How stories re Al Lamberti and Louis Granteed show the smug hypocrisy among South Florida's news media, esp. the unsatisfactory coverage of actual news in Broward from the BrowardPalmBeach NewTimes

Below is an email I sent on Wednesday to reporter Brittany Wallman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in which I use her story about Broward Sheriff candidate Louis Granteed swinging by The Cheetah strip club in Hallandale Beach to connect it to previous  actions of the BrowardPalmBeach NewTimes towards current Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti, a Republican, and a matter I've previously discussed on the blog -smug hypocrisy among South Florida's news media, and unsatisfactory coverage of actual news in this county from the NewTimes.


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re your post titled "Sheriff calls news story on his campaign website "spam''
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2011/12/sheriff_calls_news_story_on_hi.html


You know what would really be great?
If the Broward NewTimes actually joined the 21st-Century and posted the office email addresses of all of its top editorial staff, just like the Herald, Sun-Sentinel, local Miami TV station news operations and most reputable blogs do, even ones I criticize and find overly-sycophantic, local and nationally, of which there are plenty.


Like, perhaps, Eric Barton's official office email address.
Nope, that's top secret!
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/about/staff/


Instead, as I noted many months ago in blog posts about the NewTimes' abject failure to cover many subject areas that they ought to be right on top of, but aren't -like anything about FL-17 Rep. Frederica Wilson, and her near-invisibility in south Broward, before and after the election 13 months ago; her trip to Israel being paid for by AIPAC; her failure to ever sign-up to co-sponsor the House companion bill for Obama's Jobs Bill despite continually criticizing the GOP for not supporting it, just like DWS has done, et al- the NewTimes continues to rely on a corporate gatekeeper/walled-off email system that ensures that readers writing comments can't tell whether or not their email to NewTimes personnel was actually ever received by the individual(s) they wanted to receive it, and, of course, you CAN'T cc or bcc anyone else with the concerns you're sharing, whether over the merit of something, bias, wrong info, need for a correction...


Very basic stuff, but the NewTimes has continued to fail that "comment" test.
Eric Barton needs to look in the mirror, perhaps then he'd find out himself why so many former readers like myself have abandoned it in droves.


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Speaking of Louis Granteed, in case some of you didn't spot it in a post of mine from Wednesday December 14th titled, Dr. Judy Selz zeroes-in on wasteful city spending, angering Comm. Lewy; Keith London's take on Hallandale Beach City Comm. meeting of Dec, 7 2011
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/dr-judy-selz-zeroes-in-on-wasteful-city.html

Some free advice to 2012 Broward Sheriff candidate Louis Granteed, currently Assistant Hollywood Police Chief, per conversations he's had with friends of mine in Broward at various events:

You might want to strongly reconsider constantly praising Lewy to the hilt when you meet citizens from Hallandale Beach. If they are an informed person, chances are great that they are already more than hip to Alex Lewy and what he is all about.Your praise only serves to draw attention to how little you know about him.

Just saying...

Florida's so-called controversial new election laws have a cheap and satisfactory solution in plain sight that can't be licked; aloof Florida news media STILL rankles

Barbara Jordan, one of the 2011 U.S.P.S. Black Heritage series stamps.
Speaking of the Senate Watergate Committee as I do below, and the House Judiciary Committee that considered Articles of Impeachment against President Nixon, Jordan was a strong voice for reason & logic on that Committee.  


Below for your perusal is an expanded version of the email that I sent on Tuesday to veteran Florida news reporter Steve Bousquet, a former reporter at WLPG-TV/Channel 10 here in Miami, a 17-year veteran at the Miami Herald, including head of the Tallahassee bureau, and more recently, the Capital Bureau Chief for the St. Petersburg Times. 


He's one of the most-knowledgeable and influential reporters in the Sunshine State, in large part, not just because he remembers people, places and things that others have forgotten -to their peril, as well as to that of their readers/viewers- treats people well, and is very approachable.



Since I returned to South Florida from the Washington, D.C. area in late 2003 after 15 years up there, I've sent Bousquet, literally, dozens of emails with pithy comments, assorted head's-ups about shenanigans I've seen and heard about, as well as notes and articles from other news sources that dealt with subjects he's written about. 
He's responded enough times to satisfy me and seem reasonable, something which can NOT be said is true of 99% of the reporters in Florida who don't know one-tenth of what Steve Bousquet knows.


They don't respond to much of anything, despite whatever their various news organizations may claim on their websites.
In Florida, my personal experience is that the news media, whether print or electronic, is usually as unresponsive if not more so than the local, county and state government they often criticize for secrecy and lack of accountability. 


I and many of my friends who are civic activists in Florida -or bloggers- know that with a degree of certainty that most readers/viewers would be shocked to know.
Especially who some of the worst offenders are.


For those readers/viewers in the dark, though, the logical consequence of that attitude and unwillingness to have a two-way street is, of course, the reason so much of what these days passes for journalism in this state is SO consistently sub-par,  thoroughly unsatisfactory and sometimes worse than doing nothing at all.


In my opinion, there is more bad reporting, biased reporting and factually-inaccurate reporting going on in South Florida than there has ever been since my family moved here in 1968. 

I've expanded the original email to include things that I edited out due to length and to make some points clear for readers.

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Steve: 


I think it's very odd that your article today about Dawn Quarles and the state's new voter registration laws... is so sympathetic to her, despite her past history of being either absent-minded (good case) or passive aggressive (worst case).


And seriously, that headline the newspaper's editors chose doesn't do anyone any favors!
Civic-minded teacher snared by new election law http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/elections/civic-minded-teacher-snared-by-new-election-law/1205958


For whatever reason, you choose NOT to quote any of Ms. Quarles' students who put their trust in her -or their parents- people whom I believe she let down by refusing to follow very simple rules.
If I was either a student of her's or a parent of one, I'd be livid.
And if I was the school principal...
Why no comments or quotes from any of them?
It seems counter-intuitive.


