TALK AMONGST YOURSELVES…..
While the table wasn’t exactly round …oblong seemed to work out alright…despite a a shaky start….courtesy of the Vice Mayor…surprise…surprise….
Commissioner Dodd who called for this…forged ahead mindful that he should not look too prepared…lest there be a repeat of the Vice Mayor’s feeling of inadequacy…due to his well know M.O. of “winging it”…and “acting out” to throw a wrench into the mix as he did at the first such attempt to talk turkey when they met…on the dais at a pre-meeting some months ago…
Commissioner Dodd spoke of fostering better relationships through these round table gatherings…being able to speak in a forum where sunshine law is observed…and do what those rules keep them from doing ….between meeting…talk…not about personal issues…or items on the agenda coming up that night…but of topics that may be entertained for the future…having community problems addressed…and how to best work individually as well… the in between time…knowing where others stood…
He made one minor “step over the line”…when he brought up 4th of July…saying perhaps they could discuss events like that to be prepared much earlier than last year…OOPS!…
McIntee co-chair for the 4th with his best bud…Comm. Silverstone…was’ “lying in wait”…”wait a minute”….McIntee said.. they already have 4th of July and they already have met…HMMM…
BC…Was sunshine observed Commissioners?….When and where did you two meet…didn’t see it posted as required?…Note to residents…4th of July will be the “kick-off” for these 2 if they dumb enough to run again…watch for it!….
Dodd went on to talk of “pet peeves”…including the code sweeps through the town…the aftermath of phone calls from angry people…and wanting to fix the problem…
Ever the “investigator”…”protector of the Administration and staff”…(just who protected the previous administration and staff from him?)…McIntee wanted to interrogate Dodd about the sheds..and who “ordered” the sweeps of the sheds…going on to then “inform” Dodd it was a code violation for someone who did not get the proper permits…with that owner pointing out others…and saying one had turned in 14 neighbors…yea right!…
Look back at that time…the person did have a violation…and did ask about others…but the Manager clearly said from the dais they were going to be looking at sheds throughout the town!…
Quite the hypocrite …the Vice Mayor is when talking about permits…and following the rules…HMMMM…..
So yes sheds were the 1st sweep…no doubt….
Trusty Mc-sidekick Silverstone jumped in to talk of ordinances…the town has to do it’s job…adding Esther needs to do her job…if people do not choose to follow them…Interesting what does the code say about the height of shrubbery around ones property…10 feet…and was that not “overlooked” when this Commissioner asked for a variance recently to install a fence…remaining at present against the code…and it was this commissioner that wanted to follow Broward County fence heights for his own home….but unable to get the votes…in a second round…to do so…was suspiciously quiet to introduce that 4 foot height into the revised fence height at the recent code workshop…perhaps because his own fence was in?….
McIntee talked of becoming the “jury”…unacceptable he said…(especially when he much prefers to be the towns moonlighting…code enforcer on patrol…and would rather be the judge!)…
The Mayor talked of the law…ordinances …the Manager and how this all should have been handled 8-10 years ago…making it difficult to turn this ship around…
The Vice Mayor asserted at no time did Esther and Jeff Bowman put an arrow out to go after these code violators…this writer and many others…especially those in the aftermath of each “sweep” think otherwise…
The Mayor spoke of going over the agenda with the Manager…a standing appointment…for review …offering it as way for more clarification to the others…Comm. Clottey clearly miffed responded that they all do that…they just don’t talk about it….
Comm. Dodd spoke of the inadequate backup material provided for the code changes…
McIntee chimed in …”I’m happy with the backup”…and later on to assert after Comm Clottey asked for a workshop with Bowman rather than the inefficient one on one to get the answers and clarify the reasons for the proposed changes…he doesn’t need to be wasting his time for what they don’t understand…he understands it all…WHAT?…
A look at the workshop meeting that followed spoke volumes of this false assertion…he looked like he couldn’t find his way out of a paper bag…with his questions…producing some rather appropriate smirks from his fellow dais members…
Dodd spoke of Beach Hardware…and how he went to visit them…Clottey had too…and it seemed others did as well…(Beach Hardware is in the 2-3 year ongoing process of getting a fire exit installed…in the variance process at present..recently at BOA…passed…and tabled at the commission…while the new town Fire Marshall steps up to see if the required Broward plan can be altered to make it easier and acceptable)…
Comm. Clottey went on to say that this is not a planned community and the Unified Land cod just does not apply to every neighborhood…they have individuality issues…
Comm. Silverstone added that maybe organized zones could be changed…to which Comm. Clottey spoke up as she did later on about the parking of boats and lawn trucks…RVs across from condos on A1A by 17-19th streets…being zoned commercial…(previous LBTS agenda/meetings & scoops posts…voted on to disallow…in this writers opinion the same rules should apply as for the north end boats)….
The Mayor spoke of certain areas being treated differently for the greater good…working within parameters for our businesses as well….
