be posted throughout the day. To obtain access and/or to be placed on the email list for alerts when particular photos are available, please contact NFF Photographer Gene Boyers
Dec. 9 Press Conference Coordinates(Waldorf-Astoria Empire Room, New York)
9:30-11:30 a.m. ESTG 16 Transponder 6 Slot ADownlink 11804 VSymbol 3.978723Data 5.5FEC 3/4
Dec. 9 Dinner Coordinates (Waldorf-Astoria Grand Ballroom, New York)
19:30-23:30 p.m. ESTG 16 Transponder 6 Slot ADownlink 11804 VSymbol 3.978723Data 5.5FEC 3/4
Note: The morning press conference will provide sound bites from each member of the 2008 College Football Hall of Fame Class, U.S. Senator John Glenn, and T. Boone Pickens. Time permitting several interviews with the NFF National Scholar-Athletes may occur during the morning feed. The dinner feed will feature all of the honorees accepting their awards.
The 2008 Hall of Fame Class: Troy Aikman (UCLA), Billy Cannon (LSU), Jim Dombrowski (Virginia), Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern), Wilber Marshall (Florida), Rueben Mayes (Washington State), Randall McDaniel (Arizona State), Don McPherson (Syracuse), Jay Novacek (Wyoming), Dave Parks (Texas Tech), Ron Simmons (Florida State), Thurman Thomas (Oklahoma State), Arnold Tucker (Army). Coaches: John Cooper and Lou Holtz.
The 2008 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class: (Football Bowl Subdivision) Chase Daniel (Missouri); Graham Harrell (Texas Tech); Quin Harris (Louisiana Tech); Jeff Horinek (Colorado State); Alex Mack (California); Ryan McDonald (Illinois); Darryl Richard (Georgia Tech); Brian Robiskie (Ohio State); and Louie Sakoda (Utah). Football Championship Subvision: Andrew Berry (Harvard); Ryan Berry (South Dakota State); and Casey Gerald (Yale). Division II: Ryan Kees (St. Cloud State, Minn.). Division III: Brian Freeman (Carnegie Mellon, Pa.); and Greg Micheli (Mount Union, Ohio).
The 2008 Major Award Winners: Former U.S. Senator John Glenn (Gold Medal Recipient); T. Boone Pickens (Distinguished American Award) ; Bill Battle (Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award); Gene Smith, Ohio State (John L. Toner Award); Thomas Robinson, long-time WAC/Mountain West official (Outstanding Football Official Award); and Bob Curtis of Idaho and posthumously Dick Galiette of Yale (Co-recipients of the Chris Schenkel Award).
ABOUT THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE HALL OF FAME
Founded in 1947 with leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 121 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, Play It Smart, the NFF-FWAA Football Forum, the NFF Gridiron Clubs of New York City, Dallas and Los Angeles, and scholarships of over $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes.
The NFF awards the MacArthur Trophy, the Draddy Trophy, presented by HealthSouth, and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings.
Learn more at www.footballfoundation.org
______________________________
Orange Bowl Stadium, 1501 N.W. 3rd Street, Miami, FL 33125
See also: http://www.orangebowlstadium.com/
Memorial Stadium, Indiana University, 1001 East 17th Street, Bloomington, IN 47408
Liberty Bowl Stadium, 335 South Hollywood Street, Memphis, TN 38104
Monday, December 8, 2008
Broward School Board's policies/results are deal breakers. Let Murray be Murray!
My comments follow this Sun-Sentinel Broward politics blog post from yesterday and article by Anthony Man and Akilah Johnson today on the Broward School Board, and one of their typically bad PR moves, and the Hannah Sampson article on the same that appeared today in the Herald.
_______________________
Broward Politics blog
Broward schools want some federal bailout money
Posted by Anthony Man at 4:21 PM
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/school_board_elections/
________________________
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/breaking-news/story/804598.html
Miami Herald
Broward School Board to vote on bailout request
By Hannah Sampson
December 8, 2008
Potentially joining the ranks of auto executives and banking mavens, the Broward School Board will vote Tuesday on whether it is going to ask the federal government for a bailout.
''We're certainly at the edge of a cliff and anywhere at the state or federal level that we can seek help, we will,'' said Broward Schools Superintendent Jim Notter.
The Broward school district is predicting cuts of $160 million for the upcoming school year. Already this year, the district has been told it will lose $34 million from the budget.
Board member Beverly Gallagher, who asked Notter to put the request on the meeting agenda, said she has been getting e-mails from worried parents for weeks asking what the board will do to counter the cuts.
''This is a good start,'' Gallagher said. She said she hoped the request for federal aid would get the attention of state lawmakers, too.
''We know they don't have any money, but we'd like a bigger slice of the pie from them,'' she said.
The board will not vote on a specific amount of money Tuesday. The request says the assistance would be for construction and operating costs.
Broward's vote comes just weeks after Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho called on the federal government to rescue public schools with a bailout.
__________________________________
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/schools/sfl-flbschools1208sbdec08,0,2449279.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Board might request federal bailout include Broward County schools
Two members say education should be included in Barack Obama's plans to broadly assist the U.S. economy
By Anthony Man and Akilah Johnson
December 8, 2008
Wall Street got one. Detroit automakers may get one this week. Some governors have put their hands out for federal cash, citing their difficulties coping with the national economic crisis.
Now, the Broward School Board is pulling out its own tin cup.
"We will ask Barack Obama for bailout money for public education," School Board member Beverly Gallagher said Sunday. "We think if he bails anybody out, it should be public education."
Gallagher said she has asked Superintendent James Notter to prepare a resolution for the board to consider Tuesday. She expects the proposal to pass.
School Board Chairwoman Maureen Dinnen said Sunday the district would be "derelict within our duty if we didn't say, 'Hey, here is our list of things that we need you guys to pay attention to.'"
President-elect Barack Obama announced Saturday that his administration will institute a massive public-works initiative for such infrastructure projects as repairing roads and bridges, while also increasing technology and so-called green jobs.
"Certainly, schools rank as high as a roadway or a bridge or something," Dinnen said.
Gallagher agreed, saying schools deserve special consideration from federal taxpayers."
If you don't have a strong public education system, you don't have a strong work force." Gallagher said.She didn't have a specific dollar amount in mind.
She said she'd like capital funding to help improve older school facilities and operating funding to help pay for work-force training.
After slashing $94 million from this school year's budget, the district, the sixth largest in the nation, expects to lose about $160 million for the 2009-10 school year, according to the preliminary request on Tuesday's agenda.
Notter said in November that he expects more cuts will come when the Legislature meets in the spring.
The district will continue its freeze on filling non-instructional jobs, while looking for other ways to save money, he said. Construction projects have either been scuttled by the state or put on hold by the district.
"It is critical that the federal government include public schools in any financial relief efforts in order to ensure economic recovery in the State of Florida and throughout the nation," the preliminary request reads.
---------------------------
$160 million loss expected
After slashing $94 million from this year's budget, the district, the sixth largest in the nation, expects to lose $160 million for the 2009-10 school year, according to a resolution drafted for Tuesday's meeting.
Reader comments at:
http://www.topix.net/forum/source/south-florida-sun-sentinel/TPNO8B1H27O5Q5E9T
__________________________________
Tried to put a shortened version of this on the Herald's website comment area, below the article, but it kept cutting too many words. Hence...
If this foolish idea were actually allowed to reach fruition, don't we already know from experience what we'd be hearing about months from now?
An avalanche of after-the-fact reporting on the closed-to-the-public Workshop/Retreat in Naples or Captiva or somewhere that the Broward County School Board, James Notter & Co. would have to take, so they could focus and concentrate their energy on what they'd spend the money on.
A lot of Broward voters in District 1 like me voted for Ann Murray for Broward School Board over personable Rick Saltrick precisely because despite some very appealing qualities, he was TOO MUCH LIKE the current Board members in policy outlook, and probably wouldn't fight hard enough for taxpayers and parents against either poor administration or union policies when confronted with them.
I met Saltrick a few times in the weeks before the election, in both Hollywood and in Hallandale Beach, and would certainly strongly consider voting for him in the future for another political office.
Hell, I wouldn't mind exchanging him in a heartbeat for about two dozen people I can think of who are currently in office hereabouts.
