Showing posts with label Broward League of Cities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Broward League of Cities. Show all posts

Saturday, November 29, 2014

#Ethics in #SoFL - Updated news & observations re December 4th meeting of the Oversight Committee for Office of the Broward Inspector General; @BrowardIG

The email below, sent out yesterday afternoon, is a follow-up to my post of November 17, 2014 titled, Because #Ethics still matter to some of us in Broward County; re upcoming December 4th meeting of the Oversight Committee for Office of the Broward Inspector General
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2014/11/because-ethics-still-matter-to-some-of.html
-------
November 28, 2014
1:00 p.m.

Per my last email to many of you, and as you can see below, I heard back on Thursday morning from Philip Shailer, Chair of the Oversight Committee for the Office of the Broward Inspector General, which will be holding its annual meeting next week:

Thursday, December 4, 2014 at 2:00 p.m.
Broward County Governmental Center,
Room GC422 (County Comm. Meeting Chamber)
Fort Lauderdale Florida 33301

Purpose of Meeting:
(a)   As required by the County Charter, the Committee will review the Inspector General’s Annual Report and evaluate his performance; and,
(b)  As required by the Charter, the Committee will determine whether to renew the contract of the Inspector General or to solicit new candidates.


The Committee's liaison is "Kelleher, Kevin" <kkelleher@broward.org>
who is the Director of Human Resources for Broward County.

I know that writing persuasive comments isn't necessarily everyone's thing, or even at the top of their list for things to do this particular holiday week, especially if you prefer shopping to writing.

But that said, IF you are considering sending the Oversight Comm. an email with your own comments about the sort of job you think the Broward IG's Office is doing, whether good or bad, or have constructive suggestions of your own -like me- for what you think they OUGHT be doing better or more of, I'd appreciate it if you'd consider bcc'ing me your particular thoughts.

NOT for public discussion or publication -unless you specifically want me to and give me permission to use your remarks before the meetingbut rather so I can accurately gauge what other people around the area are thinking these days regarding the IG's Office and whether it's performing as well as Broward's long-beleaguered citizenry needs it to.

Since I already know that I won't be able to attend that meeting in person, I'm sending my comments -via "Kelleher, Kevin" <kkelleher@broward.org> -
by Noon next Wednesday, the 3rd, to give everyone on the Committee plenty of time to adequately review them and incorporate those concerns into their own myriad questions and queries of the Broward IG (John W. Scott), the IG's Chief Counsel and any elected officials or city attorneys who choose to speak in person at the meeting.

Unfortunately, I strongly suspect that just like last year's annual Oversight meeting -which I attended and spoke at, as did Keith London- most of the people in the room will be elected officials or former
elected officials who are directly associated with the Broward League of Cities.

That group, which receives substantial taxpayer dollars from cities and towns all over Broward County in the form of dues and other fees -but with precious little enterprise reporting on what happens to the money afterwards- has been the nexus for years of a consistently anti-citizen mindset and anti-taxpayer agenda that's been fighting hard for LESS OVERSIGHT of elected officials and government employees and their interaction with lobbyists, businessmen, vendors and other third-parties in Broward.
Yes, even while the latter group continues playing the role they have for so long down here -unofficial intermediaries and campaign fundraising "friends" and bundlers in what's long been Broward's pay-to-play culture.
Precisely what we DON'T need more of!

Plus, it's not like we can trust them to be honest enough to actually write down in the written visitors logs at City Halls around Broward when they visit each other to figure out what their next move is to
try to frustrate the public's will, "Strategize on how to avoid compliance with Broward IG and state statutes."

Here's an except from my November 9th email of last year, written shortly after the 2013 Oversight Comm. meeting, which as I recall it, only the South Florida Sun-Sentinel bothered to actually cover in person:

"It was also NOT a good day for the anti-IG Broward League of Cities and their hardcore and permanent crew of longtime apologists and paid consultants throughout the county, who continue to want to allow themselves the freedom to continue to misrepresent what's really going on with ethics in this county and what the IG's Office is doing, but also continue using municipal taxpayer dollars to pay attorneys to tell them exactly what they want to hear, instead of simply following the spirit and letter of the law."

"Or as one of the learned members of the Oversight Comm. put it, it seems like Broward cities love using taxpayer dollars to "shield" themselves, but there's no reason for that to continue any longer."


