TOWN HALL AND TOWN HALL EAST LOOKING TO DIVERT YOUR ATTENTION …

Dear Readers …Shades of the old CIC when this writer was front and center …a full participant in a purposeful agitation to defer and deter the voters from the business at hand and the facts… Silverstone-McIntee- Furth-  style!…

You all remember this… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDbw9CCLLHI&feature=youtube_gdata

Last night we were a close second with the instigation coming from Town Manager Esther Colon…Vice Mayor Jerry McIntee and Commissioner Jim Silverstone!… As you read this full account…the first such account of perhaps the worst commission meeting we have seen in the last 2 years…ask yourselves…are you willing to assist with your vote to retain them or will you make it known that enough is enough and it is time for Commissioner Jim Silverstone-Vice Mayor McIntee- Town Manager Esther Colon- Marc + Cristie Furth to go!…

This writer wrote a post on Commissioner Jim Silverstones “Whopper” of a $3 million dollar deal (prev. posts) that included an excerpt from a story I wrote for the BTSTimes in 2007…

“BC-FUNNY STUFF- “The audience was incensed and one resident screamed out in disgust, accusing the Mayor, the attorneys and the developers of being thieves! ( This resident is from Cuba and could not contain his anger towards this happening in his country.)… Yep, it’s him…Mayoral candidate Joe Couriel!…”

At public comments resident Bob Schuyler spoke about that article and included the following statement “Then a local resident from Cuba called all involved thieves. How about the one dealing from his personal office?” Meaning Comm. Silverstone and his statement on Jan. 26, 2010 that he made a deal in his office on Commercial Blvd…

Joe Couriel the Furth-CIC-endorsed candidate for Mayor came to speak and he said this as he ended his comments…” Um, thank you very much and ah, by the way I did call out thief. I was pro, very proudly removed from the audience at that time because those that made that deal gave away two million dollars of our money and ah, we could’ve had more. But what happened to that other two million who knows? Maybe one day we’ll find out. Thank you.”

…………………………………

BC- First, Comm. Silverstone take note… Joe Couriel acknowledges this writer wrote the truth in 2007…Take note readers- Joe Couriel candidate for Mayor says ” I was pro, very proudly removed from the audience at that time”…and Take note voters- Joe Couriel candidate for Mayor says “because those that made that deal gave away two million dollars of our money and ah, we could’ve had more. But what happened to that other two million who knows? Maybe one day we’ll find out.”…either he is buying the “Whopper” Commissioner Silverstone was selling on Jan. 26th…or perhaps he too needs to visit the Fl. Ethics Commission to explain any knowledge of  an ex parte communication violation Comm. Silverstone was a party to?… OOPS!…

………………………………….

Right after Joe Couriel, resident Chuck Gress was called to the podium to make his public comments which ended with this ” We’re a democracy and not a dictatorship. You want your like run by a Dictator move to Cuba. Ask yourself this, ask this, how many people are on the nightly news with stories being reported about them making rafts out of coconuts and plywood trying to paddle to Cuba?”

…………………………………..

BC- Mr. Gress was loudly booed by the Furth-CIC crowd …which I found quite something…. considering the CIC- e-mail sent on Tuesday by the CIC Chair Bob Roberts-

“2/9/10
Dear CIC Member

Also, don’t forget that LBTS Town Commission meeting is this evening,
Tuesday, February 9th, at 7:00pm. It’s important that as many of us as
possible attend to support our side against the loud mouthed opposition.

Bob Roberts, CIC Chair”

…………………………………………….

Town Manager Esther Colon took the microphone “As a Town Manager, as a individual born and raised in this country with Cuban parents I take that statement to be derogatory! So maybe you need to read the U.S. Constitution. But any commissioner that allows residents to talk about ethnicity that is really sad!”

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BC- The audience was riled…those who had just heard Mr. Gress and saw no slight and those sitting by  Campaign Manager Cristie Furth..Candidate Joe Couriel…Candidate Marjorie Evans seeing it as an opportunity to start a riot!… An exchange took place between Chuck Gress and Liliana Pomareda (Mrs. Pomareda writes letters to BTSTimes and was the recipient of the $56,000 resurfacing on N. Tradewinds with her pal Canidate. Joe Couriel courtesy of McIntee/Silverstone/Clottey and Colon)… Some sort of insult and a tossing of an item …instigated by Mrs. Pomareda say those observing it…The audience responded and so did the police … VM McIntee could be heard from the podium saying “Throw him out!” referring to Mr. Gress.

Comm. Silverstone- “Absolutely nuts!” (referring to Mr Gress and those trying to clear it up)…

VM McIntee- ” Mayor I’m making a motion to remove that man from the audience. He was insulting and antagonizing! I’m making a motion! I’m making a motion you can rule on it or over rule it!”

Comm. Silverstone-” I’ll second that motion!”

Mayor Minnet-” You can make that motion, but this is freedom of speech.”

Dennis Ritchie who was sitting between Mr. Gress and Mrs. Pomareda stood to explain what took place ..

VM McIntee-” Control the audience Mayor! He has no right to stand up!”

Mayor Minnet-” To tell the truth? There’s a motion and a second. Vice Mayor made a motion and a second by Commissioner Silverstone. This is, there is freedom of speech here, there’s three minutes here”…

VM McIntee- ” The motion is to remove. I’m calling for a vote on it!”

Mayor Minnet- ” It’s wrong.”

Comm. Dodd – ” I have the debate here Vice Mayor and I believe our organizational rules call for one warning and I would ask the mayor to go for one warning to both participants. This is how we have to maintain our decorum and our order. I reckon the motion is actually out of order.”

VM McIntee- ” I actually agree with that. You’re right. One warning. Give him a warning Mayor. Officially give him a warning!”

Mayor Minnet- ” Vice mayor if you would have allowed me to continue with what I said. Excuse me, Vice Mayor I can give you a warning as well!”

BC- Applause erupted in the hall!

Mayor- “So we have three warnings.”

Comm. Silverstone- ” This is ridiculous! That’s ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous!”

VM McIntee-” The Cuban residents of this Town. He insulted every Cuban in this Town!”

…………………………

Just a reminder of VM McIntee doing what he does best…- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDbw9CCLLHI&feature=youtube_gdata

…………………………..

Mayor Minnet-” Vice Mayor if you continue your outrage I will ask you to leave the podium! Yes you will go!”

VM McIntee- ” Go ahead!”

Mayor Minnet-” Vice Mayor I’m asking you to leave this podium.”

VM McIntee- ” I motion to overrule the the Chair!”

Comm. Silverstone- ” And I’ll second that of course!”

……………………….

BC- The audience went wild- saying “Of course!”…responding to Comm. Silverstone’s longtime voting record backing McIntee on motions and votes!.. (identical voting record for 4 years)…

……………………..

Comm. Silverstone- ” It’s wrong. Everybody knows it’s wrong and that’s why.”

Mayor Minnet-” It’s wrong and we know where it’s coming from.”

VM Mcintee- ” We sure do!”

Mayor Minnet- ” From you!”

Mayor Minnet- ” Madam Clerk there’s been three warnings. Please make note of that and please start with the next public comment.”

………………………….

BC- Readers…taxpayers…voters… wake-up!…

The dirty politics of the Furths- McIntee- Silvestone- Colon “Gang” are ramped up big time after they found their endorsed candidatesreceiving a cold reception going door- to- door and condominium- to- condominium in town!..

Fearmongering and riling up with false and fanciful statements…half truths…smears…and more…are the only option they have left!…

What happens on March 9, 2010…is in your hands…

To make that choice watch these videos…..and when you watch…please take notice of the Commission Candidates…watch how they present themselves..what they have to contribute to the meeting in content … and more importantly what they offer LBTS on the dais for the next 2-4 years..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDbw9CCLLHI&feature=youtube_gdata

http://lbts.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=287

more to come………

Tags: Civic Organizations, Lauderdale By The Sea Candidate Joe Couriel, Lauderdale By The Sea Cuba Used to bait the audience by the Town Manager- Commissioner Jim Silverstone-Vice Mayor Jerry McIntee, Lauderdale By The Sea inciting a riot?, Lauderdale By The Sea Mayor Minnet, Lauderdaler By The Sea Town Manager Esther Colon, LBTS Agendas/Meetings, local government, Local Politics, Scoops
Posted in Uncategorized

NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY …. DISCOUNTS FOR 3 OR MORE … ….

Dear Readers … the continuation of the November 10, 2009 commission meeting took place last night on December 7, 2009…and being out of whack turned out to be the “theme”   of the evening…

We began with Commissioner Clottey still on her Hillsboro Inlet “bent”… to throw Commissioner Dodd off the board…It was combined with the new business item put on by Commissioner Dodd…He tried unsuccessfully to ask her why she would proceed with this change…and gave the facts of how this appointment was historically made and how it has and is a long term appointment from most municipalities including LBTS……Her ridiculous statements and her tone in response warrant more and more concern that this woman is not dealing with a full deck…Her shrill “explanations” …don’t make any sense at all…She met Oliver Parker and he asked her to put this on and he wants his old job back and she said she would do it…Is that “sound” decision making?…Never mind the history of the CIC and former Mayor Parker…(Recall)…She tried to say it is a job to be rotated like the others that the commissioners attend ….despite being informed otherwise……She tried to say it was to get “us” known out there beyond town limits…..Really?… If that’s her reasoning…how does she justify nominating Parker to return once “out there” again?….With Comm. Clottey,  up is down and down is up…getting defensive over all her “time” spent for Town duties…5-6 days a month…and sometimes they go from 9:30-2:30… WOW!…Give the commissioner one of those cheap “medals” the Vice Mayor wanted for the “heroes” among us!…Give me a break!… The Mayor was right on target and said the new representative would most likely be on for a month….But Clottey being Clottey did not care…she was going to move forward for her new best friend..Mr Oliver… or maybe galpal, Maria… With her majority on the dais, she, Silverstone and McIntee voted to put this through…with a cutoff of Jan. 7th …SEND YOUR APPLICATION IN !…. http://www.lauderdalebythesea-fl.gov/ …The Mayor responded this was “unfortunate”…Get this woman a couch!…

Too, too funny in order to make up to those long ignored Jews among us in LBTS …(this writer is Jewish)…the Town did a mea culpa by putting on the agenda to change the date of a meeting in Sept. to accommodate the Jewish Holiday of Sukkot …not an important holiday for most…and after the Mayor asked if this was under the direction of the Jewish Federation and found it was from the long-term calendar the received 2 years ago Town ignored (prev. post)…Commissioner Silverstone motioned to defer it until the 2nd meeting in April…. saying it wasn’t that important…A vote was made 4-1…Vice Mayor McIntee voted no…to the deferred action…perhaps thinking a no vote would “score” him Jewish points…this election year!… Get this man a couch!…

The Cone of Silence…Commissioner Dodd read from his prepared notes …

“I have reviewed the video of the end of the previous meeting several times. I am not going to get into any controversial discussion or argument at 11.15 p.m. after a 4 hour session. I can tell you I will always put the unresolved issues on a fresh agenda item to be discussed at another time. After careful consideration it appears the town manager was trying to imply a commissioner had broken one of the rules regarding the “Cone of Silence”. She stated verbatim – I guess we forgot about the cone of silence that was handed out in January 2009. She state shortly aft verbatim – If this town commission is going to allow or is going to communicate with vendors and accept bids that are non responsible ( I think she meant non responsive) the issue is on this dais.
First I would never dream of interfering, negotiating, and making false promises during any part RFP process. The bids were opened on the parking RFP months ago and I was contacted by the vendor with a problem with our town staff and I chose to reply and send a copy to the town as a public record. I received the following – E-mail from a vendor bidding on a town RFP. “ What in hell is going on in Lauderdale by the sea” . She expressed how rude the caller from LBTS was. He said the person was short and requested the contract and just hung up the phone. The caller from LBTS didn’t even provide sending instructions. This was the second call – It must have been bad ….. The rudeness and unprofessional contacts with our customers however – has no acceptable format.
I replied – On behalf of the commission please accept my apologies. I asked on September 11th for the evaluation and reason behind the town staff’s strange choice when your RFP to the casual observer to be in the best interests of the town. Please accept my personal apologies……….

I’m sorry Commissioner Silverstone if this e-mail apologizing on your behalf has upset you and that you want to be excluded from any situation where an apology is in my opinion required. If you receive a personal e-mail that requires an apology on behalf of the town I would ask you kindly to include me in. Remember it was an e-mail addressed to me and I had no way of knowing whether it was also sent to anyone else.
We are public servants and the correct solution in my opinion would have been for the town manager to call the vendor, apologize and ask the vendor whom from the Plantation PD called him with the complaint but it appears from the memorandum we all received that this didn’t happen and the vendor hasn’t yet had an apology nor is he likely to ever bid on any future town contract after the treatment he received publicly from this town

I personally feel my actions in no way infringes any Cone of silence or other rules regarding RFP’s and is in fact the code of decency to apologize unless you believe the vendor made it up. We are public servants and should act and behave as such.

If we are raising the cone of Silence – I feel the Vice Mayor telling Armelio – “We just have to go through the motions” even before the bids were opened to be a blatant and far more serious infringement. What about all our conversations with Minto where all the commissioners privately met with Minto to discuss changes to their next building phase. Does that constitute a breach of the cone of silence?
What about conversations with Choice representatives after the bids were opened
Does that constitute a breach of the cone of silence?

I will not be accused of anything by innuendo by the town manager or anyone else – get the facts straight and ask the question if you have something to say. I have said before – if you have a problem call me and I will come and see you in your office and with a witness if you want – I’m not the one with the problem.

Also for the record the cone of silence was actually in the ethics ordinance back-up that I tried to get this dais to introduce earlier this year.

Also for the record this town does not have a Cone of silence ordinance as adopted by other municipalities into their code, this town has no reference to cone of silence in the purchasing manual and there was no reference to the cone of silence in the parking RFP. I fail therefore to see how this commissioner could be accused of breaking it by sending an apology after the bids were closed months ago.