But for Broward School Board, I felt that his strong connections/ties to current and past Broward education administration types/lobbyists/fixers, which he thought was a plus, and certainly was as far as raising campaign money and producing high-quality campaign literature, became a negative at the ballot box at a time when people really want to see increased accountability.
Or at least say they do.
Perhaps too much "get along" and not enough signs of clear-cut independence.
Apparently, as the vote showed, I wasn't alone in my intuition.
Murray's rhetorical question towards the end of the campaign about why he would spend so much money for a part-time job really hit home with a lot of voters I spoke with, too.
Even ones in his redoubt of Hollywood who had voted for Saltrick in the primary.
Meanwhile, Murray's stated position that her work experience gave her a clear insight into the system's bloat, as well as ideas as to where the bodies were hidden, resonated with voters.
She deserves the chance to use her new position on the Board to do more digging and make those sorts of arguments from the dais, and make the relevant information/policies public before the Broward School Board gets one more cent.
With the exception of Murray, the existing Board members seem to be Educrats in complete denial about how bad most of even the "average" schools are in their system.
Even worse, they seem to fundamentally misunderstand what a deal-breaker that sort of pronounced mediocrity -and inability to effectively deal with crime- is for many companies and individuals/families who are genuinely interested in relocating down here, even after they get over the unjustified housing costs.
And incidents like the one this spot-on Glenna Milberg story from the end of November highlights,
about an incident in Hallandale, only make their apathy and unwillingness to re-examine existing policies look more stark and pathetic.
16-Year-Old Accused Of Bringing Knives To School, 20 Students Expelled For Weapons This Year POSTED: 6:11 pm EST November 24, 2008
Video at http://www.local10.com/news/18053278/detail.html
Sunshine or not, the combination of high housing costs and mediocre, crime-plagued schools is a deal breaker!
The School Board needs to accept that reality, and stop making the same bad mistakes and political arguments, over-and-over, and move on to changing the dynamic with tangible results and less flippant chatter from the likes of Beverly Gallagher.
Until then, save Murray, they simply aren't trustworthy -period.
For more, see this post from the Herald's Naked Politics about my email and post of August 12th
Broward blogger complains about school campaign against amendments 5, 7 and 9
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2008/08/broward-blogger.html
It was written after having seen the School Board's website and reading this August 12th post:
School Board member starts political action committee
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2008/08/school_board_member_starts_political_action_committee.html#more
_______________________
Broward Politics blog
Broward schools want some federal bailout money
Posted by Anthony Man at 4:21 PM
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/school_board_elections/
________________________
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/breaking-news/story/804598.html
Miami Herald
Broward School Board to vote on bailout request
By Hannah Sampson
December 8, 2008
Potentially joining the ranks of auto executives and banking mavens, the Broward School Board will vote Tuesday on whether it is going to ask the federal government for a bailout.
''We're certainly at the edge of a cliff and anywhere at the state or federal level that we can seek help, we will,'' said Broward Schools Superintendent Jim Notter.
The Broward school district is predicting cuts of $160 million for the upcoming school year. Already this year, the district has been told it will lose $34 million from the budget.
Board member Beverly Gallagher, who asked Notter to put the request on the meeting agenda, said she has been getting e-mails from worried parents for weeks asking what the board will do to counter the cuts.
''This is a good start,'' Gallagher said. She said she hoped the request for federal aid would get the attention of state lawmakers, too.
''We know they don't have any money, but we'd like a bigger slice of the pie from them,'' she said.
The board will not vote on a specific amount of money Tuesday. The request says the assistance would be for construction and operating costs.
Broward's vote comes just weeks after Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho called on the federal government to rescue public schools with a bailout.
__________________________________
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/schools/sfl-flbschools1208sbdec08,0,2449279.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Board might request federal bailout include Broward County schools
Two members say education should be included in Barack Obama's plans to broadly assist the U.S. economy
By Anthony Man and Akilah Johnson
December 8, 2008
Wall Street got one. Detroit automakers may get one this week. Some governors have put their hands out for federal cash, citing their difficulties coping with the national economic crisis.
Now, the Broward School Board is pulling out its own tin cup.
"We will ask Barack Obama for bailout money for public education," School Board member Beverly Gallagher said Sunday. "We think if he bails anybody out, it should be public education."
Gallagher said she has asked Superintendent James Notter to prepare a resolution for the board to consider Tuesday. She expects the proposal to pass.
School Board Chairwoman Maureen Dinnen said Sunday the district would be "derelict within our duty if we didn't say, 'Hey, here is our list of things that we need you guys to pay attention to.'"
President-elect Barack Obama announced Saturday that his administration will institute a massive public-works initiative for such infrastructure projects as repairing roads and bridges, while also increasing technology and so-called green jobs.
"Certainly, schools rank as high as a roadway or a bridge or something," Dinnen said.
Gallagher agreed, saying schools deserve special consideration from federal taxpayers."
If you don't have a strong public education system, you don't have a strong work force." Gallagher said.She didn't have a specific dollar amount in mind.
She said she'd like capital funding to help improve older school facilities and operating funding to help pay for work-force training.
After slashing $94 million from this school year's budget, the district, the sixth largest in the nation, expects to lose about $160 million for the 2009-10 school year, according to the preliminary request on Tuesday's agenda.
Notter said in November that he expects more cuts will come when the Legislature meets in the spring.
The district will continue its freeze on filling non-instructional jobs, while looking for other ways to save money, he said. Construction projects have either been scuttled by the state or put on hold by the district.
"It is critical that the federal government include public schools in any financial relief efforts in order to ensure economic recovery in the State of Florida and throughout the nation," the preliminary request reads.
---------------------------
$160 million loss expected
After slashing $94 million from this year's budget, the district, the sixth largest in the nation, expects to lose $160 million for the 2009-10 school year, according to a resolution drafted for Tuesday's meeting.
Reader comments at:
http://www.topix.net/forum/source/south-florida-sun-sentinel/TPNO8B1H27O5Q5E9T
__________________________________
Tried to put a shortened version of this on the Herald's website comment area, below the article, but it kept cutting too many words. Hence...
If this foolish idea were actually allowed to reach fruition, don't we already know from experience what we'd be hearing about months from now?
An avalanche of after-the-fact reporting on the closed-to-the-public Workshop/Retreat in Naples or Captiva or somewhere that the Broward County School Board, James Notter & Co. would have to take, so they could focus and concentrate their energy on what they'd spend the money on.
A lot of Broward voters in District 1 like me voted for Ann Murray for Broward School Board over personable Rick Saltrick precisely because despite some very appealing qualities, he was TOO MUCH LIKE the current Board members in policy outlook, and probably wouldn't fight hard enough for taxpayers and parents against either poor administration or union policies when confronted with them.
I met Saltrick a few times in the weeks before the election, in both Hollywood and in Hallandale Beach, and would certainly strongly consider voting for him in the future for another political office.
Hell, I wouldn't mind exchanging him in a heartbeat for about two dozen people I can think of who are currently in office hereabouts.
But for Broward School Board, I felt that his strong connections/ties to current and past Broward education administration types/lobbyists/fixers, which he thought was a plus, and certainly was as far as raising campaign money and producing high-quality campaign literature, became a negative at the ballot box at a time when people really want to see increased accountability.
Or at least say they do.
Perhaps too much "get along" and not enough signs of clear-cut independence.
Apparently, as the vote showed, I wasn't alone in my intuition.
Murray's rhetorical question towards the end of the campaign about why he would spend so much money for a part-time job really hit home with a lot of voters I spoke with, too.
Even ones in his redoubt of Hollywood who had voted for Saltrick in the primary.
Meanwhile, Murray's stated position that her work experience gave her a clear insight into the system's bloat, as well as ideas as to where the bodies were hidden, resonated with voters.
She deserves the chance to use her new position on the Board to do more digging and make those sorts of arguments from the dais, and make the relevant information/policies public before the Broward School Board gets one more cent.
With the exception of Murray, the existing Board members seem to be Educrats in complete denial about how bad most of even the "average" schools are in their system.
Even worse, they seem to fundamentally misunderstand what a deal-breaker that sort of pronounced mediocrity -and inability to effectively deal with crime- is for many companies and individuals/families who are genuinely interested in relocating down here, even after they get over the unjustified housing costs.
And incidents like the one this spot-on Glenna Milberg story from the end of November highlights,
about an incident in Hallandale, only make their apathy and unwillingness to re-examine existing policies look more stark and pathetic.