By the way, if you didn't already know, I'm reliably informed that Mr. Shailer is, in fact, the former Broward State's Attorney. I'd mentioned that fact many years ago to some of you in a 2011 email
account of what was going on with the effort to create an IG-like position, but, somehow, I came to forget that important fact myself in the intervening years.

In going thru my notes about last year's Oversight meeting, I happened to come across a sad reminder of what we all heard about a year ago this very week, though some of us suspected this all along.
It concerns the antics of Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper and her longtime pal, state Senator Eleanor Sobel -never a friend of ours- and Sobel's successful efforts to completely thwart, undermine and BLOCK Hallandale Beach citizens' efforts to finally get to the financial truth about the longtime incompetency and corruption surrounding the HB CRA via an audit by the Joint Auditing Comm. in Tallahassee.

As we know, the last thing that Mayor Cooper wanted was to have a team of professional investigators with a nose-for-numbers looking at the extant CRA records -the few that exist- to see where the tens of millions of dollars really went buh-bye -and under what circumstances-
since Cooper's been in office the past ten-plus years, with worse-than-zero oversight from HB City Hall, with her personally micro-managing everything from A to Z. 

BADLY.

Broward Bulldog
Two senators short-circuit Legislature’s plan to audit troubled
Hallandale Beach CRA

By Willliam Gjebre, BrowardBulldog.org
NOVEMBER 26, 2013 AT 6:13 AM
http://www.browardbulldog.org/2013/11/two-senators-short-circuit-legislatures-plan-to-audit-troubled-hallandale-beach-cra/

Yes, the longstanding HB CRA scandal that current state Rep. Shevrin Jones wrote to me earlier this year in a Twitter response that he had NEVER heard anything about the problem. Really.
This, despite the fact that,
a.) it was as well-publicized as it was over several years, and
b.) was chronicled by the Broward IG in his damning report, and,
c.) took place almost entirely in HIS legislative district.
Yep, it's the Army's classic definition of SNAFU!

Free Advice Dept.: I say the following as someone who:
a.) likes to save money,
b.) share news, and
c.) who loves Scandinavia
Due to scheduling conflicts, last year I missed seeing the Northern Lights in Iceland on my way back from my nine-day trip to Sweden, via side trips from Reykjavik.
On Wednesday afternoon, I got word via an email from Norwegian Air -which started flying out of Hollywood Ft. Lauderdale Int'l Airport a year ago this week- is now offering non-stop flights to Oslo from $217 one-way.
IF you want to catch the Northern Lights this year, you can take one of their flights and connect via beautiful Oslo to Tromsø for only $332 one way.
That's ridiculously CHEAP!

Plus, Tromsø is actually farther north than any part of Iceland is.
REAL Northern Lights.... for a pittance
Just saying... if the Northern Lights are on your bucket list...

Dave
Twitter: @hbbtruth,  https://twitter.com/hbbtruth
https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/with_replies
http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/HallandaleBeachBlog



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: PhilShail
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 11:31:09 -0500
Subject: Re: re Dec. 4th meeting of the Oversight Committee for Office
of the Broward ...
To: hallandalebeachblog@gmail.com
Cc: kkelleher@broward.org


Sorry I was unable to respond sooner.

As I know you observed from reviewing the Agenda, at the upcoming  meeting
members of the public wishing to do so will be invited -- indeed,
encouraged -- to address our committee.  Also, in that you would like
to  have us
receive viewpoints and issues in advance, to give us additional time to  digest
them, I would suggest that you send all such queries to  Kevin Kelleher.

By copying Mr. Kelleher on this e-mail, I am requesting that he  promptly
forward everything he receives from you and others in this regard to  all
committee members.

I rather doubt that any member will give you a substantive response to
matters you raise, as we don't operate other than as a committee at
duly-noticed  public hearings; but you can rest assured that all of us
will have read
and  considered anything that you send, and will address those things at the
meeting  to the extent warranted or advisable.

I hope that you and yours are enjoying the best of this Thanksgiving  Day.

Sincerely,

Phil Shailer


In a message dated 11/21/2014 4:23:07 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
hallandalebeachblog@gmail.com writes:

November  21, 2014
4:20 p.m.

Dear Mr. Shailer:

On Monday I contacted  Kevin Kelleher to find out when the upcoming
Oversight Committee meeting  for the Broward IG Office would be held,
below.
I heard from Mr.  Kelleher soon thereafter as to the date, time and
location, and subsequent  to that, also heard from someone that you'd
be the point person of sorts  for public comments submitted prior to
the Dec. 4th meeting.

