 | | DONNA BERGER ESQ |
Having uncovered the key to penetrating the industry lockbox, association attorneys statewide were given the green light to fight for benefits legitimately owed to hundreds of association clients and their individual members. To help prevent associations from relapsing into paralysis, the day after her interview, Berger reminded CAN members that Hurricane damage claims are subject to a five-year Statute of Limitations. Although it’s too late to file for damage repair costs attributable to 2004 Hurricanes Ivan, Frances, Jeanne, Charley and Bonnie, the deadline to file claims for damages wrought by Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma is almost here. For Hurricane Katrina, the Statute of Limitations expires on August 25, 2010. Wilma claims can be filed through October 24, 2010.
 | | CHALFONTE IN BOCA RATON AWARDED $9 MILLION |
While many insurers have openly used intimidation and fraud to deter policyholders from opening or reopening inert financial claims, unfortunately, another huge pool of potential claimants has been constrained by misconceptions about carrier mechanics. One of the most prevalent myths is that filing a claim will trigger cancellation, non-renewal or a rate increase.
 | | HURRICANE WILMA HITS FLORIDA |
Section 627.4133(3) of the Florida Statutes provides: “Claims on property insurance policies that are a result of an act of God may not be used as a cause for cancellation or nonrenewal.” While property owners may be singled out for defaulted premiums or structural noncompliance, carriers can only refuse to renew entire classes of property owner, not cherry pick individuals based on claims activity. If an association submits a dozen claims amounting to $2 million and a structurally similar neighboring association submits nothing, both will be either dropped, renewed or face a rate increase depending on whether they satisfy the carrier’s class eligibility requirements. Even if they both get the boot, the first association is $2 million better off than their timid neighbor.
 Associations and homeowners also fall prey to the carrier’s contention that damages fail to exceed their deductible. Since this assertion is generally based on a superficial review of the storm-related damages, gullible association Boards are prone to accept this offhand. As a rule, a healthy percentage of structural damage is not apparent in a storm damage inventory. Only a structural engineer (or the passage of time) will expose storm-related, long-term structural deficits that are usually far more expensive to correct than damages enumerated in the carrier’s assessment. Boards are also apt to overlook consequential expenses such as remediation of post-storm mold proliferation, relocation expenses, dumpster costs, in house cleanup expenses, water treatment and a sizable list of other hits to the budget.
 Unless a release was signed, associations that received checks from their carriers are not precluded from submitting additional claims, either for an incremental benefit for an expense already addressed or costs that were never previously considered. While filing for owed benefits will not cure the terrible recessionary impacts that afflict the association budget, adding back what was drained to repair our homes will certainly blunt the fiscal pain. When filing a claim that necessitates legal assistance, if the association attorney (or any unit owner’s lawyer) is unable or unwilling to work on a contingency basis, ask him or her for a referral – there are a truckload of firms that will welcome the opportunity in exchange for roughly 40% of the final settlement. Incidentally, Berger’s law firm constructed a useful web site called WilmaClaims.com.
 For additional information online, you can also Google “Hurricane Wilma Claims”. Among the search results are a variety of law firms with claims experience. If you file a claim and subsequently decide against pursuing any action, you’ve lost nothing. If you miss the deadline, you are out of options. Do it! Should you need inspiration, you might want to close your eyes and envision that lunatic on television who molests annuitants while spontaneously screaming “It’s my money, and I want it NOW!”
 PS: Many Galt Mile residents have expressed the belief that their association has a statutory obligation to replace windows lost to Hurricane Wilma. Although some associations have implemented special assessments to replace noncompliant windows and/or exterior doors, others required that unit owners individually install impact-rated replacements. The Statute that requires associations to insure the entire building envelope does not mandate that they care for or replace damaged windows. If any post-deductible damage benefits become available, they can be dedicated to defray replacement costs. Unfortunately, the confusing statute was passed after Hurricane Wilma. – Sorry!
Click To Top of Page
 | | JOSÉ 'CHEPO' VEGA |
May 1, 2010 - In late 2008, the Galt Mile Community Association Advisory Board unanimously appointed José “Chepo” Vega to perform an ongoing review of the hardscape and landscape features along Galt Ocean Drive and the surrounding area. Working with Parks Department officials, former Commissioner Christine Teel and later with Vice Mayor Bruce Roberts, Chepo engineered a wide variety of neighborhood improvements. Under his supervision, Parks Department crews trimmed and restrapped trees that were originally inadequately supported or cast atilt due to high winds. The dangerously angled low-hanging branches posed a threat to inattentive pedestrians and bicyclists.
 | | RUSTING MULTI-COLOR NEWSRACKS ARE HISTORY |
Chepo was also responsible for municipal repairs to cracked or destabilized sections of the pink aggregate sidewalks that line the block, eliminating dozens of tripping hazards. On his watch, we’ve seen regular and recyclables trash receptacles upgraded, new newsletter boxes that are substantially less offensive than the former lines of rusting multi-color metallic hulks, replanted and meticulously maintained sidewalk beds and dozens of other aesthetic enhancements.
 Last winter, Chepo became increasingly irritated with what he characterized as “Utility Graffiti.” When contractors anticipate tearing up the street or sidewalk, they must first locate any buried utility lines to avoid disturbing or damaging electrical wiring, telephone lines, broadband cable, catch basins, gas lines, water lines, drainage and sewer lines and other interred utility components. Prior to commencing excavation, the location of every utility element must be identified and marked with different color paints to distinguish telephone, gas, water, electric, etc. Armed with a map of the buried wires, cables, lines, pipes, ducts and conduits, the contractors can proceed without wreaking havoc on local services. The marking system is compliant with the “Uniform Color Code for Utilities” of the American Public Works Association.
 In preparation for any sub-surface demolition, contractors utilize a State sponsored service known as Sunshine State One-Call of Florida, Inc. (One-Call or SSOCOF). Created and delimited in Chapter 556 of the Florida Statutes, the company enlists membership by public utilities and private companies (operators) with underground facilities, which enables maintenance of a current and comprehensive statewide database of their buried system components. When informed of a planned excavation, One-Call “promptly” notifies all member operators with facilities in the defined area of the proposed excavation or demolition. Within two full business days (except when emergency repairs are indicated), they must apply appropriate marking indicators directly to the target area as well as generate a similarly marked hand-held map useful for planning purposes.
 State law mandates that One-Call members “identify the horizontal route by marking to within 24 inches from the outer edge of either side of the underground facility by the use of stakes, paint, flags, or other suitable means.” Member operators use a pantheon of electronic detection equipment to perform comprehensive utility mapping over any designated area. Since this information is valid for a 30-day period, if the marking medium fails to withstand the foot traffic, rain, wind or other erosive elements to which the marked surface is ordinarily exposed, the excavator is required to cease demolition and notify One-Call of the necessity to remark. The excavator is liable for damages resulting from misinterpretation of degraded or adulterated markings. However, if the excavator is confronted by fully eroded markings, One-Call risks sharing liability for damage. To avoid such incidents, members prefer using marking materials chemically confected to withstand direct exposure to nuclear fallout.
 Not surprisingly, the resulting markings often survive the attendant project. Long after the street or sidewalk is repaired, the markings persist - sometimes for months - or years. Ordinarily, contractors are required by local ordinance to restore an environment to its “pre-construction condition,” intimating that the contractor is responsible for removing any residual markings prior to closing out a project. Why, then, must Chepo continue to agonize over this legal vandalism?
 | CHEPO AND VICE MAYOR ROBERTS
EXAMINE GALT OCEAN DRIVE |
When this dilemma was posed to Commissioner Roberts at a GMCA Advisory Board meeting, the Vice Mayor agreed to investigate. Members surmised that some local law was being arrogantly flouted and a series of violation notices would cure the problem. Initially, a response was received explaining that a bill was circulating in Tallahassee to address this issue. Confused, members asked why there was no city ordinance enforcing pre-construction restoration. What the heck did the state have to do with this issue?
 | | OCEAN CLUB CONDOMINIUM |
The short answer - Since One-Call members operate subject to the tenets of Chapter 556 of the Florida Statutes (also cited as the “Underground Facility Damage Prevention and Safety Act”), they are arguably unaccountable to local governments. Local attempts to force operators to apply for a permit prior to marking a route, pre-mark the target area, specify the types of paint or other marking devices used to identify underground facilities or require the removal of marks have produced a pre-excavation legal grey area and post excavation liability limbo.
 On April 12th, Fort Lauderdale’s Customer Operations Manager for Utilities, Linda Gee, sent GMCA President Pio Ieraci an email clarifying how “Senate Bill 982” is expected to address neighborhood concerns. Since Chepo recently reported that a new set of markings marred the Ocean Club’s sidewalk, Gee’s correspondence assumed heightened significance. Her message was as follows:
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April 12, 2010
Dear Mr. Ieraci,
Commissioner Roberts forwarded to us your concerns regarding the visual impact of underground utility line location marks. The City shares your concern, as do other municipalities throughout the state. There is currently legislation, Senate Bill 982 which proposes changes to the State Statute that regulates underground utility damage protection. The version submitted to the Senate includes the addition of a Section 9 - Low-Impact Marking Practices” – Page 18. The Bill is sponsored by Senator Bennett.
