Showing posts with label Florida Joint Legislative Auditing Committee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Florida Joint Legislative Auditing Committee. Show all posts

Monday, January 23, 2017

Want to see history made before your eyes? Long-overdue financial accountability & oversight starts tonight in Hallandale Beach re CRA: "Let's see where the money went" That's what I've been saying/writing for years...

Want to see history made before your eyes? Long-overdue financial accountability & oversight starts tonight in Hallandale Beach re CRA: "Let's see where the money went" 
That's what I've been saying/writing for years...

History gets made tonight and for a change, it's GOOD news for Hallandale Beach's long-beleaguered taxpayers and Small Business owners.
See Keith London's email below

ICYMI: Where did Millions of Hallandale Beach CRA dollars go? Years later, HB taxpayers still want answers, and the #FL state legislators responsible for preventing a much-needed JLAC audit of the HB CRA at the time still DON'T want to publicly talk about it. Seems like déjà vu, no? 


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Keith London
Date: Mon, Jan 23, 2017 at 2:30 PM
Subject: "Let's see where the money went"
To: David

 
David,
 
With a new year comes new responsibilities.
During 2015-2016 fiscal year, our city’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) did a budget amendment (cut) of $7.4 million in order to balance the budget of approximately $15.5 million dollars – my question is: Where Did the Money Go?
We will be discussing/voting on a first-ever CRA forensic audit 7:00 PM, Monday January 23, 2017. 
Here is a link to Mondays CRA agenda item 10B:
DISCUSSION OF CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY FINANCIAL OVERVIEW. (SPONSORED BY HBCRA BOARD OF DIRECTORS)
The CRA board of directors\ city commission must provide accountability for your tax dollars and I want to ensure we are doing everything to “provide a dollar of services for every dollar of tax revenue” either by the city or the CRA. This is why I believe an audit is imperative. We need to know how much monies are in the account and provide the highest level of services to our residents, taxpayers, and visitors. 
See below for an article from the Florida Bulldog for more information.
Keeping you informed, 
Vice Mayor Keith London
-----
 
 
The new majority on the Hallandale Beach City Commission will seek the first-ever forensic audit of all expenditures by its troubled Community Redevelopment Agency for the past five years, including finding out why $7.4 million had to be cut to balance the agency’s budget this fiscal year.
 
Current Vice Mayor Keith London and Commissioner Michele Lazarow had been frustrated in seeking such an audit by the previous commission majority headed by Mayor Joy Cooper.
 
The November city commission election resulted in London and Lazarow gaining the backing of new City Commissioner Anabelle Taub. Cooper was reelected, but failed to gain another commissioner to back her and her ally, Commissioner Anthony Sanders. They’re expected to vote on the audit, aimed at determining whether any wrongdoing occured, later this month.
 
“Let’s see where the money went,” London said. “We are going to get to the bottom of this.”
 
The new commission trio already has flexed its power in a remake of city hall.
 
It was responsible for the ousters of City Manager Daniel Rosemond and City Attorney Lynn Whitfield, and replacing them with long-time South Florida government administrator, Roger Carlton, and a new city attorney, Jennifer Merino. Merino was general counsel for the Broward Inspector General’s Office, which investigated and severely criticized the spending practices of the city’s CRA four years ago.
 
“It’s time to clean house of the city manager and the city commission … the collusion,” Lazarow said.
 
Now the new commission majority will be seeking answers about the spending of the much-troubled CRA.
‘We need to find out’
 
“We need a full forensic audit [of the CRA],” London said. “We need to find out about the $7.4 million, and we need to know what we have left.”
 
London was referring to last August when city commissioners, who are also directors of the CRA, were forced to cut $7.4 million from the proposed $25.9-million CRA budget for this year after being told by the city administration that the agency had counted land purchases by the agency as cash.
 
At that meeting, then City Manager Rosemond said an “adjustment” had to be made — the city commission had no choice but to approve the budget cut.
 
Prior to that, London said the city manager had given commissioners assurances that cash was available to the CRA, only to learn that the value of the city-purchased land by the CRA cannot be counted as cash.
 
