Author: commtims

     My friend Peter Feldman is dead at the young age of 54 years old –  far too young to die, especially for someone like Pete.

     I’m sad, but for some odd reason,  pleasantly reflective.
 
     I’ve been  thinking about PT Boy all day (that’s what my wife Cindy and I , and our son Timmy affectionately called him) .

     He had been a good friend of our family for  20 and some years.  I had met him through our mutual interest in a rough part of Fort Lauderdale called Flagler Heights. Flagler Heights is a neighborhood  just north of Downtown, but far enough north, and far enough west,  to not to really matter, or so everyone thought!

     But it mattered to Peter Feldman.. .. and that turned out to be enough! 

     Peter put his head down and forged ahead. He bought house after house, slum after slum. The years passed, the decades passed,. It looked like it may be a false dream…  the kind you just wake up from….
 
     But miraculously,  Peter prevailed. Just this past year, in the middle of the worst economic tsunami in decades, Peter’s dream happened.   

     ….Flagler Village, all eight stories and block after block of redevelopment splendor came alive. In the worst economic downturn in nearly a century, only Peter Feldman was building. His developer buddies were finally envious of Petey. He deserved that moment.

     ….. I’ll remember you fondly Peter, and Cindy and Timmy say hi, … you were a bright spot in our lives, and we hope to see you on the other side…… Tim   

     We do have history in Fort Lauderdale! As a matter of fact, we will be 99 years old next March!

     I just received this great photo from my buddy Rob. …..  Check it out!

                    

     The Picture was taken by the Navy during World War II, – 1943

     Fort Lauderdale played an important role during the war, though our beaches were cordoned off with barb wire, and the German U- boats were often spotted just off the coast…. Many of the servicemen that were stationed here during the war came back after the war and settled here.

   The plane is an SB2C Helldiver, and the bridge behind it’s tail is the old flat Las Olas bridge. That’s the future Bahia Mar Yacht Basin under the plane. You can barely make out the Sunrise blvd. bridge up the Intracoastal, and you can see the Federal Highway running north near the top left of the picture. That’s the Middle River just to the right of the highway. 

     With a magnifying glass, you can see Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom’s house on Nurmi Isle! 
   ( yes Charlotte, I know you weren’t even born yet!)

     The planning for the City’s 100th  birthday party is getting into full swing. Why don’t you get involved! …   ….e-mail Mayor Jack Seiler at JSeiler@fortlauderdale.gov if you can help……..

     I’m a fan of Jack Seiler.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
                

      Seiler
   
      He’s one of those rare public servants that truly believes in serving the public, and he’s been doing it quite capably for many years. And I’ve been impressed with his service as Mayor of Fort Lauderdale these last couple of months.

     But last week he screwed up.

      Here’s what happened.

     Earl Rynerson, who most of you will remember ran for the Mayor’s seat against Seiler, received a letter to his business last week.
It was from Seiler’s office, Seiler himself, ( on City stationary ) and it encouraged Rynerson, and other local businesses to advertise in a private business venture.

     Now Rynerson has been on the war  path against Jack for months, after coming in a distant third in the Mayor’s race. His web site often seems bitter, and, in my opinion, flaky on many issues. But Seiler’s letter gave Earl some valid ammunition to criticize him with this time.
     Here’s a link to Rynerson’s site that included Rynerson’s criticism of the letter, and the actual letter.
   http://abetterftlauderdale.com/?p=246

     Rynerson

    Here’s the problem.

     The venture Seiler touts is being done by Dolph Map, a  private company, but Seiler’s letter glosses over that. The letter states that the City was “working” with Dolph to produce it. It says important City numbers and programs will be on the map. It explains that businesses could sponsor it, and that they should “not delay”. It’s called the official sounding Fort Lauderdale City Mapping Project.

     The problem is, it is not a City endeavor, was not brought before the City Commission for public review and discussion, not competitively bid, not really associated with the City at all.

