Tim Smith's Fort Lauderdale

     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

     Word has it that relief may be on the way.

     The decision to transfer the Fort Lauderdale Police Street Crimes Unit back into Patrol has been reversed!

     You’ll remember that the new Police Chief, Frank Adderley, created the powerful Special Force to turn back rising crime rates and nagging street crimes. Adderley knew how productive those teams could be, as he was a Special Team member himself, back in the day…. see below!

                                             
                                                         
                                 Adderley, with former Chief McCarthy (in street clothes) behind him

      But a new City Commission, with a mission to cut government spending, sent City Officials scrambling for ways to cut, and it nearly nixed the cost-effective squad.

      Street crimes lurched forward, and neighborhoods from SR 84 to Wilton Manors began to feel the pain – and complain!

      Chief Adderley says the Unit is back in action – bad guys beware! 

            

     While the new City Commission wrestles with forecasted budget woes, some areas in the City are feeling the effects already, in blood on the streets!

     Yesterday, horrified neighbors and business owners watched as a 30 year-old crackhead was stabbed in broad daylight by a group of drug dealing thugs at the busy intersection of Dixie Hwy. and NE 13th Street. And as the onlookers feverishly tried to call 911, no one answered, (more about that in a minute).

     Things had been greatly improving in the area, with new Police Chief Frank Adderley’s special Street Crimes Unit, but the City Administration has reportedly ordered reductions in the Police Departments budgeted overtime, and the Special Unit has been ordered back into Patrol duties. Crime in the area is quickly getting worse.

                                                                               
                                                                       Chief Adderley and former Chief Roberts

     Here’s how yesterday’s mayhem played out:

………….   the bloodied man’s screams got everybody’s attention. The area business owners darted outside to see what the fracas was all about. ” He was covered with blood, staggering around the intersection yelling –  I’ve been stabbed“, said Katherine Barry, Director of the non-profit, Home’s Inc., which builds and maintains homes and apartments for aged out foster kids and other needy folks. “Cars were slamming on their breaks to dodge him, it’s a wonder no one ran him down”.

     Many of those watching began to call 911. But nobody was home! ” I let it ring at least 30 times”, said one bystander, who asked not to be identified. Others reported the same problems as they called 911. [ The 911 Call Center  is not run by the Fort Lauderdale Police, but by the Broward Sheriff’s Office.] 
      “And the stabbing thugs just hung around and went into the Super Duper Liquors to get a bottle like they weren’t the slightest bit worried”, said 13th Street Alliance V.P. Randall Klett.

     Still awaiting a Police response, Barry, a woman small in stature, but big in chutzpah, decided to follow the thugs as they left the area. “I didn’t want them to get away” explained Barry, “so followed them into the park, but my high heels were slowing me down”.

      Neighbors finally got through to Fort Lauderdale Police by calling them directly at the Police Station, but by then, the thugs had made their get-a-way. The crackhead was transported to the hospital.

      Police Administration officials say they are frustrated. They say that everyone “likes to say Public Safety is priority one”, but do they really mean it?

     

    

     The first full meeting of the new Fort Lauderdale City Commission was a doozy.

     In a marked difference from the brief, and generally short on substance meetings of former Mayor Jim Naugle’s City Commission, yesterday’s meeting of the new Mayor Seiler Commission took on most of the pressing issues of the day.

     Mayor Seiler apologized multiple times for “loading up the agenda”, but said there was a lot to do and he and his Commission were ready to get to work. And get to work they did!

              
              Rogers …. Dubose …. Roberts ….  not Rodstrom  ……. Seiler                  (the real Rodstrom)          

    Get an eyeful of just some of the lofty items they discussed yesterday:

   ….  considered the Property Appraiser’s plan to reduce home values
                                then….. 
     …..  stopped much of the City’s discretionary spending
     …..  curtailed City Employee travel
     …..  agreed to install cameras to catch red light runners ( revenue producer!)
     …..  canceled Capitol projects they felt weren’t worthy
     …..  approved Neighborhood Enhancement projects ( but reduced program by 10%)
                                           and also …..
     …..  picked a new Vice-Mayor (former Chief/Commissioner, now Vice-Mayor Roberts
     …..  asked Advisory Boards to add “note to the Commission” on their minutes for important issues
     …..  talked of gearing up City’s Centennial celebration plans
     …..  picked firms to deal with the City’s foreclosure properties
     
     

    ………………………..   and then it was a little after midnight, and they called it a day (or a night!).

