Here’s The Scoop…How Many Men Does It Take To Change A Lightbulb?…

October 8, 2008 by Barbara

HOW MANY LBTS VFD/AMR MEMBERS DOES IT TAKE TO ANSWER A 911 CALL?….

Tonight…

at this writer’s condominium….

For one 911 call…

the answer is…..2 AMR ambulances…1 VFD truck …and VICE MAYOR MCINTEE’S CADILLAC!…YIKES!…

Here’s the lowdown…

This writer and hubby went to 101 to eat dinner…as we approached we saw AMR truck M 12…parked across from the Village Grille where the BSO used to park….as we got closer…the 2nd AMR truck pulled up and parked behind it….

The 2nd truck is in town while awaiting the “pad” at Holy Cross Hospital…I have been told…….

The AMR employees walked past us on Commercial walking west…we figured for a bite to eat…

Upon finishing our meal…they walked back to their respective vehicles….and then…

we saw AMR M 12 take the roundabout in the center of town square surprisingly fast…heading down to the Aruba turnaround…. as it doubled back with lights and siren…heading north up El Mar Drive…

shortly afterwards the second AMR truck came up Commercial…with its lights and sirens on….

WOW..we thought 2 calls…what was going on?….

We walked home to find….it was at our building…5000 N Ocean Blvd….. both AMR trucks …the VFD fire truck…and McIntee’s Cadillac parked right in front of the building…. and quickly crossed the road to see what was going on that demanded such a response?……

Our thoughts of a real disaster calmed down though with a look at the VFD fire truck…for standing behind it…around 6 VFD members and the Vice Mayor standing with his arms crossed…REALLY!…

I could not believe he followed them in his car…and was standing there like that…INCREDIBLE!…

So I took a picture with my phone…because I found this most disturbing….as a booming voice came across the front drive…”There’s Barb taking a picture …..”….I just smiled….

I went inside to check what was what… with the security guards at the front desk…. they responded that a woman in the building had either fainted or was not feeling well…her husband called 911….and then the “caravan” showed up to answer the call!……

This writer was told early on…the following….when following up on a question I had been asked….who was going to be the 1st responders on the fire trucks when answering a 911 medical emergency call in order to follow the ambulance?…

I was told that this BSO protocol would not be required…due to the fact that AMR would have 2 EMT and 1 Paramedic on their truck to respond….and the only reason ….according to this well informed member…..that BSO followed this protocol was because they only had 2 EMT and the firetruck provided the 3rd EMT or Paramedic……

So it was a surprising assertion by the Vice Mayor after this information was given to me…that a VFD fire truck would indeed be following every 911 call for AMR….as we witnessed tonight….

It begs the question …why?….

Is it a temporary situation …more on- the- job training in the infancy of their return to service the town?….

If not….why two such different responses…and which one is correct…as they move forward as the LBTS fire saftey provider?….

Final note…from what I saw tonight…it looked like the VFD leadership role is de-facto….with the man in the Cadillac in charge….who stood there with arms crossed…like he owned the town and the VFD….

I guess this writer’s 2nd request for public information won’t be showing up anytime soon….after tonight’s yell across the way…

more to come…on Thursday when they return to this building to train….

UPDATE…Comments are welcome…see the 2 below…the 1st…is from AMR……check them out…add your own…

Posted in Scoops, VFD | Tagged VFD, amr | 2 Comments »

Here’s The Scoop….Gone Missing….From SNL….HMMM….