Section 9 – 556.114 – (1) of the new legislation will require the excavator to submit for marking, ONLY areas that will excavated within 30 days. If the planned work is not completed during that timeframe, or additional work is required, the excavator must initiate a new line location request for only the area where work was not complete.
This is meant to reduce the area being marked. Currently contractors resubmit the original location request – and the entire work area is marked again.
Section 9 – 556.114 – (4) states operators must use temporary, non-permanent paint. This was not part of the previous legislation.
The Bill also requires Sunshine One Call, the state agency that oversees the underground utility markings program, to establish an educational program to inform member operators and excavators about low-impact marking practices.
Another significant provision of the Bill provides exclusive power to regulate underground utility damage prevention to the State. This provision will prohibit municipalities, counties, districts or other local governments from enacting ordinances or rules to regulate any subject addressed in this Bill. Any ordinance or rule in existence, which is in conflict with this bill will not be valid or enforceable after July 1, 2010 (the date this bill will become law if adopted).
Sunshine One Call believes this is a ‘first step’ toward addressing the issues raised by the City of Fort Lauderdale and others. The Low-Impact Marking Ad Hoc Committee will continue to meet and develop additional recommendations for improving the process.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Linda Gee
Customer Operations Manager
City of Fort Lauderdale - Utilities
949 NW 38 Street
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309
Office (954) 828-7896
Fax (954) 828-7897
LGee@fortlauderdale.gov
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 | | SENATOR MICHAEL BENNETT |
After being filed in pre-session on December 17, 2009 by Bradenton Senator Michael S. Bennett, Senate Bill 982 was referred to the Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities Committee; the Community Affairs Committee and the Judiciary Committee for review on 1/14/2010. A committee substitute was passed in the Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities Committee on 3/4/2010 by an 8 yeas vs. 0 nays vote. On 3/17/2010, it was passed in the Community Affairs Committee by an 11 yeas vs. 0 nays vote. On 4/7/2010, Judiciary passed another committee substitute by a 9 yeas vs. 0 nays vote. On April 12th – the date that Ms. Gee sent her email – it was placed on the Calendar, on 2nd reading. It was engrossed and placed on the Special Order Calendar on April 21st.
 | | REP. DAVE MURZIN |
A similar bill was filed in the Statehouse on January 15, 2010 by Pensacola Representative Dave Murzin (Co-sponsored by Punta Gorda Representative Paige Kreegel). On January 28th, House Bill 691 was referred for vetting to the Energy & Utilities Policy Committee, the Civil Justice & Courts Policy Committee, the Military & Local Affairs Policy Committee and the General Government Policy Council. On 3/3/10, a committee substitute was passed in Energy & Utilities Policy by a vote of 13 yeas vs. 0 nays. On 3/22/10 it passed favorably through Civil Justice & Courts Policy in a 14 yeas vs. 0 nays vote. On 3/25/10, the Military & Local Affairs Policy Committee unanimously approved the bill by a 13 yeas vs. 0 nays vote. The General Government Policy Council passed it on 4/9/10, by a vote of 12 yeas vs. 0 nays. House Bill 691 was placed on the Calendar on April 13th and placed on the Special Calendar on April 23rd.
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Guide for Abbreviation Use
 This is a guide for placing abbreviations in the field. The Company Identifier is to be placed at the top or at the left of the abbreviations. Place the abbreviations in the following order, Company Identifier / Facility Identifier / Underground Construction Descriptions / Infrastructure Material (e.g. ATT/TEL/FO/PLA). This example indicates that AT&T has a Telecommunication Fiber Optic line in a single Plastic conduit. The use of the abbreviation /TEL is not necessary, because the orange marking would indicate that the facility was a communication line, but its use is optional. To leave out one or more of the abbreviation types you would continue to follow the order of the abbreviations above leaving out the slash and abbreviation that does not apply (e.g. /TEL), the result would be the following (e.g. ATT/FO/PLA). The abbreviation for; gas transmission facilities is “/G/T”, electric distribution is “/E/D” and electric transmission is “E/T” these should be used when appropriate.
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 | | RECENT UTILITY MARKINGS AT OCEAN CLUB ENTRANCE |
Short of a mass affliction stress disorder of the type occasionally experienced by frenetic lawmakers as the session heads to Sine Die, the bills are a lock. Fully greased by SSOCOF Lobbyist Mike Moore, the only remaining variable is the effective date, which Ms. Gee identified as July 1, 2010 despite its characterization as October 1, 2010 in both the House and Senate bills.
 Unfortunately, passage of these bills may not address the problem. The bills were not filed to assist disgruntled local governments and communities with their marking removal issues... quite the opposite. One of the primary motives for their filing was to preclude local governments from interfering with One-Call functionality. When originally filed, the Senate Bill 982 prohibited local government from adopting any ordinance or regulation relating to the subject matter of Chapter 556. The final committee substitute replaces that provision with a prohibition on local government adopting any conflicting laws.
 | | UTILITY MARKINGS AT OCEAN CLUB CONDOMINIUM |
The language used to address the graffiti issue is somewhat slippery. As originally filed, the bill created Section 9 – 556.114 (4) – “Member operators shall mark the area described or premarked by the excavator using temporary, nonpermanent paint, flags, stakes, and other acceptable means” (as described in Ms. Gee’s email message). Two committee substitutes later, the provision was relocated to Section 8 and the language morphed into “A member operator shall identify the horizontal route of its underground facilities as set forth in s. 556.105(5)(a) and (b), and excavators shall premark an excavation site as set forth in subsection (3) using flags or stakes or temporary, non-permanent paint or other industry accepted low-impact marking practices.”
 | | MORE OCEAN CLUB MARKINGS |
Since the problem can only be cured by requiring that facility operators remove whatever substance they use to mark a designated area, one could be forgiven for doubting Sunshine State One-Call’s assessment that this legislation represents progress “toward addressing the issues raised by the City of Fort Lauderdale and others,” as expressed in Linda Gee’s correspondence. The legislation fails to define “industry accepted low-impact marking practices”, thereby affording One-Call members wide latitude in creatively interpreting this option. The degree of its marking materials’ chemical permanence appears to remain a discretionary call by each member. Since operators have long demonstrated a clear preference for using more permanent marking materials to better protect their underground facilities from inadvertent excavation damage, it is unlikely that they will voluntarily shift to a policy that increases their exposure.
 Creating a program to educate member operators about low-impact marking practices, as required in Section 8 – 556.114 (6), instead of implementing a straightforward marking removal requirement is a bad joke. One-Call operators are already intimately familiar with the rancor they cause by vandalizing streets and sidewalks. That’s one of the reasons they support the legislation’s protection from local regulations. It is laughable to assume that technologically conversant operators such as FP&L, AT&T, Broward Water Services, Comcast and Peoples Gas are perplexed by the mysteries of low-impact marking practices. Since the bills’ sponsors needed to marshal the support of program participants to minimize committee obstacles, it doesn’t require an Ouija board to fathom why the problem wasn’t definitively corrected in the current legislation.
 Hopefully, the educational program’s curriculum will include a relevant historical component. If the abuses remain flagrant enough to provide the basis for an action against the operator, Section 5 – 556.107 (1)(a)(7.) in the bill characterizes the violation as a “Non-Criminal Infraction” and increases the existing $250 penalty to $500. Since it costs substantially more to send a crew to remove the markings, the fine is not likely to elicit more than a raised eyebrow. However, if the facility operators are warned that the communities they are vandalizing will ultimately become adequately incensed to lobby for an amendment with effectively punitive teeth, they may decide that compliance with the new bill’s “spirit” will be less abrasive to their bottom lines.
If the bill becomes effective in October, we should be able to evaluate its impact by January. Until then, I regret having to recommend that Chepo hang on to his Excedrin, since he will probably need it.
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COOPERATIVE FEEDING PROGRAM
Galt Ocean Mile
2010 Food Drive
Final Results
 | | SCOTT WOODBURN |
April 17, 2010 - The food drive was over. In celebration of another successful effort, Executive Director Scott Woodburn of the Cooperative Feeding Program sponsored an April 9th awards event at the St Lawrence Gallery on A1A. Earlier in the day, he sent email reminders to team captains, Association volunteers and other local program supporters that were instrumental in delivering the most impressive result in the Galt Mile Food Drive's 4-year history. Although pleased that Galt Mile contributors statistically exceeded his expectations, he was particularly taken aback by their having done so amid this crippling economic environment. Woodburn knew that much of this year’s collected food wasn’t pulled from donors’ shelves, but from their tables.
 For those unable to attend the Friday evening awards celebration, Woodburn summarized the event in another email sent the following Monday. The email opened “On Friday evening at the St Lawrence Gallery we congratulated everyone in attendance for an record effort of 19,281 pts surpassing last year total by more than 5,000 pts.” Turning the focus to the event's competitive underpinnings, he continued, “We also crowned our 2010 Grand Champion, The Edgewater Arms Community Association. This was the third consecutive food drive the diminutive condo association has won both divisions, total points 3,530 and 41.5 pts per unit.”
