City Politics

……..  There is only a few months left before the Fort Lauderdale City Elections for the Mayor and all the City Commissioners, but you’d never know it. There has been little campaigning, and only one real race.

……..  That one “real race”,  might be the race for the most needy District in the City – District III. That race looks to be between the front running incumbent and his one challenger –  ……read on …..

 

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This is the District III incumbent, Commissioner Robert Mckinzie,  who has  only been  in the office for about a month ( he was just appointed to fill the seat of Commissioner Bobby Dubose,, who was elected to the State House in November).

Here are the two signs for them both, at the intersection of  Sistrunk Boulevard and the Avenue of the Arts (NW 7th Ave.)

 

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…..A closer look might show that there may truly be a race going on –

 

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This is the challenger, Donna Guthrie. She is the neighborhood President of Melrose Park.

…… And as you can see, somebody doesn’t like Guthrie’s campaign. Guthrie has a big black graffiti mark under her eye, and under the “Fort Lauderdale City Commission, District 3 ” line, someone spray painted over Guthrie’s tag line – “Unbought and Unbossed” . That is a not so thinly disguised  comment that she believes Mckinzie is the insiders choice.

Guthrie says that’s a fair comment, that Mckinzie should have never been appointed to the seat, as he was a candidate for the seat and that gave him an unfair advantage

…. . But Guthrie says that is not stopping her campaign. She points to some mighty hefty endorsements to date – – Congressman Alcee Hastings, Art Kennedy, State Rep Gwen Clarke-Reed, Roosevelt Waters, and Property Appraiser Lori Parish. This is a race to watch!

 

Of course, if you are really a glutton for punishment, you can always stay attuned to the Mayor’s race, and his perennial  challenger

 

– Earl Rynerson

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More later  🙂

 

 

 

Tonight Downtown

Fort Lauderdale –  …… So much fun !

Tonight, as I’ve done for years, I got on my bicycle and headed downtown to watch the  Boat Parade!

But tonight would be different than the other years…. Sure, the Boat Parade was there alright –

 

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All lit up, big crowds  …. sensational as usual  ….  but something was far different tonight…..  Blocks before I got to the river, there were big crowds in the streets!  …And I mean IN the streets!

 

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I thought right away  – this isn’t part of Winterfest ….. What was this  parade all about?  …. Was  it a political rally?

 

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After-all, there was that odd Commissioner Roberts sign that someone from the crowd had left behind, leaned up against a light pole!

 

And then the biggy-big sign of the Mayor !

 

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And this was no ordinary crowd, as crowds go……  No!  … Kind of a motley crowd!  … But I tell ya, they had one hell of a Police detail with them!

 

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Mounted Patrol, SWAT, Patrol cars by the dozens! ….Must have been 100 cops !  ….All following “the crowd”.

The crowd was moving in unison, like a big lizard, and they were all chanting together that they couldn’t breathe ….”I can’t breathe –  I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe”! Maybe it was the United Asthma Foundation or something!

 

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Anyhow, they all turned down Las Olas, and I went on straight to the river to watch the boats –

Seemed our FLPD had everything firmly under control 🙂

 

Fort Lauderdale – So much fun !!

 

The Play …. in Pictures !

……………………………………. Fort Lauderdale – the History………………………………………

……..  Before we get back to politics, and the hard driving issues that affect us here in Fort Lauderdale, let’s take a minute and just feel good about our life and times !

………. The Play, Fort Lauderdale – the History,  took place last Sunday. It was produced by the 13th Street Alliance, held at the cherished 1915 Annie Beck House ( which was saved and is owned by the Broward Trust for Historic Preservation), and was an unqualified  blast! …  (Did I mention that I wrote the play?) …. Oh yea, I guess I did 🙂

Anyhow, here are some pictures from the play, all taken by the talent extraordinaire , Cal Deal.

 

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Mayor Seiler couldn’t be there, but prerecorded an opening welcome.

 

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Police Chief Frank Adderley played the first non-native person to live in Fort Lauderdale  –  joined here by his play wife, Sheryl Dickey.

 

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Our newest Commissioner, Robert Mckinzie, played Doc Sistrunk.

 

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Commissioner Bruce Roberts had multiple roles, here he is as the town’s first Top Cop, Marshall Kossie Goodbread!

 

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I’m giving the Tony Award to Commissioner Romney Rogers,  seen here enacting the suicide of town father Frank Stranahan.

 

The rousing Big Finish can be seen on YouTube at http://youtu.be/y87o3JSHRGQ.

 

The closing ACT, with Council of Fort Lauderdale Civic Associations’ President Marilyn Mammano,  lip syncing Connie Francis’s Where the Boys Are …. with Stranahan and Annie and Alfred Beck (Bill and Diane Smart). 

 

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Broward Trust President Steve Glassman in his role as Judge Fred Shippey!

 

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And lastly, a shot taken right after the play of me and my son Tim Smith, who received an award for his monthly donations to the 13th Street Alliance, from his store –  Oddballs Nifty Thrift, 530 NE 13th Street …… (excuse the shameless plug!)

 

If you want to see more great pics, go to Cal Deals’ site-  http://fortlauderdaleobserver.com/HistoryPlay/      …… and the whole play is now up on You Tube at http://youtu.be/lcZMA9KmgIA   ……

 

………Tim