I yield”

Commissioner Silverstone as usual was his befuddled, incomprehensible self…”I will never speak for you or anyone commissioner.”…. Does he have a limited Rolodex in his head…and this time…he rolled it to T for Town Manager form of g0vernment?…He stated the commission is not to “interfere” with the Town Manager by contacting the vendors…that to do so was “totally irresponsible”…He brought up the Miami ethics materials brought forth to deal with the “2-Hats” ethics problem, and laughably to those who know his M.O. tried to say he read it!…No way…the portion on the “cone of silence” was buried pages back…and RFPs were not even on the radar until the following summer !..OOPS!… And if you follow Commissioner Silverstone’s thought process (stop laughing, readers)…He would have you believe that the commission should “adopt” a “cone of silence” because it was included in a backup!…No Ordinance required…Good God!… He actually tried to say that he has read the Charter many times since he became a commissioner…OK, maybe he did…but did he retain it?…This writer thinks not!…He has said the same for the codes…pretty funny that he ended up removing his item that followed this…for a change in the Town Code to deal with uncompleted building sites…after sheepishly admitting the Town Atty. told him it was already “on the books”…OUCH!… Get  this man a couch!…

The Town Manager did her repeat performance…it’s her staff…they did nothing…and she too stuck with the buried Miami-Dade “cone of silence” as her premise to admonish the commission (prev. post- LBTS agendas,meetings) …in October…She said if a “certain Commissioner wanted to believe a Vendor”…so be it…she stands behind her staff…Get this woman a couch!…

Then it was Vice Mayor McIntee’s turn…

“You know I’ve listened to some outrageous statements but this was one of the worst. The bottom line here is that a gentleman who didn’t get a bid was very mad and very upset and he sent a very nasty email and claimed a lot of things happened. And when he sent that email to Commissioner Dodd he responded by saying I’m sorry. The problem with him saying I’m sorry is there was never any attempt to determine if the staff broke any rules or did anything wrong. That’s where the problem lies. The staff was thrown under the bus by Commissioner Dodd by him apologizing for their actions when in fact they did nothing wrong. And that’s wrong. That’s absolutely wrong. If you have a situation you get a nasty letter from a purveyor or person trying to do contracts with this town, I would go to the Town Manager and say Town Manager please do an investigation for me. See who talked to this person. Get their side of the story. I would never, never accept the side of a,a purveyor of contracts to this town as being truthful and completely legitimate without verifying it! I have complete trust in our employees. They’re pretty good people. In the dissertation that, that he read to us he never said it ain’t so! Plantation sent a letter back saying none of their employees said that our employees were nasty to them.They did an investigation and they consulted all the people in Plantation who contact, who were in contact with our employees and each and everyone said they were congial, conga, excuse me…they were very nice to each other, friendly, appropriate activities. That was never mentioned yet Commissioner Dodd had that letter which said it didn’t happen in Plantation. So everything Mr. Hood said which is in my hand were lies. But yet, he apologized for the lies that Mr. Hood generated against our employees and that fact is just terrible. Our employees are good hardworking people and to take their word without an investigation with our so much as a say so. Maybe it was Nilkki? Maybe it was June? Say June did this happen? Could you tell me? Because I believe if they went to the Town Manager and said can I ask Nikki if it happened she’s probably give her permission to do it. But I couldn’t do it without the Town Manager but I would at least go to the complaint. I would never, never send a letter that I apologize for the whole commission.! I wouldn’t accept that. If the complaint came to me I would have gone right to the horses mouth. Did you do this? And when did it happen? I would have called Mr. Hood up and say Mr. Hood could you be more specific? What was said? What time was said? I would see who was working that day. I would see it was documented. But most of all when I finally got a letter from Plantation, the government of Plantation saying it ain’t so. Your employees were nice to us. Then I would have senbt a letter back to Mr. Hood saying I’m disappointed in what you said. Apparently your accusations are not true.”

Commissioner Dodd -“Point of information , nobody ever contacted Mr. Hood from this town. That’s the point that I’m trying to make.”

VM- ” You contacted him! They don’t have to.”

CD-” He contacted me! He sent me a letter!”

VM- ” And he accused the town of breaking the rules and being nasty!”

CD- ” Why didn’t the town contact him?”

VM- Did you go to the Town Manager?”

CD- ” I sent a copy of my email to the Town Manager for her to follow through.”

VM-“Did you apologize before you investigated?”

CD- It doesn’t cost anything to apologize. You said talk to her [TM] personally.”

VM- Wait, wait that’s the nit of the problem! You have to investigate!”

CD- “The Town didn’t investigate.”

VM-” But, but before you apologize for an action you investigate to make sure the action occurred or else you’re putting all the responsibility on those poor Town employees and you threw them under the bus and that’s why there’s problems!”…

BC-First…Commissioner Dodd forwarded the email he received about the situation (prev. post)…Mr Hood would not have sent such an email if he had not been contacted in the vetting process…There was no approved bid at this time……The town received no letter…and what McIntee had amounted to emails between Plantation and Kaola King  consisting of a few line exchange….No investigation in Plantation…..and the “person” responsible …this writer believes…was neither of the women accused…He is taking cover…and being covered by his mentor!… Comm. Clottey is on record at the final award of the RFP saying she had spoken to Mr Hood while it was in process…..Commissioner Silverstone, Commissioner Clottey and the Vice Mayor all shook hands with Mr Hood at the end of the process…In fact Commissioner Silverstone sent Mr. Hood an email…

………………………………………………………..

“Wednesday, October 28, 2009 9:19 AM

Mr. Hood,
I was wondering why you stayed for the entire 5 hour ordeal. Turns out you made the effort to meet each one of use and to thank us. That was a step above and beyond. I was most impressed and further more after I received your email below.
Thanks for achieving your intent. It benefits both of us.
Best regards,
Jim Silverstone
Commissioner LBTS”

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As for the above statements. made by the Vice Mayor…..folks…read them again…and then see the (not quite so) anonymous, letter about the Mayor (prev. post) and what the Vice Mayor did with it…on Dec. 8th agenda…and you will see…THIS GUY NEEDS A COUCH!… TALK ABOUT HYPO-CRISSIE!…

Commissioner Clottey added her 2 cents..putting her foot where it’s spent a lot of time..saying the “gal” at the end (Nikki) never said a a nasty word to anyone (not true…prev. post…it’s a Colon trickle down Town Administration, with the exception of Kaola King, the Finance Director whom I do not believe was involved until after the rude hang-up)….. Commissioner Clottey said you have to judge someone on their prior action…and on that we all agree…This woman needs a couch!…

The Mayor thanked Commissioner Dodd for putting this on…

Back the Commissioner Clottey and her phobia of the BSO police …her phantom phone calls and phobia of “those people”, the homeless… She spoke of calls she received from residents “uncomfortable” around “Washington Beach Park”…(that would be Washingtonia …Commissioner)…She admitted she again did not contact the police and it was obvious she did not tell them to contact the BSO police…BSO Police Chief Llerena came to the podium and said “there is no easy answer” …and that one gentleman in that area is there everyday reading and not doing anything that is a disturbance…He spoke about the massive lawsuit in Miami for harassing the homeless…and said he and his men have never witnessed anyone sleeping… We hear the person Clottey almost “tripped over” was also a resident…This woman needs a couch!…

The Mayor asked the Chief if residents should contact the police…and the Chief that the vast majority of calls produce nothing suspicious,,,that they have a right to be there..The Town Atty. spoke of case law and confirmed the Chief’s words of caution…

The Vice Mayor ever the diplomat said “I don’t think we should go near this. The Lieutenant’s out there on the ATV, I don’t know if they’re looking at the girls!”… Crass, VM really crass…This guy needs a couch!…

Commissioner Silverstone went counter to Clottey’s assertions saying his phone calls have decreased…and asked about shutting down access to the beach!… This guy needs a couch!…

The Mayor asked about signs…and the Town Atty. addressed overnight parking restrictions…(which we already have on the books)…OOPS!…

Vice Mayor McIntee I don’t think we should direct the Town Attorney to spend any money…Pretty funny after the anonymous letter and Greenfest…etc…Get this guy a couch!…

Then it was time to address Clottey’s item concerning this writer and her unfounded and unsubstantiated accusations that I called her “inappropriate words”… “Despicable and disgraceful” for her actions toward Commissioner Dodd and the Hillsboro Inlet…Appropriate then and appropriate still!.. Comm. Clottey dialed it back but fraudulently contended that it was heard by others…Could not be…cause it did not happen… More of her empty political accusations…By the way Note to the Commissioner… please stop trying to talk to me….off the dais…those days are long gone ….You made your decision to be fully complicit in Mc-Furth bad behavior…This woman needs a couch!…

Clottey again…disingenuously acting as if “slogans” for the Town suddenly came to her…( a McIntee- type epiphany…courtesy of the Furths)..The slogan contest was a regular item in the BTSTimes this last year…and need not be an issue at this point in time…No surprise the Vice Mayor and Comm. Silverstone were for it… They’re all late night  “regulars” at Town Hall east…no matter where they park…Get these guys a couch!…

We ended had less than 24 hours….before we all headed back…for the last LBTS Commission meeting of the year….It turned out to be …the meeting that put the nails in the CIC- coffin…so off the wall…that a couch is no longer an option…

Vice Mayor McIntee…Commissioner Silverstone and Commissioner Clottey…need to be committed!…

more to come…

Tags: Lauderdale By The Sea Commissioner Birute Clottey, Lauderdale by the sea Commissioner Jim Silverstone, Lauderdale By The Sea Commissioner Stuart Dodd, Lauderdale By The Sea Mayor Minnet, Lauderdale By the Sea Vice Mayor Jerry McIntee, LBTS Agendas/Meetings, local government, Local Politics, Scoops, scoops. Lauderdale By The Sea cont. Commission meeting of 11/10/09- on 12/7/09
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Candidate Chris Vincent , daughter Paige and Mayor Minnet at the Craft Fair

Dear Readers… Candidate Chris Vincent is really the man about town these days… He has been seen at all the events going on … those in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea from one end of town to the other and those benefiting our town in neighboring locales …… He knows how important it is for residents to put a face with a new name …..

From the response this writer is receiving…Chris has been getting to know quite a lot of people in every part of town!…There’s a definite buzz!…

With the holidays coming up and the back to back events…commission meetings…one round table meeting….holiday gatherings….he will be there…ready to get to know what’s on the minds of those he wants to represent on the dais in 2010…

He will be going throughout the town after Thanksgiving and be every neighborhood …knocking on doors …..just as all successful Lauderdale-By-The-Sea commissioners have done in the past…

So make sure to take the time to meet Chris Vincent and find out all he has to offer LBTS in the next 4 years!…

This site will keep you all informed about the comings and goings of Candidates Chris Vincent,Scot Sasser  and Mayor Minnet during the next 4 months as we approach this very important municipal election on March 9, 2010…

The best chance we have for a positive change  … is an informed voter who knows the person they are electing to office…without fear or fearmongering leading them astray using the “ghosts” of election tactics past…….and that Dear Readers is this writer’s mission… to see that once inside that voting booth you can be your decision knowing all the facts!…

more to come…

Tags: Lauderdale By The Sea Candidate Chris Vincent, Lauderdale By The Sea Candidate Scot Sasser, Lauderdale By The Sea Mayor Minnet, local government, Local Politics, Scoops
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THERE’S NOTHING THAT CAN MAKE US SWALLOW IT….

Dear Readers … The Town Manager has a variety of tactics she uses when trying to cover her tracks…This writer has alerted you to them before and unfortunately must do so again…At the 11/10/09 meeting under Town Manager Report Town Manager Colon started out with one of her tried and true ones …”As you know”…When Ms. Colon starts out with that opening my ears perk up and I zone in on the untruthfulness to follow!… It’s a tactic that puts the recipient in the position of not wanting to appear stupid…akin to not remembering someone’s name, so they immediately nod as if they recall when in fact they do not, and the Manager knows they do not because it never happened!… When that happens she is even more in control, with no one to challenge her and gets emboldened to continue the farce…That’s what took place again with this report…

TM-” As you know the Town Commission has been speakin’ about doin’ some kind of survey for several months. ”

BC- The Town Commission spoke of doing a straw poll in the Town Topics from the dais and that was brought up in 2008 and periodically afterward in varying items…While they did it in the Topics for the doggy beach that was a 1 shot deal. If we are to believe this opening salvo from the manager then it would have been imperative for her to bring it to the commissioners for direction before sending the survey out, due to the request…neither ever took place!…

TM-” I took it upon myself to get the survey done in order to obtain information for the commission to have some guidelines of what residents are askin’ for or what kind of improvements they would like.”

BC- There is not a scintilla of truth in her statement… for as the manager knows there are other long term avenues to gather that information in already in place…the suggestion box in Town Hall and the Citizen Request form…to name two…neither have been used in by he Town Manager or staff to report “what residents are askin’ for”!…

TM- “I did speak with three of the commissioners. The Mayor reviewed some of the comments with me at yesterday’s meeting. Some of the comments were constructive, some of the comments have been resolved. As for the where we got our source of information, it’s common to municipalities, we all share information. Our Waste Management contract is currently being shared by another city.”

BC- The  survey information came as previously posted from Wilton Manors… through Asst. TM Olinzock who is a resident of Wilton Manors (more on him and his role below)… As far as sharing information with other municipalities…on that she is correct…This TM has done it with abandon throughout her short stint …and the results have been dismal…as previously posted… one size does not fit all….This writer found it most amusing she used the Waste Management contract as an example…having sat in the pre-meeting for the solid waste RFP…I posted on the lack of knowledge then- Asst.TO the TM Olinzock showed when sitting at the table going through the contract with Waste Management, Choice and others…Waste Management brought their Atty. who repeatedly informed Olinzock of outdated or non-applicable clauses in the contract…Olinzock much chagrined as well as inept came up with his own telling “cover lines”…of it being above his “pay grade” and “I’ll have to get back to you on that.”… So whatever municipality  is sharing our Waste Management contract…are hopefully “sharing” with other municipalities as well!…

TM- ” Um, is this a survey that was done to benefit me, I don’t see how? It basically spoke about the services of the Town. It spoke about what improvements the administration or the Town commission needs to address and yes it was a lengthy process , it’s done in house as time permitted and I believe that the results gave us a benchmark of what the residents want to see.”