  To assure volunteers who missed the party that their efforts hadn't been overlooked, he said, “We also handed out certificates of appreciation to all our sponsors and community associations. If you were not present, your certificate is in the mail along with the results.” Looking ahead, he ended with, “Congratulations on another fantastic effort, we hope you enjoy the rest of the year and we look forward to the 2011 food drive. Hope you and your association will join us again for a great community project.” The email carried two attachments, a letter entitled, “2010 Final News” and an Excel spreadsheet compilation of the final statistical summary - “2010 Final Results”. While appreciative of the entire neighborhood's efforts, the letter recognizes some Galt Mile Associations and residents whose contributions were exemplary. His sentiments are as follows:
The 2010 Galt Ocean Mile Food Drive Final News
 Congratulations on an amazing effort. We had another record setting year for the 2010 Galt Ocean Mile Food Drive.
 | EDGEWATER ARMS - ANNEMARIE
ADAMS 2008-09-10 GRAND CHAMPION |
We set a goal of beating the 2009 record setting total of 15,000 lbs and we did it! Super congratulations to all our condo participants for a wonderful record setting effort in our 2010 Food Drive. A total of 6,662.5 lbs of badly needed food and an amazing $12,619 including the 5K run resulted in a record setting total of 19,281 pts. That total is almost 5,000 pts better than the 2009 Food Drive Total. Congratulations on a great effort.
 | | SOUTHPOINT - MARY SHORT |
Our 2010 Galt Ocean Mile GRAND CHAMPIONS for the third year in a row is the Edgewater Arms Condo Association ([sic] - Edgewater Arms is a Cooperative Association). What can you say about that wonderful group at the Edgewater Condo Association? The smallest among us, with just 85 condo units, the Edgewater just blew away the competition again this year with an astounding effort accumulating 3,530 total points and averaging a magnificent 41.5 points per unit.
 | | GALT OCEAN CLUB - ISRAEL GONZALES |
Congratulations to Annemarie Adams, the condo campaign Captain, Gary Tripoli, Association President, the Condo Association Board, and the residents who made the fight against hunger in their community a personal campaign. Three years being Grand Champions is truly remarkable.
 | FOUNTAINHEAD JOINED 1000 POINTS CLUB
LED BY JENNIFER DONNELLY |
Thanks to their benefactor Mary Short and the Mary Jane Harlow Trust, Southpoint and Galt Ocean Club did make a good run on the Edgewater Arms.
A special thanks to Mary Short. Her commitment to helping the poor and homeless in our community resulted in a very generous $4,000 challenge gift to the campaign. The Galt Community took the challenge seriously and it sure did work with a record setting effort!
 | | CRT SOUTH - CAPTAIN: GERI BOYLAN |
A special congratulation goes out to Jennifer Donnelly’s Fountainhead Association who for the first time with a great effort joined our 1,000 point club along with the Edgewater Arms, Coral Ridge South, Southpoint and Galt Ocean Club.
 | | REGENCY TOWER - CHRISTINE ROME |
As for the Coral Ridge Group, Geri Boylan’s Coral Ridge South hung in there fourth in total points followed by Bonnie Leavitt’s Coral Ridge Towers Original and Jim Rainey’s Coral Ridge East association all in the overall top ten.
This year’s most improved award recognizes the Regency Tower under Christine Rome for their great improvement to 737 points and Ted Rogers’s Commodore Association who went from last in each division to a top 10 finish in lbs/pre unit.
 | | CRT ORIGINAL - BONNIE LEAVITT |
And thanks to Cindy Songer, Galt Towers, James Beard at Ocean Riviera, and Lee Lowenthal, Ocean Summit who all improved over their totals from last year.
 | | CRT EAST - JIM RAINEY |
In the points per unit category, the Galt Ocean Club improved from .7 to 10.3 lbs/unit, and Fountain Head 5.1 lbs/unit to 8.13 lbs /unit both associations showed the biggest improvement. Others that improved in the per unit category include South Point, Coral Ridge South, Ocean Riviera, the Commodore, all finishing in the top ten.
 Our wonderful sponsors are the straw that stirs the drink! We owe a debt of gratitude to lead sponsors Ft Lauderdale Real Estate & Ft Lauderdale Home Design. They provide the fuel for our 5K Walk and the food drive. We also enjoyed support from WINN DIXIE, Century 21 Hansen Realty, Dunkin Donuts, Anglins Beach Cafe, Charisma International, Sign A Rama Florida, and KABANG Energy Candy!
 Thank you for a great effort in making this Food Drive effort the best yet. Your efforts and donations will make a difference. Your donations will change lives. Your donations will save lives. What a great gift to your neighbors and community.
 Imagine the difference we can make when we work together. We can work magic.
Thanks for making this year’s food drive a record success.
Scott A. Woodburn
CFP Development
954-629-7381
scott@feedingbroward.org
Collection Results
(21 Participating Associations)
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| | Total Lbs & $$$ (Points) | Lbs & $$$ (pts) per Unit |
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| Association | Total Points | Association | Points/Unit |
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1. Edgewater Arms | 3,530.0 points | 1. Edgewater Arms | 41.50 points/unit |
| 2. Southpoint | 2,611.0 points | 2. Galt Ocean Club | 10.30 points/unit |
| 3. Galt Ocean Club | 2,245.5 points | 3. Fountainhead | 8.13 points/unit |
| 4. CRT South | 1,605.5 points | 4. Southpoint | 6.50 points/unit |
| 5. Fountainhead | 1,024.0 points | 5. CRT South | 4.70 points/unit |
| 6. CRT ”Original” | 956.0 points | 6. Regency Tower | 3.60 points/unit |
| 7. Regency Tower | 737.0 points | 7. CRT ”Original” | 2.80 points/unit |
| 8. CRT East | 614.0 points | 8. Ocean Riviera | 2.50 points/unit |
| 9. Galt Towers | 544.5 points | 9. Commodore | 2.40 points/unit |
| 10. Ocean Riviera | 500.0 points | 10. Galt Towers | 2.10 points/unit |
| 11. Commodore | 464.5 points | 10. Ocean Club | 2.10 points/unit |
| 12. Ocean Club | 432.5 points | 12. CRT East | 1.80 points/unit |
| 13. Plaza South | 322.5 points | 13. Caribé | 1.60 points/unit |
| 14. Playa del Sol | 317.0 points | 14. Ocean Summit | 1.30 points/unit |
| 15. Ocean Summit | 289.5 points | 15. Regency South | 0.90 points/unit |
| 16. Playa del Mar | 276.0 points | 15. The Galleon | 0.90 points/unit |
| 17. Caribé | 239.0 points | 15. Royal Ambassador | 0.90 points/unit |
| 18. Royal Ambassador | 200.0 points | 15. Plaza South | 0.90 points/unit |
| 19. Plaza East | 198.5 points | 19. Playa del Sol | 0.80 points/unit |
| 20. The Galleon | 198.0 points | 20. Playa Del Mar | 0.70 points/unit |
| 21. Regency South | 190.5 points | 20. Plaza East | 0.70 points/unit |
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| Subtotal | 17,490.5 points | | |
| 5K Walk | 1,791.0 points | | |
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| Total Points | 19,281.5 points | | |
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GRAND CHAMPION
  The Galt Mile community contributed the equivalent of almost 10 tons of food and sundries to local families that are suffering through a tough time. For competitive purposes, a formula was devised that allots one point for each pound of food and/or sundries donated as well as one point for each dollar contributed. Most remarkable is the fact that the record breaking donations were made despite the terrible financial stress faced by many of our own families. Your contributions will be held up as an example to other Broward neighborhoods, hopefully engendering an epidemic of generosity. The entire Galt Ocean Mile neighborhood is entitled to a communal warm and fuzzy feeling.
The Cooperative Feeding Program is headquartered at NW 33rd Terrace in Fort Lauderdale (on the N. W. corner of Broward Blvd. and NW 33rd Terrace). Call them at (954) 792-2328, fax them at (954) 792-9982 or click here to send an email. Office and Emergency Pantry hours are Monday through Friday, 9 AM - 4 PM. The Community Kitchen serves from 9 AM through 11 AM, Monday through Saturday and Sundays from 11 AM through 12:30 PM.