At that  point I forwarded my original email and the Kelleher response
to some  people and civic groups around the County and South Florida
about that upcoming meeting, as well as some of the policies we are
concerned about in  order to make sure that the Broward IG Office has
both the resources and  energy it needs.
Later, I blogged about some of my concerns.

At some  point over the weekend or early next week, I'm planning on
writing some of  those same people and civic groups and suggesting
some possible areas of  discussion.

Given this area's long-prevailing political culture and  the
strong-willed opposition to almost everything the IG Office does among
many Broward elected officials, municipal administators and
attorneys, as well s the principal taxpayer-subsidized non-profit
group that's the public face of their adversarial approach towards
citizens,
taxpayers and the entire notion of someone being able to independently
monitor their actions and behavior -especially where I live in
Hallandale Beach- it's important to me and this area's future that
concerned citizens speak forthrightly about precisely what is  needed
now, and face that public opposition head-on.

Given that, I'm  writing you today to make sure of something before I
started that  communication train going. Would you prefer that
citizens and other  interested parties send their comments to you via:
a.) Mr. Kelleher's  Broward.org email,
b.) to you via the email address above, or,
c.) to  some separate official email address, since the comments would
be considered public?

Also, is there a specific time deadline that you and  the Commitee
would like comments to be submitted by to ensure that you and the
other members have enough time to carefully review them and be able
to include some of their concerns?

Just want to make sure that I get  the facts right!



----------  Forwarded message ----------
From: 
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 15:27:11  -0500
Subject: re upcoming meeting of the Oversight Committee for Office  of
the Broward Inspector General
To: "Kelleher, Kevin"  <kkelleher@broward.org>
Cc: Bertha Henry  <bhenry@broward.org>

November 17, 2014

Dear Mr.  Kelleher:

I'm writing to you today in your capacity as liaison to the  Oversight
Committee for the Office of Broward Inspector General.

I  would like to know when and where this year's meeting will take place
so  that I can make sure that my voice, as well as the voices of  other
concerned residents of Broward County, have the opportunity to  continue
to push-back and call-out the stealthy, frequently anti-democratic  and
very antagonistic actions taken by so many elected public  officials,
who for some reason persist in thinking that they are beyond the  reach
of both the law and society's norms.

At last year's annual  meeting of the Broward IG Oversight Committee,
I spoke in some detail about  some of the matters that I was most
concerned with involving the evolving  structure, operations and public
outreach responsibilities of the Broward  IG's office.
I noted specific areas that I believed the office was  deficient in and
called for much-needed improvement in those areas* IF* it  wanted to truly
satisfy Broward County's much-beleaguered citizenry's very  strong interest
in seeing unethical behavior investigated, pulled-out by  the roots and
fully-prosecuted.

I said that in my opinion, *IF* the  Broward IG's Office wanted to continue
to maintain the public's trust, the  area that most-needed tangible
improvement was the allocation of adequate  resources and personnel to
public outreach in cities that were being  formally investigated, so
that the public would
know with certainty just  what* WAS* and was *NOT* being investigated, and
how the public could best  assist the office with respect to perhaps
gathering additional relevant  facts and evidence, to say nothing of
context.

The latter was something  that, to my astonishment, was *NEVER* done in
Hallandale Beach in 2012 and  2013 when the Broward IG was investigating
the longstanding Hallandale  Beach CRA scandal involving tens of millions
of dollars, since in my  opinion, it would have produced a *LOT* more useful
information and context  for the IG's Office to peruse and consider.
*In my opinion, they barely saw  the the tip of the iceberg.*

As someone who was frequently the only  member of the public attending
those early morning meetings years ago of  the appointed Broward County
Ethics Committee, someone who actually  videotaped many of them so
that I could later describe in accurate detail  what had transpired in those
meetings, esp. with respect to which appointed  member was consistently
voting *FOR* meaningful ethical standards and  thresholds and which
appointed members had consistently tried to obfuscate, misdirect or
otherwise water-down any serious effort to hold people with power, influence
and opportunity to account, I take what happens with the Office of Broward IG
very seriously.

