Showing posts with label Joe Kessel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joe Kessel. Show all posts

Monday, August 6, 2012

Another part of Hallandale Beach City Hall's Dept. of Propaganda & Mis-information makes it official: Hallandale Beach Area Chamber of Commerce will NOT be hosting any candidate debates in the next 13 weeks before Election Day. Mayor Cooper doesn't want them to, so they don't. But they WILL host a free meet-and-greet for Mayor Cooper on Friday morning.

Another part of Hallandale Beach City Hall's Dept. of Propaganda & Mis-information makes it official: Hallandale Beach Area Chamber of Commerce will NOT be hosting any candidate debates in the next 13 weeks before Election Day
Mayor Cooper doesn't want them to, so they don't. 
But they WILL host a free meet-and-greet for Mayor Cooper on Friday morning.

They're very obedient and well-trained in that respect.
http://public.hallandalebeachchamber.com/events/


Neither is news to either me or to those of you who are regular readers of the blog, given the truthful things that I've written about them in the past -their longstanding failure to connect with average HB citizens and business owners because of their unwillingness to be truly independent; of the grandiose and patronizing egos of those involved, the same tired familiar faces who so love crony capitalism...


Yes, that and so much more explains the Chamber's outlier status in this city, where instead of a being a positive and independent force for good, they're content to be a sock puppet for HB City Hall and Mayor Cooper.


Yes, for the people I know here who pay close attention to what is going on, above-and-below the radar, the Chamber's willingness to roll-over and play dead rather than be the independent voice for Hallandale Beach's small business owners that it ought to be, is just more of their same old tired way of doing things.


What IS news to me is the following, which I first found out about this morning via an email from Mayor Cooper's opponent, Comm. Keith London


It seems that the Chamber will be hosting a Meet and Greet on Friday morning, the 10th, for Mayor Cooper -at a Hollywood hotel that's on both the cityline and the Intracoastal- the Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach at 4000 S. Ocean Drive.


Of course they are.
Conveniently so.
The Kessel Crew doesn't miss a trick to keep their favored position at the public trough.


Well, since this event is FREE, unlike other Chamber events...
http://public.hallandalebeachchamber.com/events/details/meet-greet-with-mayor-joy-cooper-1433
  
Keith S. London - City Commissioner Hallandale Beach
Your Tax Dollars At Work! The Chamber Does Not Work For “US”.
Everyone,
Three months before the election, your tax funded Hallandale Chamber of Commerce is holding an event exclusively for the Mayor.
Please review the attached email.
Furthermore, the event is being held in Hollywood, not in the City of Hallandale Beach.
This event should include all candidates running for office in Hallandale Beach; or perhaps the entire city commission. Sponsoring a debate between the candidates would be appropriate too.
Singling out one elected official, particularly so close to an election, is entirely inappropriate.
Keeping you informed,
Keith
Commissioner Keith S. London
Phone: 954-494-3182
FacebookTwitter 

613 Oleander Drive
Hallandale Beach, FL 33009
email: keith@keithlondon.comwww.keithlondon.com
Political Advertisement paid for and approved by Keith S. London for Hallandale Beach Mayor, Non Partisan

With 13 weeks to go until Election Day, if you happen to see evidence in your part of Florida of the clumsy heavy-hand of Tallahassee lobbyist -and flashing red-light fethishist- Roger A. Pennington and his pals in an election campaign, please contact us!



With 13 weeks to go until Election Day, if you happen to see evidence in your part of Florida of the clumsy heavy-hand of Tallahassee lobbyist -and flashing red-light fethishist- Roger A. Pennington and his pals in an election campaign, please contact us!

We want to help shine a light on their efforts to manipulate, deceive and malign, even if it's far from our own poorly-governed and poorly-managed ocean-side city in South Florida, because we know instinctively that usually, but not always, more sunlight is the best disinfectant against those who wish to hide from public scrutiny.  



If you've forgotten who Pennington is and what he's about, I refer you to my October 30, 2010 blog post, The mystery man behind the pro-Alex Lewy 527 ad/flier attacks on Keith London; the multiple ethics rap sheet on lobbyist Roger A. Pennington
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/mystery-man-behind-pro-alex-lewy-527.html


The fliers pictured here were part of his failed effort to defeat Comm. Keith London's re-election effort in 2010.
Because London is not only running for mayor in November against the past ten-years of Mayor Joy Cooper's ruinous reign, but is actually eager to publicize and discuss her awful voting record in office, her chronic bad judgment, and her truly contemptible personal public behavior towards Hallandale Beach citizens at City Hall, those of us here who are in favor of genuine reform and meaningful accountability, know that it's only a matter of time before the likes of Pennington and his ilk, as well as other lobbyist pals of Cooper in Tallahassee, make a return visit to our mail boxes via their slick, untruthful and anonymous campaign fliers.

We're all waiting patiently for the first sign of this new wave of mendacity, because Cooper can't win when the largest number of HB voters know the facts and the context, she can only win when if she can successfully obfuscate, deceive and malign -and the news media obliges her by completely ignoring what's right in front of them.