October 7, 2008 by Barbara

LBTS residents might remember a few times when a Jarvis Hall tape was mysteriously missing…or mysteriously not recorded…it remained on this writer’s DVR….and was retrieved for the CIC and the town archives…

Well….it’s happened once again…only on a national level…a great skit made by an “old-time” comedy writer for Saturday Night Live was included in Saturday night’s show….about the $700 billion bail out…..the Democrats involved…including George Soros…in a “what’s good for the goose….” moment…

The talk of the net today…it’s gone…removed from NBC…and Youtube….but it lives on DVR’s and by downloading smart computer addicts…dedicated to fair “skewering” of both political parties…

Just maybe this will wake many up to the other numerous internet freedoms of speech that have also been censored…in this campaign…scary stuff…

The Video gone missing…IT’S A HOOT!…(until and unless this too is removed…click on video….ASAP…wait for the podium….where it begins…)

http://ifreedomtrail.blogspot.com/2008/10/nbc-censors-itself-saturday-night-live.html

no matter what your political choice is on Nov.4th…all should question removals like this….

more to come….

Posted in Politics, Scoops | Tagged SNL skit removal | 2 Comments »

We Made The FRONT PAGE Of The Papers…$60,000 LBTS Project…But Will It Work?

October 7, 2008 by Barbara

“Lauderdale-by-the-sea will try electricity to

stimulate coral growth off South Florida coast

Low voltage current to stimulate coral growth off our coast”

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbcoral1007sboct07,0,1759467.story

The Furth-McIntee Coral Reef Project…has some noted experts questioning it’s ability to deliver….

PUBLIC HEARING…

March 4…7-9 pm…International Game Fish Assoc. 300 Gulf Stream Way, Dania Beach…

Comments also may be sent in…

Assistant Regional Administrator, Projected Resources Division

National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Regional Office

263 13th Ave. South

St. Petersburg,Fl. 33701

or on the web….www.regulations.gov...using the identification number 0648-AV35

deadline is May 6

OOPS…left out in the dust once more…. the resident who brought this to the Town …Furth and McIntee,,,

Former Mayor Ken Wardlaw…

Note: The former Mayor sent this writer numerous e-mails with the accounts of his role in the project…

more to come…

Lauderdale-by-the-sea will try electricity to stimulate coral growth off South Florida coast

“The cables are part of an ambitious underwater experiment that uses low-voltage electrical stimuli to revive the badly damaged coral reef. (AP)”

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/

Posted in Local News, Local Politics | Tagged coral reef, papers | No Comments »

Here’s The Scoop…Be Careful What You Wish For…

October 6, 2008 by Barbara

Be Careful What You Wish For….

For 2 years I thought about what this town could be….how it could be different from what I had observed starting from that fateful day when I was given another code violation for the fence that was put in around my house ….which was done under the direction of the Development Director at the time…2 years prior …

That code violation came exactly as the first one did…1 year earlier…from Code Enforcement Officer Jeff Bowman…after I had called to complain about the house next door…a house in disrepair…lacking a proper roof…exposed wiring and a host of health hazards from the tenants at the time with dogs and garbage…

The neighbors property was ignored…and today…it still stands with no proper roof…wiring exposed…although the tenants are much improved…and Jeff Bowman is the new Director of Development…

Due to the mistake being made by the town…the second code violation required getting a variance to keep this from happening a 3rd time…which would have kept this writer from calling code enforcement the following year if need be…due to 3 times a charm…for a fence violation coming my way….

A series of visits to Jarvis Hall…observing what was going on from the dais… the fact that my children were grown and I had time to get involved…I jumped in with both feet…applying to the P & Z Board… attending CIC meetings…signing onto get signatures for petition drives…(which I now disagree with…term limits…and heights in the north end of town….the height limit question I and many others petition gatherers did not care about even as we collected those signatures…we did it for McIntee)…and getting “sucked” into the world of McIntee with his “Pied Piper”…. David VS Goliath…”I have a Scoop”…the evil “Old Guard”…the “nasty” people…the “briber” felon…the money hungry developers… the BSO…unions…the “investigations”…and so on and so on…

The “How The Sausage Was Made” series and the E-mails…pretty much covers the specifics of what occurred during that period and how I wised up to the personality of the “Pied Piper” and all that happened before my eyes……shamefully turning a “blind eye” for far too long…