I don't think I or others need  to apologize for wanting to make sure that
the will and best interests of  the Broward citizenry is represented as
often as possible, *NOT* pushed to  the side of the road by self-interested
politicans, government employees  and outside groups, esp. ones with zero
public oversight like the *Broward  **League of Cities*, a group that *STILL*
clearly wants its member cities  and officials to have as low a threshold as
possible, to meet and carve-out  exceptions to common sense -as if
common sense was something that we'd been enjoying too much of over
the years, instead of its opposite.

Obviously, many of these individuals and groups would very much like to
keep their perks and the trappings of the pay-to-play culture  that had long
flourished in Broward, and want to un-do the very small,  positive things
that have *FINALLY* taken place.
*Sorry, that ship has  sailed! *

Despite my fact-filled warnings and anecdotes last year to the IG Oversight
Committe and the public attending that meeting about the reality
on-the-ground at Hallandale Beach City Hall, that same corrosive  attitude
and anti-citizen culture I described then persists from  top-to-bottom at
HB City Hall.

There has been no let-up by Mayor Joy Cooper and City Manager Renee Miller
since either the April 2013 issuance  of the IG's damning report on the
Hallandale Beach CRA scandal that  involved tens of millions of dollars, or,
even since Mr. Scott and the  Chief Counsel's own descriptions last year of the
sorts of foolish and entirely self-serving gambits and attempts at
misrepresentations
engaged in  by those women and the city.
Right down to Mayor Cooper *intentionally*  sending her inaccurate letter
and account of the facts to everyone scheduled to attend last year's IG
Oversight Comm. meeting
*That is, everyone BUT the IG's Office itself.*

Yes, it was hard not to see that desperate and pathetic effort for
precisely what it was.
A shameful  effort to obfuscate and blame others for their own unethical
behavior and  lack of proper governance, due diligence and meaningful
oversight for SO  MANY YEARS, which is just how I described it last
year since  that's precisely how the majority of Hallandale Beach's
best-informed
residents and Small Business owners see it

I look  forward to hearing from you soon about that upcoming meeting.


Mr. Smith,

The next Inspector General Selection and Oversight Committee Meeting is currently scheduled for Thursday, December 4 at 2:00pm in Room 422 of the Broward County Governmental Center, 115 South Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale Florida 33301.

Should you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kevin

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Hallandale Beach's beleaguered citizens & taxpayers have a good day at meeting of Oversight Comm. of Broward's Inspector General, uniformly great actually, as Mayor Cooper's efforts at obfuscation and misdirection fall flat and backfire. Her name ends up being the one most-cited over two hours -and NOT in a good way. It was delicious!

From the p.o.v. of Hallandale Beach's beleaguered citizens & taxpayers, Friday morning's crucial meeting in downtown Fort Lauderdale of the Oversight Comm. of Broward's Inspector General was uniformly great, even when HB CRA Attorney Steven W. Zelkowitz spoke, since it's what Zelkowitz didn't say or couldn't admit -and that WAS mentioned by my friend and former HB Commissioner Keith London and myself- that was most telling.

Along with the comments of the Oversight Comm. members themselves and IG John Scott and his Chief Counsel, in what was the most open and fairly-run meeting I've ever been to in South Florida the past ten years.

(HB CRA Director Rosemond was also present, but did not speak publicly.)

Even though absent from the proceedings, Hallandale Beach's obnoxious, thin-skinned and anti-democratic mayor Joy Cooper was the Broward pol whose name was mentioned MOST
over a period of about two hours -and not in a good way!
Just like the name "Hallandale Beach" was repeatedly used as an example of what NOT to do in these things.
And all the negative things that were mentioned all came under the reign of Mayor Cooper.

I especially love the idea that it came out during CRA Attorney Zelkowitz's comments that Mayor Cooper sent the Oversight Comm. a letter re the Broward IG.
But guess who Mayor Cooper DIDN'T send a copy of her THREE-PAGE letter to.
Yes, the IG's Office.

When I spoke, I told everyone present that this was no mere oversight, it was entirely intentional by her, and that the mayor wanted the IG and his staff to be blindsided by it at the meeting.
Instead, though, Mayor Cooper's self-serving stunt completely backfired on her.

Not that much of the South Florida news media actually bothered to show-up to the Broward County Govt. Bldg. to report on what transpired, which was entirely in keeping with how things have been down here for years, as the Sun-Sentinel still has NOT mentioned the HB CRA scandal in an editorial, six months after the IG's inch-and-a-half thick Final Report alleging and proving "gross mismanagement" was released.

