IS THIS A REALLY AN ENHANCEMENT ? ….
Dear Readers… a reader sent me this photo today of a new seating bench at the north end of the Sea Ranch Club Condominiums on A1A … As someone who resides there it is definitely a questionable “enhancement” for that area and a real waste of taxpayer monies in my opinion … Were we really lacking public seating by the north driveway and in dire need to provide it? ….This writer does not fall for the grant scam offered up by such joint projects that makes most think it’s a freebee …It’s our monies whether local or not… as well as being fully budgeted in our fiscal year until it is refunded per the grant in place which is customary …
The timing of the photo seemed so apropos in this second week of filing for a seat on the dais for the January 2012 LBTS Municipal election… I can tell you that in my 12 years of residency in this town five of which I’ve been actively involved I certainly have never witnessed so many questionable twists and turns pre- filing as I have this time around. … As previously posted last Sunday this writer had several longtime reliable sources stating that four candidates had filed …Vice Mayor Dodd, former ByTheSeaFuture Editor Mark Brown, former Master Plan Steering Committee Vice-Chair Edmund Malkoon and Commissioner Birute Ann Clottey…
Included in the post were the rumors going around about former Commissioner Jim Silverstone and Publisher Michael Arker being ready to jump into the race … By Monday morning I heard quite emphatically that the rumor concerning Silverstone was inaccurate in an email from the former Commissioner which I posted in full as he indicated he wanted …I also received an email from his wife who was equally emphatic and angered by posting about her husband who is at present a private citizen…I responded to her in an email ….which unlike her husband I was allowed to do (his email stated I should not bother to respond back) that I had heard from her husband and as far as stating he was a private citizen I believed he left that status when he decided to write an opinion page for the CIC website and thus enter the political arena once again… The very next day that Silverstone opinion page was taken down… That was quite amusing to say the least! …. Now all that remains on the CIC website is just “Opinion” and they had removed the 90/10 resident/business percentage piece he wrote replacing it with one on the increase in sewer costs. This piece is totally off the mark and shows a major problem with whomever is writing the opinion page now (unless Silverstone just removed his name but plans to continue anonymously) and whomever is leading the organization. There were extensive long drawn out meetings concerning the increases in sewer rates for the south and Sea Ranch Club (who now pays Pompano Beach directly) as well as water rate increases… (due to Fort Lauderdale … (prev. posts) …Perhaps the CIC is feigning ignorance on this topic just as they have in their other top issue of dissent concerning the ouster of former Town Manager Esther Colon for which they laughably ask why she was not asked by the present commission to resign further stating that firing her without cause meant a big payout!…. That the CIC actually wants voters to believe that a simple request to Colon to resign would have stopped a payout shows how off kilter from reality they still are!….
Speaking of being off kilter is this one we were made aware of in the past few days… for their upcoming Sunday night meeting…(Nov. 18th) ….the first meeting since last May they have invited a featured speaker… Commissioner Chris Vincent! …Yep, former Commissioner Jim Silverstone’s 2010 opponent! ….Now we know these are his constituents and he must as a commissioner make himself available to them …but really …at this CIC meeting?… How odd it is when you recall that he ran and won on the very major Colon issue they are still touting as wrong!… How can they come up with their “slate” of candidates or have real discussion as a PAC with him in the room at this meeting that is two days before the time for filing runs out?…Perhaps there will be a quick early Q & A and then he will be escorted out of the club… For Comm. Vincent the question is…how’s this gonna go over with his UOT pals after the fact?… WOW!….
