January 6, 2009 by Barbara
PELICAN ONLINE…LBTS YEAR IN REVIEW…
SPOT ON….
The year got off to a contentious start in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea and didn’t improve much as the months went on.’
http://www.pompanopelican.com/editions/V15_I01/page_view.php?id=70&id_version=1&id_page=452
Note to pelican….we need more copies in B building Sea Ranch Club….they go fast!….
January 3, 2009 by Barbara
IT’S BENDER TIME…
Dear Readers this is the 9th in the ‘Wizard Of Pompano’ series…and all throughout the series this writer has offered a link to it and found dubious comparisons…in what we here in LBTS face …alongside our neighbor to the north…
In our case… a Town Manager who has made it a “practice”of hiring from within the administration…..bypassing the correct venues to enact responses from the top notch applicants……(previous posts..Scoop category)……We deserve to have these positions filled by fully capable personnel …. independently running their respective departments…..instead of being micro-managed with less than steller results…….
The Vice Mayor’s “support of the troops” dais diatribe last month……sounds eerily like the support of Caroline Kennedy…for Senate….. undeserving and unqualified to do the job…..but “owed” in some way or another….
The fallout from this Buffalo “cop-like” loyalty…has left us with months of no forward movement on the dais…lack of backup materials…timely follow-ups provided for agenda items …and behind the scenes sole decision making that seems to grow …enboldened with power providing a total disregard for the Commission…Board members…and taxpayers…. to maintain the sub-standard status quo….
The topper however…. was how this last year ended…the unnerving and suspect Pavilion surprise “makeover”….and the Mc-group now fully supporting their “Mc-Vice Mayor”…alongside his Mc-Manager…and Mc-VFD Chief… in the unsavory act of ignoring public records requests…leading up to in- house plan and dais taunts of slowing…or even stopping the public’s right to know…all done under the “guise”…of saving the Town…the Administration…the contracted public safety providers from a “witch hunt”…and “divisive attacks”…..
In 2009…this Commission…needs to get it together…give direction to the Manager and get to the bottom of what has been happening ….independent of the Vice Mayor….Questions must be asked…answers must be forthcoming and complete……on hiring practices…..qualifications…..decision making…and public records requests…..
It is the right of every person…every publication to ask and receive it all in a reasonable amount of time…per Florida State statutes
In 2009…anymore such thwarting of this should be taken to the State…..perhaps with the long list of those denied their requests…signing on together….to see that LBTS is working for the people…all the people….
more to come…
BENDER…FL. SENTRY…
PART IX…NOW WHAT?….
‘The mantra of government Of particular concern is that nobody in government is ever held responsible for not doing his or her job. In government, we just seem to float from incident to incident and we unfortunately have a weak political process (City Commission) that refuses to accept ultimate responsibility – or take serious corrective actions, when warranted.’
December 31, 2008 by Barbara
PUT THAT IN YOUR PAYBACK “TO DO” FILE!…
During the 2008 campaign…… the founding Editors of the Mc-BTSTimes…cried foul!….
They were fit to be tied…they were losing money…crying crocodile tears…over lost ad revenue…and pointing the finger at their nemesis… competition …The Futures newspaper!…
Those dastardly Old Guard Developer Publishers….(when talking of the Futures…in the Mc-Gang world…you must always preface it with “Old Guard Developer”…sort of like “Nancy Kerrigan’s mother is legally blind”…a flashback to the Olympics…..)..were “giving their ads away”…undercutting the Times..and this was hitting the MacMillans in their pocketbook…OUCH!…
“Oh my”, we exclaimed…and a few stalwart CIC members…jumped in to do their part…and make the rounds….to enlist new advertisers…
We must save the paper…from certain doom…for the campaign…the CIC and the “clean sweep- part 2″ could not possibly survive to fight another day without the BTSTimes…
Well ..those laboring members soon realized…in a pre- ad round-up…the ad space in the Times…was about even with the Futures…but no mention was made..out loud…knowing full well many an excuse…or flimsy reasoning would be the response…don’t believe your eyes…
So we gave and we gave…to the Times…in the $$$$$…from the CIC…from the candidates…to keep it “afloat”…keep the owners…and their Mc-pal…off our case…and subdued…$$$$ happy….
Flash forward…new owners…of the Times…the Mc-BTSTimes…reaching into that “file”…offering it is said…free ads!…
We are told they needed to “fill in” their paper…and offered in-town restaurants/ businesses…. free business card ads…which makes a great deal for the businesses…and perhaps evens the “score”…
Payback is the Mc-mantra…don’t ya know!…Check…that one off the list…
Businesses…should be Switzerland…( as two well-known local- restaurant owners informed this writer…was their stance)… in this steamy Newspaper Wars climate…and take a stand …for immunity of backlash…from the papers…and their backers….for the sake of their livlihoods…and no loss of their patrons!
NOTE TO BUSINESSES….It’s not smart to only “allow” only one local newspaper in your establishment…especially with one of the Mc-paper’s owners being a daily “regular”..along with his Mc-Gang…. ( this writer was given plenty of overheard info…directed this way…coming regularly from a booth…where this group would be seated)…it gives rise to that unseemly “tinge” of an unwelcoming “Soprano’s” type of joint…in a Buffalo -Chicago…political- muck sort of way…
It’s your call….
more to come…
December 30, 2008 by Barbara
BETTER LATE…THAN…NEVER…HMMM…THAT’S DEFINITELY IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER…
The Mc-BTSTimes is out……and a quick overview…just proves the “FACTUAL”…truth…of the previous BC-post..”Newspaper Wars”…(scoops category)…with Truth Detector…obviously Mc-Mrs Staff writer….
