Mayoral Hopeful Charlotte’s Kick-off

The invitation arrived in the mail.

 

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…. Pretty snazzy  …… A kick-off event ( billed as a friendraiser, not a fundraiser) at the wonderful, historic Bonnett House on the beach ……  I couldn’t stay away !

 

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…. The Bonnett House is as cool as ever, and as I walked up the entrance, Charlotte’s sign guided me in to her soiree ! …

….. The event was a pleasant one, though not all that well attended. I’m guessing there were 30 or 40 people there, I expected more ….But I will say that those 30 or 40 seemed like pretty strong Charlotte supporters – people like –

 

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…former Victoria Park President Thornie Jarrett (seen here chatting with Charlotte’s son and Charlotte’s new granddaughter!)… – and

 

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Miranda Lopez (on the right), a big slow growth/open space advocate) …. and

 

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Rob Larsen, Flagler Village President  ….

 

… …………………..  Main gadfly Charlie King was there, trashing Mayor Seiler, Commissioner Roberts etc.,  as was District I malcontent Mary Graham …. picture below with Charlotte’s husband John Rodstrom – 

 

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Charlotte was introduced to speak by John   …..

 

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….and she took to the microphone to give a short talk about why she was running for Mayor, how she intended to walk door to door and meet all the voters, and how she was disappointed with the City budget and overdevelopment  …..

 

………….  charfar1

 

……all in all a nice event…

 

First Candidate Event for 2018- Fort Lauderdale

…… Yes, it’s hard to fathom, but the Fort Lauderdale City Commission 2018 election season is off and running  …..

…….. This past Sunday, the Central City Alliance (formerly known as the 13th Street Alliance), hosted  a pleasant outdoor picnic at the lovely historic Annie Beck House, and invited the 5 filed candidates (so far) for the CC election that is about 22 months away , to come and talk with about 100 citizens about the issues of the City …… Most of the attendees were from the area, but a good handful were from all areas of the City…

 

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…..   We started out by feeding the crowd with a tremendous Spanish buffet, and once we had everyone filled up, we got their juices flowing for the “thoughtful discussion” ahead  ..

 

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….nothing like a few glasses of Sangria to get the juices flowing !

 

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….Mayor Jack stared the event off, then sent it back to me to start what turned out to be a substantial discussion about many of the issues facing the City   …

 

…..  Mayoral candidate ( and current District I City Commissioner ) Bruce Roberts was first to speak, and said he looked forward to a robust and meaningful campaign   …

… Then it was former Commissioner and current mayoral candidate Charlotte Rodstroms’ turn at the microphone –

 

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…. She surprised the attendees by saying she would not be participating in the discussion, as she didn’t intend on “sharing her vision (campaign strategy) with her competitors”… She added that she was “blond, but not stupid”!

…. Then, mayoral candidate Jim Lewis spoke, seemed very relaxed and appeared to be having a good time  …

 

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….. The City was thoroughly represented, by Manager Feldman,  the Police,  and Feldman’s new assistant (pictured above with historic activist Steve Glassman)    ….

…… Next were the District 4 candidates  …. here are the two that have filed so far –

 

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….. 56 year old Walter Duke, and 28 year old Hunter Altschul  … 

 

…….  I asked probing questions of some in the crowd, including this exchange with the developer of the empty lot across from Home Depot  … So, have you decided on what you are going to build?

 

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……   his answer ? …… uh, well, hmm, uh ( well, you get the picture )  …

 

….anyhow, the afternoon ended with everyone feeling good about spending their Sunday afternoon with their fellow citizens  ….who was especially happy ?

 

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…… my Board members !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Donald Trump for Mayor ?

…In a totally unexpected move, the Donald has filed papers to run for Mayor of Fort Lauderdale!

……….  The election for Mayor is not until February 2018, a few months after the Presidential election, and apparently Trump wants to hedge his bets and be really important at least  somewhere !

 

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…. Trump was uncharacteristically stoic when asked about his motivation for the filing for the Mayor job- “Excuse me, Excuse me”, he said, “only I can do this, can you imagine some of these other losers running Fort Lauderdale?”

…… I tried to reach all three of the current candidates for the Mayor job, but only lawyer Jim Lewis took the bait –

 

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…….. “I think this reefer initiative will really be needed now”, he quipped     …..