     Only time will tell if this group will keep up the pace, and deal with the problems that are facing our City…

                                                     ………………….   but yesterday was a good start!

    In the most sweeping and bold action ever taken by any City Government anywhere in the world, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission decided late Tuesday to throw in the towel and completely cancel the entire municipal government!

     The City Commission, which began the year the City was incorporated, 1911, had almost made it 100 years before it ended yesterday.

     It all happened unexpectedly Tuesday during the second meeting of the new Commission.

        … City Manager Gretsas was giving the new City Commission a report on all the expenditures in the “pipeline”, as had been requested of him during the Commission’s first meeting last week. Apparently, the massive amount of expected future spending sent the Commissioners into a irretrievable frenzy.


   ….. Commissioner Bruce Roberts started the discussion. ” OMG, I thought the Police department budget was big! This is unacceptable.” Roberts went on to state that he was a fiscal conservative, his “peeps” were fiscal conservatives, something fiscally conservative must  be done.

     
   ….. Mayor Jack Seiler was also aghast. “Who’s job was it to watch that old Commission anyhow”, Seiler wondered aloud. “This government is more bloated than a warted toad on a foggy morning!”.  “I can’t begin to imagine where to start to cut this heap? Maybe we should try the zero based budgeting I talked about during the campaign –  start with zero!!”


     “atta boy Jack, Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom piped in as her and Seiler high-fived at the thought. ” If we start from scratch, Gretsas wouldn’t be the City Manager, would he?”,  she questioned. 



 …. “slow down fellas”, Commissioner Bobby Dubose chimed in. I’m just getting started. Seems like you all would just cancel the whole cotton picking City Government if you had your way!”.


     Silence fell over the room. Only the feverish scrathing of Brittany Wallman’s pencil could be heard!



  ….. They could all see what was about to happen. Nothing would stop this freight train.  Commissioner Romney Rogers reached out his hands to the others and began to pray feverishly – “Lord guide us through this dismantlement” he asked.


     Rodstrom made the motion. It passed unanimously . Fort Lauderdale Government was done… officially closed…. up in smoke …. never to spend another dime!


                     ……..   and  


                     April Fools !!





                                                                                                                         

     They say when economies tank, crime inevitably follows. 

     Fort Lauderdale is no exception, at least in January.  But was crime up in your neighborhood? We’ll answer that for you in just a minute.


     Let’s look at the Big Picture first. The Fort Lauderdale Police Department reports that violent crimes City-Wide (murder,rape,robbery, and aggravated assault), were up 10% this January over last January. And property crimes (burglary, car thefts/break-ins, and other larcenies) were up 4% over last year. 
     But these increases are relatively small compared to increases in cities like Boston, St. Louis, Orlando, and Detroit, where violent crime categories have surged 20% to 30%. And Fort Lauderdale Police officials say February numbers, due out any day, are looking much better. But where are the most serious problems occurring in Fort Lauderdale?  …………   and ……….

      what neighborhood is winning the least coveted “most crimes” distinction so far this year ?  ….  

     It’s South Middle River, with 36 major crimes already reported in the first month of 2009. South Middle River is a  sprawling neighborhood north of Sunrise Boulevard and east of Powerline Road. It has dozens of ways in and out (a crook’s preference), hodge-podge zoning that inhibits homeowners looking out for their neighbors, and a very diverse make-up that includes a mix of gays moving in and gentrifying, and many of the city’s poorest Haitian immigrants.