     And to make matters worse, Rynerson ties the Dolph Map Company with contributions to Seiler’s political campaign, and campaign signs that Dolph erected on their coveted Federal Highway location during the Mayor’s race. Apparently, former  Mayor Jim Naugle did the same thing for Dolph, which should have sent up a red flag for Seiler right there!

     I don’t believe there was anything sinister or nefarious in Seiler’s actions, just a mistake he should admit to and move on.

     Now that’s the way I see it. But if I’m wrong, I have a back-up plan.

     It’s the Fort Lauderdale City Landscaping Guide.  The publication, free to the public, will answers all questions about our local Fort Lauderdale landscapes. Since I’m a recognized expert in the field, it’s a natural. The Guide will explain how to plant for droughts, what trees to plant, what City departments can help and how.

     And of course, it will be quite profitable for me, having that introductory letter from the Mayor’s office!

    

    

    

    Sometimes, all it takes is a little common sense to solve a problem. This week, Mayor Jack Seiler offered some up.

    
                        
                                                                    
                                                                           old what’s his name  and Mayor Jack Seiler! 

     There has been a technical glitch at City Hall for the past few weeks. Generally, if you want to know what’s coming up on the City Commission’s agenda, you could just log on to the City’s web site at www.fortlauderdale.gov and check it out.

     Now, most of us don’t.

     But thankfully, there are a few dozens watchdogs ( some City Staffers use other names for them!) that always pay attention. They wait for the information to be posted and go through it line by line. And if they find something troubling, look out!

     So when they signed on as usual a few weeks back, and the screen read sorry sucker, (not in those words of course), they were incensed. Conspiracy theories began to boil!. What were they hiding? What happened to transparency?

     Enter Seiler.

     Seiler ran on a platform of transparency, open government, power to the people!

      The fouled up agenda information was a legitimate technical matter, no intrigue. The City had gone to a new format, and it was having problems. So Seiler needed a stop-gap.

     The Mayor put out the word that all the back-up materials for the upcoming agendas would be open for inspection, any time, in his office!   He had the Mayor’s staff call all the “watchdogs”  he could think of to tell them to come on in,  sit a spell, put your feet up!  And asked me to put out the word – Mayor’s office open to the public.

     Now that’s service  !

     A small group of Citizens really can make a difference!

     This Citizen led effort began nearly three years ago, in September 2006. They called it “Citizens for a Better Code”, but the City has now renamed the effort the snappy – “Neighborhood Development Criteria Revisions”!

     It started like this: A group of friends were e-mail complaining amongst themselves about the out of scale townhomes that were being built in many of the City’s neighborhoods. They questioned the City’s rules that allowed those townhouses and duplexes to be built nearly on top little single family homes.  

                                     
                                
                                                          rather imposing eh?

     They also wondered why the development Code was allowing things to get built that ended up looking like this –

                                   
     
     I challenged them to quit their bitching and go “do something about it”!

     I invited them into my home for an initial meeting and it grew from there. 

     The group was well balanced. It included neighborhood leaders that often preached slowing down re- development, like former City Commission candidate Charles Jordan, and activists Cal Deal and Ray Dettman, but also included local architects Michael Madfis and Gus Carbonelle.  Green activists Linda Brown and Vicki Eckels pushed enviromental issues, and I was there to keep the peace and keep the pace!

     The group looked at a myriad of other development issues too, like – 

                                 
                                 too many cars, not enough spaces!


        and …….

                                     
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
                                 too many cans..not enough hiding places!                        

     The group met for about a month and came up with the document  “Citizens for a Better Code“. They went to the Council of Civic Associations and officially offered their proposal! The Council, under the capable leadership of it’s President, Genia Ellis, and their tireless Committees Chair, Richard Mancuso, moved it along to where it is today.

     Fort Lauderdale City Commission,  now it’s your turn!         
     

     



      

     Maybe some sanity is peeking through!