Not too surprising so many have sent e-mails…or stopped me on the street to say…they knew only too well the tactics…McIntee uses….the outbursts…the verbage…the threats and the control…. for they too had witnessed it or been subjected to it……qualifying what I have often said “I wasn’t the first and will not be the last”….to feel his wrath….along with his gang…

Squandered were the opportunities that I envisioned from the New Guard majority…the inclusion of all the town’s residents…the change in the dais from what I had observed from the previous office holders…the chance to really have transparent government…fair government and most important ….financially prudent government…

As readers now know…that did not happen….and I have written about it all….ever since…much to their chagrin…

What has transpired in this writers’ opinion…”Parallel McIntee worlds”….making LBTS into Mc-LBTS…in the worst possible ways… I imagine all those who warned of such….are standing back…keeping track and preparing for March 2010…with “Cheshire cat” smiles…along with “I told you so”…assertions…

The Hierarchies are in full force all being led by the Vice Mayor in official or de-facto leadership roles…

The CIC….has finally returned to what he tried to have when Stu Dodd and I were in the leadership roles…it is controlled by McIntee /wife and gang…… run without regard to the by-laws or the members…essentially throwing John Thompson off the board by leaving him out of board information supplied to the rest of the board…on numerous occasions ….

The LBTS-VFD Ocean Rescue-ATV program…is reportedly being run by McIntee who is the “training officer”…after the coordinator resigned…previous posts…most likely this program would not have been accepted by the Commission if it was known McIntee would be in charge and Scot Fowler would not…

The LBTS-VFD…is reportedly being run as the “old VFD”…with the old members…and the old Chief and Deputy Chief really calling the shots…..rumors that seem to intensify with the resignation of Battalion Chief Pointu…previous posts…leaving no one else with the credentials he has…including being able to fulfill the FF1 classes…most likely if it was known that this resignation and multiple others that have taken place ….the Commission might have had some great concerns…over the “new” VFD…. any talk of a VFD Referendum should not be entertained….in February …

The Manager is really no different than her predecessor with seeming too cozy with McIntee with the early on attempt to fulfill his desire for compensation for not partaking the insurance now being given to the Commission…and the “pet project” for a swimming program…along with numerous other “we have the money for that” responses to him on the dais….while always saying no to others…

It is this writer’s opinion they are two “peas in a pod”…with “department heads”…hers in the administration…Municipal/Finance/Development and Clerk……his in the CIC/VFD…being under qualified and unable to stand up to their respective bosses…

One bright spot is the increasing independence of the 2 new commissioners…Stuart Dodd since he was “thrown under the bus”…see previous posts…and Birute Clottey….who is really representing the north side of town where they have not been effectively represented before by the Vice Mayor…over the last 2 + years….

Oh I know…I’ve been told…”watch your back”…a “slap” site is coming….”you are hated”…and much…much more…. coming from this small-intense Mc-faction…but…nothing they can say or do will make me feel worse than what I wished for….all I worked towards being dashed… being duped for what was most likely the McIntee “plan”…all along….

Now what I wish for …..but I’m not holding my breath…

For the CIC Board and its members who still give a damn to stand up and ask questions…

For the VFD to have someone in charge with credentials … (even though the state does not require them to do so…. which is incredibly shocking…previous post)… that are irrefutably top notch….both for the department as a whole and for the Beach Patrol program…

For the Administration…to hire from the outside…from a broad spectrum of ad placements…the top applicants in their respective fields…with the required credentials…and the ability to counter the status quo…

Otherwise….I wish for 2010….careful about what I am wishing for….AHHHHH………

Posted in Local Politics, Scoops, VFD | Tagged VFD, town politics | 1 Comment »

Places To Go….

October 6, 2008 by Barbara

OCTOBER FEST for the POA…this is the last day to RSVP…954-776-5974

The event…Sat. October 11,2008…6-9pm…Jarvis Hall …members bring a “pot luck” German dish for 8….

Pork Roast and Brats will be supplied by the POA….

October 9,2008 in the evening…the LBTS-VFD will be training at this writer’s building Sea Ranch Club B… building residents are welcome to observe …Town’s residents…can observe from outside..