Both London and Lazarow lobbied for a forensic audit of expenditures at that time, but lacked a third vote. The commission instead voted to seek a forensic audit that delved only into CRA land purchases.
Making matters worse, London said, Rosemond later came back and told commissioners that he was unable to engage any firm willing to conduct the forensic audit of land purchases — and, therefore, no firm was hired.
 
That all changed, however, with the November city commission election. Lazarow was reelected, along with newcomer Taub. London was not up for reelection.
 
Now in the majority, London said he wants audit to cover CRA spending back to 2012, the first year city commissioners established a separate funding account for the agency.
 
“We need to know what we have,” he said.
 
“We have to inquire about the $7.4 million,” said Lazarow, adding she plans to back London’s request for a forensic audit when he brings it up for a commission vote. Taub, who was not available for comment, is also expected to back the request.
 
City co-mingled CRA funds
Prior to 2012, the city had co-mingled CRA funds with city funds. That practice started in 1996, when the CRA was established under state law. The agency has been funded through property tax increases in the CRA boundaries.
 
It was only when the Broward Inspector General’s Office began its probe and issued a scathing report that some changes were made, including separating CRA-collected funds from other city tax revenues. Florida Bulldog had reported about questionable loans to local businesses and land purchases through the CRA nearly a year before IG investigators descended on city hall in April, 2012 seeking records and questioning officials as the probe became public.
 
After a 14-month investigation, the Inspector General’s Office in 2013 stated the Hallandale Beach CRA had “grossly mismanaged” millions of dollars in funds between 2007 and 2012. It found $2.2 million in questionable expenditures by the CRA, including inappropriate loans and grants to local businesses and non-profits, as well as the improper use of bond proceeds.
 
Before and after that report, London asked for a forensic audit of agency funds, but was outvoted by his commission colleagues.
 
Mayor Cooper denied the city had done anything wrong. The city commission majority at that time then ousted the agency’s recently appointed CRA executive director, Alvin Jackson, who won praise by the Inspector General for efforts to improve the CRA.
 
The city commission, over the objections of London, placed the agency once again under the direct management of the city manager. Except for Jackson’s short tenure, city managers have had full control of the CRA since 1996, during which the agency failed to keep adequate records, including changing loan and grant policies in violation of existing rules.
 
Both London and Lazarow said they are pleased with the new appointees, in particular Merino, 36.
 
“She has knowledge of our city,” said London, referring to Merino’s work with the agency that investigated the city’s CRA.
 
“Merino has a history [with the city],” Lazarow said. “She has been watching our meetings.”
 
Carlton, 69, has held several key positions with public agencies, among them: Miami Beach city manager (1992-1995), executive assistant Miami-Dade county manager (1977-1981). 
 
 
 
Paid political advertisement paid for and approved by Keith S. London
Keith London for Hallandale Beach City Commissioner, Seat 2
613 Oleander Dr
Hallandale Beach FL 33009-6531 United States



Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Questions are being raised -again!- about South Florida reporters' curious notions of journalism, esp. continuing to leave out important context & questions about ethical conflict-of-interest -and burying the lede- re the City of Hollywood, Broward County PBA, Traci Callari & Eleanor Sobel. "Hollywood suing pension boards over perk known as '13th check"

I'll admit it: I really hate lazy, incurious reporting that's neither accurate or timely, and which doesn't ask the questions that NEED to be asked to give proper context, yet, wants to take a bow for their effort anyhow.
And South Florida in the year 2015 is positively swimming in this sort of bad journalism.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hollywood suing pension boards over perk known as '13th check'
Susannah Bryan, Staff writer
July 12, 2015

City Hall is taking on all three employee pension boards, saying their leadership broke state law by sending lucrative "13th checks" to retired firefighters, cops and other employees periodically over the past nine years.

The payouts have ranged from $200 to more than $26,000. The cost of the payouts next fiscal year comes to $9 million for all three pension boards, city officials say.

Hollywood commissioners agreed Wednesday to file a lawsuit against the pension boards for sending the checks to retired workers despite the pension plans being severely underfunded.


Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/hollywood/fl-pensions-hollywood-13th-check-20150710-story.html

Quick, can any of you tell me what important context is NOT mentioned at all in the above Sun-Sentinel article about the City of Hollywood's financial priorities, and where questions about any
prospective voting conflicts faced by City of Hollywood Comm. Traci Callari are, in my opinion, the buried lede?

For those of you who have either known me personally for a while, or perhaps have Followed me for any amount of time via the blog or Twitter, the answer is rather obvious.
Callari's own husband, James, i.e. Jamie, a City of Hollywood detective.

He's mentioned unfavorably in this 2005 NewTimes piece about the way the Broward PBA has for years attempted to make the HPD its puppet,
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/hollywoods-finest-6314673
and mentioned in this one from 2013 about his curious notions of.. well, let's just say it's NOT good.
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-02-02/news/fl-dea-hollywood-clash-20130202_1_dea-agent-cones-hollywood-police-officer

Given what seems self-evident, Comm. Callari's husband would likely be slated to receive a generous check in the future if the city continued to do business in an obviously prejudicial way to current and future taxpayers and its own financial future. 

What's the reason that it isn't mentioned at all so that any reader reading this story might know this salient fact from the outset and be free to draw their own conclusions about Comm. Callari's sense of priorities, whatever they are, such as they are?


Correct. 
Once again it's asleep-at-the-wheel Sun-Sentinel beat reporter Susannah Bryan, the same reporter I've written about so often in this space because of my and many other SE Broward residents dissatisfaction with her.
Residents, civic activists and business people in Hollywood AND Hallandale Beach who want to know all the pertinent facts. 

For instance, last September 26th:
Some informed commentary, context and important facts that you didn't read about in Susannah Bryan's recent Sun-Sentinel article about Hollywood City Manager Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark and some of her critics re the 'million-dollar mistake.' Trust me, you'll thank me later!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/some-informed-commentary-context-and.html

Bryan consistently fails  to summon up enough strength or energy to actually ask reasonably-hard, pointed or even follow-up questions of public officials and city bureaucrats, especially in Hallandale Beach after they say and do things that logic can not explain by any stretch of the imagination.

Yes, the very same beat reporter that, years after-the-fact, has NEVER written at all -much less, knowledgeably- about the Broward PBA (intentionally?) breaking Hollywood's voter-approved city charter law about campaign election reporting requirements and contribution limits in Hollywood city elections.

Those new rules came about after Hollywood's appointed Charter Review Comm. responded to the public by getting it included on the ballot.

(I know because I sat in on some those Hollywood Charter Review meetings where increasing the expected levels of ethics and fair-dealing at Hollywood City Hall, and getting increased 

accountability and oversight for the public were stressed. 
As opposed to what actually transpired at Hallandale Beach's Charter Review meetings.)

That charter change took place BEFORE the Broward PBA's zealous efforts of November 2012 to oust several incumbentsand get at least one of their troika of candidates elected to prevent the public from keeping close watch over the purse.

The Broward PBA succeeded in getting Traci Callari on the Commission as a reliable pro-PBA and anti-taxpayer vote after ousting incumbent Heidi O'Sheehan, AFTER the Broward PBA forces were thoroughly trounced at the ballot box earlier by Hollywood voters across the city in a

referendum revolving around issues involving the city's union contracts/pensions and the city's budget hole, a vote that the Broward PBA and its president Jeff Marano has never either accepted or forgotten.

And let's not forget that it was the Broward PBA that got Florida state Senator Eleanor Sobel to have the City of Hollywood investigated by the Florida Joint Legislative Auditing Comm. in Tallahassee, since the Broward PBA endorsed Sobel and agressively worked the polls for her. 