I'm someone who registered to vote the day they turned 18 in February of 1979, when the Dade League of Women Voters had a small table near the front of the cafeteria at NMB High School during lunch period, and who had a long-haired, mustachioed FSU grad of a Social Studies teacher at JFK Junior High, Henry Siegendorf, who was the brother of a then-Dade County judge -Arden Siegendorf- and someone whom civic involvement was very important to.


Because of his friendly demeanor, quick intelligence and rather common sense belief that he needed to cultivate our interests while teaching us valuable lessons about how society worked in reality, Mr. Siegendorf was a very popular teacher, and not surprisingly, the object of occasional envious grumbling from other JFK teachers, for whom strictly teaching by rote from the lesson plan was the way to go.
Talk about old -school!


Mr. Siegendorf let us watch the Watergate hearings on TV during portions of class, but unlike teachers who use TVs as babysitters, he required all of us to pay close attention to detail and facts, and not accept either the press' Conventional Wisdom on the story or the take of the members of the Senate Watergate Committee. 
To drive this point home, he liked to ask questions to test who was and wasn't paying attention to the drama taking place before us on the small tube.


Neither cynical nor a push-over, he also strongly discouraged his students from overly romanticizing the roles of either Sen. Howard Baker, Sen. Sam Ervin, or the two-headed journalism tag-team of Woodward and Bernstein. Why?
Because people will let you down -a smart precursor to Reagan's "Trust but verified" that I took to heart then and keep in mind always.


As to AP teacher Quarles, who from your article seems to imagine that her good intentions could not possibly be criticized, the very idea that some third-party, much less, a public school teacher, could, if they chose, intentionally take advantage of others in a dependent position by NOT complying with simple rules and laws, much less, foolishly think they were above punishment, is precisely why the new laws makes sense to me.


In this case, it seems to me that you have to punish her to set an example, to drive home the point that nobody-but-nobody is above the law when it comes to someone's right to vote.
Frankly, it almost seems to me as if the teacher did this intentionally to set up a lawsuit of some sort.


A Florida version of the Scopes Monkey Trial, since as I'm sure you know, the Tennessee teacher involved in that case almost 100 years ago intentionally did what they did so as to give the ACLU a legal pretext to get involved in the case and test the law about teaching evolution.
The teacher was NOT an innocent victim, as many believe to be the case, so much as a willing sacrifice or victim for the cause.

The ACLU did a variation of forum-shopping, looking to find the perfect set of circumstances and environment where could write a narrative that would expose the law to ridicule and have a clean-cut plaintiff who was worthy of public support.

Generally speaking, I'm always in favor of eliminating the idiot-factor by dumbing the rules down to the point where anyone, even school teachers, should be able to follow it.
And yet... some choose to do otherwise.


(In the case of the new election laws, the League of Women Voters is on the wrong side, and their disconnect to other public policy issues is becoming increasingly apparent to me here in Broward County, where they did zero in the way of public education or outreach before the recent state redistricting meetings -in Davie!- as I wrote on the blog at the time.
The Fair Districts people REALLY dropped the ball even more than the LWV.


Though I publicly supported them and wrote many posts with info on the subject, the Fair Districts NEVER responded to any of several emails of mine or those of friends imploring them to host or co-host such forums.
Just like the LWV, whose top people in Broward I contacted, with nothing to show for it.
In the case of Fair Districts, they totally ignored us even while they kept sending us fundraising appeal emails.)


Why is it that so many traditional liberal groups that, for almost every other issue, always play the (latent) conspiracy card, and say that you can't trust others intent or requirement to follow the law, NOW, are so suddenly willing to let others decide whether or not THEY will comply with the law and turn in YOUR registration paperwork, so it's properly processed so YOU are not disenfranchised.


As to the Early Voting changes, it's the 21st Century, and first-class stamp solves all the problems, including the ban on Early Voting on the Sunday before the election, with marches to the polls that lots of African-American churches are reported to have done regularly, though when did you actually ever see it mentioned in the Miami Herald or on local Miami TV newscasts if it was so common?


In any case, using stamps reduces the costs of govt. personnel, too, which is not an unimportant consideration given the FACT that so few people actually used the opportunity to vote in person early that first week of the old two week period.


But it's clear that at least some of the the groups complaining about the new laws want it to be a problem so they have something to argue about, like the national Democrats have done since the early '80's with Medicare and Social Security -create an issue to scare seniors with.



Rep. Barbara Jordan of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on the historical significance and meaning of Impeachment within the U.S. Constitution, and the task at hand for the committee; two weeks later, President Nixon resigned. July 25, 1974  http://youtu.be/CDcYiyF5eLc


The answer to the complaints about changing Early Voting is to go turbo and make Florida the largest state in the country to have ALL elections -primaries, general elections and special elections- done by mail.
Voting by Mail makes more sense than ever.


No more money wasted by political parties or candidates on GOTV.
If the parties or candidates want to spend that money dispensing first class stamps instead of providing free transportation to the polls, great, but otherwise, the new laws are very practical.


By the way, I'm sure I'm not telling you something you don't already hear dozens of times a week, but over the past few months, The Buzz blog's reader comments has quickly descended to Lowest Common Denominator territory, and become a hangout for what seem to be chronic ideologues.


As someone who has commented there maybe six times this year, I'd almost prefer that you didn't allow comments, because the sensible comments are SO overwhelmed by the armies of agit-prop/chaff.