Click To Top of Page
 | COMMODORE RESIDENT
JOSÉ “CHEPO” VEGA |
January 6, 2010 - Commodore resident José “Chepo” Vega has waged a campaign to insure that the City of Fort Lauderdale complies with their agreement to maintain the Galt Ocean Mile in a “Disney-like manner”. This expectation was created when Earl Lifshey, Bob Rozema, Dick Tymeson, Rose Guttman, Leah Glickfield, Pio Ieraci and other Galt Mile Community Association founders worked with former City Commissioner John Aurelius to conceive the Galt Mile Improvement Project. In return for financing the internment of electrical and telephone lines, creating peach aggregate sidewalks and pavered crosswalks, fashioning roadway stop indents, installing elegant landscape elements and dozens of other high-end upgrades that transformed the neighborhood from a squalid sand-blown side street into a world-class boulevard, the City promised to maintain our home in a manner consistent with Disney’s acclaimed commitment to elegance and excellence.
 | | GALT MILE IN 1993 |
While maintenance lapses following destructive hurricanes were understandable, years of “less justifiable” intermittent neglect evolved into a continuous source of disappointment and frustration for neighborhood residents. The Galt Mile Community Association has regularly convened meetings with City officials to address these maintenance failures. After periods of improvement, maintenance levels would gradually decline as green again turned brown.
 | | VICE MAYOR BRUCE ROBERTS |
When he volunteered to perform continuous oversight of local landscape and hardscape features in late 2008, the Galt Mile Advisory Board empowered Chepo to provide the ongoing feedback to Parks officials responsible for delivering the “Disney-Like” attention contractually due the community. Teaming up first with former Commissioner Christine Teel and later with Vice Mayor Bruce Roberts, Chepo accompanied Parks officials and maintenance crews as they actualized his recommendations.
 | | MARK ALMY, PIO IERACI, CHEPO, BRUCE ROBERTS AND BRIAN HOPPER |
 In December, the grateful neighborhood association recognized his unwavering commitment by conferring Chepo an achievement award. His unmistakable mark on the Galt Mile is evident in the trimmed and bound trees, cleaned and repaired tree grates and manicured sidewalk beds. Less evident are the missing low-hanging tree limbs, which no longer present a hazard to pedestrians and bicycle enthusiasts.
 | | PIO IERACI PRESENTS AWARD TO CHEPO FOR CONTRIBUTION TO NEIGHBORHOOD |
 | | BLACK & BLUE (RECYCLABLES) CANS |
Following are several letters reflecting his current efforts. In his letter to Fort Lauderdale Beach Foreman Mark Almy, he recommends further strengthening of trees bent by the unusually strong seasonal winds. He also suggests that the new trash containers, both standard black and the blue baskets dedicated to recyclables, be better positioned to avoid impeding pedestrian access and distributed evenly along Galt Ocean Drive.
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December 19, 2009
Dear Mark,
As you can see in the pictures we have been getting very strong off and on winds for the last few weeks. I am very concerned about the trees since they are top heavy and their trunks keep bending due to the strong wind. The sidewalks are starting to get busier with strollers, children and many daily walkers and these bent trees are getting in the pedestrians way. I feel that we should try to strengthen out the trunks as soon as possible before somebody gets hurt.
 | | WIND-BENT TREES ALONG GALT OCEAN DRIVE |
Another issue that has come up is the location of the new trash containers. Unfortunately, they are taking too much space on the sidewalks, not leaving enough room for pedestrians and the front landscape of many buildings is being compromised. The containers should be moved next to the curb and spaced out as they were before, making it easier to collect the trash, especially since there are areas that don’t have any containers such as Plaza East, Plaza South, the Greek Restaurant and A1A where the Galt Monument is. I will very much appreciate it if this is taken care of as soon as possible since our sidewalks are getting crowded.
As always I want to thank you very much for your help and I am available to help in any way I can.
Regards,
Chepo
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 | | UTILITY GRAFFITI |
A second letter addresses an urban phenomenon he calls “Utility Graffiti”. Associations performing deck or garage construction often require the services of a company known as Sunshine State One Call. This specialty company maps and marks off any buried utility lines to prevent their unwitting disturbance during the demolition phase of a project. Using blue, red, yellow and other colored markers, they locate gas lines, water lines, electrical plexus, telephone linkages and buried cables. When the construction is complete, the lines are erased.
Unfortunately, utility, telephone and cable companies as well as the City of Fort Lauderdale and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) aren’t similarly predisposed to eliminating their handiwork after tearing up the street or sidewalk. AT&T, Comcast, FDOT, FP&L and other corporate symbiots often leave a litany of cryptic multi-colored markings chemically endowed to outlast a nuclear winter. Chepo wants this repugnant industrial “artwork” GONE.
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UTILITY GRAFFITI AROUND THE CITY
 | | UTILITY GRAFFITI |
While showing some visiting friends our beautiful city by car, they pointed out that sidewalks, streets and curbs have been spray painted with signs, messages and symbols in various colors by utility companies. I found out later that these sprayings are called “markings”, but I like the term used by one visitor better. She called them “Utility Graffiti”.
This brought back memories of when I lived in New York City and graffiti became a major problem, starting in subway cars, them spilling over to stations and finally moving to exterior building walls all over the city. The graffiti, which made the city look out of control, cost millions of dollars to erase.
 I am very concerned that by tolerating the continuous use of spray paint by utilities in Fort Lauderdale, our city could be starting that long road toward looking like a city out of control. It doesn’t take much to inspire teenagers to start spraying their own symbols and art work on our sidewalks and streets, too.
 | | UTILITY GRAFFITI |
Of course the utilities are working all the time all over the city, and they have to mark their work sites to guide their crews. But the problem is that spray paint takes months to fade away.
So I asked myself: How did the utilities make their markings before they started using spray paint? Can they use a durable chalk that gets washed away? Or adhesive plastic strips that can be lifted? Such strips are already in use to mark traffic lanes and to separate parking spaces in parking lots.
 Let’s keep in mind that Fort Lauderdale’s economy depends a lot on tourism. The Utility Graffiti is already offensive, and now is the time to address it before it spreads to the teen community and becomes an epidemic. Please Mayor Seiler and Commissioner Roberts, help us keep Fort Lauderdale free of spray paint and a beautiful place to live.
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 | | UTILITY GRAFFITI |
Since the neighborhood association represents and is wholly comprised of Galt Mile residents, his last letter was written to you.
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 | | CHEPO HOLDING GALT MILE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION AWARD |
I want to thank the Galt Mile Community Association for the award recently presented to me for the work I’ve done to help refurbish and enhance our beautiful Galt Mile drive. I was surprised and delighted. It is a pleasure to be involved and to see the positive changes in our neighborhood. There is still a lot of work to be done and as always, I am ready to continue helping. Thanks again.
Sincerely,
José (Chepo) Vega
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COOPERATIVE FEEDING PROGRAM
Galt Ocean Mile
2010 Food Drive
 | | PLAYA DEL SOL HOSTS 12/7/2009 GMCA MEETING |
December 21, 2009 - On December 7th, Cooperative Feeding Program Executive Director Scott Woodburn and Fort Lauderdale Real Estate proprietor Domenic Faro made their way to Playa del Sol Condominium Association to attend a Presidents Council meeting. Four years ago, Domenic and Scott approached the Galt Mile Community Association with a proposition. Drawing on relationships cultivated as a L'Hermitage resident and local business owner, Domenic had requested space on the Presidents Council meeting agenda. As Vice President of the CFP Board of Directors, Domenic Faro sought to stir interest in sponsoring a food drive. That 2007 Galt Ocean Mile food drive laid the groundwork for their Playa del Sol address.
 | | DOMENIC FARO |
Scott and Domenic represent Broward County’s lead agency for the provision of services to the hungry and homeless. For 25 years, the Cooperative Feeding Program has provided counseling and support to help economically besieged families out of the throes of difficult times. At the December 7th Presidents Council Meeting, they announced that the 4th Annual Galt Ocean Mile Community Association food drive would take place during the month of March, 2010. Scott told attendees that the food drive would follow the annual 5K Hunger Awareness “Walk against Hunger”, a traditional kickoff precedent to the month long competition among member associations. Early Sunday morning, February 28, 2010, participants in the 5K Walk will meet at the Winn Dixie prior to and after the event.
 | | TORNADO BODY DRYER |
The Cooperative Feeding Program helps 700 individuals each and every day. In keeping with modern delivery systems, they implemented a “Drive Through” to efficiently expand outreach. As the economy increasingly victimizes families, lines at The CFP wind further down the sidewalk, often into the street. They provide about 50-60 showers a day to individuals and families who have lost their homes. They plan to build additional showers in order to reduce long waits of four to five hours for a shower. To save money on paper products and truncate potential shower accidents, they installed environmentally friendly Tornado Body Dryers. More than 400 hot meals are distributed each day, along with another 175 family food boxes.
 | | FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH |
The program was launched in 1982 when Pastor Luther Anderson of the First Lutheran Church in downtown Fort Lauderdale turned donations from Church members into a small pantry with food for the needy. The neighbors took umbrage when homeless and hungry people pleading for something to eat filled the street. As the service proportionally grew with demand, it had to undergo several relocations and otherwise adapt. Its initial 1987 501(c)(3) certification as a not-for-profit organization was later restructured as a 501(c)(3) Nondenominational, passing both control and outreach from Lutherans to anyone in need - also enabling eligibility for FEMA resources.
 | SCOTT WOODBURN & DOMENIC FARO AWARD
TROPHY TO ANNEMARIE ADAMS & EDGEWATER ARMS |
From the humble beginnings of distributing a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to the homeless, to today’s provision of 1.2 million meals a year, the agency’s dramatic development has reflected both the growing numbers and the growing needs of the poor in our community. Operating solely on the funds and gifts generated by socially conscious individuals, businesses and organizations like the Galt Mile Community Association, the Cooperative Feeding Program doesn’t abide corporate conveniences. A remarkably pork-free 8% administrative overhead - audited - means resources are smoothly expedited from donors to hungry families. Rents were paid and move-in costs were provided to help families facing the tragic national disgrace of homelessness. The CFP has entered into formal collaborative service agreements with about 100 agencies, entitling them to prescreen clients for emergency services.