Are you with em’…MC-Furth-CIC…or are you against them….not drinking the kool-aid?…
Note to the Mc-slap site …and your “Happy New Year” ad…..(knew it was coming)…..your “FACUTAL” truths…says it all… ….YIKES!…
(Thanks for the heads up…faithful reader….)
The cover….
Are you a visitor…or a resident…will you be mortified…perhaps?….
Contributing byline writers…your inclusion in this publication…gave it its only plus…in this writer’s humble opinion….but make sure you read what you are included in…and who it is sending it “zingers” out to…are they your friends…your neighbors or your clients ….something worth pondering…before you decide whether to write again…
No lifeguards for the beach..per the Editor’s article……..but lifeguards for the Mc-Public Pool…(bathtub)…That’s getting our priorities straight!…
Commission Meeting Highlights…is like reading ” Cliff Notes”…for “Dummies”…sad to say…Commissioner Clottey…may want to ask for photo approval….in the next edition…
The Editor’s best and the worst of 2008…….is the party-line…from start to finish…with the exception of the “2nd bite of the apple”….doggy beach …brought forth with the insistance of the”2 Hats”… the original doggy beach supporters…wanting to fulfill their 2006 campaign promise….resulting in the Vice Mayor’s “cut to the chase” takeover…and pick of the unpopular center of town beach location…to try it out … then “throwing” Comm. Dodd “under the bus”…when the straw poll showed the results….
For all of those who opposed the sidewalks…and then asked their Commissioners for support …. to vote to impact their property the least…when they finally knew they were stuck…the revisionist history “role” the “2 Hats” played…is hard to swallow in the Vice Mayor’s Comments..Anyone looking for the real “deal”… just take a listen to the residents…some are CIC members who live on Sea Grape Drive…they remember what was said to them privately…and what was done to them from the dais…by the Mc-pals…long memories…remain…intact!
How about adding salt to the wound…with the Times picking Mary Ann Corley to write about the beauty of the sidewalks…It is said she was the “instigator” in pushing for them to be installed…despite her Sea Grape neighbors telling her their wishes not to have them………Well …many of those Sea Grape residents…have said…they all look forward to the day…….if the “plan” of town-wide sidewalks comes to pass………to put the sidewalk in first…using the whole right- of -way….. in front of the Corley home…where it’s guaranteed…there will be a large crowd in attendance for that groundbreaking…..”Good for the goose…..”don’t ya know!
Editor’s note:…the project has not run over budget….HUH?…From the original estimates… this sidewalk project with its many change orders ….grew substantially from the start-up…. OOPS!……Pretty soon this publication will need to be called…The New Revisionist- BTSTimes…
The “Kindergarten Teacher” outburst (previous LBTS agenda/meeting 12/16/08 category)… was not enough…to quiet the Vice Mayor’s wife…she has used the paper…(under her own name this time)…to continue on her “Gavel” gripes…with the Mayor…but as sad as this decision is…it is really hard to get beyond her opening sentences…..without a big “guffaw”…’Observance of decorum and order is not an option at Town Commission meetings’……. ‘that is, unless you prefer to accept the consequences according to LBTS law and Fl. state statute. Decorum suggests dignity, politeness, and a sense of appropriate behavior in our society. Hand in hand with decorum is order’ …’it is not a laughing matter.’…..Guffaw…guffaw…you gotta laugh….. at the absurdity of it all….. The Vice Mayor’s wife …giving a “wet noodle” “slap” to the Mayor on dais decorum…dignity….politeness…and appropriate behavior…What can I say….I see a Saturday Night Live sketch!…….Anybody else?…
ATTENTION….VFD SUPPORTERS….Your VFD Booster funds went to pay for the full page ad..inside the back cover…were you aware?….
more to come….
December 24, 2008 by Barbara
IT’S BENDER TIME…OH THOSE TOWN MANAGERS…
‘IT WAS A BIG MISTAKE’
BCbythesea…same holds true…in this writer’s opinion…here in our little village…(see previous posts…Scoops/LBTS agenda/meetings categories)…
Some excerpts….worth a read…(the whole series….)
‘ should never have been in the running because, 1) he wasn’t qualified based upon his actual work experience,’
‘not “credentialed” by the International City/County Management Association – being credentialed requires a college degree and experience as a senior executive for seven to nine years, and that experience is scrutinized to insure that it is actual senior executive experience and not just service in a position with a senior executive title.’
http://icma.org/main/bc.asp?bcid=654&hsid=1&ssid1=17&ssid2=2532
‘I have been covering Pompano politics for a long time and expecting this Commission – any commission – to do the right thing is akin to expecting teenagers to clean up their bedrooms – the result will be the same mess.’
more to come…
December 21, 2008 by Barbara
HE SAID…SHE SAID…THEY SAID….
