MIND NUMBINGLY FAMILIAR ….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZanHo6Wn1H4
http://lbts.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2
Dear Readers … suffering from brain freeze this writer will take a pass in posting the long version of this 3 hour meeting …but I have provided 2 choices of video to choose from above … both are time warps… The meeting tonight was a replay of what we have seen before.. It included public speakers who want to be fiscal and those that want to “go for it”…We saw a disjointed presentation given by RMA due to the Mayor’s insistence of breaking up the presentation up into 3 parts and thus not letting the speaker Kim Briesemeister finish the $20,000 Financial and Redevelopment 5-year Plan for the Town of LBTS… The Mayor was overbearing, condescending and in full electioneering mode as she talked way too long …The Mayor …with Comm. Vincent and the Town Manager are “all in” for a full scale RMA produced 5-year plan complete the with a Marketing Director position that the TM now states is not new but a position retitled … Also there will be a Project Manager..as well as a Town Planner and an Economic Development Director we are told will be included in year 3… The go- ahead was given for a “trial basis” (huh?) said the Mayor while Comm. Vincent tried to say this was all just a recipe and we needed the right ingredients. to make it all happen .. He too was long winded and all over the place talking nonsense just to talk …Comm. Clottey was against the marketing research before she was for it…She did have a great opening though when she told the presenter we received the platinum version of the report and she wanted to see the the gold and silver version …The Mayor tried to wrap the “whole enchilada” in a package of calling it “infrastructure projects including drainage”…(wool over the eyes personified) …The Vice Mayor wanted specifics about the amount of money all would really cost and new staff positions stated in the report although he was interrupted and reprimanded by the Mayor for delving too far into the content not presented…he forged ahead for a response ….Same went for Comm. Sasser who wanted to know about the need for these new or renamed positions as well as when projects would be “completed”… Sorry to say the UM mantra often repeated since their presentation of “do one block”… is not attainable according to the TM until 2013! …That includes Lake Colon-Downtown area and Commercial from Seagrape to the Intercoastal as a second alternative by Comm. Clottey … So grasping at straws just as their predecessors did with the Oriana million medians ( AI students- McIntee walkways) …on El Mar Drive some of the Commissioners began to throw out “crumbs” of appeasement for the next fiscal year… A1A Entryways…at the north and the south… And to put the band- aid on the “do one block” scenario by going forth with the portals per the Mayor’s suggestion of doing something that would have an impact……That was the UM plan to dress up the 5 A1A to the portal entry’s with new trees, sidewalks etc… Of course nothing was said about the drainage, sewers and the undegrounding that would most likely occur in a short order time to impact this band-aid expenditure… That’s like putting the paint on the walls before you put the floor in the house …or as Clottey has said in the past lipstick on a pig… The positions will be filled there’s no doubt and the consultants will continue to roll in with more studies as we ares sure to hear terms thrown about such as “data driven” …”incentives”…ringing the cash registers”… “branding”…”levels of service”…and of course the guaranteed big return for public money going into private business… Funny thing was the Town Manager blew that portion of this plan away for this writer when she spoke of the results of the code enforcement crackdown that began in April at hotels that declared have long declared they could not afford to revamp their establishments…Once slapped with fines or closed down now altogether they have begun to refresh their properties!…It sounded alot like the widow from the hyperbaric chamber lien last month who cried poor at the podium and was able to cut a $152,000 check to the Town within 2 weeks when the Comm. stood its ground! … What needs to happen in this writers opinion is for the Commission to go back to 2010 and begin with the priorities which really were infrastructure … Put as much energy into the downtown project as they can…We all know that the biggest bang for the buck…the biggest invitation to the right kind of businesses and the best way to prove themselves is to do that area from A1A to the pavilion…The CCL delay spoken about tonight does not pass mustard for this writer in the delay department…We did the Pavilion within the last 3 years and the pertinent info required is not out of date…I was under the impression the work would include changing parking to parallel /removing the medians and drainage…lights etc… so why the resolve shown that this cannot be completed until 2013?… I want a second opinion…and then a third and forth… Perhaps the last drainage contractor used by Colon could be of help?…I also want some answers…How much are the square footage retail rents in town?…Surely they are not $8 sq ft as RMA keeps coming up with.as a comparison from their past conquests ..I want to know how Dave Gadsby, Paul Novak and Sea Lord, Windjammer market their establishments… I want to know how Village Grille and Aruba and 101 Ocean market their events and restaurants…. I want to know how the Chamber markets their art fairs …All bring large turnouts to the Town regularly…I have not seen or heard anything from the owners of the strip malls west of A1A …Where do they stand on these plans? … Sorry to say it looks like we are once again going into a municipal election with a majority on the Commission who want the “whole enchilada”…Cha Ching! …. The next item dealt with planning changes presented by Cecelia Ward… This planner is well worth keeping on and an asset…The “Mediterranean style” is slated to be removed for a MIMO “Miami style”…when did the Comm. decide that was the style to meet the criteria..Comm. Sasser tried to broach this and was shot down by both the TM and Mayor …I believe the presenter for MIMO said not to use that as a prerequisite of style required …find our own … One funny reminder to readers though concerning the Mediterranean style that was never fully realized in the new buildings over the last 5-6 years ….this writer sat through many meetings including the BOA/P & Z and Commission when the head of development for the Town would state the project met the required style only to have it pared down and altered by those voting from the dais!