Showing posts with label Judy Selz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Judy Selz. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Good news for Hallandale Beach taxpayers! Rare victory for common sense and financial accountability at City Hall courtesy of Comm. Michele Lazarow


Above, 501 N.W. 1st Avenue, Hallandale Beach, which includes the office of Zamar, Inc. Of course, even without the $50,000 in CRA funds they thought they were going to get Monday night, I suspect they can swing the $10 they pay a year in rent to taxpayers for use of the former Sanders property. May 22, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved
Good news for Hallandale Beach taxpayers!
There was a rare victory for common sense and financial accountability at City Hall last night, at the CRA Board of Directors meeing, courtesy of Comm. Michele Lazarow, just elected in November.

Lazarow made a motion to table the voting on agenda item 9A and have the HB City Commission vote on it again on January 14th, after the CRA Advisory Board meets one more time at a time and place TBA, which I'll share with you here once it's announced so you can attend.

http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/2012-12-17-HBCRA2/Exhibit%2013%20to%2015%20-%20HBCRA%20Advisory%20Committee%20Rank%20and%20Recommendations.pdf

Only the four original groups that made the cut will be re-examined for accuracy and compliance with city rules.

Also, at 7:11 p.m., CRA Executive Director Dr. Alvin Jackson, Jr. announced that Zamar, Inc would NOT be eligible for funding this year on account of their failure to qualify as a 501(c)(3),
as I've been writing and discussing for well over a year.
That means that $50,000 is, theoretically, on the table, to be added to the totals previously approved, or placed back into that line item until next year.  

The final vote was 5-0!

Afterwards, Comm. Anthony A. Sanders, as has often been the case the past four years on those rare times when he hasn't gotten his way, seemed to grumble and complain on the dais about the actual function and purpose of the CRA right now.

But what he really meant was the fairness of it all, just not in the way that most of the world understands the concept of "fairness."
He preferred the way things were done before when fairness to taxpayers' long term best interest played second-fiddle to his base political interests, he just didn't say this out loud, but not to worrry.
We all knew that was what really got him upset -he didn't get his way

Sanders lamented (i.e. bitched) about the fact that some people in this city -you may know them as taxpayers and small business owners- took the initiative and were able to do their own research and write persuasive emails to Comm. Lazarow and others in the community to raise reasonable questions about the true facts surrounding some of the assertions on applications of groups who've gotten CRA funds with little real oversight in the past, and who seem to have gotten used to telling less than the whole truth on their applications.
Yes, it turns out that taxpayers don't like being played for fools, not that Sanders would acknowledge this.

Lazarow was able to use common sense and persuasion about being entitled to vote based on real facts and numbers that made sense to prevent a fait accompli, and was able to make the case that more scrutiny needed to attach to the information included in the myriad applications.

In the timing is everything department, her comments came just hours after the news swept the area that earlier Monday the Broward IG has forwarded info to the Broward State's Attorney Office re Dr. Deborah Brown's Zamar Inc. re allegations of misappropriation of Hallandale Beach CRA funds.

Of course, Comm. Sanders phrased it differently, in a sour and petty way, and in the process, threw my friend and civic activist Judy Selz under the bus by name, because earlier in the evening, she reminded the entire room what taxpayers had been promised in the way of transparency, accuracy and standards with respect to CRA grants by former City manager Mark A. Antonio.

Comm. Sanders didn't seem to like the reminder that many members of this community's pro-reform elements, of which I am a part, have NOT FORGOTTEN that this process was supposed to be much more honest than it has been, but the truth is that some of his closest political pals operate on the margin in this community and do NOT tell the truth and operate on the margins of what is acceptable -and we all know it
That even includes many members of the South Florida press corps.
It's certainly no secret.

Trust me, those remarks of his won't be soon forgotten, even though it's par for the course for him, a person who was deathly afraid of showing his face  before voters in most parts of this community, as he proved during this past election, when he refused to participate in any meaningful debate.

Poor Comm. Sanders has no idea what that upcoming CRA Advisory Board meeting might be like if some of us in this city choose to drop some very pertinent facts on the table at that public meeting that don't square with the contrived version of reality some of these groups are trying to foist upon us.
Where they "serve" the community in ways that are hard to measure or in some cases, try to solve problems that most of us don't think we actually have.

(Honestly, this city and the CRA district in particular have so many problems, why the need to make them up?)

Also, in what was news to me, Comm. Sanders announced that his wife, Jessica, no longer has the role she did at the Palms Community Action Coalition.

Yes, the group with the useless website that is on an 18-month time delay.
Don't know whether she gets to keep her city office and resources at the Hepburn Center!

There's still a segment of the local population that believes there's still a fairly good chance that Mayor Cooper will try to make someone else the scapegoat for the many years of chronic mismanagement at the HB CRA that happened under the two previous City Managers while Mayor Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew adamantly refused to perform their proper oversight function.
They did nothing to stop what was happening, instead, only encouraged more of it as long as their own political supporters reaped the benefits.

Ask yourself this question: Why is it that in a city this size, it's the same 8-10 people who consistently got their hands on CRA funds when there is so little to show for that money afterwards?


-----
Previously I'd written...


Subject: FYI re Hallandale Beach CRA's annual shell game of ranking groups, per Monday night's CRA meeting at 6 pm. Talk about history repeating itself...

6 pm Agenda at:


Philanthropic oversight group Guidestar's page on Zamar states that their exempt status was 
automatically revoked by the IRS in 2010 for failure to file a Form 990, 990-EZ, 990-N, or 990-PF for 3 consecutive years, so why does the city still treat Zamar like it's tax exempt?

Here's the IRS doc report re Zamar and the Automatic Revocation of Exemption Information:


On fourth page of document, Document 11 - Exhibit 11 - Zamar School of Performing Arts Application, uses a copy of the 2003 IRS form that is no longer valid about the organization.
And nobody at the CRA said anything about this????

Where does Dr. Deborah Brown get off thinking that she can fool taxpayers by including invalid docs from the IRS to try to scrounge up $50,000 from the city, yet again? Or by using docs from the Florida Dept. of State that appear to be seven years old and not current?

Where exactly is their current, properly filled-out 990 Form?

Why is that such a big mystery if they have nothing to hide?

