DO THE VOTERS SEE IT ?…….
Dear Readers … At the last meeting of month of February for this current majority’s first term in office we saw why it so imperative that the voters of LBTS get it right on March 9, 2010… So frustrating it was, even without all the drama which usually accompanies these meetings when all five Commissioners are in attendance. Due to the excused absence of outgoing Vice Mayor McIntee and his “illness” (he was seen filling his “pod” in the afternoon) the voters could see once again where the “lack of decorum” came from!… With McIntee off the dais it is a moot point…Thus Commission “Clueless” Clottey’s lame attempt to point fingers at her nemesis Mayor Minnet being the one who should control the meetings fell flat much like the rest of her callous and comical Commissioner comments (nails on a chalkboard come to mind when she speaks)… For those Readers unaware of why Clottey is so obsessed with the Mayor…It’s a “girl thing”…You see when campaigning in 2008 Clottey tried to “bond” with the Mayor over both being “professional women” running for office…Roseann was not interested and Clottey felt slighted…and never got over it…going after Minnet in any way shape and form she could dream up…with a little assistance from her :”gang”…UGH!…Quite something not only was the VM a no-show but so were the Furths (They were MIA for the MPSC as well)…and the CIC contingency was sparse with a total of 5 in audience along with the sleeping Candidate Marjorie Evans (can watch it online during presentations) and Mayoral Candidate Couriel….The Town Chaplain was unable to attend due a conflicting commitment and the Mayor asked for a “moment of reflection”… The first presentation from the Daughters of the American Revolution followed by “Clueless” Clottey asking if the organization allowed an associate membership to those who were not direct decedents… It brought forth an awkward exchange from the presenter…perhaps Comm. Clottey was looking for the Lithuanian contingency of the American Revolution?… Next up was the School Board Staff presentation…brought to you by those who think we should be involved in this…Readers know this writer’s opinion we should have opted out when we could (SRLakes did)…It was later deferred under new business…4-0 vote…The firefighters pension fund was presented by TM Colon’s favorite longtime Auditors Rachlin now Marcum-Rachlin…After the presentation the Mayor asked about the IRS not making a determination but Rachlin accepting it as if they had…a little chagrined the presenter will look into it…OOPS!…
Then on to the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report… and here is where the “rubber meets the road” voters…Here is where the first major frustration of not only the night but of the past two years under this Town Manager and this current Silverstone-McIntee -Clottey majority comes from!… To use one of outgoing VM McIntee’s favorite lines…”Let’s cut to the chase”… Talk about having the “wool pulled over our eyes”…WOW!… While Silverstone and the Rachlin Rep along with the Town Manager want us all to look over “here” to exclaim they actually “saved” us $700,000 NET from returning the two promissory notes last September with a pre-penalty clause- paid without negotiating down… What was over “THERE” was the fact…that according to the figures being rambled out…the Town has an “UNRESTRICTED 11 million”… an “EMERGENCY FUND (Catastrophic) $2.3 million and and an “AVAILABLE $2,189. million!…
What does that mean…it means we had 13+ million plus the $6.8 million we returned…and the $1.8 million we paid for the crappy hotel to use for a brand new Town Complex and to do “The Whole Enchilada” of El Mar Drive!
