Tim Smith's Fort Lauderdale

The conventional wisdom was that Charlotte Rodstroms’ second attempt to become a Broward  County Commissioner was all but dead, until last week.

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……. the wily Rodstroms !

 

Rodstroms’ long time friend and ally – attorney Bill Scherer –  successfully sued in Circuit Court this week to have the August Democratic primary opened to Republicans, because the only  candidate in the Republican primary did not live in the District,  (the District is mostly Coconut Creek, Margate, some of Coral Springs and Pompano Beach).

The Judge disqualified him, and said without a Republican running,  the republicans would be able to cross over and vote in the democratic primary.

Now there wouldn’t be anything wrong with all that – except – candidate Charlotte Rodstrom herself doesn’t live in the District !  The Rodstroms have lived on posh Nurmi Isles, off Las Olas for a long time, and no moving trucks have been spotted at their home! The irony!

Some pundits think that a sizable portion of the republicans might vote for Rodstrom ( her husband John was once a republican, head of the Young Republican Club), and that could swing the balance to Rodstrom.

 

 

John Rodstrom was in court to hear the news (pictured above). The Supervisor of Elections hasn’t commented on whether she can pull off the change in time for the August primary, but is expected to make an announcement early next week.

 

Charlotte Rodstrom ( now going by the name Charlotte Elizabeth Rodstrom), might be back in the race!

 

 

 

While you are busy planning your summer vacation, the bean counters at City Hall are busy counting the beans, and deciding how they get spent next year.

 

And there is a lot of beans to spend!  Five hundred and seventy two million!

As a comparison, my last year as a Commissioner, 2003, saw a budget of three hundred thirty five million.

 

The recommended budget is put together by the City Manager and his staff, and is ultimately approved in September by the City Commission, after a public hearing in which there will be nearly no citizens being heard ( because they will not attend).

 

 

     Anyhow, here are some highlights from this year’s nearly 100 page City Budget!

 

The budget of 572 million is 8.5 million more than last year. They can do that because our real estate is finally worth more (6 million) than last year. I’m not sure where they get the other 2.5 million, but they probably found it behind some bean counters desk!

 

The Police Department will get 93 milliion ( more on that in a minute), the Fire Department 67 million, the Parks Department 38 million.

The Water Department drinks up 129 million, then add Trash at 23 million, the Executive Airport with 8 million, debt service at 34 million, sprinkle with all sorts of projects to fix bridges, the riverwalk, the beach, 85 million – stir and spend!

Some of the more  interesting nuggets –

Climate Change Initiative – $174,000

More Lifeguards – $350,000

A Federal Lobbyist – $40,000

A Fundraiser – $93,000

New Lobby Furniture for the Building Department – $100,000 … huh??

 

And back to the Police Department –

 

They are getting a million less than last year, but are getting some new goodies –

Traffic message speed signs – $56,000

Engines for Police Boats – $42,800

T-3 Motion Patrolman  – (pictured below) $47,936

 

Maybe the Chief can do his house calls on those !

 

 

 

 

 

 

His name is Doug Blevins, and he is running for Mayor of Wilton Manors against the incumbent, Gary Resnick.

 

          

                                Blevins                                                                                 Resnick

Blevins, a realtor,  was the President of  the South Middle River Civic Association in Fort Lauderdale, and is often credited for starting the renaissance of that neighborhood. He took over the association with a paltry 14 members, and built it to a respectable 160 member organization.

Blevins took on the crime that has plagued SMR, fought with the City to do something about derelict properties,  and got the neighborhood working as a team.

Blevins moved to Wilton Manors and has been very active there also, serving on Boards, and running the Wilton Manors Main Street organization, that is pushing to take Wilton Drive from 4 lanes to 2 lanes. It looks like the reduction may happen, as the State has already made plans to “beef up” Dixie Highway, which is expected to take much of the traffic that now uses Wilton Drive.

                           

                                                    

Resnick

Resnick has been successful as Mayor of Wilton Manors, but may have overstayed his welcome. He first got elected to the W.M. City Commission in 1998, then was first elected as Mayor in 2008. There are no term limits in W.M..

Resnick, a lawyer, took criticism when he pushed to scale back the County Ethics law, that kept him from being a lobbyist for other cities while serving as Mayor.