But your faithful blogger was there, and did I ever get a wheelbarrow's worth of facts and nuggets to share!

It was also NOT a good day for the anti-IG Broward League of Cities and their hardcore and permanent crew of longtime apologists and paid consultants throughout the county, who continue to want to allow themselves the freedom to continue to misrepresent what's really going on with ethics in this county and what the IG's Office is doing, but also continue using municipal taxpayer dollars to pay attorneys to tell them  what exactly they want to hear, instead of simply following the spirit and letter of the law.

Or as one of the learned members of the Oversight Comm. put it, it seems like Broward cities love using taxpayer dollars to "shield" themselves, but there's no reason for that to continue any longer.

(So, remind me again why South Florida's news media refuses to go after the Broward League of Cities and ask for meaningful transparency from them on how much they receive every year in taxpayer money from each and every Broward city, and show  from any of the many examples they could choose, just how that money is continually used in ways that are fundamentally against the best long-term interests of their own citizens, and rather FOR the benefit of career politicians, including lobbying against their own citizens? Oh, right. 
The South Florida news media doesn't want to do that.)

More details on all this will be coming out in the coming days on the blog, along with photos and video on Monday and Tuesday, including answering the question of who the unexpected people were who showed-up with Mayor Cooper when she twice had to testify under oath and answer questions from the IG's office over the past year.
The answers to that surprised members of the the Committee and left some of them -and most of the audience, even the Broward League of Cities types- shaking their heads in bewilderment at Mayor Cooper's efforts to deny, deny, deny.

In retrospect, I could NOT have scripted it better myself from the point of view of frustrated HB citizens FINALLY getting some highly-relevant and meaningful and provable facts out in the open for everyone to know, esp. among such well-known people as those on the committee.
And, of course, into the record!

If only members of the JLAC in Tallahassee could have been there to hear some of the damning testimony, and litany of inconvenient facts concerning HB's CRA and the invisible oversight of its millions by Mayor Cooper and her loyal  Rubber Stamp Crew, suddenly being uttered aloud.
C'est al vie...

But next week some time, I will send them some excerpts of what was said and let's see them try to ignore the stone cold facts uttered by people who know them like the Inspector General knows them.
The proof is in the pudding, and the case has never been more stronger that JLAC needs to come thru for citizens in our city so we can finally find out where the $80 MIllion has gone the past 10 years.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Today's Broward County Comm. action on red-light cameras; My take on "Sight distances" of red-light camera signs; county won't be involved the future


Today's Broward County Comm. action on red-light cameras; My take on "Sight distances" of red-light camera warning signs - Agenda Item 33- Allows traffic infraction detection equipment by municipalities to connect to the County’s traffic signal infrastructure
-------
Below is a copy of an email that I sent early Tuesday morning to Hallandale Beach's two representatives on the Broward County Commission, Sue Gunzburger and Barbara Sharief, plus County Administrator Bertha Henry, regarding Agenda item #33 on this morning's schedule. Below it is the response I received from Comm. Gunzburger, the presiding officer.

October 11th, 2011

Dear Commissioners Gunzburger and Sharief:

Despite my longstanding interest in this issue, I will be unable to be present in person for today's, Broward County Commission meeting and therefore am sending this email to you to to represent, my personal thoughts and to share with you some facts that I fear will otherwise NOT come up today, namely, Broward cities taking advantage of their citizens and NOT acting in a manner that's reasonable, prudent or even legal with regard to their use of red-light cameras.
For months I've waited for the opportunity to formally share this bit of information with you, where it would do some public good, and show that not all municipalities in Broward County are eager to comply with the specific standards set to allow red-light camera enforcement to take place in Broward County.

Below are some photos of a self-evident fact that I and many tens of thousands of other Hallandale Beach and Hollywood residents have known about ever since the red-light camera was installed on Hallandale Beach Blvd. & N.W. 10th Terrace, Hallandale Beach, with the so-called warning sign posted a block farther east on the corner of N.W. 9th Terrace, which, as it happens, is also a popular area for dangerous U-turns.

It's here somewhere...



It's right around here somewhere.
In what way, exactly, is the red-light camera warning sign "visible" from this distance?
September 25, 2011

Or this distance? August 19, 2011




Or from this distance? September 25, 2011



Where did it go? Shouldn't we see it by now? September 11, 2011



Oh, there you are, red-light camera warning sign, intentionally placed right between two trees!
You only see the sign above because of the reflection of my camera flash.
You'd almost say they were hiding it, yes?
Looking west on W. Hallandale Beach Blvd. & N.W 10th Terrace, Hallandale Beach, April 24, 2011.