| | SCOTT WOODBURN |
Scott read from a letter he sends to each Galt Mile association several months before the food drive. While requesting participation in the upcoming 2010 food drive, he explained that a special effort should be made to surpass last year’s record collections to compensate for the economic downturn’s impact on families struggling to survive. To help stir the formulaic competition meant to incentivize increased contributions, Woodburn reminded the assemblage that little Edgewater Arms, the smallest member of the neighborhood association, handily took the trophy in 2008 and 2009, both for total and per unit contributions. Since the Program anticipates serving 7,000 families between the first week in November and the last week in December - functionally draining resources - Woodburn outlined a new objective of 20,000 lbs of food for this year's food drive. Scott’s letter is as follows:
A request for you toB e an important part of the 2010 GALT OCEAN MILEC ampaign to reduce hunger in Broward County...
i
 | | 6 TONS OF GALT MILE FOOD FILLS VAN |
Hunger continues as a real problem in Broward County. The Cooperative Feeding Program (CFP), a United Way agency dedicated to reducing hunger in Broward County, is constantly organizing annual food drives with local Homeowner and Civic Associations to help provide year-round assistance to the poor, many of whom would not have adequate food without your help.
 Following the huge success of our 2009 Galt Food Drive where over 15,000 lbs of food was donated, and the Edgewater Arms was overall Champion again for the second consecutive year. The committee member would again invite the entire Galt Ocean Mile Community Association to join our team and participate in the new and exciting 2010 Galt Ocean Mile Food Drive.
 The 2010 GALT Ocean Mile food drive will again feature a special 5K Hunger Awareness “Walk against Hunger” kickoff event, on Sunday, February 28 followed by a March month long food drive.
 | | GALT MILERS START 5K WALK AT WINN DIXIE LAST YEAR |
Last year we had all Galt Condo Associations participate, We have posters, stuffers and flyers to help you announce the walk and food drive to your residents and provide a description of what types of non-perishable items are needed. We can also advise you on organizing the food drive, promotional consideration, food collection and handling delivery to the Cooperative Feeding Program.
 Please take a moment to fill out and fax to us the attached form ASAP. We also would appreciate an opportunity to meet with you and make a presentation at your next association meetings.
 Hunger remains a real problem in Broward County as 1 out of 4 goes to bed hungry every night. With your help, fighting it will be as easy as A-B-C!
Sincerely
Scott A. Woodburn
Cooperative Feeding Program
1 NW 33 Terrace, Ft Lauderdale, Florida 33311
954-629-7381
scott@feedingbroward.org
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Notice 
Commissioner Bruce Roberts’ District 1 Pre-Agenda Meeting
 City Commissioner Bruce Roberts’ District I Pre-Agenda meeting will be held on Monday, September 20, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. at Cardinal Gibbons High School, Media Room, 2900 NE 47th Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Two or more City Commissioners and/or Advisory Board members may be present at this meeting. All are invited to attend.
The Date: Monday, September 20th, 2010
The Time: 6:00 P.M.
The Place: One of two locations:
Imperial Point Hospital AUD A&B – 6401 N Federal Highway
south side of hospital entrance towards the back (10/4; 11/1; 12/6)
 For more information, please call the City Commission office at 954 828-5004, Fax: (954) 828-5667, Email: RUptegrove@fortlauderdale.gov
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community
ASSOCIATIONS INSTITUTE
SOUTHEAST FLORIDA CHAPTER
ANNOUNCES THEIR ANNUAL
Community Association Trade Show & Exposition
Please join us for this free event featuring speakers recognized Statewide and over 70 exhibitors demonstrating goods and services for community associations.
 Keynote Presentation features a representative from Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored lending enterprise. Learn about lending guidelines and what association leaders can do to improve mortgage options for properties in their communities. Special introduction by Gary A. Poliakoff, J.D., co-author of New Neighborhoods: The Consumers Guide to Condominium, Co-Op and HOA Living.
Homeowner Education: 40 Year Building Inspection & Safety Program - Led by Klein and Hoffman, Inc. - Structural and Safety Inspections are required in both Miami-Dade and Broward Counties for buildings 40 years old and older. Learn what is included in the required inspections.
The Date: Saturday, January 30, 2010
The Time: 8:30 a.m. through 4:00 p.m.
The Place: Signature Grand
6900 State Road 84, Davie, FL 33317
There are Continuing Education Classes & Credits for Managers
The cost of Continuing Education Credits is $40.00 for members and $55.00 for non-members. Lunch Included in Registration Fee.
For further information, please contact Jill Prioetti, CED, at 954-816-0661 or click here to the CAI Trade Show web page. Door prizes and giveaways all day long – Win a Flat Screen HDTV for the Grand Prize Raffle! Admission to Event and Parking Free.
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community
ASSOCIATIONS INSTITUTE
SOUTHEAST FLORIDA CHAPTER
ANNOUNCES THEIR ANNUAL
Golf  Tournament
Join your CAI-SEFL friends and colleagues this November and enjoy a day of fun on the fairways. Show your support for the Chapter and join your ‘golfing buddies’ for a day on the links. Golfing experience is not necessary; this is a fun, social event. Best Ball Format!
The Date: Friday, November 6th, 2009
The Time: 11:00 A.M.
The Place: Bonaventure Country Club
200 Bonaventure Boulevard
Weston, Florida 33317
Tournament Information
Contests for men and women include: Closest to the Pin and Longest Drive.
 11:00 a.m. - Registration
- 12:00 Noon - Shotgun Start
- 4:30 p.m. - Tournament Awards Dinner & Raffles
- Golfers will have the opportunity to win raffles, door prizes and a Grand Prize in the Grand Raffle!
- Awesome hole-in-one contest prizes!
- Tournament is Best Ball Format!
After Golf
 An awards dinner will wrap up the day’s activities. Trophies will be provided to 1st, 2nd, 3rd and the team that “Should Have Gone Fishing!”
The East Course at Bonaventure Country Club
 | | NATIONALLY FAMOUS #3 WATERFALL HOLE |
We are celebrating the completion of the East Golf Course, Green, Tee and Bunker Renovations, Featuring the Nationally Famous #3 Waterfall Hole.
The East course, designed by Joe Lee, is a par 72 that measures 7,158 from the Black tees. This course has been rated as one of Florida’s top ten. Our East course is a classic Florida layout with holes routed through strands of mature palms and hardwoods, and around numerous water hazards and expansive bunkers.
 For more information, call Jill Proietti at 954-816-0661 or Email: jillproietti@bellsouth.net. Click Here for the 2009 Golf Tournament page on the Southeast Florida Chapter of CAI web site.
Click Here to register for the CAI-SEFL 2009 Golf Tournament. Click Here for info about sponsorship opportunities for the Golf Tournament.
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Scam - of   the - Month
 | | Vehicle Dumped in Canal |
August 8, 2010 - Florida has always been a fertile environment for motivated scam artists. Recently, the National Insurance Crime Bureau tagged the Sunshine State as the national leader in auto insurance fraud, a recession-driven scam wherein vehicle owners dump their cars into canals before shooting off loss/damage claims to understandably skeptical carriers. Although active throughout the year, the summer seems to hold special significance for Florida fraudsters. Several Galt Mile residents recently expressed concern about having been victimized by three of this year’s summer stings - two statewide and one national in scope.
 Every property owner in the State just had their pockets picked. Don’t worry; your money is still in your wallet... at least for a while. Here’s the deal. A Coral Ridge Towers (Original) resident who owns several Florida properties paid an early June insurance premium to Citizens Property Insurance Corp, the windstorm carrier for one of her properties. A month later, she was informed by Citizens that her check, along with thousands of others, is probably lining the pockets of some audacious thief operating out of Hialeah.
 On June 24th, this creative crook strolled into the Post Office and dropped off standard change-of-address forms for the Jacksonville Corporate Center offices of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. and for a dedicated P.O. Box used by Florida’s “insurer of last resort”. Mr. Tricky Doggie requested that all correspondences be forwarded to an apartment in Hialeah. Fortunately, the reliably dysfunctional Postal Service screwed up the second change-of-address operation (targeting the company’s P.O. Box), so only 213,000 client mailings were diverted from the Citizens Jacksonville office at 6676 Corporate Center Parkway to the scammer’s Hialeah address.
 | | Citizens Jacksonville Corporate Center offices |
In a curious footnote to this misadventure, Citizens didn’t cancel the bogus change-of-address order until June 29th. Although the mega-carrier ordinarily receives thousands of letters and packages every day, on Friday, June 25th, the mail bag was empty. The corporate inbox remained vacant for five full days before some ambitious executive trainee decided that the absence of mail to headquarters was sufficiently troublesome to justify an official inquiry to the Post Office.