Yes, the same Tallahassee group composed of state Senators and state representatives that Sobel DIDN'T want to see investigate the City of Hallandale Beach and her longtime friend, Mayor Joy Cooper, for their shockingly lax management, year-after-year, of the HB CRA, which saw $80 Million dollars wasted, with near-zero oversight.
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/sandbagged-independent-audit-of.html

Foe those of you who forgot or never knew about Eleanor Sobel's stealthy work to protect her friends and special interest group pals from any legitimate scrutiny and oversight, see my blog posts from:

October 17, 2013
Instead of looking-out for you and your Hallandale Beach neighbors, HB's craven state legislators (Sobel, Gibbons, Jones & Braynon) are doing Mayor Joy Cooper's dirty work in Tallahassee, making excuses for her ten years of oversight/policy failures with the HB CRA; #JLAC
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/instead-of-looking-out-for-you-and-your.html

November 2, 2013 
Latest news re Hallandale Beach CRA: Where are Joe Gibbons, Shevrin Jones and Barbara Sharief hiding? They're NOT adequately representing HB citizens who want to find out where the $80 Million in CRA funds has really gone; Response of JLAC re my inquiry re legislator's letters re prospective audit of Hallandale Beach CRA by JLAC
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/latest-news-re-hallandale-beach-cra.html

November 29, 2013 
Sandbagged! Independent audit of Hallandale Beach CRA was in offing by Florida JLAC, but Hallandale Beach's beleaguered citizens/taxpayers get stabbed in the back by Eleanor Sobel, Oscar Braynon II, Joe Gibbons, Shevrin Jones and Barbara Sharief. Why? To help HB mayor Joy Cooper preserve her facade that everything here is okay; @mayorcooper
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/sandbagged-independent-audit-of.html

Eventiually, the City of Hollywood sued the Broward PBA soon thereafter for breaking the city's campaign finance rules. 
So where exactly have you heard about THAT in South Florida?

For the record, as of today, the South Florida media parties who've never once mentioned these salient facts about Comm. Traci Callari includes the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Miami HeraldNews4/WFOR-TV, NBC6/WTVJ-TV, WSNV-TV and Local10/WPLG-TV. 

Plus, rather predictably, the Hollywood Gazette and the South Florida Sun-Times
Which means everyone who OUGHT to be investigating and explaining the facts in a useful context.
#Surprise #NotSurprised

Which, of course, is why blogs like mine exist.
Unless something unexpected happens, this specific issue will be covered in more depth soon on my blog, with useful fact-filled links that connect-the-dots, along with a shout-out to former Hollywood civic activist Sara Case, co-editor of the greatly-missed Hollywood Balance Sheet blog. 


Sara, now living up near Washington, D.C., is the only person besides myself to ever mention how very curious it is that such important facts and context about this matter of great financial importance to Hollywood residents and Small Business owners, never seemed to see the light of day in-print or on-air, despite how much people say they want to know MORE about what's really going on at South Florida city halls in general, and theirs in particular.
That speaks volumes about the current sorry state of journalism and the people who populate the news media in South Florida.

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


Saturday, November 2, 2013

Latest news re Hallandale Beach CRA: Where are Joe Gibbons, Shevrin Jones and Barbara Sharief hiding? They're NOT adequately representing HB citizens who want to find out where the $80 Million in CRA funds has really gone; Response of JLAC re my inquiry re legislator's letters re prospective audit of Hallandale Beach CRA by JLAC

Latest news re Hallandale Beach CRA: Where are Joe Gibbons, Shevrin Jones and Barbara Sharief hiding? They're NOT adequately representing HB citizens who want to find out where the $80 Million in CRA funds has really gone; Response of JLAC re my inquiry re legislator's letters re prospective audit of Hallandale Beach CRA by JLAC

November 1st, 2013


If any FL state legislator you have recently spoken to has told you, either flat-out or strongly implied, that they have made clear their desire for there to be a JLAC-authorized audit of the HB CRA, as the official response I received from Tallahassee Thursday afternoon makes clear, those state legislators are NOT being honest with you.


There are 140 elected state legislators in Florida and not a single legislator among the bunch has had either the backbone or initiative to directly contact JLAC's office and publicly declare their public support for this community's desire to find out where the $80 Million in CRA funds has really gone the past ten years.


So you might ask, where ARE the four state legislators that represent Hallandale Beach in Tallahassee, and why are they still in hiding on this issue, and not stepping-up to represent their constituents and get the facts on such an important issue?