16-Year-Old Accused Of Bringing Knives To School, 20 Students Expelled For Weapons This Year POSTED: 6:11 pm EST November 24, 2008
Video at http://www.local10.com/news/18053278/detail.html
Sunshine or not, the combination of high housing costs and mediocre, crime-plagued schools is a deal breaker!
The School Board needs to accept that reality, and stop making the same bad mistakes and political arguments, over-and-over, and move on to changing the dynamic with tangible results and less flippant chatter from the likes of Beverly Gallagher.
Until then, save Murray, they simply aren't trustworthy -period.
For more, see this post from the Herald's Naked Politics about my email and post of August 12th
Broward blogger complains about school campaign against amendments 5, 7 and 9
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2008/08/broward-blogger.html
It was written after having seen the School Board's website and reading this August 12th post:
School Board member starts political action committee
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2008/08/school_board_member_starts_political_action_committee.html#more
Friday, December 5, 2008
Continuing patterns of ethical misconduct and behavior at Hallandale Beach City Hall and environs
What follows, with a few typos from the original now cleaned-up, is a copy of the email that I sent today to Governor Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum about what happened on Wednesday afternoon during lunch at Hallandale Beach City Hall, which has not been reported anywhere in the South Florida media, print or electronic.
That's largely because the people directly involved wanted to keep you in the dark.
Which is precisely why they did what they did, when and where they did it.
But now it'll be a matter that everyone can know about, discuss and analyze.
Now, thanks to my efforts, Hallandale Beach citizens, as well as reporters, editors, politicians and other interested parties all over the state know all about it, and can draw their own conclusions.
Most will see a continuing pattern of ethical misconduct that calls into question the fitness of many
elected officials and government officials at Hallandale Beach City Hall, including the Police Dept.
To those who say that things can't be quite as bad in Hallandale Beach as I've described here in this space in the past, despite all the self-evident proof I've offered, including photographic evidence, I simply say read this: ask yourself after reading it whether it seems like these particular people at Hallandale Beach City Hall are, in fact, committed to taxpayer accountability, transparency in their operations and to upholding the letter and spirit of the laws of this state.
In particular, the Sunshine Laws this state instituted to make sure that state, local and agency officials didn't get to just pick and choose what they would and could do in the performance of their duties. (That's why they are requirements, NOT suggestions.)
In this case, as with so many other examples I could cite, I think the facts are pretty clear that they are not.
Wheels are now being put in motion...
___________________________________
To: "Gov. Charlie Crist", "Hon. Bill McCollum", cristopengov@eog.myflorida.com
December 5th, 2008
re Continuing patterns of ethical misconduct and behavior at Hallandale Beach City Hall and environs
Dear Governor Crist and Attorney General McCollum:
Happy Holidays!
As a result of an incident that's occurred within the past 48 hours, I find myself unexpectedly writing you two today to share the latest sordid chapter in the seemingly never ending efforts of City of Hallandale Beach elected officials and employees to consciously and (illegally) obfuscate and frustrate HB citizens' right to a reasonable amount of transparency and accountability in their official actions.
Ones clearly outlined in the Florida Constitution as well as in Florida State Statutes.
It's long past time for some old-fashioned lessons in accountability, which is where you and some other interested parties around the state come in.
Honestly, at a certain point, after one is constantly confronted week-after-week, month-after-month with examples of the same disturbing unethical and illegal behavior, not to mention, sheer incompetency at running basic aspects of local government, even public safety, it's hard to just chalk-it up to mere "coincidence."
Simply put, it's NOT a coincidence, it's the way that the folks running Hallandale Beach's City Hall want things to be done.
To think otherwise is to ignore all the accumulated self-evident examples of official misbehavior and misconduct that have taken place over the past few years.
It's quite the laundry list, almost a living, breathing bill of indictment.
This past Wednesday afternoon, December 3rd, in City of Hallandale Beach City Hall conference room 257, that was completely devoid of any citizens, the Hallandale Beach City Commission voted 4-1 on an "Other" item that was NOT listed on the public agenda or the city's own website, and for which no backup materials were provided, despite it being a matter of GREAT concern to this city's citizens and residents.
http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/2008-12-03/Agenda%20Outline%20for%202008-12-03.htm
That's largely because the people directly involved wanted to keep you in the dark.
Which is precisely why they did what they did, when and where they did it.
But now it'll be a matter that everyone can know about, discuss and analyze.
Now, thanks to my efforts, Hallandale Beach citizens, as well as reporters, editors, politicians and other interested parties all over the state know all about it, and can draw their own conclusions.
Most will see a continuing pattern of ethical misconduct that calls into question the fitness of many
elected officials and government officials at Hallandale Beach City Hall, including the Police Dept.
To those who say that things can't be quite as bad in Hallandale Beach as I've described here in this space in the past, despite all the self-evident proof I've offered, including photographic evidence, I simply say read this: ask yourself after reading it whether it seems like these particular people at Hallandale Beach City Hall are, in fact, committed to taxpayer accountability, transparency in their operations and to upholding the letter and spirit of the laws of this state.
In particular, the Sunshine Laws this state instituted to make sure that state, local and agency officials didn't get to just pick and choose what they would and could do in the performance of their duties. (That's why they are requirements, NOT suggestions.)
In this case, as with so many other examples I could cite, I think the facts are pretty clear that they are not.
Wheels are now being put in motion...
___________________________________
To: "Gov. Charlie Crist"
December 5th, 2008
re Continuing patterns of ethical misconduct and behavior at Hallandale Beach City Hall and environs
Dear Governor Crist and Attorney General McCollum:
Happy Holidays!
As a result of an incident that's occurred within the past 48 hours, I find myself unexpectedly writing you two today to share the latest sordid chapter in the seemingly never ending efforts of City of Hallandale Beach elected officials and employees to consciously and (illegally) obfuscate and frustrate HB citizens' right to a reasonable amount of transparency and accountability in their official actions.
Ones clearly outlined in the Florida Constitution as well as in Florida State Statutes.
It's long past time for some old-fashioned lessons in accountability, which is where you and some other interested parties around the state come in.
Honestly, at a certain point, after one is constantly confronted week-after-week, month-after-month with examples of the same disturbing unethical and illegal behavior, not to mention, sheer incompetency at running basic aspects of local government, even public safety, it's hard to just chalk-it up to mere "coincidence."
Simply put, it's NOT a coincidence, it's the way that the folks running Hallandale Beach's City Hall want things to be done.
To think otherwise is to ignore all the accumulated self-evident examples of official misbehavior and misconduct that have taken place over the past few years.
It's quite the laundry list, almost a living, breathing bill of indictment.
This past Wednesday afternoon, December 3rd, in City of Hallandale Beach City Hall conference room 257, that was completely devoid of any citizens, the Hallandale Beach City Commission voted 4-1 on an "Other" item that was NOT listed on the public agenda or the city's own website, and for which no backup materials were provided, despite it being a matter of GREAT concern to this city's citizens and residents.
http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/2008-12-03/Agenda%20Outline%20for%202008-12-03.htm
Result? City Manager Mike Good's contract was renewed without any public input or comment whatsoever.
None!
Commissioner Keith London opposed the item being brought up, noting it was being proposed without adequate public notice, without any backup materials being provided, and without any sort of reasonable explanation given for why an empty room, without an opportunity for citizen input, was the appropriate time and place for a vote on the city manager's future and contract.
His concerns appear both reasonable and logical.
Instead of taking a moment to reflect on what they were really doing, though, Comm. London's warnings were ignored by the rest of the Hallandale Beach City Commission.
I was first told of these events Thursday by Comm. London, who said that the entire discussion and vote on the issue took much "less than two minutes."
In any other community, one would be tempted to say the continuing behavior by the folks at HB City Hall "shocks the conscience of the community."
But here in Hallandale Beach, where I've now lived for five years, we've been regularly "shocked."
But the frequency of the misconduct doesn't lessen the severity of the act or its significance.
To Comm. London's legitimate concerns about the protocol and appropriateness of the matter, Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper replied curtly that the meeting was being recorded, as if that itself was sufficient to cover the intentional mis-direction by the City Manager and four members of City Commission, when Mayor Cooper knows full well that the tape of that portion of the City
But the frequency of the misconduct doesn't lessen the severity of the act or its significance.