There seems to be no end in sight for this woman getting tens of thousands of
dollars from Hallandale Beach taxpayers every year despite consistently being
less than honest or transparent with them.

And why, despite all the money involved is all this CRA loan information copied and managed
in such a consistently self-evident half-assed fashion that it can NOT be searched for on the
city's website?

Yes, it's hard to shake the impression that some of the staff at Hallandale Beach City hall want taxpayers, their real bosses, to be in the dark and NOT be able to simply look at easy
to understand information so they can connect-the-dots and draw their own conclusions.

How can there be not one but two city employees at the CRA making over $100,000 a year involved in this sorry spectacle of an effort, and yet this is what they present to HB taxpayers with a straight face, as if we should be grateful?
It's still unclear to me what Liza Torress really does and why her salary went up $40k to $100K this past Spring. 

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Keith London reviews the latest ponderous HB Comm. mtg. that started after Noon and went past Midnight, and featured more anti-democratic antics by Comm. Lewy; London's Resident Forum mtg. tonight at 6 p.m.

Above, Hallandale Beach City Hall. March 19, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Having attended the March 7th City Commission meeting that is the subject of this post, or more specifically, sat thru most of the evening portion of it in-person, and having spoken and recorded most but not all of what transpired on my camcorder, I'm in a position to know exactly what happened, and to be fair, there's actually quite a lot more disturbing facts and context Comm. London doesn't even bother to mention below that he could, due to lack of time, but which were, all the same, very distressing to many residents in the room, who were forced to wait far too long to speak on the subject of the Marcum report that shows how oblivious the city has been for years with regard to important public records.


I left to go home after sitting in the Commission Chambers after 4 hours and 45 minutes, around 11:40 p.m., and it still kept going...


As most of you more regular readers know from my dozens of previous posts over the past five years on how Mayor Joy Cooper runs these meetings as presiding officer -one of only two powers that she has that the other four commissioners do not- which is the exact opposite of how smoothly and fairly Mayor Peter Bober runs things in next-door Hollywood, these sorts of never ending meetings in Hallandale Beach are no accident.


They're both part strategy and part unwillingness on the part of the mayor to change her own behavior to move the meetings along, and not talking all the time after every nearly single response.


In Hollywood, Mayor Bober, after any opening remarks of his, then asks the city attorney and city manger if they have anything to share with them and the public, and then asks the city clerk to get things rolling.
AND, he usually speaks AFTER all of his colleagues have had the chance to weigh-in on a subject..


Mayor Cooper speaks first, during and after any speakers, public or from the city, as well as before and after her colleagues, that is, when she is not busy interrupting them.


The meetings should generally never last longer than about three hours, but they are, instead, often epic battles to not fall asleep in the chambers or in front of your computer.


Mayor Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew of Dotty Ross, Antony A. Sanders and Alexander Lewy, all of whom are largely opposed to if not entirely indifferent to proving genuine oversight and transparency of what happens in this city, esp. in regards to financial matters, allow these meetings to go on-and-on because they know that if they can keep people sitting in the audience for hours waiting to speak, or now, waiting at home watching via the city's website -which streams the meetings but displays no basic information about agenda items or subjects- it greatly discourages participation.

At the meeting on March 7th, the subject of Comm. London's comments, as he notes below, it started around 1 p.m. and ended AFTER Midnight.
That's no way to run a meeting and certainly no way to run a city.


There's a reason that the Diplomat LAC (to benefit the owners of the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa and the Diplomat Country Club) was not finally voted upon until 2:43 a.m., just a few days before Christmas in 2009.

That very controversial item, which I strongly opposed and spoke out against at HB City Hall and before the Broward County Commission, and wrote about here at least two dozen times, was later correctly rejected by the County Commission because of its clear-cut incompatibility with the NE Hallandale Beach neighborhood it seeked to force itself onto, next to the Diplomat golf course, by placing numerous giant condo towers next to some pretty pricey single-family homes, some of which would've been placed in almost perpetual shadows after Noon.


A real victory for common sense and an embarrassing public defeat for Cooper, Ross and Sanders, who voted for it at 2:43 a.m., as well as her pals and business cronies in the city, almost all of whom ignored the very negative effect it would have in a city that has gridlock that is greatly disproportionate to its size due to both geography and its physical layout.


Because there is literally so much information I know and have been given by others regarding subjects that were mentioned at least in part at this particular meeting, I will be posting my own comments about some of the things Comm. London describes below, separately in another post over the next few days.


I've edited what Comm. London emailed me on Friday by removing some of his original indents so that more information could appear on each line, take-up less space and largely eliminate any dangling sentences or URLs.

His monthly Resident Forum meeting is tonight from 6-8 p.m. at the HB Cultural Center behind HB City Hall, so come by and check it out and get better informed about what's really going on..

-----

Date: Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 2:50 PM
Subject: Wrap Up of the City of Hallandale Beach City Commission Meeting March 7, 2012
To: klondon@hallandalebeachfl.gov

Everyone,

The following is an update of agenda items discussed at the March 7, 2012 City of Hallandale Beach Commission Meeting.


Highlights of the Meeting

* Mayor Cooper and her surrogate Commissioner Lewy are attempting to change our election rules after I announced to run for Mayor of Hallandale Beach

* Commissioner Lewy wants to change the dates for the Charter referendums from the November general election to the August primaries -disenfranchising independents and democrats

* Commissioner Lewy again prevents questions being asked to staff and debate amongst the commission regarding important issues - yet another blow to representative government

* Six residents waited for more than two hours to voice their unanimous disagreement with shifting liability for decorative signs in GISND

* Mayor Cooper called these six individuals "under minders" because they disagree with her

* Security Alliance LLC has been chosen as the new security company for GISND and TISND - tentative date of commencement is 4-1-2012

* "No Surprises with the audit" said Mayor Cooper, even though there are over 250 exceptions

* Chad Lincoln sums up the "audit" by saying "in Hallandale the exception is the rule"

* Commissioner London made a motion to perform a Management Audit of the Finance and Purchasing Departments of the City - NO SECOND

* Commissioner Lewy states using temporary labor is "unfair labor practices".

