Author: commtims

     It’s a great idea that’s been totally fouled up –

                           Citizen Presentation Program


    
      It happens at the first meeting of the month of the Fort Lauderdale City Commission. Any citizen that has something to say, can fill out an application and get his/her three minutes to vent.

  Unfortunately, this great idea has been hijacked by a few grandstanders, and some assorted wackos –  turned into a circus side show!
 
     Here’s how this month’s circus went!

                  


     It started out normal enough. Here, Salvation Army’s Jim came to complain about the clothing donation boxes that are sprouting up around the City. His complaint was that the boxes were NOT Salvation Army boxes, but some “out of towners”. He thought only the Army’s boxes should remain.


                           

     The Commission listened repectfully, then Mayor Seiler gave Jim the bad news. The City doesn’t allow ANY clothing donation boxes, and all of them would be removed. Jim slinked off, appearing confused, disappointed – 

          – the program went down hill from there

                   

     Look up gadfly in the dictionary, you’ll get Art Seitz. Art never misses his chance on Citizen Presentation Day!

     His application said this months’ topics for his three minutes would be – 

               …ISHOF
              ….. A1A Greenway
              …. Scenic Highways
              ….. Bahia Mar
             ….. Lobbyists, campaign donations, Commissioner e-mails , …

    Art’s three minutes came and went!

                       

     Commissioner Rogers gave the Mayor a look – ( a picture is worth ….)


     ….. then further down hill the presentation’s rode!


                             

     It was Dr. Sue’s turn. If the Mayor was watching, he should have turned her away for her lack of fashion sense right off!

     Sue came from Bellevue, Washington for her three minutes! Her application said she was going to talk about mistreatment of the homeless, and Police abuse of the badge. Instead she mumbled incoherently for at least three minutes ( seemed like more!) about Darfur, her house and it’s view, all sorts of daffy things. 

     For Commissioner Dubose, it took all he had to keep a straight face – 

            

      Then came the show that people actually came to see– 

          The Robert Walsh Show.

     Walsh is the City’s main malcontent, and Walsh says anything he wants to – no holding back from this guy – Walsh never seems to miss a citizen presentation opportunity either !

             

      Walsh’s application said he would be talking about Police Chief Frank Adderley’s “abuse of power, dereliction of duty”, and that the Chief ” is a disgrace”.

      Walsh’s last line in his application was meant for another reason, but surely could be a postscript for the entire Citizen Presentation Program – 

                       “total mess in plain English” 

      
     

 

     


                           
    

     The third Citizen Tour is Wednesday, April 11th, and is the most fun one yet ! And YOU are invited!

                          
                                The Bonett House on the beach

     The Bonett House is one of Fort Lauderdale’s best kept secrets. It’s on the beach, but unless you knew it, you wouldn’t know it. It’s tucked away in a most beautiful tropical setting, on the west side of A1A, just south of Sunrise Blvd.

     The House was built in 1920, the land a gift to his daughter by Hugh Taylor Birch. Birch had bought – something like 40 acres-  of beachfront property for $5000., as nobody else wanted to live at the unpopulated, mosquito laden beach!

                         
                                   unpopulated beach !!!     
     
     The Citizen tour is a private, backstage tour, held after closing hours.
 
                                             
                                                  monkeys live there


     After the fascinating tour of the House and Grounds by Patrick Shavloske, the Development director of the House, we will all be treated to the special cocktail that the Bartletts drank back in the 1920’s (as they held up at their secluded, empty beachfront Shangra La) – the Rangpur Rum Punch ( lots of ingredients including Maple Syrup!), served up by the infamous beach pub owner, Tim Schiavone, of the World’s Famous Parrot Lounge.

                       Space is limited – here’s the deal

                                           Tour: 

                             Wednesday, April 11th
                                           5 p.m.
                              $10 donation required
              
                         * if you want to attend, either post a comment on this blog, like -” hell yea Tim, I’m coming for the Rangpur Rum Punch”, or send me a private e-mail to Tim@TimSmith.com and tell me you’re in ! … Hurry!


