Tim Smith's Fort Lauderdale

. …   I’m a Democrat, and if you read yesterday’s post (always available at TimSmith.com !)   you’ll know I, in particular, am in deep doo-doo ! (Go back one post if you don’t know what I’m talking about).

…..  You see, not only did my party take a serious shellacking in Florida, and nationally, but my local pick didn’t make it either!  And then there is that issue about the bird deposits!

 

……There was only one thing to do –

 

 

 

 

 

……… The Indignity !

 

My wife Cindy and I spent an hour this morning, standing at the infamous 5 points intersection in Wilton Manors,  stumping for Wilton Manors Mayoral candidate Doug Blevins.

 

me and the candidate Doug ! 

…….  Now, going back to the title of this post, there’s certainly no indignity in stumping for Doug! ……  Blevins is an old friend or ours. Over a decade ago, Doug was President of the South Middle River neighborhood, and gets much of the credit for starting to turn that neighborhood around…. He is a real go-getter.

 

…… No, the indignity came from this –

 

Yup, see those BIG damn birds up on the wires above…. well, I was just below them and  they made a deposit right on my arm that was waving the Blevins sign!

 

….Now a little mea culpa – I had to think quick…I had a job to do and the bird’s offering was starting to dry-  quick… I looked behind me, thinking I needed something in a hurry to wipe this indignity off  … and there it was  …

 

………..  So, sorry Governor  ….. But if Crist wins tonight, I don’t have anything to worry about  ….  And if Doug does win, the first thing I’ll ask him to do? ….Do something about those overhead power  wires at 5 points!!

 

 

 

We’ve been following the dope dealing escapades at the biggest entertainment venue on the beach –

 

………. Beach Place

 

If you haven’t been there in awhile,  …. here’s a refresher –

…… you can get a tasty pile of  Hooters wings, swing into Lula’s Bait Shack, get your ticket for a Duck Tour, buy a pair of crocs,

………. or,   buy a bag of pot ???

 

 

Yup   …there’s been a lot of arrests there, even one of the bartenders was arrested for selling a pound of weed to an undercover agent. And you might remember that one of the security company’s guards ( Navarro) was implicated in the sale too ! (Beach Place has since replaced Navarro).

So now, the City is playing hardball, threatening to take away the complex’s Entertainment District license.

 

 

……..  A strongly worded letter sent from City Manager Feldman to the operators at Beach Place,  says they are in default of the conditions of their license, and are in jeopardy of losing their lucrative ability to keep operating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…..    It was  Make a Difference Day in Fort Lauderdale, and we did!

 

There were a few dozen projects around the City today, but here is my story…..

 

….. In my neighborhood, Middle River Terrace, there is a little store on Dixie Highway that we painted a mural on the side of,  20 years ago, and we decided it was time to go back and finish the front!!

 

!

 

About 25 neighbors showed up, starting at 8 a.m. We had the same artist from 20 years ago, Louise Birmingham, sketch out the fishes, and the rest of us filled in ….

 

     …..        

 

…………

 

………….   We took a group shot about half way through the morning ….

 

…….

 

 

…………..  We had our City leaders come out a lend a hand  –

 

 

……..   or just look amazed!   …..

 

……………   Even the neighborhood kids had a blast …

 

 

…….. And, in the end ……

 

……………………………………….

 

We Made a Difference !!!

 

…….. 

………   I just voted, and it was easy as pie!

 

…… You can early vote right now. I was reminded of that when I drove past the Wilton Manors City Hall this morning and saw this sign.

……  And I was impressed. It took me all of 8 minutes, from parking at the free meters, walking in ( they only want to see your Drivers License) voting, and gone.

……. There were voting workers every 3 feet, you couldn’t screw up if you tried. I told the ladies out front how impressed I was and took one of their pictures …..

 

 

…..well, kind of !

 

……As I was leaving, one of the advocates asked me if I voted their way –

 

 

…….   hell yea 🙂

 

 

…..It was the cryptic wording of the Commissioner Dean Trantalis invite that had some wondering.

 

 

…… Just what were those BIG Election Plans? Well, last night it was revealed, at Trantalis’s Big Party!

 

Trantalis greeting me last night

 

……  The announcement was made in a big warehouse in Fat Village, after a nice party that seemed more like a geriatric discotheque than a political gathering!  Loud dance music blared, and the red wine flowed freely –

 

……..   Then Trantalis took to the microphone and announced –    #3  (see previous post for the answer)

 

……… I then was asked to lead a nice rendition of Happy Birthday to Trantalis, that I did happily.

