COMMISSIONER BRUCE G. ROBERTS

January 28, 2012 - In his February 2012 newsletter, District 1 City Commissioner Bruce Roberts showed courage by flouting a long observed political taboo when he addressed municipal pension benefits. For politicians with a functional survival instinct, exploring the netherworld of public employee pensions is ordinarily a recipe for disaster. Nearby municipalities like Miami, Pembroke Pines, St. Petersburg and Hollywood, where municipal pensions account for more than half of the total payroll, are struggling to avoid the pension-driven fiscal black hole that sucked the life out of Vallejo, California in 2008, Prichard, Alabama in 2009 and Central Falls, Rhode Island last month.

On the bright side, Seiler and the Commissioners have thus far managed to avoid the personal and political calumny that dismantled earlier attempts to negotiate concessions. Also, union representatives were given a seat on the panel that helped select the city manager they will face at contract time. In turn, they agreed to do what was required to keep the city solvent. When the police and fire fraternal orders renew their city agreements in 2012, taxpayers will be watching to see whether City Manager Lee Feldman and union negotiators can agree on the definition of �solvent�. Read on... � [editor]

DISTRICT 1 COMMISSIONER & V.M. BRUCE G. ROBERTS

In our December Newsletter, we discussed the very positive current status of Fort Lauderdale�s fiscal affairs. I would like to take this opportunity to expound on certain aspects of the budget, which further demonstrates our commitment to be fiscally sound without sacrificing vital City services.

Pension Reform: Using the same disciplined approach that has produced the results described in our December Newsletter, this City Commission confronted pension reform. Funding pensions have a direct effect on current budgets and a long-term impact on financial flexibility and sustainability. The City of Fort Lauderdale has already taken steps to reduce pension costs. The general employees pension plan is now a defined contribution 401(a) plan. We have reduced the City�s contribution rate from 32.75% to 9% for new employees. As a result, it is projected to save $100 million over the next 30 years.

The City Commission is also examining the implementation of additional innovative strategies to control pension costs, reduce the financial burden on taxpayers, and generate millions of dollars in added savings. One of those strategies involves the issuance of pension obligation bonds to manage costs. This idea would allow us to borrow funds at a low interest rate to pay off pension debt. These funds would then be invested in the pension plan to generate a higher rate of return. The difference between the interest rate on the borrowed money and the rate of return generated by the plan could result in a significant economic benefit to the City. For example, if the City wanted to pay off 75% of its current pension liability, we could issue pension obligation bonds to borrow approximately $200 million at an estimated interest rate of 4.75%. These funds would then be invested in the pension plan, which is projected by the actuary to earn a 7.75% rate of return. The difference between the low interest rate on the loan (4.75%) and the plan�s higher rate of return (7.75%) could generate up to $6 million in pension costs savings in the first year alone; and over a 20-year period, the City could reduce its pension costs by more than $60 million. In addition to eliminating a significant pension liability, the bonds would provide the City with a consistent, fixed amount to budget on an annual basis to cover the debt service on the borrowed money. I will keep you advised on the status of this particular strategy.

The City is also reducing pension costs by changing the timing of our annual required pension fund contribution. In the past, the City always made the payment in October; this has resulted in charging nine months of interest on the money owed at a rate of 7.75%. Several months ago, the Commission approved a plan to borrow the money at a low interest rate and make the payment in December. By doing so, we will pay off the loan in October at an interest rate of 1.62% on the borrowed money as opposed to paying a 7.75% interest rate on the money owed. The difference between the two interest rates means the City will save nearly $1.5 million in Fiscal Year 2012.

In addition, it is important to note that our new police officers and fire/rescue staff will now contribute 8.5% of salary to the Police and Fire Pension Plan. Previously, employee contribution was 7%. You may recall that our Governor and Legislators were pleased just to have employees begin contributing 3% to the State Plan. Furthermore, the City plan is computed on base pay and does not include leave time and does not contain a COLA. In order to maximize the benefits of the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP), employees must now work two more years; furthermore, the return on the DROP has been reduced from a guaranteed 7.75% to a range of 3% to 6%, which is based on the plan�s performance.

These are just a few of the methods the City is employing as part of its overall plan to manage, control and reduce pension costs. We recognize the need for pension reform is great. As such, we have made, and will continue to make, meaningful changes to our retirement systems in order to ensure their long-term sustainability and provide financial relief to our taxpayers.

Economy: The economic future for Fort Lauderdale is also bright. When it comes to tourism, Fort Lauderdale remains a top destination for domestic and international visitors. We have seen 25 consecutive months of increased tourism. We are on a pace to host more than 11 million visitors who will spend in excess of $8 billion at our hotels, restaurants, stores and businesses. Hotel occupancy continues to hover near 75% for the year, which is the highest in the state and 27% higher than the national average. Cruise traffic at Port Everglades seems to constantly be creating and then breaking records for total passengers, and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport expects to see a 7% overall increase in passenger traffic. When you consider that approximately 50% of the �bed tax� collected by the County is generated from Fort Lauderdale alone, the picture is even more focused on our great City.

Fort Lauderdale now ranks as the city with the lowest tourist taxes among the top 50 U.S. travel destinations. According to a recent analysis by the Global Business Travel Association, the typical visitor to Fort Lauderdale will pay up to 80% less in taxes than a tourist in Chicago, New York, Boston or Seattle. Hosting the nation�s lowest tourist taxes should continue to provide a significant competitive advantage for attracting visitors, corporate and business travelers, meetings, events and conventions. This Commission will continue its endeavors to support tourism related initiatives.

The housing sector is also showing signs of reviving. According to Realtor.com, Fort Lauderdale ranks 5th among the nation�s top 10 metro areas where housing conditions are on the upswing. Also, a recent article in the �Sun-Sentinel� reported that of Florida�s 19 metro areas, Broward was one of only two areas posting annual price increases for home sales. In 2011, the number of homes sold in Broward increased by 11% compared to sales in 2010. This marks the greatest number of sales since 2004. As an aside, my current campaign for re-election on March 13th has been endorsed by the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale. While still too high, the jobless rate in Broward continues to decline and now stands at 8.6%. Fort Lauderdale/Broward County is leading the South Florida area in this recovery.

Pre-Agenda Meetings: A reminder that our meetings are always on the Monday before a Commission Meeting (unless that Monday is a holiday). The agenda is discussed, as well as any other topics that may arise. The first Monday of the month is at the Beach Community Center, and the third Monday of the month is at Imperial Point Hospital (south entrance) � always at 6p.m. Please call the office if you have any questions or need more information.

ROBBI UPTEGROVE

Office Contact: Robbi Uptegrove � 954-828-5033; email: [email protected]. In addition to hosting the pre-agenda meetings twice a month, I am also available to attend your HOA meetings to update your neighborhood on what is going on in the City as well as answer any questions/concerns you may have. Please contact Robbi to schedule. If you would like to be on our email list to receive information, notifications or general information, please email us and you will be added.

I encourage you to visit our website at http://www.fortlauderdale.gov/roberts to review previous newsletters. As always, I look forward to hearing from you and want to continue to serve you and our great community.

Bruce G. Roberts                

If you need to reach Commissioner Bruce Roberts, please contact his assistant Robbi Uptegrove at 954-828-5033 or by e-mail at [email protected]. To access the City Commission Meeting Agendas and Minutes, Click Here. To actually watch the meetings recorded and archived on the Commission Meetings Video Webcast and Archives web site, Click Here.

BROWARD COMMISSIONER CHIP LAMARCA

February 9, 2012 - Shortly after his upset victory of sitting Broward Mayor Ken Keechl to snag the District 4 Commission seat, Chip LaMarca declared his intention to expose the County Commission�s feted tradition of quietly tolerating the blatant patronage that earned the Broward Board its well-deserved reputation as one of the state�s - and perhaps the nation�s - most corrupt local governments. LaMarca performed as expected, questioning irresponsible spending and decrying the pet projects of his fellow commissioners. It didn�t matter. His Democrat peers on the Broward Commission would need LaMarca. In fact, every January his stock would skyrocket in the County known to Tallahassee Republicans as �The Killing Fields.�

FRANCES KONSTANCE OF L�HERMITAGE I

On February 6, 2012, Broward Commissioner Chip LaMarca addressed the Galt Mile Community Association Presidents Council at the Fountainhead. In his opening comments, the Commissioner stated that his priorities are still focused on public safety and jobs. When he began addressing beach renourishment, angry association leaders expressed unprecedented levels of frustration, grilling the Broward Commissioner about why they were still waiting for the decade-old beach plan to be realized. Frances Konstance of L�Hermitage I professed uncertainty about whether the long list of county excuses was fueled by negligence, incompetence, the surreptitious plundering of project funds or treachery financed by sand-hungry Hollywood hoteliers.

ERIC MYERS

Ironically, LaMarca is one of two Broward officials that revived the project after it was nearly buried by State and local bureaucrats. He repeated an explanation offered months earlier by Broward Beach Administrator Eric Myers at two prior Presidents Council meetings. After apologizing for his predecessor � former beach boss and project Guru Stephen Higgins � who sat idly by as Federal and State permits expired, Myers informed irate Galt Mile officials that while the State extended the County�s permit, he had to recreate and file the documentation required for a new Federal permit.