                                                 Tim

     You’ve all seen it.
 
     The little red Caboose that sits on the tracks just east of the Home Depot store on Sunrise Boulevard.

     Lately, some of you have complained to me about it’s condition ( thinking of you, John A.)  

        

    
     You were right. And, you see, the neighborhood I live in, Middle River Terrace, accepted the responsibility of the train’s condition when we convinced Dick Winer, train collector, local activist and famous author ( The Devil’s Triangle) , to put the historic relic in the neighborhood as a “conservation piece”. 

     We painted the train in 2004 and 2007, but it was that time again, last Saturday, 2012.

         

     Here we are after a day of painting “caboose red”, flat black and yellow highlights!

     Notice that the Home Depot managers are on sight for the photo op, as they furnished all the paint and supplies – free of charge !  thanks! 

       

April 1, 2012
Fort Lauderdale, Florida




      You’ve probably read in the newspaper that Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the issue of gay marriage this week, but you haven’t heard about the official action that Seiler took (absolutely no one expected, wait til you hear!).

      It all started when some Mayors across Broward County came OUT for gay marriage by signing on to the National campaign, Mayors for Freedom to Marry. 

     Seiler was reportedly troubled by a scathing missive sent this week from the local gay group, the Dolphin Democrats, taking Seiler to task for not signing on to the National effort of Mayors, although mayors from Pembroke Pines, Hallandale, and  Miramar did.

 
       Seiler troubled

     So Seiler took a most unusual, unprecedented action. (you’ll be shocked). Seiler asked his old friend, former Governor Charlie Crist to join him in his announcement.



     Seiler signed his official, binding order, straight from the Mayor’s Office – (see below) 

      The action even confounded Gay Congressman Barney Frank!


   confounded Frank

                                                    Official Order of Mayor John P. “Jack” Seiler   
         
                         “ Here henceforth, with respect to Gays and Lesbians marrying, within the official City boundaries of Fort Lauderdale, I do hereby declare, by the power vested in me by the Charter of the great City of Fort Lauderdale …..

     — It is now   ……  Mandatory …   for all gays in committed relationships, in the City, to marry, immediately.”
 
     Seiler went on to say, in his press conference, that he finally realized that the heterosexuals in the City shouldn’t carry all the weight of marriage, do all the dishes, put up with menopause, face divorce, watch TV in the garage, always change the oil in the car!

     The Gay reaction was mixed.


     Some celebrated, but some, realizing the table – turn that Seiler accomplished, started protesting the order – carrying a new banner – Marriage = 1 Man + 1 Woman!



     To early to tell how it will all work out- but if this post confounds you, and you want to understand it all better, check out the date at the beginning of this blog post.

                                                    …..   Tim

    

     The homeless are still a problem downtown today (pictures below).


     The City has been trying a few new approaches this year, a public information campaign to tell citizens why giving change to panhandlers is not helpful, street vendors’ control ( in the intersections), and the bus tickets home program. 

     The problems of the homeless and the vagrants is not new for Fort Lauderdale.  

     Below, you will see the historical account of what Fort Lauderdale did about the problem during the depression!

                 
                                the “hobo express” team


  “During the depression, one of the duties of the Police Department and Sheriff’s Office, was handling the so-called “hobo express.” In an attempt to get undesirables out of the area, including those looking for work, vagrants were herded to the county line of each county. Fort Lauderdale transported its undesirables to the northern boundary of Deerfield Beach. It was either the “hobo express” or a 30-day jail sentence.” 


     Here’s a sampling of Stranahan Park today!

                
                      Mounted Patrolman Chuck Sierra talks to a group of homeless


                    
                                       Hungry homeless line up at the food truck


                    
                                homeless man waves at me using only one finger !!