 Company spokesperson Christine Turner Ashburn said “Citizens will credit customers for payment if their checks were cashed in the scam.” For customers who reacted quickly to early reports of the incident and called their banks to stop payment on their checks, the company assented to reimburse any related bank charges. The roughly 200,000 rerouted letters and packages contain premium payments ranging from a few $hundred to $thousands. If any of those premium checks mailed prior to June 28th were yours, contact a dedicated toll-free Citizens hotline at 1-888-685-1555. When our neighbor in Coral Ridge Towers called the hotline, she was informed that investigators were trying to reconstitute payment records and a Citizens representative would get back to her. Her outstanding payment hadn’t been recorded.
 Not to worry, Citizens will pick up the tab – that is to say – we will pick up the tab. The untold $millions bilked from Citizens will ultimately be billed to every insured property owner in Florida. It will be buried in the “Citizens Assessment” line item on every premium statement. Ashburn said that although the carrier is working with criminal investigators, USPS protocol includes no front end red flag capable of preventing this type of deception. Rather than suing the Post Office for this elephantine operational gaffe, the Citizens think tank opted to deploy a “hair of the dog” strategic response. They allocated $97,000 for a direct mailing to possible victims. Mildly amused by the ironic rewarding of the Post Office for enabling a thief to steal $millions from property owners statewide, Ashburn remarked “It’s almost comical.”
 The real danger to Citizens policyholders whose checks were hijacked doesn’t end with a palliative reimbursement by the company. Since every hostage check provides a doorway to its issuer’s financial identity, a far greater threat is posed by the scam’s potential for identity theft. After cashing out, the scammers are likely to record tens of thousands of account numbers, bank routing numbers and any names and addresses linked to the accounts. The swindler(s) can either directly engage in a spending spree or sell the data using any number of private and public venues. Since many of these are available on the internet, the crook(s) can plausibly consummate these rip-offs from the kitchen table while still clad in pajamas. Given the prospective secondary shock waves facing their customers, Ashburn said “We’re going to send out direct letters to anyone who could have been sending us something. If one person’s identity gets taken because of this, we haven’t gone far enough.”
 While conceding the danger, Ashburn skirted admitting to future liability for adverse financial consequences. Instead, she recommends that prospective victims protect themselves by contacting their financial institutions, credit card insurers and credit card bureaus to flag their suddenly vulnerable accounts. By alerting these agencies, victims stand a good chance of foiling future efforts to fraudulently open lines of credit using their identities. If you receive a congratulatory letter from the local BMW franchise for purchasing a new Z-4, it’s too late.
  The second shell game - first reported by a Galt Mile vendor - is one of two scams referenced on the Florida Division of Corporations official website, www.sunbiz.org. Along with the usual junk that penetrated his internet security program’s email spam filter in early July, the local merchant received an email requesting a fee for complying with some official State corporate notice requirements. Experienced in wading through a daily complement of email hustles, he forwarded the phony phishing expedition to the neighborhood association and asked whether we were aware of similar flimflams. In the field of computer security, phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, account numbers, Social Security Numbers and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication – such as an email.
 | | Bogus Sunbiz Site |
On July 10th, the Florida Division of Corporations posted a warning on its website about two widely posted misleading emails. In one case, an entity masquerading as a “Compliance Services” arm of the official State agency is emailing Florida companies, requesting their annual minutes and a fee of $125. In fact, no state agency requires the filing of a company's annual minutes. In the second scenario, something called the “Florida Online Corporate Annual Report Filings” is also emailing businesses, inviting them to file their annual reports on that group’s website. The correspondence is designed to create the false impression that the company is engaging in an official state-sanctioned service effort.
 While the first set of bozos is raking in $125 payments from clueless victims, they also stand to receive enough corporate data to initiate a credit scam. While the second suspect site lacked the panache of exacting a fee for inducing a corporate victim to self-compromise fiscal security, a quick trip to the perpetrator’s web site reveals an attempt to solicit data useful for corporate identity theft, personal data about any officers and/or directors and a shot at collecting $50 for a Certificate of Status ordinarily costing $5 or $8.75. To legally insulate themselves from actionable liability, the Division launched the Consumer Alert on the home page of their website. They repudiate claims outlined in the emails and deny any association with the two entities.
 | Attorney General
Bill McCollum |
 The third gambit, embodied in an email sent directly to the neighborhood association, exemplified the State’s most prevalent of summer frauds, those exploiting the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. In May, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum warned residents against paying a fee for processing loss or damage claims resulting from the Gulf oil spill. Since British Petroleum’s (BP) authorized third-party claims administrator, ESIS, is processing spill-related claims on BP’s dime, McCollum exhorted “Floridians need to be on the lookout for people posing as authorized adjusters and requesting fees for free claims services.”
 In June, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued an alert about “scam artists” using e-mails, websites, door-to-door collections, flyers, mailings and telephone calls to solicit money. The FTC reported receiving hundreds of complaints about scammers raising money for bogus environmental causes and fly-by-night charitable organizations or offering fraudulent remediation services. Others toured beachfront neighborhoods, offering to expedite loss claims for a fee or to help homeowners brazenly fabricate “airtight” damage claims. In the email sent to the neighborhood association, an outfit called Industrial Recovery offered a similar service for a fee. However, if requested account information was submitted, the fee would be waived. The snow job was immediately forwarded to McCollum’s office.
 | Job Scammer
Tanya Callaway |
In July, the Federal Trade Commission issued another consumer warning. Scammers had begun using fraudulent job ads to exploit the State’s huge pool of unemployed recession victims. Desperately needed jobs were offered in exchange for an up-front fee, usually for training or “certification”. In Atlanta, the police nailed owner Tanya Callaway of a temp company called Just Business. Callaway and partner Atlanta Police Officer Corey Hymes collected hundreds of $80 fees for jobs supposedly guaranteed by BP. The oil company never heard of Callaway or her employment business.
 Closer to home, McCollum is prosecuting Able Body Labor, a Clearwater-based temporary staffing firm with 170 branches in 25 states. Another targeted company, Southern Cat of Lynn Haven, is a nondescript opportunistic enterprise cobbled together two years ago. When employment entails exposure to hazardous substances, the law requires that candidates undergo Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard training, otherwise known as HAZWOPER, prior to qualifying for certification. Although the two companies advertised the training as free, when applicants graduated, the companies demanded fat fees of up to $450 before releasing their certificates.
 The reason why the Gulf oil spill scams have received such intensive focus from consumer protection agencies and law enforcement is largely a consequence of their nationwide impact. In one particularly egregious June event, nearly 800 members of the Yakama Nation tribe in Washington were offered $40-an-hour jobs clearing tar balls from Gulf beaches. To secure the jobs, they had to provide names, addresses, social security numbers and other data useful for identity theft. Many resigned their regular jobs in order to take advantage of the opportunity, only to learn they were defrauded.
If you’ve been targeted or victimized by any of the tricky hair balls that seem to flourish in Florida, let us know. Your identity will be fully protected. Last November, 3 Galt Mile residents reported falling prey to a fraudulent HUD website. When informed that a well known reporter from a reputable local newspaper read the article and requested introductions, the contributors refused, insisting on continued anonymity. They got it... and so will you! Prior to contacting us, please file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission by visiting ftc.gov or calling toll-free 877-FTC-HELP. Sharing your experience will help others find the courage to fight back.
  
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Bogus FHA Website
 
Scams Galt Mile Residents
 | Broward Coalition President
Charlotte Greenbarg |
November 6, 2009 - Senior AmeriFirst Underwriter Theresa Schmitz forwarded an email with an importance designation of “High” to Broward Coalition President Charlotte Greenbarg on October 28, 2009. Given her fiduciary responsibilities, Terri is recipient of official informational bulletins from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The message was originally from Congressional Liaison Cheryl Marken of HUD’s Miami Field Office.
 Addressed to “HUD Partners and Elected Officials,” Marken’s email states: “HUD’s Web team has confirmed that the site www.fhamodification.com is NOT a HUD site. The site has good information (all copied from legitimate HUD sites), but when you click on ‘contact us’ we do not know who ‘us’ is. The proper HUD authorities are investigating this matter, and I do not know if anything can be done other than preventing unauthorized entities from using HUD’s seal, but it is important that you know this site is out there and not affiliated with HUD or FHA.” The message closes with a warning, “FOREWARN your friends, family or neighbors of this recent HUD warning to stay away from company listed.”
 Of the three Galt Mile residents who recently sent emails to the Galt Mile Community Association asking about the fraudulent website simply entitled “FHA Modification”, only one had already divulged personal data. She was referred to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to hopefully limit the damage wrought by these identity thieves. The web is ablaze with sites similar to www.fhamodification.com. Impressively bedecked with HUD and FHA logos, the site would pass even informed scrutiny as an official government offering. In fact, it is a “phishing” website.
 In the field of computer security, phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, account numbers, Social Security Numbers and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. While most phishing expeditions are promulgated to access existing accounts, others seek to elicit names, addresses, telephone numbers, names of family members and identifying information useful for initiating new accounts. Ordinarily, an email is used as the hook, baited with an anxious admonition to confirm mottled bank account or credit card data, claim some mysterious refund, address an account threatened with suspension or verify a recent nondescript charge or withdrawal.
