Showing posts with label Debby Eisinger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Debby Eisinger. Show all posts

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Broward cities need tougher ethics laws, not self-serving pols like Gary Resnick & Debby Eisinger, whom we need like more bad restaurants, more ruined-views of the beach... -NOT at all!

Broward cities need tougher ethics laws, not self-serving pols like Gary Resnick & Debby Eisinger, whom we need like more bad restaurants, more ruined-views of the beach... -NOT at all!


Or, in terms that residents in my part of traffic-gridlocked southeast Broward County particularly well understand, whom we need like more creeps who illegally park in disabled parking spaces.
Like former Hallandale Beach Comm. William "Bill" Julian, who turned doing something morally contemptible into an art form while he was in office.


His years of serial illegal and appalling behavior with respect to this easily-understood law, one so simple that even children know what's right and what's wrong, is one that I and so many other HB citizens have observed first-hand dozens and dozens of times, and have described here on the blog numerous times in the past, complete with photos.


(All you have to do is do a simple word search for "Julian" in the search box at the top of the right column.)


But as we know so well in this county and this part of Florida, unrepentant pols like Julian seemingly have no qualms about using their perceived power to try to get away with completely inexcusable behavior until they're finally caught by people in authority who don't care who they are.


In part, because pols like Julian know that they generally have little to fear from South Florida's current press corps, whose dedication to strong and intensive coverage of local government news, is clearly much weaker than it is in other parts of the country -though less and less so there, too- despite giving it lip service on their editorial page.


Safe in his foreknowledge that under Police Chief Thomas Magill, the Hallandale Beach Police Dept.'s many years of unwillingness to ticket him and treat him like they would any other citizen would continue -despite how obvious his behavior was, with his name clearly evident on the dashboard- the bitter proof of Julian's unrepentant and unethical behavior is not just his complete unwillingness to admit his behavior and apologize to the public, which has STILL never taken place, but rather that Julian actually dares to run again this year for the City Commission this coming November -after being rejected in his re-election in 2010 and coming in third in a three-way race- and imagines that the question of his moral unfitness for office and general incompetency won't come up.


As if we had all developed a case of collective amnesia about Julian's YEARS of clownish, churlish and uninspiring behavior, on and off the dais. 
We haven't.


Given what I've written here so many times in the past in this space about the need for stronger ethics rules in Broward County and the creation of an Inspector General's office, as well as the need for those more-stringent rules to have full effect in Broward's thirty-SOMETHING municipalities and grand duchies, I draw your attention now to something truly eye-opening that ran in the Sun-Sentinel last weekend, which many of you out there in the blogosphere may well have missed due to holiday planning or football bowl game-induced slumber.


South Florida Sun-Sentinel
County ethics law already changing Broward's city governments
By Ariel Barkhurst, Sun Sentinel
11:11 PM EST, December 31, 2011

The strict Broward County ethics code goes into effect for city leaders on Monday, but it's already having an impact on how elected municipal officials approach their jobs.

Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis said his consulting business had to give up some Broward County clients, since the new definition of lobbyist incorporates some of what he does.

Oakland Park Commissioner Suzanne Boisvenue resigned her positions with the Broward League of Cities and the county's trash contract management board because "those meetings are full of lobbyists," and she doesn't want to get in trouble with the new requirement to report contact with contractors, vendors and lobbyists.

Many mayors and commissioners say from now they'll takes notes if anyone approaches them about city business in case the conversation might qualify as contact with a lobbyist, even if the conversation happens at a grocery store or a movie theater.

When the strict code goes into effect Jan. 2, it will bring a "new normal" to the way city officials operate, said Jacob Harowitz, a partner with Goren, Cherof, Doody & Ezrol, P.A., a firm that provides legal services to many local cities.

"It's going to be very easy for us to get into trouble with this new law," Boisvenue said. "I support it, but it's going to be very easy to get tripped up."

The law was demanded by voters in November 2010. In Broward County, 15 city, county or school board members or their family members have been charged with or imprisoned for public corruption crimes in the past three years.

The code forbids taking anything — even a mint — from lobbyists, contractors or vendors; taking gifts greater than $50 in value from anyone at all; sitting on or influencing selection or evaluation committees within the city; and lobbying other governments in Broward County.