 

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” I’ll crush this Lewis and all the other low energy fools”, Trump responded  …… “and if I am President then, I’ll change the law so I can do both jobs at the same time”  …… then added, “and I’ll make the damn Cubans pay for it” ….

 

April Fools !

And Then There Were Three !

…….  Another entry into the 2018 Fort Lauderdale Mayoral race  …….

………….   He is well known to the political watching class, as he has run for office (including Fort Lauderdale Mayor) on many occasions   ….. he is also an infamous attorney, represented many well known cases, including little Lionel Tate, who killed a little girl that his mother was babysitting ……

 

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Mayoral candidate Jim Lewis

…..   Now if this pace keeps up, by election day 2018, we will have a field of 743 mayoral candidates to choose from !  ….

 ( remember, you can see all the  candidates in action this Sunday   …. 3pm until 6 pm ….. Annie Beck House 1329 N.Dixie Hwy)

 

More News !! … and an Invitation for Sunday, April 3

…… So I got it right !   ….  we already have two Mayoral candidates running for the prodigious post of Mayor of Fort Lauderdale, 2018 …… the biggest City in Broward County, the 7th largest City in Florida , and the inventor of the wet – t-shirt contest , …… and we also already have  two gents running for Commissioner of District IV ( current Commissioner Romney Rogers is term limited out, and rumors say he will not run for Mayor) .

 

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………. Current Commissioner Bruce Roberts, and former Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom and Wet T-Shirt contest  (are all pictured above, you figure it out !) ,  are running for Mayor …..   …..  And, the two gents running for District IV Commissioner are

 

    duke1 ………..  Walter Duke, who once served as Mayor of Dania Beach and now lives in Rio Vista, and

 

….  hunter   …………….  Hunter Altschul   ……. this is his Linked In profile   …..    I think he is twelve or so, but I look forward to meeting him and finding out why he is running !   …….. ……

…………  So here is your invitation  ….. You can come and hear these candidates, ( I still need confirmation from Duke and Altschul, but I think they will be there ),  along with current Mayor Jack Seiler, and Commissioner Dean Trantalis who will make a few comments    

  ….. this fun event is next Sunday, April 3rd, at the historic Annie Beck House – 1329 N. Dixie Highway  ….  from 3 pm until 6 pm  …. ……. ….    The event is the yearly Spring meeting of the Central City Alliance (formerly the 13th Street Alliance), and you will be fed !

spain1   ………… Spanish themed –  you will be drinking Spanish drinks and eating empanadas ( or some such things)   …………………………

 

           ………………..  You coming?  ….. for more info , call me at  954-822-4727

Updates from Tim !

Hi all  ……

… thanks for continuing to read me here !  …..   Some of your comments took awhile to post  on the last post, but they should all be up now … let me know …  keep commenting !

…….. Now, how about some updates !!

 

…..  First, we just told you last week that former Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom has opened a campaign account to run for Mayor….   The election is way out in  Feb/Mar 2018 !  ….  Ok, so here is my guess….I’m thinking that before you know it, Commissioner Bruce Roberts  will also file, just to make sure Charlotte doesn’t get out there alone !

 

up44  we’ll see   ………

 

…… And speaking of running for Mayor,     ….      today is Super Duper Tuesday, and look who I ran into at my polling place this morning    ….

 

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…. that’s right…. and he tells me he is NOT running for Mayor in 2018 …….

 

……..   the Bahia Mar issue is churning about….word has it that the developer has been meeting with the Central Beach Alliance trying to find a way forward …..  I heard that the developer has come way off his original 39 story request  …we’ll see what happens, but the issue is certainly  not dead   …

 

….. Lastly , seen just north of Sunrise Boulevard, at someone’s house  this week …

 

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…. funny place we live in !

……………………………………. thanks, Tim

Guess Who is Running for Mayor of Fort Lauderdale ?

…… Rumor has it that the first candidate to replace Mayor Jack Seiler when his term expires in 2018 has just filed to run for the position …..

 

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……  I reached Jack, and he just  said  “it was a surprise”    …. Seiler, who had no other comment as he was running off to an official mayoral event , said he would talk to me later !

 

……  crdean

 

……Commissioner Dean Trantalis said he wished the new candidate well ….. seemed he couldn’t really internalize the whole thought..