John Thompson ….was last year’s “Man of the Year”…at his former paper…BTSTimes…then owned and operated by MacMillan and wife…before he was let go..(without his knowledge)…by way of hearing it through others after a CIC Board meeting took place…where he was asked to leave…due to a disagreement in the new set rules of secrecy demanded by the new CIC Chair and Vice Chair…(none other than the new owner and operator of the BTSTimes)…Cristie Furth and the Vice Mayor’s wife Moe McIntee… A letter was read after his departure… from the Editor-Publisher of the Times with disparaging remarks about their “Man of the Year”……(John was the only member of the board not in receipt of a copy of the letter )… After this took place…John needed to implore the Board for a copy of the letter in order to respond to it and defend himself…He was also consistently left out of Board correspondence..after this evening……due to his long standing principles…of transparency for the organization as a whole… not decision making being done by a few…
In that vein…he is still being disregarded by some on the Board…despite the fact he was elected to represent the members..(with the most votes received) to maintain his Board seat until elections in April…
Mr Thompson as all those who know him are aware…sticks to his beliefs…his sense of right and wrong and is dogged in seeing anything he perceives being amiss rectified…no matter how long it takes or how far he must travel…to complete the task at hand …until its conclusion ……
He has left our town…once more…
The first time was a few years back after making the move from Sea Ranch Club to John Knox Village…a move in residency only…for he stayed involved in our town due to his many friends and supporters requesting his presence…his guidance…his meticulous research and his journalistic skills …as they moved to rectify the wrongs that still existed in our town. John complied, in many ways putting the completion of his move to our neighboring town…and what awaited him there…on hold… to benefit us all and finish what he too started.
How sad it was to watch the increasing insults…coming at the end…after that “big win”…not from those he opposed all these many years, but from those he stayed around for, counseled, campaigned for, supported and called friend.
His “usefulness” had expired in their small “agenda” mindset, and the very attributes they so admired…his knowledge of the history of this town, his resolve in expecting the same fairness, transparency, decency from those now in the majority as he fought for from their predecessors became an unwelcome liability, a thorn in their Mc-sides…
So they began to act like their predecessors ….throwing out insults…”he doesn’t live in this town”…”he’s antagonistic”…and much worse accusations…none of which need to see more print…
Although John has now moved on the “rest of the way”…finally getting involved in John Knox Village after turning them down for so long in order to accommodate those of us who prevailed upon him ….. true to his make-up…he managed to tie up a few loose ends…in finishing what he started….
He will complete his term on the CIC Board…included or excluded by the Board……and not run for re-election…as stated in a e-mail sent out to all the members…and he will continue to support the VFD and those elected Commissioners…and friends in town…who continue to seek his counsel…
He also finished his complaint and appeal against the Futures paper…
His letter to the Editor of the Sentry paper was published…and a response to his actions appears in this issue of the Futures from Executive Editor Geesey …..currently online..
All 3 are below…John’s e-mail to the CIC (sent to this writer by members in receipt of it )/ His letter to the Editor of the The Sentry 12-4-08/ The link to the Future’s response to his complaint/appeal……
THE CIC E-MAIL….Dec. 14,2008
Dear Fellow CIC Members,
I apologize for not having written in nearly three months to update you on the status of my service in the position of CIC Director to which you elected me last April. You will recall that when I last wrote, I advised that a majority of the board had voted to exclude me from attendance at Board meetings unless I promised not to disclose what took place at those meetings until the majority of the Board was ready to do so, and not to correspond directly with members (as I am now doing) without the permission of the full Board. I reminded them, and you, that I could not accept such restrictions because I had promised you before the April election that I would do my best to keep you informed of what is going on, and give you my best objective analysis of LBTS events – just as I used to do in By-the-Sea Times before being “let go” by the publishers.
But in the interim, I have not been entirely idle. First, I was engaged in follow-up of elections-code complaints I had brought against the (then) unidentified sponsors of the mysterious website that published political advertisements and other propaganda before the November 2006 election in apparent violation of the relevant Florida Statute. A month ago I rode the Greyhound red-eye up to Tallahassee and back to attend a decisive Elections Commission hearing with somewhat surprising and unpredictable results, as described in the attached article.
Moreover, I was asked again this year to accept a position on the Board of Directors of John Knox Village, where Ingrid and I now live. I had to decline last year due to the importance I attached to debunking old-guard myths in my opinion pieces in the Times and to my support for challengers in the 2006 LBTS municipal elections. Now that those commitments have been successfully fulfilled, I could not think of any good excuse not to accept a spot as one of three resident directors on the JKV Board. As I found out, that places numerous demands on my time in form of committee work and attendance at events, like the one that keep me from attending the December 14 CIC Caribbean Christmas Party. If Renee O’Neal organizes a party anything like last year’s, I know I will sadly have missed a red-letter event.
Due to the demands of my JKV position, I regret that I will be unable to offer my services as a CIC Director again next year. I am, however, fully prepared to serve out my current term, so as to honor the commitment I made to CIC members when I accepted their election as a Director last April. But I remain unable to do so as a result of the position of the current Board majority.
I had asked the other board members to put that issue on the agenda of the last CIC Membership Meeting, and call for a formal write-in vote by the full membership on whether they wished to have CIC Board meetings held in the “sunshine” and freedom for directors to relay concerns to other members without board censorship, or whether they supported current board prohibitions on “leaking” discussion and decisions until a “sanitized” version could be agreed, and on free communication between individual directors and members. I said I would happily resign if the majority of members favored the Board’s more authoritative approach, so that a new director — who concurred in that approach — could be appointed or elected.
The Board did not place the issue on the agenda. I was simply told that – unless I agreed to the restrictions on free communication – I would continue to be excluded from substantive Board meetings and communications (as I have been since August 6) and that the Board could operate very well with only eight (8) members.