The code means officials have to document how much they make at their day jobs, every time they raise money for charity and every time they meet with a lobbyist, vendor or contractor, and it means getting 8 hours of ethics training every year. Most of the rules apply to elected officials' close family members, too.

Most city officials have opposed the code at every step and fear it will impede their ability to govern.

The Broward County Commission voted on Oct. 11 that the rules they've labored under since August 2010 apply to city officials, too.

Officials tried to block or water down the ordinance by arguing it would lead officials to resign, keep them from raising money for charities, deter people from entering politics, isolate politicians from residents and reporters and create opportunities for prosecution of officials for petty, accidental violations, such as accepting a cup of coffee from a lobbyist.

"I know what's right; I don't need an ordinance telling me what to do," Ortis said in May.

Since the Oct. 11 vote, there has been plenty of hand-wringing as municipal leaders educate themselves about the new rules.

"I think the county commission kind of threw out the baby with the bath water," said Wilton Manors Mayor Gary Resnick.

Good communication between residents and officials is going to be harder, he said.

"You have to be so careful now about everything," Resnick said.

A few cities, Wilton Manors and Hillsboro Beach among them, have placed charter changes on their Jan. 31 ballot to supersede the new ethics law.

The changes ask voters whether elected officials should be subject to Florida ethics law in their day jobs, rather than the Broward County law. That would mean leaders in those cities don't have to disclose how much they make in their primary employment, and they can keep lobbying if that's part of their job.

"It makes sense in these smaller communities to do this," said Resnick, who sometimes has to lobby in his job as a partner with Gray Robinson, P.A. "There's a limited number of people willing to volunteer their time."

Most officials have gone to seminars put on by city attorneys in the past few months to brush up on the code's implications.

Some have been frightened by their education.

"I've already seen people backing off from being involved in charity," said Cooper City Mayor Debbie Eisinger.

"There is still a lot of confusion," said Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler.

Some, though, think the rigor of the new law is a good thing.

"As an elected official you live in a fish tank now," Boisvenue said. "Everyone can come and see what you're doing and how big your fins are. There's never a time you're not an elected official."

Reader comments at:


After reading this, I immediately thought of two separate things I'd read before that dealt with Gary Resnick's longstanding unhappiness with increased scrutiny on behalf of the public good.
Did you?

The first was from just over two months ago:


South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Broward Politics blog 

Live blogging: The Code of Ethics passes unanimously

By Brittany Wallman 

October 11, 2011 02:55 PM 


That particular blog post included many delicious tidbits re lawyer/lobbyist/mayor  Resnick, of which the most prominent was:
Wilton Manors Mayor Gary Resnick is being used as an example of a lobbyist who will be in violation of the Code of Ethics if it passes as-is.
The Code says a politician cannot lobby 'across,'' meaning lobbying in other City Halls in Broward.
That's what Resnick does, Commissioner Lois Wexler said. Resnick's in the audience.


This particular Broward Politics blog post followed by four months a previous Brittany Wallman post that also dealt with stricter ethics laws in Broward and once again, Gary Resnick found a way to shine.
That is, if by "shine," you mean found a way to put a verbal noose around his own neck thru his self-serving choice of words.
I do.



Broward Politics blog
Wilton Manors' Resnick: New ethics code would cause mass resignations
By Brittany Wallman June 8, 2011 08:06 AM
If the politicians in all the City Halls have to live with Broward County’s new ethics code, some of them just might quit.
That’s what Wilton Manors Mayor Gary Resnick warned the County Commission on Tuesday, as he and other city officials asked for a more lenient set of ethics rules for the 150 elected officials in Broward’s 31 cities than the ethics code that applies to the nine county commissioners right now.
Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2011/06/wilton_manors_resnick_new_ethi.html


So here's a great question I deliver on a silver platter for South Florida's news media.
Why don't you all ask lawyer/lobbyist/mayor Gary Resnick to publicly give you the names of any Broward municipal elected officials who have resigned if this was as ONEROUS as he claims?

As of today, six months later, there have been exactly ZERO resignations.
I believe that is the exact opposite of MASS RESIGNATIONS, correct?
So why no follow-up?