To paraphrase what I said in that 2010 post... 
Supporters of Joy Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew, past and present -William "Bill" Julian, Dotty Ross, Anthony A. Sanders and Alexander Lewylive in a strange and perplexing upside-down universe where the laws of logic and reason that you and your family deal with everyday, simply don't exist. 
For them, a better future for Hallandale Beach's residents, taxpayers and business owners is a 5-0 vote on the City Commission.
A future where even less oversight takes place than now, if you can imagine such a thing. How do you get less involved than auto-pilot?
A place where reasonable questions are never asked, much less, answered honestly by highly-paid and often under-performing city employees, and a place where the Cooper Rubber Stamp's pals and cronies like Joe Kessel, Dr. Debrorah Brown and Joe Johnson can always count on their support in the future when they have a hare-brained idea that is laughed at and rejected by local banks when they seek loans there.
They act like your tax dollars are a pot of gold that was just unearthed and it's first-come, first-served, and they plan on getting as much as possible.
But when you're on the HB City Commission, because of the CRA's monies, it's like being a member of the Loan Committee of a bank, isn't it? The applicant's idea or plan doesn't have to actually make sense, or even conform to the existing city rules, which you can always vote to over-ride anyway, right?
No, it only has to get the majority of votes cast by the City Commission. Which is why the Rubber Stamp Crew positively HATES questions.
Because questions have to be answered.
It's precisely because of the crony capitalism antics and failures of Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew that  Broward County Investigator General John W. Scott and his agents came  into the picture within the past few months, where naturally, the three with the most to fear from more citizens knowing what they were routinely doing, thought they'd challenge his legal authority using your tax dollars, not their own.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Part 2 of 2 re The Beachwalk project in Hallandale Beach -Initial comments & ruminations on Wednesday night's HB City Comm. meeting; calling out Carole Pumpian, crony capitalism mercenary

The Second Reading re The Beachwalk is Wednesday June 20th at 6:30 p.m.


Having waited an entire week, it's now time to move on to some long overdue public discussion of what I'm calling the "meat-and-potatoes" portion of our discussion of The Beachwalk project at 2400 East Hallandale Beach Blvd., next to the Intracoastal Bridge in Hallandale Beach, along with some related matters which you surely WON'T be seeing raised or discussed elsewhere in this community, especially among the sleepwalking news media.
I call it "meat-and-potatoes" because like that sort of comfort food when it's done right, it should be thoroughly chewed-over and savored -with some time for reflection.


It was hard for me and many other well-informed Hallandale Beach residents attending last Wednesday night's City Commission meeting -or among those watching it online- not to take notice of the fact that corporate PR shill and Hallandale Beach Chamber of Commerce president Carole Pumpian kept her dubious record intact of supporting every single development project proposed in HB, despite what it's for, despite what it'll looks like, and most importantly, despite what HB neighborhood residents, homeowners and small business owners think or want.


Plain and simple, Carole Pumpian just doesn't care what they -YOU- think.


She's working her agenda, not the community's.


Above, in pink, Carole Pompian sitting in the second row of the three rows of lobbyists and hired hands working for Related to get this over-reaching bad idea passed. June 6, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Pumpian's been very consistent about that if you hadn't noticed, but as you'll soon hear, there's a very good reason for her to be so unconcerned about the genuine public opinion of this ocean side city's 38,000 residents.


No, rather than be concerned with what Hallandale Beach citizens think, Pumpian's more of a fan of the sort of phony and insincere corporate "artificial turf" grass roots efforts that yours truly has seen up-close in many parts of this country over the years.


That includes the orchestrated one involving the controversial out-of-scale proposal from 2009-2010 by the union that owns the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, which wanted to place multiple giant condo towers of over 25-stories in and around the Diplomat Gold Course in NE Hallandale Beach, including one of the city's most affluent streets, which HB residents and homeowners overwhelmingly opposed, an effort my friend Csaba Kulin was among the leaders of throughout.


But Carole Pumpian and the HB Chamber of Commerce of Patricia Genetti and Joe Kessel didn't let the facts or the Hallandale Beach public's clear opposition to the Diplomat's plan get in the way of their vocally championing the proposal at public meeting after public meeting thru the long process, before the Broward County Commission eventually killed it 6-3 about 26 months ago.


http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/04/diplomat_plans_fail_to_win_cou.html


For those of you who don't already know, and I'm sure that the vast majority of you, let me connect-the-dots a bit more on the Chamber and its Executive Director, Patricia Genetti, who runs it on a day-to-day basis.


Genetti had no qualms at all about supporting City Hall's deceptive handling of the issue, which included trying to keep public information about the developer's changes and modifications from the original plan from the public, and not placing it online until little more than 24 hours before the first actual vote that took place in the city, by the HB Planning & Zoning Advisory Board.
With yet another vote the following day by the City Commission.


More importantly to me and many other HB residents who care about transparency in public policy and use of taxpayer dollars, Genetti showed no moral or ethical qualms in vocally attacking HB taxpayers at public meetings who were against the project, even while she NEVER publicly disclosed when she spoke, that the City Commission paid the Chamber $50,000, much of which went for her own salary.


Which is to say that for a number of months, extending over two separate years, concerned HB taxpayers found themselves in the odd position of having their own tax dollars being used against them by someone like Genetti who was happy to bash them and other opponents of the Diplomat's plan like there was no tomorrow, but who lacked the basic integrity to come clean and admit that she was not an objective person. 


Genetti never admitted it in 2009 or 2010, and she's never admitted it in the two years since the Diplomat plan (and its cocky crew) were shot-down overwhelmingly by the Broward County Commission, and used as an example of what residents throughout the county did NOT want to see in the future near their neighborhood.


That ought to give you some sort of insight into the caliber and moral rectitude of some of the people we have in Hallandale Beach who always have their hands out for the taxpayer handout, and who have no qualms about attacking the citizens, taxpayers, homeowners and Mom & Pop shop owners of this community.
http://hallandalebeachchamber.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=53

Earlier I conspicuously used the word "residents" and that wasn't by accident, because there's a good reason that Pumpian is so consistently deaf, dumb and blind to the the genuine feelings and desires of actual Hallandale Beach residents, and why Pumpian is NOT someone whom the most-concerned citizens of this very frustrated town trust.
Far from it.


It's not just because of Pumpian's general demeanor, though it's true that it's been said to me by more than a few female residents of HB over the years that Pumpian gives the appearance of a woman constantly trying to connive or worm her way into important matters, and have some sort of connection to every one of these sorts of large construction/development  projects.
Now whether that's because of some basic economic desire on her part to make some money as a PR shill for them or their friends, or, in part, to fill some sort of need to appear to be an important and influential person in this city, I can't say, but it is the perception of a lot more well-informed people than she thinks.