Well, since you asked, as you'll recall from my previous email on this matter, state Sen. Eleanor Sobel and state Sen. Oscar Braynon II have lined-up firmly on the side of protecting the flank of the very woman who is most directly-responsible for the mess that combines the very worst aspects of corruption, crony capitalism, incompetency, indefensible public policy and consistent lack of oversight and accountability, Mayor Joy Cooper


As for Braynon, well, my sense of things in talking to the people who are the most-involved in this community is that Braynon is so little known and seen in this city that he is far more rumor than reality, a fact that should not go unnoticed or unremarked upon by others.


As for state Rep. Joe Gibbons and state Rep. Shevrin Jones, well, like members of an Old West bank-robbing gang, they are currently hiding in plain sight from their own constituents within the safe confines of the hip pocket of Hallandale Beach mayor Joy Cooper and her lobbyist pal, Judy Stern.

To be brought out whenever these two women find it convenient and serve as props that insulate them from any moral or legal responsibility and incoming fire from legislators, the media and the public.

Sorry to say it, folks, but there's your late-2013 snapshot of the 'Profiles In Courage' of your members of the Florida legislature. They are exactly what they appear to be.


And after you've finished pondering that question, that is, how we can be represented by so many people who show so little concern about such an important issue, ponder something else: Where is Broward County Commissioner Barbara Sharief?


The handful of times I've personally interacted with her she's always been friendly, engaged and willing to speak honestly about what she thought about a particular issue or situation, even if it was an unpopular opinion.

Which is all to the good I think.

But here's the thing.

I've probably sent Comm. Sharief and her staff a few dozen emails over the past two years re the HB CRA, each one full of facts, first-hand anecdotes and the city's very own troubling and inexplicable words and docs that painted the picture of the longstanding mess it's been in, doing little public good while greatly profiting a small handful of people with connections to HB City Hall.
Even if only because of those emails I sent her, Comm. Sharief knows -or should know- much more than most of the reporters who've written about this subject, the few who have

I would argue that my sending those emails to her was entirely appropriate given that most of the incompetency, corruption, and general shadiness with the HB CRA took place in -wait for it- her District.


So given all that, what has Comm. Sharief actually said or done the past two years to show that she's actually looking out for HB taxpayers and small business owners on this matter involving, I remind you, tens of millions of dollars?


Comm. Sharief and her staff have NEVER responded to any fact-filled email of mine that specifically dealt with the HB CRA over the past two years.

Comm. Sharief was NOT present at the Broward County Commission meeting in June when former HB Commissioner Keith London and current Comm. Michele Lazarow spoke honestly and plainly about the longstanding need for this community to finally have an honest and thorough audit.

Yes, an honest accounting for what has taken place in the past that will assure HB residents.

To no avail.

Despite having the better part of two years to say or do something that was in any way supportive of the effort for the people of Hallandale Beach to finally get the truth, Comm. Barbara Sharief has said and done nothing.

Period.

Are HB residents, taxpayers, small business owners -and voters- supposed to ignore that inescapable fact?

I think not.

Why are local TV/print reporters and other bloggers NOT directly asking the five of  them to explain themselves on this issue, and say why they are sticking it to the people of this community, and, frankly, actually seem to be supporting the very people who are directly responsible for this financial scandal, as Sen. Sobel and Sen. Braynon have made clear for everyone with their condescending tone in their letter to JLAC telling them NO AUDIT.


If you feel inclined, here's how you reach them:


Braynon's District Office: 606 NW 183rd Street Miami Gardens, FL 33169 (305) 654-7150


Sobel's District Office: The "Old" Library First Floor 2600 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood, FL 33020 (954) 924-3693


Gibbons' District Office  Suite 203, Pembroke Park Town Hall  3150 SW 52nd Avenue Pembroke Park, FL 33023-5413  (954) 893-5006


Jones' District Office  1965 South State Road 7  West Park, FL 33023-6733 

(954) 893-5010

Sharief doesn't list a district office on her website, only her main office at the Broward County Governmental Center, 115 S. Andrews Ave., Room 410 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 

954-357-7008

Joint Legislative Auditing Committee (JLAC) is physically located at 876 Pepper Building,

but their mailing address is 111 W. Madison Street Tallahassee, FL 32399-1400 
(850) 487-4110  jlac@leg.state.fl.us

Those are the facts as of 2:00 p.m. on November 1st, 2013.