When questioned about rumors that renourishment funds and sand resources were targeted for raids by neighboring jurisdictions, LaMarca assured the audience that funding and other project resources were secure. He said that the permits required by the Army Corps of Engineers should be approved by the end of 2013, after which the project should commence.

FORMER DISTRICT 4 COMMISSIONER JIM SCOTT

Our County Commissioner then told attendees about three trips he made to the state capitol on behalf of the county. LaMarca is following in the footsteps of predecessor and former Senate President Jim Scott, who served Broward for 24 years in the legislature, six years as District 4 County Commissioner and the Board�s sole Republican. In addition to his responsibilities as the voice of District 4, since he was the only Broward Commissioner with credibility in the State Capitol, Scott was repeatedly sent to Republican Tallahassee to transact County business.

COMM CHIP LAMARCA & GOV RICK SCOTT

Other than protocol courtesies extended by the Governor to any visiting politician, the 8 Democrats on the current 9 member County Commission are almost transparent when lobbying the Republican State Capitol. Like Scott, only LaMarca can carry Broward�s water in Tallahassee.

In December, LaMarca released a newsletter that outlined a plan to bring jobs to the County, reconfigure Port Everglades to take advantage of the huge increase in cruise and container traffic that will follow the Panama Canal expansion and promote legislation supportive of other County infrastructure projects. During several subsequent trips to the state capitol, LaMarca met with lawmakers and addressed legislative committees to promote the County agenda. Upon returning from Tallahassee, he documented his progress in the following February Newsletter. Read on... � [editor]

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BEACH COMMUNITY CENTER

February 16, 2012 - Amid a whirlwind tour of town hall meetings, Congressman Allen West made a pit stop at the Beach Community Center from 5 to 7 pm on January 11^th before heading to the Jupiter Community Center on January 13. Like a similar meeting held there last February with West and State Senator Ellyn Bogdanoff, it was convened by the neighborhood association as a platform for the community�s local elected officials.

WEST AND BOGDANOFF LAST YEAR

Addressing a healthy local audience of roughly 150 Galt Mile constituents; West blended patriotic dramaturgy with a dark picture of our future. After marching a perimeter around the Beach Community Center auditorium, a six-person police honor guard preceded a strained rendition of America the Beautiful performed by a would be club singer in a cheap tux. A Powerpoint presentation that West used to rally the weekday dinnertime audience was punctuated by the theme from �Patton�.

CONGRESSMAN WEST PINS MEDALS ON EDWARD AYERS

Following a half hour of introductory theatrics that culminated with West pinning a bag full of medals on local Vietnam veteran Edward Ayers, he opened his town hall meeting by welcoming local officials that dropped by to share a sound bite with the controversial congressman. Ayers was originally awarded three purple hearts, a Republic of Vietnam Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal following his service in Vietnam. In time, he lost them. West needed a hero. Ayers wanted his medals replaced. Shazam!

PIO IERACI INTRODUCES CONGRESSMAN WEST

Since the meeting was hosted by the neighborhood association to broaden local access to the District 22 Congressman, Galt Mile Community Association President Pio Ieraci moderated an hour-long question and answer period. Rather than rehashing the evening�s animated repartee, West provided a policy brief for release to his Galt Mile constituents. A few days earlier, he slipped a copy to the local media.

CONGRESSMAN TOM ROONEY

Given ensuing events, it might be the last message that West delivers as our Congressman. On January 31^st, West jumped ship, announcing that he would forego running for reelection in District 22. He issued a statement that began �After much prayer, reflection and discussion with my close friends and family, I am announcing today my decision to seek reelection in Florida�s proposed 18^th Congressional district. I have always believed the state of Florida would be best served by having both Congressman Tom Rooney and myself in the House of Representatives working to solve our nation�s most pressing problems.�

A squirrelly redistricting process reconfigured West�s already Democrat-heavy 22^nd Congressional District by frontloading a battalion of additional Democrats. Earlier in the day, the 16^th Congressional district�s Representative Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) decided to move his campaign, announcing that he would run in the newly formed 17^th Congressional district on the coast, which includes a sizable Republican constituency carved from the western part of his former 16^th Congressional district.

West, in turn, will run in Rooney�s former stomping ground, which is re-numbered from 16 to 18 under the new plan. Although the swing 18^th District was abandoned by Rooney for the solidly Republican 17^th District, it�s still West�s best chance to reclaim the new life he carved out in Washington. About 25% of West�s former district will be part of his new 18^th district, which is based in Port St. Lucie.

ADAM HASNER TO RUN IN DIST. 22

The third party in this round of political musical chairs is former Florida House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, who abandoned his U.S. Senate bid when the redistricting music stopped. Term limited out of the Florida Statehouse in 2010, Hasner will step into the G.O.P. vacuum left by West in Congressional District 22.

Challenging some anonymous hostile constellation of conspirators, West concluded his statement with �As a 22-year United States Army veteran who commanded troops in combat, one should never underestimate my ability to be a strategic thinker. My voice for the restoration of constitutional principles for our Republic shall continue to resonate through Florida and on Capitol Hill.�

WEST AT PALM BEACH TEA PARTY

West went ballistic upon discovering that his reelection aspirations hit a brick wall. Prior to the rookie congressman�s first year in Washington, he became a Tea Party icon, cultivating access to their hyperactive social media network. They blame Tallahassee Republicans for trying to wax West�s political career. Despite his rookie credentials, West�s veteran fundraising skills have inflated his campaign war chest to $5.85 million, which he�ll need to wage a campaign on untested swing turf.

West�s January 11^th message to the last Galt Mile audience he is likely to represent in Congress randomly borrowed from a recent policy paper about misadventures on Capitol Hill. Drawing on the heroic military persona he developed for his successful run at congressional predecessor Ron Klein, West�s message offers an overwhelming list of obstacles that threaten every aspect of American life. As I said, a dark picture of our future. The following apocalyptic vision ends with West standing alone against the primary forces of nature � in defense of the Republic. See for yourself: � [editor]

While You Were Out!

ROBERTS AND SEILER CELEBRATE ROBERTS' VICTORY

March 23, 2012 - On March 13, 2012, District 1 City Commissioner Bruce G. Roberts was one of two Fort Lauderdale Commissioners - along with Romney Rogers - up for re-election. He paid the City�s $100 fee for administrative costs and one percent (1%) of his City Commissioner�s salary ($300) as required by the State of Florida. If elections are held every three years, and every seat is up for election at the same time, why did Roberts and Rogers have to wait until March 13^th when Jack Seiler, Charlotte Rodstrom and Bobby Dubose nailed their seats on January 31^st? The City of Fort Lauderdale website explains the rules as follows:

Roberts earned this election win. Even those with mixed feelings about the Commissioner are forced to admit that he gets the job done in the trenches. Every concern brought up by the neighborhood association was addressed expeditiously. Maintaining �on call� status for more than two years, He and Commission staffer Robbie Uptegrove were never too busy or �important� to take calls from Galt Mile residents bothered by street noise, low-hanging tree branches, and sidewalk tripping hazards � even death rays from Hallandale Beach. Having locked up another three years of Commission migraines, Roberts rolled up his sleeves and cranked out his March, 2012 post-election update.

The Hand on the Switch

One of the municipal undertakings Roberts looks at is the State Road A1A Light Replacement Project, a tribute to Murphy�s Law that should resonate with Galt Mile residents. In April of 2007, the City ambushed Galt Mile associations with infraction notices footnoted with �6-51 Artificial Lighting Violation�, a little known city ordinance governing turtle-safe lighting requirements for beachfront communities. After apologizing for the aspersive recrimination, City Code Compliance representatives met with Galt Mile Association officials to negotiate a formula for balancing the lighting requirements for sea turtles with the security needs of local residents. Along with curing 98% of the outstanding violations within 12 months, the plan included a methodology for addressing future compliance violations without placing undue strain on association budgets already burdened by repair costs for uninsured hurricane damage, skyrocketing windstorm insurance premiums, code compliant storm mitigation and forced carrying costs for non-contributing units frozen in foreclosure.

FRED HADDAD

While El Eid�s attorney, mob lawyer Fred Haddad, has stated that the FBI has declared his client a �person of interest,� El Eid�s alleged indiscretions seem to be limited to bilking county taxpayers. If the contracts held by Southeast for scores of past, present and future statewide FDOT projects are also tainted by kickbacks, graft and/or rigged bids, the case would elicit the kind of media attention that regional Bureau chiefs live for. Anyway, it�s comforting to know that our struggling hatchlings are in such trustworthy hands. Read on... � [editor]

DISTRICT 1 COMMISSIONER & V.M. BRUCE G. ROBERTS

I would like to offer my appreciation to all of the District 1 voters who participated in the March 13, 2012 municipal election. I am eager to continue serving you and this great City. The current Commission has worked well together to make our City the best place to live, work, play and raise a family. I have an open door policy, and when you contact me, I promise to respond quickly. I may not have immediate answers, but you will receive a reply right away. I will continue to engage residents and businesses in District 1 and throughout the City to help find creative solutions to the issues we face. The past three years have been a positive experience for me and I will continue to bring your voice to City government.