But she's NOT either, of course.
This post of mine today will discuss in some general terms why she and the HB Chamber of Commerce aren't taken seriously by the most well-informed and most-involved citizens of Hallandale Beach.
Do you know what those reasons are or might be?


I'll give you a small hint.
It's one of the same reasons that I so gleefully ripped into her -and her ilk, the Joe Kessels of the world- two years ago at multiple Broward Planning Council and Broward County Commission meetings on the far-too-large Diplomat project they championed against the interests of HB residents who already lived next-door to the Diplomat Golf Course.

Of course it was hard not to be gleeful in picking apart the Kessel Crew's transparent weaknesses in their arguments, which sounded so remarkably similar that you couldn't help but wonder if they'd been written by the same Chamber or Diplomat marketing geniuses we have seen accomplish nothing, even while they rounded-up union supporters who didn't actually live here.

One of those pro-Diplomat supporters on the Chamber was the owner of the faux newspaper that's supported by tax dollars thanks to Mayor Cooper, Craig Farquhar's South Florida Sun-Times, who publicly lied about not having an opinion, when I and others have actually seen a copy of his email to Broward County urging its passage.


Plus, here's the official record that Craig Farquhar, this recipient of HB taxpayer largess that the taxpayers are actually AGAINST, this so-called person with "no position" on this issue is a stone-faced liar: Page 13 of the Broward Planning Council's Minutes of February 25, 2010.
is that enough proff for you that he's a hypocrtite?
Right there under Speakers in support of PH 8, six spaces after Joe Kessel, five spaces before Patricia Genetti.


Yes, of course, Farquahar is a member of the Hallandale Beach Chamber of Commerce!
I told you it was the center for crony capitalism in this town -and he's the proof of that.
He received a $50k CRA loan, only has to repay $25k.
http://www.broward.org/PlanningCouncil/Documents/PlanningCouncilMonthlyMinutes/02252010Minutes.pdf


Newcomers to this blog take notice:
Broward Bulldog
Sweet deal for owners of Hallandale newspaper that features mayor as columnist
By William Gjebre, BrowardBulldog.org 
FEBRUARY 9, 2012 AT 6:11 AM
A weekly newspaper in Hallandale Beach got a $50,000 city “loan” under terms so favorable that half of it – $25,000 – amounted to a taxpayer giveaway because the city did not require it to be repaid...
Read the rest of the story at: 


See for yourself:
http://web.me.com/mike.butler/Change_Hallandale/Updates/Entries/2010/2/26_CIty_Raises_Taxes_while_Wasting_Money_on_Private_Companies_files/SunTimes_PromissoryNote.pdf


Or, see my February 14, 2012 blog post titled, Csaba Kulin on Hallandale Beach's crony capitalism deal with a fake newspaper that stands ethics on its head and takes CRA money in exchange for being a City Hall propaganda machine


Yes, the Hallandale Beach Chamber of Commerce is sort of the ground-zero for the professional crony capitalism crowd of HB, who want to act like insiders and profit off the public's teat, which is something that as we all know so well, Joe Kessel managed to do below-the-radar for years.

See: 
Realtor Being Paid by Hallandale May Have Had Role in Controversial Loan to Pornographer

By Thomas Francis
April 8, 2010 at 4:50 PM


There's a good reason that the Chamber doesn't do the sorts of normal civic events that CoCs do in the rest of the country. 
The sorts of things that people in those towns from coast-to-coast take pretty much for granted as traditions, albeit perhaps hokey ones in the minds of some, like hosting debates for mayor, city commission and local state races,  esp. Breakfast Debates, with money going to charity.

Here, though, the folks who make up the Executive Board of the Chamber know that one way or another, HB City Hall pays the freight around here, so why should they anger Mayor Cooper and actually have a debate giving anyone challenging her and City Hall a chance, and force the mayor and her Rubber Stamp Crew to have to explain and defend the indefensible?

First, for reasons unknown, the folks at the Chamber have a very high opinion of themselves, which is very odd considering how little they have accomplished for the greater good of the community and how truly disconnected they are to the real community activists of this area.


This difference also explains in part why The Related Group chose to meet with them instead of the real activists of this community, and perhaps, even paid for a nice meal in the process while everyone brainstormed.
No doubt that's have been held somewhere at the Village of Gulfstream Park where PR shill and Chamber Director Suzanne Friedman is their paid mouthpiece, and because, of course, that's their hangout and unofficial clubhouse.

To me and many other HB citizens who pay close attention, the Chamber is not unlike a mid-1960's high school clique, right down to their having a couple of uncool kids they like to keep around from time-to-time to toy with, and play the role of court jesters, amusing them.


Here, former HB Commissioner Bill Julian plays that latter role, as he even writes about them and their spouses and their vacation adventures in the faux newspaper that is taxpayer-financed.
Here's the secret they haven't figured out: they're the only ones who think they're cool.


Everyone else who really knows what's really going on here just laughs at these phonies and their pretentious ways.

As for their current elected President, Carole Pumpian, who, supposedly, also redesigned the Chamber of Commerce's dopey website that said nothing before and says little of note now,
and which was often 5-6 months behind with information on their own activities, but which did have a link to her business in Hollywood.
At least they have their priorities, huh?


Did you happen to catch her mention her home address as required when she walked up to the microphone and spoke before the City Commission?


I mention it because she rarely actually goes to public meetings here, which is unusual given her position, but then it's not like the HB Chamber actually polls its own members what they think of something and whether or not they should support or oppose something at City Hall.


But then there's a reason for that.


Try to think of something within the past six years that the HB Chamber opposed that Mayor Cooper supported.
Just one.


Just name one public policy change, one proposed ordinance, one proposed resolution, one...
There isn't one.