I’m supporting Blevins. He is a true grass roots guy, and his passion and newness would be good for Wilton Manors.

 

                                               

Here is Blevin’s campaign crew, which I think might also double as the Gay Men’s choir 🙂   …. Tim

 

 

Come one Come all !

This Saturday, July 5th, from 4pm until 7 pm

Join Police Chief Frank Adderley and the SmartWater company …..

 

…… at the dock in Middle River Terrace (NE 18th Street and NE 8th Ave.) ….

.               …… Where you can get your SmartWater (free if you live in MRT, $30 if you don’t)

……..  There will be a free bar-b-cue, free crime fighting tips, free entertainment from a livc band,

 

                                                                   Saturday July 5th

                                              NE 8th Avenue and NE 18th Street

                                                                 4pm until 7 pm

free food/entertainment…. SmartWater!

(rain or shine) …. call 954-822-4727 for more info

 

The Fort Lauderdale Police Chief is on a mission.

     Chief Frank Adderley, who has been the Chief of Police for about 7 years,  lives in the modest neighborhood where he grew up, Dorsey Riverbend, which is just south of Sistrunk Boulevard.

But his attention has turned to the neighborhoods north of Sunrise Boulevard.

That is where the crime is highest in the City, and Adderley has been out in those neighborhoods, and says he is personally committed to solving the hefty problems there.

 

First, Adderley called the leaders of South Middle River, Middle River Terrace, Lauderdale Manors, LakeRidge, and the 13th Street Alliance to a meeting at the Lauderdale Manors community center, and unveiled new strategies. Department brass  showed the attendees pictures of a few dozen felon juveniles that have been burglarizing 100’s of homes in the area, and spoke about the Department’s plans.

Then he talked about the  SmartWater program, which the City is expanding to Lauderdale Manors and Middle River Terrace, after successful results from the pilot program in South Middle River.

This week, Adderley took his show on the road, door to door!

 

Adderley and SmartWater reps walked  Saturday in Lauderdale Manors, explaining the program to homeowners, and signing them up.

 

 

Gotta love it !  ……. Good Luck Chief!

 

 

 

We told you last week that it looked like the City finally had a solution to complete the missing link of the Riverwalk, …. but then maybe not, …. but then maybe so!

Well this week it looks like  ……. maybe not again!

 

For a quick history of the long painful snafu, a big development company called the Related Group bought a little grocery store on Las Olas in 1998, (called the Hyde Park Market), and planned a big condo project there.   The $250 million project was to look like this ……

 

That is the condo project that was proposed in 1998 on the left ….. the 1901 Stranahan House is the little house in the middle, and the Riverside Hotel is on the right.

Fast Forward to 2011 ….  The City and the Stranahan  sued the developer for a decade to stop the big condo, and take the property for a park by eminent domain.

The City and the Stranahan House finally lost, so the builder was free to go ahead, and the long effort to finish the Riverwalk behind the new project seemed about to happen –  or maybe not again!

The Marine Industry cried foul!  They were miffed they weren’t consulted on the whole deal, said the plan was dangerous to boat traffic, and gummed up the deal. But after a meeting with the DDA last week,  it looked like everyone worked out a compromise that would make the Riverwalk completion a reality –

      But wait! – here is the new/latest wrinkle.  The Related group now says they want the building permit for that big condo, and they will sign off on the Riverwalk connection on their property.  But they say that they  only want to have to live up to the building code of 2004, when they should have been granted the permit –  but the City is saying that they will have to live up to the current 2014 code –

The Director of the Downtown Development Authority, Chris Wren, who is leading the effort to get the Riverwalk connection is thinking positively – ” we’ll just have to  go through the community process, one way or another, we will get the connection”…

….. Oh for God Sakes !!!

 

 

 

 

 

Back in the day -( say 1919), in Fort Lauderdale, there was a important club of ladies called the 1919 club, or the 1919 Study Club.

The Club was made up of the important dames of the town, and started in the home of one of the most important ladies of the times – Annie Beck.  Annie and husband Albert ( the first pharmacist), lived right on Las Olas, until the 1970’s, when their modest home was moved a few blocks off the Boulevard.

 

Annie at home, just off Las Olas

 

Well Annie  died in 1985, at the age of 98 years old.