October 11,2008….Speaker Diane Guidry….November 10,2008….Speaker Sandy Granson….LBTS Garden Club…9:15-11 am…Jarvis Hall….for info…call 954-650-5918

October 15,2008….Old Fashioned Fish Fry….Chamber Of Commerce…5-8pm…Shutters on the Ocean…

call 954-321-4100 for info…

Want to join in on the Halloween Event….have a table…give out candy?….

POA, CIC,COP, Bel-air, Terr Mar , Blue Moon, 101, Aruba, Village grille, Frame N Art, Chamber, Hamilton Valet, Ham Eggs,Sal’ Towing, VFD and many more business and Organization having a table and helping out,all the commissioners and Mayors will also have a table. …$35 for business/organizations…$25 for residents…

Contact Jim Silverstone….

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Sea Ranch Club

October 6, 2008 by Barbara

Areas Association Executive Board Meeting 10/1/08…

Dates To Remember…

October 6,2008…B building pool will be closed for approximately 2 weeks…

October 9, 2008…VFD train at B building in the evening…residents encouraged to observe…

October 16, 2008… 6:30 pm…B building Palm Room …Comcast Rep…explains DVR boxes etc…all SRC residents welcome…

The meeting…

discussion over the distribution of purchases of outside materials among the 3 buildings…and how best to to see where the items are going…after much back and forth it was decided that a site plan will be used to display where…

Jonathan…Landscape Foreman…agreed to this and went on to give updates of work being done…plantings etc…and giving a response to the few complaints about lawn blowers….time and place used…agreed they are not used before 9 am …

An inventory was handed out put together by Carlos the new Maintenance Foreman …along with what we are lacking in the inventory…

Still having problems with hiring a pool person and getting bids…a sign of the time…

The previous decision of sending out the lawn chairs and umbrellas was put on hold once again…

The big topic of discussion was one that is on everybody’s minds…where to put out funds…so they are fully protected under the current FDIC maximums per account…several options are being looked into…such as online banking various banks…more to come on this…

Also the new condo laws that began on the 1st…including board members having a 2 year term…which conflicts with SRC 1 year terms at present in our bylaws…

A full board meeting with the SRC attorney will be called …

Again the topic of gas grills…buying new ones…with an option discussed of hooking up to natural gas rather than propane…

Work projects…C tennis court still not finished…cabana plumbing…still waiting on bids…B pool will have an extra step installed and a warranty for rust was obtained…C building is in progress with garage ceiling leak repairs…2 planters approved for repair C building for $5400.00 … obtaining bids for lower garage door…garage gate A motor replaced for $2499.95 in addition tp previous bid from Mastertec..with lower bid due to dividing up the job and 1 less planter……approved annual lift station cleaning $650.00…

adjourned…

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Local News…Local Papers

October 5, 2008 by Barbara

TOWN TOPICS….IN RED!…and PINK…

Why the sudden change?…

VFD has a picture of the Chief…Bob Perkins…in one of the new ATVs….it announces the “Perks” included on the $40 thousand dollar vehicles…GPS…Cell Phones and in the near future a way to follow along from your home computer….

all sounds like “bells and whistles”….but…who is doing the training of the VFD members now that Coordinator Scot Fowler is out?…

And in the article Perkins states that ATV numbers will not be posted on the beach so that beach goers call 911…if help is needed…but…what are the cards Vice Mayor…the rumored…de-facto Training Officer McIntee is handing out to those beach goers as he makes the rounds?…

An updated LBTS-VFD website is badly needed…as previously posted…http://www.lbtsfire.com/modules/content/?id=1

NO WONDER “THEY” DO NOT OFFER TO HELP!….

on page 4 of Town Topics is the ad for the Halloween Party and Haunted House…

First …. the announcement …. “Commissioner Silverstone and the Town Commission Invite You Later This Month To Enjoy A Ghoulish Great Time At The Annual children’s Halloween Party and Haunted House”…?…HMMM

If the Mayor did this…..it would raise a ruckus… the 4th of July event did not say Commissioner Dodd/ Commissioner Clottey and the Town Commission on the invites….