TURTLE FRIENDLY LAMP AT A1A FIRE-RESCUE STATION

SR A1A Light Replacement Project - Progress Update: Southeast Underground Utilities Corp. (Prime Contractor) is currently in the process of removing 101 cast-iron poles, pulling new wires through the existing conduit, drilling new holes for anchor bolts in the existing foundations and setting new poles. This project is a joint venture between the Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), the City of Fort Lauderdale Parking Division and Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to replace the existing city owned lights along east side of SR A1A with Turtle Friendly Lights. This project extends from Fort Lauderdale Beach Park to Sunrise Boulevard. In addition, due to our efforts, other beach municipalities have now been approved to use this fixture for their beach lighting projects. Over the past several months, City staff has worked with lighting manufacturers, FDOT and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to design a permanent recessed light fixture to replace the acorn style lights. The new lights provide a non-visible source from the beach and zero tolerance of light on the sand, while at the same time producing lighting on the roadway and sidewalk. This task required development of several prototypes and field tests on site with FDOT and FWC. A total of 110 light poles and 220 light fixtures will be placed along a two-mile segment of SR A1A on Fort Lauderdale Beach.

City�s Reorganization Results in a New Department of Sustainable Development: As you may have heard, in October 2011, City Manager Lee Feldman began a significant reorganization of the City's operational structure. One of the main objectives of this reorganization is to break down the walls between City departments to enable them to work more efficiently together and to provide better service to our neighbors---to Build Community. As part of the reorganization, the Department of Sustainable Development (DSD) was created to combine Building Services, Code Enforcement, Planning and Zoning, Housing and Community Development, Economic Development, and both the Northwest-Progresso-Flagler Heights CRA and the Beach CRA. As staff implements this new organization, they plan to reach out to our neighbors throughout the year with e-newsletters to communicate project updates, introduce new names and faces, and share with you the improvements the City is making to our operations. I welcome you to visit, call, or email Greg Brewton (Director of Sustainable Development) if you have any comments, questions or suggestions. There is also an on-line survey you can complete to help staff identify ways to improve services to our neighbors.

DOWNED STOP/YIELD SIGNS: If you happen to find a downed sign in your neighborhood or elsewhere within the City, please call Broward County�s Traffic Engineering Department directly. They want to ensure that these significant public safety issues are handled immediately. The number to their front desk is 954.847.2600. Thank you in advance for keeping an eye open for these hazards!

Full Sails in Fort Lauderdale: is a temporary 2012 - 2013 public art exhibit in the parks, public right of ways and private landscapes in the City of Fort Lauderdale. One hundred large mast sculptured sailboats will festoon the City, cutting a vibrant bright colored swath through A1A, Las Olas Boulevard, Riverwalk, Downtown, 17^th Street Harbor Shops and Sistrunk Boulevard. This program will enhance the visibility of local artists, beautify Fort Lauderdale business districts, and promote tourism. At the end of the exhibition period, the Fort Lauderdale Parks and Recreation Department Foundation will auction the sailboats to raise much needed funding for recreational programs including scholarships, events, and sport & leisure activities for the residents of Fort Lauderdale.

Strategic Plan: The City Manager recently met with our Community Building Leadership Team to review the progress we are making on our Strategic Plan which is based on our mission, We Build Community. The plan is being developed around five Cylinders of Excellence: Infrastructure, Public Places, Neighborhood Enhancement, Business Development and Public Safety. More than 100 employees are participating in the strategic planning. Five interdepartmental teams represent each Cylinder of Excellence � led by our Structural Innovation Division and Department Directors, the teams have already made significant progress in three specific areas: 1) Environmental Scan (each team reviewed key demographic, statistical and performance-related data to gain insight into community trends and identify factors that will influence the direction and goals of our organization); 2) Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis (participants developed a SWOT analysis to identify the main internal and external issues that effect how We Build Community); 3) Draft Goals and Objectives (using information obtained from the Environmental Scan and SWOT Analysis, the teams developed draft goals and objectives for each Cylinder of Excellence). Over the next two months, the strategic planning teams will focus on finalizing the goals and objectives, and establishing performance measures, targets and benchmarks that will be used to evaluate how well we are achieving our goals and objectives. Throughout the process, staff will work closely with the visioning initiative to make certain that our Strategic Plan is reflective of community priorities. If you would like further information on the strategic plan, please let us know and we can send you the entire memo from the City Manager.

Fort Lauderdale�s GIS Website: The City of Fort Lauderdale�s Information Technology Services Department invites you to explore the new Geographic Information System (GIS) website. The site catalogs our publicly available GIS applications and maps in a more dynamic and engaging fashion while making the applications you already use even easier to find. The new site is not just for City of Fort Lauderdale staff and neighbors. It contains useful information and tools for all Broward County residents and visitors. If you are a Broward County resident or if you are shopping for property in Broward County, you can use our FEMA Flood Zone application to determine your flood zone designation for insurance purposes. Explore the site at http://gis.fortlauderdale.gov/ and check back often to discover the new and exciting applications planned in the coming months.

Air Show: After being grounded for a few years, the Fort Lauderdale Air Show is ready to take off in a big way. The mega tourist and local family event will return to the beach on April 28 and 29, 2012. Military planes and civilian aerial acts have not flown over the Fort Lauderdale sand since 2007 after organizers struggled to find sponsors to fund the event. A scaled back version nearly got off the ground last year, but was canceled at the last minute because of financial problems. Those problems no longer exist. Support from local and regional businesses have been instrumental in getting the show off the ground financially. The high-flying aerobatics - the Thunderbirds � will return to the 2012 show and organizers are trying to line-up the world famous Blue Angels for 2013. New civilian aerobat teams will also be featured. For the latest information and updates on the new and improved Fort Lauderdale Air Show, please go to www.lauderdaleairshow.com.

Pre-Agenda Meetings: A reminder that our meetings are always on the Monday before a Commission Meeting (unless that Monday is a holiday). The agenda is discussed, as well as any other topics that may arise. The first Monday of the month is at the Beach Community Center, and the third Monday of the month is at Imperial Point Hospital (south entrance) � always at 6p.m. Please call the office if you have any questions or need more information.

ROBBI UPTEGROVE

Office Contact: Robbi Uptegrove � 954-828-5033; email: [email protected]. In addition to hosting the pre-agenda meetings twice a month, I am also available to attend your HOA meetings to update your neighborhood on what is going on in the City as well as answer any questions/concerns you may have. Please contact Robbi to schedule. If you would like to be on our email list to receive information, notifications or general information, please email us and you will be added.

Bruce G. Roberts                

If you need to reach Commissioner Bruce Roberts, please contact his assistant Robbi Uptegrove at 954-828-5033 or by e-mail at [email protected]. To access the City Commission Meeting Agendas and Minutes, Click Here. To actually watch the meetings recorded and archived on the Commission Meetings Video Webcast and Archives web site, Click Here.

April 12, 2012 - In 2002, when lawmakers in the Florida House and Senate drew election districts that were neither compact nor community based, campaign advantages that were brazenly engineered for Republican incumbents elicited a political gerrymandering challenge to the skewed redistricting process. As a stupefied electorate looked on in disbelief, the challenge was rejected by the Florida Supreme Court because compactness and adherence to community boundaries �are not constitutionally required� [In Re: Constitutionality of House Joint Resolution 1987, 817 So. 2d 819, 832 (Fla. 2002)]. In short, the Florida high court reminded the electorate that until gerrymandering was outlawed in the State of Florida, legislators could legally rig their own elections.

Original Gerrymander

After decades of mutely watching their legislators arrogantly create election districts blemished by incumbent and party advantages, Florida voters in 2010 finally took back a process that lawmakers had long ago turned on its head. Since the electorate approved Constitutional Amendment 5 and Amendment 6, Florida standards for the new decade�s redistricting plan require compact, community based and contiguous election districts. They also prohibit boundaries from being drawn to favor incumbent lawmakers or any political party.

After approving newly drawn election districts for the Statehouse, on March 8, 2012 (one day before the 2012 Legislative session ended), the Florida Supreme Court kicked the Florida Senate�s redistricting plan back to square one. Senators are normally term-limited after two four-year terms. By manipulating how voting districts were renumbered in their plan, Senators expected to control which two-year election cycle each of their fellow incumbents fell into, enabling them to serve for up to 10 years in the upper chamber.

BROWARD SENATE DISTRICTS

In rejecting the scheme, incredulous Justices wrote �Adopting a renumbering system that significantly advantages incumbents by increasing the length of time that they may serve by two years most assuredly favors incumbents. Further, purposefully manipulating the numbering of the districts in order to allow incumbents to serve in excess of eight years would also appear to frustrate the intent of the voters when the term limits amendment was adopted.�

Plans submitted for the high court�s approval by both houses created more Republican districts than those with Democratic voter majorities, despite the almost 500,000 voter edge held statewide by Democrats over Republicans in Florida. While the new Constitutional standards were somewhat distorted in the judicially approved house plan, they were virtually ignored in the Senate maps. In addition to giving incumbents an extra two years in the upper body, districts in the Senate proposal were shaped so that no incumbent senator would face an election challenge from another incumbent. As if to demonstrate their disdain for the electorate�s constitutional intent, 23 of the 40 redrawn Senate districts magically featured GOP majorities. A flustered Florida Supreme Court dropped the hammer, rejecting the Senate plan by a 5-2 vote.

