Author: commtims

     Who’s Who at the St. Paddy’s Parade !

                                
                                      Barry Flanigan (of the Flanigans!)


                               
                              Tony Abbate (architect and FAU Professor)



                   
                                          Doug Eagon (DDA)



           
                             Parade organizer Terry Rynard !



             
                                    Council of Neighborhoods



            
                                 dog carrying owner’s beer!



               
                           Jorg Hruschka (building inspector and activist)



                 
                    neighborhood President LaRhonda Ware (and friends)



                   
                       perennial candidate and infamous attorney Jim Lewis


                
                                                   Jackie Scott



                      
                                      Mayor Seiler and friends



               
                             me and  ……  Art Seitz ……  OMG !

     This is worth the post!

     I could give you some clues who my wife Cindy and I just ran into on the sidewalk outside the Tarpon Bend restaurant on trendy SW 2nd Street tonight (Friday Night) , but you’d probably never guess! ….

                  Here Goes !

                               


    Ninety – Five Year Old,  former Fort Lauderdale  Mayor Bob Cox !


                        There’s hope for us all !!!

     You’re probably wondering why the Mitt Romney Super PAC would be in Fort Lauderdale trashing District IV candidate Jackie Scott?




     They’re not …  It’s worse than that… 

   ….. it’s the City Commissioner Romney Rogers Super Trashing PAC!




     This trashing PAC, which cannot be traced until after the election, has been sending very negative campaign mailers against Scott the last few days.

    Here is the first one – and it’s pretty lame!

               

     It’s obvious that the negative bombardment is tied to Rogers, and his supporters, but Rogers just says “I haven’t seen it”. Then he adds –  “it’s legal”.

     And despicable I say! . It’s a dirty trick that some campaigns use when they are worried about the opposition. Instead of sending out a personal attack against their opponent themselves, it’s outsourced to a shadowy group, usually made up of big fat cats, lobbyists, and the like.

     Apparently, the Rogers camp is worried. And if they have to resort to these kinds of tactics, maybe we should be too!

    The election is Tuesday.

    

     For those of you that thought that the Fort Lauderdale City Commission elections were finished ….

                                    

                                              think again !

     We have two races left, District I and District IV, and they are on Tuesday, March 13th.

      Mayor Jack Seiler and Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom were re-elected in primaries on January 31st, and District III Commissioner Bobby Dubose was re-elected without opposition.
     
                                   Today, we’ll talk about my District I endorsement.

     District I is the loneliest, yet wealthiest District!
 
     Some of the district stretches way up north, where few Fort Lauderdalians roam, and many would think they were in Pompano! It also includes the very important Galt Ocean Mile, Coral Ridge (where the Mayor lives), Imperial Point, Bay Colony ( where Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas lived), and neighborhoods along the Commercial  Blvd. corridor.

     In this District race, I heartily endorse the incumbent, Bruce Roberts.

     I have been very impressed with Robert’s service these last three years. He is often the voice of calm and moderation on the Commission,

                           
                                                 calming the masses

     
     and he doesn’t talk too much!
 
     The one exception to that calmness occurred when he had his chance to pay back former City Manager George Gretsas for his “suffocating management ” of the City.

                               
                                       Gretsas…You’re Fired!


     Roberts is a Republican, and is proud of the City’s “no tax increases” policy.

    He is leading the City’s negotiations on the difficult 911 (communications) talks, and is often deferred to on Public Safety matters (being the former Police Chief).

     And looking at his latest campaign flyer photo,

                                       
    
      he is also proud of what he looked like ten years ago!


       Roberts’ competition is architect Mary Graham.

                                  

     Graham is quite bright, and follows the City’s politics closely. Roberts would be smart to appoint Graham to a City Board.








     

     Yesterday, a small and lucky group of Fort Lauderdale citizens got an inside tour of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Fascinating!




     But the first thing you notice, as they walk you through the entrance halls to the briefing room, is   ….. strange building.


                        


     It’s very old, has thin hall ways, no windows, lots of stairs. Each section is compartmentalized, requiring clearance to get from here to there. Reminded me of a secure corn maze!

                                          ………………………….

     …….  They started our tour with a welcome from Chief Adderley, then a talk by the burglary division, and then brought in the Homicide Sergeant.


