They finally got it right!!!

(Click on Picture for a larger view) Last evening the CRA department of the city held a workshop at which Garcia Stromberg, the architectural firm chosen to do the design, showed the public their concept for the design of the new Deerfield Beach pier entrance: the restaurant, restrooms, bait shop etc.

The design is awesome; it keeps the beach-goer hot-dogs and hamburgers friendly atmosphere, but adds some really nice features. The restaurant is a little bigger than Kelly’s due to adding inside restrooms. There is a second floor dining deck, also with restrooms, and an outside first floor dining deck for restaurant goers or for beach goers who have their own food.

The whole bait-shop/ice machine setup is enclosed, and a really nice feature is the open view from the street west to east; the whole pier is visible.

Some kinks need to be worked out of course, such as how to enclose the trash and avoid the odor, and how to keep the enclosure from being battered by the garbage trucks. You can see the entire presentation here, at the city’s website: Proposed Concept Presentation3009 KB, Last Uploaded: 2/9/2010 11:05:28 AM

BUT!!!! WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO GET GOING ON THE COVE SHOPPING CENTER PARKING LOT!!!! I hear that there are some people out there who don't want it to go forward and are trying to delay it (forever?). DO NOT LET THAT HAPPEN. The pier project is targeted to start next November. I hope the Cove project will be done by then. Let your commissioners know you want this to happen. Perhaps they need to know that the residents want this NOW!

Yawn, real estate corruption; this is getting so commonplace: Herald Tribune Article - FBI builds its case in flipping schemes.

Hmmmm, seems as though all the FBI has to do lately is throw a dart at the yellow pages listings of Florida developers, mortgage brokers, Realtors, real estate appraisers, and attorneys and have the “lucky dartee” wear a wire to come up with a juicy corruption scandal.

The Trib’s article spells out step by step how the Fibbies, wires and all, nailed a bunch of avaricious real estate speculators (oxymoron alert); there were flippers, phony dual-closing documents, using of grandma’s name on a deed and more.

Not up to Rothstein’s level maybe, but not through lack of trying. Well worth the read. Get used to reading these articles, many more to come; maybe, for a change, at the state level.

FBI builds its case in flipping schemes
Herald Tribune article: Published: Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 1:00 a.m.

“Craig Adams of Sarasota, who moved from a real estate sales career into one of a real estate de-veloper, is referred to in documents as the "confidential defendant."

…Craig Adams, orchestrator of one of the largest real estate fraud rings in Florida history, has secretly spent more than a year and a half as an FBI informant, helping build cases against the people he once recruited into his schemes, the Herald-Tribune has learned.

…Ultimately, dozens of Sarasota real estate investors could be caught up in the investigation. Adams' list of associates includes mortgage brokers, Realtors, real estate appraisers, attorneys and developers.”Read the rest of the article here: FBI builds its case in flipping schemes

Grand Jury on Corruption, Who dat!

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1458013.html

Florida Prosecutors, according to the Miami Herald, will start picking people next week to serve on a statewide grand jury on public corruption. Scheduled to convene in December the grand jury will be based in Broward County.

The Herald said: “Attorney General Bill McCollum urged the public to report instances of wrongdoing by public officials, from bribery to nepotism to fraud, to his office and its investigative arm, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement…

…Crist, a Republican who is running for U.S. Senate, had called for the grand jury shortly after the indictments of prominent GOP fundraiser Alan Mendelsohn, ex-Broward County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion, former Miramar City Commissioner Fitzroy Salesman and suspended Broward School Board member Beverly Gallagher.”
OK, Mr. McCollum, I assume you are basing the grand jury in Broward County because of all the recently uncovered corruption here and in Miami-Dade. Good call.

But, please don’t wait for the public to fuel your investigation. Get your prosecutors to be proactive. Go to every city and check the land use changes and variances that have been handed out like Halloween candy to generous developers. Check who gave campaign contributions to whom, and check what kind of deals they got for their projects, check voting records for those projects. Google bloggers’ posts; a lot of suspected corruption shows up on posts.

Be blind to whether the miscreants are Republican or Democrat. For too long in Broward Republicans got a pass. And, please do your investigations in a timely manner. A couple of years ago I filed complaints with documentation and when I called was told they couldn’t discuss an ongoing investigation. How many years does it take?

As you are running for Governor, my guess is that you will want to get a few crooks behind bars before election time. I really want to believe that this whole thing is not just another flash in the pan political ploy. But I do tend to be an optimist; however perhaps the results will justify the motives.

