Here’s The Scoop … Town Hall … TOTALLY TOTALITARIAN ….
July 30, 2009 by Barbara
TOTALLY TERRIBLE TOWN HALL……
Town Resident Vincent Ragusa’s expression reflects the rapidly growing number of residents rallying and ready to vote in March!….
“Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible Totalitarianism is generally characterized by the coincidence of authoritarianism (i.e., where ordinary citizens have no significant share in state decision-making)”….HMMMM…TOTALLY!…
Dear Readers (#1 )….The long 2-day Commission (#2 ) meeting will be posted in spurts… due to its length (2 days/ 11 hours) and the incredible amount of disturbing heated exchanges that took place…There is a need for much of it to be printed verbatim for the citizen /voters (#1) to remember….(this way Jimmy-boy (#2) can’t speak (in forked tongue) of misinformation and untruths…except of course if miss-truths are what he is “uddering”?)….
Before we head back there …this writer (#1) wants to take you into Town Hall West (as opposed to Town Hall East on El Mar )…where the Town Manager (#3 ) has decided in this writer’s opinion the town should be run as a totalitarian form of government!… There is no other way to describe her form of management … her stranglehold on every aspect of government accountability and transparency while ignoring our Town’s form of government …
THE LBTS FORM OF GOVERNMENT (included in the LBTS 2009 Proposed Annual Budget)
This Town as the above chart clearly shows ….Citizens-#1…..Commissioners.-#2 ….. Town Manager/ Town Attorney-#3…
Town Manager Esther Colon (#3 ) is clearly not adhering to our form of government…
In this writer’s opinion it encompasses the epitome of her insubordination to the citizens (#1) and Commissioners (#2) …She has chosen instead to spend her days looking for ways to cover her tracks (again this writer’s opinion) …whether assigning staff to supply countless useless documents to a Commissioner (#2 ) or citizens (#1 ) rather than the paperwork readily available that proves she and she alone took over the development of the Beach Pavilion…..intentionally not following proper procedures for asking for Commission ( #2 ) direction while it is said at the same time informing the contractors her decisions were coming from the very Commission (#2 ) she left in the dark…….She has looked hard to find ways to do as little as possible or “skirt” the requirements of many processes such as RFP procedures…hiring practices…and Public Notices….severely restricting the responses to gain the results she alone wanted…We saw it early on with her choice of Assistant “TO” the Town Manager (later dropping the “TO” ) and Town Clerk …(who later required an assistant)…Her stubborn behavior of not going out for a second RFP for the town law firm and Special Magistrate ….More substandard hires came with elevating long term employees that do not possess the credentials that would be included in a properly placed ad for the position…(then compensating for their lack of experience by keeping them as department head under the Assist. Town Manager who does appear to have his own proper credentials for his position let alone the one he covering for)… ….She is unequal in her treatment of citizens (#1 ) …. picking and choosing who she will speak to (goes for Commissioners (#2 ) as well…in person/phone or e-mail)…She gives orders for staff to not answer calls/ e-mails from business owners…ignoring their plight ….On the dais she acts out in a manner that sets professional women back a decade or two when she publicly melts down thus fulfilling her all too familiar M.O. …She then predictably and disturbingly turns on a dime asserting it is she (#3) who is in charge ……and will not be told what to do… by Commissioners (#2 ) or residents (#1)…telling us (#1 & #2) to get “used to it”….knowing full well she is sitting pretty with her incredible 2007 contract and her “gang of 3 ” majority vote… …
This writer (#1 ) used to go in and get the backup material copied…waiting patiently (before it went online each month)…that is until it was deemed an interference and it was no longer allowed……This writer (#1 ) gets public records requests to get whatever materials are not online or in the backup…that too used to be easy…but no longer……This writer (#1 ) posted the RFPs bringing new companies to our door ready to participate and compete after picking them up in wordsearch…the Manager (#3 ) didn’t like it one bit……and as of yesterday the Manager (#3 ) and her staff decided it is no longer necessary to read out loud the opening of public bids as has been the practice at every RFP bid opening I have ever attended…….
