Month: September 2009

                         …..  Idea for the Governor –   Consider Diversity ! ……

       As most of you now know, Broward County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion has been arrested by the Feds, after allegedly receiving $23,000 in cash in an FBI corruption sting. The Federal charges are money laundering and mail fraud.


                                                
                                                            Eggelletion leaving Courthouse…. none too happy !

     Eggelletion’s political career has been fraught with controversy, including allegations of buying a $659 briefcase with a county credit card, improperly working as a lobbyist, and fathering the child of one of his former students!

     Now, Governor Crist, after having suspended Eggelletion, will have to appoint a replacement to serve out the remainder of Eggelletions’ term. 

                                                      
                                                                        The Governor  


         …………..  So, here’s a list of those I’ve heard being talked about to fill the seat:




    ……… John Billingsley ( left) , Lauderdale Lakes Commissioner …………

     ……..  Levi Williams, well known lawyer and activist ….

   ………  Bobby Dubose, Fort Lauderdale Commissioner

      ………  Carlton Moore, former Fort Lauderdale Commissioner

     ……….   Margaret Bates, Lauderhill Commissioner 

    ……… Allegra Webb Murphy, Oakland Park Commissioner

  ……….  Art Kennedy , ( OK, so that’s Congressman Alcee Hastings, but I couldn’t find a picture of his long time aid Art Kennedy!) 


                                                             and

         ……. Tim Smith …..former Fort Lauderdale Commissioner



                                                    Embrace Diversity ! …. Yes We Can !!


                ( if you agree, tell the Governor  “Smith’s the guy !”   at  http://Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com&nbsp

     I know what you’re thinking… 

     No, …….. this interview is not with him       
                                                                       Jim Naugle

….  we are planning an interview with Naugle soon , but when I asked him when he’d be available he said something cryptic, I’m not sure what he meant. He said to give him a call when “swine are in flight!” 

      
   No sillies, not him either! He should have been Mayor, but lost to the above!


                                    No No … now you’ve gone way too far back ! 
                                      Clay Shaw

  ….hmmm… I see you haven’t been paying attention !
    George Gretsas
                         
            
                   OK, I’d better help   ….. this interview is with the Fort Lauderdale Mayor from 1982 through 1986   ………. 

                                                        Meet Rob Dressler

                                              
                                 current Mayor Jack Seiler with former Mayor Rob Dressler                                         

         
 TIM:      So Rob   ………   tell us a little about yourself , after all some of us were just babies when you were Mayor !     

 ROB:     As to my roots, I am truly a Fort Lauderdale native. I was born in Broward General Hospital, grew up first in Victoria Park on Victoria Park Road and later on NE 7 Street. I went to East Side Elementary, Sunrise Junior High School and Fort Lauderdale High School.
     Fort Lauderdale when I grew up, was a small town, and we could ride our bicycles all over town, had to go past farms to get to Wilton Manors. I could ride, fish or hunt just west of State Road 7. After I graduated from high school in 1963, I was out of the area in college, law school and the Marines, but moved back to Victoria Park in 1975.
                                                
  TIM:        And when you moved back to Fort Lauderdale, had things changed?

  ROB:    yes, and not for the better. The neighborhoods were overrun with traffic and very rundown, without adequate code enforcement or trash pick-up, and prostitutes lined Federal Highway throughout the City.
     The recession in the late70’s had ended the City’s ambitious Downtown Development Plan and left nothing but empty lots, which were eventually put to short term use as tennis courts.

   TIM:     and seeing all that made you want to get involved?

    ROB:      yep …  I got involved by bringing feuding neighbors together to form the Victoria Park Civic Association. Then, after Clay Shaw’s election to Congress there was an “empty seat”on the Commission, so I became a candidate. In my first term, I served with Bob Cox, former Mayor Virginia Young, and Dick Mills, as well as John Rodstrom who was also elected that year.

    TIM:       so how did your political career end?

    ROB:       I resigned to run for the Florida Senate. Unfortunately, the sense of community and enthusiasm we had in those days seems to have gotten lost.
      However, rather than focusing on past problems, I want to say that Mayor Seiler and the new commission will lead us in a new, much more positive direction.
    

     Yes, you read the title right!

     I thought I had seen it all.  Here’s how it went down:
                                   
                                             …………………………………….

   ……..  It’s the most insidious drug there is – crack cocaine. It makes people insane, violent, destroys them. The dealers often hide it in there mouths, so they can swallow it should the Cops take them down.

                                                         
                                                         care for some crack?        

     So, today I’m up on NE 13th street in Fort Lauderdale, working at my plant nursery. Though there has been massive efforts to clear the area of drugs,  it’s hung on for decades, like a bad rash!