… Bet you anything that will continue as a new style is put on the books!…The building permit fees were presented by ousted Davie TM Gary Shimun who compared fees to 14 municipalities…He did veered way off reality when he made the proposed idea of a picture or video of a project negating an on-site inspection!… Hello? …Get real!… VM Dodd asked the most important question and the reply should make residents stand up and take notice…VM Dodd asked if a permit based on a % of a project was based on the actual cost or what it would cost if done by a General Contracting firm…The answer I believe was the General Contracting price!…That means if you renovate your bathroom as builder-owner and the cost is 1/3 of using a “professional” you will pay a permit based on the full cost!… WOW!… An RFP will go out for outsourcing an alternative to using Broward County…Underground utilities…proved to be just what the Vice Mayor said from the get-go …a waste of time for aesthetics …as well as a logistical impossibility due to no place to put in the transformers…not allowed in the medians… The Mayor rudely cut off the consultant hired to do this study who was standing at the podium…Why?…This was a well-paid consultant who should have gone on the record in the minutes!… The TM will still see if it is possible when we go to do the downtown to do a portion of that area with underground utilities anyhow…. Contracting for Parking Operations and Citation Collection Services…Earlier in the evening Rosa the “Tomato Lady” came to speak for her son who is employed by the town as a parking enforcement officer …and for the parking supervisor who is near retirement…She had some sympathetic ears on the dais…Unfortunately … It’s time to outsource this department…in my opinion…The VM was correct on the Town being overcharged by Duncan our present vendor for the citations …We were saddled with them after former TM Colon had the majority of the former Comm. follow her down a rather nasty path of disparaging a competitor who would have offered a better deal in order to keep a vendor she wanted around…(prev posts) … The warehouse was a tabled event due to no specifics being available with a cost comparison per PIO Steve D’Oliveira for selling or renting…The Mayor still wants to keep it around for hurricanes… The millage rate item came next and the new Finance Director was introduced and with that the screen went to “Event has ended”…HA!… When it came back there was a set-up to not having the same 3.999 millage for 4 years and the monies we did not collect due to that decision… The Commission most likely will play the same game as in those past 4 years…higher than 3.999…Lots of electioneering about lowering taxes…and coming back to 3.999…. The Vice Mayor wanted to start at 3.999…no takers though ….Vice Mayor Dodd is on record at the September 2008 budget hearing for wanting to lower the millage to 3.25…He was shot down…Former Comm. Silverstone used the lower millage promise as a last ditch effort to covet votes in a debate at the last municipal election…. The final topic was Improved Efficiencies & Practices in the Finance Department which gave the TM and the Mayor the ability to “tag-team” all the virtues of using consultants!…These two are joined at the hip…Time warp…yep!…Esther and Jerry time ….with more to come no doubt….
Let’s Do The Time Warp Again…
‘It’s astounding
Time is fleeting
Madness takes its toll
But listen closely
Not for very much longer
I’ve got to keep control
I remember doing the Time Warp
Drinking those moments when
The blackness would hit me
And the void would be calling
Let’s do the Time Warp again
Let’s do the Time Warp again
It’s just a jump to the left
And then a step to the right
With your hands on your hips
You bring your knees in tight
But it’s the pelvic thrust
That really drives you insane
Let’s do the Time Warp again
Let’s do the Time Warp again
It’s so dreamy
Oh, fantasy free me
So you can’t see me
No, not at all
In another dimension
With voyeuristic intention
Well secluded, I see all
With a bit of a mind flip
You’re into the time slip
[From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/r/rocky-horror-picture-show-lyrics/the-time-warp-lyrics.html]
And nothing can ever be the same
You’re spaced out on sensation
Like you’re under sedation
Let’s do the Time Warp again
Let’s do the Time Warp again
Well I was walking down the street
Just a having a think
When a snake of a guy gave me an evil wink
He shook-a me up, he took me by surprise
He had a pick up truck and the devil’s eyes
He stared at me and I felt a change
Time meant nothing, never would again
Let’s do the Time Warp again
Let’s do the Time Warp again
It’s just a jump to the left
And then a step to the right
With your hands on your hips
You bring your knees in tight
But it’s the pelvic thrust
That really drives you insane
Let’s do the Time Warp again
Let’s do the Time Warp again’
more to come…
Tags: Lauderdale-By-The-Sea Mayor Roseann Minnet-Vice mayor Stuart Dodd-Commissioner Scot Sasser-Commissioner Birute Clottey-Commissioner Chris Vincent- Toan Manager Connie Hoffmann, LBTS Agendas/Meetings, local government, Local Politics, Opinions, Scoops, The June 21 2011 Lauderdale-By-The-Sea Budget Workshop ... Let's Do The Time Warp Again ...