 The “mark” is sent to a web site impeccably designed to mimic a credible and trustworthy institution, where logins, passwords, account numbers, email addresses, etc. are cheerfully harvested by crooks that will either sell the data or simply bang away at the newly accessible accounts. Although the websites of banks and Online Payment Services are traditionally simulated, the scam is metamorphic, adapting to take advantage of opportunities indigenous to the economic climate. As such, many recent rip-offs were socially engineered to exploit lucrative real estate and mortgage lending opportunities.
 After acquiring email lists either stolen and brokered on the black market or purchased from mostly questionable commercial data purveyors such as First Data Solutions or 1st Source Information Specialists, Inc., the scammers usually cast a wide net, randomly hooking a few victims. If a customized list enumerates clients of a particular financial institution, the more targeted variation of the scam is known as “spear phishing”. After TD Ameritrade announced in September 2007 that their database of 6.3 million customer email addresses, account numbers, dates of birth, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers and trading activity was hacked, the thieves decided that the stolen information would be geometrically more valuable if packaged with user names and passwords. They launched a follow-up spear fishing attack. To help violated customers contend with the resulting blizzard of baited spam (junk emails), the company purchased $6 million of spam-blocking software from Trend Micro Internet Security.
 When an attack is directed at certain high profile business targets such as senior executives and major stockholders, the term coined for such ambitious enterprise is “whaling”. A Survey conducted by leading information technology firm “Gartner Research” found that during the 12 months prior to August 2007, 3.6 million people in the United States lost $3.2 billion to phishing assaults.
 | RUSSIAN BUSINESS NETWORK
LONDON FRONT |
By inserting links to an often imperceptibly misspelled URL or subdomain, bogus websites imitative of those managed by HUD, Fannie Mae, FHA and a wide variety of mortgage banks are soaking additional $billions from unsuspecting online targets. The current economic turbulence has nurtured a battery of predatory mortgage bottom feeders, foreclosure frauds and other recovery-related scams conducive to phishing. When mimicked institutions that actively monitor the internet discover a fake internet presence, they simultaneously alert customers (potential victims) and report the suspected website to the authorities. Unfortunately, the international nature of these crimes undermines implementation of a concerted effective response to violators. Almost half the thefts in 2006 were committed by groups operating through the St. Petersburg-based “Russian Business Network”, a legally bulletproof web host for sites specializing in child pornography, patent piracy and other variants of cybercrime.
 In March, HUD found a site that bilked $millions from unwitting mortgage clients, http://bailout.hud-gov.us/. To demonstrate the international nature of this criminal enterprise (as officially classified by the FBI in 2004), the Domain name was registered in Germany and the site was hosted in California. Newspapers and local governments nationwide issued releases warning readers and constituents against potential victimization. On March 30, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) won a Stipulated Preliminary Injunction, freezing the site’s assets.
Since then, the FTC has been closing similar sites at a healthy pace. As evidenced by the recent HUD warning, the phishing business is adequately lucrative to outlast these disjointed deterrent strategies. For a few hundred dollars, rudimentary familiarity with HTML (Hypertext Markup Language - the main coding language on the internet) and lust for a quick buck, any slime ball can set up a phishing bear trap. Since rooting them out is only useful for limiting the prospective damage, it is imperative that people never respond to online requests for personal information. To avoid victimization, first install good virus protection software. Some downloadable freeware versions are adequate for this purpose and most internet service providers offer free online or email protection (including Comcast and AT&T). If an email or an instant message stirs concern about any of your accounts, call the bank or credit card issuer and make an inquiry. Protecting yourself is seldom that simple. DO IT!
November 20, 2009 - ALERT! - Since posting this article on the GMCA website, 2 Galt Mile residents reported receiving suspicious emails with the following content:
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We are contacting you in regards to an unusual activity that was identified in your mailbox. As a result, your mailbox has been deactivated. To restore your mailbox, you are required to extract and run the attached mailbox utility.
Best regards, xxxxxxxxxxx.com technical support.
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Another email contained the following text:
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Dear user of the xxxxxxxxxxx.com mailing service!
We are informing you that because of the security upgrade of the mailing service your mailbox (customer.service@xxxxxxxxxx.com) settings were changed. In order to apply the new set of settings click on the following link:
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 The hackers want the user to click on a link provided below the text, initiating one of two consequences. In one case, the link triggers installation of a computer virus. The other carries the user to a site with another link that the user is encouraged to click, which also infects the user’s computer with a virus.
 In both cases, the links in the emails are coded to simulate valid communications from the user’s Internet Service Provider (ISP) or web host, but they are not. They LOOK like they contain either your web-site address or your email address, but they do not. A quick “Google” of the text revealed that this malicious email is nationwide, with client admonitions from IndyWeb, a web host serving Indianapolis, Indiana and local web hosts such as Host Depot. Please be extremely cautious with these kinds of emails and don’t hesitate to delete them ASAP.
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Driven to  Distraction
August 22, 2007 - Over the summer, 58 Galt Mile residents corresponded with the Galt Mile Community Association after having received notification that a law was passed during the 2007 legislative session governing newly enacted draconian penalties for traffic violations. Although two letters and one telephone call were received, the vast majority of communications were forwarded emails containing the original threatening content or emails describing the penalties at issue. The forwarded emails revealed a statistically improbable similarity in structure and content generally indicative of an organized agenda – otherwise known as a hoax.
While several variations of the email were sent, the following version is representative of the basic genre. It was sent by a friend who shall remain anonymous. This is the email’s content: 
Eric: do you have any way of verifying the recent changes in Florida Driving Laws enumerated in this email? Thanks - (name deleted)
 Attached was the following document:
 This was received from someone who should know, and who is attempting to get the word out to people in his company. I think for those of us in Florida, this is really worth knowing, and for those not from Florida, worth remembering should you decide to travel this way.
Thanks, Arnold
Subject: FLORIDA DRIVING LAW –
This is very interesting for you to read – new Florida driving laws enacted today…
 These are new fines that were implemented on 8/1/07 for the State of Florida.- As of 8/1/07 cell phone use must be “hand free” while driving. Ticket is $285. They will be looking for this like crazy – easy money for police department.
- Cell phone use in the construction zone – Double Fine
- Carpool Lane – 1st time $1068.50 starting 8/1/07. 2nd time is doubled 3rd time is tripled and 4th time license suspended
- Incorrect lane change – $380. Don’t cross the lane on solid lane or intersections. Block intersection $485.
 Driving on the shoulder – $450- Passengers over 18 not in their seatbelts – both passengers and drivers get tickets
- Speeders can drive only 3 miles above the limit
- DUI (Driving Under Influence) = Jail (Stays on your driving record for 10 years!)
Drive SAFE......!!!!!
Please forward to ALL friends and family...
 In the Urban Legends and Folklore section of About.Com, they offer, “This message is a slightly revised version of an email hoax circulating since January 2007 which purports to announce new California traffic laws slated to go into effect this year. Similar copycat hoaxes have also circulated in Texas and Georgia. ”
An April 14, 2007 article published in the Palm Beach Post explains, “Hundreds, if not thousands, of Floridians are getting e-mails warning of new traffic fines including $285 for improperly using a cell phone and $1,068.50 for illegally driving in a carpool lane. Outraged motorists are calling Florida’s motor vehicle department demanding to know more about the new laws. The answer: There are no new laws. It is all an email hoax.”
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A broadcast on NBC6-TV News reported last week, “‘We have been getting a lot of calls on this,’ Pat Santangelo of the Florida Highway Patrol said. NBC 6’s Hank Tester quizzed cell phone users on the street in South Florida. ‘I heard about that,’ Cindy Maradona said. ‘I was all ready to buy a Bluetooth.’ It turned out the e-mail was only a rumor. ‘I have seen the e-mail you have seen,’ Santangelo said. ‘That’s not anything official from the state of Florida.’”
 Another web site devoted to exposing rumors, scams and hoaxes, Snopes.Com, provides more extensive background for the email, stating that the original email was entitled, “New traffic laws going into effect in California in 2007” A June 2007 variant of this message claimed the new traffic laws applied to Texas, not California. That version is also false, as the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has noted on its web site:
 “False information has been circulating regarding new traffic laws. There are no new traffic laws going into effect in July. More specifically, there are no new laws going into effect in July related to cell phones, seat belts or carpooling. No cell phone bills were passed this Legislative session. (This misinformation started as the result of an inaccurate e-mail and incorrect information on various Web sites.)”
 A July 2007 variant of the e-mail asserts the new traffic laws applied to Georgia, not California. That version is also false, reports Georgia’s Governor’s Office of Highway Safety:
“An e-mail has begun making its rounds across the country listing several traffic laws that supposedly took effect in Georgia on July 1, 2007, including carpool lanes, incorrect lane changes, driving on the shoulder, and DUI. The e-mail also lists fines for the violations.
The e-mail is false and is being adapted for various states as it is passed along, most recently listing Georgia.
Please be aware that this is false information and no such changes have occurred in Georgia.”