To Comm. London's legitimate concerns about the protocol and appropriateness of the matter, Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper replied curtly that the meeting was being recorded, as if that itself was sufficient to cover the intentional mis-direction by the City Manager and four members of City Commission, when Mayor Cooper knows full well that the tape of that portion of the City
Commission meeting is NEVER publicly played on the city's -not community's- channel.
Never, as in never ever!
After all, she's one of the persons who made THAT decision the rule.
That's especially troublesome in a city that has often been as much as NINE MONTHS behind in making the Minutes of their City Commission meetings public, and is notorious for NOT processing requests for public documents in a timely and reasonable fashion.
This has been borne out by recent public testimony, where citizens were literally pulling teeth to get what they were legally entitled to from the city.
Voting for the City Manager's contract under these absurd anti-democratic conditions were Mayor Joy Cooper, Vice Mayor William Julian, Commissioner Dorothy "Dotty" Ross and Commissioner Anthony Sanders.
The sole "No" vote was Commissioner Keith London's.
Frankly, this whole sad episode only further exacerbates HB City Hall's well-earned reputation for cronyism, corruption, excessive and illegal secrecy, and a particular disregard for following existing U.S. and Florida laws -as well as common sense- that is anything but appropriate for the year 2008.
It's as if HB City Hall is a world onto its own, where the normal rules of society and the rest of the country, state and county don't apply.
Or common sense or a sense of propriety.
It's almost as if the huge uproar generated last year by the then-City Commission's vote in secret over lunch -just as was the case Wednesday- spearheaded by Comm. Julian, to more than TRIPLE the salary of part-time commissioners, without any public notice or discussion, NEVER HAPPENED.
But it did, to the great embarrassment and consternation of Hallandale Beach's citizens, who watched and read in stunned amazement at the sheer brazenness of the offenders' efforts to self-enrich themselves, with a defiant braggadocio at being discovered.
Instead of the appropriate contriteness, dribbling out came grand pronouncements like:.
1. "Julian said he had planned to propose an even higher increase. He likened the city to a corporation, and said the pay should be commensurate..."
2. "Other people in this position in the corporate world would be making much more money than we are," Julian said.
And these were just some of the comments from the three commissioners that the reporters could actually get into their papers, NOT all the ones actually said!
What didn't happen last year, though, was any actual formal punishment or sanctions against these elected officials who consciously violated Florida's well-established Sunshine Laws, including Julian, Ross, and then-Commissioner Francine Schiller.
I'm still trying to figure out how that was allowed to happen.
Elected officials consciously break the law and face no punishment?
That lack of punishment being the recent troubling precedent that Hallandale Beach citizens have to mull, and not wanting to see that mistake repeated, in the next few days, I, along with other concerned citizens of Hallandale Beach, will make a formal ethics complaint against the individuals involved Wednesday to the appropriate Florida and Broward County authorities, including the Florida Commission on Ethics and Michael Satz at the Broward County State Attorney's Office.
But I also happen to believe that each of your offices have a salutary and instructive role to play here, and need to be involved in investigating this and previous misconduct in the city, of which there is much to choose from.
Besides the conduct and behavior of Messrs. Good, Cooper, Julian, Ross and Sanders in this matter Wednesday, I also find it extremely troubling that, as was true with last year's embarrassing episode, Hallandale Beach City Attorney David Jove seems to have functioned as little more than a "potted plant" in the room, unable to conduct himself in an appropriate fashion that insures that the letter and spirit of Florida laws are followed, and that the public is properly served.
Once again, David Jove has seriously failed to appreciate his unique role as a legal officer, and, once again, failed the citizens and taxpayers of Hallandale Beach whom he works for and has a duty to.
Before Thanksgiving, I wrote about the importance of re-instilling a climate of ethical behavior among elected officials and government employees in this state, and the very corrosive effect that ethical misdeeds had on all sorts of Quality-of-Life decisions, including business and personal decisions on where to relocate, in that particular case, that problem in South Florida as exhibited recently by the City of Sunrise:
Sunshine may be the best disinfectant, but alone, it's no substitute for highlighting govt. misdeeds if the principals involved aren't invested into a system of ethical accountability being their first duty.
The story below in Sunrise could've been handled a lot of different ways, but in the end, typically, it was self-interest that seems to have motivated all the moves by the elected officials, without care for the citizens, whom they see as misguided idealists.
No, just citizens asking to be treated with the level of respect they deserve.
This holiday season, in your travels around the state over the next few weeks,absent your giving out DVDs of the film "1776," it might not be the worst idea in the world for you two to once again use the bully pulpit to remind Florida's public officials that accountability and fealty to ethics is truly the best gift they can give the citizens and taxpayers of this state.
They're the gifts that keeps on giving!
I meant what I said then, but even I wouldn't have guessed that Hallandale Beach would so quickly offer yet further proof during the holiday season that such ethical standards are routinely ignored with impunity for reasons of ego, cronyism and financial enrichment, but so they are.
The corrosive affect on this town of the present City Hall crowd involved in Wednesday's actions -and last year's- and all the ones since then, is positively toxic.
It only further heightens the existing cynicism, further turning-off citizens from participating, because they see with their own eyes when they do show up the overwhelming evidence that there's little point in participating if the very people in charge can "fix" and manipulate the rules and laws to benefit themselves.
And not be punished and held accountable by authorities.
Consider the circumstances surrounding the Chief of Police, Thomas Magill, and what he has done in the recent past, of actually trying to frame innocent people thru fraud. (Below.)
Read the excellent article below by the Sun-Sentinel's John Holland from late January and tell me how many other American cities, let alone, cities in Florida, would've tolerate this sort of behavior and NOT made changes?
It boggles the mind.
How could you reasonably explain the fact that more than ten months after Holland's devastating spot-on reporting on the noxious criminal and abusive behavior of Magill to frame two HB police officers, and have them prosecuted for something they didn't do -which has cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages, after a jury twice rejected the city's flimsy defense in less than a half hour- the whole issue of Magill remaining as Police Chief has NEVER been mentioned in a City Commission meeting?
Meetings that Mayor Joy Cooper leads and controls with a firm grip on the gavel
There are more than enough facts-on-the-ground to suggest that if HB City Hall's predictable behavior and culture of ethical shortcuts and self-dealing isn't changed, there will be extremely negative consequences in the future.
So I have to ask each of you, are you going to be an agent for positive reinforcement, or just ignore the problem when you are made aware of it?
Pretend that it will somehow resolve itself, even when all evidence is to the contrary?
I prefer to think that you will become engaged and see how accurate I've been here in my description, and not just because I voted for you, but rather because you believe implicitly that there really are negatives consequences to society to politicians' unethical behavior.
But let's be clear: this crowd at Hallandale Beach City Hall and environs has no intention of stopping their intentional ethical scandals and insulting disrespect to the citizens and residents of this community.
If anything, they practically dare citizens to do anything to stop them!
I'm calling their bluff.
I look forward to hearing from you two on this matter in the future, and will keep your offices informed about our actions.
Sincerely,
DBS, Hallandale Beach, FL
http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/
Photos tell the story, in this case, one from my blog, Hallandale Beach Blog:, taken May 8, 2008, the one at the top of this email:
Never, as in never ever!
After all, she's one of the persons who made THAT decision the rule.
That's especially troublesome in a city that has often been as much as NINE MONTHS behind in making the Minutes of their City Commission meetings public, and is notorious for NOT processing requests for public documents in a timely and reasonable fashion.
This has been borne out by recent public testimony, where citizens were literally pulling teeth to get what they were legally entitled to from the city.
Voting for the City Manager's contract under these absurd anti-democratic conditions were Mayor Joy Cooper, Vice Mayor William Julian, Commissioner Dorothy "Dotty" Ross and Commissioner Anthony Sanders.
The sole "No" vote was Commissioner Keith London's.
Frankly, this whole sad episode only further exacerbates HB City Hall's well-earned reputation for cronyism, corruption, excessive and illegal secrecy, and a particular disregard for following existing U.S. and Florida laws -as well as common sense- that is anything but appropriate for the year 2008.
It's as if HB City Hall is a world onto its own, where the normal rules of society and the rest of the country, state and county don't apply.
Or common sense or a sense of propriety.
It's almost as if the huge uproar generated last year by the then-City Commission's vote in secret over lunch -just as was the case Wednesday- spearheaded by Comm. Julian, to more than TRIPLE the salary of part-time commissioners, without any public notice or discussion, NEVER HAPPENED.
