NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT YOUR PERSONAL PHOTOGRAPHER…

A look at the LBTS Commission “Field Trip” on Noise…( 5/15/09)….currently being shown on Comcast ch. 78…(available on the Town website later today…http://www.lauderdalebythesea-fl.gov/) shows that McIntee like MacArthur makes sure to have his personal photographer ( Marc Furth) following behind him to photograph his every move!….

By the way what was the decibel meter reading on the wind?….

This is one outing you don’t want to miss seeing!…

more to come on the content later…

Tags: local governmennt, local government, Local Politics, Opinions, Politics, Scoops
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LBTS MAYOR MINNET IS MAKING HER MARK…

WHILE DODGING THOSE “POISON ARROWS”….

Recently this writer posted how the town got it right with those 16 votes and the 2008 election of LBTS Mayor Roseann Minnet…

It was met with a moment of anger from her losing opponent…Peanuts Wick on the very day it was posted…(previous post scoops..4/20/09)…before day 2 of the 4/14/09 Commission meeting began…in the afternoon in Jarvis Hall…

Peanuts entered Jarvis Hall and walked  to the front row of the “CIC” side of the room to loudly say to the Mayor who was sitting in her seat on the dais busy preparing for the meeting …”So, you going to let the Greeks run the meeting?”…This writer was seated on the “other side” of the hall and next to a resident as we heard this obvious”slight” made. The resident said that it sounded like a “slur” and said as much to Peanuts…I said that it was “unnecessary” to speak about them like that…Peanuts then said he “heard” I  had written about him, I replied that I had…He was visibly shaking and angered and demanded I mail him a copy…I said I would not and he could read what I had written for himself…He said he doesn’t read “that garbage, Dear”…I told him not to call me “Dear”…I don’t mind his disdain for my site …that’s his right, but I do mind the condescending “Dear” aimed at a woman coming right after calling two town businessmen “Greeks”!…Peanuts went on to say “That’s why you have no friends!”…YIKES!…I guess the name “Peanuts” will stick no matter how much he tries to change it with  immature responses such as these….I replied calmly, that first of all he does not know where I circulate, and that the only time I ever see him is either here (the hall) or at the bars in town when we stroll by them…….I ended with saying if he disagreed with what I wrote I would be happy to post whatever he wanted. He was then mute….At this time I have received no response to the post.

Since then all those I speak to (which are many) that were involved in the campaign and actually read the Peanuts post…say it was right on!…The exchange at the continuation meeting only cemented my belief that we did indeed get it right for Mayor!

Apparently those who may be pushing at this point for Peanuts to run as their “CIC” endorsed Mayoral candidate in 2010 are busy trying to lay the groundwork for it by hurling  “poison arrows”at the Mayor……Whether it is on the dais…with the Vice Mayor badgering her …. the “Gang of 3″…going after her for “Greenefest”,  and “Adopt-A-Street” signage along with shooting down many of her ideas…(only to employ them in items put on the agenda under their own names sometime later)..or with recent accusations that just are not what they appear to be…and they know it…But they never mind putting it out there anyway to get the “kool-aid” drinkers left among them following their lead…and get a rise out of them…

The latest “poison arrows”…were the recently put on as an agenda item that appeared on 4/14/09  under New Business by Vice Mayor McIntee….He wanted to “go after” the Mayor for recusing herself from the Waste Services Contract vote…He started in on her on that night when  she recused herself before the vote was taken , accusing her of asking questions before she recused herself, (she did not. The tape reveals and she informed  the VM she had not)…. Then he went after her again at the last Round Table meeting, and she replied that she had answered the reason for her actions in her written recusal (The VM  must have been in receipt of it) and would not be answering his interrogation at the table……Vice mayor McIntee said it didn’t matter, that he had put it on the next agenda (4/14/09) and he indeed did…He ended up taking it off as the 4/14/09 meeting began..(The 4/20/09  continuation agenda included the following … ‘This item was removed at the April 14,2009 Commission meeting by Vice Mayor McIntee-problem solved’) but in his mind he  most likely thought he succeeded with his intent of casting the appearance of some “dirt”  surrounding the Mayor’s recusal from this vote….