     On Sunday, May 10th (Mother’s Day), there will be a rather unique rally at the Flea Market on Oakland Park Boulevard from 1 to 4 p.m…

     It’s the Pull up Your Pants rally, sponsored by a group of mostly African American Grandparents, that are sick and tired of seeing their young men walking the streets flashing their undies.



         You know the look that has been all the rage. Pull your pants down as far as you can get them without them falling to your ankles. Some medical professional are even worried that it is beginning to make some youths bowlegged.


                                               
                                                 The fad is so endemic in the youth counter culture (moslty African American,but not exclusively) that the baggy pantsers even have an odd understanding. If they are in a street brawl, and pants start-a-falling, a “time-out” is called so the drooper can reinstall his drawers!

     


     
             But, as Dylan reflected years ago, times they are – a – changing! …. Some of the turn-around can be credited to ….


                            …… President Barack Obama, who last fall counseled the sagging britches youths, in an MTV interview, that the “brothers ought to pull up their pants”. 

     Maybe it’s catching on. Plantation High School recently had a “No Saggin Pants Day”, and their Principal handed out belts, donated by Wal-Mart,  to those in violations. They explained to the youth that the fad needed to go, that “UNDER” wear was called underwear for a reason.

     Next thing you know, face jewelry will go dinosaur !!
    

     Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley says he wants to listen to the citizenry.

                                                                    
                                                                     Chief Chats with Citizens


     Adderley is in the unenviable position of finding ways to fight rising crime in an austere budget year .  And he must do it with a Police force that has about  80 Officers short, on the street, from full staffing levels reached in 2003. Though the City Administration and the new City Commission has given the Chief a full green light to staff up, years of freezing positions, disgruntled Officers leaving for other agencies,  and a less than adequate recruiting effort has left the force diminished.

     So in an unprecedented move, the Police Chief has recently turned to the citizenry for advice.

     The Chief has empanelled a group of Citizens that call themselves “The Chief’s Roundtable”.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
                                                   the “Roundtable” in action                                    

     
     This past Tuesday was the second meeting of the group. It consists mainly of representatives of areas in the City that have escalating crime problems,. Tuesday’s group included reps from the Beach, the City’s central neighborhoods, and the southern neighborhoods that surround Federal Highway.

     The session was lively, with lots of talk of bringing back “Community Policing”  to the City, finding ways to expedite hiring of new Police Officers, and looking at newer creative techniques that are working in other cities.

     Adderley says he finds these sessions helpful, and that he’s ready to “accept good ideas, no matter where they come from”.

     If you think you can be helpful also, send me an e-mail to Tim@TimSmith.com, as I’ve been helping the Chief identify residents that want to be involved………..                  

                                                 

    



     

     Summer might officially start on June 21st, but here in South Florida, expect it any day now!

     It will be the same story for many months – HOT and HUMID, chance of an afternoon thunderstorm, or maybe just a quick hurricane! 

     But my wife and I have found a way to get relief from all that, and you’re invited!
                             
                                      It’s called Bear Creek Lodge and Cabins. 

                         
                            one of the 7 cabins  …. this one’s called “Treehouse Cabin”

     full disclosure time !!  –  My wife Cindy and I have been developing this special piece of the Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains for a few years now, and we’re ready to invite all of Fort Lauderdale up this summer (at least all the nice ones). And to do our part for stimulating the economy, we invite you to come at half price off our regular rates !!

     It’s about 90 minutes Northeast of Atlanta, nestled in the hillside of a fun town called Alpine Helen, and it’s smack dab on the Chattahoochee River. What’s more, you don’t use air conditioning there, because it often drops into the 50’s at night, even in August!

     Here’s a few more pics:

                        
                               the Cabins are high quality ……..


                          
                                                                              
                                                       the River Tubing is relaxing  ……….


       
                                   
                                         the hiking exhilarating  ………….

    
                                                   
                                                            the town’s a blast !  …………….