REGULAR AGENDA

CITY COMMISSION, CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 07, 2012 1:00 PM & 7:00 PM

http://www.hallandalebeach.org/files/2012-03-07/Agenda%20Outline%20for%20201
2-03-07%2013-00.htm

1. CALL TO ORDER

2. ROLL CALL

3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

4. STUDENT CITIZEN OF THE MONTH AND SCHOOL ACTIVITY UPDATE

5. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - Items not on the Agenda (To be heard at 1:30 P.M.)

6. PRESENTATIONS

A. Proclamation Proclaiming April 1, 2012 as Parents & Children's Day
(Staff Report ,
Supporting Docs )

B. Proclamation Proclaiming March as Women's History Month (Staff Report
,
Supporting Docs
)

TO BE HEARD AT 8:00 P.M.

C. Presentation of the Findings of the 2011 Municipal Green Initiatives Survey (Jill Horwitz, Natural Resource Specialist I, Broward

County Natural Resources Planning and Management Division)
(Supporting Docs )

TO BE HEARD AT 1:30 P.M.

7. CONTINUATION OF CITY BUSINESS FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS

8. CONSENT AGENDA

A. Approval of Draft Minutes

1. Regular City Commission Meeting of February 15, 2012
(Supporting Docs http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/2012-03-07/Item%208.A.1/index.html)
* Passed 4:1 London

9. CITY BUSINESS

A. Consideration of the Conceptual Design for the Layne Blvd. Sidewalk Improvement Project, Entailing the Marking and Striping of a Bike Lane and Sidewalk Along Layne Boulevard from Hallandale Beach Boulevard to Holiday Drive.

(Staff: Director of DPW,U&E) (See Backup) BP #004/12 (Staff Report
,
Supporting Docs )

* After a Golden Isles community meeting it was decided to try temporary painted stripping instead of building a permanent concrete sidewalk and bike lane

* The striping will commence in the next 30 days and should take 90 days to complete

* This will be piloted for approximately a year to see how the public responds to the new striping and delineation of a side walk and bike lanes

* The following are some of the facts regarding this issue:

o The inside travel lane will increase in width to 12 feet from 10 feet - the bike lane will be 4 feet and the sidewalk will be 6 feet

o The bike lanes and sidewalk will be delineated by striped paint

o There may be some large potted planters installed to help define the areas

o This hopefully will increase the bike safety and pedestrian usage in Golden Isles

* Passed 5:0

B. A Resolution of the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida, Authorizing the City Manager to Apply for Financial Assistance Under the FY-2012 Waterways Assistance Program for The Hallandale Beach City Marina Project, Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Necessary Documents and Establish Appropriate Accounts to Implement the Project, and Providing and Effective Date.

(Staff: DPW, U&E)(Backup)CAD#031/03 (Staff Report
,
Supporting Docs
)

* Passed 5:0


C. A Resolution of the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida, Authorizing the Award of Bid #FY 2011-2012-009, Temporary Labor Services Option I, Option II, and Option III, to the Lowest Responsive, Responsible Bidder, Hire Quest, LLC d/b/a Trojan Labor, in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $215,000.00 for Leased Labor, Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Agreement with Hire Quest, LLC d/b/a Trojan Labor; and Providing an Effective Date.

(Staff: Director of DPW, U&E) (See Backup) BP #020/12 (Staff Report
,
Supporting Docs )

* Commissioner Lewy stated that using temporary labor in his opinion was an unfair labor practice.

* Commissioner London asked the following questions:

o How long can an employee be temporary? Answer, the city has had people as long as two years

o Please give an example of this. Answer, retirees who want part time work or for a specialized position

o Why use temporary labor? Answer, when the City requires extra staffing for a project for a specific period of time or requires specific expertise not currently in house - this provides a large savings by not needing to train personnel when outside labor may be contracted with all the training and licensing required to complete projects or tasks.

* Resident Chad Lincoln spoke regarding the advantages of having contracted employees expertise on hand in many disciplines

* See a video of Chad here:

Here, Comm. London refers to a FLIP video that I recorded at the Commission meeting and sent last week to a few dozen citizens, activists and politicians around Hallandale Beach and Broward County, plus a few TV/print reporters and columnists.
That video will be the subject of a separate blog post later this week, due to its great importance.

* Passed 3:2 Lewy and Sanders No - London, Ross, Cooper - Yes


D. A Resolution of the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida, Authorizing the City Manager to Award RFP FY#2011-2012-001 to Security Alliance, LLC, to Provide Security Guard Services for the Golden Isles Safe Neighborhood District and the Three Islands Safe Neighborhood District; Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Agreement with Security Alliance, LLC, and Providing an Effective Date.

(Staff: Police Chief) (See Backup) CAD #024/93 & CMD #041/92
(Staff Report ,
Supporting Docs )


TO BE HEARD AT 2:30 P.M.

TO BE HEARD IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE GOLDEN ISLES SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD DISCTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA ITEM #3.C.

TO BE HEARD N CONJUNCTION WITH THE THREE ISLANDS SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD DISCTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA ITEM #3.B.

* The new company was chosen in adherence with the new Broward County ethics laws and City of Hallandale Ordinance requiring the City Commission to chose the vendor ranked number one by City staff

* The new company will seek to hire the existing guards if they meet the requirements, pass a drug screening and meet professional standards

* The new contract is expected to commence April 1, 2012

* Passed 5:0


E. A Resolution of the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida, Authorizing the City Manager to Execute an Agreement of Participation with the Golden Isles Safe Neighborhood District to Install Decorative Traffic Signage throughout the Golden Isles Safe Neighborhood District Area; and Providing an Effective Date.

(Staff:Director of DPW,U&E) (See Backup) BP# 012/09 & CMD #041/92
(Staff Report ,
Supporting Docs )

TO BE HEARD IN CONJUNCTION WITH GISND BOARD OF DIRECTORS SPECIAL MEETING AGEND ITEM #3.D.