But it did, to the great embarrassment and consternation of Hallandale Beach's citizens, who watched and read in stunned amazement at the sheer brazenness of the offenders' efforts to self-enrich themselves, with a defiant braggadocio at being discovered.
Instead of the appropriate contriteness, dribbling out came grand pronouncements like:.
1. "Julian said he had planned to propose an even higher increase. He likened the city to a corporation, and said the pay should be commensurate..."
2. "Other people in this position in the corporate world would be making much more money than we are," Julian said.
And these were just some of the comments from the three commissioners that the reporters could actually get into their papers, NOT all the ones actually said!
What didn't happen last year, though, was any actual formal punishment or sanctions against these elected officials who consciously violated Florida's well-established Sunshine Laws, including Julian, Ross, and then-Commissioner Francine Schiller.
I'm still trying to figure out how that was allowed to happen.
Elected officials consciously break the law and face no punishment?
That lack of punishment being the recent troubling precedent that Hallandale Beach citizens have to mull, and not wanting to see that mistake repeated, in the next few days, I, along with other concerned citizens of Hallandale Beach, will make a formal ethics complaint against the individuals involved Wednesday to the appropriate Florida and Broward County authorities, including the Florida Commission on Ethics and Michael Satz at the Broward County State Attorney's Office.
But I also happen to believe that each of your offices have a salutary and instructive role to play here, and need to be involved in investigating this and previous misconduct in the city, of which there is much to choose from.
Besides the conduct and behavior of Messrs. Good, Cooper, Julian, Ross and Sanders in this matter Wednesday, I also find it extremely troubling that, as was true with last year's embarrassing episode, Hallandale Beach City Attorney David Jove seems to have functioned as little more than a "potted plant" in the room, unable to conduct himself in an appropriate fashion that insures that the letter and spirit of Florida laws are followed, and that the public is properly served.
Once again, David Jove has seriously failed to appreciate his unique role as a legal officer, and, once again, failed the citizens and taxpayers of Hallandale Beach whom he works for and has a duty to.
Before Thanksgiving, I wrote about the importance of re-instilling a climate of ethical behavior among elected officials and government employees in this state, and the very corrosive effect that ethical misdeeds had on all sorts of Quality-of-Life decisions, including business and personal decisions on where to relocate, in that particular case, that problem in South Florida as exhibited recently by the City of Sunrise:
Sunshine may be the best disinfectant, but alone, it's no substitute for highlighting govt. misdeeds if the principals involved aren't invested into a system of ethical accountability being their first duty.
The story below in Sunrise could've been handled a lot of different ways, but in the end, typically, it was self-interest that seems to have motivated all the moves by the elected officials, without care for the citizens, whom they see as misguided idealists.
No, just citizens asking to be treated with the level of respect they deserve.
This holiday season, in your travels around the state over the next few weeks,absent your giving out DVDs of the film "1776," it might not be the worst idea in the world for you two to once again use the bully pulpit to remind Florida's public officials that accountability and fealty to ethics is truly the best gift they can give the citizens and taxpayers of this state.
They're the gifts that keeps on giving!
I meant what I said then, but even I wouldn't have guessed that Hallandale Beach would so quickly offer yet further proof during the holiday season that such ethical standards are routinely ignored with impunity for reasons of ego, cronyism and financial enrichment, but so they are.
The corrosive affect on this town of the present City Hall crowd involved in Wednesday's actions -and last year's- and all the ones since then, is positively toxic.
It only further heightens the existing cynicism, further turning-off citizens from participating, because they see with their own eyes when they do show up the overwhelming evidence that there's little point in participating if the very people in charge can "fix" and manipulate the rules and laws to benefit themselves.
And not be punished and held accountable by authorities.
Consider the circumstances surrounding the Chief of Police, Thomas Magill, and what he has done in the recent past, of actually trying to frame innocent people thru fraud. (Below.)
Read the excellent article below by the Sun-Sentinel's John Holland from late January and tell me how many other American cities, let alone, cities in Florida, would've tolerate this sort of behavior and NOT made changes?
It boggles the mind.
How could you reasonably explain the fact that more than ten months after Holland's devastating spot-on reporting on the noxious criminal and abusive behavior of Magill to frame two HB police officers, and have them prosecuted for something they didn't do -which has cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages, after a jury twice rejected the city's flimsy defense in less than a half hour- the whole issue of Magill remaining as Police Chief has NEVER been mentioned in a City Commission meeting?
Meetings that Mayor Joy Cooper leads and controls with a firm grip on the gavel
There are more than enough facts-on-the-ground to suggest that if HB City Hall's predictable behavior and culture of ethical shortcuts and self-dealing isn't changed, there will be extremely negative consequences in the future.
So I have to ask each of you, are you going to be an agent for positive reinforcement, or just ignore the problem when you are made aware of it?
Pretend that it will somehow resolve itself, even when all evidence is to the contrary?
I prefer to think that you will become engaged and see how accurate I've been here in my description, and not just because I voted for you, but rather because you believe implicitly that there really are negatives consequences to society to politicians' unethical behavior.
But let's be clear: this crowd at Hallandale Beach City Hall and environs has no intention of stopping their intentional ethical scandals and insulting disrespect to the citizens and residents of this community.
If anything, they practically dare citizens to do anything to stop them!
I'm calling their bluff.
I look forward to hearing from you two on this matter in the future, and will keep your offices informed about our actions.
Sincerely,
DBS, Hallandale Beach, FL
http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/
Photos tell the story, in this case, one from my blog, Hallandale Beach Blog:, taken May 8, 2008, the one at the top of this email:
"The sign that greets northbound drivers on U.S.-1/South Federal Highway as they leave the City of Aventura and Miami-Dade County in the rear window.
Unfortunately, it's the perfect metaphor for the City of Hallandale Beach and its elected officials and employees: short-sighted and lacking in common sense.
This sign is placed so far west on the median strip -and practically BEHIND a palm tree- that drivers can't actually read it even if they wanted to.
In any case, because of the longtime gross incompetency and negligence of the city, the spotlights that are supposed to illuminate the sign at night HAVEN'T worked since about mid-January of 2004.
Which is to say, yes, LONGER than the U.S. involvement in WW II.
Welcome to the City of Hallandale Beach!
Begin heavy traffic, chronic red tape and mis-adventures in government!
Rather incredibly, the conditions described STILL existed as of last night, December 4th, 2008."
I told you that the normal rules don't apply here.
I wasn't exaggerating.
_________________________________________
Miami Herald
HALLANDALE BEACH
Commissioners triple pay
By ALIZA APPELBAUM AND JENNIFER LEBOVICH
Hallandale Beach commissioners on Wednesday voted to more than triple their salary.
Over a taxpayer-funded lunch of steak and chicken sandwiches on Wednesday, Hallandale Beach commissioners raised their annual pay by nearly $55,000 and catapulted themselves into the salary stratosphere for part-time public servants.
Starting immediately, commissioners will earn $75,000 a year.
In a tight budget year when the Legislature nixed raises for state employees, commissioners in the city of 35,000 voted 3-2 to more than triple their current salary of $21,196.
Discussion of the raise, and the vote, came during the luncheon portion of the city's regular meeting -- the only part that is not recorded.
It will be reflected generally in the city's minutes, which had not yet been prepared on Thursday. "I thought it was outrageous and completely out of line for an elected public official whose work is part time," said Mayor Joy Cooper, who asked commissioners to defer voting on the raise until the city's next budget meeting.
The raise means commissioners will make substantially more than the elected leaders in some of Broward's biggest cities.
Commissioners in Pembroke Pines -- a city of nearly 150,000 residents -- make $23,708, and the mayor gets $46,485.
And commissioners in Fort Lauderdale earn $30,000 a year, while the mayor gets $35,000.
COUNTY SALARY
Broward County commissioners bring in $91,996 a year to oversee an airport, a seaport, parks and libraries for a county of about 1.8 million.
"I'd like to get that kind of pay raise," said Ben Wilcox, the executive director of Common Cause Florida, a government watchdog group. "If they feel like they're worth that. I guess the final decision will be up to the voters the next time they come up for reelection, if they feel like that's too big a pay raise."
Cooper pointed out that the city could face significant revenue cuts in the coming year, depending on what form of property tax relief is passed by the state Legislature, which plans a special session in June.