SPEAKER DEAN CANNON VOTES SENATE PLAN

The decision forced Governor Rick Scott to call a Legislative Special Session that extended the redistricting process to March 27^th. A Senate plan with token changes that was generated during the special session was passed in the House by a party line vote and submitted to Attorney General Pam Bondi, who had 15 days to forward it to the Florida Supreme Court or send it back.

Deprived of their former right to openly rig elections, lawmakers who were used to selecting their voters were suddenly facing nerve-wracking elections wherein voters actually select their lawmakers. Beset by unprecedented career jitters, Statehouse Representatives, State Senators and Congressional candidates began frantically swapping constituencies, changing chambers or jumping the aisle to exploit any legal election advantage, no matter how small.

CONGRESSMAN WEST PINS MEDALS ON EDWARD AYERS

Galt Mile residents witnessed this new phenomenon up close and personal. On January 11, 2012, 150 Galt Mile residents took an early evening stroll to the Beach Community Center. After grabbing a chair in the auditorium, they settled in to watch a patented presentation by Congressman Alan West. After pinning a box full of medals on a local Vietnam Vet, orchestrating a paramilitary parade around the auditorium, whizzing through an hour-long Q & A hosted by GMCA President Pio Ieraci and delivering a disheartening eulogy for the American Dream, the District 22 Congressman sealed the dinner hour tryst by enshrining the mutual loyalty that bound West to his Galt Mile constituents.

CONGRESSMAN WEST WAVES GOODBYE

Two weeks later, West packed his bags and bugged out, announcing, �After much prayer, reflection and discussion with my close friends and family, I am announcing today my decision to seek reelection in Florida�s proposed 18^th Congressional district. I have always believed the state of Florida would be best served by having both Congressman Tom Rooney and myself in the House of Representatives working to solve our nation�s most pressing problems.� Loyalty aside, when the redistricting process soured West�s re-election chances, he cut a quick three-way deal with the 16^th Congressional district�s Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) and former Florida House Majority Leader Adam Hasner (R-Boca Raton) to swap constituencies like collectibles.

CONG. TOM ROONEY, FLA. REP. ADAM HASNER AND CONG. ALLEN WEST

Tom Rooney would move his campaign to the newly formed 17^th Congressional district on the west coast, which includes a sizable Republican constituency carved from the western part of his former 16^th Congressional district. West will run in Rooney�s former home District, which is re-numbered from 16 to 18 under the new plan and based in Port St. Lucie. Adam Hasner abandoned a U.S. Senate bid against Bill Nelson and stepped into the G.O.P. vacuum left by West in Congressional District 22.

CONG. ALLEN WEST VS PATRICK MURPHY

In an attempt to explain why he abandoned his soon to be former constituents, West left a parting note to voters in the district that launched his political career, �As a 22-year United States Army veteran who commanded troops in combat, one should never underestimate my ability to be a strategic thinker. My voice for the restoration of constitutional principles for our Republic shall continue to resonate through Florida and on Capitol Hill.� In a heartbeat, the loyalty he prized weeks earlier became fodder for a strategic shot at career advancement.

MAYOR LOIS FRANKEL AND COMM. KRISTIN JACOBS

When West jumped ship, Jupiter Democrat Patrick Murphy, a CPA and small businessman who planned to challenge West in District 22, followed the Tea Party icon to District 18, where he hopes to overcome West�s $5.8 million to $1.4 million campaign finance advantage. Democrat Lois Frankel, the mayor of West Palm Beach, previously declared her Congressional candidacy in District 22. Since Frankel and Hasner both herald from Palm Beach County, the race was forming up without a hometown favorite for Broward voters. District 2 Broward County Commissioner Kristen Jacobs did the math. The redrawn Congressional District was flush with newly infused Democrats. Having served 4 terms on the Broward board, Democrat Jacobs decided to take a run at Frankel and threw her hat in the ring.

BROWARD COMMISSIONER CHIP LAMARCA

With two players from that County up north and Jacobs giving Broward Democrats a familiar name on the ballot, political pundits wondered if a local Republican would have the juice to jump into the pond fearfully vacated by West. The only logical choice was Jacob�s District 4 peer on the Broward Board of County Commissioners, Chip LaMarca.

FORMER CONGRESSMAN E. CLAY SHAW

Years spent as �the man behind the curtain� in South Florida Republican politics enabled LaMarca to quietly amass political markers from here to Tallahassee. Over the past year, the Broward Board�s sole Republican was tagged repeatedly to press the County�s agenda in the Republican State Capitol. Having helped revive the beach renourishment project, secured funding for key infrastructure projects like the Port Everglades expansion and shielded the popular Galt Ocean Mile Library from the County Commission�s budgetary death squad, LaMarca�s stock in District 4 was never higher. With local icons like former Congressman E. Clay Shaw in his corner, LaMarca�s prospect for landing an all-expense paid two-year stay in Washington D.C. looked good.

LaMarca, however, had a problem that rarely afflicts public officials. When faced with a unique opportunity for political advancement to a national arena, LaMarca weighed the toll it might take on his credibility. Two and a half years earlier, he made promises to a constituency that took a flyer on a marginally experienced County Commission candidate. He enumerated specific campaign objectives for public safety, economic recovery, beach renourishment, job creation and shutting down a pork trough that fueled Broward�s longstanding reputation as an ethical slop sink. Conflicted over whether he had sufficiently delivered on his commitments, LaMarca exclaimed �It would be disingenuous to run for a different office so quickly.�

Placing his constituents before his shot at political ascendency, LaMarca declined the fast track to Capitol Hill and decided to finish what he started. Galt Mile residents who�ve become acclimated to LaMarca�s penchant for quietly getting the job done were pleased to learn that �strategic thinking� hadn�t compromised his loyalty.

In his Early April Newsletter, LaMarca explains the rationale for his decision to his Galt Mile constituents, reviews the projects on his plate and snapshots the County�s economic progress. He touches on the impending beach renourishment, the competitive enhancements to Port Everglades infrastructure and explains his leading role in Broward becoming a �Six Pillars� community. LaMarca also applauds the recent drop in Broward unemployment, outlines the continuing growth in tourism and stresses the importance of a vital Marine Industry. For details, read on... � [editor]

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NEW BEACH CONSTRUCTION PLAN

April 21, 2012 - It�s no revelation that our beach has been rapidly dwindling from the effects of tidal erosion. Since Broward County�s beaches are uniformly under attack, the Broward County Shore Protection Project was authorized in 1965 for county-wide federal participation in beach erosion control (Section 301 of Public Law 89-298, October 27, 1965). Not a bad deal for the projected cost of $1,093,000 in 1965. The Project divided the County�s deteriorating shoreline into three zones. The North Zone (Segment I) is about three miles of coast from the Palm Beach County line to the Hillsboro Inlet. The Middle Zone (Segment II) includes the roughly 10 miles of beach running from the Hillsboro Inlet to just north of Port Everglades. The South Zone (Segment III) ranges from John U. Lloyd Beach State Recreation area for 8.1 miles through Dania, Hollywood Beach, and Hallandale Beach to the Dade County Line.

The original plan engaged the Army Corps of Engineers to supervise the pumping of sand dredged from five �borrow� sites north of Pompano Beach in Segment I and transported by ship to the coastal zones awaiting renourishment. This comprehensive effort would add in excess of 2.5 million cubic yards of sand to our shrinking beaches and widen them by 50 feet to 100 feet depending on the degree of need. The county anticipated recovering almost half of its outlay from the Federal Government, whose primary objective is the protection of $4 billion in upland property from storm damage. Alternatively, we relish that visitors spend $9 billion annually to roll in the retreating sand.

Renourishment of the South Zone (Segment III) was completed in March 2006 using 1,700,000 cubic yards of sand from the offshore borrow sites. Since 21.3 miles of Broward County�s 24 miles of beaches were originally declared �critically eroded� by the Coastal Engineering Section of the FDEP, 13.5 miles have either been restored and/or are currently under maintenance.

Sand Plan Sinks

AT RISK ELKHORN AND STAGHORN CORALS

Following completion of the Segment III renourishment, monitors from Nova Southeast University Oceanographic Center and a coalition of outside engineers joined county scientists to examine the environmental impact of the south county beach fix and use the data to enhance environmental mitigations for the next stage (Segment II) of the County�s coastal rescue plan. After an 18-month monitoring period (as mandated by the Florida Cabinet), their report documented finding two new species of coral federally designated as �threatened� in 2006.

While noting some deterioration of the nearshore hardbottom environment during the Segment III renourishment, the report laments an inability to determine whether its cause was the project or Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Ophelia, Rita, Wilma and two nor�easters, which pummeled the site in 2005 and any of which may have been responsible for the damage in its entirety.

STEPHEN HIGGINS BEACH WIZZARD

When FDEP notified the Broward Biological Resources Division that these new corals should be added to the list of protected marine organisms prior to the upcoming Segment II project, communications inexplicably broke down. When asked by GMCA officials about the Segment II project, County beach officials were largely non-responsive throughout 2008 and 2009, focusing instead on additional erosion control devices, a nondescript hunt for sand and other puerile distractions.

FORMER FDEP SECRETARY MICHAEL W. SOLE

Enigmatically, former beach boss and project Guru Stephen Higgins also never responded when FDEP requested a mitigation plan for the endangered coral and sat idly by as the project�s State permit expired on June 4, 2009 and the Federal permit expired a few weeks later on July 16, 2009. Although former FDEP Secretary Michael Sole, who worked with Stephen Higgins in Broward when he was tagged by Charlie Crist to run FDEP, collegially extended the lapsed Segment II State permit for an additional five years, the County would have to renegotiate the regulatory minefield prerequisite to a new federal permit before pulling the stalled renourishment project out of limbo.