The $6.8 million despite Commissioner Silverstone’s constant false assertions was not for “sewers” only…For that to be true the Town would have had to pay it back to the bank as the Mayor put forth in 2008 due to the fact there were no more sewers to be put in, in town!… The loan was for Capital Improvements… And the Manager was well aware of that as well as McIntee and Silverstone… When the two promissory notes were brought up last year and Sun Trust Reps were brought in by the Town Manager…it was Comm. Silverstone who is on record stating the pre-payment amount climbed up near $100,000 in a just the last month…he wanted to hold off to see if it would go down…McIntee did not want to pay it back …he saw a firehouse being built after his triumphant return to a 2nd term (it was last summer, before he gambled on the fire chief position)…This was when the TM threw out the “$600,000 savings” …line t…it was to stop as Resident John Oughten said at his public comments last night the “hemorrhaging”, being felt from holding on to these noes for too long without using the funds….The $600,000 was if we kept the notes until they were due…The dais decided to hold off and have a workshop..per Comm. Clottey…But after holding his proverbial finger up to the wind…Silverstone did not wait for Comm. Clottey’s workshop…and it was brought up at the Budget meeting in Sept. while Clottey was absent…It was voted on 4-0 and the Manager remained mute about any attempt to negotiate down the $300,000 pre-payment penalty… Comm. Dodd last night said the Commission did not direct her…This writer counters that with this…TM Colon was the finance director before being the Town Manager ad it should have been her job to advise the Commission of negotiating down the pre-payment…instead she sent an e-mail asap after the meeting to pay it off “as directed”…GULP!…
The money shown above is the very reason this Town Manager was able so often to answer Vice Mayor McIntee inquires on the dais about having the big bucks for large ticket item purchases such as the crappy hotel or fire dept. apparatus with such certainty!… Funny isn’t it that Candidate Marjorie Evans is stomping around declaring we are operating this town on a “bare-bones” budget…and stating at SRClub she runs her non-profit business exactly the same way as Esther Colon runs the town…Now that I believe and that is truly frightening!…
The above information should further give pause to the politically motivated Clottey Special Meeting on 2/17/10…for Stimulus Funds…and Marjorie Evans SRClub claim of first falsely stating Commissioner Clottey turned 1 million into 2 million…and telling MPSC Chair/ Chamber Pres. Paul Novak she cannot spend money we don’t have after he asked why the town did not just go for 2 million to do all of El Mar…Msrs. Evans was so smug about meeting with her “galpal” Esther Colon…but seems TM Colon did not inform Evans of the real monies we have available!…OUCH!…
Public Comments produced calm and collected commentary for the most part…Here are a few…A resident again looking for some relief from the waste contract and the receptical per dwelling charges… again it was met with erroneous remarks from the Town Manager and Comm. Silverstone pointing fingers at Waste Management and people not paying their fair share… Newbie CIC member Lilliana Pomerada spoke again on the “Cuban” remark that did not happen..Ms. Pomerada should take a look at the tape…perhaps she was too busy throwing paper at a resident to realize she is wrong…and festering a falsehood of “racism” in town is a disservice to us all…John Oughten as stated above set the record straight on Silverstone and the Town Manager’s false net savings assertion…(Comm. Silverstone would later address him at Comm. comments) … Mayoral Candidate Joe Couriel spoke about the matching fund meeting for El Mar beautification and hoped for a beginning of a new era…after March…(Only if Joe is in the audience, if he is on the dais…expect 2-4 yrs more of Manager Colon’s style of government…and more hidden taxpayer funds)….Candidate Marjorie Evans woke up after Maryann Wardlaw poked her to speak about the audit and congratulate the commission…Looks like she did not read it…she should be thanking the taxpayers!… She was also incorrect in her statement of the staff cutting to 30 hrs…if she looked she would see that while their hours were cut…and it was just a few …they were paid in line with neighboring 40 hr. employees and retained their benefits..OOPS!… A little less sleeping…a lot less professions of a quick fix based on no knowledge and maybe Marjorie can speak…(She really is most McIntee like…ready to put out the fires…but not to do the cleanup)…Our neighbor from Pompano Beach returned to speak…and had one of the best commentary’s of the nigh including …The majority must rule… the minority has rights…don’t repress decent …educate your citizenry….The worst were the CIC old-timers…VFD member Bob Karly who again took to the podium to complain about bitterness as he himself spouted nothing but…it is a poor representation for the VFD every time he does so…Rosa the tomato lady..who made a remark about pit bulls and said hello to “Our beautiful GANG”…that says it all…watch out for rotten tomatoes!…