* Six residents from the Golden Isles attended the meeting and patiently waited for over two hours to unanimously voice their opinion AGAINST shifting all the liability from Broward County and the City of Hallandale Beach

* Commissioner London stated he, too, would like "pretty/decorative" signs in Golden Isles but was very concerned about the potential ramifications of shifting the legal liability from Broward County to only the residents of Golden Isles

* The shift from Broward County and the City of Hallandale to the Golden Isles residents would be in perpetuity for any and all costs associated with these signs for instance:

o Buying, maintaining, replacing, ordering, paying the city to do any maintenance, defending lawsuits, answering lawsuits, setting up procedures

* Passed 3:2 London and Ross NO


F. A Resolution of the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida, Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Second Amended and Restated Development Agreement Between RK Hallandale Limited Partnership and 17070 Collins Avenue Shopping Center, Ltd, and the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida; and Providing An Effective Date.

(Staff Director of Development Services) (See Backup) CAD #016/04
(Supporting Docs )


TO BE HEARD AT 7:15 P.M.

TO BE HEARD IN CONJUNCTION WITH ITEM #12.B.

* Commissioner Lewy made a motion to limit discussion and would not let me do the job I was elected to do and ask questions to City staff

* I cannot and will not vote yes for a project increasing traffic which will impact all residents and businesses in Hallandale

* Commissioner Lewy's new tactic making motions to limit discussion and questions is NOT Democratic

* Passed 4:1 London No


G. Presentation of Independent Accountants' Report on Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures.
(Staff: Director, Finance) (See Backup) CAD #015/10
(Staff Report )


TO BE HEARD AT 7:30 P.M.

TO BE HEARD IN CONJUNCTION WITH HBCRA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING AGENDA ITEM #4.C.

* Commissioner London asked the following questions:

o Was this an audit? Answer NO

o If not an audit, what was this exercise? Answer - "Agreed Upon Procedures"

o Was there any executive summary included with the Agreed Upon Procedures? No - that was not part of what Marcum was contracted or engaged to perform

o Were there formal recommendations included as part of the Agreed Upon Procedures? No

o Was Marcum engaged to look for fraud? No

o Did Marcum look to see if the taxpayer received a reasonable return on their investment? No

o What did Marcum find? The City of Hallandale's written policy/procedures were ignored or broken over 250 times

o What was the outcome of these broken policy/procedures? Answer - the written policies ignored by the city would be re-written on the spot (the exception was now the rule)

o Examples of broken policy/procedures:

* Mike Good forgave a $50,000 loan to a developer for a potential $600 per year savings off an employee rental lease

* City Commission voted yes (4:1 LONDON NO) for a CRA loan of $125,000 to a pornographer with no collateral as required - this loan is now in default

* Approved $150,000 CRA loan when the maximum allowable amount is $100,000

* Purchased three $142,000 condominium units for friends - Former Vice Mayor Julian signed off on one incomplete set of documents- limited documents available for others

* No documents and missing documents in the files for over 10 million dollars in real estate acquisitions

o Commissioner London made a motion to perform a Management Audit of the Finance and Purchasing Departments - NO SECOND

o Commissioner London made a motion to perform a stand alone AUDIT of the CRA - No affirmative vote but consensus is to bring this item back for a future discussion

H. Reconsideration of Charter Review Committee Recommendations -Title of "Mayor-Commissioner." (Mayor Joy F. Cooper)( See Backup) CAD #003/11
(Staff Report ,
Supporting Docs )


10. COMMISSION PLANNING

11. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - Items not on the Agenda (To be heard at 7:00 P.M.)

* Robert Fisher from Sea Edge Co-op spoke about the red tape his building has experienced to obtain permits for work being performed on their building

* Dr. Judy Selz questioned Commissioner Lewy and wanted to know why he is loose with taxpayer's money with regards to Golden Isles - just because there is money in the account does not necessarily mean it needs to be spent

* Andrew Markoff

* Qunia Gordon spoke about woman's health

* Reginald LaGross spoke with regard to questions he had about his very high water bills

12. PUBLIC HEARINGS (To heard at 7:15 P.M.)

A. An Ordinance of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida, Approving and Authorizing a Contract with AAAA Crosstown Towing and Recovery, Inc. ("AAAA") for Towing Service. (First Reading) (Staff: Police Chief) (See Backup)

(Staff Report ,
Supporting Docs )

* Passed 5:0


TO BE HEARD AT 7:15 P.M.

B. Application # 72-10-DB by RK Associates Requesting Major Development Review Approval Pursuant to Section 32-782 of the Zoning and Land Development Code in Order to Build a 3,950 Square Feet Freestanding Building and a 538 Square Feet Addition at the RK Diplomat Center Located at 1725 E. Halladale Beach Boulevard. (Staff: Director of Development Services) (See Backup) CAD#016/04

(Staff Report ,
Supporting Docs )

TO BE HEARD IN CONJUNCTION WITH ITEM #9.F.

13. COMMISSIONER COMMUNICATIONS - Items not on the Agenda

A. COMMISSIONER LEWY

B. COMMISSIONER LONDON

C. COMMISSIONER ROSS

D. VICE MAYOR SANDERS

E. MAYOR COOPER - Adjourned the meeting after midnight approximately 11 hours after opening the meeting

14. CITY ATTORNEY COMMUNICATIONS - Items not on the Agenda

15. CITY MANAGER COMMUNICATIONS - Items not on the Agenda

16. ADJOURN


Keith S. London
City Commissioner
Hallandale Beach
954-457-1320 Office
954-494-3182 Cellular

www.KeithLondon.com

http://www.facebook.com/KeithSLondon
 

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Csaba Kulin on City of Hallandale Beach's upside-down understanding of FL's Sunshine Laws, their pattern of intimidation re Public Records Requests; the city's abject failure in providing timely info on CRC meetings for the ENTIRETY of its existence -6 months

Csaba Kulin on City of Hallandale Beach's upside-down understanding of FL's Sunshine Laws, their pattern of intimidation re Public Records Requests; the city's abject failure to provide timely info on CRC  meetings for the ENTIRETY of its existence -6 months!
Below is an especially useful email from my friend and fellow Hallandale Beach and Broward activist Csaba Kulin which he first wrote back on September 2, 2011. I had meant to post it here shortly after he originally wrote it, but having failed to do that, in looking at it again, I think it provides a very good window for many of you to better understand the daily frustration felt by Hallandale Beach residents with respect to longstanding problems in how this city is managed -mismanaged- in so many, many areas.
Even ones that you would think would NOT be controversial.