Contained in the 4/28/09 backup..(now online) after the minutes for approval …is the Mayor’s recusal form ..It says the following…’The company of which I am the principal officer has been retained by a business associate of one of the company’s that submitted a proposal to Lauderdale-By-The-Sea to provide sanitation waste collection services.’ Signed by the Mayor and dated 4/17/09…

So the Mayor did her duty and as for her nemesis the Vice Mayor…well,  when it comes to recusals…partaking in such an action and following the process required, that would definitely be confusing and foreign for him comprehend!…

In the Mc-Furth Time 4/18/09 edition the “Gang” went after the Mayor, by printing a story that was a followup to the planned “elephant in the room” Commissioner comments made by the Vice Mayor on the dais at the previous Commission meeting concerning a “Recall” of the Mayor from her condo board…(previous post..scoops/local news categories)…

The Pompano Pelican straightened out the story, and on its front page told the facts…behind the recall that the BTSTimes conveniently ignored…as they did not contact the Mayor hersel and only took what suited their cause…in order to use it later on…for the 2010 election…

According to those involved, the recall was done with a petition “using erroneous information”…stating the board voted for a $4 million dollar renovation that would have cost the building owners $20,000 each…The actual vote was for “a $7,500 contract’ with an engineer…Minutes and/or tapes from the meetings should be available to check for the accuracy of what really transpired…

The board of the Royal Coast  are facing what all of the condos up and down the coast are facing…The costs of dealing with the age of the building, corrosive salt air and a great divide in their building unit owners…Those who want to continue to “band-aid” the problems, a short- term fix……  those who have the desire to invest in the future of their homes…for the long-term…A guarentee for dissention to result…

Many agree with the Mayor’s statement in the Pelican that what the Vice Mayor did was to “politicize” what the Mayor herself said was “a democratic process. In enacting this calculated plan with the BTSTimes he hurt not only the Mayor but all those owners in the Royal Coast who are selling or thinking of selling…because bad press like this…means buyers think twice!…Nice going Vice Mayor/BTSTimes…in these already tough times of selling one’s property……

Look for more poison arrows to come the Mayor’s way…for they will be coming…and most likely they will increase in intensity …as we near the upcoming election…If they stick with their “plan” for a re-match between “Peanuts” Wick and Mayor Minnet…all they can count on is their innuendo…certainly not their candidate!…

more to come….

Tags: local governmennt, local government, Local News, Local Politics, Scoops
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WHAT ELSE IS ON THE AGENDA…

Tonight will be the first of 2 meetings for sure…with the next “act” to follow …probably tomorrow afternoon…if all Commissioners can make it…

BC- Heard more than a few complaints…not only about 2-day meetings becoming the norm…but the fact they are held in the daytime…leaving many unable to attend…

Remember folks…MUMS the word (pun intended)…if the dais follows through with the Vice Mayor’s assertions for no talking in the audience…(previous posts)…quite amusing that yet again the code is being ignored or “stretched” to accommodate McIntee…