Monthly Reports again..no questions from the dais…for Finance and Budget Report…This is one reason this writer wants a new commission…Development Services…Comm. Dodd asked about some funky addition 0+0+0 = 67?…Municipal Services no discussion…BSO as prev. posted big drop from 09-10 …The Chief was thanked for following up on items brought to his attention…He was put in a precarious situation when asked by Comm. Silverstone on their new digs…He answered they were an improvement…This writer has heard otherwise …behind the scenes…VFD Report…The Mayor said she saw Chief Perkins on Ch. 4…he responded “Thanks to you”…The Mayor was contacted by FIU and Channel 4 to meet and discuss riptides…The Mayor contacted all and put it together for the Chief to be in charge as it is the VFD who is at the center of the beach patrol…Nice!… The Sentinel article after the interview was a total setup..and did a great disservice to our town…The Stormwater Master Plan as prev. posted deserved more commentary from the dais.. James Barton answered back Comm. Dodd that staff made “revisions” but did not elaborate…the backup states it could just go to the staff and/ or the commission…it needs to be back in front of a new commission prepared to ask for details…the study is too important and cost the big bucks!…
The Town Manager was short on reporting…until at the end of the evening in responding to Comm. Dodd…She thanked the VFD, municipal workers, police etc…for helping the BSO move into the crappy hotel…Hmmm. we paid for municipal workers to help move the BSO?…No wonder the portals look so bad…
Approval of the minutes…not so fast..1/26/10 were wrong…Feb 9th although passed were misleading in what was left out…Next commission…we need minutes that make it unnecessary to go to the video (see 2007 minutes to see the difference)…
2nd Reading …Ord. for theaters etc…passed no public comments/ comm. discussion…
Commissioner Comments …The Mayor spoke of the emergency funds being 2.3 million…upcoming events…and why she voted NO for the public safety building…the cost…the property behind that came up for half the price and the unsold warehouse out west… Comm. Clottey went off the deep end and made her sick political comments after chiding Comm. Dodd for doing the very same thing (according to her)… She tried to clear up where she stood on the noise (still unnecessary…still undocumented in her claims of complaints)…She decided to join her buddy Silverstone in addressing public commenter (always a winner in the eyes of the constituents- not!)…and went to her Sizzle vs steak comment..and her attempt to discredit the Mayor…Comm. Silverstone stood behind his false assertions just as he has on the campaign trail…(perhaps it’s too late for him to relearn the facts)…He mispronounced residents names as he answered back their comments..and he too was politicking for Marjorie Evans…who had left the hall long before!…OOPS!… He also falsely stated again that the warehouse in the west doesn’t cost us anything…(Hmmm… he and Marjorie…and Joe Couriel..free money)…Silverstone was on the dais when he, McIntee and TM Colon said the $2 million sale would make the crappy hotel purchase a wash…He was also again false in his statements why we bought it…and that the Bougainvilla property has less room than the crappy hotel…Comm. Dodd said the Commission did not direct the Manager to negotiate..again it was not their job, to do so it should have been the Town Manger advising it was a fiscally responsible action she would take…He spoke of everyone voting and updated us on his Feb. Hillsboro meeting…
Consent agenda… The Nova Southeaster University staff was the recipient once again of Clottey being “Clueless” again and stubborn as she has been in the past 2 year…which will once again lead to the applicants coming back again to be allowed to use the portals or for them to wait and see if they get parking violations…just watch…it passed 4-0 to add they must move their cars after unloading…St. Pattys Day for Village/101 Ocean approved 4-0…A1A project approval of PBS & J was deferred after Candidate Scot Sasser brought it to the Commission’s attention they are under investigation…Comm. Dodd cognizant of the new info asked to postpone the approval…The TM was none too pleased and played the “no problem” card which usually means the kiss of death for whomever thwarts her mission…”you’re the policy makers”…and then added the company was approved by FDOT…Comm. Silverstone got visibly nervous and asked if the delay could cost us the project… the TM said we have until June 30th …and Silverstone then asked if the public comments concerned the Tm …The Tm said FDO approved PBS&J and there was no impropriety …she would send an e-mail asap to see what the FDOT says..and if they give “clearance” of any allegations made…Silverstone said he would defer to March 4th with Dodd 2nd..Clottey asked about the deadline and the Manager explained what needed to be done by June 30th..citizen forum conceptual plans (we are in Feb…quite a 180 from the timetable of getting things done for the El Mar Stimulus pkg. in less than 48 hrs.!)