A little pre-election maneuvering?…YIKES…

Then you have what continues to be wrong with this “group”…the Haunted House…special thanks to Cristie and Marc Furth and the CIC for decorating the Haunted House this year…

What this does…keeps non-CIC members from volunteering…thus the great divide that this New Guard charged the Old Guard with…continues on…BAD MOVE…BAD P.R…

Maybe in this time of cost cutting Town Topics needs to be re-visited…to pay the cost for this…even bi-monthly to put out information found elsewhere…in a more timely manner seems a waste…of time and money…

To make a publication to pay to inform residents of old info in numerous pages…yet again… in this edition recycled hurricane and flood insurance information…why?…

All pertinent information included is already sent out in a myriad of other options…local papers…local groups…condo news…newspapers inserts.. grocery store fliers…hurricane and flood insurance sent out in yearly mailings from the state or federal government..online on the Town website… VFD site..Chamber site…local news sites…this site…channel 78…schedules are at town hall and at the senior center…

Time to call this expenditure one that should be scrubbed….better move than changing the print colors…

Pelican 10/3/08…

Judy Vik wrote on the Budget hearings…pointing out that this writer was the only resident in the audience…

again…I implore the Commission to change the time next year…to 7 pm…to ensure a larger turnout…

Cuts in capital improvements…staff hours previously posted…along with the millage and the unbelievable “pet project” of the recreational /children’s activity funds increasing $10 thousand dollars…for swimming and youth programs without announcing the responses from the August/Sept Town Topics poll….or commission input ahead of the budget vote…

Just remember incumbent commission members on the dais…up for re-election in 2010…a tally is being kept!…

ON TO POMPANO’S DOGGY PARK…

Now that the outcry over the LBTS doggy beach is finally dying down…and informed readers know this was a subject that could have been put to bed before it returned to the dais after this 2008 election…with Vice Mayor McIntee..Commissioner Silverstone and the Administration…informing Commissioner Dodd about the 2006 response to McIntee-Silverstone’s 1st attempt after their election….to enact their doggy beach…which as previously posted ….shows it followed the very same path of demise….rather than encouraging him to complete their election 2006 promise…only to “play” ignorant on their roles…when the uprise began once again!….OUCH!…

It is the new Pompano Beach doggy park that has opponents on the warpath!….

“Audubon Society members fear long-term effects of canine feces at proposed dog park in Pompano”…a letter to the editor…from Grant Campbell Broward County Audubon Society Conservation and Environmental Concerns”….http://www.browardaudubon.org/

more to come

Posted in Local News | Tagged local news..local papers | No Comments »

Public Notices…Ordinances .

October 5, 2008 by Barbara

Public Notices…10/4/08..SunSentinel

Town of LBTS…full text available at city hall

Notice of Public Hearing

Ordinances…a repeat of the ordinances 2008-19 to 2008-24 having to do with fee structures for application fees and changes in who is in charge of recommendations…final decisions…for appeals…variances…

a look at the 9/12/08 LBTS agendas/meetings category will show the ordinances…

a follow-up later this week of the 10/14/08 agenda will show any amendments made to the ordinances covered at the commission meeting…

One item previously posted by this writer…Scoops category …the $350 fee for a variance..was passed by the full commission on March 11,2008… 5-0 for all types of property…at this base fee…Resolution 2008-03…with the following minutes inclusion of this exchange…

“Commissioner Silverstone thought the Commission voted to reduce fees for simple variances. He added the THIS VERSION RELATED TO COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL VARIANCES. MANAGER COLON SAID THE COMMISSION APPROVED ALL TYPES OF PROPERTY. She added anything over $453 (was changed to $350 at final vote…the only change made according to the minutes) such as review by an outside source would be an additional cost to the requester.