BC- It was not lengthy according to the public requests information received …from the time Olinzock “lifted” it or “shared” it…to the Sept. townwide mailing…As far as benefiting the TM, it will most likely be skewed that way in the BTSTimes… as Mc-Furth factoids….and they’d get away with it…(they did in the past)….if the “gang” did not have a counter …(this site)…to any “cheerleading” claims armed with the real backup of e-mails and memos from my public records requests…. A far as a benchmark, come on…182 people out of 4802…(more on this below)….

TM- ” Whether it was a small response at least we did over 3% of the residents responding. I thank those that did response.As far as the comments most of those comments are policy decisions and I hope it’s a tool that the commission can use to move forward with our future capital improvement projects and our future code revisions or policy decisions that have to be made by the commission.”

BC- 3.79% is the real number…dismal at best…and again some of the comments were identical…and suspect…If she really believes in the comments than the manager must see the writing on the wall and her days are numbered as well as her co-horts…No mention of that…Hmmmmmm…

Commissioner Clottey spoke next and lived up to her “clueless” moniker…she spoke of not receiving her survey until 3 weeks after they were sent out…and blamed the post office…Clottey said therefor she did not mail hers in!…It really was a math challenged night for the 3 Mc-Furth commissioners…The survey went out at the beginning of Sept. and was not presented until the 10th of Nov….So Comm. Clottey had approximately 6 weeks to get it in…and we know that the commissioner is a regular visitor to Town Hall…she could have hand delivered the thing herself!… The Town Manage said as much and told al lit would be updated as more are received… I discourage any further surveys being sent in…they are faulty with the inclusion of the 33′ maximum height question…which is what this survey was all about!…The voters can offer a the commissioners and the administration a real “benchmark” with the ouster of McIntee, Silverstone and Clottey…in March…contained in the survey comments!…(prev. post)…

Comm. Silverstone was next up and he decided to present one of his famously foolish spreadsheets…as you read the following remember…he will be running for either commissioner or mayor…..

CS-” I work with numbers all day”…”Numbers, statistics” “Interesting to looking at the numbers”…

He went on to inquire from the TM about there being 4800 responses and how she arrived at that number …did it include residents and businesses…The TM even looked at him in disbelief!… She replied she got the recipients from the Broward County Property Appraiser list…unfortunately, like his BFF McIntee Jimmy-boy was oblivious to the reception he was getting…and proceeded on…he said there were 182 responses and that equaled 3.7901% as a return …

ALERT FOR THE WAY COMM.  SILVERSTONE TRIES TO FIX THE UNILATERAL COLON SENT SURVEY…

CS- ” The important thing is it wasn’t known you [TM] were going to do this, so therefore it was kind of a surprise for people! Now if we’d worked on one of this one of the bad things about doing that is then there could be some funny business going on to change these numbers around!”

BC- from the dais could be heard (the Mgr.?) “totally ridiculous!” …So if you use Jimmy-boys logic…. then Wilton Manors residents should not accept their town directed survey…and the Range Rider  who came for the Colon evaluation and said he would get direction for a survey was also setting up constituents for “funny business”…OUCH!…

CS- ” So I’m assuming that given a small percentage of the response. But still it’s going to be a varied response for the 182 who did respond. It gives a pretty a good overall view of the town.Both businesses and residential, condo owners and everything else we have in town.”

BC- HOW?….There was no breakdown of the responses offered in the backup!.. No percentage or numbers for businesses, residents, north side, south side, single family homes, duplex, condos…So what kind of a “statistician” can make such a statement?…. The non- CPA …kind!… It gets worse from here folks…

CS- ” Now what I did because we did it or the Town Manager did it  (Freudian slip?) in pretty much 4 groups of grades. one excellent, good, fair poor. I then sub-grouped it into excellent-good as one group, fair-poor in another group. And in looking at this there was one thing that shot up and I think it had something to do with why there is a division in this town. The number 1 question, question number 1 was a place to live. Do you like living here. The excellent and good totaled 82.53% and the fair and poor response totaled17.47%. But the poor response was the highest poor response of any of the questions that were asked at 14.46% . So somewhere along the line there’s a lot of people that loving in this town and think it’s a great thing and you people that don’t like living here for whatever reason that could be.”

BC- Looks like Jimmy was doing a Clottey when she described evaluating the TM…(lame for her..lame for him!)..The 1st question on the survey was …

1 How do you rate the Town of LBTS as a place to live?

Excellent 77/ Good 60/ Fair 5/ Poor 24

The question was to “rate” the town…not if you like living here!…As for the division…as your BFF McIntee is so fond of saying…”Look in the mirror”…

CS- ” But that was interesting staticallying (Jimmy-boy verbiage) these numbers cause the next lowest, the next highest poorest percentage was about half of that and that was the building department which I found really kind of strange. But if you look through this you’ll see that overall ah, I think people are very happy to um, overall the services and so forth. On a percentage basis the ah, on the excellent, the highest excellent rating was for the fire and EMS ah at 48.19%. But the total of good and and excellent totaled 77.71% the highest out of that was actually beach and park at 86.75%. The recreation, I think.”

BC- From the survey…What Jimmy-boy excludes…the satisfaction numbers..that put BSO Police above Fire-EMS…and the high number of “no contact” with the departments …Hmmm. no percentage on that…

2. How satisfied are you with the following Town services?

*Enforcement of Municipal codes & regulation

Very satisfied 37/ satisfied 80/ dissatisfied 21/ very dissatisfied 11/ no opinion 16

*Recreation or cultural programs

Very satisfied  34/ satisfied 71/ dissatisfied 22/ very dissatisfied 9/ no opinion 30

* Fire response/ services

Very satisfied 80/ satisfied  49/ dissatisfied 7/ very dissatisfied 8/ no opinion 22

* Fire rescue/(EMS) response/ services

Very satisfied 80/ satisfied 49/ dissatisfied 6/very dissatisfied 5/ no opinion 28

* Police response/ services

Very satisfied 73/ satisfied 63/ dissatisfied 5/ very dissatisfied 3/ no opinion 22

*Building dept. services

Very satisfied 26. satisfied 61/ dissatisfied 17/ very dissatisfied 13/ no opinion 40

* Beach and park maintenance

Very satisfied 57/ satisfied 87/ dissatisfied 16/ very dissatisfied 1/ no opinion 8

8. How do you rate the importance of providing the following services?

* Public safety

Very important 165/ somewhat important 10/ somewhat unimportant 1/ very unimportant 0/ no opinion 0

* Recreational and cultural

Very important 62/ somewhat important 74/ somewhat unimportant 26/ very unimportant 3/ no opinion 7

* Enforcement of municipal codes & regulations

Very important 113/ somewhat important 47/ somewhat unimportant 7/ very unimportant 1/ no opinion 5

* Preserving open space and waterways

Very important 137/ somewhat important 29/ somewhat unimportant 6/ very unimportant 0/ no opinion 0

* Land use, planning and zoning

Very important 143/ somewhat important 22/ somewhat unimportant 6/ very unimportant 0/ no opinion 4

10 Within the past year, if you made contact with the following Town departments, how satisfied were you with the service you received?

* Police

Very satisfied 54/ satisfied 30/ dissatisfied 8/ very dissatisfied 4/ no contact 51

* Fire

Very satisfied 38/ satisfied 15/ dissatisfied 4/ very dissatisfied 2/ no contact 75

*Fire Rescue

Very satisfied 43/ satisfied 11/ dissatisfied 3/ very dissatisfied 4/ no contact 73

ed 12/ no contact

* Building & Permitting

Very satisfied 18/ satisfied 21/ dissatisfied 10/ very dissatisfied 16/ no contact 71

*Administration

Very satisfied 33/ satisfied 30/ dissatisfied 12/ very dissatisfied 12/ no contact 52

* Town Hall

Very satisfied 38/ satisfied 39/ dissatisfied 11/ very dissatisfied 7/ no contact 46

CS-“Um, but if anyone else wants a copy of this contact me or the Town. But I think that’s another good way of looking at this to get an idea of those numbers and what they mean. But I like the idea of having a survey. I like the fact it wasn’t pre- planned. So it was kind of a spontaneous action with this and I thank the Town Manager fro doing it!”

BC-He actually said …” I like the fact it wasn’t pre- planned. So it was kind of a spontaneous action with this and I thank the Town Manager fro doing it!”…HUH?…Did he not hear the TM begin this “exercise” with the “as you know”…and the some months of the commissioners wanting a survey…and the “lengthy process”…and he says it was a “surprise” and “spontaneous”…4 more years …really?…4 more years of Silverstone statistics?… Save Silverstone from himself!…

Comm. Dodd questioned as to why the Town Manager would only speak to 3 of the 5 commissioners and she replied they came to her…Comm. Dodd again found no validity in the response… and the “division” that exists for those commissioners who do not do a “pop in” because they actually work…He went on to speak of his dissatisfaction with the response of 3.9%…lack of input from the commission prior to the finished product and inquired what the response was to Wilton Manore (the originator of this survey)…

With that Asst. TM Olinzock came to the podium and said Wilton Manors had not yet reported their results…A very interesting statement considering their went out before ours and the TM said ours was a “lengthy process.”…Comm. Dodd requested them when they were announced…

We witnessed the trickle down of Town un-truthfulness front and center with a big O.J. “If the glove fits” assist by none other than Vice Mayor McIntee going for a Town commission trifecta!…

VM- ” Ah, John this isn’t identical to Wilton Manors is it?”

JO- ” No, it’s not identical.”

BC- Looks like Olinzock has learned well how to deceive from his boss…”No, it’s not identical.”…because they changed city to Town and added a the bond/height issues…took away services we do not have…but the survey is the Wilton Manor survey! …(prev. post side by side comparison…scoops cat.)…

VM- ” So is it fair to say you took this from Wilton Manors?”

JO-” When Esther spoke to me about the, the desire to do a survey that it was evident this commission wanted to do something like that and I got that [Wilton Manor survey] in my mail, I came to her with a copy of it and said to her look at this, this might help save us a great deal of time compiling and putting a form together that can be used.”

VM- ” But did you use other sources also to do it?’

JO- visibly angry- ” No I didn’t feel I needed to! It covered everything that we’re doing . It’s a similar municipality. They’re 13,000, we’re 7,000 people. They provide very similar services.”

VM- ” So there was no ulterior motive? Just to save the Town money?”

JO -” I was trying to help Esther get something accomplished!”

BC- So what we have here…is a failure to communicate!… Asst. Olinzock thanks to the Vice Mayor’s ignorance was put on spot …Olinzock says “When Esther spoke to me about the, the desire to do a survey that it was evident this commission wanted to do something like that.”…he admits there was no commission direction for a “survey”… Olinzock also had to own up the the fact…he got the survey…they copied the survey…and he looked no further!…

One last thing…Wilton Manors as previously posted…also got a new 7 million dollar Town Hall…This writer sure wishes  Olinzock had come to Esther with that!…ARGHHHH….

Those familiar with McIntee trying to dig himself out of a hole…will notice …late to come to the realization that it was the Wilton Manor survey…he tried to “clean it up” with “there was no ulterior motive”…”Just trying to save the Town money”…It didn’t work…the glove was too small!…

This survey is not quite the total loss I first thought it was…Upon further reflection…Perhaps it sums up much, much more than the questions  contained within it……It  could actually serve the voters well in their decision for who to elect for commission next winter……It’s a look at how this Town operates……with the majority on the dais…This survey speaks volumes ……from the unilateral administrative decision to send it out… (perhaps with a few commissioners who frequent the Town Manager’s office may having had a heads- up) ….the “sharing” of the survey.. being “lifted” from Wilton Manors… the “piecemeal”…assembling of it by Town staff to send out…the poor response…the Town Manager relying on her tried and true pre-amble to rectify yet another ill-thought out action….and the neverending display of dais back-flips made by the Town Manager “protectors “…to save her “thin-skinned” hide!…

Does this survey  say 4 more years?……see the comments below… … EXCERPTS…(full comments prev. post scoops cat.)

#11. What do you see as the biggest challenges facing Town of LBTS in the next 5 years?

End the Political Bickering. Please develop A city plan that creates and aesthetic cohesion & financial responsibility/ /We need to vote out McIntee, Silverstone, Clottey and fire Colon! These people are inept, laughable at best./ A more cohesive council/ Unifying the 2 sides of Town, letting go of the past and once that is done, the rest will come/ In-fighting, the commissioners are all pathetic./ Keeping our height limits, our commissioners and our Town Manager are doing a great job/ Establishing the reality & perception of sanity in our politics. Extremes on both sides are damaging our reputation./ Electing people that are tolerant of other opinions/Esther Colon? No Comments/A Commission with a sense of harmony/ Keeping our height limits our commission and our manager are doing a great job / Restore civility by getting Rid of Colon, Silverstone, Clottey, Esther, McIntee/ Town Management issues/ Getting less vindictive commissioners in office and getting Ms. Colon out of there. Let’s get  LBTS back to a happy well-organized Town as it has been in the past./  In Fighting!/ Retaining 3 and eliminate Mayor and Dodes/  Leadership/ Responsible management and public relations which are currently embarrassing/ Getting rid of “Jerry McIntee” He’s an embarrassment to out Town/ More cooperation between North & South and not falsifying the Truth/ Move forward, get things accomplished/Keeping Esther C.John O. J. Silverstone & J. McIntee in office to keep everything running smoothly/  The conflict between the 2 factions of government. I have no idea who is right and who is wrong. One side is vicious with their comments. I never met any of these people/ stop the infighting/ 1. Harmony on the Commission. /stop the inner fighting of the Commission/ Stopping the political nastiness and becoming a cohesive community/  Uniting the Town. Get rid of MacEnty & Silverstone.- they have a conflict of interest being Commissioners./Clean house on your city Commission- New Leadership is badly needed/  Getting Commissioners to work well together for the Town and the people/  Stop arguments and so much animosity among City Departments/  cost of employee benefits, employee moral regardless of Commission demands/ Removing the Town Mgr. & hiring an independent Town Mgr. Ms Colon is OK as Accountant only. Presently has too much power/ Childish political warfare among Town officials/ Coming together as 1 Town/ Getting a Commission and Town Mgr. who is concerned with the welfare of the Town and not their own personal agendas. Every effort to untie the Town/  Civility on Commission / Bringing community together. Cease and desist polarization/ Get rid of McIntee, Silverstone. Colon, Clottey/  Township members working together

#15. What suggestions can you provide for improving the quality of life for its residents?

