Month: November 2013

     It was high drama.

     At the very start of a public hearing last night for a new proposed hotel at the beach, (the Vintro Hotel), Commissioner Dean Trantalis was blindsided by a very public accusation that he was guilty of ethical violations concerning the beach project.

                                

     The accusation was made by infamous Fort Lauderdale attorney Bill Scherer.

                                            
                                                              Scherer

     In a well planned out attack, Scherer basically said that a former partner of Trantalis, Rick Smith, a local realtor, had clients that were trying to buy the land away from the proposed hoteliers, and that Trantalis had to know and shouldn’t be hearing the development request.

                                          
                                                       Rick Smith

      Scherer is no stranger to local drama, having successfully sued the City of Fort Lauderdale when another development he was associated with was denied approvals.

    Scherer also sued Broward County, (he tried to overturn County term limit laws) and headed a team that represented President Bush in the 2000 vote recount.

     After Scherer made the accusations against Trantalis, and declaring that he was filing a State ethical action, Mayor Jack Seiler called for a 10 minute break to calm the room.

                                       

     When the hearing restarted, Trantalis said he would indeed recuse himself, so there could be no hint of impropriety. He said he was unaware of any wrong doing by his former partner,  and called the effort “ambush politics”.  He added that the City should not stand for it.

     He looked at Scherer and said “nice try”.

     Commissioners Roberts and Rogers agreed with Trantalis, and called out Scherer for making the public accusations.

                                        
                                              rendering of proposed hotel

    
     In the end, it didn’t matter. The Commission voted down the project 3-0, saying the building was attractive, but way too big for the proposed quarter acre lot.

     I’m sure there will be a follow-up !

                                                             Tim

                                               
                                                         

    

    

     There are some Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods with little -to- no home burglaries.

     (A burglary is where some criminal climbs in your window or door and steals your things. Hopefully, you are not home when that happens.)

                                     

     Our City Managers’ neighborhood, (Bal Harbor), has had one burglary so far this year, Galt Mile has had one, Idlewyld one, Sunrise Key and Sunrise Intracoastal,  none.

     Then there is my neighborhood ! ……  The list below is the long list of my neighbors who had burglars climb in their windows (or doors) so far this year. There have been more burglaries in my neighborhood so far this year than any year on record. (The list is entitled South Middle River, but that is the PD’s mistake, it is actually a list of the burglaries in Middle River Terrace...)

                                    …………   Just not right !

      Today was a very good day for 13th Street in Fort Lauderdale.  It is $1.5 million dollars better !  ……..  I’ll tell you how in a moment.

            

       The 13th Street area comprises about 15,000 Fort Lauderdalians in four neighborhoods and a substandard business district.

     It has been fighting for years to bring itself back to the splendor it once was before crime, crack, and County traffic “fixes” nearly killed it off in the 1980’s and 1990’s.

                                          
                                                           crack cocaine

     The area has a strong alliance of volunteers that has painted murals, marched against crime, pestered the City leaders, installed fancy sculptures in the medians –

                              

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      But today the area hit the jackpot – $1.5 million in County Redevelopment money, intended to bring the business district back to a “Complete Street”.

     In a year or so, the roadway will be converted back to what it used to be – a user friendly road for businesses that includes nice sidewalks, lighting, parking, and a whole array of niceties.

     Boy that feels good !

    

    
    

     Just got a call from Blue Cross Blue Shield.

    

     They had to decide if they were going to refund my $31.99 that I paid for a flu shot.

     Turns out, flu shots are preventative, and therefore covered under the Affordable Care Act ( with no deductible or co-pay!)

                                       

     They said the “check is in the mail”, should be in my mailbox in a couple of weeks!

                                         Yea !

    

      I had a brief chat with a guy in the elevator at City Hall last night who asked “So, did you ever get that refund for your flu shot from BCBS?”.

     It dawned on me that I should let you know the outcomes of some of the things I write about so here goes  ………………….

    #1
           

      Remember that Yrral and others in the ritzy Harbor Beach neighborhood were fed up that illegal parking on residential front yards was taking place every year at the Boat Show.

                                                         Not this year!

     I couldn’t find out who should get the credit for the correction, but after we exposed it here, and somewhere between the Police and Code Enforcement officer Dick Eaton looking into the issue, things straightened out and no illegal parking was seen. I think Commissioner Romney Rogers got involved.

       ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
   #2
     The City went ahead with the extension of Sistrunk Boulevard to Federal Highway.

                                           

     It was surely the right thing to do, and I was glad that Commissioner Dean Trantalis finally went along to make the vote unanimous, 5-0.

                                               

     Mayor Jack Seiler deserves a lot of credit for passionately supporting the name extension from day one and working the issue behind the scenes, and I give the Mayor lots of extra credit for standing up to city- nitwit Charlie (Confederate Highway) King, along the way.

                     …………………………………………………………………………………………

      #3
    And finally, to that guy in the elevator at City Hall –  …. BCBS has called me six times to tell me they are “working” on my request for the $31.99 refund for my flu shot.
 

     Maybe we will know by my next update! 

     

     I decided that this year I was going to get a flu shot.

    I’m 57, and I’ve gotten  the flu the last couple of years and didn’t want it back this year! And as an added bonus, I realized that ObamaCare makes the insurance companies cover preventive care, and what’s more preventative than a flu shot?

     Now I’ve told you that being self employed makes health insurance expensive, and that I looked into changing to a different insurance carrier through Healthcare.gov, ( yes,I got through) when ObamaCare officially opens in January. Turns out I’ll save a lot of money, but for now I’m still with Blue Cross Blue Shield.

                                 

     So I went over to CVS in Wilton Manors, because as you see they have “pharmacists who care”.……..  Not so much!

     I presented my Blue Cross Blue Shield card to the um … caring pharmacist, who said, nope, not covered. I said “but preventative care is covered in ObamaCare without a deductible, and that part of ObamaCare started last year”.”. They said “work it out with your insurer”. Next in line!

                                       

    So I called BCBS ….. six times!

    They’ve said many things like “oh yes, it’s covered, but only at the pharmacy”, and “oh yes, it’s covered, but only at your doctor’s office, and “oh no, not covered”, and oh yes, covered, but we have to escalate to a supervisor”.

                         

      …..so, I didn’t want to spend the night at CVS, so I paid the $31.99 to the caring pharmacist, got the shot and went home ……..   no flu this year!

     I called again later that night and applied for a refund. They said they were taking it under consideration.

     I think ObamaCare will work, but it ain’t yet!