Vice Mayor McIntee who was as usual…up and down “getting tea”…talked of enforcement rules…north and south…and boats and hedges…while Comm. Clottey pointed out some of the difference between them….
They went on to talk about a few items coming there way…rentals…the problems…with the tenants.. and 911 dispatch being unable to locate them in areas in the north…(brought up in greater detail at the continuation meeting on 1/22/09…with an addition coming from Comm. Clottey right after the Palm Club P.R. stunt…ala “Candidate McIntee”…previous LBTS agenda/meetings & scoops category)…
McIntee chimed in to recount the problem at a condo…how it was called in a cell phone…the mess-up in response…an account we would hear at least 2 more times…the next night from the Chief of Police…and for all those Channel 7…short attention span listeners…repeated..(the cell-phone 911 process)…almost verbatim minutes later by the Vice Mayor…
The idea was introduced at this time …for the first time…again to come up the next evening of returning Bel Air streets to names…as they once were…(the post office needs to be the decider on this one with officials higher up…per the Town Atty…1/22/09)…
Comm. Silverstone…what can you say about this guy..that is after the obligatory…he follows whatever McIntee wants…always the provider of what is talking about…he did not disappoint….
Silverstone said he read the definition of a permit…( in talking about the recent Arker fiasco…previous LBTS agenda/meetings & scoops post)…and that he is upset that others on the dais come with pre- planned notes…because he comes with nothing…but an open mind…that is open to be changed…no pre-meditated ideas….(No shocker here…note to fellow commissioners…keep the pre-planned notes!)…
When talking about the rentals…McIntee jumped into the his cop persona…(sort of a Sybil thing with him)…and spoke of any enforcement being unenforceable…the process of serving notice…decibel meters…asserting that most of those rentals are off the books…( has “midnight- code enforcer turned them in?)….
More talk ensued on zoning…condos…the Mayor offering up recent request from families that want “kids at play” signs…and Comm Silverstone never missing an opportunity to remind us of his “recreational-Hat”…as basketball coach…offering up a “kids council” in town after a one of his kids talked about such a council at school saying it would give kids stakeholders positions…
Comm. Clottey talked about the 4 stop signs on El Mar by El Prado…wanting to change them to stop when pedestrian present signs…with the Vice Mayor saying it couldn’t be done until he was reminded of such sign right outside the VFD fire department…then digging his heels in on safety…the parking lot…you name it…
BC…note to readers the person that asked for 4 stop signs…in that location…Cristie Furth…
They spoke of the curbs..near Hi-Noon..truck trying to u-turn there…and a need for trcks to go further north to make a wider turn…
Some time was spent by the Mayor on the Pelican Hopper…brought up in her comments the next night and previously posted …
Finishing up shortly before 7 pm the Vice Mayor …perhaps remembering the article coming out by Editor Cristie Furth (1/23/09 Mc-Furth Times edition)…spoke of cutting the meeting down…having a “level 1” only…and starting at 6:30….HMMM…
Note to the Vice Mayor to make that happen for it is you that are the biggest offender………sucking up 2/3 of the bloated 7-8 hour marathons…
Follow Roberts Rules…
Stop directing..talking out of turn…
Stop being the VFD on the podium…recounting you travels…and calls…
Stop going after papers…this blogger…at Commissioner Comments…and take 3 minutes to talk about what you accomplished as a Vice Mayor in between meetings…
Stop pulling P.R. stunts…padding meetings with non- emergencies…
Stop playing investigator…with the town paying for legal intervention…
Do all that and the meetings…will be over by 10!…
Commissioner Clottey introduced some substantive ideas at the end…to consider after 1st reading …not going to 2nd reading for a month…unless it’s an emergency…to have time to deal with any required changes….and for all at public comments to be able to speak…referring to the “profiling” the Vice Mayor had done by keeping a woman with a Greek last name from talking…thinking she would “attack” him after being signed in by one of the “Athena Boys”…(she was not there for that)…
Hypocritically and bordering on a potential lawsuit….the Vice Mayor talked of the rules of signing in…(More and More he is following in former Mayor Parker’s shoes)…we signed in for each other all the time…a fact he is well aware of…and others were signed in for that night…and allowed to speak…
McIntee accused the “Athena Boys” of “Forgery”…YIKES!…for signing the woman in….(the woman sent a letter of her disgust with the Vice Mayor…asking for an apology…to the Commissioners, in the aftermath…along with a letter that came from the “Athena Boys” taking umbridge with the defamatory “forgery” assertions by the Vice Mayor)…
BC…how many letters about the Vice Mayor bad acts are we up to now?….Rack em’ up…
The decision made…that needs to be addressed from the podium and enacted…let a person sign another person in…with acknowledgment of the act…thus opening up what has up to now been an “don’t ask…don’t tell situation”…
The meeting ended with all feeling it went well and would be done again….
more to come….
Tags: Local Politics, Scoops