In fact, it's not until you are almost parallel to the sign itself, assuming you notice it among the other signs preceding it, that it's visible to west-bound drivers in the road lane that is actually CLOSEST to the sign. That seems illogical on its face doesn't it?

Shouldn't the lane closest to the sign at least see it at roughly the same instant others do?
Instead, the driver closest to it is the one driver most likely to NEVER see it.
How exactly is that common sense?

The fact that there is no street light there only makes it even worse at night, as this photo below
amply demonstrates.


Above, the red-light camera warning sign on the north-side of west-bound W. Hallandale Beach Blvd. at N.W. 9th Terrace on February 27, 2011 at 6:40 p.m., a bit past sundown.
The ONLY reason that you even see the sign above is because I'm standing on the curb and pointing my camera directly at it, using my camera's flash.

And that assumes that you the driver aren't distracted -and a bit un-nerved- by the sight of the over-grown palm fronds that obstruct the electronic message board directly behind it.

September 11, 2011

Hmm-m... erecting an electronic message board behind a palm tree on a west-bound road where a setting sun is often brutal at times?
No, nothing bad could ever go wrong with that sort of well-organized plan.
Well, unless it rains .. and the palm fronds get larger.
And aren't properly maintained and cut.
Like the reality in Hallandale Beach since that particular red-light cameras went up.


Where's that red-light camera warning sign?
Looking west on W. Hallandale Beach Blvd. approaching N.W 10th Terrace, Hallandale Beach. About 6:50 p.m., April 24, 2011.


Where did you say that red-light camera warning sign was, again?
No, it's not that silver-colored one next to the curb, that the Merge/Bike lane sign. Looking west on W. Hallandale Beach Blvd. & N.W 10th Terrace, Hallandale Beach, April 24, 2011.

That red-light camera is there merely to catch drivers trying to get onto I-95 ASAP, not because of any dangerous safety situation there ever mentioned or disclosed by the City of Hallandale Beach or known by its residents prior to the installation of a camera.

In fact, the last very bad accident near there, in front of the Denny's, was actually caused by a high-speed police pursuit from... the other direction. Yes, a high-speed pursuit approaching slow-moving traffic trying to get onto the I-95 entrance ramps.
Sure, because nothing could go wrong with that sort of strategy.

Proof of the lack of safety concern here is how how many street lights near that area have been out for months or years, and yet the city seems never quite able to make that necessary phone call to FDOT or FP&L.
They act completely oblivious, but the facts are common knowledge.

Going south-bound on N.W. 10th Terrace, as you approach that same intersection at Hallandale
Beach Blvd., the one that the city says is a problem without ever offering a scintilla of proof, tell me, when can you even see the traffic signal because of all the obstructing tree branches?
Answer: When you are one of the first two cars there, maybe, otherwise, forget it.
The traffic signal can barely be seen.

This longstanding safety situation with obstructions as you approach BCTE traffic signals
exists all throughout Hallandale Beach and Hollywood and neither city does a thing about it,
even when they are specifically told about it.
In one ear, out the other.

Rhonda Calhoun of the Broward League of Cities and their counsel, Sam Goren -that is, when he isn't wearing his other hat as Pembroke Pines City Attorney- where so many of his city's red-light cameras cases were dismissed by judges back in January, are saying all the predictable things their bosses, the cities of Broward, want you all to hear, but they are wrong, particularly as it applies to the City of Hallandale Beach.

Here, it's about revenue, not public safety, as red-light cameras were specifically cited by city residents (in a $38,000 City Commission-paid poll) as their number-one complaint about Hallandale Beach.

That's not by accident. That's from personal experience in seeing the city do whatever it wanted even before the state approved the cameras for July of 2010, even to the point of having the one-and-only red-light camera warning sign on U.S.-1 hidden away for months and months by a County Bus shelter. (And even then. unbelievably, the warning sign was on the other side of the sidewalk!)
How, exactly, was that "visible" to drivers and consistent with sight distances?


It wasn't, but the city didn't care.
They did it anyway.

I've got contemporaneous photos of that 'invisible' warning sign from every single angle, having been there when the red-light camera was erected. On purpose!

