“HE RELIGIOUSLY EXERCISED HIS RIGHT TO HAVE HIS OPINIONS HEARD ABOUT PUBLIC SCHOOLS”…

BC- My kind of guy!….Voicing his opinion must have been the key to his longevity!….

Excerpt….

‘Hallandale Beach resident Barney Schlesinger, who over the last 25 years attended roughly 600 Broward County School Board meetings, died Tuesday of heart failure. He was 95.

“He would come every week,” said School Board member Robin Bartleman. “He religiously exercised his right to have his opinions heard about the public schools.”

As part of his blistering critiques, he would single out school board members as “lying wimps,” “public thieves” and “big double dippers.” He often complained about what he called exorbitant spending.

Born on Dec. 30, 1913 in New York City, Mr. Schlesinger was one of seven siblings. He worked his way through Brooklyn College selling fish and earned a bachelors degree
An avid swimmer who went to the pool most days until he was 94, Mr. Schlesinger loved exercise and education.

“Education was always very important to him,” said his son, Michael Schlesinger. “He believed that money shouldn’t be misspent on schools.”‘
full text link below….

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-barney-schlesinger-obituary-052709,0,269071.story

Posted in Uncategorized

1 DOWN 2 To GO?….

BC- Pompano Beach “Benched” their Town Manager…Fort Lauderdale ….Lauderdale-By- The-Sea …There’s room …

Excerpts…
‘Pompano Beach City Manager Keith Chadwell is out of a job and after June 12th will no longer remain the epicenter of distraction. Earlier this year, The Sentry presented a nine-part series exposing the deception of Pompano Beach – deception by the headhunter, which did a truly sloppy job, deception by Chadwell himself, who concealed material facts, and self-deception by the city commission, which deceived itself into believing it could take major shortcuts in selecting a city manager.
Our exposé cited inconsistencies in statements made, exaggerations of accomplishments claimed, critical lapses in events of Chadwell’s life, and complete omission of unfavorable information. The Sentry attempted to set the record straight and pointed out relevant facts that just did not add up to a proven record. The series suggested a breach of trust on Chadwell’s part, and during public meetings Chadwell never disputed our disclosures.
For those who are unfamiliar with the exposé by The Sentry, it is posted on the Sentry Web site: www.FLSentry.com.

The problem becomes obvious

For more than a year, commissioners had told themselves Chadwell would grow into the job, and he just needed time to adjust and figure out what needed to be done. As time wore on it became obvious to nearly every commissioner and to many city employees that the man was in over his head. He talked a great talk, but that was the extent of his talent.
A great number of Pompano’s residents were oblivious to his flaws, partly because he has the engaging personality of a politician and – dare I say it – even a snake oil salesman, and partly because most of our residents have little contact with City Hall and with local politics. They are generally oblivious to all foibles of local politicians. The involvement of most of our citizens is minuscule at best, and they have to be bludgeoned to recognize politicians’ ineptness and even dishonesty.
Despite his mistakes and inability to perform at an acceptable level, commissioners were careful not to criticize him, at least not in public. Behind the scenes, most of them admitted to trusted confidants that they had stumbled into a major blunder. Until this past February, none were willing to openly criticize the man, for reasons that should never have existed. Even afterwards, language was guarded and often disingenuous.’

full text link below….

http://flsentry.com/

Posted in Uncategorized

IT’S HARD TO SERVE THE PEOPLE…

BC- An interview with the new Lake Worth Town Manager…who replaced former LBTS Town Manager Robert Baldwin…If what she says is true…then after leaving LBTS when he did Mr. Baldwin must have found deja vue in his new position!….Pass the Pepto!…

Excerpts…

‘One of her first priorities, she said, would be “trying to understand the anger in this community. I don’t have a panic switch like I did in my office in Largo, but I’ve had four people come into my office with — you know the look — anger, and contempt and rage, where you go, ‘I need to get a  police officer in here!’”  Citizens, she said, have been mad about code enforcement, police issues, and “things that happened ten years ago! Two people I thought were going to have massive strokes!”