At the 9/12/08 meeting the Manager was representing two different base fees…$350 residential/$900 commercial…

It is this writer’s opinion that single base fee for all types of properties should be adhered to for variances and should extend to any kind of application fee for any department…

The Manager should be called on this insertion if it has not been amended in this new ordinance agenda item..

more to come…

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Here’s The Scoop…Ocean Rescue Training…De-Railed…

October 4, 2008 by Barbara

WE WAS DUPED AGAIN….

When Scot Fowler came to the podium …residents of LBTS were given to believe that this experienced Ocean Rescue VFD member would be in charge of the new LBTS-VFD Beach Patrol program ….producing a first class group of volunteers who would be on our beach …protecting our residents and tourists and making the $40 thousand+ investment in the ATVs an appropriate expenditure ….

Within a few months …VFD member Scot Fowler resigned on August 8,2008…..after being a VFD member since August 9,2004…and coming to speak on this very topic in 2006…(see below link)…

Why…..not hard to figure out….”How The Sausage Was Made”…. The Beach Patrol version…..any bets?….

Ocean Rescue Fort Lauderdale

http://ci.ftlaud.fl.us/oceanrescue/

http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:wrnOuTLlAGcJ:ci.ftlaud.fl.us/documents/comm_minutes

07/110607cc_regminutesrev.pdf+scot+fowler

+fort+lauderdale+lifeguard&hl=e

“Assistant Fire Chief McInerny presented lifesaving awards to Lifeguards Gio Serrano, Bill Evans and Lieutenant Scot Fowler who saved an individual found face down in the surf.”

WORDS FROM 2006….DO WE EVER MOVE FORWARD IN THIS TOWN?……

http://www.bytheseafuture.org/0019.html

“Last week, Mayor Oliver Parker asked a noted writer and expert on ocean lifeguard techniques, Dr. John Fletmeyer, to speak at the meeting. Fletmeyer had planned to discuss liabilities, proactive education and alternatives to lifeguards.

Fletmeyer�s discussion included possible training for safety and fire officials on how to react if they were called to a possible drowning. But Fletmeyer was brushed off before any dialogue could be initiated when Commissioner Jerry McIntee informed the commission that the volunteer fire fighters were already training with one of their own volunteers.

They are training, according to volunteer fire fighter Lt. Scott Fowler, a Fort Lauderdale life guard, to be able to assist swimmers in distress.

Fowler added that volunteer fire fighters are actually going into rip currents and learning how to escape. But, according to Fowler, these are part of the volunteer regular training sessions, and there is no organized class to train volunteers as certified lifeguards.

http://www.bytheseafuture.org/0022.html

“Two recent drownings earlier this year has brought to the forefront the question of whether the town should hire lifeguards.

Lauderdale-By-The-Sea has 2.3 miles of unprotected beach, where for years, swimmers have been swimming at their own risk. BSO records indicate that five deaths from drowning have occurred off LBTS beaches since April 2002.

Commissioner Jerry McIntee, also the volunteer fire deputy chief, told the commission that his volunteers had already begun training under the instruction of Lt. Scott Fowler, a volunteer fire fighter. Fowler also works fulltime with Fort Lauderdale and part time with Pompano Beach as an ocean lifeguard. His lifeguard certification is through the Red Cross.

�We meet on Thursday nights at the ocean and practice life saving techniques,� said Fowler. �We also practice in swimming pools and sometime at the Intracoastal.� Fowler added that no formal class for certification has yet been formed.

�It�s tough to get that many people together,� said Fowler.”

THE “HITS” JUST KEEP ON COMING….

instead of a first rate Beach patrol…led by Scot Fowler or another qualified lifeguard with similar experience and qualifications….

we have a McIntee “toy” for travel around town…and daily jaunts on the beach to hand out his “cards” to beach- goers… along with becoming the de-facto Beach Patrol “Training Officer”…

Oversight is called for….NOW!…..

Posted in Local News, Local Politics, Scoops, VFD | Tagged beach parol, ocean rescue, VFD | No Comments »