Here’s what transpired….I came to Town Hall for the 2 pm bid openings for “I.T.” RFP # 09-06-02 just as I did on Monday (7/27/09) for the beach maintenance RFP bid opening (it produced only 1 bid…our present contractor Beachraker ….the bid was opened and read for the bidding contractor and this writer…$13,500 per mo./ $162,000 a yr. at a savings of $60.00 per mo. compared to last year)….I was prepared to wait in the lobby…but the lobby chairs were moved….into the conference room…I (#1 ) asked why…and the receptionist had no answer…I asked if they were expecting a large crowd…again no real answer….so I sat in the Town Hall conference room to wait….2 pm came and Town Clerk White/ Assist. Town Manager Olinzock and Finance Director Kaola King were the only ones there….The Town Clerk began to read the bids from a rather large stack (9) …(so there was the reason for the chairs)…I (#1 ) asked for the town of each bidder to be read…and the Town Clerk balked.. but Assist. Olinzock complied…(this was always done before)…I thanked him…after each one was read the Town Clerk or Assist. Olinzock “opened” them…and I thought it was rather odd. …(usually each one is opened and the amt.of the bid is read)….But today after the 9th bid was “opened” they said that was it….I (#1 ) asked if they were going to read them and the answer was “no”…they would be tabulated and available later…Hmmm…What would have happened if the chairs were filled with bidders?…….I (#1 ) let them know I felt this was wrong….At the continuation of the Commission meeting meeting I told PIO Steve d’Oliveira I would be making a public request (I did)…but found it really bad P.R for the Town………Comm. Dodd (#2 ) asked the Town Atty. (#3 ) as she came in, and she was unable to give him a response without looking into it….Assist. Town Manager Olinzock (Not #1,2 or 3 ) said they were not required to read out the bids…..rather nastily as is his fashion…(following bad influences we surmise)…
Today I called the State…and the Florida League of Cities to inquire if there was a statute and inform them of the LBTS Town action…They were perplexed at hearing the change in procedure (bad Town P.R.) …I was told that it is not a state statute …and is a decision made from the Commission (#2 ) in the town’s bid procedures…I looked at our town purchasing manual (an earlier public records request) to see what was required…..on page 19 it says…’4.a. Bids must be received by the LBTS Purchasing Administrator no later than the time and date identified RFP .'(this was not included in the recent Sun Sentinel Parking Citation RFP) ‘ Bids received after this time for any reason shall be returned unopened to the bidder. ALL TIMELY-RECEIVED BIDS SHALL BE PUBLICLY OPENED IN THE PRESENCE OF WITNESSES AT THE PLACE AND TIME DESIGNATED IN THE RFP.’ ….There you have it. fellow citizens (#1) ..because it does not SPECIFICALLY say “READ”… the Town chose to again “play with the rules “and do only what is printed…thus they felt they complied and “opened” the bids…with a “slice”…but did not read them!…Really!….The recourse now is to ask the Commission (#2 ) to direct the Manager (#3 ) to include the words “and read the bids out loud” for the citizens (#1 ) and bidders…WOW!…
The Round Table Meeting is now set for the Commission (#2) to decide how to review the Town Manager (#3) on September 10, 2009 at 5 pm in Jarvis Hall …It’s open to the citizens (#1)… It is up to those citizens (#1) to inform the Commissioners (#2) what they, the citizens (#1) feel should be included in her review… You (#1) can contact the Commission (#2)…. http://www.lauderdalebythesea-fl.gov/contactus.html
For this writer/citizen (#1) …..It’s all of the above….and more….such as ….No oversight for the VFD … “Re-assigning” BSO Police Chief Scott Gooding ….. The $200,000 Audit….The 2007 Contract….and of course the Town Manager’s daily interpretation of the LBTS form of government coming from Terrible Town Hall…..TOTALLY!….
What’s on your list?….
It’s up to you the CITIZENS (#1) to make Town Hall TOTALLY Open and Transparent …
PLEASE contact your Commissioners (#2) before Sept. 10th and make sure you attend!…
more to come…