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http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/


http://www.tampabay.com/writers/steve-bousquet


http://twitter.com/stevebousquet


Tex Parte blog of Texas Lawyer magazine
Barbara Jordan is the 2011 Black Heritage stamp honoree
http://texaslawyer.typepad.com/texas_lawyer_blog/2011/01/barbara-jordan-is-the-2011-black-heritage-stamp-honoree.html


http://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2011/pb22318/html/info_008.htm

After watching this, I'm convinced: singing & dancing flash mob across the U.S.A. during Super Bowl's halftime would be more fun than watching Madonna

Madcon - Glow - 2009 Eurovision Song Contest Flashmob Dance Finale (HD), Oslo, Norway. May 2009. http://youtu.be/32lpdFS7rPM

It starts a little slow, I'll grant you, but at 2:19, as the cameras leave the arena, then, serendipity...

After watching this, I'm convinced that a televised singing and dancing flash mob across the U.S.A., during the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show, would be MUCH MORE FUN to see than simply watching Madonna perform a medley of her well-known songs in Indy at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Or, perhaps more interesting than even that, would be to have it televised from the two cities which have teams playing, as people sing and dance wearing their -quite likely- Green Bay Packer cheeseheads and Baltimore Ravens purple jerseys and gear.

Me, I never watch the Super Bowl pre-game programming anymore, as there are far too many 'human interest' stories with female reporters trying to look empathetic as they interview some special-team player's sister's husband's barber with cancer, or the like.
I usually mute the TV during Super Bowl halftime anyway, and flip on the radio telecast to hear their analysis, so this would actually be more fun and amusing to watch and see how each city tries to top the other somehow.
And it would be easy to find a commercial sponsor, too!

Whatever happened to all the genuinely dangerous flash mobs, anyway?
Like the ones that terrorized Chicagoland and Philadelphia this spring and summer, which I wrote about here, along with some startling videos?
They seem to have stopped in their tracks once 'Occupy Wall Street' came on the scene.
Hmm-m...

Then again, maybe it's just a spring and summer phenomena...

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In case you forgot why the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest -above- was being held in the Oslo area in the first place, it was because Norway's Alexander Rybak had won the 2009 competition in Moscow with "Fairytale", and the next competition is always hosted by the winner's home country.



EUROVISION 2009 WINNER -NORWAY, ALEXANDER RYBAK, FAIRYTALE -HQ STEREO
http://youtu.be/uiH4BFTELME

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http://www.youtube.com/user/AlexanderRybakVideo/


http://www.alexanderrybak.com/

Despite the MILLION$ at stake, Hallandale Beach City Comm. DOESN'T do simple due diligence, but DOES cave-in to Forest City/Village at Gulfstream Park

Above, artist rendering of The Village at Gulfstream Park retail project, and, below, the sign as posted in May of 2008 and seen on U.S.-1, with the Gulfstream Park Racetrack grandstand in the distance. May 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

The letter below was sent to the Hallandale Beach City Commission and City Manager Mark A. Antonio on Wednesday the 14th, prior to their 5 p.m. City Comm. meeting, and was written and signed by myself and my friend, Hallandale Beach civic activist Csaba Kulin, who will be making some news of his own next week.

For you readers out in the blogosphere, wherever you are, it's a bit of a follow-up to my post yesterday about the efforts of the folks at The Village at Gulfstream Park and their parent, Forest City to get out of complying with the mitigation requirements that were placed on them in order to get the city and Broward County to sign-off and give their final approval for the Village project many years ago.

That post was titled, No surprise given what I've told you here: A "challenging retail leasing environment" at Village at Gulfstream Park according to Forest City's execs

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/no-surprise-given-what-ive-told-you.html

That vote by the city was prior to Keith London, Anthony A. Sanders and Alexander Lewy were elected to the HB City Commission.

Along with their various hired guns and minions, they showed-up for the December 7th HB City Commission meeting determined to persuade the Commission that they should modify those requirements thru amendments.

#12 A. A Resolution of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida, Accepting Amendments to the Village at Gulfstream Park Plat ( This Resolution is a result of Application# 10-12-PR by Gulfstream Racing Association, Inc.) (Staff: Development Services)(See Backup) CAD#029/04 (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/00439/Exported%20OV%20Docs/Staff%20Reports/00008546.htm

http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/00439/Exported%20OV%20Docs/Item%2012A/index.html

The City Commission, in my opinion, operating largely out of woeful ignorance -even more than usual- caved-in and made some terrible decisions that night that most citizen taxpayers of HB STILL know nothing about, all these days later, given that ZERO members of the South Florida news media bothered to attend the meeting, which as you regular readers of this blog know, is NOT exactly a new trend in general in terms of covering local government.

That's particularly true in HB, where the city remains one of the area's perennial laughingstocks in the media due to what its elected officials and administrators have actually said and done over the recent past, much of that due to the buffoonish and jaw-dropping antics of former HB Commissioner and 2012 candidate William "Bill" Julian.

Trust me, well-informed and attentive news reporters and columnists are as rare around Hallandale Beach as Three Wise Men and a Virgin -at any time of the year.

This news media blackout came despite the fact that they were talking about well over $10 Million in changes, not to mention, a change in sound public policy to... what exactly?

The City Commission vote was 5-0.

The Broward County Commission is the ultimate authority on whether or not these modifications desired by Forest City and the Village will be made, and next week, I hope to find out when their public meeting will be scheduled in the new year so that I can mention it here and make sure that everyone is aware of the fact that this is NOT a DONE DEAL.

I also should let you know now that as of today, it's my plan to post this same letter in the next few days with some accompanying photos documenting what Csaba and I have written, so that those of you far from these sub-tropical shores can see for yourself how completely inept and inattentive the folks running things on both sides of U.S.-1 were and remain.

So, all that said, this is what was actually sent to the HB City Commission and City Manager on Wednesday:

Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor, City Commissioners:

Christmas came early this year for Forest Cities, Gulfsteam Park Race Track & Casino and the Village at Gulfstream Park, LLC.

Under the Christmas tree were at least three gifts worth about $17 Million, collectively, courtesy of the citizen taxpayers of Hallandale Beach, delivered by you, our elected City Commission.

This action comes after an approximately $15 Million gift/loan under TIF about two years ago.