This despite the claims that the city is ship-shape by those running things at HB City Hall, whether elected officials or highly-paid city employees, like some of the Assistant City Managers, who make $200k in salary and benefits, even while taxpayers wonder what they're actually doing to earn it, given that the city remains a morass, with low morale to match.
Yes, Assistant City Managers pulling THAT in a city of under 40,000 residents.


Csaba's email concerns how this small ocean-side city REALLY operates, and frequently attempts to use all manner of  obfuscation and intimidation to prevent citizens and other interested parties from gaining access to information they are legally entitled to, including, as I've demonstrated here a few times in the past thru personal experience, via email responses with City Hall with inflated and absurd costs for actually providing the PUBLIC INFORMATION, in an attempt to dissuade residents from actually filing.

Csaba's email is to the then-extant Hallandale Beach Charter Review Committee, whose meetings he either attended or watched religiously, gets to his troubling concerns with  the process the City of Hallandale Beach uses to dodge legitimate public discussion and force citizens and other interested parties to file Public Records Requests as a means to silence critics, esp. at public meetings, literally trying to starve them for information.

This often happens when elected officials and city employees are discussing a subject and claim NOT to know the answers they clearly do know, but are reluctant to make them public, for whatever reason.

This is made worse, of course, by a corrosive culture at HB City Hall that completely has it upside-down regarding government in the Sunshine, given that elected officials like Comm. Dotty Ross have felt free to chastise members of the public even BEFORE they can walk up to the microphone to ask their questions, in that case, Csaba himself.


More recently, we have the case of Comm. Alexander Lewy, who publicly steamed-up up on the dais during a City Commission meeting when someone spoke up to say that they were STILL waiting for requested answers from the city, and then Lewy showed bad judgment and lack of self-awareness by commenting publicly that he wanted to know why the citizen of his own city wanted it.
Really.


Instead of taking his oversight responsibility seriously, and asking/directing the City Manager to crack the whip and figure out why this continues to be such a problem, Lewy "killed the messenger." 

In that case, it was longtime Halandale Beach resident and civic activist Dr. Judy Selz, one of the most-respected and civic-minded citizens in this community who was outlining her difficulty in gaining information that she had a Constitutional RIGHT to.


See my previous post of on Dr. Selz here, Dr. Judy Selz zeroes-in on wasteful city spending, angering Comm. Lewy; Keith London's take on Hallandale Beach City Comm. meeting of Dec, 7 2011

This sad and pathetic moment not only highlighted how very short of the mark Comm. Lewy has been in office for the 15 months since he defeated sitting Comm. William "Bill Julian, coming in second to Comm. Keith London for the two seats that were up in November of 2010 -you regular readers of the blog will recall that I consistently urged you in the strongest terms to NOT trust or believe Lewy back then, lest you be greatly disappointed by what you had wrought, a phony- compared to his grand promises of being a fully-engaged reformer if elected, but also shows one of the great aspects of Florida's Sunshine Laws that make up the state Constitution.

That is, in this state, citizens are NOT required to have to persuade elected officials or city bureaucrats of the importance or significance or reason for their PUBLIC INFORMATION request in order to receive it.
You'd think an elected official like Lewy would know better than that after more than a year in office.

The second part of this email which is noteworthy is its description of the city's COMPLETE LACK OF EFFORT to keep the promise made by City Manager Mark A, Antonio at the very first CRC meeting -a meeting I personally attended, being one of the two people in the audience in July- to make sure that background information was readily available on the CRC web page on the city's website so that citizens could watch CRC meetings on TV or via streaming and be able to see what was being reviewed and and discussing, so citizens could keep up.

Though Csaba wrote the email in September, it was just as true in October, November and December, since it was NOT until January of this year, weeks after the CRC submitted their final recommendations to the City Commission just days before Christmas, that Hallandale Beach citizens could see any of the information.
Once the CRC no longer existed!

You tell me, what good was it after-the-fact? Exactly.

That's how the public process works here in Hallandale Beach under the current crew at City Hall.
It doesn't, it only pretends to operate in the Sunshine and be competent and efficient.
It's all pretense, a charade.


That's why we need big changes here in Hallandale Beach when election time comes in November, just 33 weeks away.

Trust me, given their disastrous voting records against the best long-term interests of this city's taxpayers, their  complete lack of effort to provide genuine oversight, and consistently oblivious feeling for what's really going on in this city while serving on the HB City Commission, Anthony A. Sanders and William "Bill" Julian, have absolutely failed to earn the trust or respect of the WHOLE community, and do NOT deserve another chance to keep the status quo Rubber Stamp Crew of Joy Cooper in charge, ruining this city's future.
They need to be rejected in November in the strongest possible terms.

----- 

From: Csaba Kulin
Sent: Fri 9/2/2011 12:47 PM
Subject: CRC - Sept. 2, 2011

 Dear Charter Review Committee Members,

After two months of your existence I cannot find any information about your committee on the city's web site so I have to use only the names of the members I had some previous contact with. In my future correspondence if you like me to add the names of the rest of members, delete the name of some of the members or use a different e-mail address, please let me know.

During your last meeting, you mentioned the lack of interest of the residents in the work of the Committee. To some extent you are right but the lack of information available on the city's web site and the summer season can explain some of it. If you add to it the general belief of the residents that your recommendations can be and will be ignored by the City Commission, it is difficult to get real exited. I am an optimist, I will follow your meetings. I hope that you save the more important issues like districting, FOIA, recall any elected official and others for October, when most of our residents return from summer vacation.

During your August 31, 2011 meeting you talked about the City Clerk and his/her responsibility to honor public record requests. In my opinion, timeliness is an issue but there are bigger issues than that. Intimidation and the lack of co-operation are more important.

If I go the City Clerk and I request some information I have good reason to be "public record", the Clerk should have the following options:
*       I should be provided that information as is
*       "Black out" part of the record that is not public record
*       Deny the request with explanation (pending law suit, not in existence etc).

If I am not happy with explanation, I have a right to go to court and sue. As far as I know, in one case (09-22405 (03)) just the opposite happened. HB decided to sue the resident using the resources of the City instead of just "denying" the request. Of course the resident had to use his money to defend himself. The the way I look at it, this intimates me and many other residents.