No, as a regular attendee at public meetings throughout this city for many years, I can tell you that about the only time you can count on seeing Carole Pumpian around is every 18-24 months or so when there's something involving construction/development.


Then, like the photo above from last Wednesdayshe sits with her bosom buddies up in the front rows of the commission chamber: the real estate developers and their hired guns.


Sometimes, that also includes the lemmings of the do-nothing Chamber of Commerce and their clique/cult of personality where "insider" Joe Kessel plays the role of guy who invented the wheel and who works all the angles.


Often, as we've seen over the years, speaking in favor of unpopular HB City Hall initiatives WITHOUT publicly disclosing who's paying him, like the secret deal he had with City hall itself.


So if you haven't already guessed it by now, folks, Carole Pumpian works in the same city that she lives in, and that city is NOT Hallandale Beach -she lives in Hollywood.

So, to recap, in short, Carole Pumpian doesn't really give a damn about anybody or anything in Hallandale Beach unless she, a client, or the Chamber can somehow make a dime off of it somehow.
She's a mercenary.
Yep, that's about the size of it.

More on Beachwalk in the coming days
-----

Broward Bulldog
Hallandale gives thumbs up to condo king Jorge Perez’s $100 million, high-rise Beachwalk project
By William Gjebre, BrowardBulldog.org
June 7, 2012 AT 12:39 AM,

Miami Herald
Proposed hotel gets tentative approval in Hallandale Beach
Miami developer Jorge Pérez gained preliminary approval from the Hallandale Beach commission to build a more than $90 million project on the Intracoastal Waterway
By Carli Teproff
Posted June 7, 2012

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hallandale considers 31-story hotel/condo
By Tonya Alanez, Sun Sentinel
6:27 p.m. EDT, June 7, 2012



The Second Reading is Wednesday June 20th at 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Hallandale Beach residents are eager to speak at Tuesday night's Resident Forum re Mayor Cooper's myopic State of the City speech, and the troubling role of the cliquish, pro-Cooper HB Chamber of Commerce that taxpayers are forced to subsidize

Above, looking west from Hallandale Beach City Hall towards the Hallandale Beach Cultural Community Center, i.e. "the Cultural Center," right before I went inside and voted in the 2012 Florida GOP primary. January 31, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Hallandale Beach residents are eager to speak at Tuesday night's Resident Forum re Mayor Cooper's myopic State of the City speech, and the troubling role of the cliquish, pro-Cooper HB Chamber of Commerce that taxpayers are forced to subsidize

Just over a week ago, I and many other concerned residents and business owners in the greater Hallandale Beach area received an email from my friend and Hallandale Beach City Commissioner, Keith London, reminding us of his upcoming Resident Forum meeting on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. in the HB Cultural Center.


Comm. London also reminded us as well of his longstanding opposition to the taxpayers of this small community being forced to fund the Hallandale Beach Chamber of Commerce.


That's the group that I and many other concerned and well-informed residents here believe is a particularly standoff-ish and cliquish retinue of ardently pro-development, pro-Joy Cooper, pro-HB City Hall partisans who operate in what can charitably be called a moral 'vacuum,' though it may more accurately be called an 'alternative universe.'


In fact, it's in large part because the HB CoC operates in ways that are DIFFERENT than how most city CoCs in the United States manage and comport themselves, as well as how they are funded -and the particular civic activities the HB CoC consciously choose NOT to perform, roles performed by many if not most CoCs in this country- that best explains why so many people in this area DON'T want to join them.


Well-meaning HB citizens and business owners who truly see things as they are, and NOT how the mayor and city hall pretends they are, folks who simply want city govt. costs contained and not continue to balloon, DON'T wish to be tainted by any association with myopic believers in crony capitalism at its worst.


I say that because some of the people who lead the group here, like realtor Joe Kessel, are well-known for not only their parochial and self-serving nature, but equally known for their willingness to try to take advantage of their position within the community to become part of ownership groups that seek HB CRA loans for ill-conceived ideas that local banks won't touch -and for good reason
Again, exactly what Joe Kessel did.


And Kessel did this WHILE already receiving money from the city as a top secret 'consultant' -what I called 'spying'- in a stealthy arrangement that the HB City Commission and the public was intentionally kept in the dark about, but which Mayor Joy Cooper knew all about.
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/04/hallandale_mayor_cooper_kessel_contract.php
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/related/to/Joe+Kessel/


No, the HB CoC doesn't act like the CoC group in next-door Hollywood does, nor like most CoCs in the country that are largely self-sustaining thru not only the membership dues they collect, but also thru activities they conduct throughout the year, whether fairs, festivals and other special events for which there's a small charge for the public to attend, or for businesses to participate, as well as general sponsorship arrangements.


Unfortunately for taxpayers, because most of the concerned people paying close attention to what happens in Hallandale Beach already recognize these self-evident facts, the Hallandale Beach Chamber of Commerce, like the city's faux newspaper, the South Florida Sun Times, both currently exist as little more than one-party propaganda organs for HB mayor Joy Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew, and poorly-functioning PR organs at that.


In the very near future, I'll be posting something else here about the strange role of the HB CoC, and its new president, Carole Pumpian, a woman who has consistently worked AGAINST the long-term best-interests of Hallandale Beach residents 
And for the record, Pumpian doesn't live in Hallandale Beach, either.

I've excerpted Comm. London's email below to give you the pertinent info, but first read
this:
http://www.local10.com/news/blogs/bob-norman/Mayor-No-charge-for-speech/-/3223354/8578562/-/a3y74x/-/index.html


-----


From: Keith London 
To: klondon@hallandalebeachfl.gov 
Sent: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 8:16 AM
Subject: Your Tax Dollars ($20) at Work Mayor Joy Cooper State of the City Address - Reported by Local 10.com


Everyone,


...Let’s remember this is the same Chamber of Commerce that receives $40,000 - $50,000 every year of your tax dollars from the City of Hallandale Beach in addition to free rent and utilities.