     The Lodge and all the Cabins can accomodate about 45 people total, so bring your family and friends too!

     You can get more info by going on the web site  http://BearCreekLodgeandCabins.com      
    
     Call Cindy or I when you’re ready to reserve at 706-878-9075.  Or e-mail me at Tim@TimSmith.com   

                                                      
                                                                  we’ll be waiting !!  ……………..
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           &nb
sp;                                                                                                                                                                      

       



      

     He is C.J. Beck, one of the Fort Lauderdale Beaches’ feisty condo commandos, and a well known accomplished international author. He has just published his third novel.

     He resides part of the year at the Illini Condo, which is at the southern end of the beach, in front of the Bahia Mar complex.

     He’s often been critical of beach redevelopment. He says City Commissions have been “snoozing” instead of planning, (does that include me?) and believes the only hope for the Fort Lauderdale Beach is selective “demolition …. large scale”.  I’m assuming the selective part excludes his building!

     His books are fun, I’ve read one. His newest novel seems to be set close to home. Here is the front cover  – 

                

                                                             

     He says it a fictional story, set in a seaside town called Las Olas By -The -Sea.

     He says characters in the book might resemble some local Fort Lauderdale characters, but that would be coincidental, since, he says, “the book is purely fictional”….

     hmmmm……….

     The book appears to be a combination murder mystery, survival guide for condo living, and a not so gentle poke at some harsh condo rules.

     Here’s an example:

      

                                                        
                                                used to enforce one of the book’s fictitious
                                                             condo’s  “no pets” rule

     
     We do have some interesting residents here in paradise !

      If you’d like a copy of Beck’s new novel, send him an e-mail to a_houyhnhnm@yahoo.com

    

    The Fort Lauderdale Police Street Crimes Unit is back, but I took some flack!

     When we told you about the daytime crackhead stabbing at Dixie Highway and NE 13th Street, and the unacceptable performance of the BSO 911 call center last week, we didn’t know just how much of a &%#! storm it might ignite downtown.

     I reported on this blog that  the new City Commission’s “mission to cut expenses” led City officials to nearly nix the productive anti-crime squad. That brought out the ire of Mayor Seiler, who told me (and commented on this blog) that he strongly disagreed with the decision to lay-off the Street Crimes Unit, and that I should clear up that the City Commission had no part in the decision. 

                                                                                      
                                                                          Seiler on the Street Crimes Unit

      Then I got a call from the City Manager, George Gretsas. I have a good working relationship with the Manager, and when I called him last week to ask if his administration was responsible for the tough crime squad’s furlough, and didn’t get a call back, I assumed that my “source”, a high ranking Police Official, was probably right on the money.


                                                             
                                                                     Adderley and Gretsas a few years back

     
        Turns out that Gretsas was on vacation, and his Assistant, David Hebert, didn’t get the message to phone me for days. Gretsas says he had “nothing to do with the decision” to transfer the squad, and that Chief Adderley would be making that clear soon. I was then copied on an e-mail from Adderley to a neighborhood anti-crime activist that was upset over the uptick in crime in his area. This should put the issue to rest.

     Here’s the Chief’s e-mail:

      
        Sal, just to clarify some points mentioned in the blog. Although there has been an increase of crime in April, we did have a 4.6% reduction of part one crime in the first quarter of 2009. It was my decision, not the City Administration to temporarily reassign members of the Street Crimes Unit to the Patrol Division. Neither the Commission nor the City Manager ordered any reductions in the police department’s budgeted overtime. My decision was based on overtime expense. However, the Street Crimes Unit has been fully staffed and operational for the past week. I agree with you, the Street Crimes Unit has been a tremendous success. I am currently working with the Budget Office to address the Department’s overtime expense. At the first meeting in May, we will have an item for Commission consideration for additional resources to support crime reduction strategies. Your continued support for the Police Department is greatly appreciated!!!

      Stay tuned!………… Tim