The encounters reminded Stanton of a recent evening when she ate something bad and spent the evening vomiting on the floor of IHOP. “I was sitting there on the floor thinking about work, and it was like, there’s something toxic in the body. It’s gotta come up.”  She envisioned hosting a listening forum where citizens can meet her and air their gripes: “Some of the anger people feel has got to be expelled.”‘

full text link below…

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/juice/2009/05/susan_stanton_adjusts_to_life.php

BC-Also of note…the City Engineer who needed to resign……( the reason for the Norman interview)…what’s up with that…For this writer it’s especially interesting when a Town Manager ( or elected official) calls out the blogs saying they are not the news…(sounds all too familiar…and really hits home…..for it means the blogger struck a nerve!)…

Excerpts…(4/22/09)…

‘Something new and unique in Lake Worth history occurred at last night’s meeting that gives hope that Lake Worth may now begin to change in ways we all dreamed was possible.

This little event went by so quickly that the few bleary eyed attendees remaining in the audience at 10:30 PM probably missed it.

New business item D was an added agenda item by commissioner Suzanne Mulvehill and began something “we’ve never done before” according to the assistant city attorney. So what was this new thing?

It was… that for the first time ever… the backdoor dealings of department heads including the interim city manager were being aired out IN A PUBLIC MEETING where they should have been aired out. What a novel idea… “accountability.” That has never been done before.

Previously, any accountability for these underhanded dealings was covered up and kept secret …the commission being told they don’t have any authority over employee matters. And is often the case, an innocent employee is forced into an involuntary resignation to cover up a department head’s malfeasance as it was with Mr Reyes when he was forced to resign for answering a commissioner’s inquiry.’

full text below…

https://www.lakeworthmedia.com/modules.php?name=AvantGo&file=print&sid=495

Posted in Uncategorized

BC- The Pompano Beach Town Manager was under much scrutiny for his actions and non-actions…written up by the Fl. Sentry…in a series called The Wizard of Pompano ...http://flsentry.com/

An interesting side note…this writer never met the man…but read the articles seeing some similarities with the Manager in my town of LBTS…in aspects of dealing with Commissioners…and residents…until a week ago when I went to pick up a Fire Incident Report…and a gentleman “assisted” me in locating where to pick the report up at the Pompano City Hall…after he and I got out of our cars at the same time…A nice gesture, but he sent me to the wrong place!…Only after I returned to my car did I see where he parked and realized it was the newly resigned Town Manager!…

Excerpts…

‘Keith Chadwell resigned as city manager of Pompano Beach early Wednesday (Photo courtesy of City of Pompano Beach)

POMPANO BEACH – City Manager Keith Chadwell resigned in the early morning hours today after serving almost two years of a five-year contract.

“I will release a statement tomorrow,” Chadwell said during a break in the city commission meeting. He refused additional comment.

Mayor Lamar Fisher read from Chadwell’s resignation letter, in part, “It has been a distinct honor to serve the citizens of the city of Pompano Beach… I believe some figurative seeds planted during my time will bear substantive fruit in due time.”

Chadwell sought nine months’ severance of $138,750, plus accrued vacation and sick time, in exchange for release of any legal cause of action he may have against the city. He offered to depart on June 12, and the commission accepted his terms.’

full text link below…

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/pompano_beach/sfl-pompano-manager-resigns-bn051309,0,365554.story

Posted in Uncategorized

BC- It took 48 years for another Senator to make it to the Presidency (Kennedy … Obama)…While there have been 4 Governors ( Carter..Reagan…Clinton…Bush)..So Crist who could have another term thinks the path to the White House is from the Senate?….How Come?…Who’s advising this guy?…

Excerpts….

‘Crist running for Senate

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) will be announcing Tuesday that he will be running for the Senate, according to a source close to the governor, giving Republicans their most high-profile recruit of the 2010 election cycle.

Crist’s decision puts Republicans in strong position to hold onto the seat held by retiring Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.)  Crist holds high approval ratings among both Republicans and Democrats, according to statewide polling, and has forged a moderate governing style that has won him widespread support.

His decision to run came as little surprise to political observers, with the governor and his allies hinting of his interest in running for Congress over the last several months.’

