Month: January 2009

     It was the biggy.

     Fort Lauderdale’s ALL CANDIDATES forum sponsored by the Fort Lauderdale Council of Civic Associations.

     All 18 Candidates showed up, which was way impressive right from the get-go. Truth is, the Council, sometimes referred to as the Council of Trouble Makers, can be your best friend as a Politician, or something much less than that.

     Anyhow, last night, local all around talented trouble maker Cal Deal snapped these telling  photos and I fed them into the mind reading machine I conveniently keep right here, next to my computer.

     I’d like to know if the machine is accurate. Please send in your comments!

                                                                                                                                                                                                           

                        Trantalis …… ” Hi all, I’m first in line … nanny nanny boo boo!”
                        Rynerson …..  “God I’m tired!”
                        Seiler ……  “Just don’t screw up..just don’t screw up!” 

              
                        

                            Crowd …. “damn it’s hot in here. let’s get the show on the road!”

                                                         
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

                       Glassman …..  ” I specifically asked them to put Elfman between me and Charlotte!”
                  Roberts …….   ” my feet hurt!”
                  Elfman   ……..  ” boy, am I loving this!”
                  Teel  …………..  ” this Elfman is kinda cute!”


                                                                                                                                                                                                          

                      all the Mayoral Candidates ….  “OK, we’re listening, we’re listening!”


                                                                        &nbs
p;                                                                                                                                    

              all District III Candidates … “why are we the only damn black people in this room?”


                                                                                                                                                                                                           

                       Lewis …. ” I don’t care if I win…this is fun!” 
                       Rogers ….     ” I’m gonna smoke these guys!”
                       Trodella ….  “wait for me fellas!”


                                                                                                                                                                                               

             Jumbled thoughts spit out of the mind-reading machine! …. “thanks for being here Mom” ….  “stand tall, look Mayoral!” ….. “you love me, you really love me” ….. God, you’re short”…..  I think
I’ll have a Pina Colada when I get home”…. crap, I forgot to call the sign guy back!” “what the hell am I doing here! …………………………………………………….

      Been following the upcoming Fort Lauderdale City Elections?

     If you have, and like being entertained by Political Theatre, tonight’s Candidate Forum could be just the ticket!
     
                                                                        
                                                                 

      It will take place at Fort Lauderdale City Hall, 100 North Andrews Ave. in the first floor Commission Chambers at  7:00 P.M.

     It’s being sponsored by the  Fort Lauderdale Council of Civic Associations,  a group of the City’s neighborhoods and other Civic organizations.

     All of the Candidates for the open Mayor’s seat as well as the District Commissioner seats have been invited. That’s 18 Candidates total. 

     You can expect a mostly civil engagement, as so far, most of the underhanded, dirty politics are taking place surreptitiously ! 
                                              

     

                                                                      See you there! …..       Tim

      

    

     It is certainly not well known. Could even be considered confidential, clandestine, covert,  a well kept City Secret!

     That’s right, Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley has recently been caught on camera………


                          ……… On Patrol ! ….. just like a rank and file Patrolman!

                                                                        
                                                                                 
                                                          Adderley on Patrol
  
…..   Seems Adderley wants to keep a connection with the streets, and has been quietly checking out a Patrol Car and hitting the streets.

      Adderley, who joined the force as a Patrolman in 1980 and was promoted to Chief in May 2008,  was seen here on a recent Saturday morning in a NW part of the City checking up on the troops, and the streets. 

     Patrolling Police Chiefs are a rarity, made famous by now retired Charleston, South Carolina Police Chief Reuben Greenberg, a black Orthodox Jew, who suited up like a Patrolman every Wednesday and manned a foot patrol in Downtown Charleston. He is considered one of the early developers of the Community Policing model of Policing.

     When asked how he was able to find time to actually roll out as a Patrolman, Chief Adderley cracked “I have a lot more time on evenings and weekends then I used to”. Those that have followed Adderley’s rather unusual public history will understand his intended pun.

     So beware, if you get pulled over next week after crawling through that Stop Sign, it just might be the  Chief of Police with the ticket book! 

     
     
     
     
    

                                                     The Bad News    

So, …..  it’s just after Christmas, and I’m tooling down Sunrise Boulevard on my new (thrift store) bike, looking forward to my first ride on these fine wheels along our fabulous beach front when

                   BAM…CRASH….SMOKE…  

    …… two cars violently collide just a few feet from me and the bike. I’m shook, but jam on the brakes and hop off.
                                                                              
                                                                      
                                                                  not actual crash!
                                                                               
     The rear car was filling with smoke, the woman looked dazed and the kid in the front car (driving Daddy’s Lexus) was shrieking!