BC-HMMM…do not see talking quietly to your fellow resident included …below…

‘Sec. 2-23.  Maintaining order, decorum at Town Commission and board meetings.
(a)   The Chief of Police or such member or members of the Police Department as the Chief may designate shall be sergeant-at-arms at the regular and special meetings of the Town Commission or board. The sergeant-at-arms shall carry out orders and instructions given by the presiding officer or by a majority of the Town Commission or board present for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum at the Town meetings. While any Town meeting of the Town Commission or any Town board is in session, the members of the public shall not, by conversation or otherwise, delay or interrupt the proceedings nor the peace of the meeting and shall obey all orders of the Town Commission or board, or its presiding officer, except as otherwise herein provided. All persons attending any Town meeting shall render inaudible any beepers, cellular telephones, or other mechanical or electronic devices while such meeting is in session. The presiding officer shall preserve strict order and decorum at all meetings. Unauthorized remarks from the audience, stamping of feet, whistles, yells and similar demonstrations constitute an interruption to public meetings, are prohibited and shall not be permitted by the presiding officer. The foregoing conduct is unauthorized and, if the individual engaged in the conduct has not been recognized and granted leave to speak by the presiding officer, any person who causes an interruption of the meeting shall be given the option to cease the conduct which constitutes an interruption or to leave the meeting. If the individual fails to cease the offending conduct or to voluntarily leave the meeting and continues interrupting the meeting, the individual shall be removed from the meeting room if the sergeant-at-arms is so directed by the presiding officer, and such person shall be barred from further audience for the remainder of the meeting. In case the presiding officer shall fail to act, any member of the Town Commission may move to require the presiding officer to act to enforce the rules, and the affirmative vote of the majority of the Town Commission or board shall require the presiding officer to act.
(b)   Any person who, at a Town Commission or board meeting, willfully interrupts or disturbs such meeting in violation of F.S. § 871.01, entitled “Disturbing Schools and Religious and Other Assemblies,” may be arrested by those police officers present. This may be done in the absence of the conduct being noted, or the offender being called to order, by the Mayor, chair or other presiding officer. Once any person is declared out of order by the Mayor, chair or other presiding officer and ordered expelled, and does not immediately leave the commission chamber or meeting room, the following steps shall be taken:
(1)   The person will be approached by the sergeant-at-arms and advised that he or she has been ordered expelled.
(2)   If the person does not remove himself or herself from the area, and continues to willfully interrupt or disturb the meeting, he or she may be placed under arrest for violation of §871.01, Florida Statutes.
(3)   Should any person who is ordered expelled leave the chamber voluntarily and subsequently return to the same meeting, he or she is subject to arrest for violation of §871.01, Florida Statutes, should he or she continue to willfully interrupt or disturb the meeting.
(Ord. No. 416, § 2, 3-9-99; Ord. No. 450, § 2, 11-29-00)’

http://www.municode.com/resources/gateway.asp?pid=14431&sid=9

Tonight will be presentations including …FPL brought in by the Town Manager to let her off the hook for the street lights or lack thereof….and then the Art Institute students showing their entries to the Commissioners to choose the top 3 winners…in the El Mar Drive Project…

New tonight …in its new spot…Public comments…after presentations…sign up by 7 pm…

2 times… AMR is on the agenda…first AMR requesting an EMS Review Committee Meeting on 5/21/09 at 1 pm…no backup…/probably at meeting #2….McIntee has on discussion regarding AMR ambulance service…again no backup supplied….

Town Manager Report…only Waste RFP unless she adds something else…not included in the backup….

Minutes…..Ordinances…(previous posts)…including Waste ordinance …

Commissioner Comments…tonight or tomorrow…if they don’t get there due to public comments…presentations…or additions and/or moving items on the agenda at the start….

Consent Agenda…all online..link below…air conditioning agreement..bids previously posted…sewer repair $5,342.50….approval for Athena’s outside seating…on backup…is memo from Assist. Manager Olinzock detailing where the planters cannot encroach and providing clearance between Lord’s Realty…44″ must be provided……40 permits for Caribe’ to park for their annual meeting…a wedding …participation for youth employment…Beach patrol expenses $10,976.21…in backup…equipment for ATV’s …in transition period…not being turned over the town…requiring a vote…in this budget year…

Old Business…Returning to the agenda…  The election costs if we pursue a special election in Nov….The $3000 McIntee Pavilion Clock…The Pier Sign…which we hear no title was found on and the property is not the Town’s but the FDOT…HMMMM….(now what?)….and gravel driveways (McIntee)…