Less negativity and -or discourteous arguments during meetings. Better sharing of unbiased information/ If you want tourists spending money here Respect their needs. Stop catering to local favorites. Transparency Please!/We need to fire Colon;get rid of McIntee, Silverstone & Clottey/ Very satisfied with our Commission & Town Manager . Keeping our millage rate down/Reduce Commission Mtg. duration/ Redo contract for #11 Above/ 2 yr. Terms for all political officers with Term limits/ Very satisfied with our Commission & Town Mgr. Keeping our millage rate down/ Listen to us/Equal treatment & Enforcement/ Get rid of McIntee &Colon/  More transparency & accountability from Town Commissioners &Town Manager/ Get rid of the Town Manager. No one should have a lifetime contract that was written by themselves. Also get rid of Commissioners McIntee, Silverstone, Clottey, Dodd. Get rid of conflicts of interest going on in this Town. Why is Commissioner McIntee Vice Mayor plus a paid volunteer fireman? It’s absurd!/  Add -one-new commissioner and new mayor/ Be respectful to each other-offer AA & NA program 3-4 times a week / Stop the incessant political slandering of each other & think of helping the town improve! /Stop Bickering/  Clean up the Commission/”Listen” when a Resident offers suggestions/Encourage all the nasty self serving people to leave town. /More respect from the Commissioners and less self service to themselves!/ Get rid of government and start over. Some personalities are just unbelievable. I call one town paper the nice one and the other the ugly one/ Stop the fighting!/ Listen to the Residents. Citizens Forum?/  Stop the infighting on the Town Board and focus on the issues!/ Stop bickering at meetings/The Town is fragmented & the Commission members must be changed to neutral parties. Can’t wait to vote in new positive people working for the people of LBTS/ Stop the North-South arguments!/ Replace the Town Manger/The fighting has to stop-Those who argue all the time should have to come up with ways to correct those problems/People who criticize should suggest a solution for the problem/ Esther Colon is key to the future of this Town, the elected officials need to keep their attitudes in check/ Keep up the status quo/Get off everyone’s back when only 1 or 2 people complain so what is right for the majority. Listen to the people. Vote with the majority. Do not follow small organizations who yell louder/   Do not use it to erect monuments to egomaniac commissioners and overpaid Town Mgr. UNITE OUR TOWN!! /Less fights among all of the Commissioners & more peace/ Stop bickering and rudeness at meetings, put garbage back into taxes, embrace the VFD, support Commercial Blvd. merchants/  Next year support a new roster & new candidates for mayor & Commissioners. Let’s stop the infighting/change in Town Commissioners who only care about the volunteer fire department/ Get rid of McIntee, Silverstone, Clottey & Colon/ Improve courtesy at Town meetings. Keep original promises at annexations/The Town is doing Great.

Statistics anyone?….How about placing your bets?…

more to come….

Tags: Lauderdale By The Sea 11-10-09 Commission meeting, Lauderdale By The Sea 2009 Townwide Survey, Lauderdale By The Sea Asst. Town Manager John Olinzock, Lauderdale By The Sea Commissioner Birute Clottey, Lauderdale by the sea Commissioner Jim Silverstone, Lauderdale By The Sea Commissioner Stuart Dodd, Lauderdale By The Sea Mayor Minnet, Lauderdale By The Sea Town Manager Esther Colon, Lauderdale By the Sea Vice Mayor Jerry McIntee, LBTS Agendas/Meetings, local government, Local Politics, Scoops, Wilton Manors 2009 Survey
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OUT OF “MUGS?”…

Dear Readers … There was no time to recover from the  embarrassing  “How many millions in 2.5 billion”  exchange between Vice Mayor McIntee and Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff during presentations (prev. post)…before McIntee was in full metal jacket mode once more… (Do those jackets come in couture?)….This time it was when local Restaurateur Louis Marchelos came to the podium for his allotted 3 minutes… Mr Marchelos spoke about a “kinder, gentler commissioner getting in touch with his feminine side”… The gloves came off…and we don’t mean the ones with the rabbit fur lining…Them was fightin’ words to the Vice Mayor…

VM- ” That’s insulting Mayor, I’ve gotta, that’s an absolutely insulting remark!”

Louis Marchelos-” I did not mention a name sir.”

VM- ” We all knew what you were saying. It’s insulting and it’s outrageous and I object to it!”

Comm Silverstone-” I make a motion that we remove this person.”

Mayor Minnet-“Gentlemen.”

VM- “There’s a motion on the floor. I second it!”

LM- ” Is this a point of suppression?”

Mayor-” Town Attorney, I will ask you for your opinion, please.”

Town Atty.- ” You have had a proper motion and a second and we should have a vote on it.”

Mayor “Ok”

Comm. Dodd- wanted he Town Atty. to answer whether this comment “a commissioner getting in touch with his feminine side” was a personal attack by Mr.Marchelos or “a willful interruption by the Vice Mayor when Mr. Marchelos was making his public comments… Loud applause were heard throughout the hall…

VM- “Wait a minute! Who’s running the meeting?”

Comm. Dodd answered the Mayor was, but he added that the people in the audience saw that his was really “a willful interruption” by Mcintee…and and asked to put it to the vote…

The Mayor thanked Comm. Dodd and said to call the roll…

VM- ” What’s the vote? To remove him [Marchelos] from the speaker?”

The Mayor said McIntee made the motion and Silverstone chimed in quite loud and proud-ly that it was he who made the motion to remove the speaker and the Mayor in turn said to the VM that it was he who made  the 2nd…implying the VM  should know what the vote was for! ….

The Vice Mayor jutted out that Adams apple in a quite a menacing and  jerky …(pun intended)  fashion…..”I second it, Mayor!”…The audience response can be heard quite loudly as they watched from their seats below…. asking each other when the “madness” (another pun) was going to end!…

LM- ” This is a point of suppression. I’m sorry, I did not mention a name.”

Comm. Silverstone- He’s out of order again, Mayor!”

Mayor- ” Mr. Marchelos there is a motion on the table to remove you from public speaking by Commissioner Silverstone and a second by Vice Mayor McIntee. Madam Clerk would you please call the roll.”

The vote failed.. 2-3 with Clottey, Dodd and Minnet voting no…Louis began again, after Comm. Clottey said ” Can I say something, I do ask that you be a little more respectful please.”…Now that’s the pot calling the kettle black…after Comm. Clottey’s last Comm. meeting and her agenda items for this one!…YIKES!…Mr Marchelos said yes..

Mr Marchelos then went on to finish…what he started…

Touchy, touchy this evening………and we don’t just mean those “Burly Broom Boys”……we mean the microphones left on……As we went to a break following the last public speaker …Comm. Clottey is seen and heard turning to Comm. Silverstone and apologizing to him for her vote to not remove Mr. Marchelos!… It’s a girl thing!…

Tea anyone?…The cups are in the kitchen…

more to come…

Tags: Lauderdale By The Sea Commission gets in touch with their feminine side, Lauderdale By The Sea Commission Meeting 11-10-2009, Lauderdale By The Sea Commissioner Birute Clottey, Lauderdale by the sea Commissioner Jim Silverstone, Lauderdale By The Sea Commissioner Stuart Dodd, Lauderdale By The Sea Mayor Minnet, Lauderdale By the Sea Vice Mayor Jerry McIntee, LBTS Agendas/Meetings, local government, Local Politics, Scoops
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THE PROBLEM WITH BEING A LAME DUCK….

Dear Readers … Tonight in the waning months of the first term of McIntee and Silverstone …it seems the Vice Mayor is sweating bullets over his likely demise…He put on quite a show of desperation…with his nauseating performance of bending over backward with his sudden show of revering MPSC Vice Chair Sandra Booth…The same Sandra Booth he publicly dressed down when she was nominated for a return to the committee in 2008!… He made the audience collectively snicker as he called her “Mrs. Booth” …McIntee  droned on with the countless hours put in by the MPSC and now anything less than giving them the 980 thousand will be a slap in the face!… WOW!… The same Vice Mayor who would give no direction no matter how many times Chair Paul Novak stood in front of him…but alas…maybe the Vice Mayor has spent some quality time with “Mr Oliver” and was told if he [McIntee] sucks up big time in the last few months…all will be forgotten or forgiven… Not this time…Vice Mayor…there’s way too much too remember and too many of us to remind those that don’t!

This meeting was set up to discuss the Master Plan for the next 5 years… that was switched in order with the beautification projects…at the end of the evening it was set aside until next month… The Mayor asked to do the switch to deal with the projects at hand …the A1A FDOT  and the El Mar Drive Oriana escrow million…

The discussion on the FDOT was just the beginning of yet another look at this dysfunctional dais…Commissioner Clottey had the “concern” that her “constituents” would not have a say in the A1A plan and they would be impacted by the FDOT decision… The Vice Mayor chimed in as well about the FDOT having to convince “this commissioner” on any improvements due to A1A already being over capacity in traffic …The Mayor tried to make both understand it was just a “conceptual agreement” and the Town Manager as well told them it was a $58,000 conceptual plan…with the FDOT coming to the dais in the future to speak to the Town, and they were already in agreement to allow input from the residents…But in the end it is a state road and it comes down to the residents really having no say…The Mayor and Comm. Dodd implored the commission to allow the process to move forward …after the Manager told them if they wanted to stop now…that the FDOT would go elsewhere with the project…Comm. Dodd said “Let’s not put up barricades before we see the plans. Let’s not kill it at stage one!”… Perhaps they can “linger” over the conceptual plans…if Comm. Clottey allows for it?…

So what’s up with “Mr. Oliver”…the former Mayor Parker?… Who’s he buddy, buddy with these days?… Comm. Clottey asked if the Town Atty. had spoken to “Mr Oliver Parker” to find out the details of the Oriana million dollar escrow money… The Town Atty. replied she did not have to after receiving the pertinent information from staff… The commission was provided prior to the meeting with a geographic map of the former overlay districts…It was announced that the money was allowed for beautification of the Hospitality Overlay District…which meant it was from Pine ave (north end of El Mar) to Palm Ave (south end of El Mar)…and the previous statements made by the Town Manager and the same staff  of it being Commercial Blvd. north only were bogus!… This Town Manager was quite adamant about the agreement all this time……just as she was about the agreement with Oriana for the defunct boardwalk area behind the development (maybe that needs another look-see as well)…No mention of this huge blunder and its origin….But plenty of misstatements about the MPSC median project concerning the committee, the students, the commission, the money…The breakdown of who on the dais was for what after learning this new information was really something to watch…Strange partnerships indeed!…We heard of “dilemmas” from Silverstone and Clottey…sidewalks vs. medians … The” biggest bang for the buck”…from the Vice Mayor, Paul Novak and Ocampo  architect Ernie Ojito … Vice Mayor McIntee went into a quizzing mode of Sandra Booth and Paul Novak saying he was “amazed” he thought it was “a done deal”…and the “Kids” …the “countless hours up there “…the “years” of work… He did hear from both the Chair and the Vice Chair that they did think it was a go…and the medians would be done…Mrs. Booth said the A.I. was not anxious to get involved in another project and the Vice Mayor just kept on pushing it “for the MPSC and the students”…Commissioner Dodd agreed with the Vice Mayor and said it was time to get something done…The Mayor was with Comm. Clottey on sidewalks and felt the students input was also a “conceptual plan” and she agreed as well with Marc Furth… The Town Manager said nothing was approved from the drawings based on the students projects and the Vice Mayor became indignant that it was decided to spend $980,000 and it was done in “good faith” …that to change course now was an “insult to the Master Plan Committee and the students” and the person he “feels the worst for was Mrs. Booth”…After the meeting an audience member said the disingenuous onslaught from Vice Mayor McIntee to Mrs Booth made them “want to vomit!”… Diane Boutin Manager of the Windjammer came up to speak and began by saying to “some degree she agreed with the Vice Mayor”…but then quickly changed course to agree with the Mayor about the conceptual projects and told the commission they “owed this town a process” with more brainstorming saying “infrastructure before the flowers”… MPSC member Mary Ann Wardlaw who usually shies away from comment chose to make a statement that she was “dismayed” with the new information of the million’s use for the whole of El Mar and saying the committee was “only as good as the information we get”…Comm. Silverstone in full “dilemma” mode said he agreed …”this commissioner is still not happy”…and “I think we can do better ” [the medians]…The Mayor read the 3 paragraphs from the 2005 Master Plan about El Mar Drive and said the “key words” were “pedestrian and walking “… The Vice Mayor responded that he heard the description of one lane and we have 2, that pedestrians walking in the middle [medians] would keep pedestrians safe from back-out parking the major threat to walking on El Mar…(HUH?)…Commissioner Silverstone made the same ridiculous recommendation he has in prior discussion of striping off one lane for walking and art work …Comm. Clottey did an about face to join the Vice Mayor and Comm. Dodd after asking Mr Ojito how long to do the medians (6-7 months was the reply, no answer after a followup asking if that included the permits!)…She also said it would be 2 years before Minnet does the sidewalks (wrong!)…she then said the committee and the students “worked hard ” and the would have “to bite the bullet”…

Then it was my turn…”I sat through all these meetings and I’m very surprised. First of all we were under the impression and we were told quite a few times that it was only supposed to be for in the south end. But secondly you all voted for lowering the bond for Minto which really pushed a good portion of those sidewalks that if you hadn’t lowered the bond and I think the manager tried to tell you the first time (1st comm. meeting Minto asked to lower the bond) if you hadn’t lowered their bond they would have gone ahead and done a good portion of the sidewalks. (Actually, it was the recommendation of the Manager & staff not to lower the bond) The gentleman who came up to speak for Minto actually said if you don’t lower it, they’ll probably go ahead and do it [sidewalks] because it would be cheaper in the long run. (prev. posts) You don’t know when they’re [Minto] going to come back and do those sidewalks. You have no idea how many years it’s really going to take with development and every developer that comes in has been told they have to do underground utilities and then they’re going to have to put in new sidewalks afterward.”