Full text link below….

http://www.politico.com/blogs/scorecard/0509/Crist_running_for_Senate.html

Posted in Uncategorized

BC- Getting The “Gist’ of “it”?…

Excerpts…

‘James Lovelock, environmentalist, futurologist and creator of the Gaia hypothesis and its view of Earth as a huge organism, proposes that we help the planet “cure itself” by artificially ramping up ocean mixing, which would stimulate the growth of carbon-munching algae, thereby sinking more carbon dioxide into the ocean.

The Gaia hypothesis looks at Earth as a whole instead of at each of its systems separately—viewing it as something of a superorganism.

“I regard the Earth as a responsive, self-regulating system,” Lovelock said, one which should be able to cure itself from any climactic calamities, as it has done in the past.’

full text link below….

http://www.livescience.com/environment/070926_gw_cure.html

Posted in Uncategorized

BC- If you  condo owners thought you got hit hard with concrete restoration assessments…you ain’t see nothing yet!….

Excerpts…

‘April 23, 2009 – Seven years ago, the Florida Legislature passed a clandestine bill requiring every Florida Association housed in a structure 75 feet above grade to install a Full Sprinkler System or, alternatively, establish an acceptable “Engineered Life Safety System”. Scrutiny of the new law revealed it to be a $multi-billion payday for certain vested interests instead of effective fire protection. Drafted by the American Fire Sprinkler Association and the Florida Fire Sprinkler Association with input from the Plumbers and Pipefitters Union, glaringly absent from this “midnight legislation” were any studies or research clarifying its impact on condominium owners.

Florida Fire Marshals and Inspectors Association (FFMIA) When initially filed in 2002, certain representatives from the Florida Fire Marshals and Inspectors Association (FFMIA) called on legislators to pass this bill as a testament to their concern for the safety of our heroic firefighters. Instead of presenting authoritative documentation demonstrating that a variety of different fire safety solutions should be tailored to a structure’s material composition, size, entry and egress, construction features and existing fire safety elements, the impressively uniformed lobbyists convinced lawmakers that sprinkler retrofits were a fire safety panacea for every condominium’

Full text  link below……

http://www.galtmile.com/tallahassee.html#hb419

Posted in Uncategorized

‘Omnivoracious
Hungry for the next good book®’
http://www.omnivoracious.com/2009/05/old-media-monday-reviewing-the-reviewers.html

Posted in Uncategorized

BC- Previously posted was a piece on having “deep pockets” in order to afford the public info being asked for…but while that in itself is definitely “elitist” when it comes to dividing the public from freedom of access to the information that is to be readily available…Government purposely holding up the flow of requested information is not to be tolerated and should be seen as a dangerous way to proceed with decisions made going forward..keeping concerned citizens out of the mix…for the administrations to do as they please…

Visiting Chicago…It’s front page news….in the Chicago Tribune in today’s Sunday issue…

Excerpts….

‘Thom Rae wants to know why his town is spending $1 million to keep a second-run theater afloat.

Kevin and Anne Barber want to know what happened to the principal who forced their 8th grader and his classmates to kneel painfully on a gym floor during a lecture on respect.

Patricia and Joel Garza want to know why so many secrets surround the investigation into the crash that killed their grown son.

‘They all want answers. The answer they all got was “no.”

In Illinois, getting a public record is a frustrating labyrinth of excuses, delays and denials.

Public servants have all the tools they need to keep a grip on information that rightly belongs to the people, whether it’s a police report, a principal’s disciplinary file or a spending plan, a Tribune examination has found.’

Full text link below-

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-secret-governmentmay03,0,6165368.story

Posted in Uncategorized

BC- The new “urbanism”…”Pocket Parks”….Las Olas has one…

Excerpts…

‘The Las Olas Co., owner of the Riverside Hotel, asked the city for an extra three years to act on the hotel expansion, and a city vote on that is coming. The company already had shuttered thriving businesses on the block — including Cafe Europa, Objects d’Art, and O’Hara’s Jazz & Blues Cafe — and in February tore them down.

The vacant properties just east of the Riverside Hotel, stretching to Eighth Avenue, created an unsightly gap on the city’s posh shopping boulevard. But the lot was sodded and lightly landscaped this past weekend.

It won’t be an official park because it’s privately owned and intended for development. But it might be used for weddings and other events.

City Manager George Gretsas said he urged the company to “activate” the space.’

full text link below…

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-042909-lasolas-vacancy,0,1901992.story

Posted in Uncategorized