"This is the absolute worst commission decision ever made in this city's history," said Cooper, who said she won't accept the increase.
Vice Mayor William Julian proposed the raise during the lunch planning meeting in a conference room in City Hall. The issue was not on any publicized agenda.
"If I was in their shoes I would bend over backward to make sure there was full notice and an opportunity for public discussion," said Wilcox. "After all, this is the public's money and they should have, I would think, the opportunity to weigh in on whether they feel the commissioners deserve that increase."
Voting in favor were Julian and commissioners Dorothy Ross and Francine Schiller. Cooper and Commissioner Keith London voted against it.
Julian said he had planned to propose an even higher increase. He likened the city to a corporation, and said the pay should be commensurate. He also praised the commission for lowering the tax rate and maintaining a healthy reserve fund.
"Other people in this position in the corporate world would be making much more money than we are," Julian said. "It is a steep jump, but it just shows how little we received before. I don't think it's out of line at all."
At the meeting, London suggested doing a comparison of salaries of elected officials in other cities before settling on a number.
"I wanted more information and the opportunity to do more research," he said in an interview. "We didn't have enough information at that time to make a decision."
FULL-TIME HOURS
Ross -- who has been on the commission since 1995 -- defended the raise Thursday, saying it's a job that calls for full-time hours. "I'm experienced, I'm qualified, I'm trained and I'm worth it," she said.
Schiller declined to comment. "I think that's an insane amount of money for a commission in a city our size," said Julie Hamlin, a Hallandale Beach resident who lost a bid for a commission seat during the last election.
"It's not responsible at a time when we have a property tax and insurance crisis in the state that is bound to impact our city tax structure," she said.
"It's totally crazy."
'BEYOND BELIEF'
When former Hallandale Beach Mayor Arthur "Sonny" Rosenberg got wind of the raise, he thought he had heard wrong.
"It's tough to comment on it because it's beyond belief," said Rosenberg, who served on the commission for more than two decades and said he made about $9,000 in 2000.
"I think they made a mockery out of public service, and I think Hallandale Beach is going to be the laughingstock of South Florida."
Miami Herald staff writer Roberto Santiago contributed to this report
______________________________
Miami Herald
Hallandale leaders rescind their own big raise
By ALIZA APPELBAUM AND JERRY BERRIOS
May 4, 2007
Commissioners in the city of Hallandale Beach, who thought they were underpaid until they voted themselves a 254 percent pay raise Wednesday, might be feeling underpaid again today.
On Friday, less than 48 hours after they voted to more than triple their salaries from $21,196 to $75,000, chagrined commissioners rescinded their action. The move followed howls of outrage from residents and even their own state legislator, who was wrapping up work on a tough budget year in Tallahassee.
"I am shocked as to their timing," said State Sen. Steve Geller, a Democrat who represents the city.
"The salary increase will not stand," vowed Marie Jose Piedrahita, one of the 35,000 residents of the coastal city, just north of the Broward-Miami-Dade line and home to Gulfstream Park. "We will have it repealed."
A group of citizens had hired the Law Store -- legal experts trained in municipal law -- to help them fight. But before anyone could act, Vice Mayor William Julian, who pushed for the pay raise earlier in the week, had a change of heart and pushed commissioners to hastily roll back the record-setting $55,000 raise.
"I truly did not anticipate the reaction of my community and would not have proposed this action if I had," Julian said Friday in a prepared statement.
Julian joined two other commissioners who voted to raise salaries over a private lunch on Wednesday. Mayor Joy Cooper and Commissioner Keith London opposed it.
"I'm glad that the commission came to their senses and reconsidered this today," Cooper said Friday. "It is a very big relief."
London said he opposed the raise because the commission did not have enough information.
"When I make a decision, I try to make an informed decision," he said.
Some residents criticized the commissioners for taking action outside the public eye -- deciding to give themselves the hike when their actions were not recorded.
And when they decided to drop the unpopular idea on Friday, they did in the midst of an already scheduled, all-day workshop on Community Redevelopment, Housing and Growth Management.
While Florida's Government in The Sunshine Law requires meetings between two or more elected officials be publicized so concerned citizens have ample opportunity to respond, commissioners say they did not violate that law.
Cooper said she feels the vote was legal and took place in a public meeting.
Bill Fielding, a resident who follows the commission's actions, disagrees.
"That vote was steeped in impropriety," he said. "They did the right thing by revoking it."
The Sunshine Law requires that "reasonable notice" be given for a public meeting, but commissioners may have considered this critical, leaving them less time than usual to give notice, said Barbara Peterson, president of the First Amendment Foundation.
Ultimately, a judge would have to decide if a violation occurred, she said.
Miami Herald staff writer Marc Caputo contributed to this report.
________________________________
Miami Herald
Editorial
Local perspectives
May 5, 2007
HALLANDALE BEACH SALARIES ALMOST MATCHED EGOS
Hallandale Beach has the buzz of a city on the verge of a renaissance. Voters here have chosen progressive leaders, as exemplified by Mayor Joy Cooper. The City Commission has been fiscally responsible enough to boast of reduced taxes. Braced by the hoped-for promise of slot machines in the city's two parimutuels, commissioners are well versed in city issues, open to new ideas and committed to citywide improvements.
So why on Earth would three commissioners break faith with residents by giving themselves a $50,000-plus pay raise without even the courtesy of prior public notice? Whatever the reasons, common sense caught up with the trio (helped along by residents' uniform condemnation of the raise) on Friday. The salary hike was repealed by a 5-0 vote.
Vice Mayor William Julian and Commissioners Dorothy Ross and Fran Schiller defied the democratic process in their Tuesday vote to raise their annual pay to $75,000 from $21,196. Ignoring the remonstrances of Mayor Cooper and Commissioner Keith London , the three voted on Mr. Julian's sudden proposal during an unrecorded, informal lunch meeting. No public notice, no public hearing. Even if residents had known about it they couldn't have commented on the proposed raises before the vote.
The three declared themselves worth every cent of the raise because they work for the city full-time. Self-importance apparently puffed up these representatives of a mere 35,000 residents in a city whose charter outlines duties of part-time commissioners. The boost would have made their pay second only to Broward county commissioners' $91,996 salaries and more than twice that of elected officials in Broward cities five times Hallandale Beach's size.
A chastened Mr. Julian on Friday proposed that the raise be repealed. Ms. Ross seconded the motion that was unanimously approved. Maybe it dawned on the three that the city may have to tighten future budgets if the Legislature, as is likely, puts limits on local governments' taxing powers. Such luxurious paychecks would offend residents who see their services cut back. The trio has one more fence to mend. They should tuck in their egos and offer city residents their humble apologies.
________________________________
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
HALLANDALE RESCINDS BIG PAY RAISE - COMMISSIONERS CHANGE THEIR MINDS ABOUT INCREASE WITHOUT PUBLIC NOTICE
By John Holland and Thomas Monnay Staff writers;
Staff writers Joe Kollin, Kathleen Kernicky, Georgia East and Tony Man contributed to this report.
May 5, 2007
The lunch that almost quadrupled their salaries became impossible to swallow just two days later.
Under intense pressure from their mayor and growing criticism across the state, Hallandale Beach city commissioners on Friday unanimously rescinded a Wednesday vote giving them an unadvertised, unprecedented pay raise of almost $55,000 a year.
"I'm extremely happy. I feel like an elephant has been lifted off my back," said Mayor Joy Cooper, one of two commissioners to initially vote against the raise when it came up over lunch during a planning meeting.
The vote for such a large raise without any public notice has many experts on government questioning the propriety of the move.
Barbara Petersen, an attorney and president of the First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee, pointed to what she called several possible problems.
"They don't have to specifically spell out everything on an agenda, but they aren't supposed to be intentionally leaving off important items, and that's where this is really suspicious," Petersen said. "It raises questions of how three people would suddenly, out of the blue, decide to give themselves $55,000 raises without any prior discussions. It just smells funny."
The controversy began Wednesday in an upstairs room at City Hall, during what the city agenda described as a planning and scheduling meeting. Vice Mayor Bill Julian proposed raising commission salaries from $20,500 to $75,000. With little discussion, commissioners Fran Schiller and Dorothy Ross backed the proposal and the vote passed 3-2.
Cooper and Commissioner Keith London voted against the pay raise, which was not mentioned on the advertised City Commission agenda and had not been discussed at prior meetings.