“So, I’m surprised about that.  I think there can be a combination of doing all this but frankly we’re 4 months away from an election. I think you should put this million dollars in the bank . You now have all this new information”

Vice Mayor McIntee-” That’s inappropriate! That’s political! And that’s solely political!”

The Mayor said “excuse me” a couple of times…

I said ” I have a right to my opinion, and my opinion is that.”

Mayor Minnet-” There is no need for that interruption Vice Mayor, continue Ms. Cole.”

Me- ” A little thin skinned?  My opinion is that since you have been thrown this curve and it has now changed what you said, that maybe you should consider not making a fast decision and seeing what you come back with, with this new information and you’re facing the holidays. You have just one meeting now. [Nov.] You face Christmas,and you’re facing the holidays and then you’re in the throes of , excuse me Vice Mayor, an election. So, my opinion is that maybe you want to hold off until you get some different people up there and you use your million dollars.”

Vice Mayor McIntee-” Point of order Mayor! That’s absolutely unacceptable! She’s talking about changing the dais! It’s, that’s not acceptable! You have to stop now! Because the Charter says there should be no political activities in Jarvis Hall!”

Mayor Minnet-” Vice Mayor, Vice Mayor, that’s not political. We have an election in March 2010.”

Me- ” I said maybe there might be some different people  up there. Boy it’s gonna be interesting!”

Mayor Minnet-” Thank you for letting us know when the election is!”…The audience laughed!

The Vice Mayor wanted to “move on the $980,000″… The Mayor said she would not and that she was not for making a “hasty decision”…The Vice Mayor told her it was not a “hasty decision” that she was unacceptable in her statement..and again spoke of the years we had this money …3 years (it was in escrow and could not be touched until this year)…Comm. Dodd said the dais was “deadlocked” and a Round Table was needed… to have some “interchange” …The Mayor said the Vice Mayor wanted to give direction to the Manager to put this on the agenda…It went on the agenda for the Dec. 8, 2009 commission meeting…and a Round Table was set for Dec. 7, 2009 at 5:30 pm… The Manager asked after saying “it’s not personal” (HUH?) if she could get together ahead of the Round Table with Ocampo and work with Ocampo on the project…unfortunately, this commission must have had a temporary brain freeze and said go ahead!… This is the same Manager that unilaterally changed the Beach Pavilion, made up the Cone of Silence, stopped reading RFPs aloud and missed the 10 day (by law) deadline for RFPs with the Police renovation …( and on and on and on from her unilateral lifetime contract)…The same Town Manager that told them the money was for the south end only!…YIKES!… Before they adjourned Mrs. Booth came to the podium to praise her committee, to remind the commission how quickly the A.I. students started and finished the project (96 days) and say they [MPSC] serve at the pleasure of the commission saying they “can do anything you give us, we can do!”…The MPSC will join the commission on Dec. 7th and the public is welcome as well…

After the meeting, we found in the hall Nance and David Nixon back in town for a while. They are longtime residents of El Mar Drive……….Nance Nixon informed this writer that when the CRA was in tact [David was in charge of the CRA] …it was made known that in the future the medians on El Mar would be where all the underground utilities would run…and to put money in them now would be a total waste!…ARGHHH…

In closing…after seeing the meeting above and learning the information afterward…the future of El Mar Drive really should be decided in 4 months with the change up on the dais!…

more to come….

Tags: Boards, Lauderdale By The Sea Commissioer Birute Clottey, Lauderdale by the sea Commissioner Jim Silverstone, Lauderdale By The Sea Commissioner Stuart Dodd, Lauderdale By The Sea El Mar Drive Project, Lauderdale By The Sea March 9 2010 Election, Lauderdale By The Sea Master Plan Steering Committee and Commission Workshop, Lauderdale By The Sea Mayor Minnet, Lauderdale By The Sea Oriana Million, Lauderdale By The Sea Town Manager Esther Colon, Lauderdale By the Sea Vice Mayor Jerry McIntee, LBTS Agendas/Meetings, local government, Local Politics, Scoops
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FINAL APPROVAL ….

Dear Readers … On October 6, 2009 The Town received its “Permitted Project Final Inspection Report” from Broward County…..Quite a surprise how long it took …after the “Ribbon Cutting Ceremony” which took place on April 6, 2009… 6 months afterward…Hmmm…

This writer has written about this Town project for quite some time throughout the last year as we witnessed unilateral decisions being made in its appearance and use by the Town Manager…We saw so many unacceptable twists and turns…and not just with the aesthetics… We saw that a million dollar project end up costing approx. $300,000+….with a grant from Broward County that was extended multiple times…That grant money was received on Sept. 25, 2009  … (stating “We are pleased to enclose your first and final reimbursement check in the amount of $176,548.00” ….although, if memory serves the grant money has been off the financial monthly  books for quite some time before the actual receipt of this check)….The permit application for this pavilion was made on 10/9/2008…and the project began prior to the county permits being received which brought forth some scuttlebutt when Broward County showed up and realized all was not in order…..Those permits were issued on 12/1/08… When looking into that after I received the tip…this writer found that the Town Manager and staff not only kept changes in the structure to themselves they also remained quiet on the length of the last extension received for the grant extended to Oct. 2009  allowing for the construction to take place after season, thereby alleviating the impact on business downtown,….In the aftermath with the many project pitfalls that arose…they too might have been taken care of from the outset….We could have actually seen the project well before the 2nd Colon approved rendition suddenly appeared on the job site …(it caused quite an uproar)…We could have had time to deal with the massive flooding problem from lack of proper drainage that the Town Manager we now know was informed of by the construction company early on…..We could have had a better plan in place for the turnabout and the grade of the road …..a problem also made known by none other than Marc Furth and Comm. Dodd as they spent time at that spot the summer of 2008 …We could have planned for the proper funds to be in place for lighting and better planing for the electrical…the showers and the myriad of setbacks that arose for one reason only…Town Manager Colon … The Mc-Furth “Gang” “protected” her from being held accountable for one debacle after another… In my opinion, they sat by and actively assisted her in the cover up of the plan changes in a way that they would never have allowed with the previous Town Manager……She wasted staff time and money to steer Comm. Dodd, this writer and others concerned away from what changes were readily available and suddenly brought forth after the Comm. Dodd “payback” runaround… Unfortunately for all of us, it was only the beginning of a disturbing pattern we have seen from this new government in our town with the new majority election win in 2008…… In this writer’s opinion, this pavilion project was the catalyst for there not being any real oversight from the Town Manager over anything McIntee-Silverstone-Clottey-Furth related…especially the McIntee- led VFD  …. despite Ms. Colon’s early 2008 statements that she alone would be in charge of the oversight for the VFD  and guaranteeing  the voters that she had complete access to the VFD….She later recanted with some lame attempts of where the computer was located and hiding behind the VFD being a contractual vendor…(those blurry lines that became blurrier with each passing month)….Since the pavilion, the Town Manager has followed suit into other areas of unilateral decision making ….She has done so with an accelerated pace… charging forward with absolutely no regard to the perception and a total lack of  concern for the consequences…to the Town or herself…How could she be so emboldened?… It’s all due to having in place her dais majority “protection” and of course her contract … which this writer uncovered as yet another unilateral decision made by the Town Manager that will come back to bite us all in the end…

So while we received the “Final Approval” for the Commercial Blvd. Beach Pavilion… it’s time to ask yourselves as voters…. what do you see with this project completion?…

What I see is the a frightening parallel ……between this pavilion and the present Town Manager-McIntee/Silverstone/Clottey majority on the dais… a shell of what could have been!…

In March 2010 do you want more of the same?

more to come….

Tags: Lauderdale By The Sea Beach Pavilion, Lauderdale By The Sea Commissioner Birute Clottey, Lauderdale by the sea Commissioner Jim Silverstone, Lauderdale By The Sea Commissioner Stuart Dodd, Lauderdale By The Sea Mayor Minnet, Lauderdale By The Sea Town Manager Esther Colon, Lauderdale By the Sea Vice Mayor Jerry McIntee, local government, Local Politics, Scoops
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WHICH WAY?…

Dear Readers as we approach the final meeting for the annual Town Manager Performance Review today at 4 pm …lets go over what came about at the Oct. 12, 2009 pre-evaluation meeting …that would be the 2nd pre- evaluation meeting not to be confused with the 1st pre- evaluation meeting on Sept. 10th…

Mr Simmons of the Range Riders came…he was asked to come by Comm. Clottey …He came to the podium and first stated  he would address the type of government we have in LBTS…”Esther suggested I briefly review that a lot of people don’t understand especially those of you in a town like this where they move from other places.”..As he went on to explain it…at some length with a lot of history of the origins…I found it interesting in content but disturbing that right out of the box he had followed a “suggestion” from the Town Manager that he was going to inform this commission how to evaluate… So much for impartiality… He then spoke of his qualifications stating he had been a former city manager for over 40 years in Florida in 2 towns…then stating” I am not an expert on this subject  [evaluations]. You asked me to speak tonight. I have some feelings and the reason is because when I was hired as manager and certainly I’m not recommending you do this now, nobody had a contract. You just lasted as long as 3 members of the council thought you was to stay there and they had no contract, no annual review, but you know it worked.” I was amused because Mr. Simmons was describing the former TM Baldwin’s “agreement” with LBTS as well as the “agreement” we now have with our current Town Attys. per March 17,2008 on a “day to day” basis…At that March meeting after asking Weiss if he would take a 12 month contract with Mr Weiss responding no, he would never take a 12 month contract ..”I’ll take a contract for a day” McIntee said “That’s even better”..Weiss said “The day you’re not happy with our services”..McIntee replied ” That’s the best answer you could have given!”… Mr. Simmons continued going through info the commission received from FLOCities on how to conduct a performance review….”there are pluses and minuses . In my opinion you should not have to have any review your manager should have good comments all the way around. The reason I say that is because you should not wait annually to tell your manager when you’re forced to do it, that you don’t like something they’re doing. If you meetig with that manager and you should let them know the direction they’re going . You should meet with that person every couple of weeks for 20-30 minutes and let them know because Esther or Esther’s predecessor or one after that they can try and guess but you need to talk to them and they should straighten up and do what you want to do. But always remember, when I say that always remember that sometimes you get one person that disagrees with everybody else on the council and you come in and suggest the question she follow and that’s difficult sometimes because you work with 5 bosses but that is what I would recommend first for good relations with your manager and your citizens. Sit down on a 1 to1 basis.”.” I was totally astounded…did Mr Simmons just happen to use that “anology” of having 1 person on the dais that disagrees or was that 1 person included in any conversation between Mr. Simmons and the TM prior when she made her “suggestions”?…Mr Simmons went on to talk of his own days of managing…after he said he never had a review he said the following ” The plan you got from Lauderhill is a pretty typical type of plan. My last years they DID review. I did have reviews like that. “…So contrary to the Vice Mayor’s assertions…Mr Simmons himself was reviewed like the Town Manager is supposed to be!…He went on to speak “you shouldn’t wait til you get the press here and make a big deal once a year if you want to get rid of your manager if your manager cannot perform after you’ve talked to them what the majority want. You don’t have to wait a year.”…For Mr Simmons to speak of the press being there further raises some prior input…and later he will backtrack yet again in discussions saying the annual review is required  ..[It is in her contract]…… He was not adequately informed when he said “If you felt like it have an annual review and if you rehire the manager you’ve done a review”…obviously not knowing she has no term and to fire her would cost us $250,000+…He also admitted he did not read the charter and sadly replying to VM McIntee he announced that the manager’s contract was not sent to him!…He went on to say “You’re fortunate you’ve got a good manager and I’m very impressed with the cleanliness and the friendliness of your city and I’m really impressed by the people here who came out tonight at 4 o”clock.It shows you’ve got a town that people care about….I found it astonishing that he would say we have a good manager because the town is clean and people are in the hall…He missed the point that most people were there because of their displeasure with the TM….Mr Simmons then took a question from  Comm. Silverstone to again reiterate the Town Manager form of government…with Mr Simmons speaking also to ethics and managers having a “tough code of ethics, we cannot eneter into partisan politics in any way.He [manager] must stay out of it, no endorsing commissioners.”…I thought to myself chalk up another reason to oust this TM who is political in every way, shape and form fro her unequal treatment with commissioners. residents and local newspapers!..Mr Simmons said “Theory is if you want to give them [managers]the authority, you got to give them the responsibility and then hold them responsible.”…”If a manager is not doing there job, bring it up and discuss it. That’s one of the negatives of doing annually forces you to do that which is good, but you don’t have to do it that way”…(Yes, Mr Simmons we do according to the contract)…The Vice Mayor then had his O .J. moment “First of all have you had an opportunity to valuate at all the job our town manager has done? Have you looked into the business of the town at all?”…Mr Simmons said “No sir, I have not” (Hmmm)..Simmons then said “I’ll say this she’s been here a pretty good period of time”…he went on to speak of recruitment and said “I would no individually evaluate your manager.”..(To this writer he already did”…Mr. Simmons spoke of the role of the Range Riders…”to help the manager if they are in trouble”…that it would be “confidential” and they [Range Riders] “would not tell us what they thought.”…So hardly an unbiased group to instruct a manager evaluation as I previously posted…Vice Mayor McIntee”Let me take another avenue, confidence. Is that a common routine for towns throughout the state of Florida to have a public vote of confidence in their town?”…This writer knew instantly the “Truth Deflector” was on the “case”…calling for the CIC orchestrated parade (the one with the ever increasing #’s in revisionist Mc-Furth history) as a “review”…Obviously Mr Simmons was not informed of the “parade” and responded “You’re gonna doing that WHEN you do this evaluation.”..McIntee answered “What if we did it before?” (BINGO!)…”For your information about a month , month and a half ago ago (longer) we did a vote up here and she got a 5-1, 5-0 vote. She’s great we support her and we’re happy with her. So think this is redundant what ewe’re doing now.”…The audience booed and the VM knew that parade and vote of confidence would have been 3-2 if the Mayor and Comm. Dodd were told it was in place of the evaluation….Mr Simmons said “Unfortunately the charter does require a vote of confidence.” I was surprised due to Mr Simmons stating he had not read the charter and nowhere does it say the manager requires a vote of confidence…Mr Simmons went on ” You can almost say, ask attorney give a vote of confidence almost the same as review without writing out. I commend Esther if she got a vote of confidence5-0. You’re doing something right Esther. I always look for that 3-2.” WOW!… What a mess!… Com. Dodd chose to ask Mr Simmons about how he would have acted in certain situations as manager due to his history…Comm. Dodd asked Mr Simmons about a town survey and if Mr Simmons would have brought it to the commission before sending out…Mr Simmons obviously did not know our TM had decided not to bring it to thew commission (prev. posts)..Mr Simmons responded” I think I would, I certainly would.” …Comm. Dodd asked about the Chief of Police and firing him unilaterally …again it was obvious that Mr Simmons did not know about this either..Mr Simmons responded ” That’s the riskiest thing a manager can do!”…the audience went wild…Mr Simmons did go on to say that it was the responsibility of the TM and if he was TM Yes, he would do it too..The small CIC contingency in the hall applauded…What Mr. Simmons might not have known was there was no disagreement about the TM ability to fire the Chief…he was not aware of the aftermath and the manager’s words from the dais at the special meeting with a full Jarvis Hall …Comm. Dodd also asked about RFP’s and the audit…Mr Simmons was a little confused in the response…Mr Simmons went on to say ” Let me tell you ethically when I go the call from Commissioner Clottey I called Esther. You do not come into a community and play one side vs. the other. I’ll give you my frank opinion, but I did not know Esther before that time and ethically you do not do that and certainly she said come I congratulate you on having a manager open to that.”…Why would she be concerned, one manager to another..it’s a win-win…for her…Comm. Clottey felt she needed to do a “McIntee” and say she and Mr. Simmons “had not met until this evening and had not discussed anything.”…Mr Simmons agreed and the mayor said we would go to public comments…NOT SO FAST…The Vice Mayor said  “Point of order, Mayor, Yes , I’d like to read something for an informational basis before the public comments started. Ah, I’ve been advised by camp counsel(?)  to do this. My own counsel. Defamation laws which can vary from state to state have been established to counter balance an individuals first amendment rights which guarantee free speech and the and the rights of an individual to protect his or her reputation. United States citizens are also entitled to exercise fair comment which enables Americans to comment freely even unkindly about matters of public interest as long as their written or oral statements are truthful derived from fact and not intended to be malicious. I just wish everybody in this room to listen to what that says as long as their written or oral statements are truthful, derived from fact and not intended to be malicious. I yield”…The audience yelled “Threat”!…Public comments took place…most were critical about the TM and some, this writer included tried to inform Mr. Simmons about the contract and the facts…He did not seem all that interested…(Once a manager always a manager?)…There was a small group of CIC old- timers who just repeated broad and vague words “fed to them” with no specifics that showed the great divide..those informed and those taking “marching orders”…It did end with Rev. Hunsaker making a statement that was a little out of character from the previous invocations witnessed by this audience and this writer…He related the issue of the Town Manager to his days as a minister and those minister’s who seemed to wear “Teflon”…He felt the previous TM [Baldwin] wore “Teflon”…and went on to talk of this TM being a victim of “Monday morning  quarterbacking” and those without the proper knowledge to criticize…It was a huge shock to those in the audience who are definitely informed and a “boon” to the “Gang-CIC’…with the VM afterward informing the Town Chaplain it was the “best speech he ever gave.”..It became a source for the “Broom-Boys” to use after public comments to disavow any criticism they just heard overwhelmingly from their constituents…This writer cannot believe that was the intention of the Reverend…and found out after the meeting it was not after speaking to him. I do believe the Rev. should clarify his statement at some point in time if indeed it was not received as he intended….(The Reverend did point out also the commissions role and their duties, but that was lost after his opening statement)…