In lieu of paying $20 for information that should be relayed to the residents for free, please attend my FREE “Resident Forum” held the second or third Tuesday of every month at the City of Hallandale Beach Cultural Center .  Free refreshments are offered. 


The items of discussion pertain to current pending issues or anything a resident may want to discuss.  I include significant information and documents to elaborate the points and I always listen to what the residents and taxpayers are saying about the state of Hallandale Beach .
I hope to see you and friend at the next meeting on February 14, 2012 from 6:00 – 8:00 PM to discuss “OUR” city.


Regards,
Keith


Keith S. London
City Commissioner, Hallandale Beach


954-457-1320 Office
954-494-3182 Cellular

From: BFoglia
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2012 07:55 PM
To: joycooper@aol.com
Subject: RE: Mayor Joy Cooper State of the City Address 
Is this a joke? We have to PAY to listen to your Annual State of the City Address? Shouldn't that speech be given in a public forum? This speech is for ALL the people in your community - The City - , not an elite 'lunch crowd' between 12 & 2. This notice has to be a hoax on Hallandale residents.
Barbara Foglia,
a resident.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Yes, she MUST be going! Comm. Ross is leaving City Hall and Comm. Sanders should join her -soon! Recall solves problems and makes HB better & saner!

Above, a photo I snapped the day before last November's election.
To quote from my blog post of Election Day 2010, November 2nd:
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/hallandale-beach-mayor-joy-cooper-comm.html
"Even weirder than Ross coming back to snap photos of her handiwork was her trying (unsuccessfully) to provoke some sort of physical confrontation with me as I was talking and walking outside of the Post Office with the Hallandale Beach Postmaster about some safety concerns at the branch. Pathetic!"
Reliable Sources -you remember them!- have told me that Hallandale Beach City Comm. Dotty Ross quite literally shocked the hell out of everyone at a HB Kiwanis luncheon Thursday when she announced that she wouldn't be seeking re-election next year, and would, instead, support former Comm. William Julian, notorious Handicapped Parking violator, who, deservedly, came in third in a three-way election in November for two seats.

Some of you in the know will recall that recently
Julian had intimated to some HB residents that he was planning on running for mayor next year against ten-year incumbent Joy Cooper and current Commissioner Keith London.

(There are currently no term limits in place in HB for mayor or city commission, though that may well be changing if I and some of my like-minded friends have anything to do with that in the coming months.)

According to Mr. Reliable Source, among those appearing to be most shocked and visibly upset was Joe Kessel, a man of many hats in this small ocean-side city: perpetual HB taxpayer nemesis, financial hand-out and City Hall spy/lobbyist & mouthpiece. Kessel apparently has been considered running.
No, really.


In case you forgot how he figures into things here, please review my
video from 2010 in which Kessel sells-out the HB community on the Diplomat LAC proposal without EVER publicly disclosing that at the time he was a paid HB City Hall spy/lobbyist, albeit, one who NEVER registered with Broward County as is required by law.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrbd9Ha39JM

Oh, you have no idea how much the well-informed folks in this community wish Joe Kessel would run for City Commission, so he would be forced to publicly answer questions about his curious ethics and questionable behavior, questions that he has heretofore avoided answering.

For more interesting reading on Kessel's adventures, see:
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/search/index?keywords=%22Kessel%22&x=11&y=17

Well, all this being said, I still see no reason that there should not be a launch in the Fall to RECALL Comm. Ross and Comm. Sanders and start reclaiming this city from Joy Cooper's Rubber Stamp Crew, and force the mayor's hand, knowing that an actual election to fill those two spots would be required by law within -I think- 90 days.

(As of today, unless something changes, I'm going to speak with the Broward Supervisor of Elections Office next week to try to get some definite answers to questions everyone is wondering about regarding the recall process here in Broward County: dates, number of signatures required and deadlines, etc.)

A successful recall of disconnected Ross and Sanders, which I've previously discussed, including on Wednesday, would give those of us in this city who are committed to bringing this city fully into the 21st Century, a chance to get two pro-reform, pro-accountability and pro-transparency people into place before so many HB residents leave for the summer -before they are boiled alive like those of us who stay.


As you may recall, in the abstract, my general idea is to have the RECALL vote in the WINTER and have the actual election to replace the two of them the same day in February or March that the Florida Presidential primary takes place, with the winners serving their terms thru November 2012.

That way, if they do a good job in forcing this city into a much-needed U-Turn in its public policy discourse and execution, if they choose, they can then run for re-election for a full four-year term.
Or, they could let some other pro-reform folks carry the torch forward by vying for those two slots, plus the one that would be on the November 2012 ballot to fill the remaining two years of Comm. London's term, since he will have to resign at some point to run for mayor in November.


As you may or may not know, here in Florida, even as I write this, the Presidential primary dates have yet to be set by the Republican-controlled state legislature in Tallahassee, but as you can well imagine, the beauty of this approach is that that date will be one where more voters will be participating anyway -and the county will be paying most of the election's costs.

How great would it be to wake-up here the day after Election Day next November and know that you have a 4-1 majority at HB City Hall that's actually in favor of common sense, hard work, proper preparation before a City Commission meeting, civility -and adherence to Robert's Rules of Order- and public policy arguments that are based on agreed-upon facts, and NOT
anecdotal stories, lingering animosities, foolish grudges and general peevishness?


To actually have not just
MULTIPLE people in elective office who encourage open discussion and a free-flow of public information with the public they serve, but a MAJORITY on the City Commission?

A MAJORITY who
DON'T believe that it's appropriate for City Hall staffers to hide and hoard information the taxpayers are entitled to know about, and who have made it their practice the past few years to dole it out grudgingly to the public -after they file Public Records Requests!