Lack of co-operation comes in when I request some public record but I do not have the exact name of the items I requested. The City may call it a different name or give an extremely high cost for the request without proper explanation or ways to deduce the costs.

I hope you get a chance to read my e-mail prior to this afternoon's meeting.

Sincerely,

Csaba Kulin

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Dr. Judy Selz zeroes-in on wasteful city spending, angering Comm. Lewy; Keith London's take on Hallandale Beach City Comm. meeting of Dec, 7 2011

Below my own comments is the email that I received just this afternoon from Hallandale Beach City Comm. Keith London, whose monthly Resident Forum meeting I attended last night at the HB Cultural Center, which had at least a dozen new faces by my count of concerned HB citizen taxpayers who desperately want this city to be MUCH BETTER managed than it is now.

As always, it was good to see people want to get more involved and better informed about what is going on -in their name and with their wallets and purses- at Hallandale Beach City Hall.

It was indeed heartening to see actual proof of the victory of well-informed enthusiasm over the entrenched dysfunction and cynicism that has held away in this city for so many years, esp. at this time of the year, when people often have many choices to make about how they spend their time.

All had stories of their own about their great dis-satisfaction with the way the city is currently being mis-managed, and most were really appalled to hear many of things that yours truly and others attending shared with them about what passes for "normal" here in Hallandale Beach with respect to govt. planning, maintenance and public policy.

I've already heard from some of them today about what they heard last night: lots of eye-opening true tales of mis-management, incompetency and lack of common sense as S.O.P. here in the SE corner of Broward County.

The highlight of the evening may well have been listening to tireless, longtime HB civic activist Dr. Judy Selz describe her continuing attempts to get straight answers out of the City Hall bureaucracy about many things, including the un-necessary and expensive storage lot on Ansin Blvd. -that cost just under $3 Million for land, construction and maintenance- which I have written about here many times, along with incriminating photos.

That's a city enterprise which directly competes with two existing storage facilities in that warehouse district, located just east of I-95, south of Pembroke Road and north of Hallandale Beach Blvd., which causes these owners to have to lower their own prices just to compete with a city that doesn't need to make a profit to continue to exist.

Dr. Selz's info is below in Comm. London's wrap-up of last week's meeting, which ended after Midnight.

Speaking of the victory of well-informed enthusiasm over cynicism, last night also afforded everyone attending the meeting an opportunity to hear directly from Dr. Selz about HB Comm. Alexander Lewy's great displeasure at hearing her speak at a City Comm. meeting about trying to get to the heart of why HB taxpayer money continues to be wasted on things when they are NOT needed or desired.
Lewy didn't like that one bit!

The fact that the city continues to waste money on this un-necessary storage facility has been proven conclusively to me time-and-again when I drove past it myself or with friends over the past two years, as there were often less than a handful of vehicles there, sometimes as few as 2 or 3, as I have documented with photos.
(Now, the city places about 12-18 unused HB Police Dept. vehicles there, but taxpayers continue to pay for them even while they sit and gather dust.)

This episode and Comm. Lewy's wrong-headed, antagonistic and insulting attitude towards well-informed citizens of this community deigning to want the truth, proves -ONCE AGAIN- that he's the very same person I said he was when he first ran for office four years ago and then again last year.
Then as now, Lewy is his own worst enemy and appalls and antagonizes citizens with equal measure with his actions and words, as if citizens here can't observe them and hear them.
But they can.

As you may have heard at some point in your own childhood, actions have consequences, but for whatever reason, Lewy, as well as Mayor Joy Cooper and the rest of her Rubber Stamp Crew of Comm. Dotty Ross and Comm. Anthony A. Sanders, seem never to ever have learned this basic lesson in understanding how people and society work.

The almost complete rejection of Lewy by people who know what really goes on in this city is proof that they have learned what he so clearly seems unable to.

Some free advice to 2012 Broward Sheriff candidate Louis Granteed, currently Assistant Hollywood Police Chief, per conversations he's had with friends of mine in Broward at various events:
You might want to strongly reconsider constantly praising Lewy to the hilt when you meet citizens from Hallandale Beach. If they are an informed person, chances are great that they are already more than hip to Alex Lewy and what he is all about.
Your praise only serves to draw attention to how little you know about him.
Just saying...

* The only things that I have changed below from the original email I received from Comm. London is removing some of his forced indents, so that it would be easier to read here on the blog, since otherwise, there would be large gaps in the text.

-----
Everyone,

The following is an update of agenda items discussed at the December 7, 2011
City of Hallandale Beach Commission Meeting.

Highlights of the Meeting
* Mayor Cooper does not support a second senior exemption (cost to the city tax rolls approximately $57,000)

* Mayor Cooper insists the Hallandale Pops Symphony is included in the next City Agenda for reconsideration of $25,000 of funding - even after the City Budget has been approved and ratified

* Mayor Cooper votes to approve $20,000 for production a 5-minute commercial

* City Manager Antonio informs the Commission of negotiations to purchase property from DeSoto Park South along Three Islands Boulevard

* Diplomat Golf Course is still open two years after the developers representatives stated that the course would close if they were not given rights to develop approximately 1,000 new condominium units, please see the following link to reserve a tee time.

* Commissioner Lewy wants to limit "Public Participation" from people like Dr. Judy Selz - please see her questions below

* Commissioner London requests an agenda item to discuss whether or not the city should be in the storage business after hearing Dr. Selz questions regarding the City's $3 million dollar lot which is 2/3 empty



REGULAR AGENDA
CITY COMMISSION, CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 07, 2011 1:00 P.M. & 7:00 P.M.