 

………    So who is the candidate for Mayor of Fort Lauderdale to replace Mayor Seiler ? …Are you guessing ? … do you want me to just get on with it and just tell you?  well ……. first off it wasn’t …..

 

timsmith     me ….

 

….And it wasn’t perennial candidate Earl Rynerson ….or gadfly Charlie King ….  , not even the expected front runner Commissioner Bruce Roberts … nope … it is …. ready for the drum roll ?

 

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……. No, I’m not kidding  ….it’s former City Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom  …. seriously !

……………..   can you comment?

 

 

 

 

Racist Cop Has No Chance of Rehire

…… The hearing for the former Fort Lauderdale Police Officer trying to get his job back after being fired for racist texts ended today …..

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….. fired by Police Chief Frank Adderley

…….The hearing lasted 3 days, and after the Judge/Arbitrator heard what we spectators heard, I think the former Cop better be  enjoying his new job as an electrician!   …… Read on !

.. … The former Cop’s name is Wells ….

 

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        ………………..Wells

…… Wells and four other fellow Officers were linked  together in a secret texting club, with racist and  homophobic texts, and homemade movies deriding blacks, gays and the like  …. downright despicable behavior by anyone   ……. especially  Cops !!

….   Here is an example of the texts that they spread between them as they rode the streets of Fort Lauderdale, hired  to protect and serve !

 

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…… Wells explained this text by saying that in his response to Officer Alvarez, he didn’t mean “physically” hurt them, said he just meant he might write them a ticket ( seriously, he said that !)

 

……. This afternoon was the highlight of the  three day case – Wells’ testimony…. About 60 people were in the room ( third floor City Hall), comprised of mostly black citizens, some Cops, and a few white guys like me   …. Notably in the room was Ted Galatis, (you might remember the former Wilton Manors Commissioner was caught yelling racist taunts to a car of blacks a few years back)…. . Also in the room was former building official Greg Brewton, builder Bob Young, and NAACP officials …..

 

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…… Here is another text that was on display for all of us to see just behind Well’s head….

 

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….   Wells explained that the term s/5 meant “kill him” ( the suspect), but that he didn’t think his fellow Cop Alvarez “really” meant he would kill him, or he said he would have “done something” !

 

…………  The 5 foot by 5 foot display of Wells and his secret frat’s texts, plus the relentless tough questioning by the City’s attorney ( not Cynthia Everett) seems to have sealed his fate…

 

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….. The Judge has 30 days to rule whether the Cop gets his job back   ….. but I can’t imagine it  ….. and certainly hope not !!

Racists Cops Rehired ?

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…. ….. Have you forgotten that the City suspended four Police Officers a few years back for posting terrible  anti-gay and anti-black messages on the internet?

 

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…… well guess what ?   …   On Wednesday, (Feb. 17th)  at 9 am …. on the third floor of City Hall, those same Officers might get rehired! … really !

 

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… there will be an arbitration hearing where those Cops will ask for their jobs back, probably saying they are reformed racists and homophobes …

….  And what’s even worse  … I heard that at first, the City Attorney suggested not opening the  hearing to the citizens  …. really !

 

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….but that decision was reversed, thank God, and you can attend the meeting….I’m going, because nothing could be worse than rehiring those Cops  …… we are not the kind of City that should allow this type of behavior  ….  Can you come and join me?   …see you Wednesday morning….9 am  ….3rd floor ….City Hall

……………

 

 

The Christmas Party

So this is your official invitation !

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…. This is the one I’ve been obsessing over ….. We invited the most accomplished little elementary kids that are excelling in our local schools, despite being very disadvantaged   ….

……   We asked YOU to take toys to the Christmas Palace,  and at first the effort was looking meek, but then  ….

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……..you filled up the tree  ….  but we needed more so  …

 

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…. you brought MORE !!!  ….filled up another tree !  …. Now we can still use some more great toys, but what we really need now is YOU !!   ….Can you come?

 

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….   ……  … The party is Sunday, in the Middle River Terrace Park ( 1329 N, Dixie) from 2 until 5    …. There will be food, games, fun, the big shots, ….  and the giving of the toys !!!!  ….

….I hope you’ll come ….everyone is invited, I’d even invite   ….

 

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………..   anybody got his number ???

 

 

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