As is so often the case with important issues at Hallandale Beach City Hall, the debate and then votes on the issue took place just before Midnight, when most HB citizen taxpayers were fast asleep.

Why no continuance to a reasonable time?

The City entered into what both parties agreed at the time was a reasonable Development Agreement (DA) about six years ago, and the Developer, eager to get started on the project, agreed to it, anxious to change the dynamic and image of the property make it a destination attraction.

Now, six years later, the Developer wants to renegotiate the uncompleted portions of the DA, claiming changed economic conditions.

While we all want the property to succeed and become a source of both pride and profits, our primary concerns today in writing are that Hallandale Beach taxpayers' best interests are protected, and believe that should be your paramount concern, too.

Simply put, you have completely dropped the ball.

The Developer’s main argument for modification now has been that “economic times” have changed since 2007.

While we agree that the economy is not one that any of us likes, your answer in response to them should have been that, as a starter, to be one of modification based on revisiting these issues 5-10 years from now, with time-certain dates for doing so.

Economic activity and spending may indeed be much better in the future than currently, and then those requirements could be re-examined for their suitability, but simply waving the white flag NOW is NOT a strategy that best represents the short-term and long-term financial and Quality-of-Life interests of Hallandale Beach taxpayers.

For the record, we came up with the $17 Million size of gift by using your own consultant, Mr. Paul Lambert’s number for the Transportation Mitigation relief portion.

For the Affordable Housing relief, we have used our own recent experience with Highland Park Village (HPV), Mayor Cooper’s estimate of the expected subsidies needed to sell the units in HPV, and Paul Lambert’s own admission that $50,000 per unit is closer to reality than VGP’s offered $5,000 per unit.

A developer is obligated to have 15% of the total units to be built be “affordable/workforce” housing units.

While developers traditionally try to have some or all the affordable housing units located off-site, we believe these units should be dispersed among the rest of the 85%, not displaced west of the Mississippi River.

This is a community, not an Indian Reservation.

Additionally, we believe that the amount of money offered ought to be the price difference between a market-priced unit and an affordable/workforce-priced unit.

Based on the City’s recent experience with Highland Park Village, we know that it will take $50,000 dollars or more to make a market-price unit an affordable and desirable housing unit.

You can use the same logic for the other two properties the City owns to come up with the dollar amount needed to complete.

The cost per unit subsidy ought to be very similar to HPV.

After all, what good are units that nobody wants?

Based on these calculations for the 225 affordable/workforce housing units the VGP is obligated to build over time, the City’s CRA should have received roughly $11,250,00 (at $50,000 per-unit), not the measly $1,125.000, ($5,000 per-unit) that you all agreed to last Wednesday night.

That is a $10,045,00 gift to the Developers, money that more appropriately should be going to the City’s CRA at some definite time in the future, as the 1,500 housing units were actually built and ready for purchase.

It was extremely distressing to city taxpayers that on such an important issue, some of you were and are remarkably uninformed about the facts, and the $5,000 contribution per-unit mentioned by Broward County toward affordable housing.

We firmly believe that financial number is the “floor,” NOT the “ceiling” for contributions.

We are quite confident that Broward County would NOT object if the Developers were prepared to contribute $50,000 dollars per unit to the City's CRA, an opinion that we will soon be sharing with the Broward County Commissioners and staff as they deal with this subject, too.

The elimination of the off-site 500-car parking garage saves the Developer $5,000,000, and while we agree that such a garage is not needed at present, absent requirements that this issue be revisited at some definite point in time in the future, how do we know what the situation and need will be five or ten years from now? This is the very definition of short-sighted and self-defeating.

As best we can figure, the elimination of the Tri-Rail shuttle service saves the Developer $200,000-$250,000 per year.

While it may or may not be needed at this time, why agree to give it up entirely at this time, not knowing the future demand?

And more to the point of your collective oversight and accountability, or rather the lack of it on Wednesday night, where is ANY PROOF that the general public even knows about the Tri-Rail shuttle, as there is no posted schedule anywhere at the Super-Stop, and there is NOTHING in their newspaper promotions which specifically mention it.

NONE of you seem to have actually visited the Super-Stop, despite how close it is to your office, one block away.

In fact, many of not most of their own employees DON'T even know about it, including the security personnel who patrol that particular area, as recent conversations we've had with them have proven time-and-again.

They didn't know what we were talking about!

You can hardly expect unaware consumers to use a so-called service that the Developer themselves adamantly refuse to properly promote or feature, and you should wonder yourselves why they have done this if they really want to increase their number of visitors.

They seem entirely oblivious to this -and so do you.

And what do HB taxpayers receive in return for giving up these two major Transportation mitigation requirements?

Well, we get to relocate the City's mini-bus stop from behind City Hall to the Super-Stop.

What a deal!

If the Developer was truly interested in increasing the visitors to their property, that should have been done for free to the residents as soon as the Super-Stop was completed in January of 2010.

There should have been a little ribbon-cutting ceremony, but instead, that aspect of the mitigation was NOT completed on time -in time for the beginning of the racing season- as were many of the adjoining areas, and we have photographic proof of the Developer's inability to meet reasonable deadlines. Among other things...

And yes, that would be the same bus Super-Stop that has never really been properly maintained by the Developer the past two years, as anyone who uses it regularly could tell you.

What could possibly explain your collective failure -and that of the City Manager and his staff- to stay on top of such a simple thing, located only one block from City Hall?

There's really no excuse.

We remain profoundly disappointed in the way that this entire matter has been negotiated, presented to the citizen taxpayers of this city, and resolved -near Midnight.

We are quite confident that Broward County's Commissioners and their professional staff will take a much more nuanced look at the facts on-the-ground in determining whether or not this change is appropriate and in the community's best long-term interests, or whether it would be more appropriately revisited at agreed-upon time-certain dates in the future.