Another July 2007 variant of the e-mail asserts the new traffic laws applied to Florida. That version, which elicited unnecessary statewide concern as expressed by residents along the Galt Mile, is also false.
 As a rule, if unsolicited information mysteriously appears in your email box, it warrants a skeptical reception. Typically, these will be sent to you by trustworthy friends who received – and then forwarded – the fake messages out of a genuine concern for you and their other friends. This imparts to the information an undeserved appearance of credibility. The victims of the email hoax often wind up confirming its veracity with one another, thereby further perpetuating the scam.
Ironically, many of the correspondences were post scripted with suggestions that some or all of the hyper-punitive penalties contained in the hoax email are worthy of enactment, intimating that they could possibly help abate Florida’s burgeoning traffic death statistics.
Widely distributed internet hoaxes will usually be reported in the local media, as was this one. If searching the news media for confirmation of the unsettling news usually contained in these scams leaves you cold, there are web sites, such as Snopes.Com (www.snopes.com) and the “Urban Legends” site, that collect and expose these hoaxes. As such, two minutes of surfing will clear the air. If the info isn’t there, wait several days and try again. A new or recently revived hoax may require some investigation before being admitted to the “hoax-identifier” web sites. Notwithstanding, another one bites the dust!
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Jury Duty – Identity Theft!
April 5, 2007 - Scams abound without end. As long as people believe that short cuts are a fruitful path to accomplishment, they will get caught in their own trap. This scam takes advantage of the widespread ignorance that most people have about how the jury system works and inadvertantly eliciting the Government’s ire. I recently received this information in an email from Lorraine Alfano, the concierge at L’Hermitage. Lorraine has a penchant for checking out information that doesn’t pass the smell test. This Jury Duty Scam didn’t make it passed her nose!
“Most of us take the summons for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of scam has surfaced. Fall for it and your identity could be stolen, reports CBS.
 In this con, someone calls pretending to be a court official who threateningly says a warrant has been issued for your arrest because you didn’t show up for jury duty. The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Sometimes they even ask for credit card numbers. Give out any of this information and .... Bingo! Your identity has just been stolen.
 The scam has been reported so far in 11 states. This scam is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they're with the court system. The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.
Pass this on.”
The person who contacted Lorraine also said, “I checked Snopes and this is for real.” This is the link to Snopes (a scam check site): http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp
Thank You, Lorraine! - *editor
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A True Rarity – A Lifesaving Email!
July 22, 2005 - I am often targeted by an assortment of confused individuals who implore that I send out an email to “ten other people” in order to achieve cosmic wealth. My finger has been conditioned to delete these prior to contacting the area of my brain that cognates. I recently received an email from Lorraine Alfano, the concierge at L’Hermitage, which prompted me to alter my usual behavior. It is excellent advice; it saves lives. After sending it off to friends and family, I decided to make it available to everyone. Following is the message contained therein.
“Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
Ask the individual to SMILE.
Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e. It is sunny out today)
If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.”
After discovering that a group of non-medical volunteers could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech problems, researchers urged the general public to learn the three questions. They presented their conclusions at the American Stroke Association’s annual meeting last February. Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and treatment of the stroke and prevent brain damage.
A noted cardiologist said if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people many lives will be saved. My physician agrees; so do I.
Thank You, Lorraine! - *editor
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Do Not Call  SCARE
 Have you received an email warning similar to this?
In 31 days from today, cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sale calls. YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS. To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years.
 If you’ve received an e-mail telling you that your cell phone is about to be assaulted by telemarketing calls as a result of a new cell phone number database, REST ASSURED THAT THIS IS NOT THE CASE. Telemarketing to cell phone numbers has always been illegal in most cases and will continue to be so. In response to recent e-mail campaigns urging consumers to place their cell phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission issue this advisory to give consumers the facts. Not sure? Click Here to see for yourself!
Here’s what you need to know about the National Do Not Call Registry program:
FCC regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers. Automated dialers are standard in the industry, so most telemarketers are barred from calling consumers on their cell phones without their consent.
The federal government does not maintain a national cell phone registry. Personal cell phone users have always been able to add their numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry — the same Registry consumers use to register their land lines — either online at www.donotcall.gov or by calling toll-free 1-888-382-1222 from the telephone number they wish to register. Registrations become effective within 31 days of signing up and are active for five years. There is no cut-off date or deadline for registrations.
Business-to-business calls are not covered under the Registry.
To learn more about the National Do Not Call Registry and the rules that enforce it, visit the FTC at www.ftc.gov or the FCC at www.fcc.gov. For more information about a planned “wireless 411” directory, visit http://www.qsent.com/wireless411/index.shtml.
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Phishing on  the Galt
 Internet scammers casting about for people's financial information have a new way to lure unsuspecting Galt Mile victims: They go “phishing.” Phishing, also called “carding”, is a high-tech scam that uses spam (unsolicited “junk” email) to deceive consumers into disclosing their credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security numbers, passwords, and other sensitive information.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the emails pretend to be from businesses the potential victims deal with - for example, their Internet service provider (ISP), online payment service or bank. The fraudsters tell recipients that they need to “update” or “validate” their billing information to keep their accounts active, and direct them to a “look-alike” Web site of the legitimate business, further tricking consumers into thinking they are responding to a bona fide request. Unknowingly, consumers submit their financial information - not to the businesses - but the scammers, who use it to order goods and services and obtain credit.
Banks and Internet Service Providers like America Online and Comcast will never ask you for password information via phone or E-Mail, as that information is private and is only known by users. Additionally, ISPs will never ask for billing or payment information through E-Mail.
To avoid getting caught by one of these scams, the FTC, the nation's consumer protection agency, offers this guidance:
- If you get an email that warns you, with little or no notice, that an account of yours will be shut down unless you reconfirm your billing information, do not reply or click on the link in the email. Instead, contact the company cited in the email using a telephone number or Web site address you know to be genuine.
- Avoid emailing personal and financial information. Before submitting financial information through a Web site, look for the “lock” icon on the browser's status bar. It signals that your information is secure during transmission. Always ensure that you’re using a secure server when submitting credit card information. To make sure you're using a secure server, check the beginning of the web address in your browsers address bar - it should be https:// rather than just http:// (note the “s” after the “http”).
- Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them to determine whether there are any unauthorized charges. If your statement is late by more than a couple of days, call your credit card company or bank to confirm your billing address and account balances.
- Report suspicious activity to the FTC. Send the actual spam to uce@ftc.gov. If you believe you’ve been scammed, file your complaint at www.ftc.gov, and then visit the FTC’s Identity Theft Web site (www.ftc.gov/idtheft) to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from identity theft.
- Visit www.ftc.gov/spam to learn other ways to avoid email scams and deal with deceptive spam.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
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Pay - per - Call  cam
A fast-growing scam that has been identified by the National Fraud Information Center, the F.C.C. and others is the “809”, “284”, “876” or some other three-digit phone number. You may receive an e-mail, usually with a subject line of “ALERT”. The message reads something like: “I am writing to give you a final 24 hours to settle your outstanding account… If you would like to discuss this matter to avoid court action call (e.i.) 1-809-496-2700.” Or, you could receive a similar message on your answering machine asking you to call an 809, 284, or 876 number. Since there are so many new area codes these days, many people unknowingly return these calls. If you call from the United States, you apparently will be charged $25 per minute - or more.
The 809 area code is located in the Dominican Republic and can be used as a “pay-per-call” number, similar to 900 numbers. Since 809 is not in America, it is not covered by U.S. regulations of 900 numbers. Similarly, “876” is an area code for Jamaica and “284” goes to the British Virgin Islands...same deal!
The bottom line is do not respond to these e-mails or messages by calling the 809 (or 284, or 876) phone number. Trying to fight the charges later can be a real nightmare since you actually did make the call!
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A Word of Caution
60% of all emergency patients go to the hospital by private transportation, some even drive themselves! Using a private vehicle, you have no control over the bridges and you are at the mercy of an open bridge. Conversely, when EMT personnel determine that there’s a real emergency in your home, they radio the bridge control center and the bridge is ordered locked down until after your ambulance passes. The moral of this story is “a real emergency should be handled as such with nothing left to chance.”
This article was written by Robert Eagan. It continues to be excellent advice! [Editor]
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THE TAX ADMINISTRATOR'S OFFICE SAYS:
“You may be the cause of increasing your own taxes!”
 Every time an owner sells an apartment for a price representing something other than the real property, that price is registered in the tax appraiser’s roles as the real estate value on which taxes are levied.
This can amount to many thousands of dollars, resulting in severely over valuing the real property and it’s taxes. Most buildings avoid this by the use of a form that requires the buyer and seller to report only the actual value of real property to the County Tax Collector who, incidentally, also encourages buyers and sellers alike to do it right.
After all a $5000 built in sound system shouldn't raise the taxes levied on a real property!
This useful advice was also written by Robert Eagan. When buying or selling a condominium, request the appropriate form from the condominium’s business office! [Editor]
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Following the 2004 - 2005 Hurricane seasons, the Florida Property Insurance market underwent a 
The Insurance Industry formulated an 