It's up to you to change the dynamic now or we will never find out where that $80 Million in CRA funds really went.

On a happier note, there are still lots of very talented people in this world whom you have never of -until now- who have bright futures ahead of them, and one of those persons is Miriam Bryant 



Steve Layton YouTube Channel:  Miriam Bryant sings the DuBose Heyward/George Gershwin classic from Porgy & Bess, "Summertime" on the August 10th, 2013 broadcast of SVT's "Sommarkväll" at The River Cafe, Göteborg, Sweden.
http://youtu.be/5cVr9VKmmdo
As seen in my October 30th, 2013 blog post re Miriam,
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/just-like-swedish-summers-short-sweet.html

Hallandale Beach is on both the ocean and on the Intracoastal, so why in the year 2013 do we NOT have even one restaurant like the one shown in Miriam's video, The River Cafe in Göteborg, Sweden?


Good question.

That's why there are elections that carry genuine consequences.
Something similar-but-smaller in scale that allows the public to actually be able to see and feel the water should already be in the works on the south side of the Intracoastal bridge, next to where The Related Group's project The Beachwalk is being built now.
But it isn't, is it? Nope.
Another missed opportunity for Hallandale Beach.

-----

I've removed the email addresses below for obvious reasons and replaced by name with initials.

The Committee has not received any written requests, either for or against an audit of the Hallandale Beach CRA, since the September letter from Senators Sobel and Braynon.


Kathy DuBose, Coordinator

Joint Legislative Auditing Committee 
(850) 487-4110 


From: JLAC 

Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 1:44 PM
To: Dubose, Kathy; White, Deborah
Subject: FW: Attn: Kathy DuBose -re prospective audit of Hallandale Beach CRA by JLAC


From: DBS

Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 1:00 PM
To: JLAC

Cc: DBS

Subject: Attn: Kathy DuBose -re prospective audit of Hallandale Beach CRA by JLAC


---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: DBS
Date: Wed, Oct 30, 2013 at 1:00 PM
Subject: Attn: Kathy DuBose -re prospective audit of Hallandale Beach CRA by JLAC
To: Joint Legislative Auditing Committee
Cc: DBS


October 30th, 2013

12:55 p.m.

Dear Ms. DuBose:


Just wanted to follow-up on my previous email of two months ago and your response of Sept. 9th regarding the possible audit by JLAC of what I and so many other Hallandale Beach citizens believe has been an ineffectual and poorly-managed Hallandale Beach CRA for

so many years.

To date, has the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee received a request FOR or AGAINST an audit of the Hallandale Beach CRA from any member of the Legislature, other than the September 16th letter AGAINST an audit co-written by Sen. Eleanor Sobel and Sen. Oscar

Braynon II?

There have been no media reports in South Florida of any kind the past six weeks on this issue, to say nothing of anything publicly from the two state senators who are supposed to represent the citizens of this community, who have borne witness to the millions of CRA dollars that have gone out  the door with nothing tangible to show for them, not the very people directly responsible for doing so.


I just wanted to know what the scoreboard is looking like as of this afternoon.

Thank you in advance for your assistance!

----
I've added these links to earlier Broward Bulldog articles to give any new readers of the blog some sense of perspective that's not written by me:

"Hallandale finds allies amid aggressive response to county’s request for CRA documents." I'll have a lot more on this matter and our angry and vindictive Mayor Cooper soon.




Broward opens broad inquiry into misuse of property tax dollars by CRAs; millions at stake




Hallandale Mayor sends multiple texts to Lobbyist during Broward Commission meeting




Defiant Hallandale commissioners reject call for new legal opinion on CRA spending




Hallandale may seek Attorney General opinion on CRA spending; statewide impact seen




Hallandale diverts millions from CRA’s budget to pay for non-redevelopment programs




Hallandale Mayor & Commissioners fail to document contacts w/ lobbyist Judy Stern




Unhappy Broward commissioners want more control over city CRAs




Lobbyist Judy Stern uses texts to thwart Hallandale CRA investigation




Legislature asks Hallandale for answers about CRA spending; Subpoenas land at city hall




A problematic model: Hallandale Beach CRA under city manager’s thumb




Broward Auditor looks at Hallandale Beach CRA with eye toward recovering misspent funds
By William Gjebre* BrowardBulldog.org 
The Broward County Auditor’s Office has begun looking into whether Hallandale Beach should be required to repay some of the millions in tax dollars allegedly misspent due to “gross mismanagement” by city officials.