City Attorney David Jove said it is legal for commissioners to vote on city business during planning sessions because they are advertised and open to the public, even though they are held upstairs. "It's a Sunshine meeting," said Jove, referring to Florida's "Government in the Sunshine" laws requiring most meetings to be conducted in public with proper notice.
Under state law, cities must advertise the date and location of their meetings and conduct public hearings on proposed laws and fiscal budgets. But commissioners can approve certain items, such as minor expenses, even though those items aren't part of the regular agenda.
Julian insisted he did nothing wrong when he chose to bring up the matter at lunch instead of during the regular meeting, which is televised.
"I have nothing to hide," he said. "Nobody comes to the public meetings, and this was done in the Sunshine with full advice from our legal staff."
That didn't ease the shock for Cooper.
"When Vice Mayor Julian started talking about it Wednesday, my mouth dropped," Cooper said. "And not only the discussion, but the amount involved was so outrageous."
On Friday, during a special meeting at City Hall, Julian made a motion to rescind the raise, and his colleagues quickly agreed. But Julian later said commissioners deserve the raise because the position is like a full-time job and he would bring the matter up again.
"I'm willing to negotiate. This is not written in stone," said Julian, adding he would be amenable to a salary of $50,000 a year. "This is not the mom and pop commission it used to be."
Some local residents didn't agree.
"It really is ridiculous. The city has a lot of problems and a lot of room to improve," said Mike Butler, a 10-year resident who lives in Golden Isles. "The three commissioners ... who have the most accountability for the conditions we're in today are the same three who voted for this."
The timing of the raise and resulting publicity reached Tallahassee. The Florida Legislature is debating ways to lower property taxes, and considering eliminating them altogether, amid complaints that local and county officials are wasting taxpayer dollars.
"That was the last thing we needed at a time like this when people are dying about property taxes," said State Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach, who served on the City Commission from 2003 until 2006.
Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis, president of the Florida League of Cities, said this could unfairly cast a shadow other cities.
"Hopefully, the Legislature will say that what Hallandale Beach did wasn't indicative of all municipalities and this was just one misguided city," he said.
Assistant State Attorney Tim Donnelly, who heads the public corruption division, said he couldn't comment because the complaint is likely to be investigated by his office. He would only say that a willful violation of open meeting laws is a misdemeanor, while any other violations could result in civil fines up to $500.
Staff writers Joe Kollin, Kathleen Kernicky, Georgia East and Tony Man contributed to this report. _____________________________
Miami Herald
Coumnist Fred Grimm
Commissioners in throes of gambling fever
By FRED GRIMM
May 6, 2007
Experts warned that this could happen.
A quiet seaside town like Hallandale Beach becomes a gambling Mecca, with a casino om the north side of town, another on the south. Suddenly once solid, sober are driven crazy by the scent of easy money. Until even the folks down at City Hall catch the fever.
That's the only plausible explanation for what happened in Hallandale Beach last week. Three city commissioners were obviously consumed by a momentary gambling frenzy. They bet that no one would notice that they had voted themselves the kind of jackpot that would set off bells and sirens at the Mardi Gras's casino.
It is a notorious symptom of gambling fever that the infected no longer grasp the value of a paycheck. Little Vegas Vice Mayor William Julian and Commissioners Dorothy Ross and Francine Schiller voted to up their annual pay from $21,196 to $75,000 as if they were talkin' chump change.
WHEELING OVER LUNCH
They hedged their bets by putting the issue on their luncheon agenda, the only portion of the commission meeting not recorded. As if they hoped no one would notice. As if they assumed what happened in City Hall, stayed in City Hall.
Lunch was a little like an all-you-can-eat casino buffet. Salad, sandwiches, crab cakes, chicken wings, pasta and, for dessert, $53,804 drizzled in chocolate.
Another symptom of gambling fever renders addicts utterly impervious to the warnings of looming catastrophe from relatives, friends, associates. "I begged them to reconsider," Mayor Joy Cooper told me. They dismissed her as Mayor Kill Joy.
Even modest raises have been bad bets in South Florida. Last year, voters in Parkland, where the mayor and commissioners make $2,400 annually, voted down raises. Same thing in Coral Springs. Voters in Miami-Dade County, where the $6,000-a-year county commissioners haven't had a raise since 1957, said no to pay increases.
Commissioners in Cooper City caught so much hell trying after voting to raise their piddling salaries from $6,000 to $15,000, they decided to use most of the extra money on a landscaping project.
The Hallandale Beach caper was even riskier. There was the usual voter reluctance to pad elected officials' salaries. And they voted to raise their salaries even as the state legislature, which will reconvene in June, threatens to whack away at the city's property tax base. "We could lose 40 percent of our budget," Mayor Cooper said.
LIKE HIGH ROLLERS
But there's no reasoning with the fever. Mayor Cooper and Commissioner Keith London warned them, but those three commissioners thought they were on a roll. They were hot. They blew on the dice, tripled their salary and figured to walk out of city hall like a high roller after a good night at Gulfstream Park.
Oh my, what a bad bet. They voted for fat raises on Wednesday. Word got around town on Thursday. By Friday, their folly was splashed across the Miami Herald.
And all hell broke loose. Constituents went berserk. State legislators, after hearing so many complaints from city politicians that budgets were tight, wanted to know how it was that Hallandale Beach was tossing money around like a drunken tourist at the Hard Rock.
The fever subsided. On Friday the repentant gamblers slunk into a commission workshop meeting and voted to rescind their winnings.
They had learned a hard, humbling lesson: If you're going to gamble in Little Vegas, stick to the slots.
_________________________________
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
AFTER CRITICISM, COMMISSIONER SAYS HE'LL ASK FOR SMALLER RAISE
By Thomas Monnay Staff Writer
May 8, 2007
Vice Mayor Bill Julian conceded Monday that the $55,000 pay raise the City Commission passed then quickly rescinded last week was "way too much money" but said he plans to bring up the matter again.
"I'm not going to back down, but [the proposed increase] wouldn't be nearly as much," said Julian, 54, who claims he can't make ends meet on his $20,500 annual salary.
Mayor Joy Cooper, who mobilized grass-roots opposition to the "outrageous" raise that was passed without public notice, was unsympathetic.
"I believe we have a reasonable salary for a part-time job," said Cooper, who is working on a proposal to ensure commissioners' raises are capped and approved only during public hearings.
Julian, a retired horse trainer and Hallandale Beach resident for 51 years, came under a barrage of criticism last week after he and Commissioners Dorothy Ross and Fran Schiller voted to more than triple their salaries to $75,000 a year. They voted while having lunch Wednesday during a planning meeting.
Cooper and Commissioner Keith London rejected the raise, which triggered a furor because it wasn't advertised and the public didn't get an opportunity to comment on it.
Some voiced concern that the vote came as state legislators were considering major property tax reductions, which could cut millions from city budgets.
At Julian's request, commissioners repealed the raise Friday during a special meeting on development issues in Hallandale Beach.
"We've all learned from this experience, and our residents should be assured this would never, ever happen again," said City Manager Mike Good.
Ross said of residents' opposition, "If there is something I've learned from this, it's the wakeup call."
Schiller declined to comment.
Commissioners are responsible for adopting city budgets, setting policies and ordinances and responding to residents' complaints, among other duties. They receive an annual cost-of-living increase, Good said.
In Oakland Park, a comparably sized city, the mayor earns $10,400 a year and commissioners $9,000. In Davie, a larger municipality, council members are paid $7,200 a year.
Julian said the demanding nature of the position makes it difficult to work at another job and therefore commissioners should get more pay.
"I know I cannot continue to live on this salary unless I get another job or some kind of raise. ... In a matter of time, my savings will be depleted," said Julian, who was first elected in 2001.
"The mistake I made was that I asked for way too much money," he added.
Julian said he knew the salary when he ran for office, but commissioners have more work to do because a lot has been happening recently in Hallandale Beach, including casinos at the racetracks and new development.
Julian said he would bring the pay issue back for discussion during a budget workshop in the next few months. He said the city, with about $40 million in reserves, wouldn't be affected by tax cuts as much as other cities. Still, he said, any decision would be made only after public input.
Good said Julian would agree that the large, unannounced raise was "poor judgment."
_____________________________
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Editorial
GOVERNMENT - ISSUE: HALLANDALE BEACH GOES FOR THE GOLD.