I even spoke to the engineer/technician installing it and specifically asked him about the fact that
the so-called required 'warning" sign was, for all practical purposes, "hidden" by the bus shelter.
He said that was the city's decision.
And he would know.

The City of Hallandale Beach is NOT trusted by its citizens on this matter, and for very good reason: personal experience.They've even told the city, via the poll conducted by an independent company in Kansas,
but the city STILL refuses to listen because it doesn't care.

Pages 11, 68, 106 and 135 deals with red-light cameras.

Question (Q6) Satisfaction with Various Aspect of Public Safety ranked the use of red light cameras at an “unsatisfied” rating of 45%. According to ETC Institute, the entity administering the survey, any rating above 20% requires the City’s immediate attention.
The Public Safety Importance-Satisfaction Analysis (Section 3, page 4) red-light cameras rates “High Priority” ahead of visibility of police and crime prevention.

Therefore, in my opinion, based on the preceding facts, the county-wide policy you should adopt is a simple one: "Trust but verify."


-----

Meeting Agendas

Print Return Previous Next
AI-9448Item #: 33.
Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Date:10/11/2011
Director's Name:Thomas Hutka
Department:Public Works

Information
Requested Action

MOTION TO APPROVE standard form, shell revocable license agreement for use between Broward County and various municipalities for their use of County equipment to connect traffic infraction detection systems, effective for five years from date of execution; authorizing the County Administrator, or designee, to execute the approved standard form, shell agreement on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners; authorizing the County Administrator to approve renewal for additional five-year terms if the County Administrator determines it is in the best interest of the County; and authorizing the County Administrator to amend the standard form, shell agreement or executed agreements to add or remove affected intersections and revise the affected locations and layouts (Exhibit A of agreement), to revise the conditions of use (Exhibit B) or special technical provisions (Exhibit C), as may be necessary. (All Commission Districts) (Deferred from September 27, 2011 - Item No. 65)

Why Action is Necessary
Broward County Commission approval is required for all agreements between the County and municipalities.
What Action Accomplishes
Allows traffic infraction detection equipment by municipalities to connect to the County’s traffic signal infrastructure.
Is this Action Goal Related
Previous Action Taken

This item was deferred from the December 14, 2010 Commission meeting (Item No. 50), from the March 1, 2011 Commission meeting (Item No. 23), from the August 30, 2011 Commision meeting (Item No. 51), and again from the September 27, 2011 Commission meeting.

