Author: commtims

 

The City has done a great job cleaning up the people’s property that they control near the Main Library, but the County has not done squat on their property – the Library!

I jogged through the area this morning and was really shocked at the deplorable condition of the Main Library grounds…. I can’t imagine that people  use that facility, with the way it is kept…

 

There was tons of trash and junk scattered about, and the whole area smelt like urine  …. This is in the center of our downtown and should be fixed, now! …. come on County !

 

What was once a lovely pool with fountain, is now just an empty pool, with assorted garbage and pigeons feeding on watermelon rinds and old sandwiches! OMG !

 

There was a missionary preaching to the homeless encampment, (that appears to be corralled in this lot),  but the crowd was all standing amidst  un-Christian like garbage!

 

….. OK, go check it out for yourself if you dare, and then send this to your County Commissioner, or to the City Commissioner that is supposed to handle this area – Commissioner Trantalis …

 

It’s election season in Fort Lauderdale, as the election for the Mayor and  Commissioners happens early next year ….

…….. I’ll soon give you a thorough accounting of all the candidates so far, where they stand, what their chances are etc., but for now,  here’s a new tidbit…

Another District four Commissioner entry is about to happen. And amazingly, this one will be the third candidate  who also lives in the neighborhood of Rio Vista as the other two do !

 

He is Dr. Warren Sturman, a cardiologist, who was designated on the “top Doctors of South Florida” list  in 2012…..

Sturman has been the President of Rio Vista for many years, and I expect him to be a contender…..

……………..  more soon ! …Tim

 

Commissioner Trantalis pictured above

Commissioner Dean Trantalis, on Tuesday,  asked his colleagues on the Fort Lauderdale City Commission to vote in a pay raise for the Mayor and the Commissioners, to take effect next March, at the next election ( Trantalis is expected to run for reelection )…. The pay hike request was enormous, fifty percent pay raise for the Mayor spot, and 40 percent for Commissioners… This would make their salary far greater then all the salaries of all the Commissioners in Broward County ..

In the  election next  March, and only Trantalis and Commissioner Mckinzie can run for office then, as the rest of the Commissioners are term limited in their seats  …

Trantalis clearly wants more money. He is a very successful attorney in Wilton Manors, but wants the taxpayers to dig in deeper for him if he decides to stay in elected office… Trantalis complained at the Commission hearing that he has to go to night meetings, talk to developers, spend a lot of hours as Commissioner.

Mayor Seiler disagreed with Trantalis on the pay raise… Seiler said he couldn’t support the pay raise…. Commissioner Rogers and Commissioner Roberts also voted no…. Dean was upset  …

Word on the street says Trantalis was considering a run for Mayor, but now, after he couldn’t get the big pay raise, maybe not !!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you seen it?

…..Perhaps the world’s most attractive roundabout, and I’m not kidding   …… It is on NE 13th Street, a road with a troubled past, but one that  looks like the troubled past is on it’s way out just as this lovely roundabout is coming in   …

 

Ready ?? …………

 

Wow  …..   that is really something….It’s the giant Unity Beacon, a $100,000, 14 foot tall art piece that’s tucked safely into the middle of the roundabout…..

It was crafted by artists, Todd and Gils, and the individual panels were sketched by different members in the community over the last few months   …… Here is one panel as it was being done…

 

 

That’s Tim Smith, the younger, preparing his piece last month   ….

 

……. So come over to 13th, check out the Unity Beacon, shop at the cool thrift store Oddballs, have a coffee at Warsaw, check out some of the art in the area  …… I’ll keep an eye out for you!

 

OK  …..  Just to finish the story  ……

So, Commissioner Trantalis killed the painting of a cute little duck mural on a storage shed in a City Park, next to a newly built Playground  ……  This was what the mural was going to look like –

 

Trantalis was pandering to two naysayers, who thought that the ducks weren’t “elegant” enough ….  Trantalis said he would evoke a “process”, find an acceptable “elegant” mural,  and then a mural would be painted …  tout suite! …..

Well, I guess Trantalis had his “process”, cause here is a picture of  how the storage shed looks now, a month later  …

 

thanks a lot Trantalis  …….

 

After the last post on Trantalis killing off the poor little Mother Duck and her Ducklings mural,

 

 

I received a lot of feedback, all aghast that Trantalis would pull such a bonehead move, all to satisfy a known malcontent  …..

……. But the best comment I received came with a picture attached……  A well know activist wrote to me that she was “angry” that Dean pulled the plug on such a good endeavor, and said she just saw a site that reminded her how  she was feeling  …..

 

  ………. DUCKED !!!!  (yes, that is what you think you’re seeing)

Who let the dogs out ???

…. Beats me, but I do know who killed off  Mother Duck and her cute little ducklings mural !

 

 

The City had asked that this mural get painted on this little storage shed, that is next to a wonderful Kaboom playground that the City is building over in Middle River Terrace Park on Dixie….. They had done a similar thing on the last playground that they built in Poinciana Park ….