     City Car….



                     Nap Time ?

       

     I stayed up late, Louisville slugger at the ready!

     The helicopters overhead, Police in every intersection – intercoms telling us to stay inside our homes!
 
           
                     “bad boys, bad boys, what you going do???

     Well I just heard from the Fort Lauderdale Police Spokesman Detective Travis Mandell, and here’s what all the serious commotion was about!
                 …………………………………………………………………

     Two homicide suspects, from another County, were in the neighborhood, and barricaded themselves in a house just up the street from me.

     The spokesman says when the Department’s fully equipped, specially trained SWAT vehicle ( they call the BEAR) arrived on the scene- 

                           

      …… the bad guys gave up  …. in custody!

                 ….. Louisville slugger, back in the closet!~

    

     The Police Chopper has been overhead our houses for an hour, shining the massive spotlight all around! 

             

     All intersections around my house are blocked. I went out and asked what was going on, should we be worried?

     The Officer said ” have you been inside your house?” I said “yes” .

      He said “go back inside!”  ….. I did!

      I e-mailed the Police, asked for them to let me know, when they could, who they were after, what did they do, did they get ’em?….


     I’m closing the door, getting out the baseball bat! 

     I’ll keep you informed ……

                                 Tim

     Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler opposed the Stand Your Ground gun use law, while he was a Legislator in Tallahassee.


               

     That’s Seiler in the back ( you might not recognize him!), behind former Governor Crist. Just to the right of Crist, is possible Republican Vice Presidential candidate Marco Rubio.

     Seiler was aghast this week when he heard of the shooting of Trayvon Martin.

                          

     Seiler remembered fighting the Stand Your Ground law that some blame for the shooting of the innocent Martin.

    Here are some of the minutes of the Florida House battle that decided the law

          Representative Seiler –
    “I am concerned that the bill, as written, completely eliminates the duty to retreat in all public places outside of a home or occupied vehicle, and allows Floridians to engage someone with a deadly weapon in the public arena.

     This provision would create a number of potential loopholes for criminals, and would make it far more difficult for the Police and State Attorney to prosecute violent criminals, and even more difficult for innocent victims to recover damages from these violent criminals” 

     Seiler also tried to ammend the bill, but to no avail.

     

    

     This case troubles me. How about you?



     A 17 year-old kid is dead, my son is just 22, alive . The dead boy is black.
 
     He was shot in the chest by an older white guy, during a scuffle – unclear circumstances. Just minutes earlier, the boy had been walking down a street, minding his own business.

     Any more to the story?

     What happened?

      Here’s what I’ve been able to glean from the somewhat confusing and jumbled facts in all the news stories.

      The white guy is described as a self appointed neighborhood watch guy,

                    

     twenty seven year old George Zimmerman, somewhat checkered background.
 
     Zimmerman was making his crime watching rounds as he often did, looking for criminals. He spotted teen Martin, considered him suspicious, in the wrong neighborhood, dressed like a gangsta! Must be up to no good!

                         



     He follows the kid, who, by all accounts, wasn’t up to no good, just getting some candy at the local store.  Zimmerman calls Police. Police tell him not to follow Martin, but Zimmerman follows him anyhow.


     Here’s where it gets murky.

     Somehow, the two began to scuffle. Did Trayvon feel threatened/ intimidated,  and turn around and confront Zimmerman, punch him in the nose, knock him down? Or did Zimmerman chase down Trayvon, start a fight, begin the deadly battle?

     The initial police report said Zimmerman had a bloody nose and blood on the back of his head.

        “I could observe that [Zimmerman’s] back appeared to be wet and was covered in grass, as if he had been laying on his back on the ground. Zimmerman was also bleeding from the nose and back of his head.” 

     But the parents hear the 911 call and say it was Trayvon calling for help during the struggle, not Zimmerman.

     One thing’s for sure….. A sad day in America.

                      What say you?