Summary Explanation/ Background
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT/TRAFFIC ENGINEERING DIVISION AND HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL. The Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Act (Act) was signed into law, with an effective date of July 1, 2010, authorizing the use of traffic infraction detectors, commonly known as red light running cameras, on State, County and municipal roadways in the State of Florida. Broward County is somewhat unique among most Florida traffic maintaining agencies in that the County operates all traffic signals (the County owns all signals on County and local roads and maintains all signals on State roads for FDOT). However, the traffic infraction detection equipment is being installed by municipalities within their municipal boundaries. Prior to the passage of the Act, several cities installed and operated non-intrusive traffic infraction detection systems (no connection to the County’s traffic signals) outside of the road right-of-way. With the passage of the Act, these systems can be installed within the road right-of-way as long as they comply with traffic safety conditions (i.e. outside of clear zone, crash worthiness standards, sight distances, etc.). In general, non-intrusive systems in the County's right-of-way can be permitted by the Broward County Highway Construction and Engineering Division under Section 6.48, Broward County Administrative Code; non-intrusive systems in State or city rights-of-way are permitted by those respective agencies. Recently, County staff became aware, from a vendor (American Traffic Solutions, Inc.) representing several municipalities, that the municipalities would like to install intrusive systems (systems with some equipment connecting to the County’s traffic signals) to supplement the required photographic evidence of violation. If the Board were to approve the municipalities’ request to connect to the County’s traffic signals, staff has developed the subject shell revocable licensing agreement (RLA) that would protect the County’s interests. This shell RLA will only be required as part of the permit review and approval process for the installations that connect to the County’s traffic signals. Municipalities installing non-intrusive systems would not be subject to this RLA. The main conditions of the shell RLA are as follows:
  • Establish the locations and conditions that the traffic infraction detection equipment can be connected to the County’s traffic signals without compromising the signals' effectiveness and reliability.
  • Establish the responsibility of the municipalities to install, maintain and operate the traffic infraction detection equipment and to remove the equipment from the right-of-way when no longer in use.
  • Establish the responsibility of the municipalities for repairs and damages to the County’s infrastructure as a result of the connections between the municipality and County equipment.
  • Establish the County’s right to disconnect any equipment connected to the traffic signal control system, if necessary during emergency repairs, in order to maintain or return the traffic signals to normal operation as quickly as possible. Municipalities may reconnect to the County infrastructure at a later time at their own costs.
  • Establish an hourly rate reimbursement schedule for County staff to inspect equipment installation, adjust signal timing, and to provide court testimony for traffic infraction violations. The hourly rates will increase at the same annual increases to salaries, administrative support, benefits, and vehicle costs.
As part of the Board's approval of the municipalities' request, staff is requesting approval of this shell RLA, effective for five years from date of execution; authorizing the County Administrator, or designee, to execute the agreement on behalf of the Board; authorizing the County Administrator to approve renewal for additional five-year terms if County Administrator determines it is in the best interest of the County; and authorizing the County Administrator to execute amendments to the agreement or the approved shell agreement to add or remove affected intersections and revise the affected locations and layouts (Exhibit A of agreement), or to revise the conditions of use and special technical provisions (Exhibits B and C of agreement), as may be necessary. This agreement may be terminated by County, through the Broward County Commission or the Broward County Administrator, or Licensee, with or without cause and at any time during the term hereof upon thirty (30) days written notice to the other of its desire to terminate this agreement. Attachment B-1 of the agreement, Reimbursement Hourly Rates, has been updated to incorporate the clarification on future annual increases that was yellow-sheeted for the December 14, 2010 meeting and to include the provision to charge overtime for work required outside of normal business hours. At the December 14, 2010 meeting, the Board deferred this item and directed staff to solicit comments from the League of Cities and the Clerk of the Court. Comments from the Broward League of Cities dated February 8, 2011 are attached as Exhibit 3. At the March 1, 2011 meeting, the Board deferred this item and directed staff to provide additional information on several issues and also requested that the Broward League of Cities consider developing uniform traffic enforcement procedures among the cities. Responses from County staff and the Broward League of Cities are included as Exhibits 7 and 8, respectively. At the August 30, 2011 meeting, the Board deferred this item and directed staff to bring the item back to the Board with recommendations relating to initial permitting fees and annual fee costs. A memo of the recommendation is included as Exhibit 11. At the September 27, 2011 meeting, the Board deferred this item at the request of the Mayor on behalf of the City of Pembroke Pines. If a license agreement is approved by the Board, staff will provide a quarterly report to the Board summarizing the number of license agreements that have been submitted or executed over that period. The Office of the County Attorney has approved the agreement as to legal form. Sources of additional information: Anthony M. Hui, P.E., Deputy Director, Public Works Department, 954-357-6308; Thomas J. Hutka, P.E., Director, Public Works Department, 954-357-6410.

Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary:
Fiscal impact is anticipated to be cost neutral. The reimbursement schedule will allow the County to recover costs for its involvement with the traffic infraction detection systems.

Attachments
Exhibit 1 - Agreement Summary
Exhibit 2 - Revocable License Agreement
Exhibit 3 - Broward League of Cities Position Statement
Exhibit 4 - Additional Agenda Material Item 23-1
Exhibit 5 - Additional Agenda Material Item 23-2
Exhibit 6 - Additional Agenda Material Item 23-3
Exhibit 7 - Memo to the Board
Exhibit 8 - Letter from League of Cities
Exhibit 9 - Additional Information - Item 51-1
Exhibit 10 - Additional Information - Item 51-2
Exhibit 11 - Additional Information
Exhibit 12 - Additional Material
Exhibit 13 - Additional Material
Additional Material - Information
Additional Material - Information
Additional Material - Information

-----
See also:

Later in the morning, I received this response from Comm. Gunzburger, who is the presiding officer, whom I last spoke to in person in June at Comm. Keith London's monthly Resident Forum meeting, where she spoke and answered citizen's public policy questions for about an hour. Comm. Sharief had attended the previous month.

This item has been permanently pulled from our agenda by the cities. The county will not be involved in the red light cameras. The place to protest is at the city.

Description: BCLogo300DpiRGB

Sue Gunzburger, Mayor

Broward County Commission - District 6

Phone 954-357-7006 Fax 954-357-7129

www.broward.org/sue

Description: SterlingLogoMiddleBanner300DpiRGB