     I open the woman’s car door and ask if she can move. She shakes her head yes and I help her out. The kid bolts out of Daddy’s Lexus screamin “Oh My God,Oh My God” . It takes a minute, but I get him to chill. 
                                                           
                                                                                                                        
                                                        not actual screaming kid
    
    
     I call 911 .

     I feel good about my good deed, tell both drivers that the Cops are on the way, and turn back towards the sidewalk and 

                                             POOF ..
…… my new (thrift store) bike was gone ….amazing ….. just like that ……. damn thieves !!! 
                                         ………………………………………………………………..

                                                         The Good News

     The next day the story shows up in the Local section of the Sun-Sentinel newspaper, in a piece entitled “His Good Deed Comes at a Price”. They give me credit for my actions, but then rib me because I had yet to register the bike (even though I was the Commissioner who got the bike registration law passed).

     I take it all in stride. The next morning I read my e-mails and there’s an e-mail from TREK BIKES ( the bike that Lance Armstrong rides)!

     They say they read the story in the paper, felt awful, and were going to replace my bike (free of charge)!
      “Wow”, some company, I thought. I e-mailed back, and tried to talk them into adding another bike for a needy kid that got theirs stolen too ! (Pushy, I know!) But, to my amazement,they say OK, but we will have to settle for bikes with a maximum price of $600 each! OMG! …This tale was working out alright.

     So, today we got our new bikes. 
                                   
                                                        
  &nb
sp;                                                actual  bikes ( or should I say actual cadillacs!)

             …….  oh, and we got them registered right there at the bike shop!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
                                                           Proof of Registration!

 ..              ……….     maybe there’s hope for mankind after all!
                                               
                                                      
                                                                                                 
                                           
     
             

     

     


                                                               
    

     It’s one of those political races that leave “dull and boring” and cross over to “sharp and rancorous”!……..  And this weekend, this political battle reached ” boiling point”  with charges of “racism” , dereliction of duty, and illegal procedures!

      It started Friday night on “Execution Road” , a 3 block section of NW 8th Avenue , north of Sunrise Boulevard, in the western part of the neighborhood called South Middle River.  The street, formerly known as “Crack Alley”, due to it’s ever present drug sales, got it’s new name last month after a masked man shot three men in the back of their heads in the middle of the street. One of the men died. The culprit has not been found. The murder is suspected of being drug related.
                                                                           
                                                                        
                                     
                                      NW 8 th Avenue Roadside Memorial for Slain Man

                                                  ……………………………………………………………………
    The Political maelstrom pits the one-term (3 year),  incumbent Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom, 
                                                                        

                                                                                                     against top Fort Lauderdale Beach activist Steven Glassman, once a key supporter of Rodstrom’s, who’s been labeling her as ineffective, incapable, and maybe worse! 
                                                                     
                                                                     

     The feisty race also sports dark horse candidate Howard Elfman, who has been quietly working the fringes. 
                                                                        
                                                                    
                                               …………………………………………………………………

       Friday night’s dust-up occurred during the “Crime Meeting”, a monthly meeting sponsored by  Rodstrom for her crime plagued NE/NW 13th Street corridor. 

     While Rodstrom was starting the meeting in the middle of the dark street, several men began circulating the crowd and loudly challenging her.

     They wore T-Shirts labeled   “Rodstrom = Racism”, and chastised her for only showing up on NW 8th due to the ongoing political campaign. They handed out flyers titled “Rodstrom Go Home” , and claimed, among other things, that she refused to attend a black community forum, and refused to respond to Urban League requests. Police had to intervene to calm down the situation. 
                                                           &nbs
p;                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
     Neighborhoods Residents Reacting at Meeting                       


     It was not evident that the Glassman campaign had anything to do with the meeting protesters, but some did reemerge later carrying Glassman campaign yard signs. 

     Later in the weekend, the Glassman campaign sent out a missive suggesting that Rodstrom’s Police Union endorsement might be “ illegal”, since only Rodstrom had the opportunity to interview with the FOP. It asked voters to call Union Chief Jack Lokeinsky and him if he thought he could “get away with it”.

     The Primary is just over two weeks away, and more fireworks can be expected to rain down. Cover your head, and stay tuned! 

      
                                                       




                                                        

             
                       
     

    

     When we last talked, I was preparing for a road trip to see Barack Hussein Obama become the first Halfrican-American President of the United States.