You can rest assured that this issue and the way that it has been mis-handled by you and the City Manager's staff, will NOT fade away in the coming months.

Quite to the contrary, it will be a subject that ever more residents of this city will become angry about as they learn the true facts of your White Flag strategy.

No surprise given what I've told you here: A "challenging retail leasing environment" at Village at Gulfstream Park according to Forest City's execs

Above, entrance to Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino and The Village at Gulfstream Park retail complex on Hallandale Beach Blvd., Hallandale Beach, FL.

December 7, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Many of you who are regular readers of this blog have no doubt wondered why I haven't yet taken the opportunity to write anything about the recent 'Opening' two weeks ago of the new season of racing at Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino, as well as comment on what I've heard and observed of late there and with The Village at Gulfstream Park retail complex, and their parent, real estate developer Forest City.

I know this because you've contacted me to ask as much.

I have quite a lot to say, actually, and have been sitting on some troubling information for a bit, waiting for some more shoes to fall, even while I've already attended a few hours worth of races the past two weeks.

Mostly, though, I've been patiently biding my time waiting to see what actually transpires at Hallandale Beach City Hall -directly across the street from the racetrack and the retail complex- where the developer and their myriad minions and flacks, along with other interested parties, have, unfortunately, tried to use the current sour U.S. economy like a cudgel against the best long-term financial and Quality-of-Life interests of the HB community.

These well-paid forces have tried their best to persuade the elected City Commission to waive or modify mitigation requirements the city and Broward County required them to agree to in writing in exchange for the developer getting their desired final approval for the giant retail complex, as well as their long-term housing plans for lots of pricey condos on the HB side of the property.

(Property which, lest you forget, also extends south into the City of Aventura and Miami-Dade County, where the powers-that-be keep the entrance/exit on N.E. 213th Street closed with barricades. The adjoining sidewalk entrance onto the property is STILL full of dangerous potholes and loose wires as they have been for YEARS. And did I mention yet that it was STILL the very picture of pitch-black at night, as it has been for -wait for it- YEARS?

That area is a litigation disaster waiting to happen, but STILL they do nothing.)

I'll have more to say about all of that over the next few days, but until then, please mull over the following news directly from the mouths of the upper echelons of developer Forest City.

The following is an excerpt from an email I sent out on December 9th:

Highlight of Forest City Enterprises CEO Discusses Q3 2011 Results - Earnings Call Transcript

http://seekingalpha.com/article/313017-forest-city-enterprises-ceo-discusses-q3-2011-results-earnings-call-transcript

Let me take a moment to address the other primary impairment, the Village at Gulfstream Park and Hallandale Beach, Florida, where we recognized a $34.6 million impairment in the third quarter. The lease up of Gulfstream began during the death of the recent recession and has continued through what remains a challenging retail leasing environment, particularly for new properties.

Our house wares, home furnishings and restaurants at the Gulfstream have done well, but our fashion tenants have struggled and we are actively working to remerchandize the center to match the demands of the market. Repositioning that component of the center will require additional investment. Also the original construction loan for this equity method property matures in September of next year. The uncertainty of the repositioning, together with the standard of the loan required us to impair our investment.

Long term we continue to believe in the strength of the market and will focus on repositioning the asset to meet the needs of the market. We also have additional future entitlements at the site that we can activate when economic conditions and the performance of the center improve.

Well-informed people I know tell me that many of the owners of the struggling retailers at the Village are already taling about fleeing toute-de-suite in the coming months when their rents get jacked-up in the new year as their current leases end.

And you thought the Dolphins and the City of Hallandale Beach were badly mis-managed...

One last thing to consider: despite their millions and resources, do you know what Magna Entertainment/Gulfstream Park has actually told the residents and business owners of Hallandale Beach about their intentions for having at least some night racing next year -which I support in theory- since I last wrote about the subject here on the blog?

NOTHING.

Nothing at all.

They still send their PR rep, Suzanne Friedman, across the street to HB City Commission meetings once in a while to paint an optimistic portrait of the doings on the east side of the street, but in her defense, she is NOT empowered by top management to actually level with everyone here about the truth of the matter.

So what's the plan?

What's the plan?

Well, they won't say, despite the fact that it would have a tangible -maybe even severe- effect on the ability of HB residents to actually get around and navigate thru the city at night on the evenings racing takes place, given that there is only one street in the entire city that has east-west capability throughout most of the city -over-loaded Hallandale Beach Blvd.

Yes, the street that is the north-side entrance and exit for Gulfstream Park and the Village, right next to the sign at the top of this post.

But then Magna Entertainment is STILL having problems launching their new website, which was supposed to already be up and running: http://www.stronachgroup.com/

As of today, December 15th, it still reads, "Site Launch Fall 2011."

Well, facts are facts and Winter officially starts one week from today.

Draw your own conclusions.

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

Below my own comments is the email that I received just this afternoon from Hallandale Beach City Comm. Keith London, whose monthly Resident Forum meeting I attended last night at the HB Cultural Center, which had at least a dozen new faces by my count of concerned HB citizen taxpayers who desperately want this city to be MUCH BETTER managed than it is now.

As always, it was good to see people want to get more involved and better informed about what is going on -in their name and with their wallets and purses- at Hallandale Beach City Hall.

It was indeed heartening to see actual proof of the victory of well-informed enthusiasm over the entrenched dysfunction and cynicism that has held away in this city for so many years, esp. at this time of the year, when people often have many choices to make about how they spend their time.

All had stories of their own about their great dis-satisfaction with the way the city is currently being mis-managed, and most were really appalled to hear many of things that yours truly and others attending shared with them about what passes for "normal" here in Hallandale Beach with respect to govt. planning, maintenance and public policy.

I've already heard from some of them today about what they heard last night: lots of eye-opening true tales of mis-management, incompetency and lack of common sense as S.O.P. here in the SE corner of Broward County.