     I spot a charcoal gray Honda  slowing down and pulling into the median on 13th. It’s got smoky windows and I think to myself ” undercover cop, checking out the scene”. I give a nod of appreciation and walk toward my truck.

     The gray Honda spins around and pulls up beside me, and rolls the window down half way. ” Yo,  how do I find 1842 N.Dixie Highway“?   It was an FPL employee, replete in their recognizable blue shirt with FPL emblazoned on the front.

     As I start to give him directions, he motions me closer to his car. ” Yo man, do you need some“? I thought I was hearing things! This FPL guy is trying to sell me drugs ! I think quick, tell him I’ll have to get money. He scribbles his name and number on a scrap of paper and shoves it out the window. “call me” , he says, and pulls off.

     I call the Chief of Police (sometimes it’s real nice being a former City commissioner!).


                                                                  
                                                                   Chief Adderley 

     In minutes, a top level Narcotics Officer is on the phone. “I’m on the way over”. He picks me up and we drive around the corner where some rather seedy characters are parked under a tree in the shade. They get out and the Top Cop introduces them as “his team“! ….. I give them the 411.

     “Damn, this is just like the movies”, I muse. 

     Before I know it, they are in action. They call Mr. FPL /dopedealer and one of the Cops  (as he pretends to be a dope head) , tells the doper that I am too afraid to come, but he’s going to pick up the crack for me. The doper buys the story. 

     I get back in the car with the Top Cop and before we know it he gets the call – “We got him”, the undercover agent tells his boss,

                                  

     “he’s got $1100. in cash, but only the $20 worth of crack he bought for the sale.”

     Just another day in the war on drugs –  but we expect FPL is hiring!

     It didn’t look good.

     Big storm clouds were gathering. …. Fort Lauderdale’s  Middle River Terrace Neighborhood Association was scheduled to meet …4 pm sharp…Sunday, September 13th …… 2009
             
                
                          ……..  oooooo ………

     But civic responsibility was the call of the day! 
   
     Would the incoming monsoon stop the neighbors from showing up ? …. after all, the meeting was to be held in an outside Park Pavilion! ….  You’d be excused !  


                            
                                              neighbors eat their B.B.Q. ….  under cover ! 

      The rain was torrential ! … a reminder of summer in Fort Lauderdale!   …..but the masses still came …huddled together …. ate the soggy beans….. hoped for the best !

                                                             and then !!!

                                          


                                                              the skies cleared……….

                                                           politicians pontificated……..
 
                                                       serious issues were discussed ! 




                                 
                                            

                                                            Awards were bestowed!                      


                                           Fort Lauderdale Civic Spirit Lives On !! 
                                                        

       He’s a British citizen ( by birth),  but more often than not, you’ll find him soaking up the sun in his ocean – front condo on the famous Fort Lauderdale Beach!

     If he’s back in England, chances are, he’ll be seeing his personal Doctor for some troubling ailment…..free of charge!

He is C.J. Beck, ….. internationally famous author, ….. dual citizen,…..  taker of Free British Health Care.


C.J. Beck at a signing for his new best selling book “Sixteen stories, no pets”


     “the British Health Care System is a National Treasure” …. says C.J.  …he calls it a ” mark of a civilized society” …..

          …………………………………………………..

…….C.J. has an English National Health Care “number”, which guarantees him Free Health Care at any urgent center like the urgent care Carle Place and so on. Here are some of C.J.’s more recent experiences with the English Health Care System:

   ” I had a sudden surge of extra floaters and flashes in the right eye, warning symptoms of a retinal tear and imminent retinal detachment.  I was seen quickly by two consultants and they claim it’s posterior vitreous detachment, which one can get as the vitreous dries over time.  Whew. So far so good.  No charge.

…..   But of course there are trade offs, no system is perfect! ….

   “Ingrowing toe nail:  National Health Service will cover some chiropody but it’s been six weeks and I’m still waiting.  Tolerate the discomfort or go private is the unspoken rule.  No charge for waiting…”

……  But then, ….

“Mystery soreness in palm of hand:  Referral to a great physio within two weeks and an astute diagnosis of compressed ulna nerve or “handlebar palsy” that foxed two GPs.   Seems to be improving.  No charge. ”

…….  But I had to ask Chris about those reported long waits for care ….. He says ….

      ” If you have something like a cancer scare, they have a guaranteed two-week turnaround. If you’re prepared to wait at the end of the day, and claim to have an urgent problem, the GP will se you the same day, and you can avoid a three day wait”

……………………………………………………………………………..

…….. So there is an actual Brit, with real – life British Health Care experiences ! …. He likes his system. But I bet we could do even better here in the 

United States of America….. Let’s try !