May 12, 2007
You can take your choice as to the most boneheaded aspect of the Hallandale Beach City Commission's ill-fated attempt to more than triple their salaries. There is:
a.) The money itself was the most obscene aspect.
Good choice. In a city of 35,000, the commissioners were going to raise their pay from $20,500 a year to $75,000 for a part-time job. Incredible.
b.) The way they went about trying to give themselves the raise was unspeakably arrogant.
Another good choice. They didn't have it on any agenda, or do it in front of the public. Instead, it was done with no advertising at a planning and scheduling meeting.
c.) The timing couldn't have been worse.
A fine choice. Local governments are claiming they don't have an extra nickel to spend, particularly with taxes hopefully about to be trimmed, and are warning that services may be cut. And these officials in Hallandale Beach wanted to give themselves a $55,000 raise to $75,000? Enough said.
d.) The comments of Vice Mayor Bill Julian took arrogance to another level.
Fine choice. After Julian and commissioners Fran Schiller and Dorothy Ross backed the proposal, with Mayor Joy Cooper and Keith London wisely dissenting, there was so much criticism that the raise was rescinded. But Julian said there was nothing wrong with the process.
"Nobody comes to the public meetings," he said of bringing up the salary matter at lunch rather than during a regular meeting. "And this was done in the Sunshine with full advice from our legal staff." Nothing like showing respect for constituents, Bill.
There you have four choices to pick for why this pay raise was a terrible idea. And all are correct.
But, there is one more. Julian, who says he has trouble living on the annual salary -- he should have thought of that before running for office -- says he'll revive the raise request, but make it much smaller.
So now we have e.): Julian hasn't learned a lesson from this debacle. Another correct choice.
BOTTOM LINE: Many boneheaded aspects of debacle
________________________________________________
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
DIGEST
May 17, 2007
Hallandale Beach
Tighter rules on commission raises delayed indefinitely
A proposal to tighten the way commissioners approve raises for themselves was postponed indefinitely Wednesday due to lack of support.
Mayor Joy Cooper wanted a change in the city's code so raises could be addressed only during budget workshops, based on the cost of living, and capped at 10 percent. Commissioners Keith London , Fran Schiller and Dorothy Ross said they should know what peers in other cities earn before taking any action.
Cooper's proposal came two weeks after Vice Mayor Bill Julian, Schiller and Ross decided over lunch to raise commissioners' salaries from $20,500 to $75,000 a year. They rescinded the raise two days later, after an outcry.
Cooper joined the others in voting to delay the change, but vowed to keep reviving the issue to avoid a repeat of the unpopular raise.
________________________________
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbhallandale0128sbjan28,0,2207842.story South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hallandale to pay to settle one of two former police officers' lawsuits
By John Holland
January 28, 2008
HALLANDALE BEACH - City commissioners have agreed to pay more than $100,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging Police Chief Thomas Magill falsified evidence, a city board held an illegal meeting and detectives persuaded a felon to lie under oath about a fellow officer.
Mayor Joe Cooper and attorney Alberto Milian, who represents former Hallandale Beach Police Officer Talous Cirilo, confirmed the city's settlement with Cirilo but would not comment further, citing a confidentiality agreement. However, Cooper said the payment was more than $100,000, including attorney fees.
"I'd love to talk about this and tell people what happened, but unfortunately I can't," Cooper said.
Magill referred questions to City Attorney David Jove, who could not be reached for comment.
The settlement comes less than two months after Cirilo filed two lawsuits against the city, alleging wrongdoing in the department and City Hall. Hallandale officials fired Cirilo, alleging excessive use of force, even though a jury acquitted him on battery charges.
Cooper said the secrecy is warranted because a separate lawsuit, filed in federal court by former acting Police Sgt. Mary Hagopian, has not been settled. She promised to speak about the settlement at a later date "if I'm allowed to."
Magill and City Manager Mike Good fired the officers two years ago after prosecutors charged them with misdemeanor battery on prisoner Michael Brack. Early on April 1, 2005, Brack beat his brother as they fought in a moving car, then attacked officers who tried to intervene, according to arrest records and police reports.
Months after the arrest, a civilian employee said Cirilo choked and used a Taser device excessively on Brack.
More than a year later, the State Attorney's Office charged Cirilo with three misdemeanor battery counts. Hagopian was charged with a misdemeanor for using the stun gun on Brack as he struggled with officers in a jail holding area.
Defense lawyers said Magill orchestrated the charges as part of a vendetta against Hagopian and to show his bosses at City Hall he was a disciplinarian. Testimony at trial showed police employees mishandled two key pieces of evidence - a video surveillance tape and software from the Taser - distorting the confrontation between the officers and Brack, defense lawyers argued.
The settlement comes less than two months after Cirilo filed two lawsuits against the city, alleging wrongdoing in the department and City Hall. Hallandale officials fired Cirilo, alleging excessive use of force, even though a jury acquitted him on battery charges.
Cooper said the secrecy is warranted because a separate lawsuit, filed in federal court by former acting Police Sgt. Mary Hagopian, has not been settled. She promised to speak about the settlement at a later date "if I'm allowed to."
Magill and City Manager Mike Good fired the officers two years ago after prosecutors charged them with misdemeanor battery on prisoner Michael Brack. Early on April 1, 2005, Brack beat his brother as they fought in a moving car, then attacked officers who tried to intervene, according to arrest records and police reports.
Months after the arrest, a civilian employee said Cirilo choked and used a Taser device excessively on Brack.
More than a year later, the State Attorney's Office charged Cirilo with three misdemeanor battery counts. Hagopian was charged with a misdemeanor for using the stun gun on Brack as he struggled with officers in a jail holding area.
Defense lawyers said Magill orchestrated the charges as part of a vendetta against Hagopian and to show his bosses at City Hall he was a disciplinarian. Testimony at trial showed police employees mishandled two key pieces of evidence - a video surveillance tape and software from the Taser - distorting the confrontation between the officers and Brack, defense lawyers argued.
Prosecutors tried the officers separately, but jurors reached the same conclusion, acquitting them after about 15 minutes of deliberation.
After the acquittals, the officers tried to get their jobs back, but Magill and city officials refused.
In one of the lawsuits, Milian accused the city civil service board of holding an illegal meeting outside City Hall on Oct. 9, 2007, one week before a scheduled hearing on the reinstatement.
Florida law mandates that all meetings be advertised and prohibits public officials from meeting out of the public eye or discussing cases with each other. At least six board members met and discussed the meeting in a "knowing violation" of the law, according to the lawsuit.
Good, the city manager, could not be reached for comment.
Hagopian, a 15-year veteran, and Cirilo, on the force for five years, hired different lawyers and filed in different jurisdictions but made the same argument: Magill pressured his internal affairs officers and detectives to manipulate evidence and coerce false statements out of Brack so he could fire the officers and enhance his image as a reformer.
Magill used public money to have officers track down Brack on a Louisiana oil barge, where he ended up after leaving Broward County and forfeiting his bail, both lawsuits assert.
The State Attorney's office dropped all the assault charges against Brack, including the attack on his brother, then used him to testify against the officers.
The chief temporarily assigned several officers to internal affairs without any training, for the sole purpose of building a false case against the officers, Hagopian's lawyer Rhea Grossman said in court papers.
Magill sparked criminal charges against Hagopian "by preparing directly or at his direction police reports containing false or misleading information," Grossman wrote. Both lawsuits contend Magill elicited false testimony and compiled misleading evidence that he took directly to prosecutors.
U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch tossed out four counts last month, saying they belong in state court. He refused to dismiss two others, including one alleging Magill presented false information to prosecutors so Hagopian would be arrested. Zloch also let stand a charge that the city had a policy of not training internal affairs officers that, Hagopian argued, "encourages fabricated evidence for the sole purpose of allowing the whims of its police chief to terminate employees."
Milian said last week that the jury's quick acquittals proved the charges were bogus.
"This case was an abomination from the very beginning, and good officers were hurt," Milian said. "It could ultimately have a chilling effect on officers who want to protect themselves and their colleagues but are afraid because they could get in the same type of situation."
John Holland can be reached at jholland@sun-sentinel.com or at 954-385-7909.
Reader comments are still at: http://www.topix.net/forum/source/south-florida-sun-sentinel/TFKNF9QNQ3I7NHLQE
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)