The highlight of the evening may well have been listening to tireless, longtime HB civic activist Dr. Judy Selz describe her continuing attempts to get straight answers out of the City Hall bureaucracy about many things, including the un-necessary and expensive storage lot on Ansin Blvd. -that cost just under $3 Million for land, construction and maintenance- which I have written about here many times, along with incriminating photos.

That's a city enterprise which directly competes with two existing storage facilities in that warehouse district, located just east of I-95, south of Pembroke Road and north of Hallandale Beach Blvd., which causes these owners to have to lower their own prices just to compete with a city that doesn't need to make a profit to continue to exist.

Dr. Selz's info is below in Comm. London's wrap-up of last week's meeting, which ended after Midnight.

Speaking of the victory of well-informed enthusiasm over cynicism, last night also afforded everyone attending the meeting an opportunity to hear directly from Dr. Selz about HB Comm. Alexander Lewy's great displeasure at hearing her speak at a City Comm. meeting about trying to get to the heart of why HB taxpayer money continues to be wasted on things when they are NOT needed or desired.

Lewy didn't like that one bit!

The fact that the city continues to waste money on this un-necessary storage facility has been proven conclusively to me time-and-again when I drove past it myself or with friends over the past two years, as there were often less than a handful of vehicles there, sometimes as few as 2 or 3, as I have documented with photos.

(Now, the city places about 12-18 unused HB Police Dept. vehicles there, but taxpayers continue to pay for them even while they sit and gather dust.)

This episode and Comm. Lewy's wrong-headed, antagonistic and insulting attitude towards well-informed citizens of this community deigning to want the truth, proves -ONCE AGAIN- that he's the very same person I said he was when he first ran for office four years ago and then again last year.

Then as now, Lewy is his own worst enemy and appalls and antagonizes citizens with equal measure with his actions and words, as if citizens here can't observe them and hear them.

But they can.

As you may have heard at some point in your own childhood, actions have consequences, but for whatever reason, Lewy, as well as Mayor Joy Cooper and the rest of her Rubber Stamp Crew of Comm. Dotty Ross and Comm. Anthony A. Sanders, seem never to ever have learned this basic lesson in understanding how people and society work.

The almost complete rejection of Lewy by people who know what really goes on in this city is proof that they have learned what he so clearly seems unable to.

Some free advice to 2012 Broward Sheriff candidate Louis Granteed, currently Assistant Hollywood Police Chief, per conversations he's had with friends of mine in Broward at various events:

You might want to strongly reconsider constantly praising Lewy to the hilt when you meet citizens from Hallandale Beach. If they are an informed person, chances are great that they are already more than hip to Alex Lewy and what he is all about.

Your praise only serves to draw attention to how little you know about him.

Just saying...

* The only things that I have changed below from the original email I received from Comm. London is removing some of his forced indents, so that it would be easier to read here on the blog, since otherwise, there would be large gaps in the text.

-----

Everyone,

The following is an update of agenda items discussed at the December 7, 2011

City of Hallandale Beach Commission Meeting.

Highlights of the Meeting

* Mayor Cooper does not support a second senior exemption (cost to the city tax rolls approximately $57,000)

* Mayor Cooper insists the Hallandale Pops Symphony is included in the next City Agenda for reconsideration of $25,000 of funding - even after the City Budget has been approved and ratified

* Mayor Cooper votes to approve $20,000 for production a 5-minute commercial

* City Manager Antonio informs the Commission of negotiations to purchase property from DeSoto Park South along Three Islands Boulevard

* Diplomat Golf Course is still open two years after the developers representatives stated that the course would close if they were not given rights to develop approximately 1,000 new condominium units, please see the following link to reserve a tee time.

http://www.diplomatresort.com/westin-diplomat-course

* Commissioner Lewy wants to limit "Public Participation" from people like Dr. Judy Selz - please see her questions below

* Commissioner London requests an agenda item to discuss whether or not the city should be in the storage business after hearing Dr. Selz questions regarding the City's $3 million dollar lot which is 2/3 empty

REGULAR AGENDA

CITY COMMISSION, CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 07, 2011 1:00 P.M. & 7:00 P.M.

http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/00439/Exported%20OV%20Docs/Agenda%20O

utline%20for%202011-12-07%2013-00.htm

1. CALL TO ORDER

2. ROLL CALL

3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

4. STUDENT CITIZEN OF THE MONTH AND SCHOOL ACTIVITY UPDATE

5. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - Items not on the Agenda (To be heard at 1:30 PM)

6. PRESENTATIONS

A. Presentation Regarding Activities at the Village of Gulfstream

(Suzanne Friedman, Development Representative, Village of Gulfstream Park)

B. Presentation on Capacity Building Program by Mister Nonprofit Consultancy (City Manager)

* Non-profit organizations working with Mister Nonprofit received a great benefit regarding sustainability, process and remaining viable

* Commissioner London asked specific questions regarding the Hallandale Pops and their participation in Mister Nonprofits process of capacity building

o The Hallandale Pops never responded or utilized Mister Nonprofit to seek ways to sustain this organization - they decided not to participate in this process to their own detriment

7. CONTINUATION OF CITY BUSINESS FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS

8. CONSENT AGENDA

A. Approval of Draft Minutes:

1. Special City Commission Meeting of November 7, 2011 -Legislative Planning Session

2. City Commission/City Manager Workshop/Special Meeting of November 14, 2011

3. Special City Commission Meeting of November 16, 2011 - Strategic Planning Workshop

4. Regular City Commission Meeting of November 16, 2011

* Commissioner London again voted against minutes and will continue to vote against minutes until we return to summary minutes so the residents have transparency in their government