1. CALL TO ORDER

2. ROLL CALL

3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

4. STUDENT CITIZEN OF THE MONTH AND SCHOOL ACTIVITY UPDATE

5. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - Items not on the Agenda (To be heard at 1:30 PM)

6. PRESENTATIONS

A. Presentation Regarding Activities at the Village of Gulfstream
(Suzanne Friedman, Development Representative, Village of Gulfstream Park)

B. Presentation on Capacity Building Program by Mister Nonprofit Consultancy (City Manager)

* Non-profit organizations working with Mister Nonprofit received a great benefit regarding sustainability, process and remaining viable
* Commissioner London asked specific questions regarding the Hallandale Pops and their participation in Mister Nonprofits process of capacity building
o The Hallandale Pops never responded or utilized Mister Nonprofit to seek ways to sustain this organization - they decided not to participate in this process to their own detriment

7. CONTINUATION OF CITY BUSINESS FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS

8. CONSENT AGENDA

A. Approval of Draft Minutes:

1. Special City Commission Meeting of November 7, 2011 -Legislative Planning Session

2. City Commission/City Manager Workshop/Special Meeting of November 14, 2011

3. Special City Commission Meeting of November 16, 2011 - Strategic Planning Workshop

4. Regular City Commission Meeting of November 16, 2011

* Commissioner London again voted against minutes and will continue to vote against minutes until we return to summary minutes so the residents have transparency in their government
* Please go to the link to see what Hallandale summary minutes used to look like: The minutes are from December 3, 2003

* Passed 4:1 London No

9. CITY BUSINESS

A. Consideration of an Amended Voluntary Regional Transportation Mitigation Agreement Between Broward County, the City of Hallandale Beach and the Village at Gulfstream Park, LLC and an Amended Declaration of Restrictive Covenants (Affordable Housing) for the Village at Gulfstream Park (Staff: Director of Development Services)
* Please see Item 12A which was discussed in conjunction with 9A

B. Consideration of the City Commission Summer Meeting Schedule and Schedule for Adoption of Truth In Millage (TRIM) Rate and Other Budgetary Hearings (City Manager)

The following is a list of the tentative times and dates for the summer schedule:

DATE ITEM

Wednesday, July 4, 2012 No Regular Commission Meeting due to Independence Day Holiday

Monday, July 16, 2012 City Commission/City Manager Workshop

Wednesday July 18, 2012 Regular City Commission Meeting
Set Tentative Millage Public Hearing, 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012 Budget Special Meeting - Special City Commission
(If needed, Budget Special Meeting will continue on July 26th), 4:00 p.m.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012 City Commission Vacation (No Regular City Commission Meeting)

Monday, August 13, 2012 City Commission Vacation (No City Commission/City Manager Workshop)

Wednesday, August 15, 2012 City Commission Vacation (No Regular City Commission Meeting)

*Wednesday, September 19, 2012 Budget Public Hearing, 6:00 p.m.**

*Thursday, September 27, 2012 Budget Public Hearing, 6:00 p.m.**

* Commissioner London again requested City Staff to be prepared with all documentation during the January budget meetings to specifically discuss a Second Senior Exemption (an option provided by the Florida State Legislature to municipal governments)
* City Staff provided documentation that a Second Senior Exemption would calculate into approximately a $57,000 loss in revenue to the City
* Mayor Cooper did not seem to comprehend the manner in which a Second Senior Exemption was calculated or how it would assist those individuals who
qualify and did NOT support this
* Schedule of the summer meetings schedule above approved 5:0

10. COMMISSION PLANNING

11. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - Items not on the Agenda (To be heard at 7:00 P.M.)

* Dr. Judy Selz discussed questions she provided to the City in advance of the Commission meeting regarding City owned properties specifically the $3 million dollar storage lot on Ansin Boulevard
o This procedure of providing questions in advance is an agreed upon procedure by the City Manager so they are prepared to answer residents' questions/requests
o Please see her questions and the City's response in RED below at the end of this document
o Commissioner London responded and suggested the $3 million lot being utilized for storage be discussed as an agenda item
o Commissioner London stated he did not think being in the storage business is a core service of the City
o Commissioner Lewy was disturbed about Dr. Selz's line of questioning and attempted to curtail her public participation discussion
* This is obviously the democratic way for residents to be able participate in an open and transparent government; allowing them to question and be watchdogs over their tax dollars

* Dr. Bob Selz pointed out the City of Hallandale Beach purchased the Tower Mobile Home Park (catty corner to City Hall) at the same time the City of Aventura purchased the land on 207th Street near Target and they have built a beautiful park and our City has nothing but a pile of dirt to show for its purchase after 3 years


12. PUBLIC HEARINGS (To heard at 7:15 P.M.)

A. A Resolution of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida,
Accepting Amendments to the Village at Gulfstream Park Plat ( This Resolution is a result of Application# 10-12-PR by Gulfstream Racing Association, Inc.) (Staff: Development Services)

* The Villages of Gulfstream requested the Commission provide some amendments to their existing Development Agreement regarding:
o Traffic Mitigation
o Affordable Housing
* They requested the elimination of following concerning traffic mitigation
o building a 500 space parking lot offsite
o provide a shuttle service to the tri-rail station 8 hours per day
o and a few other minor details
* After a lengthy discussion it was agreed this is presently cost prohibitive for The Villages because if they build any additional retail, commercial, residential, or hotel structures in the future they will be required to build the parking structure
* Commissioner London suggested and it was agreed The Villages will review the possibility of including the B Cycle bike share program kiosks onsite to help alleviate traffic and cars on the road.
Here is a link to visit bike share http://www.broward.bcycle.com

* Regarding the affordable housing, Commissioner London recommended an Escalator Clause to their per unit payment which ensures they pay more as time goes on - Up to 5% per year compounded
* Passed 5:0

B. An Ordinance of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida,
Amending Article IV, Division 11, Section 32-452 and Section 32-455 of The
City of Hallandale Beach Code of Ordinances, "Zoning And Land Development
Code," Relative to Off-Street Parking Requirements and Minimum Parking Space
Requirements for Residential Multi-Family Uses; Providing for Conflicts;
Providing for Severability; Providing for an Effective Date. (Second
Reading) (This Ordinance is as a Result of Application # 06-12-TC by the
City of Hallandale Beach ) (Staff: Director of Development Services)

THE CODE AND PERMITTING ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDED
APPROVAL OF THE AMENDMENTS ON NOVEMBER 10, 2011.

ON NOVEMBER 16, 2011 THE CITY COMMISSION APPROVED FIRST
READING OF THE ORDINANCE BY A ROLL CALL VOTE OF 5/0.

THE ORDINANCE WILL BE PRESENTED TO THE PLANNING AND ZONING
BOARD ON NOVEMBER 30, 2011.