The city’s art group Art Serve was asked to find an accomplished muralist and they found this artist who sketched up this rough draft of this mural with a wonderful message for the park … . The muralist said she spent time in the park, and the one constant was mothers with children …. and ducks!

The plan was progressing wonderfully, until this man, pictured below, halted progress, stopped the mural, and the ducks seem to be  as good as dead …. ducks

 

Yes, that is none other than Commissioner Dean Trantalis, the duck killer !

Trantalis got a complaint from a neighborhood woman about the mural   …. The lady had said on a conference call about the Kaboom Playground that she opposed the mural, that it was “not that kind of neighborhood” …. that the neighborhood was now “elegant’….. “huh?, I replied !

I called Trantalis, but to my dismay, he said he was siding with Ms. Elegant and stopping the mural from being painted during the playground build   …… He said he would “start a process for a mural,,,, start a committee ….. have a meeting someday  ….YaDA  …yADA….yADA!

 

I tried to change his mind    ….

Sent over a formal duck to try  ….. no luck

 

Had squads of ducks ( and constituents) gang up on him   ….No luck

 

Even went the political route that I was sure would work!   …

 

….Hell no,  Trantalis still said  ……  consider the ducks dead ( or something in that vein  …)

 

……. But let’s give it one last try   …..  what do you say?  …… email Trantalis at DTrantalis@fortlauderdale .gov with this short little message

 

………………………………  # SAVE MOTHER DUCK ………………………………………………………………………..

 

 

 

 

 

Will Lee Feldman be leaving as City Mananger of Fort Lauderdale ?

 

 

A provocative question for sure…….   Let me explain ……

 

Lee has been the City Manager in Fort Lauderdale for 6 years …. That’s about the average length for City Managers in our City, but Lee is exceptionally talented, has survived a tough economy that has now turned healthy,  and is generally well liked……   But here’s the rub….there’s an election next year, and a lot of the political players will be changing, due to the term limit law that was enacted by former  Commissioner Tim Smith 🙂  ….

 

 ……. This fellow, photographed in a jovial moment, is not at all  happy with Feldman ….And he will most probably be remaining in office after election 2018.

This is Commissioner Dean Trantalis, and he has already called for Lee to resign, votes against Lee’s pay raises, and points to all the time Feldman spends out of the City due to his position as President of the International City County Managers Association.

 

 

Trantalis has a point on that, and Feldman will have to find a way to mitigate the time out of town somehow, if he does stay. Here is Feldman in China, about to meet with the Vice Premier of China  !! ….WOW !

So here is what I’m thinking….. Feldman is sharp, very sharp indeed. Commissioner Romney Rogers, who heartily supports Feldman, says Lee is “the sharpest tool in the shed”. But Rogers will be term limited out in March, as is Mayor Jack Seiler, who is Feldman’s most vocal supporter.

 

……………… Jack and Lee – all smiles !

 

So Lee, being the sharp tool that he is, and knowing that at least two of his best supporters are leaving, but his most vociferous critic is staying, and having the big name recognition as such a well known, accomplished City Manager, just might be thinking about checking out his options,,,,

 

…….. I’m hoping I’m wrong, hoping that Trantalis can soften his opinion, and that we get a few more sharp years out of the sharp Feldman tool !

……………………. Tim

 

 

…….The First Lutheran Church on Ne 3rd Avenue is very historic for Fort Lauderdale.

No one disputes this, though the City Commission deferred giving the 100 plus year old church historic designation at a hearing last month . They are awaiting their May 2 meeting to see what the buyer ( developer) wants to do on the site until they act. …….

…..In the meantime, some activists for historic designation for the church say untoward things are happening at the church. They point to a ruling by the CC last month where the owners of the property were told NOT to touch the church until May 2, but the activists say things are happening at the church, not good things……

 

They held this vigil last night, and pointed out damage occurring there….

 

   …….  this is an empty spot on the wall where …..

 

   …..  this brass corner stone plaque was last month  …..  They say the air conditioners have been ripped out of the wall, the stain glass windows are all gone, and copper piping is disappearing….

 

….. Come on May 2 !

 

…thanks to Cal Deal, who kept this copy of the actual 3 by 5 foot message board that I took to Publix headquarters in Lakeland so many years ago ( that effort didn’t pan out, but at least got Winn Dixie to open a new grocery store there)  …..At the time,  Publix actually said that part of Fort Lauderdale was to scary for a grocery store (short sighted ?)   ……. ……

….  And many of you spotted others in the photo  … Do you see Pat Mayers (deceased), Dean Trantalis, Mark Ketchum, Butch Neideritter, Mike Ferber, Floyd Johnson ( former City Manager), Gus Osterle ( deceased). Roger McKee ( deceased). Bob Pignataro, Bob Notti ( deceased), Steve Jacobson, Mark Warner, Hans, Alva White (deceased), Jim Kevern and Bob Oelke?

 

………… I’ll be back soon with my opinion of current City Manager Lee Feldman   …….

 

……………  Tim