I assure you that this is not about me in any way. I fully realize I am no longer a “stake-holder” in LBTS. And even when I was, my work in organizing the CAC and CIC, my candidacy for office, and my journalism were never performed in the hope of any personal gain or glory, but because I recognized a responsibility to offer knowledge, experience and skills I believed could be of significant value to my former LBTS neighbors.
When Cristie Furth asked me to join her and Kay Yanni in forming the original Citizens Action Committee, it appeared to me they intended a political sort of committee that would support the interests of one faction in the split-up of the former Main Street organization. I said frankly that I had no interest in being part of such a partisan activity, but would willingly serve on a non-partisan committee that openly sought LBTS citizens’ inputs on issues likely to come before the Commission and – if there appeared to be a significant consensus among citizens – communicate that consensus to commissioners. That is the basis on which the CAC was organized and run.
Only when the old-guard commissioners stubbornly ignored the expressed will of a majority of LBTS citizens did I reluctantly lead the reorganization of the CAC into a political committee – the CIC – able to initiate petitions to effect needed charter amendments and electoral (voter-initiated and approved) ordinances. When the Commission even went so far as to misinterpret and/or ignore voter-approved charter amendments by “imaginative” commission ordinances of doubtful legality did the CIC go one step further and endorse commission candidates who had committed to respect the popular will. I was surely not the only one back then to be shocked by the arrogance of the old guard, not only in ignoring both the popular will and obvious facts presented to them, but in their concerted vilification of any like Marc Furth, Jim Silverstone, Ken Wardlaw, Stuart Dodd, Barbara Cole, Jerry McIntee or myself who seriously researched and presented objective viewpoints different from their own.
I have always viewed the CIC as an open organization committed to freedom of speech and due process as tools to foster an informed electorate capable of communicating their concerns to a popularly elected commission that would honor those concerns. My concern now is that the current CIC leadership appears to be morphing the Committee into a political organization more dedicated to insuring the tenure of the current commission majority than proactively seeking and supporting the will of a majority of LBTS citizens. I do not think the situation is helped by the fact that the current CIC leadership includes a member of a current commissioner’s family and others closely aligned politically with that commissioner. Worse, I am deeply disappointed by the fact that the new-guard opposition majority — in which so many (not least myself) had placed so much hope — appears to be developing into a “cult of the personality” where any who dare to question a particular commissioner’s positions are not engaged or debated openly on the issues, but are again personally vilified in the well-known tradition of the old guard.
But I emphasize this is not about me. A dozen or so CIC members responded to my September message that if I resigned from the CIC Board they would also be leaving the CIC. I replied that I would resign from the Board only if that was the will of a majority of the members who elected me. But I urged them NOT to resign, but rather to hang on, and to work for the sort of CIC they believe in. I must agree with those who argue (albeit in their own self interest) that I no longer live in LBTS. I have labored long and hard to foster due process and good governance under the law in LBTS. Now it is time for others who share that concern – and who are willing to devote the necessary time and effort – to step forward as candidates for the CIC Board next spring. If only those having close ties with one or another political faction offer themselves as CIC board members, I fear the CIC will continue on down the road to full-fledged political-party status, and will thereby sacrifice its very commendable status as an objective, public-spirited organization seeking to defend freedom of speech and information, learn the will of an informed electorate – and act in accordance with that will!
Best wishes to you all for a happy and blessed holiday season,
— John
LETTER TO THE EDITOR..Dec. 4,2008
Last-Minute Federal Injunction Reprieves
Secretive LBTS Political Website Sponsors
(Letter to the Editor, Pompano Beach Sentry, December 4, 2008)
A new political website aimed at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea voters appeared suddenly a few months before the November 2006 general elections. With a name confusingly similar to that of the Town’s established newspaper, By-the-Sea Times, the newcomer proclaimed:
“This web site represents the online outreach by a group of concerned citizens who have come together to form a positive “think-tank” with the hope of increasing awareness and encouraging participation in the town’s future.”
But nowhere on or off the site was there any identification of the group of concerned citizens. The political nature of the site, however, was perfectly clear.
The vast majority of articles and unsigned editorial comment dealt with ballot propositions at the upcoming November elections. There was extensive criticism of a March 2006 charter amendment setting a town-wide 3-over-1-story height limit for new construction and praise for a more liberal alternative amendment, Proposition 1 on the November ballot. One item stated flatly, “Vote for Proposition-1.” Other articles argued against another ballot proposition to establish term limits for Town Commission members. Still other articles criticized the LBTS Volunteer Fire Department and praised BSO’s Fire Rescue – another hot political issue, albeit not on the November ballot.
Florida’s Campaign Finance Statute, Section 106 FS, clearly provides that any group of two or more persons who accept contributions or make expenditures for the purpose of expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate or the passage or defeat of an issue must register as a political committee and file regular reports of contributions and expenditures. Similar rules apply to publishers of “electioneering communications” which take positions on candidates and issues without actually urging “Vote for” or “Vote against.” The Statute also requires that each such advertisement include a disclaimer stating who authorized it and who paid for it. The website sponsors observed none of those requirements.
The Statute provides an exception in case of “editorial endorsements by a newspaper, radio or television station, or other recognized news medium.” But the political website was clearly not a newspaper or other recognized news medium, all of which clearly list their editors and publishers, which the new site did not. A good month after the website appeared, “By The Sea Future, Inc” finally registered as a Florida corporation for profit. But still there was no identification of the “group of concerned citizens.” The single principal listed on the corporate filing was William Pinhas, President, VP, Secretary, Treasurer, etc. – a resident not of LBTS, but of Fort Lauderdale.