Fast Forward to 2006.  The house, slated for demolition, was saved by the Broward Trust for Historic Preservation, and moved way across town to the Middle River Terrace Park.

                                                      

The 13th Street Alliance manages the house there in the park, and offers it to organizations for meetings. This past month, guess who met in there?

 

The 1919 Club !   ……

 

                                                       

Annie and Alfred would be so proud!

 

The Fort Lauderdale Riverwalk has never been finished.

                                                 

 

As you can see, if you are walking the Riverwalk toward Las Olas, and are about 100 feet from the oldest house in the City, the 1905  Stranahan House, and take one more step, you will be swimming in the New River.

 

                                                           

 

The Riverwalk is supposed to end here, next to the Stranahan House, and then you should continue onto Las Olas,  but controversies between the developer (that owns the land next door), and the Stranahan House, (and the City), has always been a stumbling block.

But this year, those differences were finally worked out, and the Downtown Development Authority, Fort Lauderdale Riverwalk and the City began to make plans to make it happen.

 

“Not so fast “, said the powerful Marine Industry.

Marine industry kingpin Barry Flannigan, along with others from the industry, went to authorities  responsible for the river with complaints about the safety of the plan. It looked like the effort to finally connect the Riverwalk would be set aside, but meetings between Flannigan and the DDA might be proving successful …..

Here is an e-mail sent to Commissioner Bruce Roberts from his assistant –

On Jun 20, 2014, at 9:30 AM, “Robbi Uptegrove” <RUptegrove@fortlauderdale.gov> wrote:
[Flannigan} called to say he met w/Dunkel, Wren and contractor re: Riverwalk issue – is happy w/outcome and feels the Marine Industry will be very happy too.

                                                           Keep your fingers crossed !

Hello readers!

I hope you find this new format for the blog easy to read and comment.  I’m a creature of habit ( like most of you), and wouldn’t have changed things, but the Go Daddy company made me !

Let me know ……   Tim

      Last night, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission took up the proposal by Commissioner Dean Trantalis to pass a resolution to back gay marriage for Florida.

      When the hearing started, around 7 pm, the room was nearing capacity, and filled quickly with over 100 citizens.  

                                         

       Surprisingly, the crowd was almost entirely in favor of the proposal. Only a handful of anti- gay marriage proponents showed, and they proved to be their own worse enemy. They passed out the flyers below, full of over the top statements.

                                          

                                             

       The flyers say Trantalis’s proposal ” goes against the moral teaching of the Bible”, and goes on to say that people that support the resolution therefore “endorse incest sex, polygamy, and group sex”. It goes on to say that “male and female sex organs naturally fit together”, says” the “same cannot be said for male-male or female-female”. The flyers ramble about pedophilia, race, and producing babies.

                                   Here is a recap of the hearing from my notes

        …..  Bobby looks concerned  …….   Roberts seems engaged….  speaker says he’s getting married with his partner on Labor Day – in Mexico City  …..  another speaker says he got married last September, in NYC.……  Michael Albetta says passing the resolution would be a smart thing to do  ….. reminds Commission he helped many of them get elected.….  anti resolution speaker says he doesn’t think he should check his religion at the door ( of City Hall) ...says it is immoral …says “we are made male and female   …… female Rabbi says you can read the Bible many ways …. says you could “kiss your bacon cheeseburger goodbye” [if you read it literally] ….. says if you object to gay marriage she suggests you not marry anyone of the same sex ….. clinical psychologist says he prayed to God as a teen to make him straight …..  anti speaker says this would lead to brother and sister marrying, and that the proposal says God, Moses and Jesus are wrong …. gay chamber of commerce speaker talks of economic impact to Fort Lauderdale by gay tourists  …..

                  ……..  Public hearing closed  …..   Comm. Roberts starts  …..  is going to back the reso  ….Comm. Dubose declines to make comments  …..Comm. Rogers says he will vote against it ….says he has to lean on “the sanctity of marriage” ….. Comm. Trantalis makes his case for the reso  …..Mayor Seiler finishes by reminding crowd that he “signed first domestic partnership” law in Wilton Manors, has been a supporter of civil unions …… but goes on to tell the crowd that he would not be backing the reso .…..

            …… vote …. 3/2 in favor, Rogers and Seiler opposing  …..

                                          So what now ?