                                     
     My wife Cindy and I were early supporters of his, believe that he will make a difference, and wanted to be part of the excitement.

     And we made it. And we were part of the excitement, but only an itty-bitty teeny-weenie little part !… Here’s what I mean.
     
                                     

                           

     That’s me with the double knit cap, six layers of thermals and a scruffy beard ! … OK, quit looking, you’ll never find me!
                                 …………………………………………………………
     So it was kind of like Woodstock, in spirit, and size, but lacked the drugs and the mud. And it covered all generations, had one specific purpose, and was over in just a few hours. A few, very cold hours!

     But the people were fine!  ………. all two million of them!  … We met folks from San Francisco, New Orleans, Ohio, Philadelphia, Michigan, Los Angeles, Georgia, fellow Floridians, even a smattering of Canadians, Haitians, Jamaicans, and a lone Republican. 

     We parked about ten miles outside of the City and took their wonderful Metro in. Then we walked, and walked ,and walked.


                                                      

     We made it to the Washington Monument…. Only 15 blocks more and we could be right up there rubbing elbows with Barack and Michelle, Malia and Sasha !… But it was not to be. About one million of the folks had trekked in before us, so we just settled in for the show. 


                                      

                  We could see the Capitol, where Obama was sitting, and we had some binoculars, so we tried to zero in on the Obamas, but this is all we got.

            
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

      But we felt content. All two million of us! Obama was the new President. Our Country felt renewed.

     We shuffled off through the streets of the Nations Capital, Mission Accomplished, and ever so slowly made our way to our cars, our cities, our lives. 

     We’ll have a story for the grand kids.

     Good Luck to America.

                                
     

     

    

         ing   ….  A new pastime! … Just this week alone, over 2500 of you have visited this site…..  Thanks!   …. You’ve been reading about the upcoming City Elections in Fort Lauderdale. Buzz is beginning to build!

     . Conducting the Voter Polling was quite interesting, but difficult.  But it’s a good poll, scientific. Of course, those that didn’t fare well say the poll is bogus, and those that did fare well are pointing to it as proof of their viability! …..Politics !  ….  Truth is, we won’t really know who is going to win until election day!

      In case you are wondering, we don’t have results for  District III. It’s the poorest community, and unfortunately, we didn’t get enough completed surveys in that District to justify valid analysis.

      We wish all the candidates in all the Districts good luck, and thank them all for opening themselves up to the scrutiny and abuse of the citizenry!  
                            ……………………………………………………………………………………………….

                                             Some facts about this blog

     It’s been one year since I posted my first entry at  “Tim Smith’s Fort Lauderdale” and as you have noticed, I’m having a ball. And by the way, you guys crack me up!

             Here are some stats: 
      
     ………over 53,000 people entered the blog this year  (or my mother is just really trying to help!)

     ………80 of you subscribe to the blog ,it’s free, (and you’ll get all new posts automatically)

     …….. we shared 98 blog posts with you, comprising 58,647 words. 

     …….. The most popular posts dealt with politicians who said insane things or had hidden rap  
              sheets….. Nearly as popular were the posts dealing with wealthy politicians, the Police   
              and their Chiefs, and the ongoing saga of the local crackhead felons …… AKA –
              The Railroad Gang. You also seemed to really enjoy the “Just for Fun” category.
            
              If you have some ideas about things you think I should be covering, send me a private e-mail to Tim@TimSmith.com 

      OK, Cindy and I are off to D.C. to brave the weather and see (from a distance) our 44th President 
              
              sworn in……….  We’ll take photos to share….See you next week…. Tim
                 

     
      

     

      

      

     Now this one looks close!

     It pits City Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom, wife of County Commissioner John Rodstrom, against the Central Beach Alliance President Steven Glassman. A third candidate, businessman Howard Elfman is trailing somewhere back in the pack.
                       
                                         VS.                                                
                    Rodstrom and Rodstrom                                             Glassman

     The ironic thing about this race is that Glassman was instrumental in Rodstrom’s triumph to the Commission seat just three years ago. In that race, Glassman and other beach activists turned out an enormous beach vote for Rodstrom and she came from behind to beat Jon Albee in the General Election. Glassman now says “he was wrong”. In his campaign appearances, he says that Rodstrom is ineffective and divisive, and says she needs to go.

     But Rodstrom is part of a political dynasty, a winning one, and all stops seem to be being pulled to orchestrate her re-election. Husband John is raking in the dough for her and Rodstrom is bicycling her way across the District stomping for votes.