 

 

…… The Commissioner that represents the majority – black part of Fort Lauderdale on the Fort Lauderdale City Commission has been elected to the Florida House of Representatives, and his temporary replacement will be chosen in a few weeks.

 

…..  Bobby Dubose is leaving

 

….. It will only be a temporary appointment, as a permanent Commissioner will be elected next March, during the regularly scheduled elections.

 

The four temporaries in the running are –

 

Barbara Houston Wilson-  a long time area educator that has run for the Broward School Board multiple times – that picture is from those races ( City races are non-partisan) .

……………………………………………………

John H. Hill III, ( no picture available) is part of a family dynasty of business pioneers in NW Fort Lauderdale.  There is a monument to the Hill family on NW 7thAvenue, due to the family’s philanthropic actions.

Oddly, Hill’s mother was once acquitted of killing her husband, ” by reason of insanity”.

……………………………………………………..

 

Robert L. McKinzie Jr., who ran strong, though unsuccessfully for a County Commission seat, is the only one of the four that has announced that he will be running for the permanent Commission seat. Some on the Commission are reticent to choose a candidate for the permanent seat as the temp. The thinking is that it would give the temp an unfair advantage in the March election. I agree!

…………………………………………………………

 

Samuel F. Morrison, (my choice) is a long – time respected community activist, and is best known as the former administrator of the Broward County Library system.

 

……  We should know the outcome October 21st.

 

…… So Commissioner Dean Trantalis sent out an e-mail- invitation to supporters today that has left some wondering …..

Here is the invite –

 

……  I got a few calls and e-mails about the line in the invite where Trantalis  says – Announcing BIG Election Plans –

…..   The calls I got were like “BIG Plans? …He’s running for Mayor isn’t he , come on, tell me Tim!”

Though I do know the answer, I’m not going to ruin Deans’ big  announcement by telling you here! ….  but I’ll give you three guesses- how’s that sound? …..  and we’ll all know for sure Tuesday! Here’s your choices –

1.) Trantalis has been picked by Charlie Christ to be his in house lawyer in Tallahassee?

 

or

2.) Trantalis is running for Mayor?

 

or

3.) Trantalis is running for his District II seat again, and just wanted a little drama ?

 

………………   what do you think?

….. With September comes action in Fort Lauderdale. Everyone has come home from their vacations, and vacation homes, and have gotten down to business for a new year.

So let’s catch up on what’s happening, and some updates from last season. Now a days people are loving bicycles to travel from one place to another. But it is essential to know about traffic failure after bicycle accidents with the help of attorneys to avoid consequences.

1.) Beach Place “ a place for all your dope needs ?” – 

 

 

………….. you might remember that the busy retail complex on the beach, on the famous strip, had been sighted as a nuisance for issues on the property, including disturbances, assaults, batteries, wanted persons, trespassing, beverage violations, and narcotic offenses.

     ….. The property has had over 1000 calls for service from the police over the last year. The City’s Nuisance Board placed the complex under their control and ordered corrections, including more security guards from their security group.

 

……. 

 

… The good news is that they staffed more Navarro guards –  the bad news? … two of the Navarro security guards were getting arrested another state for dealing dope there !!  I’m not kidding.

……   The first guard  “sold $20 worth of cannabis” to an undercover cop that was first brought from the Best Brampton dispensary. Navarro fired that guard after his arrest. The second Navarro guard directed an undercover cop to to the cook at Lulas, who eventually sold a pound of pot to undercover cops . Click here to meet the experts  who explains on how useful the cannabis is on delta-8 flower strains and other products.

……   The attorney for Beach Place had said that the Navarro guards had gone through rigorous screening, and they were happy with Navarro. Now, they apparently have changed their minds and are hiring a new security company. I reached out to Navarro, and they said they would get back to me  ……hmmm

 

2.) The Mayoral race in Wilton Manors has an interesting new twist. I endorsed the challenger to the long term mayor a few months back. Now, that challenger, Doug Blevins, has secured another substantial endorsement – Dean Trantalis!

 

   

….   Trantalis has said that the current Mayor, Gary Resnick, has not put enough effort into the proposed enhanced pedestrian promenade ( two-laning Wilton Drive), and that Blevins has been a long time  advocate for it and will get it done…. …..

3.)  …..  Remember when then City Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom delayed her departure date from the City Commission by two weeks, although that decision ended up costing the taxpayers $200,000 for a special election?

….  Well now, an effort by their attorney, Bill, Scherer, to let the Republicans vote in Charlotte’s County Democratic primary effortlast August has  lost,  the Supervisor of Elections says that a special election will have to be held – price tag? – $400,000 !

………… Can we invoice the Rodstroms?