This guy should be the poster boy for passage of the Florida Hometown Democracy's Amendment 4

Disgraced commissioner now selling swamp land in Florida

The man selling the property is Jerry Bowmer. That's the same Jerry Bowmer who was the mastermind of one of the biggest political scandals in Hillsborough history.

Bowmer went to prison along with two other county commissioners in the 1980's for extortion, as they took bribes to approve land deals. In the early 90's, Bowmer was charged with racketeering and running a cattle rustling operation and did 12 years in prison. Then in 2006 he was investigated by then-Attorney General Charlie Crist for selling property that can't be developed.

Read the rest of the article here:

http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=124414&catid=8

The People Say Yes for Amendment 4

Last Saturday I went to the Deerfield Beach Arts Festival at the beach, it was well attended, and there were arts and crafts galore. I was there handing out flyers supporting the Florida Hometown Democracy’s Amendment 4.

Amendment 4 is not much in the news yet, after all the election isn’t until November 2. But, it is never too early to start getting the word out, A4 supporters won’t have the millions of dollars (they have spent over 3 million already) that the builders and chambers are collecting to defeat it. We who are pro Amendment 4 have to do it the old fashioned way, one by one.

What is Amendment 4? In the Orlando Sentinel Columnist Jane Healy, while discussing proposed Amendments on the November 2nd ballot wrote:

“One is Amendment 4, the Hometown Democracy initiative, that would allow voters to veto a development that local elected officials approve even though it conflicts with their own plan for growth.

Voters aren't dumb. They realize that elected officials often approve these unplanned projects after the developers cozy up to them with generous campaign contributions.”

Thanks Jane for realizing we, the voters, are not dumb, and for realizing that Amendment 4 will be passed by a righteous wave of angry voters saying, “Enough, enough”, and for knowing why.

Anyway, I was, as I said, passing out flyers at the festival, first asking people, “Do you vote in Florida?” About 2/3 said no. But the other 1/3 were interested, most had not heard of Amendment 4, but when they heard they would get a chance to vote on a land-use change before it was passed, they were all for it.

Some were eager to spread the word further. I was asked to come to speak at HOAs, and one young woman asked if I would come talk to her college class. Many stopped to talk, telling me about their own brushes with over-development and “deaf” commissioners. I was also asked many times if they could have a few more flyers to pass out in their neighborhoods. One lady wanted an extra one for her refrigerator door so she “wouldn’t forget by November”.

During the day, I had the same experience that Reporter Steven Feller told me he had when he did a man-on-the-street interview for the Forum Newspaper. He said that it was the first time in his experience that every single person he interviewed gave him the same answer; he had never had that before. Everyone said they would vote yes for Amendment 4!

Deerfield Beach Commission, Lesson Learned? Not.

While at the commission meeting on Tuesday I was struck with how quickly the rigors of the budget process wore off our commissioners.

While reviewing the budget, every line item was looked at and many shaved. Those who wanted budget additions were treated as if they had a contagious disease.

But now Commissioner Popelsky wants to use public tax money, which was not put in as a budget item, for placing $4,000 to $5,000 worth of city purchased defibrillators in Century Village.

CV is a private concern, and they have a budget and assessment money, if the residents think defibrillators are important, they should put them in the CV budget. If the commissioners think that defibrillators are necessary in various spots around the city, (certain places must have them by law) it should be in the budget.

The commissioners didn’t even know that there was a defibrillator in City Hall.

Another agenda item, which was tabled, had money, $85.773, (again a not budgeted for item) being pulled out of the West Wellfield Project for sidewalks along the Military Trail from the CV gate to 10th Street.

The well field project is short of money and they want to use eighty five grand for sidewalks!!!!! Good thing they came to their senses and pulled that one. In addition to not passing the smell test, is it legal to do that?

This would be a sidewalk that goes nowhere, there is no inside CV sidewalk to get to Military Trail, and no sidewalk, yet, on 10th.

Commissioner Poitier's head perked up like a bird dog on point when she heard grant money and energy savings in one sentence. She wanted to know if it was for private residences. It was not, only for city buildings, which she would have known if she had read her backup material.

And the coup de budget is the Commission voting to hire a headhunter to find a city manager; another $20,000 plus down the toilet.

There is no magic to a head hunter. Place an ad in the city manager journal and voila, you will be inundated with resumes. All the HH does is provide CVs and resumes, the commission still has to review them and interview the final few.

Although one might wonder who would want to come to Deerfield Beach. Last go-around, the first choice said no thanks. This should be a do it yourself project. Enough money has been wasted on this.

FHD at Deerfield Beach Woman's Club Flea Market

Pam Militello and Marge Hilton at the Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment 4 table at the Flea Market.