* Please go to the link to see what Hallandale summary minutes used to look like: The minutes are from December 3, 2003

http://library3.municode.com/minutes/home.htm?infobase=30094&doc_action=whatsnew

* Passed 4:1 London No

9. CITY BUSINESS

A. Consideration of an Amended Voluntary Regional Transportation Mitigation Agreement Between Broward County, the City of Hallandale Beach and the Village at Gulfstream Park, LLC and an Amended Declaration of Restrictive Covenants (Affordable Housing) for the Village at Gulfstream Park (Staff: Director of Development Services)

* Please see Item 12A which was discussed in conjunction with 9A

B. Consideration of the City Commission Summer Meeting Schedule and Schedule for Adoption of Truth In Millage (TRIM) Rate and Other Budgetary Hearings (City Manager)

The following is a list of the tentative times and dates for the summer schedule:

DATE ITEM

Wednesday, July 4, 2012 No Regular Commission Meeting due to Independence Day Holiday

Monday, July 16, 2012 City Commission/City Manager Workshop

Wednesday July 18, 2012 Regular City Commission Meeting

Set Tentative Millage Public Hearing, 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012 Budget Special Meeting - Special City Commission

(If needed, Budget Special Meeting will continue on July 26th), 4:00 p.m.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012 City Commission Vacation (No Regular City Commission Meeting)

Monday, August 13, 2012 City Commission Vacation (No City Commission/City Manager Workshop)

Wednesday, August 15, 2012 City Commission Vacation (No Regular City Commission Meeting)

*Wednesday, September 19, 2012 Budget Public Hearing, 6:00 p.m.**

*Thursday, September 27, 2012 Budget Public Hearing, 6:00 p.m.**

* Commissioner London again requested City Staff to be prepared with all documentation during the January budget meetings to specifically discuss a Second Senior Exemption (an option provided by the Florida State Legislature to municipal governments)

* City Staff provided documentation that a Second Senior Exemption would calculate into approximately a $57,000 loss in revenue to the City

* Mayor Cooper did not seem to comprehend the manner in which a Second Senior Exemption was calculated or how it would assist those individuals who

qualify and did NOT support this

* Schedule of the summer meetings schedule above approved 5:0

10. COMMISSION PLANNING

11. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - Items not on the Agenda (To be heard at 7:00 P.M.)

* Dr. Judy Selz discussed questions she provided to the City in advance of the Commission meeting regarding City owned properties specifically the $3 million dollar storage lot on Ansin Boulevard

o This procedure of providing questions in advance is an agreed upon procedure by the City Manager so they are prepared to answer residents' questions/requests

o Please see her questions and the City's response in RED below at the end of this document

o Commissioner London responded and suggested the $3 million lot being utilized for storage be discussed as an agenda item

o Commissioner London stated he did not think being in the storage business is a core service of the City

o Commissioner Lewy was disturbed about Dr. Selz's line of questioning and attempted to curtail her public participation discussion

* This is obviously the democratic way for residents to be able participate in an open and transparent government; allowing them to question and be watchdogs over their tax dollars

* Dr. Bob Selz pointed out the City of Hallandale Beach purchased the Tower Mobile Home Park (catty corner to City Hall) at the same time the City of Aventura purchased the land on 207th Street near Target and they have built a beautiful park and our City has nothing but a pile of dirt to show for its purchase after 3 years

12. PUBLIC HEARINGS (To heard at 7:15 P.M.)

A. A Resolution of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida,

Accepting Amendments to the Village at Gulfstream Park Plat ( This Resolution is a result of Application# 10-12-PR by Gulfstream Racing Association, Inc.) (Staff: Development Services)

* The Villages of Gulfstream requested the Commission provide some amendments to their existing Development Agreement regarding:

o Traffic Mitigation

o Affordable Housing

* They requested the elimination of following concerning traffic mitigation

o building a 500 space parking lot offsite

o provide a shuttle service to the tri-rail station 8 hours per day

o and a few other minor details

* After a lengthy discussion it was agreed this is presently cost prohibitive for The Villages because if they build any additional retail, commercial, residential, or hotel structures in the future they will be required to build the parking structure

* Commissioner London suggested and it was agreed The Villages will review the possibility of including the B Cycle bike share program kiosks onsite to help alleviate traffic and cars on the road.

Here is a link to visit bike share http://www.broward.bcycle.com

* Regarding the affordable housing, Commissioner London recommended an Escalator Clause to their per unit payment which ensures they pay more as time goes on - Up to 5% per year compounded

* Passed 5:0

B. An Ordinance of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida,

Amending Article IV, Division 11, Section 32-452 and Section 32-455 of The

City of Hallandale Beach Code of Ordinances, "Zoning And Land Development

Code," Relative to Off-Street Parking Requirements and Minimum Parking Space

Requirements for Residential Multi-Family Uses; Providing for Conflicts;

Providing for Severability; Providing for an Effective Date. (Second

Reading) (This Ordinance is as a Result of Application # 06-12-TC by the

City of Hallandale Beach ) (Staff: Director of Development Services)

THE CODE AND PERMITTING ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDED

APPROVAL OF THE AMENDMENTS ON NOVEMBER 10, 2011.

ON NOVEMBER 16, 2011 THE CITY COMMISSION APPROVED FIRST

READING OF THE ORDINANCE BY A ROLL CALL VOTE OF 5/0.

THE ORDINANCE WILL BE PRESENTED TO THE PLANNING AND ZONING

BOARD ON NOVEMBER 30, 2011.

* Passed 5:0

C. An Ordinance of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida Amending

Chapter 32, the Zoning and Land Development Code, Article IV Division 17,

Development Standards Signs Relative to Prohibited Signs, Permitted Signs,

and Nonconforming Signs, Providing for Conflict; Providing for Severability;

Providing an Effective Date. (This Ordinance is a Result of Application

#67-10-TC by the City of Hallandale Beach.)(First Reading)(Staff: Director,

Development Services Department)

ON OCTOBER 26, 2011 THE PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD

RECOMMENDED APPROVAL OF THIS ORDINANCE BY A ROLL CALL VOTE OF 5/0.