That is,
AFTER they have been given to City Hall pals and cronies and to the lawyers and lobbyists of developers.

Imagine THAT as a REALITY in Hallandale Beach, instead of the completely dysfunctional, upside-down situation we currently have
with the current crew in office -and their minions.

Imagine knowing that citizen concerns or complaints at HB City Hall are taken seriously -
not greeted with a shrug of the shoulders or ignored for YEARS by highly-paid staffers- and handled professionally and promptly, or that HB city employees whose work-ethic and dealings with the public are NOT up to expectations will be FIRED, not covered-up or even promoted?


Well folks, it's there for the taking, but you have to show you'll work for it:
a genuine participatory democracy in Hallandale Beach to make this city the optimistic, well-run and ingenious city it ought to be, not the longstanding misfit it is now under Joy Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew of Ross, Sanders & Lewy.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

The mystery man behind the pro-Alex Lewy 527 ad/flier attacks on Keith London; the multiple ethics rap sheet on lobbyist Roger A. Pennington


Is that an emergency siren/beacon I see in that flier and ad in the city-funded faux newspaper?Why yes it is, thanks for noticing.

Well, you know what that means don't you?
"Outside" political money is here in Hallandale Beach's elections.

To be specific Roger A. Pennington's Committee to Protect Florida.

He just loves the red siren/beacon graphic, using it over and over in various campaigns he's been a shadowy figure in throughout the state.

(See the St. Pete Times story at the bottom.)

Trust me, Pennington's money is NOT here on the side of the angels, or increased reform or accountability at Hallandale Beach City Hall, or even a dollar of service for a dollar of taxes.He's here to elect Alexander Lewy.
Period.

Even Bill Julian -yes, even Bill Julian- has told numerous people around town that he has nothing to do with the ads and fliers, and finds it offensive.
Which, using deductive reasoning, leaves us with exactly one suspect, doesn't it.
Yes, Code Name: Lewy the Liar
.

While I have no proof of it myself, there are plenty of usually well-informed people in town who strongly suggest that we all look closely for the hidden hand of
Lewy's mentor and campaign rainmaker, mayor Joy Cooper.
The reasoning is simple and well-understood.

Cooper
is as desperate, if not more so, to get
Keith London and his reasonable questions about finances, policies and accountability out of HB City Hall, as her protoge Alexander Lewy is desperate to sit there on the dais alongside her and be her newest puppet.
And paid-in-full member of the Cooper Rubber Stamp Crew.

Plus, which Hallandale Beach city official goes to Tallahassee more than Joy Cooper?
Tallahassee, where Pennington and his 527 are based.
Hmmm-m-m....


For a very liberal Democrat like
Lewy, it's rather curious that he'd be in bed with the sort of deliberatively shadowy outside money types that's usually railed against by his soon-to-be-unemployed boss, Kendrick Meek.

But as I've already told you, Alexander Lewy is desperate, desperate, desperate to get elected here.

Not out of any great magnanimous desire to help the citizens of this city, mind you, but rather to help himself and take his first step in becoming a career politician.

(Which, naturally, is part of why I won't ever vote for him, besides him being such a loathsome character, and a genuine back-stabber who's completely untrustworthy. But then you already knew that.)

Besides, shadowy financing of negative ads against Tim Ryan and Ken Gottlieb worked for Eleanor Sobel's Florida Senate campaign to replace term-limited Steve Geller, didn't it?

Still, even if Cooper isn't involved, I have some very good hunches who is, based on a number of conversations with well-informed people who know about ECOs, including some reporters, who gave me a head's up on some information I didn't originally have.

Quick story about Roger A. Pennington, who in 2006 was charged with five counts of violating
Florida's campaign elections law while serving as Chair of an Electioneering Campaign Organization (ECO) called -if you can believe it- the Committee to Restore Integrity in Politics, CRIP.

No doubt because creating an ECO called "
Entrenched Interests Committed to Remaining Insiders" just wouldn't have sounded so appealing publicly.

Well, even more comically, Pennington signed a consent decree with the Florida Ethics Commission that he was guilty, admitting that he did illegal things, DESPITE having been given copies of the applicable rules beforehand.

He also admitted that he never contacted an attorney about the matters.


That's both a humorous and ironic admission because he's repped the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers for many years.

You'd think that if there was a lobbyist in Tallahassee who'd know the name of a good attorney,
or know when to contact one, it's him.
http://www.fec.state.fl.us/Final%20Orders/2006/112.pdf

Pennington, head of Committee to Protect Florida, seems to be yet another member of the pro-Alexander Lewy Dream Team, a grab-bag of ill-mannered sad sacks, malcontents and self-enrichment types who hope to continue to feed on the city's teat if Lewy gets elected.
Which is to say, via your wallet and purse.


Think of their help to Lewy as their insurance policy.
Lewy: pro-Diplomat LAC, pro-Red Light camera expansion in HB, pro-Ben Gamla Jewish Charter high school in quiet single-family NE HB neighborhood, and anti-Amendment 4... the list goes on and on...

Have you seen many of the ardent Lewy supporters, who are eager for things to get better? Their definition of better, of course, is far, far different than mine, and I suspect many of you who are reading this as well.

They live in the strange and perplexing upside-down universe of Joy Cooper and Alexander Lewy.


For them, better is a 5-0 vote where no reasonable questions are asked, much less, answered by highly-paid city employees, and any of their cronies can always count on their support in the future when they have a hare-brained idea that can't just can't get funded by a bank.


But when you are on the HB City Commission, because of the CRA, it's like being a member of the Loan Committee of a bank, isn't it?

It doesn't have to actually make sense, or even conform to the existing city rules, which you can always vote to over-ride anyway, right?

No, it only has to get the majority of votes cast by the City Commission.

Which is why the Rubber Stamp Crew positively HATES questions.
Because questions have to be answered.