     Here’s what our survey showed”

     It’s close.

     First off, Rodstrom has gigantic name recognition in her District at 94%, where Glassman is only at 45%. He will need to reach far more “Super Voters” by Election Day in order to win.  Rodstrom’s Positive Number is 67% and Glassman’s is 58%, but Glassman’s “hard positives” (the die-hard supporters) is 50%, where Rodstrom’s “hard positives” fall slightly behind at 48%. 

     On the negative side, Rodstrom’s “hard negatives” (folks that will probably vote against her no matter what) is at a troubling 17%, compared to Glassman’s 7%.

     Elfman doesn’t seem to have made an impact yet, with a name recognition at only 22%.

     This is a race to watch!

     

    

      

     District 1……

     ….   the Election Poll Results are in ! …..

     It’s where the haves live. No Poverty. Very little crime.   

     District 1  covers the northern portion of the City, and has neighborhoods with names like “Bay Colony”, “Imperial Point”, and “Coral Ridge Country Club Estates”.
 
     So who’s running strong Tim ?,  you ask….

     Well, as I’ve already mentioned in earlier posts, Candidate Nobody is also ahead in District 1. 
I can say that because our data shows that more than half of those “Super Voters”  that were polled chose either “no opinion” or “don’t know them”,  on one or more of the candidates.

     But there are also some trends and interesting tidbits at work in District 1.

     First , it’s clear that the incumbent, Commissioner Christine Teel  is the most well known name on the ballot. She came in with a healthy 81% name recognition of District I voters. But former Police Chief Bruce Roberts, who was in the news quite often himself over the years, polled a respectable name recognition of 62%. The third candidate, local condo lawyer Inger Garcia, trailed way back at 35%. 

      The findings in District 1 were somewhat unusual. 

                                                                                       

      Commissioner Teel had more “Hard Negatives” .This is a response of 1 ( on a scale of 1 to 5). Teel was at 24%, Roberts at 6%, and Garcia at 22%.  

     Conversely, although less people were willing or able to rate Garcia at all, of the ones that did, she won the “Hard Positives” ( 5  on a scale of 1 to 5)  with 33%, compared to Roberts at 19%, and Teel at 14%.

     Roberts blew away the field with a generally positive rating of nearly 90%, but Teel still had the highest percentage of “persuadable” voters, coming in at 43%, compared to Roberts at 37%, and Garcia at 11%.

     It was difficult, if not impossible to draw strong conclusions in this race, as the numbers often seemed at cross purposes, but it seems apparent that Teel has some explaining to do in order to be reelected. 

    ………………  OK, I’ll be back with the District II results real soon!…..

     

     

    

       The District IV Commissioner race might be a sign of a changing City. 

     Four political neophytes have filed to run for the seat, currently occupied by term – limited  Commissioner Cindi Hutchinson.  

     The District, which covers most of the south side of the City, was represented by Commissioner Jim Naugle from 1985 to 1991. There are more Fort Lauderdale “natives” living there than any other District. It’s highly traditional – conservative. They even have a mandated historic neighborhood in the District, with bungalows built near the turn of the century.

     So when the 2009 race sported a favorite son, who’s Uncle was a famous local State Representative, you might expect him to be a shoe in.

     But maybe not.

     The “native” is local lawyer Romney Rogers. 
                                        
                                                                              
                                                                                Rogers

     This weekend’s poll showed Rogers with a 52% name recognition, the highest among the four competitors. But his “positive” ratings, among those who knew of him well enough to rate him, were only  56%.
      
     What’s most interesting is that we also generated poll numbers about some current politicians, and Jim Naugle’s “Hard Negative” number in District IV was nearly identical to Rogers “Hard Negative” number, at 32% . “Hard Negatives” and “Hard Positives” are considered quite intractable. Could be that Romney is being swept up in the negative coat tails of the current Mayor ?  

     One competitor, local lawyer Coleman Prewitt, though lesser known than Rogers at a 44% name recognition, reached a surprisingly high “positive” rate, among those who knew of him well enough to rate him, of 89%. Prewitt’s Positive rating tied Jack Seiler’s as the highest in the entire poll. Seems that when people get to know him, they like him.
 
                                                                     
                                                                       Prewitt
     Local lawyer Jim Lewis also generated a name recognition rating of 44%, but his positive rating was only at 40%.

     Local businessman George Trodella, who very recently entered the race, chalked up a 17% name recognition, and is not yet showing support.

     I’ll be adding the other District’s poll outcomes next, some VERY INTERESTING  things to come.