                

       Here is the Murder Board, which lists the murders that happen in the City each year. There has been 5 murders so far this year, and there are about 175 open murder cases on file, dating back to the 1960’s.

     One case the Sergeant detailed, a senseless murder of a 67 yr. old Viet Nam vet by four teenagers, (“they beat him and shot him to death”), had the Detective choking up. He said they had made arrests in the case in January.

                                      ………………………

     We continued the tour.


                    

     The fingerprint examiners showed us the “millions” of fingerprints they store. The oldest one dates back to 1921 !

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

     The CSI area was very interesting. They said it doesn’t happen like it does on T.V. “DNA does not come back in an hour”!

     We put on special goggles, looked at special photographic equipment, special dusting techniques, even this ……

              

     …..  horse semen under infrared!  ( we didn’t find out if the horse was guilty!)

                              …………………………………………..


     As if the horse product wasn’t odd enough, we then saw this ….   

                         

                 ………  guess he’s awaiting his pension date?

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

     ….. Then we were off to the shooting range. The Detective described to us the Police weapons, showed us the range, even showed us their bullets. He talked candidly about being in a constant state of readiness on the job.


               


                           
                                              hollow point

                                      …………………………………………..


     ….. We finished the tour at the booking area, what also used to be the City Jail before it was closed a few years back.


               

      The booking area is run by Reserve officers (retired guys that didn’t like sitting at home!) We are very lucky to have them.

     FLPD arrests more people than  all of the other Counties Police Departments combined – about 11,000 last year.

     The old jail/booking area is in rough shape.

              

    
     Truth is, it’s time to build a new Police Department.


     As we left, we saw this poor sap being booked –



                               


       A fun time was had by all ……

     It’s a little neighborhood with big issues, but their luck might be changing! (I’ll get to that in a minute).

     It’s called Progresso Village, and it’s on the south side of Sunrise Boulevard, just west of Andrews Ave. in Fort Lauderdale.


             

     The neighborhood has been battling crime and blight for years, and lately things have gotten worse.

     Look at their neighborhood sign closely, you will see it’s missing a letter! That’s because thieves in the area keep stealing their metal sign letters for scrap!

     But, the worse news is  – that sign pictured above is the good sign!

                         

     No, they have not renamed the neighborhood  – gresso Village!
                              ………………………………………..

     But there is some good news. The neighborhood elected a new President, and he’s quite the character.


                        

      He is Bradford Cohen, and he became somewhat locally famous when he was on Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice, some years back.

      He didn’t win the apprentice, but gained immortal status on the show when his bravado had him waive his “exemption” from being fired, believing it would show his confidence. Trump said although Cohen was the best on the team, “an impulsive move like that could sink a company”. He was fired!
 
     Cohen used that celebrity to go on to T.V as a legal commentator, making many appearances on Fox, CNN, Nancy Grace, etc.

     Anyhow, back to Progresso Village.

     Cohen says he ran for President because he owns a rental house in Progresso Village ( he lives in Victoria Park) and was concerned about the direction of the neighborhood ( the former President owned rental property in Progresso also, and didn’t even live in the City!) 

             
                                    Cohen’s rental house

     Cohen says he hopes to “lessen the crime, band the neighbors together to watch neighbor’s backs”, and speak with a unified voice to the City.

                   I’ll keep you informed on his progress – in Progresso!

     You regular readers know I sometimes veer off course and post something totally unaffiliated with our usual, hard driving political discourse.

     This will be one of these times!    Humor me?

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

     OK, a quiz!

     The wife and I have been away this past week. Now just to see how smart you really are, I’m going to post some pics (clues), and we’ll see how many of the pics (clues) it takes you until you guess where we’ve been!

                                       
                                          wife and I in ????

     Here goes!

                                       
                                    this means we took a plane !



                        

         Went to a Zoo ?  ……………………….   Nope


                   
                          Went off to see King Tut ? ……….    Nope


                    
                                       Paris?  …………..   Nope


                               
                                                I said Nope !!



                           
                                    arrested by Buford T. Pusser? …….  Nope



                                    
                                    New York ?  ….. with palm trees ? ….  Nope



                          
                                 somewhere with a Volcano …..  Yep


                     
                                      side trip ( don’t get confused )

 
                 
                                    Only one pic (clue) left !     



                    
                                              Busted !