In some ways, Lewy's own supporters are almost like a paid commercial for the pro-reform and pro-transparency elements in this city with which I am so strongly associated with, as well as Michael Butler, Mary Washington, Csaba Kulin, Louis Pellegrino Jr., John Pearson,Comm. Keith London and many others I could name here, but won't.

I'm only too happy for Lewy supporters to publicly identify themselves, since it makes it much easier for me and everyone else paying attention to know whom to take seriously in this community about making it better FOR EVERYONE.
Not just the friends, cronies and lackeys of HB City Hall.

And, conversely, whom, NOT to take seriously, of which there is already quite a long list, now that you mention it.

Frankly, I only wish that more Lewy supporters would publicly disclose their allegiances, so we ALL would all know who they are, but many of them are keeping it close to the vest.
And that's easy to understand.

They don't want people to know they support Lewy, since they also know so many people in this city justifiably loathe him.

It's far easier to keep it quiet.

You know, like where that money is coming from to run those scurrilous and untrue anti-London ads and fliers?


Speaking of the
opposite of reform, transparency and accountability, has anyone seen Lewy supporter Joe Kessel on any of his campaign fliers?
If they exist, I haven't seen them.

Kessel
as you'll recall, was a member of a very odd group that held its collective hand out for some city money, despite not being in compliance with many of the city's own requirements on their application.

They received tens of thousands of dollars from the city's CRA fund for a
completely preposterous idea, which still makes many otherwise level-headed people in this city see red at the thought of the money being wasted -intentionally.

You can find more about HB City Hall spy and Lewy supporter Kessel here, thought he was actually part of more stories that i could sometimes mention because of space limitations.
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Joe%20Kessel

Or this March 4th, 2009 post in particular:
Hallandale Beach insiders to offer goodies/new propaganda TV channel to HB City Hall for $200k CRA loan Wed. morning
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/hallandale-beach-insiders-to-offer.html

Tell me, was Kessel legally registered as a lobbyist with Broward County, for the City of Hallandale
Beach, while he was under contract to them, when he publicly spoke before the Broward Planning Council and the Broward County Commission in favor of the Diplomat LAC proposal pushed by the city, his employer?

Did he at least publicly disclose his financial arrangement with the city during his public comments?

The answer to both questions is an emphatic NO.
He didn't.


(Just as he hadn't publicly revealed his conflict of interest during the public meeting the Diplomat was required to have at the HB Cultural Center.)


There are many members of the Broward County Commission and the South Florida news media
who know this already.So how's that investigation going, exactly?

Personally, I'm not usually one to question well-worn idioms like "Don't judge a book by its cover" but in Alexander Lewy's case, I'm afraid circumstances force me to, so I will.
He is exactly what he acts like -
The Devil You Don't know.


In my opinion, based on the stone-cold facts and what I have observed of him in-person for a few years, Alexander Lewy deciding your future with a vote will cause Hallandale Beach's besieged citizens to "Pay through the nose."
And pay in ways they can't even imagine now.

-----

You can find out more about Roger A. Pennington's clients at the Florida Senate homepage:http://www.flsenate.gov/

-----

Committee to Protect Florida
"527" Political Organization Filing Information http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/527/committee-to-protect-florida.asp
-----
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/mar/22/consultants-are-lobbyists-too/

