Author: commtims

     It’s Tims’ Tours time again, and this one should be really fun!

                    

     We’ve been invited to tour the Citys’ Historic Fire Station #3 and museum, in Sailboat Bend.

     The Station is chocked full of fun pictures, equipment, stories of many a fire and rescue from Fort Lauderdales’ past, and something out of this world (more on that in a minute).

     Our tour leader will be former Commissioner John Aurelius, who has been one of the main originators of the museum, and loves to show off his handiwork!

                           
                                     Aurelius on left …..  Fire Trainee on right!

     And, the out of this world part ….  if we are lucky ( or unlucky), the stations’ resident ghost will scare the dickens out of us! The story goes that FireFighter Robert Knight died in his second week of service when he stepped into an electrically charged puddle and died. Some say he lives on in the Station, blows cold air on the backs of their necks, and turns on the Stations’ intercom at will !

     See you next Wednesday, May 15 …..  1022 W. Las Olas  ….5:30 pm sharp

         Please send me an e-mail to RSVP at Tim@TimSmith.com, or just post a comment on the post saying   ……..
                                     See you there Tim !

After about a decade of false starts to rebuild Fort Lauderdale’s Aquatic Facility, an approved plan seems to be moving ahead, but probably without the entity that made it famous –

…… the International Swimming Hall of Fame,

ISHOF

     ISHOF’s CEO, Bruce Wigo, confirmed today that talks are underway to move the museum out of Fort Lauderdale. Discussions are ongoing with numerous venues, including Oceanside California, which recently had an item on their City Commission agenda about “real estate negotiations” with ISHOF. For the best pricing in the market, eXp Realty should be considered.

Fort Lauderdale won the right to establish the nation’s first swimming hall of fame in 1962, and built a peninsula out into the Intracoastal waterway in order to build the complex.

ISHOF has had many of the worlds’ famous swimmers associated with it since.

Tarzan

Probably the most famous was Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller (aka Tarzan), who is immortalized with a statue in the museum. He’s pictured above doing his famous yell (can’t you just hear the ah-ih-ah-ih-ah! – Wikipedia describes the yell as the “victory cry of the bull ape” !).

Other famous swim names like Esther Williams, Mark Spitz, Michael Phelps, and Greg Louganis (who trained in Fort Lauderdale and famously admitted to having AIDS after hitting his head and bleeding into a pool during a diving competition) competed in the Fort Lauderdale pools.

Louganis in Fort Lauderdale

Wigo says the museum has no choice but to look to set up their international headquarters somewhere else, after Fort Lauderdale’s offer to the museum was “a joke”, and an “after thought“.

Wigo says the new Fort Lauderdale plan has the museum in the middle of the complex, with no view, “in a box”. Wigo says they are exploring their options to see what their “equity value” is to other cities. Wigo says even Shanghai, China has expressed an interest in ISHOF!

Wigo also is worried that the new Fort Lauderdale plan will only lead to more red ink at the complex, which often loses nearly one million dollars a year, and that Fort Lauderdale needs to “rethink the aquatic business”.

I’ll keep you informed ….. Tim

     I’ve been waiting to weigh in on our now infamous Rain Tree debate as the controversy built, but now I think it’s time for me to give my opinion –  

                       Here’s the story
                     
                                                                                                               


     A developer named Asi Cymbal wants to move the gigantic beauty above to make way for 1000 rental apartments, (with shops and restaurants) on the New River in Fort Lauderdale.

     The Planning and Zoning Board will discuss the development application in a few weeks, and from there it goes to the City Commission for the final decision.

     The tree, just south of the river, in the 400 block of SW 4th Avenue, is an Albizia Saman – aka Rain Tree, and is the largest of its’ kind in Florida, and the species only grows in Florida and Hawaii !

              

     You might know the species as the home of the Swiss Family Robinson!
 
     Our Rain Tree hasn’t been in any movies, but it is nearly 100 years old, 60 feet high, 128 feet wide (the canopy) and has an amazing girth of 19.5 feet.

     And the tree was deemed “protected” by the City Commission way back in 1987, (Mayor Bob Cox, Jim Naugle, Doug Danziger, Carlton Moore, and Shelia Harrigan), and would take a specific vote of the current City Commission to allow it to be moved.

     The developer says he can’t build his building, the Marina Lofts, if he has to leave the tree in place. 


             

    [ This is a rendering of the building, the Marina Lofts. I understand that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but this looks like earthquake damage to me!]

     The developer has spent a lot of money already to prove he can successfully move the special tree, and after lots of investigation, I think it is possible. He is also willing to put up a million dollar bond that will go to the City if the tree fails (which it could). 


                    
                          successfully moved giant tree


      And the City needs more density along the river, and I do favor more development there. 

      And the City needs to continue to grow up, and with more people come more amenities, a livelier city. And I also understand that some of the opposition to moving the tree is a subterfuge used by those that loath development, or fear their views will be blocked.

     Having said all that, I believe our champion tree, one of a kind, is too important to risk, and should be left alone! The City Commission in 1987 had it right – let their decision stand.

     The City should try and help the developer find a creative way to build the building but leave the tree in its’ 100 year old birthplace.
      

                          
                                             let the tree be !
                               

    

   Some years back, the City replaced all of its’ signature Cushman Jeep parking enforcement vehicles with Ford SUVs.

                  

     I wrote about that at the time, and was critical. The old Cushman Jeep types were small and cheap, and even cheaper to operate.