Nor did the corporate filing include any claim of newspaper or other news-media activity. Whereas the corporate filing of By-The-Sea Times clearly states, “The purpose for which this corporation is organized is: NEWSPAPER, MEDIAL OUTLET,” and lists the names of those responsible for funding and editing the newspaper – the MacMillans, the By-The-Sea-Future-Inc corporate filing lists purpose simply as “any activity or business permitted under the laws….” and does not list the names of actual organizers or editors.
Many, including this writer, therefore assumed that the site was sponsored by a group with clear political and/or business interests in passage or defeat of various November 2006 ballot issues, who concealed their identities in the hope that website visitors might believe the site was in fact sponsored by a group of impartial, civic-minded individuals.
That assumption was confirmed when, following clear rejection by LBTS voters of the website propaganda at the November 2006 elections, a hard-copy BytheSeaFuture newspaper began publication on January 19, 2007, as a companion to the website. The newspaper’s masthead for the first time listed Editorial Board members, including property-owner and would-be developer Michael Arker, Mark Brown, President of the North Beach Civic Association (successor to the SBCA political committee) and Cindy Geesey, a board chair under the old-guard regime in power up until January 2008.
A fourth member of the “concerned citizens” group was outed when Cindy Geesey wrote in a later edition of the paper that Bob Terrien, a political activist and one-time mayoral candidate and more recently Treasurer and President of the Chamber of Commerce, “was a founder of By the Sea Future, handled all the accounting, and provided creative and editorial input.” Failure to identify Terrien even when the hard-copy paper appeared in January 2007 may be explained by the fact that, during the period in question, he served successively as Chamber Treasurer, President and again Treasurer, while Chamber administrative expenditures quadrupled from 2005 to 2007.
Since it appeared that these financially and politically interested individually had clearly violated the Florida Campaign Finance Law, this writer filed a complaint with the Florida Elections Commission. I found it particularly unfair that while one group — the Citizens Initiative Committee — scrupulously observed the campaign finance laws, others did not, and thereby avoided disclosing the extent of funding of their political advertisements by developer Arker, and the others, possibly even drawing on civic association or Chamber funds. Under Florida law, persons against whom complaints are filed may not disclose the complaints until they have been resolved. As complainant, I was not bound by any such restriction, but did not want to take advantage of a right respondents did not enjoy, and therefore have remained silent until now.
The Elections Commission Staff reviewed my complaint, appearing to give the benefit of every doubt to the respondents. The complaint was twice rejected on legal grounds, but I was told I could appeal to the Commission itself, which I did. The Staff argued first that I had not provided any evidence that the Editorial Board of the printed newspaper had also been the editors of the pre-election website. When shown that that the editors themselves stated in their Mission Statement in the January 19, 2007 newspaper, “Last year, … we began publishing the popular web site ByTheSeaFuture.org,” the Executive Director suggested such evidence was not admissible since it was “hearsay,” something I had read in the paper. At the hearing on November 12, however, the Commission Chairman rejected that argument. First-person statements by editorial board members are not “hearsay” and do provide evidence of their responsibility for the pre-election website.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the forum, or rather, a very fortunate thing for the secretive “group of concerned citizens” responsible for the ’06 political website. The Federal District Court for the Northern District of Florida on October 29 – just two weeks before the hearing on the complaints, issued an injunction against the Florida Elections Commission declaring unconstitutional large portions of the Florida Campaign Finances Statute. In short, the Court denied the State’s right to regulate any electioneering ads short of express advocacy (“Vote yes” or “Vote no”) or its equivalent.
A further court “clarification” on November 2 denied the State’s right to regulate any “issue advocacy” (advertisements for or against ballot issues – rather than candidates) whatsoever, as infringement of the First Amendment right to free speech. And since the State cannot regulate such advertisement, they cannot require registration or financial reporting by organizations that engage in such advertisements. That injunction provided a last-minute reprieve to the editors and publisher of the pre-November 2006 political website who had engaged in activities now no longer regulated or subject to penalty
The emergency injunction was issued in response to a petition by four separate groups including Broward Coalition of Condominiums, Homeowners Associations & Community Organizations and the National Taxpayers Union. In principle, we can only welcome the injunction as a desirable reaffirmation of free speech, which we fully support. But it is noteworthy that the four petitioning organizations refrained during the run-up to the November 2008 elections from publishing any electioneering communications or issue advocacy on their websites until after the injunction they had sought was granted. That was in stark contrast to behavior of the secret sponsors of the LBTS political website who, during the run-up to the November 2006 elections, ignored the Florida Campaign Finance laws then still in full effect.
Now, unless the injunction is overturned, the FL Legislature will need to revise Section 106, FS, substantially, while groups engaging only in issue advocacy and electioneering communications will be able to operate much more freely than in the past. But bodies like the LBTS CIC and the South Pompano Civic Association – which conduct express advocacy for or against candidates – must still register as political committees, report finances, and publish disclaimers with their ads.
John Thompson
Pompano Beach
LINK TO FUTURE’S RESPONSE…Dec.19,2008…page 2
http://www.bytheseafuture.org/
More to come…
December 6, 2008 by Barbara
WHAT IS OLD IS NEW AGAIN….A 2 PAPER TOWN…..