Consultants are lobbyists, too, in Tallahassee

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
March 22, 2009
TALLAHASSEE — The unlimited special-interest cash streaming into Florida legislators' political accounts has enriched a small group of influential consultants who received $19.5 million from political committees and campaigns in the 2008 election cycle.
The torrent of money flowing through the Capitol has also fueled an industry of consultants who lobby.
Of the 60 political consultants for lawmakers' political committees, at least 12 work as lobbyists, according to a Times/Herald analysis. The consultants-lobbyists are hired by corporations to influence the same legislators who pay them for political help.
This circular network ties together special interests, lobbyists and lawmakers in a tight web of money and insider access. The lobbying clients seek legislative help. The legislators seek cash, for re-election or pet causes. The common link: the consultant.
Roger "Rocky'' Pennington, a veteran Republican consultant, says he and other consultants must strike a careful balance when special interests want to hire them because of their relationships with specific lawmakers.
"Once they start hiring you because they want influence with one person, you aren't a lobbyist — you're an influence peddler," Pennington said. "You have to ask yourself, are you lobbying because of the merits of the issue or are you lobbying because of your friendship or relationship with the elected official?"
Pennington was paid $2.1 million over the past two years to serve as political adviser to a host of lawmakers and to buy expensive TV ads for them. He says he minimizes problems by refusing to take clients halfway through the session, when clients most try to influence the votes of individual lawmakers, and he now is semiretired with only one client, the Municipal Electric Association.
Just last week, Altria, which manufactures Marlboro cigarettes, hired one of the Capitol's newest lobbyists, Todd Richardson. He's a political consultant for Republican Rep. Ellyn Setnor Bogdanoff of Fort Lauderdale.
Bogdanoff chairs the House Finance and Tax Council, where Altria hopes to kill a plan to raise the cigarette tax.
"What I'm doing is completely legal," Richardson said. "Relationships are the name of the game. I have more relationships than with just Ellyn. I have relationships with a lot of freshmen and with almost every member of the House."
Richardson was paid $126,000 in wages and reimbursements in his role as a consultant for Bogdanoff's campaign and political committee, Creating Possibilities. Bogdanoff opposed a cigarette tax hike long before Altria hired Richardson. She said she had no problem with his other work as a lobbyist for the cigarette company.
As the full force of term limits takes effect in the Legislature, more lobbyists are becoming consultants to increase their access to new legislators, said consultant and lobbyist Joe Perry.
The lobbyists can build up "sweat equity'' by acting as consultants for legislators, said Perry, a Democrat who has been paid $209,000 for fundraising and consulting work since 2007.
Perry acknowledged that when special interests hire people who have been on the payroll of lawmakers, they hire a unique commodity.
"There's no doubt we have access to these folks and probably more so than the rank-and-file lobbyists," Perry said.
But he said there's a downside, too. Perry lobbies for insurance giant FCCI Insurance Group, which seeks workers' compensation legislation opposed by many Democrats — the same people who hire Perry for political work. Perry said he can't afford too many conflicts like that.
"If I were to take too many lobbying clients and create a lot of enemies, I'll kill my fundraising business," he said.
Political committees — called committees of continuing existence — have become the cash cows of Florida's political process. They can be formed by legislators and used to collect unlimited amounts of so-called soft money from special interests, as these contributions are not subject to the typical cap of $500. The money can be rolled into other committees called "electioneering communication organizations,'' which spend money on attack ads and direct-mail pieces.
The 12 consultants-lobbyists were paid about $374,000 in total by the 40 committees they worked for, and received an additional $3.5 million from other political groups and campaigns during the past election season. The 60 consultants altogether received about $1 million from the committees and $18.5 million more from virtually every campaign and political group.
Not all consultants-lobbyists worked for a lawmaker's committee in the past election cycle. Still, the political committees — and the relationship they foster between lawmakers and consultants — offer a window into the world of Capitol insiders.
For example, the committees give lawmakers the opportunity to steer business to allies and friends. Consultant-lobbyist Esther Nuhfer earned most of her $201,000 from the campaign and political committee of her friend, Republican Rep. David Rivera of Miami.
Rivera's committee, Future Leadership, also paid $10,000 to Bridget Gregory Nocco, a prodigious Republican fund-raiser and Rivera friend.
The big money washing through the Capitol stands out in a year when the budget is in the red and large numbers of Floridians are losing jobs. Against that backdrop, the idea of consultants who lobby makes even the king of Florida political consultants uncomfortable.
Randy Nielsen, a top Republican consultant, said he didn't want to "cast aspersions'' on his colleagues, but he warned that "you can do a disservice to the client if you lobby them."
Nielsen is not a registered lobbyist.
"I don't see how you can give clear, unfettered advice if you're paid to lobby your clients," Nielsen said.
Nielsen's firm, Public Concepts of West Palm Beach, raked in the most consulting money this election cycle: $4.1 million over the past two years. In the 2000 cycle, Public Concepts earned $390,000. Not all that money went to Public Concepts. As with other consulting companies, some of the cash paid for media buys, lawyers and investigators to do opposition research.
Public Concept's most high-profile client is Senate President Jeff Atwater, a Republican from North Palm Beach who calls Nielsen "my consultant'' and made sure the firm reviewed his speech to the Senate that opened the legislative session March 3.
Consultant-lobbyist Bill Helmich collected $297,000 from a variety of lawmakers and political groups for consulting and hiring help. Helmich acknowledged there is a risk in mixing lobbying and consulting.
"Theoretically, if you get involved in a race where you end up losing, the person who won could hold a grudge," he said.
Lawyer and lobbyist David Ramba represents 37 clients and sells legal advice to 40 political committees, many controlled by legislators. Ramba said his legal adviser role doesn't give him much of an advantage. "Most of the time I'm delivering bad news," he said. "I tell them what they're not allowed to do with their money."
For instance, Ramba told Republican Sen. Mike Bennett of Bradenton that money from one of the lawmaker's two committees was off-limits to help pay for a Jewish community dinner.
Bennett has raised $528,000 through his two political committees since 2007 and he acknowledges the dicey balancing act legislators engage in when their closest political advisers are also paid lobbyists.
"You're going to give your buddy as much leniency as you can until you hit that ethics line … wherever that line is. It happens in any friendship," he said. "If I had my druthers and you didn't need soft money to play the game, I would like to see all this disappear."
12 Political Consultants* Who Lobby
(Total amount received/Number of clients/Notable client)
1. Roger Pennington, Republican
$2.1 million/1 client/Municipal Electric Assn.
2. Christian Ulvert, Democrat
1 $522,290/9 clients/Dosal Tobacco.
3. Bill Helmich, Republican
$297,100/9 clients/Miami-Dade County
4. Joe Perry, Democrat
$209,744/2 clients/FCCI Insurance
5. Esther Nuhfer, Republican
$201,618/1 client/Evidence-based Assoc.
6. Bridget Gregory Nocco, Republican
$181,973/4 clients/U.S. Sugar
7. Todd Richardson, Republican
$126,006/2 clients/Altria Tobacco
8. Amber Stoner, Republican
$116,026/1 client/HCA Healthcare
9. Jerry Wayne Bertsch, Republican
$55,417/1 client/American Cancer Society
10.Randy Enwright, Republican
$52,983/7 clients/At&T
11. Thomas Grigsby, Republican
$23,763.73/3 clients/Florida State Fraternal Order of Police
12. Screven Watson, Democrat
$22,644.36/4 clients/U.S. Sugar
Total: $3,937,778.61
Source: Division of Elections data
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St. Petersburg Times
In Florida House District 45 race, flier recycles old tactic
By Jodie Tillman, Times Staff Writer July 4, 2010

Back in 2007, a political group called the Committee to Protect Florida hammered a state Senate candidate named Richard Corcoran.


In its arsenal was a mailer that accused Corcoran of making false allegations about an opponent in a previous race.

The mailer showed an image of a flashing police beacon along with a warning: "BEWARE! Richard Corcoran is back in the area looking to buy a seat in the Senate."
Corcoran dropped out of the race, citing the negative campaign.

Now, as he runs for the state House District 45 seat, the Committee to Protect Florida has returned — and paid for a familiar flier that just hit mailboxes in Pasco and Pinellas counties.
The flashing police beacon is back.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/legislature/in-florida-house-district-45-race-flier-recycles-old-tactic/1106803