Former Commissioner Smith Face Saved

     Just a few weeks before Christmas, in the Smith House, not a creature was stirring, especially the dog that tried to bite his lips off!

     In a horrific case of pound dog-gone crazy, former Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Tim Smith,  (that’s me), rushed himself to the Broward General Medical Center holding most of his upper lip in his left hand and driving with his right.

     Smith had been trying to help leash a bull terrier/german shepard mixed mutt that his son Tim ( not junior) had rescued from the Humane Society. The dog had apparently been beaten by a former owner and was very neurotic, bordering on psychotic. When Smith tried to leash the mutt, he leapt toward Smith’s lips and carnage ensued.



                                        
                                                Smith’s lips hours after leaving Broward General’s specialist surgeons

     
     
Only minutes after arriving in the Emergency Room, I was taken to an observation room. The attending physician took one look at my kisser and exclaimed “Yikes, let’s get the specialists  (Maxillofacial) called in on this one”. 

     After a rather lengthy wait in the observation room, a most dedicated and efficient surgeon got to the scene. He took a look at my chewed up lips and called the nurses for supplies – “lets see if we can make these look like lips again” he chirped. “Give it your best shot”, I mumbled incoherently.

     I’ve been pretty miserable the last few weeks, but amazingly, the stitches (tons of them) are out and I’m looking almost handsome again ( maybe I should have asked for a full face lift while lying there!)  

     With my catastrophic, worthless Blue Cross/Blue Shield medical insurance, we expect an astronomic bill will arrive in the mail any day now, but my lips are worth it!

     I know you’re asking, so I’ll tell you, the dog no longer resides at the Smith house.

     
     

    

Chief Adderley’s Side of the Story

I just got off the phone with Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley.


Adderley in happier times

     Adderley is agitated. He is known as a smooth character, but not today. The blogs have been merciless. His association with Scott Rothstein threatens to bring him down, and he wants his side of the story out.

I asked Adderley if he missed any clues that Rothstein was a bum, somebody he shouldn’t have  associated with. “Am I the only guy that got fooled by this guy”, he asks, “is Frank Adderley the only one that knew Rothstein?” Adderley is perplexed why he is the only one on the hot seat.

Adderley says the who’s who of Fort Lauderdale knew Rothstein, wined and dined with him, helped with Rothstein’s charities, got fooled by him. Adderley says that by the time he met Rothstein (July 2008), the mega-rich attorney was already super successful, already deeply ingrained in the community, his firm employing over 150 people.

But how did Frank Adderley, who worked his way up from a street patrolman to become the Police Chief, and who grew up in a modest home in one of the  poorest sections of town, end up on a private jet with arguably the most infamous and richest lawyer in Fort Lauderdale’s history, the owner of a Cadillac dealership, and other high society types?

Here’s how Adderley tells it:

“You gotta realize Tim, I had been married for 17 years, and all the sudden I’m single”.  [Adderley was estranged from his wife, who had been arrested for firing a gun at Adderley over issues of Adderley’s infidelity]. Adderley had initially hired an attorney from the Rothstein firm to represent his wife in the matter, until Adderley’s wife’s brother moved her case to another firm. He says that was how he began to know Rothstein. ( Ironically, Adderley says he also got ripped off by Rothstein, when the $5000 retainer/estimate he paid for his wife’s bond hearing unexpectedly ballooned in the end to $14,000.!)

” I had to eat somewhere”. Adderley says.  He says he started hanging out at Bova Restaurant ( a Rothstein business venture)  with a group of buddies. He says he liked the restaurant “especially for the happy hour”. He says he could “get two appetizers for the price of one”, and just got kind of comfortable there. Adderley says it was a place to network, to hobnob with the city’s professionals. He says “judges, politicians, all kinds of notable names went there regularly” . Rothstein was there often, always the star, bigger than life.

Adderley’s friend Moe Sohail, owner of Ultimate Cigars, and Bayview Cadillac owner Ted Morse were part of Adderleys “group of buddies” that hung at the restaurant. On Saturdays, the group would hang at Moe’s Cigar shop  “to watch college football”. He says he believes Morse owned the jet, not Rothstein, and Morse invited him to go along to New York.” I looked at it like [an expensive] car ride to the game”, Adderley explained. He says he was offered the tickets to the game for free, but declined. “It was understood that I would pay “, he says. ” I am not a mooch”, Adderley barked.

Then there’s the now famous car accident.


      Adderley, with Rothstein, at accident scene

Adderley says he was heading out ” to ride around the community” ( as he is known to do) in the late afternoon when he got a call from Rothstein about their mutual friend Moe’s accident. He say he was just blocks away and went there “just because a friend of mine was seriously hurt”. He says he didn’t participate in the accident investigation ” in any way”, other than asking the reporting Officer if he ” had everything he needed”. He said the investigation will bear that out. There is an attorney for defending you against a DWI cases who will help you in any cases of false accusations that are filed against you.

Adderley says the FBI and he have an understanding that he is a witness in Rothstein investigation and that there are some things he should not talk about, but he thinks the story is getting out of hand and he had to try and set some things straight. He says he believes the FBI has all the phone records of his calls with Rothstein.

I asked him, in retrospect, if he should have passed on that jet to New York, maybe passed on the whole relationship with Rothstein.  No, he responded quickly, but then added, I guess that’s yet to be determined.

Adderley finished by saying he’s confident that, “in the long run , people will see that I did nothing wrong”.

A Fort Lauderdale Christmas Tune

          ………. a  “holiday song” 

                   


                                                ….. from Tim, and the
                                             
                                                    political overtones

                                   
                                    
sing to – Jolly Old Saint Nicholas

                                    
  Jolly Old Saint Nicholas, lean your ear this way
                                             don’t you tell a single soul, what I’m about to say
                                        Christmas Eve is coming soon, now you dear old man
                                           Whisper what you’ll bring to them, tell me if you can

                                      Mayor Jack wants peace and calm, Charlotte wants a change
                                      Romney’s on the learning curve, Bruce’s about the same
                                         Bobby’s got the hardest job, trying to fix the hood,
                                       I’m hoping that you’ll lend a hand, tell me if you could

                                       The condo folks want ocean views, others want no crime
                                      We all know what GG wants, a contract with more time
                                      For Genia and her syndicate, neighborhoods their cause,
                                  Pack your bag with lots of grants, dump ’em on their lawns

                                      Don’t forget the Cops and Fire, try and  make their day,
                                     please be special, very good, but short of Harry’s pay,
                                     And for the pundits like myself, Brittany, Earl and Deal,
                                     Help us keep the discourse fair, help our City heal!

              
                                             
  May your holidays be merry !  …….       Tim
                                     
                                    
                                     
                 
                                    
              &n
bsp;