Gary Resnick is yet another example of a Broward pol who remains remarkably aloof and  tone-deaf with respect to both the appearance and reality of ethical conflicts, and compounds that by thinking that by being ballsy, nobody would notice and take his words seriously.
I not only noticed, I remembered that verbal noose he put around his own neck.


And frankly, I felt it was time to give it a good yank right about now.


Perhaps you all in the South Florida press corps might want to actually ask Mayor Resnick if his intuition and powers of observation while up on the dais are equally inaccurate and inept, or whether he simply misunderstood the depth of the public's dis-satisfaction with what has been going on in this county for years, with all the self-dealing and crony capitalism.


And while you're at it, don't forget to ask anyone who does resign -if ever because of this legislation- what their problem was with following the will of the people.

As for Gary Resnick, perhaps he might understand it better in terms he understands.


On November 4th, 2008, Resnick was first elected mayor of (the diminutive People's Republic of) Wilton Manors, despite the fact that he garnered only 44.25% of the total mayoral vote, receiving 2,349 votes, while 2,959 voters opposed him. 
Roughly 603 more voters in Wilton Manors opposed him than supported him, but he was still considered the "winner."
He seemed to understand THAT part of the simple math.

That same day, on the question of Broward County Charter Amendment 8, 57.30% of all Broward voters that day -322,974 to be exact- said YES.
That's a clear majority.

So why does he have such a hard time understanding what THAT vote of 38 months really meant, and why does he and so many of his pals at City Halls across this county like Cooper City's Debby Eisinger think they're irreplaceable, and above the scrutiny, when the preponderance of evidence I've seen after eight years suggests that most Broward municipalities are NOT particularly well-managed, and are certainly NOT responsive to taxpayers?


For the record, also, not mentioned in the Barkhurst article from last Saturday is that Sam Goren and his law firm made money from not just individual Broward cities, but also from the Broward League of Cities -which is to say, from Broward taxpayers in member cities- who tried to audaciously kill this overdue legislation with their (Debbie Eisinger's) letters to area charities that basically threatened them to put pressure on Broward commissioners -or else.

Would love to see something at the Sun-Sentinel or Herald or local TV create an easily understood chart or graph, that shows exactly how much Broward's cities have paid to the Broward League over the past five years.
For the cities involved, it's like free money, but it's not, is it?
Nope!

It's real money that continues to be mis-spent on lobbying and legal efforts to keep the average citizen taxpayer in Broward at heel -and at a disadvantage.
With Sam Goren's help.

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

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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



Wednesday, July 6, 2011

False alarm: At HB City Hall, Debby Eisinger nixes any mention of Broward League of Cities' jihad against strict ethics laws for cities, instead...

she bored everyone in the Comm. Chamber senseless for nine-and-a-half minutes on the wonders of the Broward League of Cities, reading a laughable laundry list of focus-group approved feel-good phrases and gibberish that might've made the more naive people listening think the Broward League was part Justice League of America and Phi Beta Kappa convention.
I've met people who belong to it -it is neither!

I know that Eisinger's comments were that LONG because I taped them and just watched them again on my home computer.
That's twenty minutes of my life I'm never going to have again.

I had every intention of posting them to my YouTube Channel if she has said anything at all remotely about ethics legislation, and the League's adamant opposition to common sense and anything that would hurt the current sweetheart deals that many local municipal officials have enjoyed with lobbying neighboring cities or agencies, either by themselves or their
spouses or special someones.

In more important and late-breaking news, CNN has just canceled the Eliot Spitzer Show and NBC has signed James Spader to The Office, thus answering the mystery of who could replace Michael Scott in the Scranton office of Dunder Mifflin.
In fact, Spader has outpaced the Peter Principle and will now be the new CEO of Sabre, the parent company of Dunder Mifflin.

Possible efforts to weaken ethics rules for Broward municipalities and Wednesday morning's Hallandale Beach City Comm. meeting at 10 a.m.

It could be nothing more than a coincidence.
A sheer coincidence.

Then again, it could very well be that in the middle of the summer, with lots of people NOT paying attention, the Broward League of Cities, thru their president, Mayor Debby Eisinger of Cooper City, is now increasing their lobbying efforts before individual Broward city commissions to induce them to pass official resolutions supporting the weakening of the existing rules passed by the Broward County Commission.