The Mc-Furth BTSTimes…has returned…for how often and how long is anyone’s guess…
A read of the Sausage Series Category …reveals the world of the new owners…what it was like to put together the campaign ads, and campaign materials…involving a never ending process of do-overs that started well…really top notch in fact….only to end up with diminishing returns that resulted from manic behavior amid an atmosphere of total chaos on El Mar…so it will be interesting to see how this type of a commitment pans out….in the long term…
It takes a lot to take on the financial burden of print news in these times of newspapers folding and advertising shrinking…due to belt tightening and instant news on the web…this too will be a steep hill to climb for the new owners ..
.http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_11142071
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-flzdigestdig12060sbdec06,0,2610188.story
As for this first edition after the “official” announcement of taking ownership…(although it was posted weeks ago on this site)… and while the ink may still not be dry…the Sunbiz.org site
http://www.sunbiz.org/scripts/cordet.exe?action=DETFIL&inq_doc_number=P02000098575&inq_came_from=NAMFWD&cor_web_names_seq_number=0000&names_name_ind still shows the previous Editor and Wife along with their son…who is still listed on this new edition for design and advertising…
The paper itself…more of the same…with the predicted Mc-staff anonymous writing…and cheer leading for the VFD/”2 Hats” Commissioners…with poison arrows aimed squarely at “THEM”…the Futures…Commissioner Dodd…and the Mc-”slap”site under a Merry Christmas header…same old..same old…with much news…being old news…just with a different…Mc-Furth-CIC slant …prominently displayed…
The photos while first class…due to the expertise of Official Town/VFD photographer and co-BTSTimes owner…Marc Furth…might raise some problems for the town with conflict of interest… photos being used …blurring the lines of town involvement with a privately owned publication…were they taken on behalf of the town…or on behalf of a privately owned corporation?…
Another disturbing conflict …for the town…the paper seems to be privy and printing information from the town that has not been shared first with all Commissioners…an ongoing problem…despite the protestations of the Town Manager…It seems that not all the Commissioners were informed by the Town Manager that the surveillance cameras were up and running…..but a photo and accompanying article were included in this publication…yet, another unfortunate example of certain elected officials being kept out of the loop…
Far more serious…the Lifeguard article…written as almost all of the the submissions by “staff writer”…which contains the Mc-VFD account of the Oct. 25th near drowning incident at the north end of town…with the same version seemingly “coached” and offered up by the Vice Mayor …and VFD Chief Perkins….the content that is startling though…the inclusion of AMR Lt. Brook Liddle’s comments on the event…that may cause him some problems with the residents of this town…
A first read…it appears he is giving the answers wanted by the Commission, first time up at the podium….but a second more careful dissemination of what is included may put him in a precarious situation…if written accurately……
The AMR Operations Manager, who was not there as far as we know…counters the assertions of the rescuer …Mark Mitchell saying Mr. Mitchell could have been mistaken in his observation of the oxygen mask not being turned on…. Liddle goes on to say the the tubing that Mr Mitchell asserted was “kinked”…and causing the victim additional distress was “designed to allow for moderate kinking and twisting while maintaining the flow of oxygen.”…again it seems dicey for the Lt. to offer such scenarios to the account given by the rescuer and others…that have not changed from day one…in comparison to the VFD/McIntee account that has…A glaring example of the change in the McIntee account…from the day of the incident …..it is said …. he told numerous residents and fellow public safety members he rescued the woman…..included the original VFD incident report….(previously posted …VFD Category)…and now in this printed account…weeks late..’McIntee says he waded into the water to help Mitchell pull the woman onto the shore.’…(just because your paper is the last one out…the residents are not “short attention span” readers who are willing to swallow anything without question)…..
It is known, that AMR did reply back to a series of questions sent to them from Commissioner Dodd…but they were still not complete.. in accordance to AMR’s Hipaa requirements…and left the Commission with the previously posted decision of having a Commissioner on an AMR Medical Board…which also has caused its own set of problems with this writer and other residents not wanting elected officials privy to their medical histories…uncomfortable with that information being in the hands of those that have a “history” of “bloviating” private Hipaa information on and off the dais…(in the Scoops Category)…
One response…included…in answer to a recent article in the last Futures publication …..http://www.bytheseafuture.org/ that the AMR Medical Director…Dr. Joseph Nelson would remedy the startling news that he also sits on the State of Florida Emergency Medical Service that would oversee the AMR-EMS should any complaint arise…Mr Nelson stated that he would ‘”relinquish his role and a different state authorized physician would oversee ” any complaints against AMR’…will this appease the residents…maybe…maybe not…it depends on who you talk to…the pro- AMR backers will say it does…the leery-AMR non- backers or undecideds….will say deferential treatment will still be enforced due to the Medical Director’s role on that agency…stepping aside or not…It is hoped by this writer that Mr Liddle and AMR sent in the same response printed in the Times to the Futures right after they published their article…and before this paper was printed…to show good faith…that AMR is non-political…
The ISO Story…is a partial representation…with the full account from V.P. Mike Waters and the ISO..links below…along with the following e-mail from an informed faithful reader ….including additional links…
Ms. Cole,
Without seeing the paperwork, I’m pretty sure that the ISO rating of 4 is probably a holdover from when BSO was covering LBTS. ISO ratings are not obtained overnight and usually take a good deal of time. Something that the Oct 1, 2008 takeover-of-service date by the LBTS VFD would not provide.