HOLLYWOOD HOTELS COVET SAND

Shortly after Higgins fell asleep at the wheel, a municipal conflict threatened the project. Despite the fact that the Galt Mile Community Association played a critical role in actualizing the south county�s Segment III renourishment by winning Cabinet approval in 2003, Hollywood and Hallandale hoteliers and politicians later colluded in a stealth campaign to hijack the sand earmarked for Fort Lauderdale�s beaches while the Segment II approval languished.

Enraged by the south county attempt to usurp Segment II renourishment resources and leery of County�s incredibly irresponsible gaffe, when Broward County asked the City of Fort Lauderdale for permission to perform a sand bypass at Port Everglades on January 6, 2009, a frustrated City Commission immediately passed City Resolution No. 09-11, �strongly opposing� the project and insisting that Broward first complete the promised Segment II renourishment of Fort Lauderdale�s beaches

To underscore their anger, City officials posted a page on their web site entitled �Help Save Fort Lauderdale Beach,� which provides the email addresses of the County Commissioners and states �The Fort Lauderdale City Commissioners need your help to make sure that Fort Lauderdale is not pushed to the back of the line. Let Broward County know that you oppose the proposed Port Everglades Sand Bypass Project and that you want them to implement the Segment II Beach Renourishment Project as promised.�

Eric Myers Revives Renourishment

BROWARD BEACH ADMINISTRATOR ERIC MYERS

The Project lacked a palpable pulse when Deputy Director Eric Myers of Broward�s Environmental Protection and Growth Management Department stepped up in 2011 and rescued the plan from oblivion. Working with County Commissioner Chip LaMarca, the FDEP, the Galt Mile Community Association and participating north and south county beachfront municipalities, Myers elicited an agreement to cooperate from every party with standing.

MAYOR JACK SEILER

Myers� argument was simple. The project�s overall engineering success depends upon the segments being accomplished in concert. Addressing Segments II or III alone is akin to fixing three of four broken legs on a chair. The Broward County Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers agreed that the project�s ultimate success is contingent on the problem being addressed unilaterally. Each segment contributes to the overall stability of the shoreline. Unless Segment II was completed, the entire enterprise would fail.

FIX BEACH... and WAVE WALL...and

In a February 3, 2012 letter to Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler, Myers explains how a new upland source of sand could enable a Segment II renourishment in 2013. On March 6^th, he presented project details to the City Commission. A long time coming, his presentation was music to the Commission, despite Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom�s eccentric notion that a higher roadside wave wall would better protect the marine environment (Myers politely explained was it was atypical for a renourishment project). Mayor Jack Seiler answered with a March 13^th letter to Broward Mayor John Rodstrom supporting Myers� plan to renourish Segment II with upland sand. On April 2, 2012, Myers outlined the plan to association officials attending a Galt Mile Community Association Presidents Council meeting at the Galleon.

BROWARD COMMISSIONER CHIP LAMARCA

Two months earlier, angry Galt Mile officials suddenly blasted Broward Commissioner Chip LaMarca when he began delivering an update about beach renourishment. Given the shrinking beach�s critical importance to the neighborhood�s economy and its residents� quality of life, Galt Milers and their associations have been passionately vested in its rescue for more than a decade. Annually since before the Millennium, Galt Mile residents had been repeatedly assured by Broward officials that their severely eroded beach would be renourished �next year�. Enthusiasm was slowly replaced by a numbing cynicism as frustrated residents increasingly reacted to empty county promises like rats on a shock plate. A protective veneer of hopeless disbelief veiled an explosive anger. While attempting to impart some good news about the project�s revival, LaMarca inadvertently pulled off an emotional scab and loosed a decade of disappointment. Ironically, LaMarca had been working with Myers to salvage the frozen project. Immediately after the outburst, LaMarca and GMCA officials agreed that Myers should personally bring the neighborhood up to speed.

While running through the revised project�s planning, design, and implementation for association officials, Myers addressed its scope, sand source, cost and the Segment II timetable. The following is a blended summary of the two presentations made to the neighborhood association and the City Commission.

New Sand Source for Segment II

NEW SEGMENT II BEACH PLAN

Myers explained that he is submitting a Joint Coastal Permit (JCP) application for the placement of 750,000 cubic yards of sand mined from an upland sand source along two separate portions of the Segment II shoreline. The plan to rehabilitate 5.2 miles of beach is based upon a shoreline condition and change analyses, sand source investigations, environmental considerations and expected regulatory hurdles. The northern section runs from SE 4^th Street in Pompano Beach to the Ocean Colony Condominium in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. The southern section extends from Commercial Boulevard to Terramar Street in Fort Lauderdale (and includes the Galt Mile). Marketing itself as the �Dive Capitol of Florida,� Lauderdale-by-the-Sea has been conflicted about participating in a project that interferes with the Scuba industry�s agenda. He pegs the combined cost of construction and nearshore hardbottom mitigation at roughly $33 million. Indirect costs for planning, design, permitting, construction management and environmental monitoring are estimated at $12.5 million for a total project cost of $45.5 million.

In addition to a beach berm � the above water material that comprises the active shoreline (i.e. sand, shingles, shells, jetsam, flotsam) - the project will include construction of a back beach dune to fortify areas where shorefront development is most vulnerable to erosion (wind and coastal storm effects), such as the Galt Ocean Mile, the beachfront single family home community in Lauderdale Beach, and the area seaward of the Hugh Taylor Birch State Park finger streets. The initially wide sand berm constructed on the heavily eroded upper portion of the beach profile will gradually �equilibrate� and flatten to a shape more consistent with the natural beach.

GALT WATERLINE CLOSE TO NEARSHORE HARDBOTTOM

As the berm face flattens and sand travels down the slope, it could reach and perhaps directly cover and degrade nearshore hardbottom areas immediately adjacent to the beach system. Along the Segment II shoreline, these highly sensitive ecosystems are intermittently located relatively close to the waterline. For example, the hardbottom behind the Plaza East Condominium beach is just 300 feet from the waterline. To minimize damage to this protected ecosystem, regulations will require construction of a significantly narrower beach than at Broward coastal sites where the hardbottom is farther offshore.

The bellwether change in Myers� plan is the sand source. Every scrap of relevant project documentation, from the Army Corps of Engineers Final Environmental Impact Statement to the original plan that was permitted by the State, targeted Segment I (the waters off Deerfield Beach) as a sand �borrow site� adequate for both Segment III and Segment II renourishments. In May of 2007, former Broward Beach Administrator Stephen Higgins reported �Since borrow area No. 1, which has enough material with which to construct Segment II, now has a higher percentage of rock in it after removing sand for Segment III, we will have to explore an alternative sand source.� To swallow this whopper, one must believe that a team of county and private sector world-class marine engineers was intellectually ambushed by the third grade hypothesis that if one removes a certain material; the percentage of other materials will increase. Higgins� statement didn�t explain what happened. In fact, Deerfield Beach informed the County that it wanted to conserve the offshore sand for its own use and told Higgins to take a hike.

WIDESPREAD SEARCH FOR SAND

This unanticipated stumbling block subsequently drove an intensive search for sand. County engineers and project planners explored other local offshore deposits, remote sources of domestic sand (e.g. offshore central Florida at Canaveral Shoals in Brevard County and in the Gulf of Mexico at Tom�s Hill off Lee County), non-domestic sand sources like Bahamian aragonite and recycled glass cullet (finely-ground scrap glass). To his credit, Myers turned this project lemon into lemonade.

DARK GRAY DREDGED SAND TURNS LIGHT GRAY

Sand located offshore in Broward County generally consists of between 50% and 80% calcium carbonate material, is slightly finer than the native beach sediments, and have between 1% and 3% fines, by weight. The sand is generally dark gray in color when first placed of the beach, but lightens to a medium gray within a few days. Using sand extracted from an offshore borrow area requires a dredge operating between offshore reefs; the deployment of pipelines that extend from an offshore offloading area and navigate through coral reefs to the target beach; and staged hydraulic pumps to distribute the sand over the beach. Large maritime vessels that dredge sand and lay pipeline can wreak havoc on the marine environment while steaming across a coral reef; exponentially inflaming the renourishment�s expensive and dilatory regulatory nightmares.

SAND PROCESSED AT ORTONA MINE

Instead of running this painful regulatory gauntlet to cover a Segment II beach with gray sand, Myers decided to buy compatible sand harvested from upland commercial mines north and northwest of the county and truck it 125 miles to Fort Lauderdale. To buttress their newly renourished beach, Hollywood recently trucked in 87,000 tons of sand from the Ortona Sand Mine in La Belle, Florida (Glades County). Owned by E.R. Jahna Industries, Inc., a dredge sucks sand from the bottom of an artificial lake, filters out pebbles, extracts water, removes silt or clay and sorts the sand by grain size.