* Passed 5:0

C. An Ordinance of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida Amending
Chapter 32, the Zoning and Land Development Code, Article IV Division 17,
Development Standards Signs Relative to Prohibited Signs, Permitted Signs,
and Nonconforming Signs, Providing for Conflict; Providing for Severability;
Providing an Effective Date. (This Ordinance is a Result of Application
#67-10-TC by the City of Hallandale Beach.)(First Reading)(Staff: Director,
Development Services Department)

ON OCTOBER 26, 2011 THE PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD
RECOMMENDED APPROVAL OF THIS ORDINANCE BY A ROLL CALL VOTE OF 5/0.

* This ordinance refers to the use of human signage in the City of Hallandale
* The use of individuals holding signs up along major roads is a distraction and was turning into a potential safety hazard
* Passed 5:0

D. An Ordinance of The City of Hallandale Beach, Florida,
Amending Chapter 2, Section 2-361 "City Attorney to Function as Head of
Department; Qualifications"; Amending Prohibition that City Attorney Not
Engage During His/Her Tenure of Office in Any Private Practice of Law to
Allow A Law Firm to Serve As City Attorney; Providing For Conflicts,
Providing For Severability; And Providing For An Effective Date. (Second
Reading) (Staff: Acting City Attorney)

ON NOVEMBER 2, 2011 THE CITY COMMISSION APPROVED FIRST
READING OF THIS ORDINANCE BY A ROLL CALL VOTE OF 5/0.

* Passed 4:1 - LONDON NO

E. A Resolution of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida,
Supporting Congressman Ted Deutch's Proposed Amendment to the Constitution
of the United States to Exclude For-Profit Corporations from the Rights
Given to Natural Person by the Constitution, Prohibiting Corporate Spending
in all Elections, and Affirming the Authority of Congress to Regulate and
Set Limits on all Election Contributions and Expenditures. (Mayor Joy F.
Cooper)

* Passed 5:0

13. COMMISSIONER COMMUNICATIONS - Items not on the Agenda

A. COMMISSIONER LEWY

B. COMMISSIONER LONDON

* Commissioner London suggested the City do a better job of scheduling Planning and Zoning meetings especially during the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas since the November meeting falls every year on Thanksgiving Day and the December meeting falls during the Christmas and New Year Holidays
* Commissioner London requested a map indicating the exact location of the land the City will be purchasing from DeSoto Park South - the west side of Three Islands Boulevard
* Commissioner London also requested a plan, information and source of funding for purchase of this property

C. COMMISSIONER ROSS

D. VICE MAYOR SANDERS

E. MAYOR COOPER

14. CITY ATTORNEY COMMUNICATIONS - Items not on the Agenda

15. CITY MANAGER COMMUNICATIONS - Items not on the Agenda

* City Manager Antonio requested support for the allocation of $20,000 to be spent on production of a promotional spot for the City of Hallandale
* City Manager Antonio requested support for the purchase of land from DeSoto Park South located on the West side of Three Islands Boulevard

16. ADJOURN

Questions by Dr. Judith Selz, 717 Layne Blvd., Hallandale Beach:

Discussed during December 7, 2011 City Commission Meeting, Agenda Item 11,
Public Participation. Note staff responses are in red.

1. How much property does the City own as far as dollar value is concerned? What did we pay for it and what is all worth today? See attached spreadsheet- total $29,035,026.17 cost of all property paid since 2001 (provided by CRA)

Property at Ansin Boulevard: cost to purchase $2,900,000 (purchased for settlement of a lawsuit)

When I went to observe the property on November 20, 2011, I was shocked to find the security gate wide open and no one was monitoring cars or people coming into the property. There are approximately 136 spaces for rent with what appeared to be ¼ of the spaces occupied. 15 of the spaces had cars marked as belonging to the Hallandale Police.

FINANCE RESPONSE:

There have been occasions that we have had problems with the security gate. Upon notification, the City immediately attempts to resolve the situation. Sometimes, this involves DPW contacting the service company for repairs.

Besides police cars, the number of occupants vary due to terminations for a variety of reasons. Some occupants clearly have the intention of maintaining a space for a specific period of time. Because of the various types of vehicles occupying spaces for various reasons (commercial vehicles for business purposes, employee vehicles for parking during working hours, recreational vehicles, etc.) , spectators will be unable to view the lot to determine the true number of occupied spaces.

1. What did we pay for this specific property? cost to purchase $2,900,000 (purchased for settlement of a lawsuit)

2. A. What is the return on investment? What is the annual budgeted amounts for revenue/expenditures? Budgeted revenue is $22,000. The year to date total is $4,766.

Budgeted expenditures are in the following three accounts-Electricity paid from General Services, budget expense not separately listed, but absorbed in total for account; Phone paid from Non-Departmental, $500; and Maintenance paid from Construction& Maintenance, $2,000.

B. What do we lose in annual tax revenue? That is difficult to calculate because depending on the use of the property (for example if it was used by a nonprofit it would not be taxed versus a structure would be taxed on the size of building)

3. Was a parking facility a "core" service that our city needs to provide the residents? The lot certainly is useful to those residents who need additional parking space for vehicles due to HOA restrictions, business needs and various Code violations (Sec. 28-6 in the Code of Ordinances)-providing this lot to our residents assists with this need.

How many of the spaces are actually rented to residents at present? Residents and non-residents are now able to use the facility. The number of paying spaces total 67 of 137. (Open spaces are being used to place several police vehicles)

4. It appears that as it is currently utilized, this competes with two business properties within a quarter mile radius that pay taxes to our city, is that true? Yes; the City remains competitive in its prices, and will continue to do so to ensure services are provided to our residents, business owners and other prospective clients.

Is the asphalt service installed, water permeable? No, however the site's drainage system consists of French drains.

It appears that this property could be sold, put back on the tax rolls and be privately developed into something that would be of great benefit to our City, the money earned from the sale could be used toward implementing the City's Master Plan so our current residents will be able to increase their enjoyment of our City of Choice in the nearer future. Future utilization will be based on City Commission directive and taking into consideration the benefits to the Community.

Where on the City's website will the answers to these questions be for all the residents to see?

As discussed, it is not appropriate to utilize the City's website for posting responses to residents' questions. Residents/business owners can always contact staff and/or participate during Public Participation at City Commission meetings.

Keith S. London City Commissioner Hallandale Beach

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