New Business….Mayor Minnet…creation of a resolution opposing Senate Bill 1000/House Bill 365 entitled Act Relating to Discretionary Sales Surtaxes…./Comm. Dodd funding Beach patrol  asking for more money for more VFD  patrolling…./Mayor Minnet..better parking for the turtle volunteers closer to the beach than the current Bougainvilla spaces…./Comm. Clottey…Director /1st & 2nd alternate Broward League f Cities…last year it was Mayor/VM & Comm. Clottey…/ Comm. Clottey…”no prices on signs” policy on books…she thinks it promotes unsavory patrons to the area…

16G. VM McIntee …$40,000 excluding fireworks…(previous post) …(no Co-Chair?)…/16 I. Comm. Dodd…July 4th inquiry…included in backup…last year cost $83,815.77 ( before donations?)……

16 H. Comm. Dodd…Town Manager Review…never been done before according to backup…

BC- This still should be enacted this year… as it will be in Pompano/Deerfield Beach Beach…and as the Manager herself should be doing annually with her staff…as well as she should have had reviews as Finance Director for all those years…This vote will be remembered at election time….

16K. Comm Dodd…Pavilion lack of lighting…

BC- previous post…pavilion has no lights…no seating…is “shoddy” in appearance with 2 concrete bases already falling off…siding that was improperly put up…we hear there was a fine for that…and a whole host of ongoing problems…Questions being asked…if Town cannot keep up with the pavilion…how will they keep up with bathrooms…(don’t shoot the messenger)…

16 N. Comm. Silverstone…supplementary ideas to be included in the Pavilion…rental services perhaps?…

BC- Whomever it is should not be run by anyone or any organization already contracted with the Town in any other capacity…Didn’t the Comm. and Furth thwart a longtime rental guy from doing business not long ago?…HMMM

16 O. Comm. Silverstone…discussion on economic viability of the Town…no backup provided…

Town Attorney Report…

adjourned….

full text link below….

http://www.lauderdalebythesea-fl.gov/town/backup2009.htm

overview to follow both meetings…

more to come….

Tags: LBTS Agendas/Meetings, local governmennt, local government, Local Politics, Scoops
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READY FOR A SHOW?….

We hear the Mc-Furth all inclusive 4th of July “Committee”…The “no need to post meetings gang”……are indeed planning to shoot the fireworks of from the beach…

They will use smaller fireworks and may have made a “deal” with Minto…

The Manager is aware of all…so we hear…Again this is the same Manager that turned away Comm. Clottey from the 1st July 4th meeting last year…due to it not being posted ahead of time and appropriately…The same Manager in receipt of all the current 4th backup materials…that clearly show a lot has been going on out of the Sunshine…and the same micro-managing Town Manager that has approved the Fire Display RFP  being “advertised” only in the the Town Hall that guarantees limited “bids”…thus delivering to the Mc-Furth event team the desired result ahead of time….selective actions…..no wonder she and McIntee are side by side…

Does anyone else wonder…how it is ….we were emphatically told by the Manager we could not have built the pavilion after season due to turtle season…(a fact still in doubt, from other ongoing beachfront construction and that very question being asked at the opening bids for the pavilion …in which it was answered that turtle monitoring and inspections would be required…with no talk of no work allowed in season…..previous post)…We have no lights in the pavilion or on El Mar due to turtle season…But we are to believe it is alright to shoot off fireworks on the beach…by the nests…in dry season…when individual fireworks are not to be allowed?…

At the followup meeting (previously posted) for the 4th of July last year Cristi Furth made a point that we should skimp on the fireworks and make a bigger event!…At the time she had no support…but maybe out of the Sunshine that too has changed!…

This writer still thinks as I did last year…in better economic times…the 4th should be a parade…a small town kids event with VFD hotdogs and burgers for town folks not the tourists who are staying at the event coordinator’s motel……and definitely not to be subsidized by our taxpayer monies…when it could be done by the businesses downtown…with taxpayer money to be spent on great fireworks from the Pier or on a  barge….