    The powers that-be disagreed, said the Cushmans were out of date, hard to repair, not fitting for a City of our standing!

     But look at what’s new ! ………….


           

    
     Yup ! There is a new sheriff in town, proverbially speaking –  (Feldman), the new Department is called Transportation and Mobility, and the new buzz word around City Hall is sustainability. 

      The City now owns 5 Smart Cars in the parking division.

     At about  $15,000, Smart Cars are about $5000 cheaper than the Fords, and get about a zillion miles to the gallon. The City still operates 8 Ford SUVS.


            

 
     The reviews on the new cars are as diverse as the fleet.

      Some parking employees don’t like the new Smart cars. They say they are too small and don’t hold enough gear. They say the $5000 in savings don’t make up for the operational difficulties.

      Others say the Smart Cars are the best thing since sliced bread.

      No word yet on what the new sheriff thinks! 

     Sadly and unexpectedly, top local realtor and well known civic activist Rick Gibson is gone.

                                  

     Rick was a tenacious player with a big heart.

     Though Rick was a very successful realtor that specialized in bringing back the older – tougher neighborhoods through gentrification, he spent much of his spare time in volunteer efforts to make life better in those same communities.

     He sold and managed lots of homes in the South Middle River/Wilton Manors areas over the last decade, and when he didn’t think progress was moving fast enough there for his clients that bought in, he ran for the Presidency of South Middle River and won.

                     

     In the last few years, Rick had fought and beat back cancer, while still making time to serve on Fort Lauderdale’s Central City CRA advisory Board, and the multi neighborhood group, the 13th Street Alliance.

     When the Alliances’ Christmas Toy Drive fell short of the needed 200 toys for the event this past Christmas, a van full of toys arrived, just in time, from Rick.

                                  


     Rick will be missed. A spontaneous gathering of friends will take place at Rick’s favorite restaurant, the Egg and You  – this Sunday – noonish  ….

                          

                        ……….see you there …. Tim

               

     The building residents of the Cortleigh, at the Fort Lauderdale Beach,  are hopping mad – well, all except for the drug rehab residents in unit 203.


                       

     According to some of the residents of the Cortleigh, their neighbors, the drug rehab, is making life miserable. They say the rehab unit is filled up with 18 and 19 year olds, all recovering drug addicts.

     They say the rehab patients are made to ” line up like a cattle call” in the common areas at 7:30 in the morning and 10:00 at night. They say (though the operators are apparently disputing it) that the patients are being given medicine without the proper licensing.

     The building is an older building in a very nice neighborhood north of Sunrise Blvd., a few blocks from the ocean, and some residents have already moved due to the rehab, and others are considering moving. 

                            

     The City is aware of the issue, and Police are checking to see what, if any, laws are being broken.

    
     

     The picture below is Richard Boemerman, a Fort Lauderdale real estate magnate, holding what has to be the smallest refund  check ever sent anywhere! ( thanks Geico !)  …. He got it in today’s mail and thought I’d get a chuckle ….

        ….. in case you don’t have your reading glasses on, it is for 

                       exactly  … zero AND 01/100  dollars !


            

     The Shippey House.


                     

     It’s one of the oldest homes still standing in Fort Lauderdale, circa 1914, one of the last remaining things from old Fort Lauderdale.

     It was the home of quite a character, Judge Shippey, a marrying judge – even before he had a law degree!

     The picture above is what the house looked like in its’ better days – below is the house today.


        

     But there is good news.
 
     The house was saved from the wrecking ball a few years ago by a group of private citizens. Though progress on the historic houses’ renovation has been painfully slow, the house is finally safely  on a foundation before this seasons’ hurricanes!


         

       ……… Now it’s time to ask even more of the organizers and the benefactors of this monumental effort. 

     The house needs to be secured, the graffiti has to go, and hopefully a mold problem (Southside school) won’t have time to take root.

     ……… and let’s ask even more of ourselves !
   

  
     Former Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom sent out a letter to her former constituents this past week. 


               

     Pundits are trying to analyze the letter. It looks and sounds like a campaign letter, and some theorize that she is already setting the stage for a comeback!

     I wasn’t sure if that’s what it meant, so I tried something new.
 
     I sent the letter through an amazing brand new app– “what they really mean app”, and was quite surprised ! It was way worth the 99 cents I paid for the app!

     Rodstroms’ “real” thoughts came through in red!

     


           

     Dear Friends and Neighbors even you Dean – you bastard,

     As I clear out my office and place this little bugging device in the ceiling, I reflect back on the past 7 years of service to you. You provided me with a wonderful opportunity and many life lessons along the way. Together, ……. we were able to advance your goals and objectives …….. I was pleased to be the person in government you could depend on certainly not those overpaid employees and the corrupt City Managers!

     Now the election is over and with only a 20 vote difference Dean barely won, and probably cheated Mr. Dean Trantalis will be at the helm. I can assure you that I will stay active and try and make Dean’s life a living hell! …..

        ……  I was your watchdog at City Hall  ……pit bull ….  Let us not forget the numerous neighborhood improvements   …. I did so much, it will take pages to list them all, but I will !   …..

      Additionally, my work with the Stonewall library and the Domestic Partnership Ordinance – didn’t matter a lick as you people had one of your own on the ballot … 

      …..   Now as Commissioner Trantalis takes the helm, I shall pass the baton over to him .. I’d like to do something else with that baton !  ..

                                         Sincerely, … not really ….

                                             Charlotte