* This ordinance refers to the use of human signage in the City of Hallandale

* The use of individuals holding signs up along major roads is a distraction and was turning into a potential safety hazard

* Passed 5:0

D. An Ordinance of The City of Hallandale Beach, Florida,

Amending Chapter 2, Section 2-361 "City Attorney to Function as Head of

Department; Qualifications"; Amending Prohibition that City Attorney Not

Engage During His/Her Tenure of Office in Any Private Practice of Law to

Allow A Law Firm to Serve As City Attorney; Providing For Conflicts,

Providing For Severability; And Providing For An Effective Date. (Second

Reading) (Staff: Acting City Attorney)

ON NOVEMBER 2, 2011 THE CITY COMMISSION APPROVED FIRST

READING OF THIS ORDINANCE BY A ROLL CALL VOTE OF 5/0.

* Passed 4:1 - LONDON NO

E. A Resolution of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida,

Supporting Congressman Ted Deutch's Proposed Amendment to the Constitution

of the United States to Exclude For-Profit Corporations from the Rights

Given to Natural Person by the Constitution, Prohibiting Corporate Spending

in all Elections, and Affirming the Authority of Congress to Regulate and

Set Limits on all Election Contributions and Expenditures. (Mayor Joy F.

Cooper)

* Passed 5:0

13. COMMISSIONER COMMUNICATIONS - Items not on the Agenda

A. COMMISSIONER LEWY

B. COMMISSIONER LONDON

* Commissioner London suggested the City do a better job of scheduling Planning and Zoning meetings especially during the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas since the November meeting falls every year on Thanksgiving Day and the December meeting falls during the Christmas and New Year Holidays

* Commissioner London requested a map indicating the exact location of the land the City will be purchasing from DeSoto Park South - the west side of Three Islands Boulevard

* Commissioner London also requested a plan, information and source of funding for purchase of this property

C. COMMISSIONER ROSS

D. VICE MAYOR SANDERS

E. MAYOR COOPER

14. CITY ATTORNEY COMMUNICATIONS - Items not on the Agenda

15. CITY MANAGER COMMUNICATIONS - Items not on the Agenda

* City Manager Antonio requested support for the allocation of $20,000 to be spent on production of a promotional spot for the City of Hallandale

* City Manager Antonio requested support for the purchase of land from DeSoto Park South located on the West side of Three Islands Boulevard

16. ADJOURN

Questions by Dr. Judith Selz, 717 Layne Blvd., Hallandale Beach:

Discussed during December 7, 2011 City Commission Meeting, Agenda Item 11,

Public Participation. Note staff responses are in red.

1. How much property does the City own as far as dollar value is concerned? What did we pay for it and what is all worth today? See attached spreadsheet- total $29,035,026.17 cost of all property paid since 2001 (provided by CRA)

Property at Ansin Boulevard: cost to purchase $2,900,000 (purchased for settlement of a lawsuit)

When I went to observe the property on November 20, 2011, I was shocked to find the security gate wide open and no one was monitoring cars or people coming into the property. There are approximately 136 spaces for rent with what appeared to be ¼ of the spaces occupied. 15 of the spaces had cars marked as belonging to the Hallandale Police.

FINANCE RESPONSE:

There have been occasions that we have had problems with the security gate. Upon notification, the City immediately attempts to resolve the situation. Sometimes, this involves DPW contacting the service company for repairs.

Besides police cars, the number of occupants vary due to terminations for a variety of reasons. Some occupants clearly have the intention of maintaining a space for a specific period of time. Because of the various types of vehicles occupying spaces for various reasons (commercial vehicles for business purposes, employee vehicles for parking during working hours, recreational vehicles, etc.) , spectators will be unable to view the lot to determine the true number of occupied spaces.

1. What did we pay for this specific property? cost to purchase $2,900,000 (purchased for settlement of a lawsuit)

2. A. What is the return on investment? What is the annual budgeted amounts for revenue/expenditures? Budgeted revenue is $22,000. The year to date total is $4,766.

Budgeted expenditures are in the following three accounts-Electricity paid from General Services, budget expense not separately listed, but absorbed in total for account; Phone paid from Non-Departmental, $500; and Maintenance paid from Construction& Maintenance, $2,000.

B. What do we lose in annual tax revenue? That is difficult to calculate because depending on the use of the property (for example if it was used by a nonprofit it would not be taxed versus a structure would be taxed on the size of building)

3. Was a parking facility a "core" service that our city needs to provide the residents? The lot certainly is useful to those residents who need additional parking space for vehicles due to HOA restrictions, business needs and various Code violations (Sec. 28-6 in the Code of Ordinances)-providing this lot to our residents assists with this need.

How many of the spaces are actually rented to residents at present? Residents and non-residents are now able to use the facility. The number of paying spaces total 67 of 137. (Open spaces are being used to place several police vehicles)

4. It appears that as it is currently utilized, this competes with two business properties within a quarter mile radius that pay taxes to our city, is that true? Yes; the City remains competitive in its prices, and will continue to do so to ensure services are provided to our residents, business owners and other prospective clients.

Is the asphalt service installed, water permeable? No, however the site's drainage system consists of French drains.

It appears that this property could be sold, put back on the tax rolls and be privately developed into something that would be of great benefit to our City, the money earned from the sale could be used toward implementing the City's Master Plan so our current residents will be able to increase their enjoyment of our City of Choice in the nearer future. Future utilization will be based on City Commission directive and taking into consideration the benefits to the Community.

Where on the City's website will the answers to these questions be for all the residents to see?

As discussed, it is not appropriate to utilize the City's website for posting responses to residents' questions. Residents/business owners can always contact staff and/or participate during Public Participation at City Commission meetings.

Keith S. London City Commissioner Hallandale Beach

954-457-1320 Office

954-494-3182 Cellular

www.KeithLondon.com

http://www.facebook.com/KeithSLondon