Broward Inspector General: Hallandale leaders don’t know what they’re talking about, By William Gjebre* BrowardBulldog.org. The Broward Inspector General’s final report on the “gross mismanagement” of millions in tax dollars by Hallandale Beach is sharply critical of city leaders it says have shown a “basic misunderstanding” of what’s gone wrong.







Friday, October 18, 2013

Where has the Hallandale Beach CRA spent $80 Million? Keith London on urgent need for Florida JLAC to authorize Florida Auditor General to audit the Halladale Beach CRA

My friend and former Hallandale Beach City Commissioner Keith London sent out the following email alert recently to the people of this southeast Broward County community, largely because he knows they share his deep and abiding concern about the troubling financial status of (and operation of) the Hallandale Beach CRA, the controversial subject of dozens of past blog posts here over the years, including some this past week.

If you are a Florida resident, whether you live in Hallandale Beach or not, I strongly urge you to read Keith's words and to follow-up in the coming days by contacting the very people in Tallahassee on the JLAC who will be deciding whether or not to authorize Florida Auditor General to audit the Hallandale Beach CRA.

As most of you know from my emails, blog posts and tweets of the past few days,
there are powerful forces involved in this fight, both locally and up in Tallahassee, who desperately want to prevent an audit and prevent the true facts and figures from ever seeing the light of day, and they will do anything they can to accomplish this.

THAT is why it's so important that you spend a few minutes to contact them and ask them to give the residents, taxpayers and small business owners of this beleaguered community the opportunity they've always wanted: to FINALLY get the answers they are owed about where all the CRA money went while everyone in charge looked the other way -or looked-on approvingly.

Answers they have never gotten from the powers-that-be in this city, who have much to fear from genuine transparency and real accountability and oversight, three things they often preach but never practice themselves.

Which, of course, is a large part of why the HB CRA is in the current position it's in, and why nobody who pays close attention to things in this city trusts Hallandale Beach City Hall.

-----



Everyone,
Act today to protect your tax dollars! Email or call the Florida Legislature's Joint Legislative Auditing Committee (JLAC) to request that the Florida Auditor General audit the Halladale CRA.
I spoke to outgoing JLAC Chairman Senator Abruzzo last week and he explained the agenda is being set this month for the legislative session. It is now or never!
Only JLAC has the purview and the legal ability to order the Florida Auditor General to audit the Hallandale CRA. But if they do nothing now, they will set a precedent that will haunt future attempts to ensure tax dollars are spent properly. Please take the opportunity to make sure your voice is heard!  Here are links to all committee members’ emails and phone numbers
Representative Lake Ray Incoming Chairman
If you choose to include them in your email or call, here are a few facts.
In the JLAC's June 4th 2013 letter to the Hallandale Beach CRA, they requested the following.
·         The CRA follow the Attorney General opinion 2010-40
·         Request a new AG opinion and then abide by the decision 
·         Explain and justify the Specific Improper and Questionable CRA Expenditures , totaling $2,168,598 identified as misspent by the Broward Office  of Inspector General (OIG) in their report titled “Gross Mismanagement of Public Funds by the Hallandale CRA”

The CRA Board of Directors (BOD) voted 3:2 to reject JLAC inquiries daring JLAC to take action.
This was done at a Special Meeting held in the July where 40 residents attended requesting further scrutiny and transparency.

We need JLAC's help to get answers. Where has the CRA spent $80 Million? How can $12.5 million in “pooled cash” be wire transferred from a city account into the CRA account without ever being voted on by the CRA BOD or Commission?
Your actions and support are necessary to ensure your tax dollars are being spent appropriately and our local government is representing its citizens!
See the attached letter from the OIG attorney and remind JLAC members that the OIG looks poised to start another investigation of the Hallandale Beach CRA.
Please contact everyone on JLAC by phone or email today.

Keith S. London