                                            
                                          FLPD keeping watch on SMR’s drug dealer problems  


      Compare SMR’s crime totals (36), to other neighborhoods in the city. Here is a sampling of safer neighborhoods, crimes reported,  in January:

Bal Harbour – 0
Beverly Heights – 1
Collee Hammock – 2
Dolphin Isles – 1
Nurmi Isles – 0
Galt Ocean Mile – 3
Harbor Beach – 1
Rio Vista – 3
Sunrise Intracoastal – 0

     But there are other neighborhoods with substantial amounts of crime also: 

     Mayor Jack Seiler’s neighborhood (Coral Ridge) reported (12) crimes, Commissioner Bruce Roberts’ (Imperial Point) reported (7) and coming in near the top of the list, at #3, with (25) crimes reported,  is Dorsey Riverbend, home of

                                                                
                                                 Police Chief Frank Adderley !
                                                          (feeling the pain!)


     To find out how your neighborhood ranks, click on the link below ……..

                                                            http://ci.ftlaud.fl.us/police/pdf/statistics/HOA_YTD.pdf

     The tasks must surely seem daunting.

    High hopes are riding on the success of the new five!


                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
                                 Rogers…. Dubose…. Roberts…… not Rodstrom….. Seiler


     And as they get down to work, suggestions are being made about just where they ought to start. Sure, they’lI have the budget, normal purchases, and ongoing things to attend to, but I’m talking big picture here. I’m including a few of my own suggestions below, and I hope you will comment  (be brave!) and add your own thoughts to the list.


    
                     Election Reform – While it’s still fresh in our memories, we should change the way we elect our Commissioners and Mayor. A dismal 12% of  the City’s registered voters bothered to come out and vote on March 10th. That’s disgraceful.
 
We should change election day to November to coincide with the Presidential elections. We will need to change the length of the terms for the Mayor and Commissioners to four years (it’s now three) to make it work.  We  should probably adjust the term limits to (2) 4 – year terms instead of the current (3) 3- year terms. Critics say the City might get lost in the shuffle if we move the elections to November, but could we really be any more lost than 12%?

And while we’re at it, new restrictions on those shadowy groups that contribute outside the City campaign finance system should be instituted. 


     
                       City Manager –   It’s no secret that Commissioner Rodstrom wants to oust  City Manager George Gretsas. The question is whether she’ll have two more votes to accomplish that with her new colleagues. It will be unsettling for all if the answer isn’t evident up front, and soon. It sounds like a majority want Gretsas to stay under certain conditions. If that’s the case, spell out the conditions for Gretsas staying and get on with it. If there are three that want to hire their own Manager, then get on with that.


     
                        The Vision Thing – It was a staple at all the debates. What should the City look like in the future?  What is the plan?  Is there consensus?  Should the citizenry be included in the answer? The only sensible answer is YES ! … Figure out a public process to reach City-Wide consensus on what the City wants to be when it grows up!  Do it sooner than later and you’ll have a game plan to follow that has fresh citizen buy-in! 



     
                               Land Use Code Changes – This issue has been moving in an excruciatingly slow fashion for the last few years.
      It was started by an amazingly broad-based  group of Fort Lauderdalians some years ago and sent off to the Commission for review. It proposes changes to the City’s rules about building most everything. (Large townhouses need to be set back at the second floor, where’s the place for garbage cans to sit when they’re not at the street, green building techniques should be encouraged , those sorts of things). The old Commission sent it into committee/consultant hell and little has happened. We should make the changes to the planning rules now while things are slow, and we’ll have a more agreeable citizenry when things heat up again..


                       ………. OK, there’s a short list from just one citizen. I hope you will add to the list. The Mayor and Commissioners have been known to read this blog! …………..Tim

     We have New Leadership in Fort Lauderdale.

                                                                
                          
                     Dubose, Rodstrom (partially hidden by Judge),Seiler, Roberts, Rogers 
    

     This morning, the five took the oath of office before a standing room only crowd. They thanked their families and their friends. They spoke of new opportunities, collegiality, and high hopes. Now, they must get down to business.

     It’s the first time in 50 years that a new City Commission had four new members. Only Rodstrom was kept over to this Commission. But all five seemed to be “chomping at the bit” to get started. They meet this evening for their first session. 

     Let’s all get behind this new Commission and wish them Good Luck !