Thursday, March 5, 2020

#SUP - City of Hollywood approves recommendations for outdoor water activities at Hollywood Beach: paddleboarding, kite boarding, surfing, and surf fishing. But it was not without some heated debate about public safety on the beach, and the role of city staff's recommendations in elected officials' deliberations and actual votes on public policy

#SUP - City of Hollywood approves recommendations for outdoor water activities at Hollywood Beach: paddleboarding, kite boarding, surfing, and surf fishing. But it was not without some heated debate about public safety on the beach, and the role of city staff's recommendations in elected officials' deliberations and actual votes on public policy

 I'm curently re-editing this post because of some technical issues but here are the main points









Hollywood Beach was just voted number 7 beach in the nation. Let us enjoy it! The City of Hollywood Commission voted on a new water recreation ordinance on February 5th. The second reading is coming March 4th, so there is still time for minor changes. 🌊 Here are some of the key points from the vote: 🌊 🤙🏾🤙🏾 Positive: • More sensible hours for shore fishing • Stand up paddling allowed anywhere before 10 am. • Stand up paddling allowed anywhere after 5 pm. • North and south recreation areas expanded. • Expansion of surfing area: Increased from 800 yards to 1.36 miles. • Stand up paddling area: Increased from 100 yards to 3 miles of beach. • Distance from shore requirement in banned areas decreased from 300 yards to 100 yards. • Foam boogie/bodyboards will be allowed anywhere. * Swimming will no longer be prohibited at the Azalea Terrace area. 🌊 👎🏾 👎🏾 Negative: • Stand up paddling banned from 37 blocks of beach from 10-5. Most restaurants and restrooms are within those 37 blocks. • Distance from shore in banned areas will be 100 yards. We prefer maximum 50 yards from shore. • No surfing will be allowed south of Eucalyptus. The south surfing area should extend down to the Hallandale border. • Chief Bruce Wilkie did not seem open to lifeguards using discretion and common sense when the ocean is flat and empty (something that other ocean rescues in FL do without a problem). . 🌊 The vote is at City Hall, March 4th at 1 pm. 🌊 @cityofhollywoodfl #hollywoodbeach #hollywoodfl #browardcounty #florida #sup #paddle #standuppaddle #lifeisbetterinabikini #paddleboarding #meetmeatthebeach #adventureculture #optoutside #gopro #goprooftheday #protectandenjoy @surfriderbroward #surfriderbroward
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My last post about the subject of paddleboarding in Hollywood, as well as the role of my enthusiastic and driven friend, Catherine "Cat" Uden in creating a very effective, grassroots coalition in our area of Southeast Broward County supporting more #SUP freedom and common sense ease-of-use at the beach, was last June:
Update on #SUP use at #HollywoodBeach under City of Hollywood's experiment that still falls far short of what Hollywood residents expect and want for using their own beach; Haulover Sandbar - a South Florida slice-of-life that makes people who have never been here wish that they were; Cat Uden, Josh Levy, Surfrider Broward, Standup Paddleboard
https://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2019/06/update-on-sup-use-at-hollywoodbeach.html

I also did an update of sorts a few weeks later on August 14th on Hollywood's then-pilot program:
Update re #HollywoodFL & #Broward: Growing citizen frustration with flooding in #HollywoodLakes, the city's #SUP experiment at #HollywoodBeach is nearing an end, so what's next?; practical efforts to improve beach conditions.
https://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2019/08/updates-re-hollywoodfl-broward-sense-of.html






Hollywood Beach Now Offers More Room For Stand Up Paddling, But Some Say It's Still Not Enough
By Caitie Switalski
June 13th, 2019
https://www.wlrn.org/post/hollywood-beach-now-offers-more-room-stand-paddling-some-say-its-still-not-enough#stream/0


Draft-in-progress

So, now back to some observations about what actually did and did NOT take place at Wednesday afternoon's City of Hollywood City Commission meeting, and my own particular take on what was really taking place in front of the cameras and public, as well as what appears to be some genuine behind-the-scenes anxiety, drama, and internal division on the seven member commission, and why I think that's so.

To those more discenerning regular readers of the blog out there now whom I regularly meet and interact with everyday thoroughout South Florida, and in particular, on the beaches and in the stores, restaurants and at meetings throughout Hollywood and Hallandale Beach, I'm now going to share something here publicly that I'd previously only mentioned to you and close friends and family.
An observation I've generally shied away from discussing here on the blog largely because I didn't want to seem like a I was calling anyone in local government or media out for something other than them simply being well... human.
Of their having a normal ego and degree of vanity.

I've mentioned to some of you that one of the things that's been much more obvious to me since I returned to Hollywood last April -after being away for nearly ten months- compared to when I lived in Hallandale Beach and Hollywood the previous 15 years was my sense, after following this issue more closely, in part from seeing Cat in person more frequently and speaking to her at greater length at various places around the city, is that Hollywood's Commissioners, like all elected officials, are used to enjoying some perks and prerogatives I don;t usually mention here, since we take it for granted.
That is, they are used to being deferred to, if not exactly being given the benefit of the doubt,.
Not excessive egos, you understand, but normal egos where they

very invested in their roles as reps of the people and when smart, articulate and persuasive people from the community have the means to hold the city up to scrutiny on matters or issues where perhaps the city is underperformning or not eeally in line with the longterm best intreests of the citizens, they are concerned that those people represent a threat to the system that that are an important part of.
one of SoFlo's most high-profile ocean advocates. 🐬 .
city's











Dave
David B. smith






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