Afterward came the statements from the Commissioners…next post…

more to come….

Tags: Florida League Of Cities Raange Riders Richard Simmons, Lauderdale By The Sea Commissioner Birute Clottey, Lauderdale by the sea Commissioner Jim Silverstone, Lauderdale By The Sea Commissioner Stuart Dodd, Lauderdale By The Sea Mayor Minnet, Lauderdale By The Sea Town Manager Esther Colon, Lauderdale By The Sea Town Manager performance Review, Lauderdale By the Sea Vice Mayor Jerry McIntee, LBTS Agendas/Meetings, local government, Local Politics, Scoops
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4 OUT OF 5 COMMISSIONERS DID THEIR JOB!…

Dear Readers…at the September 10, 2009 Round Table the commission sat down and made some decisions about the Town Manager’s review…This review was brought to their attention last winter and it was made known to them it was stipulated in the Manager’s 2007 contract to be done annually BEFORE the final adoption of the Town’s annual budget…Tomorrow they might finally finish some sort of review…But they have already breached her contract by not getting done on time…At this Round Table meeting they all agreed to use the Lauderhill Evaluation put forth by Comm. Clottey (prev. post ) and it was Vice Mayor McIntee who stated they would tabulate the numbers (1-5) …anything 3 or below would be discussed… True to form this elected official who regularly disregards the rules (being an elected official & VFD Officer against the VFD By-laws/deleting 3 1/2 years of Town business related e-mails/ breaking the “cone of silence” by talking to bidders and Attys. that are coming before him/(we hear) purchasing for the VFD in violation of his Fl. Ethics statement to name just a few)…has now ignored the commission’s decision and chose to not fill out the Manager’s review …instead he spoke at the Oct. 20th continuation commission meeting misstating the visiting Range Rider and offered up his own way of doing an evaluation off the cuff not using numbers…stating at the workshop he would say “good, bad or fair”…(The dais seemed to be ready to allow this…they should not!)…Below are the comments that were added into the evaluation forms..( the form can be found by scrolling down or going to the scoops/LBTS agenda-meeting cat.)…by those who followed the rules…

Comm. Silverstone- Chose to just add a few points…

“ALL CONTRACT ENTITIES”

“ADD-  Best Contract w BSO Then Any other Contract City”(as written)

2) “Better New contract with Choice for Waste Removal [Silv. sp. ]then WM” [Waste Management]

BC-Note…His evaluation must have been a 5 minute “ordeal” at best….

Commissioner Clottey…answers correlate to the form…(prev. post)…some will surely raise the ire of many of her constituents and a certain Commissioner …..

I.-“Good relations between the Commission and the Town Manager is a two way street The good of the Town should be the foremost concern . The Town Manager does a very good job of providing information in a timely. Perhaps providing some of it a little earlier on reoccurring items as well as reminding the the Commission in writing on pending issues would ease some of the criticism.”

II-We are fortunate to have someone of Ms Colons financial expertise at the helm.Most of the criticism is unfair since issues being raised are the result of policy decision made by previous Commissions. While other municipalities lost considerable portions of their investments when the stock market crashed a few years ago, LBTS did not due to the diligence of our Town Manager.This and other belt tightening policies implemented by Esther Colon coupled with the current  Commissions decisions on spending and use of funds resulted in the lowering of the mileage rate last year and no increase in the mileage rate in the coming year in spite of a major decrease in revenues.”

BC-Note…That would be the insurance “pools ” which Ms. Colon as well as Pompano Beach did thwart a major loss for bot municipalities… But Ms. Colon never answered the question of any penalty loans being attached …although repeatedly asked…

“Government uses a different methodology for their financial statements than most of us are use to seeing. To criticize the Town Manager because one does not know how to read these statements is again not fair. I have asked the the TM to explain the system during a commission as we are heading into budget season. Both times she complied with a nice power point presentation.”

BC-Note…Ms Colon and staff would not produce the bank statements and the accounts in a timely manner…Ben Freeny a CPA , now a candidate for commission absolutely knows about government accounting and was treated poorly at the podium by the Town Manager, Comm. Clottey and the non-CPA Comm. Silverstone who nastily refers to him as “Mr. Freely”…Former Commission Chuck Clark also understands the statements…the problem again is receiving the complete PRR for those statements and accounts…

” I would recommend a monthly session, in addition to Commission meeting, where the Town Manager or the Finance Manager goes over the monthly financial statements including a summary of current assets. If these are not well attended they can be discontinued.”

BC-Note…A memo was sent back to an e-mail from Comm. Dodd last month that showed the Town Manager was and is supposed to give this information to the commission monthly, as of this date she does not.

III-” Ms Colon is fair in her dealings . While some may not like her answers at times, including me, she treats everyone the same. Problems have arisen when someone wants special treatment. This is not unique to LBTS.”

BC-Note… Take that voters!…

IV- “Unfortunately, size does matter when dealing with other governments, meaning the LBTS does have a more difficult time getting its fair share of resources. For example, when the Broward Planning Organization votes on important issues, LBTS can only vote when larger cities representatives are absent. In spite of this and the town’s limited resources, Esther Colon does an excellent job working and keeping up with other municipal governments and state agencies. Town staff do work hard to track grant money and submit grant applications.”

BC-Note…Both Comm. Clottey and the Town Manager misstated and derailed resident Yann Brandt in his offer to help the town with “green” grants as well as putting the kibosh on a establishing a new committee brought to the dais by the Mayor….after “fearing” Mr Brandt’s involvement…calling it a conflict…pretty funny in light of their support of the “2-hats”…

“Additional Comments:”

“I think that Esther Colon has done a great job considering all the constraints that she has faced. She has taken an organization that was quite lax and turned into one that is trimmed down but very efficient. This is a real bonus to the taxpayers, especially in this economy.”

“I would like the Town Manager to consult with the Commission before making decisions that she knows have the potential to become very controversial or political footballs.”

BC-Note…. The Town Manager has already told the Commissioners she will not comply with this …

“I would like to see Commissioner Dodd and the Town Manager sit down together for several long conversations. They must both agree to keep the contents of these conversations to themselves. Otherwise it will do more harm than good,”

BC-Note…The Town Manager had a meeting with Comm. Dodd a few weeks back and asked her Asst. TM to sit in for “protection”…so any kind of one on one seems out of the question…This writer thinks Comm. Clottey was way out of line to include this in her evaluation…

” I would also like to see an orientation program for newly elected Commission members. Sunshine prevents one commissioner from mentoring another so the orientation program would be very useful. Providing a timetable for expected decisions as well as a presentation on financial statements and terminology would be helpful and alleviate some misunderstandings.”

BC-Note…We hear this was offered at the start of the term by the TM but was not accepted…

Mayor Minnet’s comments…correlate to the form…(prev. post)….these comments show why this Mayor will easily be re-elected …expect a huge win!…

1.”RELATIONS WITH GOVERNING BODY: PROVIDING INFORMATION:”… “openness and non-biased relations are important factors for a town manager. The manager needs to remain neutral at all times and present the facts openly and fairly. Whenever there is the mere appearance of favoritism, the system becomes skewed. I know I am at the top of the loop but I am the last in the loop. Staff is cordial but distant. The town manager has been available but I have to call an assistant first. Changes have been made to procedure without first explaining to the residents and commission. RFP’s must be take into consideration all variables for the community and these have not been identified properly by the town manager. When problems have surfaced, such as issues involving the new garbage collector, the process to fix them has been slow and difficult, and the residents and business owners feel alienated by the process. We are experiencing some problems with areas not properly identified to use and this could have been addressed within the RFP. The town manager’s role is to have plans in place for emergencies such as hurricanes, fire or any other catastrophes. We have a volunteer fire department and a private transport company for advanced life support, but we do not have a fire marshal. Has this been thought through, and its the public health, welfare and safety of the residents of LBTS being considered in all these decisions?”

2. “Organizational relations: the town manager meets expectations on fiscal management except when it came to the payment of the loans. The prepayment clause should have been negotiated before the payment was made. This recommendation did not come from the town manager or the commission. If the commission was better informed about the surplus, it may have opted to reduce mileage and give the taxpayers a significant reduction in this year’s taxes.”

3. Personnel Management: the total number of full-time and contractual employees is 156.25 for a town of 5852 people. Our population has decreased and the amount of employees has increased. Are there job descriptions for all employees, including the town manager? Do we really need a full-time assistant town manager, or four full-time employees in the finance department? Public service role could be promoted and supported better if there was better cooperation between the entities in our community that provide similar activities and have them work together.”

4. ” Managing the organization: the town manager falls below expectations of managing the organization. Where is the planning process and long-range goals? We hear about grants being submitted without our knowledge or approval when we have adequate public safety facilities. A property became available behind the existing public safety facility just months after it was purchased. Why did we have to rush into the purchase? The BSO hasn’t moved , planning and zoning hasn’t moved. Is the public safety building properly utilized? The town manager has a myopic point of view, not able to think outside the box and take recommendations that may benefit the system. Communication is aloof, especially with residents. The town manager will often not speak to residents and will only speak with one local newspaper. The town manager’s position should be neutral and fair.”

5. ” Relations with the public: a town manager’s role is to be fair. The mere appearance of retaliation on anyone’s part is not acceptable, and yet there have been numerous examples of code sweeps or enforcement actions which were aimed at specific businesses or residents. Residents, businesses and employees alike are afraid to speak up.”

6. ” Relations with other governments: the town could reach out better to its closest neighbor, Sea Ranch Lakes. The town manager does look for grants”

Comm. Dodd’s comments…correlate to the form as well…(prev. post)….

“Relations with governing body:”

1. “At times material has been placed in the mail box on the day before the meeting. I believe this is too late and the matter should have been postponed to the next meeting. Last minute submissions should not be made. No updates on the pavilion, no updates on sweeps before they happened, pelican hopper. Budget surplus 18 million not revealed till the last minute. Audits, RFP’s- It’s like pulling teeth to get information.”