ISO has taken a lot of heat about its rating process over the last year because of the catastrophe in Charleston, SC(Example:http://firechief.com/suppression/iso-ratings-outdated/ ). Charleston, SC received the ISO Class 1 designation, the highest rating an FD can receive for a PPC. However, they lost 9 men on June 6, 2007 due-to-the-fact that the Department’s operational ability/practices was antiquated. This was contributed to the “Old Guard” administration that held the “This is the way we do it and we are not going to change” attitude. It was shown that ISO was mostly a paperwork achievement and not necessarily a true judgement of a department’s practical ability. They are changing their rating standards in the future to truly reflect the fire departments deployment capacity. Here are the changes that can be in store for 2009 ( http://www.isomitigation.com/fsrs ). As a lay person, you may or may not understand the content but it could mean significant changes for ISO. Regardless, in the mean time you could probably understand why ISO is not going to be “lenient” in the rating process. I’m sure with they will be interested in re-rating LBTS in the near future.
LOOKS LIKE WE FIT THE CRITERIA….
‘How often do you re-certify a fire department’s ISO rating?’
‘We verify and validate all the information that we collect with our field representatives. The classification is established and then we maintain an updated or current-as-possible status and make a determination of a physical return to the community on the basis of the response to the Outreach program.
Whether a community would receive a visit sooner rather than later depends on how much change has occurred in that community. Community response is compared to our baseline information — if a community has built and added fire stations; added staffing or annexed an adjoining area; changed the nature or complexion of a community;’…..
http://firechief.com/leadership/management-administration/iso-rating-system/
.http://www.isopropertyresources.com/Feature-Story/Articles/Bio-Mike-Waters.html
ANOTHER REASON…PRINT NEWSPAPERS ARE DYING….
Included in the Times an article submitted by fellow CIC members …. The Roberts…on the Doomsday Vault…originally posted on this site last February…when it was opening and all over the news…a link to the video.also makes the web…for news …the way to go…..http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/02/26/norway.seeds/index.html
GUESS WHO?….
The “Truth Detector”…HMMM…who’s truth…in the eye of Mrs Mc-beholder perhaps?…”a little…Slap” happy wouldn’t you say?….
CIC STAMP OF APPROVAL….
Opinions of the CIC-approved Commissioners…are pretty much repeats of what has been said on the dais…by 2 Commissioners…
HE SAID WHAT?….
Along with the Vice Mayor….”put your blinders on” revisionist Mc-view litany of where we are now……Did we get rid of some substandard and unscrupulous employees in the town?…Yes we did…Did we replace them with the very best personnel for the jobs…no way!…
Have we ’saved huge tax dollars’…on changing our fire/EMS safety vendors…..not this year with the purchase of the McIntee Public Safety Complex and the likely to return to the agenda backyard property for sale….
‘Our Town Fire Marshall and Fire Inspector are now town employees who report to the Town Manager.’…really?…It was stated that the Fire Marshall was employed by the town…and the Fire Inspector was employed by the VFD…with the VFD doing inspections..per Chief Perkins’ discussion a few weeks back ….. (previously posted under the VFD category)…with monies for inspections going into a special account that will provide for VFD acquisitions per the Town Manager…after requests made to the Commission by the VFD….This is another example of “one toe in and one toe out “…with the Town-VFD lines of connected VS-separate entity…ongoing dilemma…How does the Manager rectify this McIntee statement of her involvement with the Fire Inspector…and non-involvement on other VFD matters…and why the VFD ….. a “vendor” is required to turn over fees to the Town in order to use for their private corporation?…
A reduction in permit fees will not offset the Town-wide “sweep” it appears that are in the works from the Town per the Manager…with letters arriving from Assistant Town Manager Olinzock…to businesses and residents…in efforts to bring a huge windfall in revenue into the town at the expense of its citizens…This black and white “Gotcha” mentality will further erode the “seaside” non- conforming village we all thought we lived in…We do not live in a subdivision with perfectly platted up to date “cookie-cutter” properties…so be prepared …anyone who has plantings in the right-of-ways…plantings that exceed height limits…boats that were supposed to be “grandfathered” in….businesses who have not updated the fire codes…….the primary concern it appears in this new administration…revenue …so at the end of the year the “books” are in order…. the numbers are good and the myriad of state offered municipal budget finance “awards” are once again obtained…for the “umpteenth” year…
The Vice Mayor is truly a man in denial…when writing the following……’We must always realize that the function of government must move forward, personal vendettas or dislikes must be put to the wayside and good government must rise to the surface.”…What is there to say?…This statement…made from the very dais member…the very resident of our town…that has gone to every extent to threaten…bully…investigate and harm anyone who disagrees with him…someone get him a straight jacket!…WOW!
NAMED WRITERS….
Named writers besides the Roberts…still include the always entertaining…informative Bill Hubley…and the always ready to help out with a letter to the Editor …Furth-pal Mary Ann Wardlaw…along with a 5 point plan for avoiding seller mistakes by Real Estate agent, and former MPSC member Shevaun Steward-Kuhn…previously posted on this site with past informationfor properties in town up for sale….
EQUAL TIME FOR THOSE NEW TO TOWN….