…Clottey further rode the fear of loss of the 600,000 and said it “could go down the train”…HUH?… The Manager then made a comment her door was open and insinuated the Candidate (Sasser) should have come to her with his concerns asap…. Perhaps Mr. Sasser believed the TM wa doing her homework and read the papers as it was pretty front and center the day after the Feb 9, 2010 meeting…She said “just heard about it today)… Silverstone started to fret and wanted to pull his motion to go ahead…despite the new info…Dodd would not remove his 2nd feeling it needed to be answered …Clottey asked the Atty. if they could allow the Manager to jump to her 2nd choice if PBS&J turned out to be a dud…Before the Atty. could answer TM Colon said she would be on top it…as would the Town Atty. “just look at her face” said Colon and the answers would be forthcoming…Silverstone flip-flopped again and it was differed to March 4th…with Silverstone again saying he didn’t want to lose the money…The extensions on the contracts for Electrical maint./Street lighting maint./Tree Trimming were deferred until April 13th after the Mayor let it be known no backup of the cost and no info on renegotiating a better price…
Resolution for revised multi-jurisdictional local mitigation…hurricane response ..no pub comments/ no discussion 4-0/ added on Resolution put on by Comm. Silverstone was questioned by the Mayor for not being announced and advertised…after discussion it too was deferred until April 13th…
Old Business was the dreaded slogan contest…It began in bad taste in the By The Sea Times…as a sort of a middle finger to the Chamber of Commerce…”Clueless” Clottey picked up the “gauntlet” and despite fully being aware of its unpopularity …she kept moving forward on it…that is until last night when she found Editor Mark Brown from By The Sea Future had asked to speak his 3 minutes on this agenda item…As Mr. Brown was being asked to come to the podium, Commissioner Clottey said she would defer until the next commission came in… Mark Brown was still allowed to speak and he spoke about the seriousness of a slogan and what it entailed by way of focus groups, professional marketers and the impact it might have if used for marketing the town, in the town’s logo …stationary etc…He wanted clarification on how this would be handled and that it would not be haphazardly dealt with…..Comm. Clottey took offense and answered that she taught people how to do this and said “I am not an idiot”…(sounding very much like her new “galpal” Candidate Marjorie Evans when she is not well received or questioned) … Clottey feels our current slogan is common elsewhere …and said she will stay out of it when it comes back…deferred to April 13th…”From bad taste to no taste”…(New Slogan? )…really says it all….
New Business was on the presentation with the Interlocal Agreement of the schools and it was Commissioner Clottey that put the brakes on saying more input and research needed to take places adding that at the Broward League of Cities it was discussed “to prevent busing”… Quite amusing that she did not want to defer it too soon in April ….saying “We’re in the middle of an election”…Too, too funny…the same Commissioner who saw nothing wrong with the Town Manager’s “Forum” for Special Event and Street Closures done not once but twice and her own Special Meeting on Feb. 17th for the stimulus money with no backup provided!…Someone tell Commissioner Clottey April 13th is a month after the election…OOPS!..deferred to May 11th…
The bus shelters…were definitely another confusing exchange with no real forthcoming info…and a disagreement of sorts over its time..and whether or not it is part of the A1A project…The Manager said it is…Comm. Clottey said she thought not…In any event it is stated under TBD…It has no rendering that includes sides…It was in black and white and not color …and according to Clottey each will cost 35-40,000 dollars…but its government funded so… (In true Candidate Marjorie Evans-eeze…) It won’t cost the town anything…so it’s “FREE MONEY”…After much back and forth and more discrepancies on a time frame the item was deferred to April 13th with the color renderings to be put on the Town website… all 12 pages… http://www.lauderdalebythesea-fl.gov/Town_Docs/busshelterdesigns.pdf
What came next was item New Business 16c. Commissioners Dodd item…..and that will be LBTS Commission meeting….#2….
more to come…..
Tags: Lauderdale By The Sea 2-23-10 Commission Meeting, Lauderdale By The Sea Commisioners Stuart Dodd- Jim Silverstone - Birute Clottey-Mayor Roseann Minnet, LBTS Agendas/Meetings, local government, Local Politics, Scoops