2. ” Announced at the last meeting she has discussed rolling over unfinished items with the mayor, town attorney and the commissioners. She did not contact this commissioner. I am not updated because I do not do regular “pop-ins”. This has happened before and the manager stated publicly she will speak to each commissioner as they come through the door.”

3. “Not equally between all Commissioners. The rest of the commission make visits every couple of days and get their questions answered promptly. This commissioner sends e-mails and receives answers on a date received basis. Also often takes 2 e-mails because the question is not answered correctly. The conclusion to get quicker answers is to do Pop-ins.”

BC-Note Comm. Dodd’s business make such Pop-ins a problem, and if this TM is still in place future commissioners who work may also face a disadvantage with this type of management in place

4. ” Yes- when we asked for an appointment or meeting”

5. “No- very little report at all about anything staff is doing, has achieved or is planning to do except through quarterly departmental report. The only time any staff “projects” get discussed is during budget questioning.”

6. ” Yes- She has advised the commission on legislative or public policy but I would like to receive more.”

7. “Understands most of the issues well but fails to update the commission because of frustrations. Example- Pavilion 9 years in the making. Finally the manager took several decisions on her own rather than expalin all the details and refer to the commission. Does not appear to push for updates to the comprehensive plan or push for priority reports for sewer repairs or storm drains and has chosen to run on a day to day repair as it fails basis. Appears not to have understood the height limit issue by virtue of the incorrect survey question.”

8. ” Considered all alternatives-no. Time and again the Town manager has not investigated other municipalities or sought direction before making decisions to the detriment of the town. Recommending to the commission is a course of last resort. She would prefer to make the decision on her own. Evidenced by the bid opening process, changing the wording on special permits, referring the boats problem before writing 24 citations.”

9. ” The commission should have been given a list of her priorities once we were elected as to decisions we needed to make decisions regarding storm water funding, storm water drains, the need and cost for town wide surveys against a top ten list of priorities. Other problem areas needed to be addressed- resurfacing town roads. No mention of the actual cost at the time of purchase to make Police quarters in the public safety building usable.”

Personnel Management”

1. ” Has had an unusually high turnover of staff in key positions. Most of her appointments were from within thereby limiting the new blood, qualifications and new experience needed to help improve town staff expertise. Did not appear to use Florida League of Cities and other municipal journals to even find out the state of the market or the qualifications to fill the post. No competitive interviews held.”

2.” Following the rude argumentative attitude of staff in the front lobby with this commissioner it is evident this attitude has trickled down from the top. Where is the motivation with the manager arriving at 10:00 a.m. Why did she attend the GFOA when this is the fianace director’s conference and not the town manager’s annual conference to further her own ability.”

3. ” Negative- This commissioner has not heard one case of diciplanry action, reprimand or criticism other than the dismissal of Chief Gooding. The other members of staff that left or were fired did so without the matter being brought to the commission’s attention that someone had been disciplined or letters place on their personal files. The commission is not made aware of these instances. Nor is the commission updated with any staff changes till after they happen.The manager regards this as her bailwick and none of the commission’s business.”

4. ” The town manager has by example failed to instill support of Public Service role for city employees. She does not return call, gets in at 10:00 a.m. works late, resents interference and is not personable, diplomatic or approachable in a crisis. She always takes the side of staff irrespective of the issues. Good managers lead by diplomacy, skill, negotoion, humor, sensitivity, understanding without giving ground on the issues.”

5. ” Yes- She will fire them if they dare to disagree-equitable-yes.”

Additional Comments I get the impression that the manager “micromanages” everything and refuses to fully delegate responsibility. The manager will jump in and defend staff before staff have had a chance to express their opinions- the assistant was asked why staff chose Duncan for the recommendation on the parking RFP. The manager appears reluctant to let me question staff because she has the experience to deflect and divert and does not appear to trust staff to answer questions or handle themselves diplomatically or intelligently. Why aren’t the heads of departments at commission meetings to represent their departments and the work they are doing.”

“Managing the organization”

1. ” Appears to have overruled the commissions mutual agreement not to fund the pelican hopper unless it pays for itself. The Pelican hopper continues to run, probably funded by the taxpayer without reference back for direction.”

2. ” Repeatedly asked to give the commission a list of the top ten worst drains, sewers, road flooding only to be faced with stonewall atitude that a survey will cost thousands of dollars. Not prepared to use staff or town contractors to arrive a tht e best estimate rather than spend a large sum on a town wide survey.”

3. No comment”

4. “Appears happy to leave the master plan become obsolete, no pressure on updating the comprehensive plan- it will hapen whenever the legal requirement arises.”

5. ” No- when asked specific questions has a tendency to be monosyllabic in response with unsatisfactory answers. When asked when- instead of a date I get “soon”. When I ask how much did it cost- I get “staff time”. Theserare inappropriate and unhelpful answers. Tries hard not to communicate with this commissioner at all.”

6. No- The administrations attitude is “Black and White”- Code sweeps. If it says Read the we read but not aloud. Spoke down to residents at budget meeting and treated them in a derogtory tone and manner.”

7. While it may be admirable to work till 10:00 p.m. it is still not acceptable to arrive at 10:00 a.m.  Staff needs to be lead by example and leadership.”

8. Has fought this commissioner over many issues usually doing just enough to stay out of trouble. Resented my “interference” on more than one occassion. Does not give any appearance of liking change because it may make more work for staff.”

9. N0- It is my opinion the manager should have stepped in and read the construction bids aloud to diffuse the situation when faced with 14 angry contractors. The issue should have then have been brought before the commission for direction rather than be intransigent and refuse to “read aloud” because it doesn’t say “I have to.” Always takes any comments as a personal attack and responds accordingly instead of diffusing, deflecting and making decisions after a cooling off period.”

“Additional Comments”

“Below average performance because the manager wants to be Number one and not take or ask for direction from the commission. As stated she doesn’t want to be second string to anyone when she took the job. Several issues should have been presented for direction either on the agenda or through the manager’s report for this commission’s decision rather than making her own decision. Pavilion drainage by change order and not new proposal one year later. Pelican hopper, RFP’s -read aloud, Scott Gooding dismissal.”

“Relations with the public”

1. Has been reported to me that she does not return phone calls by many individuals and does not return calls after leaving a message. Does not speak to the press and deflects to the P.O. who is left without adequate information at times. The fishing issue, Interior Digs and several  problems of Trash collection, Causing the Marchelos brothers to go to an attorney and then refuse to discuss other town related issues with them.”

2. ” Makes herself available to certain people. Picks and chooses. Has been seen wearing sunglasses looking for code issues on open containers. ”

3. ” Blames city over the “read aloud” issue stating she had a legal opinion she didn’t have to read aloud. Un-constructive and unhelpful”

4. ” Not heard many words of credit as to how the commission performs. Usually the only criticism is that the commission does not give her direction yet she does not follow up and ask the question until she does get direction but makes the decisions instead.”

“Additional Comments”

“Not sympathetic to any causes or charities- shouldn’t give town money to women in distress, Boy scouts etc., etc. Fiercely protective to town staff even when there might be fault on both sides. She speaks down to residents with demeaning attitude as evidenced at the last budget meeting.”

BC-Note- the commissioners comments were written up on Oct. 5, 2009 and some of these  items have been addressed in the last few weeks …although the managers personality and management style are ongoing…

The Final “installment” of the Town Manager Review is at 4 pm in Jarvis Hall …it will be televised  (Comcast ch. 78) and online… http://lbts.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2

Public is welcome…but no public comment… and we hope the commission will not allow the Vice Mayor to participate due to his non- compliance in filling out the evaluation forms and handing it in…

more to come…

Tags: Lauderdale By The Sea Commissioner Birute Clottey, Lauderdale by the sea Commissioner Jim Silverstone, Lauderdale By The Sea Commissioner Stuart Dodd, Lauderdale By The Sea Mayor Minnet, Lauderdale By The Sea Town Manager Eshter Colon, Lauderdale By The Sea Town Manager performance Review, LBTS Agendas/Meetings, local government, Local Politics, Scoops
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MCINTEE THE “GUMSHOE” …..

Dear Readers… For this writer March 9, 2010 cannot come soon enough!…Tuesday night’s Public Safety Discussion was just the latest “Deputy-sode” of McIntee muck and mire in the last three and a half years…… What is wrong up there?…

How can they sit up there and completely miss the mark …(pun intended)… on the substance of the story of the suicide which appeared first on this site shortly after the incident in May and again after the Mark Brown in-depth articles in the BTS Futures?…

How can they be so blind as to not realize that until Vice Mayor McIntee requested the police reports through the Town Manager as Vice Mayor (We know he cannot do e-mails but is he also incapable of doing public records requests…He did his e-mail request for the Mayor and Comm. Dodd as the VM through the Manager as well)…thus this report went to each of the Commissioners as well…Putting it on the agenda he made it part of the backup for the item further expanding its distribution which along with his statements on the dais made the Vice Mayor himself the FIRST person to publicly expose the name of the widow and her address!…

In what capacity was he speaking ?…If he was speaking as the Deputy Chief of the VFD he should have stepped down in front of the podium… and he should have been questioned by the commission as the rest of the public safety officers were….

This writer has watched over the years how this “Gumshoe” McIntee operates…You have to watch closely when McIntee does one of these numbers…and see how he diverts attention away from facts or self incrimination…it’s a trait that’s really quite well honed after 60+ years……Notice throughout this exercise McIntee never says his police report interview as witness #3 is incorrect…Notice McIntee never asks the Chief to ask BSO to re-interview him under oath and taped…He never does an “Esther Colon” and says “subpoena me”…”I won’t take the 5th”… Why because he knows the interview and the statement he made were true!…We have seen this before with past discrepancies…The McIntee on the dais…and the McIntee in the reports…Fl.Ethics Commission/ Fl.Elections Commission …and BSO… They’re always different… This time he put the onus on the widow…asking for the BSO to interview her…Having her taped for the interview with the “Editor” of the BTSTimes…Notice how he changes times… He arrived in 17 seconds per Chief Perkins at the podium…15 seconds according to the VFD Incident Report (270/300/ 400 ft. in 15-17 secs?)…Notice how he changes how many feet his home is from the suicide 400 ft…270 ft…300 ft…Notice how he says he heard the fire radio in the police report …In the 2nd version he was “directed to go there by the emergency dispatch” on his pager…knowing the only reason he and the VFD get these kind of call is because they have asked to be included on them as a practice…There is no need in a suicide to call the Deputy Chief of the local volunteer fire department to go to a suicide…Notice how he says he heard the woman screaming this time…this version from “around the corner”…inside her house…(is that possible?)…In his police statement he says the woman and the daughter followed him into the bedroom…Notice how he says “he made the decision to go in there and do whatever I could to help the woman”…was the house unlocked?…Did he break down the door?….Notice how he says “the gentleman had put a 45 caliber pistol to the side of his head and blew one side of his head off. He was lying in a position. There was no chance of recovery from. “I looked at him briefly 5-10 seconds,”…as opposed to his police report ” after taking a look at the victim he knew he was dead because of his color, he never checked his vital signs.”…He had time to decide it was a 45 caliber but not time to be the “First Responder” and do CPR….Notice how he says “I scooped up the daughter and the wife as they’re screaming and took them out of this terrible sight they were looking at and put them on the couch and consoled them as best I could.”…In the police report “McIntee then made everyone sit in the living room until the arrival of the police, which he said was almost immediate.”… He says from the dais “I got them to the couch and within 30 seconds the troops arrived. That would be the Chiefs, cops, deputies. They were all there., did a great job.”…But later when asked about entering against VFD SOPs (standard operating procedures) McIntee says ..” I was the first person there. They didn’t get there for a minute, minute and a half and if you think I’m gonna stand outside and with a woman and a kid screaming because I’m in jeopardy, the only life I’m jeopardizing is myself, you’re wrong.”…

McIntee used his usual tactics of comparing apples to oranges (with Jimmy-boy entering the fray in his comments)…by actually comparing a volunteer fireman entering a house where it was reported on the call “HER HUSB POSS SHOT HIMSELF…STILL LLONCONSCIOUS AND BREATHING UNCONSCIOUS OR STAB/GUNSHOT/PENETRATING TRAUMA UNCONSCIOUS OR ARREST (GUNSHOT!) HE HAS RECEIVED A GUNSHOT WOUND” …to the BSO bomb expert who entered the Hyperbaric explosion to save the little boy and his grandmother…with McIntee saying they gave him” a medal… (was that a hint to Jimmy-boy for as future agenda item?).. No gunshot reported at that explosion…and it was a policeman who responded to an explosion…not a volunteer fireman responding to a “possible suicide”…Notice how the little girl becomes the “baby”…and then he descends into a plug for the BTSTimes…an article coming next issue…a follow-up to the Truth “deflector” in the last issue?….He says “I never called her. I never asked for her cooperation”…Not quite what is being said in the background…He continues to ask the BSO Chief “to send somebody out to talk to her and release a sworn statement from her and then I can start looking for retractions.”…But later when the Mayor read the BSO Investigative Action Report (page 2) with his “Witness #3 statement” McIntee entered the master bedroom with the victim’s wife and daughter following him and after taking a look at the victim he knew he was dead because of his color”…. saying “those are pretty strong words and they came from you Vice Mayor”……McIntee countered careful not to implicate himself “No, they came from a Homicide Detective who is presently off sick and did not take any notes and who did not take any tape and who did not generate the report for 3 months.”..(Later when asked by Comm. Clottey about the 3 month gap from May to July BSO Chief Llerena replied it was “standard procedure” for death cases..Did the “seasoned police officer McIntee not know this?)… The Mayor did not back down…”So you’re calling this report [BSO] a lie?”… McIntee sidesteps and does not answer ..instead saying ” Well one of those reports I read Mayor was that I had my feet put up on the detective’s desk. He interviewed me in the fire station.”…McIntee could not say the report was a lie…because it is not…When the Mayor continued to push him on it…he further stepped aside from answering to again “offer up ” the widow…”and that’s why I’ve suggested the Chief [BSO] go interview the woman and get the inside story.”…But again did not offer up himself for another interview… The Mayor was strong and asked for “another investigation”..saying “Because looking at this information and reading what was in the original report we need to get to the bottom of this. We need to protect the citizens of this community and I would think Vice Mayor you would want that as much as I do.”…The Vice Mayor said “I do Mayor and I asked the the Chief prior to that dissertation to please do that.To contact…” (the woman…not him)…The Vice Mayor continued throughout to say the BSO was wrong in their investigation …He said he had asked for a “complete investigation” from BSO “Homicide” from her because “one of the problems was and she told us this was the day of the homi, suicide they talked to her and that night she was very distraught and they never went back to talk to her. I think they did this because it was a courtesy. It, they didn’t want to put her through that again and that made a lot of sense at the time….So according to McIntee BSO stopped investigating as a courtesy?… That’s a pretty serious charge against BSO…