Is DEP on board with this plan?…Anybody know?….Who talked to them and when?….

We hear this is not in the backup for tonight…it is available…but won’t be on until a future meeting….after no RFP responses….or only the one “pre”-planned?…

This writer did send Assist. Manager Olinzock an e-mail….last week..

Dear Assist. Town Manager Olinzock;
Could you please inform me where the RFP for fireworks is advertised besides in Town Hall? it states adv. 4/9/09
Also it says for scheduling  inspection of the display site contact you. Where is the display site.
When are the RFPs due by and who will decide, in what forum?
Thank you, Barbara Cole

As of today, there has been no response….

If the status quo continues this will not be discussed…New Bus. item 16g…until the 2nd day of the Reg. Commission meeting…

more to come….

Tags: local governmennt, local government, local politcs, Local Politics, Scoops, update
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SMALL FISH IN THE POND?….

Readers will recall at the previous post about a Sentinel Public Record request made to the town for travel expenses from 1/07  to the present for Commissioners…

The Vice Mayor…got all hot under the collar and puffed out his chest that there was a question asked about his that was wrong…and he was going in to the Sentinel…and set them straight…HMMM…chalk up another “scene”….

Well….well…well…looks like it was a 2 county “clean sweep” to do a front page story..by Jennifer Gollan….and not aimed at him….he was just a small fish..(this time)…

Sentinel 1/11/09…

‘Broward County officials are traveling on your dime’
Conventions are only miles from home, but South Florida officials bill taxpayers for luxury hotels and chauffeured rides

By Jennifer Gollan | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
January 11, 2009

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbtrips0111sbjan11,0,6112364.story

ABOUT THAT COMMUNITY POOL…

Just off the presses…something my building manager in SRC has been warning about for months…the new required pool drains…chalk up the $$$$…and in older pools…even more $$$$$ will be required…that with the expected ADA requirements make the Mc-pool …sillier still…OUCH!…

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-flhlppool0111sbjan11,0,5715619.story

SUNRISE ADVERTISES…….

Ever since this writer heard the claim that the Manager uses the Sentinel to place job ads…for LBTS…I have dutifully been checking…how it is used …level of positions offered from municipalities…and who uses it….due to the poor hiring practice I believe have been used in this current administration…well it’s a 1st…Sunrise  has an ad in for Assistant Town Manager…after looking  for over a month….(overview and qualifications below)…

As previously posted…it showed up until this ad… it was used for staff positions ..those under department heads…not top tier offerings…as posted on  Datagram…from Fl. League of Cities…which states it is for the top dept jobs….publishes 2 times monthly…and must be a “clearinghouse” for those qualified applicants…who would no doubt usurp the staff “elevated” through the Manager’s decision not to produce any competition..YIKES!…

1/11/09 Sentinel… Assistant Manager for the City of Sunrise…Salary $101.295-$139,637….they are seeking an experienced leader with “well documented” management success…must have a Bachelors Degree in public administration, business administration from an accredited college  or university  or related field. Masters Degree is preferred . A minimum of 5 years of progressive management and leadership experience  in full- service local government with at least 3 years in senior level position.

Fl. League of Cities …Datagram….

I Am a…
Job Seeker
For people looking for employment within Florida’s municipal governments, there is no comprehensive list of all positions open statewide.

However, the Florida League of Cities’ newsletter, the Datagram, published twice a month, includes many positions open that are of division-head level and above. Click here for the most recent editions.

Two other helpful areas on our Web site are:

# member links, for access to the Web sites of Florida’s municipal governments, and

# Florida association/organization links, for access to many municipal-related associations.

http://www.flcities.com/i_am_job_seeker.asp

more to come….

Tags: local governmennt, Local News, Local Politics, News, Scoops
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