Closing out the edition…a repeat of new businesses in town…ala the Futures…Chamber…and this site…
BACK PAGE…
On the back page…inside …the full-page VFD ad paid for from the booster fund…(previous post VFD category meeting minutes…VFD ads for BTSTimes each month)…and outside…just as the previous owners used the paper as a “vehicle” to advertise their business…the new owners follow suit with a full page ad of their primary business…the Blue Sea Courtyard-(new BTSTimes headquarters)…
LAST WORD….
Finally…before the Mc-gang gets all bent out of shape and hits the Topix blog….and the Mc-”slap” site to throw out the “barbs”…pun intended…. against this writer for not drinking the Mc-CIC “kool-aid” with the new BTSTimes debut……realize…that this is what “bloggers” do…they read and give opinion on what is put out there…and as long as there is freedom of speech…it will remain ever thus…
more to come….
December 5, 2008 by Barbara
SOUTH FLORIDA SOCIAL…Dec 2008 vol. 6 issue 10
Page 10…Person To Person…LBTS Dr G’s Pharmacist Dr. Geneen Graber is featured in a wedding photo with her new husband, Attorney Charles Ray Maxwell II…they were married at the Addison Reserve… Congrats to the happy couple!…
Page 21…Looks like the happy newlyweds now share the same address for business too…with ads for Dr. G’s…and the new Attorney in town…her husband…234 Commercial Blvd. LBTS…
Page 20…LBTS’ Jo-An’s Papers hosts “a day for charity”…Barbara Winstin…co-owner is pictured on the day where portions of sales for the day went to the Humane Society of Broward County….they are located right next door to Dr G’s…in the Beach Hardware shopping area…on Commercial Blvd….
Page 21…LBTS resident..MPSC Vice Chair Sandra Booth…pictured with fellow committee members…for the Forever Family fundraiser…an event that raised $2000 for the organization…
December 5, 2008 by Barbara
Pelican is now updated online…from last weeks edition…in case you missed the LBTS news…
The denial of the appeal for the Coral Key …was definitely a matter of politics…a lousy town department…bad advice from the new under qualified head of the Development department and a startling assertion by the Town Attorney on the dais….
Payback is a bitch…and in this case…in this writer’s opinion…it was pure payback…for Arker…his paper…and his opposition to the Mc-gang…no doubt if a CIC Mc-pal were in the same situation…the outcome would have been as it should have been…based on the applicant …showing the progress made…fulfilling the requirements…while dealing with the same hangups the Town itself has faced with the Public Safety Complex…we hear has the Town now must install an outside “lift” to comply with ADA requirements…despite assertions from the Town Manager some months ago on the dais…that switching the police upstairs …took away the elevator required for the VFD being on the second level…OOPS!…
The Town has had the frustration of experiencing its own permit setbacks on the Pavilion resulting in the present less than perfect timing of the project being done at this time of the season…with a deadline looming…
On top of that…. the recent upheaval in the Development Department itself…the resignation of the former Director…who denied the site plan extension from even being heard by the BOA…and the removal of his assistant….due to assorted problems with plans…decisions…and mess ups…on scores of LBTS applicant’s projects……that culminated with the Manager installing her Assistant Town Manager in the department to oversee the process few months ago……to “keep an eye on things”……John Olinzock remains in that role today…HMMM….
These Commissioners all knew the background described above…so not only did they ignore the legal argument…that was valid in this writer’s opinion, they chose not factor any of it in…. for one personally …the act was the height of hypocrisy!
It was embarrassing to watch…not only due to the previously posted bad behavior on the dais from certain Commissioners…but to hear the Town Attorney say he could not give his opinion on the dais about what constitutes a building permit when asked before the final decision by Commissioner Silverstone……a later conversation with another Attorney from the Town’s law firm brought forth a different response, that the answer could have been supplied by counsel at that time….and no matter how much she tried to save him, the Manager could not…when it came to once again witnessing the ineffectual responses of the new Developmental Services Director…who when asked why the BOA voted the way they did…incredibly responded …”because they did!”…YIKES!…
Before I was kicked off the Planning and Zoning Board…this project came before us…and to the surprise of those making the presentation, assuming that due to my “kool-aid” status of the time …I would turn it down…I heartily supported this development…..
Mr Arker presented a beautiful project, asking for no variance, mindful of the Oriana fiasco…and it remains so now….although, again in this writer’s opinion….Hotel/Condos are dead in the water due to the times we are experiencing, that also has no bearing on the fact, it should have been given a site plan extension, no doubt.
This one needs a do-over…any takers on the dais?….
http://www.pompanopelican.com/editions/V14_I48/page_view.php?id=65&id_version=1&id_page=368
http://www.pompanopelican.com/editions/V14_I48/page_view.php?id=65&id_version=1&id_page=357
more to come….
December 3, 2008 by Barbara
WILL FRIDAY BRING BACK THE Mc-Furth “slap”-BTSTIMES?….
BCbythesea…hears an e-mail was sent to Commissioner Dodd…giving him only today to write up a submission…and informing him they do not want to print the article he sent out to all 3 local publications…recently printed by the Futures…
So…will advertisers in these hard times want to invest in ads if the Furths proceed to put out a repeat Mc-”slap”-edition …full of Mc-staff writers?…
So….will Commissioners want to be included in a paper with unnamed “slap”- writers?…Wouldn’t this be political suicide?
So…will readers …who already report they are sickened by the Mc-pal dais behavior…and the “slap” site Mc-writing…read it…or toss it aside?….
Guess we will see if the new owners….the Furths ..follow down the Mc-”slap”…payback path…or decide to break away…any bets?…
more to come….