Galt Mile Beach: Segment II Plan Protocols

YELLOW SAND DREDGED FROM ORTONA'S MAN-MADE LAKE

Sand products from these upland sand mines are almost exclusively silica sand, typically have larger average grain sizes and a smaller fines fraction than material found in the offshore borrow areas, and are generally light yellow in color. Due primarily to their imperceptibly larger grain size, these sources are more stable and produce less post placement turbidity in the nearshore environment. Originally deposited 5 million years ago when the shoreline ran up the spine of the state, they also more closely match the color of our native beach sediments than sand dredged from offshore borrow sites.

TRUCKING SAND TO BEACH STAGING AREAS

Since the construction methodology for renourishing a beach using mined sand is significantly different from using sand dredged offshore, certain new challenges must be addressed. The sand must be delivered to the beach by truck, stockpiled, transferred to off-road equipment, and placed mechanically on the beach. Traffic on regional thoroughfares and local streets along the route will be temporarily affected by the hauling and placement of material during the construction process. The project will also require several accessible and sufficiently sized dedicated staging areas for the delivery, handling, transfer and temporary stockpiling of sand material.

For the Segment II project, Myers surmised �One access point will be required for the Pompano Beach/LBTS portion and three or four sites for the Fort Lauderdale renourishment.� Myers told the Presidents Council that it would be optimal if access points were located north and south of Galt Ocean Mile - possibly Palm Avenue in LBTS and near Oakland Park Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, respectively. Another access point located in the vicinity of NE 18^th Street and A1A in Fort Lauderdale could service the southernmost beach fill.

SAND OFFLOADED TO BEACH

While moving the sand overland instead of stomping through delicate hardbottom should eliminate many environmental pitfalls, the Segment II project will still elicit high levels of regulatory and public scrutiny. Federal permit applications will have to address 1) the project�s purpose, 2) the amount of sand fill required, 3) the sand placement areas and 4) the type of sand that will be placed. Compared to the problems threatened by offshore dredging, pipeline damage to the reef and high turbidity levels from stirred sand at the borrow sites and the beach, muting the environmental impacts of spreading the upland sand should be a cakewalk. Instead, project planners will have to allay regulatory concerns about the variability of materials at the source, and enforce Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) protocols throughout the construction period. Myers assured attendees �Using the upland sand sources for the Segment II project will be viewed more favorably by the regulatory agencies and public environmental protection interests than sand dredged from offshore.�

There are two downsides to this revised renourishment plan, cost and scheduling. Delivering mined sand to the beach is estimated to cost 20% more than sand dredged offshore. Although the price of the upland sand is $15.2 million more than sand harvested offshore, the combined cost of equipment, mitigation and Environmental Monitoring is $7.9 million less. Since the costs of planning/engineering/permitting/etc. and contingency funds remain the same, the overall project price will jump from $38.3 million to $45.6 million, a $7.3 million increase.

Myers said that construction should commence in the fall of 2013. Regulatory land mines and/or possible Administrative Challenges to project permits could delay the schedule. Given the time required to load, transport, unload, stockpile and mechanically disburse sand pulled from the mine, using the upland sand source may require up to three seasons to place 750,000 cubic yards along the Segment II shoreline. Since renourishment activities are precluded during turtle nesting season, sand placement may only occur during the winter seasons of 2013-2014, 2014-2015, and (if necessary) 2015-2016. In comparison, if offshore sand were used, the 750,000 cubic yards of sand could be placed within 2 to 4 months, enabling completion of the entire project during the 2013-2014 winter season.

When asked how the project would roll out, given the Galt Mile Community�s longstanding investment in the project�s survival, Myers exclaimed that he favors renourishing the Galt Mile beach at the project�s outset. When asked where the beach fix will start, Myers indicated that it would begin below Anglin�s Pier on Commercial Boulevard and work its way south to Terramar Street in Fort Lauderdale before returning north to address the Pompano Beach/LBTS section of beach. According to Commissioner LaMarca, project funding is intact and available.

Since the benefits of Myers� plan far outweigh the drawbacks, GMCA officials consider it a no-brainer. While Myers has managed to get the involved jurisdictions pulling in the same direction and chill much of the animosity that flared when Broward dropped the ball, he also understands that many Galt Mile residents who�ve been repeatedly burned in the past won�t buy into this plan until they see trucks filled with sand in the staging area. After all, this isn�t the first time we�ve been told that the beach will be renourished �next year�.

What Can I Do?

Beach Nourishment Project
Environmental Assessment Meeting

THE BEACH COMMUNITY CENTER

On April 19, 2012, Galt Mile associations received an email from Broward County Natural Resources Administrator Eric Myers noticing a 6 PM �Beach Nourishment Project Environmental Assessment Scoping Meeting� at the Beach Community Center on May 2^nd.

THE HOLLYWOOD BEACH COMMUNITY CENTER

On April 30, 2002, two busloads of Galt Mile residents attended a similar public hearing at the Hollywood Beach Community Center in support of the Army Corps of Engineers plan to renourish our shrinking beaches. Because our voice insured the project�s approval, the Segment III renourishment of south county beaches was completed in 2006. Now it�s our turn.

Ten years after our dramatic demonstration of support for fixing the county�s critically eroded beaches, our own Galt Mile beach is finally next in line. We now have the opportunity to do for ourselves what we did for our south county neighbors in 2002, inform the enabling authorities that we avidly support this project.

Drafted in the confusing techno-speak boilerplate used by government scientists when interfacing with their respective bureaucracies, Myers� enigmatic letter noticing a �scoping� meeting has understandably raised concerns about its purpose. In short, the meeting fulfills a regulatory obligation in the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) approval process to invite public participation. Having detailed his plan to local public and community officials and exacted their approval, Federal Law requires that Myers also provide the same data and opportunity for input to any interested party.

Guidelines for NEPA regulations state �Public participation is one of the hallmarks of NEPA, and is reflected in CEQ�s (Council on Environmental Quality) and EPA�s NEPA regulations. According to 40 CFR 6.400(a), �EPA shall make diligent efforts to involve the public in the environmental review process....��

CEQ regulations define scoping as �an early and open process for determining the scope of issues to be addressed and for identifying the significant issues related to a proposed action (40 CFR 1501.7).� It also states, �In general, scoping has three broad purposes: identifying public and agency concerns with a proposed action, defining issues and alternatives to be examined in detail, and saving time by ensuring that relevant issues are identified early and drive the analyses (see 40 CFR 1500.4(g), 1500.5(d)).�

The guidelines additionally explain, �NEPA and the CEQ regulations require the identification and development of a reasonable array of alternatives. In addition, CEQ requires that all reasonable alternatives, including a �no action� alternative, must be analyzed rigorously and objectively. The selection of potential alternatives should begin early in the evaluation and, in fact, should be part of the scoping process.� As such, Myers worded his meeting invitation in conformity with NEPA guidelines.

We Need Your Help!

While local residents strongly support the County plan to restore our beach, there are outside political and financial interests that have repeatedly subverted its progress. Every major environmental and governmental agency has faithfully advocated for the Broward plan since its inception. Myers� decision to use upland sand eliminates the regulatory need to mitigate threats posed by dredging sand or deploying pipelines across the sensitive seabed, further enhancing the plan�s credibility with the mainstream environmental community and governmental watchdogs.

The fate of our beach is in our hands. On May 2^nd, Galt Mile residents will either turn out in force to support the renourishment plan or concede this decision to the small yet vocal coalition of outside financial interests whose businesses will be temporarily slowed � and radical environmental theorists whose agenda includes depopulating the barrier island. If we blow this, we will have no one to blame but ourselves as we watch our beach melt into the sea.

Beach Community Center
3351 NE 33^rd Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308
Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 6 PM

It�s Your Move...

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BEACH COMMUNITY CENTER

May 10, 2012 - On May 3, 2012, the City of Fort Lauderdale and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) convened a meeting at the Beach Community Center to inform neighborhood residents about a $2.1 million FDOT plan to resurface State Road A1A (SR A1A) from Flamingo Avenue to Oakland Park Boulevard. Among the 35 �interested parties� who attended the 6 PM meeting were curious local residents, apprehensive neighborhood vendors and relieved representatives of the Galt Mile Community Association. Financial Project Number 423000-1-52-01 (the preferred identifier for FDOT projects) had banged around on the back shelf since 2007. After 6 years of tweaking, the long-rumored project was reanimated and fitted with a May 7, 2012 start date.

INFORMATION SPECIALIST MIRANDA IGLESIAS

Hosted by information specialist Miranda Iglesias (Public Information Officer at The Corradino Group) on behalf of FDOT, the project was described by Project Engineer Michael Melendez (President of Genesis Enterprises & Engineering Services, LLC) and construction coordinator Sara J. Duffoo (Senior Project Engineer at Target Engineering Group, Inc.). While removing old asphalt and repaving the 1.07 mile stretch of A1A, the triple R project (RRR - FDOT jargon for resurfacing, restoration and rehabilitation) will alter the character of the thoroughfare in compliance with objectives defined over the past six years. Among the major roadway improvements are a change in the number of lanes available to vehicular traffic and the addition of new bike lanes in both directions. The six lanes of North Ocean Boulevard that currently serve as a raceway through the Galt Mile neighborhood will be reduced to four lanes abutting new curbs and gutters.