Continuing on with the filing period parody… we were indeed informed Comm. Clottey filed as stated only to then be told she didn’t file…followed by being told she definitely filed on Tuesday…then it was Wednesday…or so we were told… Finally today we were informed by the Town as of early afternoon Comm. Clottey had not yet filed period!… The same back and forth of filed… not filed continued on daily with Edmund Malkoon…We were told emphatically he filed and that he was not going to step aside for Brown or anybody feeling he is owed this seat in this race after stepping aside in 2010 for Comm. Sasser .. It was assumed he had to have filed due to his ongoing actions of preparation (although Mark Brown beat him to the punch getting his first mailer out to voters last week) as well as looking for individuals to give him support in his endeavor as well as being interviewed by reporters on his running for the local papers… Well he filed … but it did not happen until today… It did not help that this time around the Sentinel did not publish updates on those candidates who filed as they have done in the past both in print in the Local section and online in the Broward Political News category and blog…. Mayor Minnet did file upon her return to Town on Monday as we opined…
We learned today that Publisher Michael Arker is to publish an editorial in the November ByTheSeaFuture which comes out tomorrow stating he will not be a candidate for Commissioner opposing Vice Mayor Dodd which was touted by former UOT President Bob Fleishman throughout town as we were alerted to by many ….. If not for the preamble of “sympathy votes” made in all the accounts this writer received in the rhetoric being spouted by Fleishman I would never have gone there in my post … I would have just left it with Arker’s divisive nature seen by and from many of those voters he would need to vote for him in the south and in Sea Ranch Club as well as the Minnet-Brown -Arker UOT “slate” aspect I believe would have been in place if he followed through…
Unfortunately it doesn’t look like Mayor Roseann Minnet and Mark Brown are off the UOT “slate” hook just yet even with Arker making it clear tomorrow in his paper that he is not in the race…Why?… Here’s why…This morning former 2004 candidate for LBTS Commission ( she lost) /former P & Z Chair (she was involved with the Florida Commission On Ethics with a finding of probable cause for failing to report her 2004-2005 contract to purchase (Oriana) condominiums on the required financial statements within 60 days of leaving her position)/ former POA President/ former Chamber of Commerce Board member ( she was not reelected to the board a few years back)/ former BTSF writer Cindy Geesey filed to run against Vice Mayor Dodd for his seat on the Commission! … Now this one is even weirder than Comm. Vincent going to the Sunday CIC meeting… Why?… Because while to many who are not privy to the back stories over the past year it will appear as if there is a Minnet-Brown- Geesey UOT “slate”… those who are more knowledgeable know Ms. Geesey parted ways with the BTSF paper a while back and it wasn’t pretty… The fallout we hear was that she despises her former newspaper co-workers and visa-versa… We hear that due to that she fully supports Edmund Malkoon over Mark Brown….. This is why when this writer received the latest update from the town and a Sentinel reporter showing the following…
Mayor – Roseann Minnet (i)
Commission Seat 3 – Mark Brown and Edmund Malkoon
Commission Seat 4 – Stuart Dodd (i) and Cindy Geesey
( (i) is for incumbent)
it took me aback!… Could it be that Ms. Geesey will join forces with Edmund Malkoon in their quest to beat out Brown and Vice Mayor Dodd?… WOW!… This will surely leave the UOT to scratch their heads in disbelief!…Will the UOT Board make the right decision and again choose between the candidates at their Nov. 29th meeting so that they don’t’ find their membership at odds with each other over signs in their yards as well as sign holding across A1A and Commercial? …Now that would surely be a sight!… One thing to remember is that a candidate can pull out after the filing is over up until the ballot is printed …I believe ….so perhaps some semblance of sanity will be restored sooner rather than later in this race!…
As for the CIC … with Comm. Clottey not yet officially filing to serve a second term and former Comm. Silverstone out of the picture who’s left to put up against those who are listed as filed thus far?… As previously posted the throwbacks of past CIC candidates have way too much baggage to get any real traction this time around and judging from the new CIC board members shown on their site there is no one that’s even viable …in my opinion… There had been some talk here and there over the last months since budget season of Arthur Franczak who we were told was a former member of the CIC running…The question is from where …north or south?… He has… we are told… given two addresses when standing at the podium speaking at public comments …We do recall he has stated Terra Mar (north end) as his residence and also of being the manager at the Shore Haven (south end) … It would need to be from whichever address he uses as a registered voter… Besides Mr. Franczak there is no one else who has come to the podium in the past year to voice any opinion that can be tied to the CIC …So who do they have in mind?… We witnessed 11th hour candidates from the CIC in 2010 and perhaps they will do so again…The last day to file is Tuesday November 22nd by noon….so the clock is ticking…
I’m ending this post with a funny line we were told by a reader today upon learning of Ms. Geesey’s intention to run……If indeed it does end up with only Cindy Geesey vs Vice Mayor Dodd the CIC or at least what’s left of the CIC will have to decide who they hate more Vice Mayor Dodd who was tarred and feathered as a traitor for simply asking the CIC for a sabbatical after he won in 2008 (something we all knew he would do and something Comm. Clottey brought up first at a meeting during the campaign at Bob Roberts house) or Cindy Geesey who has a long, long history of bad blood with the CIC group!…
more to come…
Tags: Civic Organizations, Here's The Scoop ... What Do The A1A Construction Thus Far ... And The 2012 Municipal Lauderdale-By-The-Sea Election Filing To Run For A Seat To Date Have In Common? ... Both Are Highly Questionable ., Laauderdale-By-The-Sea UOT PAC/ CIC PAC, Lauderdale -By-The-Sea Commissioner Chris Vincent, Lauderdale By The Sea Candidate Edmund Malkoon, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea Candidate Cindy Geesey, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea Candidate Mark Brown, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea Candidate Mayor Roseann Minnet, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea Candidate Vice Mayor Stuart Dodd, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea Commissioner Birute Ann Clottey, local government, Local News, Local Politics, Opinions, organizations, Scoops