See: Which Broward cities voted for watered-down ethics code?
By Brittany Wallman June 14, 2011 08:00 AM
and
Making a presentation for Broward ethics,
By Debby Eisinger and Lisa K. Aronson, June 23, 2011

Eisinger is scheduled to make a "presentation" before the Hallandale Beach City Commission on Wednesday morning shortly after 10 a.m.; agenda item 5A below.
Seriously, what else could she possibly be there for?

Given what I have personally observed and heard in this county the past seven-plus years, I find Eisinger's appearance -now- very curious and a little TOO coincidental.

Especially since under the rules the city operates under, no member of the public will ever get the chance to refute anything she says.

As I mentioned recently on my blog, the League is the same taxpayer-supported organization that claims to want increased transparency, yet have you seen their own website? http://www.browardleague.org/
It's Obfuscation & Platitude Central.

They NOT only DON'T publicly mention or acknowledge their well-known opposition to the stricter rules passed by the County to cover everyone, as I mentioned on the blog, they STILL haven't updated the (Action) Minutes of their Board of Directors since last September -TEN MONTHS ago.

That's a long time to NOT post information they used to think was important, don't you think?

As anyone who has come to this blog even a few times knows, I long-supported the creation of a Broward Inspector General and now that it's in place, I want it ito be an enthusiastic and pro-active force for good against the longstanding hotbeds of corruption at city halls and agencies throughout the county that have been ignored for far too long.

I DON'T trust Debby Eisinger, the Broward League of Cities or their pals in the lobbyist ranks any more than I can throw them.
There should be one set of ethical rules for everyone in Broward County.
Period.
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REGULAR AGENDA (Supporting Docs)

CITY COMMISSION, CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH

WEDNESDAY, JULY 06, 2011 10:00 AM

1. CALL TO ORDER

2. ROLL CALL

3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION (to be heard at 10:15 A.M.)

5. PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS

A. Presentation by Broward League of Cities President and Cooper City Mayor Debby Eisinger

TO BE HEARD AT 10:10 A.M.

B. Annual Presentation by the Marine Advisory Board (Presented by Sal Broccone, Vice-Chair) (See Backup) (Supporting Docs)

C. Annual Presentation by the Historic Preservation Board (Presented by William "Bill" Julian, Chair) (See Backup) (Supporting Docs)

D. Annual Presentation by the Planning and Zoning Board (Presented by Arnold Cooper, Chair) (See Backup) (Supporting Docs)

E. Annual Presentation by the Human Services Advisory Board (Presented by Lisa Colmenares, Vice Chair) (See Backup) (Supporting Docs)

F. Presentation Regarding Activities at the Villages at Gulfstream Park (Suzanne Friedman)

G. Recognition of Finalists in the Employee Division for the Inaugural 5K Police Athletic League (PAL) Run (Supporting Docs)

H. Recognition of Promotion of Division Chief Alex Baird to the Rank of Deputy Fire Chief (Supporting Docs)

I. Presentation of Florida Stormwater Association 2011 Outstanding Achievement Award - City of Hallandale Beach Stormwater Management Program (Staff Report)

6. CONSENT AGENDA

A. Approval of Draft Minutes - Regular City Commission Meeting of June 15, 2011 (Supporting Docs)

7. PUBLIC HEARINGS (to be heard at 10:30 A.M)

8. CITY BUSINESS

A. A Resolution of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida, in Support of Reapplication for a Local Government Funding Request through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection under the Beach Management Program Florida Long Range Budget Plan for Renourishment of Hallandale Beach Beaches from County Line to North City Limits.(Staff: Acting Director, Utilities & Engineering)(See Backup) CAD #035/97 (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

B. Fiscal Year 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial and Compliance Reports - Strategic Plan of Action (Staff: Director of Finance) (See Backup) CAD#007/11 (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

C. Discussion of the Procedure and Methodology for Hiring a City Attorney. (Mayor Joy F. Cooper)(See Backup) (Staff Report)

9. COMMISSIONER REPORTS

10. OTHER

11. PLANNING AND SCHEDULING MEETING (to be heard in Room 257)