Intersections within project limits will also receive a makeover. ADA compliant curb ramps will be installed and left turn lanes extended. Signalized intersections at NE 32^nd Street, NE 34^th Street, NE 36^th Street, NE 41^st Street and Flamingo Avenue will be adorned with new Mast Arm Assemblies and enhanced with video detection capability, further dampening the strip�s attraction to weekend & post-midnight speed demons who habitually view traffic signals as course markers. New stripes and traffic lines will map the layout at intersections, delimit the lane reduction and isolate the new bike lanes (in lieu of a physical barrier). The route will benefit from new signage and medians modified from NE 32^nd Street to Flamingo Avenue will receive modest landscaping improvements (an FDOT contract provision limits the funds available for landscaping enhancements to 4% of the overall contract amount).

INFAMOUS GALT MILE TRIANGLE

In 2003, when the neighborhood association complained bitterly about their local stretch of A1A devolving on weekends and evenings into a drag strip, traffic checkpoints ordered by then Police Chief Bruce Roberts intermittently slowed the nightly racing by hot rods and Harleys. In 2004, former GMCA President Robert Rozema asked former Mayor Jim Naugle to look into the sky high accident rate at the intersection of Galt Ocean Drive and A1A one block north of Oakland Park Boulevard; a block known as the Galt Mile�s �Bermuda Triangle� and ground zero for several major accidents every year and near weekly fender benders. At an April 7, 2005, meeting convened at the Beach Community Center, after personally fielding scores of dangerous driving and noise complaints (and hundreds more submitted in writing), former Commissioner Christine Teel and former City Manager George Gretsas asked then Chief of Police Bruce G. Roberts to formulate a �Traffic Enforcement Action Plan� aimed at stopping the chronic traffic and noise abuses along A1A.

FORMER POLICE CHIEF BRUCE ROBERTS

At a subsequent meeting of the neighborhood association�s Advisory Board, Chief Roberts explained, �This action plan was devised in response to numerous citizen complaints concerning unlawful driving practices. There has been a noticeable increase in this activity and local residents and vehicular traffic has been negatively affected. The goal of this high visibility enforcement was to aid in the reduction of crime, reduce unlawful speeding, reduce excessive noise created by unlawful equipment installed on vehicles, educate offenders who are committing violations and to improve the quality of life for residents.� Although infractions abated during the following six month period in which 1,361 traffic citations were written by 25 participating Officers and 6 Police Service Aides, they ramped up again when police resources were ultimately �reallocated�.

HEADING SOUTH ON A1A

A municipal engineer was also assigned to explore the locally infamous �Galt Triangle�, where the southern end of Galt Ocean Drive empties into A1A (North Ocean Boulevard). Inexplicably, drivers heading south on A1A tend to run the traffic light one block north of Oakland Park Boulevard, precipitating repeated collisions with vehicles entering from Galt Ocean Drive and pedestrians crossing A1A. Vehicles turning onto A1A from nearby intersecting side streets also treated pedestrians like pinballs. Community leaders and City officials offered a variety of possible rationales for the light being ignored and the dangerous turns. Some blamed a poorly placed traffic signal or confusing signage while others surmised that anxious drivers heading south on A1A might be preoccupied with the traffic light at the busy Oakland Park Boulevard intersection and inadvertently overlook the preceding light and/or street signs a few blocks north.

FORMER DISTRICT 1 POLICE COMMANDER MARY NEGREY

While failing to definitively diagnose the enigmatic accident zone or effectively curb the traffic abuses, these preventive actions shed light on the some of the underlying problems. Former Police District 1 Commander Major Mary Negrey (later promoted to Assistant Chief) told the Advisory Board in 2006 that until the City Commission passed adequate regulatory tools, A1A�s status as a vehicular demilitarized zone would continue. For instance, due to a poorly drafted traffic ordinance, sound measuring equipment ordinarily used to discourage noise pollution was precluded for use against traffic noise violations, forcing prosecutors to build cases around the subjective judgment of an arresting officer. Hundreds of violators simply waltzed out of court. To deter a spectrum of dangerous and illegal driving practices and the nightly noise disturbances that proliferated along the neighborhood�s main artery, Negrey looked to other municipalities for guidance in developing recommendations for shoring up local traffic laws.

In 2008, Galt Mile representatives met with City officials to consider implementing a neighborhood Master Plan. Instead of the current patchwork of minor fixes and opportunistic projects targeting relatively isolated problems, the plan would encompass landscaping, structural and aesthetic improvements for the entire Galt Mile neighborhood, and outline an overall strategy for commercial development. It would also enhance the neighborhood�s transportation connectivity; address security needs, facilitate traffic flow, clarify expectations for beach and block maintenance, and provide a realistic basis for attracting development consistent with the community�s vision.

At the same time, the Florida Department of Transportation was preparing to rehabilitate State Road A1A from Flamingo Avenue to Oakland Park Boulevard. Engineering Consultants bidding on the lucrative project were charged with improving upon a scope of work that would bring the thoroughfare into compliance with State and local regulations, address traffic safety issues and maintain the neighborhood�s character. To address the third objective, City officials scrutinizing the mechanics of a Galt Mile Master Plan recommended that aspiring applicants elicit feedback from the Galt Mile Community Association.

At a September 2008 meeting with Mike Sherman from H.W. Lochner, an engineering consulting company competing for the FDOT contract, GMCA President Pio Ieraci and Vice President Eric Berkowitz reviewed the project and clarified relevant safety and aesthetic issues that would impact the community. While the discussion helped identify traffic and pedestrian hot spots, it additionally sought to insure that the outcome was aesthetically consistent with the surrounding neighborhood. One month later - after the City handed the FDOT engineering consulting contract to GBF Engineering - GMCA officials met with Michael Melendez, the bid winner�s engineering consultant. Melendez explained that an A1A corridor study conducted by project planners had begun evolving solutions to the widespread dangerous and illegal driving practices and the nerve-wracking noise pollution.

To measure how a reduction from six to four traffic lanes would impact traffic volumes and service levels on State Road A1A from Oakland Park Boulevard to the northern City limit, the City of Fort Lauderdale and the Broward County MPO had commissioned Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. to perform a Lane Reduction Feasibility Study on September 5, 2007. While confirming that a four lane A1A could easily manage current and future throughput without burdening adjacent or alternate routes, a subsequent study summary concluded that a lane reduction would curb speeding and reduce the number and seriousness of crashes.

Following the Kimley-Horn Study, the City hired urban planners Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin to prepare conceptual design options that illustrated the roadway segment, pedestrian hardscape treatment, site furnishings and landscaping based upon six and four-lane scenarios. The options included four variations ranging from restriping the existing roadway and incorporating bike lanes, to relocating existing curbs, expanding sidewalks and accommodating new bike lanes, including on-street parking and street trees.

GLATTING JACKSON KERCHER ANGLIN DESIGN OPTIONS

To present the new concepts and elicit local input, the City hosted a 6 PM public meeting on May 7, 2009 at the Beach Community Center and provided the design options on the City�s website along with an interactive opportunity to comment. Galt Milers overwhelmingly supported an option that offered an expanded 24-foot wide sidewalk on the east side of A1A with a 10-foot pedestrian merchant zone and a 14-foot pedestrian area, a 10-foot bicycle zone, including on-street parking, street trees, landscaping in the median islands and a double row of trees defining the pedestrian area.

Although willing to approve the beautifully designed preferred option, its $8.7 million price tag spooked FDOT. On November 3, 2009, the City Commission authorized staff to forward it (with revisions) to the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for inclusion in a list of projects which are considered annually for funding. Now envisioned as the first of two projects that would morph the dilapidated speedway into a high end thoroughfare, as an interim measure, Melendez and City staff tweaked the project into a 4-lane roadway with buffered bike lanes and peppered with targeted safety and landscaping modifications.

FORMER FDOT SECRETARY STEPHANIE C. KOPELOUSOS

Reducing A1A to 4 lanes would serve to structurally inoculate the roadway against street races wherein competing vehicles require dedicated lanes. Carving out bike lanes would relieve a perceived need by bicycle enthusiasts to illegally vie with pedestrians for sidewalk space one block east on Galt Ocean Drive or risk being pancaked on A1A by a gardener�s pickup traveling at 75 MPH. Following an extended debate over project impacts, community & City leaders, local vendors and project planners coalesced around the 4-lane option. With a plan in the works to clean up this concrete pustule, on July 20, 2009, former FDOT Secretary Stephanie C. Kopelouso notified Broward County that its 32 miles of A1A had been designated as a Florida Scenic Highway.

FDOT PROJECT ENGINEER MICHAEL MELENDEZ

On January 12, 2010, GMCA officials met with FDOT Project Manager Jim Hughes and Project Engineer Michael Melendez to insure the plan would serve as a stepping stone to elevating the Galt Mile stretch of A1A to a level of excellence worthy of a �Scenic Highway� designation. Although Lauderdale-by-the-Sea had successfully worked with FDOT to develop their segment of A1A into a beautiful transportation corridor, A1A�s reputation as the �Ocean Highway� � a tailored picture postcard beachfront boulevard � is exquisitely exemplified by the stretch approaching and adjacent to the Fort Lauderdale beach.