Mark Brown the Editor of the BTSFuture’s had an opportunity to defend his reporting and himself after McIntee spoke first (not the “standard practice…usually public comment comes first)…He was steadfast after hearing McIntee say …”But when I read a description in a paper [BTSF] that is so opposite what happened it hurts and it’s evil and it’s slanderous. And I went to a lawyer and I’m, my aggressive moves that you heard yesterday [4 pm Comm. workshop “defamation” definition] in my initial statement and I’m not backing down. This was a hate filled article that did not tell the truth.” http://www.bytheseafuture.org/ He was armed and ready with 6 reports all used for the factual information found within the pages of his publication …Mark also met with the widow after she contacted him. (He brought her the police reports, which she had not seen until he showed them to her) …Mark told the dais he was glad the Vice Mayor chose to speak first and said “If the objective was to try and discredit me, I’ll tell you right now that I stand 100% behind my story. Everything I wrote down is documented in the public records that are available to all of you on this incident including the Vice Mayor’s statements on this, and I’m prepared to defend my story at anytime and in any forum.” http://www.lauderdalebythesea-fl.gov/town/backup2009.htm (scroll down to Public Safety discussion 7 a. Report on Suicide in Bel-Air) …Mark pointed out some of the content including the Vice Mayor’s statement and when he made the common mistake of calling it a “deposition” McIntee seized the opportunity to try and throw Mr. Brown off message by countering the mistake as ” untrue.”…Mark returned to pointing out the discrepancies between the 6 reports and the BTSTimes “version” along with this evenings statements made by the Vice Mayor. He said “I think there needs to be an investigation to find out why these stories are changing. But who’s gonna do it because you’ve got two commissioners with the VFD. The Town Manager hasn’t done any oversight of the VFD. She can’t do it. That leaves the State of Florida I think this commission should ask the Florida State Fire Marshal Office or the Florida Bureau of Emergency Medical Services to investigate this matter and find out why there’s these different stories now between the official reports and what we’re being told now.”…He went on about the Vice Mayor’s actions of entering the house and the Florida State Statute 112 concerning the Vice Mayor’s required assistance once he chose to become a “First Responder”…When Mark said the Vice Mayor said the man was dead …the Vice Mayor called out “point of order” saying “that’s an absolute lie,. I never said that, that’s an absolute untruth and another lie and you’re putting your foot deeper in it.”……The Vice Mayor said “I looked at him briefly , maybe 5-10 seconds sensed there was no hope.”..Mr Brown also knew from the VFD CAD report it said “DP12 ADV S7″…which is police “lingo” for dead…(it was odd because we hear S7 is not used by firefighters…must be more of that “seasoned cop stuff)… Mark continued after telling the Vice Mayor “It’s my turn to speak now I’ve listened to you.”…Applause came from the hall…..He spoke of the standard investigations done throughout the country in police departments and fire departments in reviewing the conduct of their members …The Vice Mayor he said should be treated the same way as a VFD firefighter who was suspended this past summer.. McIntee should be put on administrative leave pending the outcome…”If the investigators find he was negligent or otherwise violated the law then he should be put on trial or otherwise be held accountable for his actions.”….”It’s also time for this commission to pass a law that prohibits members of the VFD from responding to medical calls unless assistance is first requested by the BSO or AMR.”…The Vice Mayor had enough and called out “Time!”…the audience responded angrily…

Time came for the other Public Safety Officers to make their way up to the podium…First was LBTS-BSO Chief Llerena who would be facing his first head-on interchange with the Vice Mayor…(welcome to politics in LBTS Chief)…The Chief pointed out this investigation was never a homicide and there was never any indication of a suspicious death or any type of crime related to it. He explained the process of not taping or having sworn testimony statements in these cases. He said any issues of the VFD By-laws were not part of the homicide unit and they would not get into that… Well the Vice Mayor jumped onto that opening ..”Question for the Chief, there’s no crime here.” …Chief Llerena said “No sir, there was never any allegation of any type of a homicide.”…The Vice Mayor found just the way to go further away from his own role of entering the home contrary to VFD procedure and to keep off his “first responder” problem of not doing anything for the victim… He said he had asked the Chief to take the statement “from the poor woman, Is that correct?”…Chief Llerena said “Yes Sir,  I’ve been  authorized  by the Chief of Detectives to comment to the best of my ability on the case. So I can relay that concern back to the Homicide Division, we have a victim advocate.”…

Commissioner Silverstone chimed in giving Mr Brown some BFF (Best Friends Forever) swipes for the article…his paper and skewing the papers report saying that McIntee calling off the rescue of an injured man would have been breaking the law if it happened…He tried to initiate some verification of it being punishable from Chief Llerena but the Chief could not comment on the matter due to unfamiliarity with statutes governing firefighters…( the CAD report in the VFD Incident report the DP12 S7 and the VFD June monthly report that shows the “04-May-09 S.E.15 Street medical, cancelled by DPC12)… Getting nowhere Jimmy went to AMR Lt. Brooke Liddle to address this asking who could call off the medics…Mr Liddle answered only law enforcement can cancel or prohibit them from entering a scene…Jimmy said” it was impossible for this to happen. He [McIntee] doesn’t have the authority to do it and if he tried nobody would listen to him anyway ….”…Too funny…Since when did this ever stop the VM?…Comm. Silverstone decided to go for the paper in an attempt to portray the BTSFutures as “nothing but a political format, a platform to use, it’s obvious to me.”…He then stated he hoped the Vice Mayor would follow through with his “promise of seeing this to the end.”…saying this reporting was what was dividing the town…Hmmm….

Commissioner Dodd asked AMR Lt. Liddle and VFD Chief  Perkins the same question…finally getting to the reason …It’s nice to see a non-lemming in action…He asked each about their procedures for entering a “situation such as this”.. that AMR “are not allowed to go into the premises until cleared by BSO to do so”…The Lt. answered that is “standard AMR procedure.”…Comm. Dodd went further asking why the procedure was in place and he was told for the safety of the rescuer…Comm. Dodd said he had concern for the members of the fire department if they did not follow the same procedure…and went on to throw the Vice Mayor a bone about his days in Buffalo and his past a cop going  to similar calls..but he reminded the Vice Mayor that now he enters as a VFD Deputy Chief…He went on to put Chief Perkins on the spot to answer the same  question of procedures where a gunshot had been heard….Chief Perkins said ” Our procedures are the same as AMR. We have to stand outside until the scene is cleared by P.D., That’s the procedure” …It took from May to get the VFD Chief to admit the procedure was in place…Comm. Dodd asked what happens when “somebody doesn’t adopt that procedure?”…Perkins said the following ” Well, every call has a life of its own and Mr. McIntee made a judgment call and I weighed all the circumstances of what happened and I decided he did go against our procedure but it was justified.”…Comm. Dodd asked for more…”So that was the result of the internal fire department inquiry into this particular incident?”… Chief Perkins said ” Yes Sir, the decision came on me. I would either suspend him him for going against procedure or justify of. I felt he made a judgment and every emergency like that is a judgment call and because the woman was screaming, and there was a child involved. Yes it was against our procedures but they needed help.”…

What kind of internal inquiry was done and was the Town Manager informed in the process?…I sent a PRR to the VFD and the Town… The VFD responded…
……………………………………………
Public Records Request
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 12:30 PM From: “Barbara Cole”
To: [email protected]
Chief Perkins, Cheryl : I am making a public records request for all correspondence , e-mails, memos or meetings between Town Manager Colon or any Town Staff and the VFD, Chief Perkins, Dep. Chief McIntee concerning the May 4, 2009 suicide incident on SE 15th St.
I am asking for any internal investigation report, documents on Deputy Chief McIntee ignoring VFD SOPs for entering a suicide scene against procedure. Chief Perkins acknowledged DP 12 did not follow procedure .
Please acknowledge this request.
Thank you Barbara Cole

Re: Public Records Request

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 3:08 PM

From:

“Cheryl Louvaris” <[email protected]>

To:

“Barbara Cole” <[email protected]>

Mrs. Cole,

We received your request; unfortunately we have no correspondence that you request.  The only report we have is the incident report in the CAD system which is now public information.

Cheryl Louvaris
Executive Secretary

……………………………………………………….

Back to the meeting…The Vice Mayor took yet another opportunity to go off topic when the Chief mentioned he was on scene in 2 minutes…Ah Ha…McIntee said the BTSFutures said the Chief was not there for an hour…”That’s an absolute untruth.” said McIntee…The Chief said he was there and “I’m dealing in facts.”…But which facts…The Chief in the exchange with McIntee states he has dispatch arrival times odf AMR 3 minutes 8 seconds/ Perkins 2 minutes and McIntee 17 seconds….The VFD Incident Report states on page 2  for DP12 (Dep. Chief McIntee ) Apparatus Dispatch Date and Time 17:11:51/ Apparatus Arrival Date and Time 17:12:35 / Response time 0:00:15 ….For C12 (Chief Perkins) “Apparatus Dispatch Date and Time 17:12:29/ Apparatus Arrival date and time 17:12:37  The mistake of the Perkins arrive on scene time was the “Arrive facility date and time 18:08:29″…it was an honest mistake…..Back to Comm Dodd…(McIntee was interrupting throughout the item and he carried on his behavior the rest of the evening…Time for the gavel!)…. Comm. Dodd asked about suspending people for going into a building without permission from BSO…asking AMR what they would do…The response “administrative leave”…He felt that should be a lesson for Chief Perkins …This is where McIntee said he was first…by a minute to a minute and a half and was going in no ifs, ands or buts ….He went on to try and engage the BSO Chief to compare a policeman going into a fire…and felt quite invigorated when Chief Llerena said “that would be a judgment call he would have to make.”…but the caveat was “we don’t have any specific policy”…VFD does…as stated by the Chief…McIntee was not deterred by this mere “detail” …this is where he went for the “medal”…the “hero got for going into the Hyperbaric explosion scene…

No wanting to be left by the wayside Jimmy-boy could not resist…he asked Chief Perkins if he [Jimmy]was allowed to go in the water to save someone drowning..The Chief said “Yes, you are.”…Comm. Silverstone puffed up and said “Do I need permission from anybody?”.. The Chief said he did not…but he said “you do need to contact dispatch to let them know so we all know that you’re in there”…Aw shucks…Jim was not going to let this bravado go “Just for the record if I see somebody out there, I’m going out. If I hear somebody screaming  and I’m the first one there I’m gonna do something about it. If I can. I’ll make a judgment call obviously.”…You go Jimmy…you go!….

Commissioner Clottey had another chance to deal with a police issue… and she showed where she’s spending her free time lately (eeny….meany…miny…MOE)…saying it was unfortunate to “put a resident in our community through this.”…(The widow now lives in another town)…”But I do have a question of the Police Chief” (we held our breath, deja vue)… She followed the Vice Mayor’s lead about the May to July date on the investigative report…and it was explained by the BSO Chief as standard … Comm. Clottey said “I also have another question. When you have somebody commit suicide who’s not a public figure in any way shape or form is it common to put the family through something like this?…Chief Llerena just got a dose of “Cluelessness”…and answered “I’m not sure what you’re referring to?…Comm. Clottey “I mean the publicity is it common?”…Chief Llerena “That’s improper for me to comment on. That’s not part of the Sheriff’s office. In terms of the investigation it’s routine, it’s unfortunate but we do have to interview some of the victims and witnesses. That part of the investigation is very routine.”

Comm. Dodd stated a public statement containing the information about the investigative procedures might have alleviated the need for this exercise…the Mayor agreed but still trying to dodge the bullet of public opinion the Vice mayor went off  point by inferring Comm. Dodd wanted the in-depth report of the event…when what Comm. Dodd and the Mayor wanted was just what Mark Brown wanted. Some real  accountability and real action taken concerning a member of our town contracted public safety provider who breaks the rules….no judgment call just the rules in black and white….for as the Town Manger said the evening before… there is no gray…

What happens now…well, the Futures comes out on Friday…and you can bet the “Truth Deflector” will be ready, with laundry marker in hand …The Chief of the VFD who spent a long time one on one with Mark Brown after the exchange will be doing some fancy footwork to yet again deny his words to the “opposition” of the “Mc-Gang”…The Town might get my PRR back to me before next month and they may have more info than the VFD. …The Town Manager will continue to ignore this very real public safety issue…that effects us all and it should become a factor in her evaluation next Tuesday……

We have a rogue VFD Deputy Chief who believes he is above the VFD bylaws… and continues to believe his actions…are judgment calls that ONLY jeopardize him…we strongly disagree!….

Remember voters…..If your judgment call is to give him 4 more years with his BFF Jimmy-boy Silverstone (Batman and Robin)… Vice Mayor McIntee won’t just be content acting like the Police…he will be the Police in LBTS……  and that will jeopardize us all!….

more to come….

Tags: Lauderdale By The Sea AMR, Lauderdale By The Sea BSO, Lauderdale By The Sea Chief Bob Perkins, Lauderdale By The Sea Commisioner Clottey, Lauderdale By The Sea Commission, Lauderdale By The Sea Commissioner Dodd, Lauderdale By The Sea Mark Brown, Lauderdale By The Sea Mayor Minnet, Lauderdale By The Sea VFD, Lauderdale By The Sea Vice Mayor/Deputy Chief Jerry McIntee, LBTS Agendas/Meetings, local government, Local News, Local Politics, Public Safety, Scoops, VFD
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