A1A NEAR OAKLAND PARK BOULEVARD

The sleazy road connecting the two is a dilapidated, dreary, dangerous speedway filled with patched and unpatched potholes, extensive spiderweb cracks and catch-as-catch-can landscaping. One block east of A1A, the parallel Galt Ocean Drive is adorned with a luxurious package of aesthetic amenities such as pavered crosswalks, pink aggregate sidewalks, interred utilities, landscaping uplights and decorative lamps. Contrasting the Galt Mile neighborhood�s blighted stretch of A1A with surrounding well-appointed thoroughfares to the east, north and south serves to emphasize its shared characteristics with a seedy airport perimeter strip.

A1A A BLOCK NORTH OF CORAL RIDGE TOWERS COMPLEX

On August 18, 2010, Melendez and Hughes convened another public meeting at the Beach Community Center to better explain how the plan will address longstanding community concerns while improving the route. With an eye to thwarting the speedway, Project Engineer Melendez remarked �This is not a typical project. You usually don�t have many opportunities to reduce the number of road lanes. You can see where people speed up because of the open corridor. One of the benefits will be to slow down traffic, not to the point where it obstructs traffic, but to allow more pedestrians to walk on the sidewalk and bring more exposure to businesses along A1A.� Commenting on a planned 6-foot bike lane unique to the neighborhood, FDOT Project Manager Jim Hughes added �There�s a lot of bicycle traffic in the area with no bike lanes, so I think the bike lanes will be a big addition.�

The design plans were completed in the spring of 2011 and bid packages were sent to contractors the following autumn. Vying against Ranger Construction (headquartered in West Palm Beach), the Hialeah-based Community Asphalt Corporation and Hardrives, Inc. of Delray, on October 7, 2011, the job was snagged by Weekley Asphalt Paving, Inc. The Pembroke Pines contractor appointed Jorge Perez to supervise construction. Not surprisingly, their initial winning bid of $1,728,489.86 has since been incrementally sweetened by almost $400,000. Welcome to the Venice of America!

PLAYA DEL MAR PRESIDENT RAY GARCIA

OCEAN'S GRILLE RESTAURANT ON A1A

Association officials and local vendors raised some legitimate concerns at the May 3, 2012 meeting. Playa del Mar President Ray Garcia, a partner in the popular Ocean�s Grille Restaurant on A1A and member of the neighborhood association�s Advisory Board, asked how long access to his establishment would be squeezed, noting that the project was scheduled to run through December. Responding that the project would proceed in segments, contractor liaison Duffoo assured him that the inconvenience would be minimal.

L�HERMITAGE I MANAGER PATRICIA QUINTERO

CRT SOUTH AND CRT EAST OVERLOOK A1A

L�Hermitage I Manager Patricia Quintero - who also serves on the GMCA Advisory Board - explained that her association�s entrance sits at the east end of Oakland Park Boulevard, where the project might impair access. Duffoo explained that construction would travel across the project limit of 1.1 miles over a seven month period. As such, its proximity to - and impact on - any particular location would be relatively brief. GMCA member associations most affected by the project are Coral Ridge Towers South and Coral Ridge Towers East, which both share an eastern border with A1A and whose members have complained for decades about living next to a drag strip. Melendez explained how the lane reduction would help mitigate their quandary.

COORDINATOR SARA J. DUFFOO

Evidently oblivious to the project�s 6-year planning history, some attendees repeatedly queried panel members about the May 7 start date, intimating some undisclosed agenda to rush into the project. Several residents and vendors also complained about the inconveniences that unavoidably accompany right-of-way improvements. �It is what it is,� answered Duffoo, adding �We will gladly meet with any concerned homeowners and local merchants and work to minimize any problems related to the project.� After being told that the staging areas as yet hadn�t been selected, one homeowner asked when FDOT would begin blocking off local streets.

Information specialist Miranda Iglesias retorted �FDOT must notify the City 14 days in advance when planning to close either a traffic lane or the entire street. As of today, no notice has been given to the City. However, when curtailing traffic becomes necessary, we will give a two-week heads-up.� Despite vague criticisms by two seemingly confused homeowners and the understandable expressions of concern by local vendors about the project�s short term impact on their businesses, a majority of the audience expressed approval for the May 7 start date, noting that it was timed to commence after �the season�. GMCA President Pio Ieraci thanked the project hosts and announced �The vast majority of local residents have been anxiously awaiting the promised improvements and appreciate your efforts.�

As the meeting closed, we asked the panel about additional improvements that would create a roadway more aesthetically consistent with SR A1A segments just north and south of the route�s project limits and more closely reflect the neighborhood�s character. Michael Melendez answered �While the current project lacks the resources required to transform the Galt Mile segment of A1A into a corridor befitting a designated scenic highway, we tailored the plan to serve as the first of two developmental stages en route to that objective.�

Although it took almost 6 years, Melendez and City staffers made good on their promise to begin transforming the neighborhood�s primary thoroughfare. Nevertheless, if we want to see the second stage come to fruition in our lifetime, the neighborhood association will have to begin convincing Broward MPO to line up stage two funding shortly after the current project�s December completion date. After all, other than the few dollars expended to maintain the Galt Mile Library and an annual promise to renourish the beach, we received nothing from the County for the past three decades. Since the Galt Mile is one of Broward�s primary sources of tax dollars, some might think we were overdue.

COMMISSIONER BRUCE ROBERTS

May 17, 2012 - District 1 Commissioner Bruce Roberts peppered his May 2012 newsletter with a blend of event alerts and interesting informational tidbits. The listed resources are both useful and easily accessed although some of the issues could benefit from context. For instance, the heartwarming morality play about the New Boston Atlantech Tower will leave his constituents (with the exception of those who participated in the agreement) scratching their heads.

The Atlantech Morality Play Script

ATLANTECH TOWER

Having purchased the largest office building in Broward County, the New Boston Fund sought to enhance the value of their $63 million investment in the Atlantech Tower by adding residential units. When project advocates were applying for mixed-use development of commercially zoned space at the November 17, 2011 City Commission meeting, their claims that the adjacent Lauderdale One Condominium never responded when contacted by the developer were refuted by unit owners and the association manager, who confirmed that they never received any feedback solicitation about the zoning issues. Project proponents and the condominium bickered unproductively for months about flooding in the structure�s garage and prospective traffic congestion on adjacent 65^th Street - until Commissioner Bruce Roberts met with the parties on March 29, 2012.

LAUDERDALE ONE CONDOMINIUM

In exchange for Lauderdale One�s endorsement, Atlantech agreed to relieve any traffic issues by building several roadway improvements on NE 65^th Street. While the Tower undergoes renovation, Atlantech will fund preventive maintenance to mitigate the anticipated additional strain on Lauderdale One�s HVAC system. Atlantech will also pay up to $20,000 for traffic calming improvements at nearby Imperial Point Hospital and discourage tenants from circumventing traffic by cutting across hospital property. Since the New Boston Fund sits atop a $4 billion property portfolio, the settlement will be funded from petty cash. If the Commissioner hadn�t provided a neutral environment to mediate the agreement, the parties would still be squabbling over the now resolved issues.

Mix it. Curb it. Greens Profits

Galt Mile Associations contract with private waste services to dispose of both recyclables and ordinary trash, rendering Roberts� update about the City�s new �Mix It. Curb It.� Single-Stream Recycling Cart Program largely irrelevant to Galt Mile residents. However, since our private disposal services are also turning to Single-Stream Recycling, what is relevant are the reasons for this industry-wide sea change. Outlining the program�s financial rationale on the Fort Lauderdale website, the City claims the program �encourages participation by making recycling easier and more convenient. If more people recycle, it increases the amount of recyclables collected, which reduces the amount of garbage the City pays to dispose.�

It also mitigates the �idiot factor�; an inexplicable homeowner predilection to dump the occasional flashlight battery into the bottles bin, prompting the need for vendors to finance a redundant processing step. In short, it�s cheaper to collect and process comingled recyclables than to manage separate collection schedules for each of the inadequately segregated classes of waste with commodity value.

Broward B-cycle � Where and How Much?

BEACHFRONT BROWARD B-CYCLE DOCK

An unusual collaboration among Humana, Trek Bicycle Corporation and advertising loose cannon Crispin Porter + Bogusky, B-cycle should pique the interest of fanatic bicycle enthusiasts. This European-style bike sharing system enables Broward residents to access bicycles at various solar-powered stations positioned throughout the county. The system uses GPS (global positioning system) and RFID (radio frequency identification) technologies to track the distance and duration of each ride by fee-paying members, ostensibly to ascertain calories burned and the ride�s positive impact on the local carbon footprint. More importantly, it provides the operator with a basis for generating billing data.

For more information, check out the website offered in Roberts� Newsletter, send an email to [email protected] or call 754-200-5672. Read on... � [editor]

DISTRICT 1 COMMISSIONER & V.M. BRUCE G. ROBERTS

Code Amendment � Prohibition of Begging, Panhandling and Soliciting on Certain Designated Property: On May 1^st, the City Commission enacted an ordinance which prohibits the above activities. The new ordinance establishes no-panhandling zones and bans �aggressive� panhandling citywide. Begging, soliciting, and panhandling would be prohibited in designated areas, such as within 15 feet of a sidewalk caf�, automatic teller machine and entrance or exit of a commercial or governmental building. Violations are classified as misdemeanors, carrying a $500 fine and/or 60 days in jail. For more specific information on this issue, please see http://www.fortlauderdale.gov/give/index.htm.

ATLANTECH TOWER

New Boston Atlantech: This 266 unit development on NE 65^th St. and Federal Highway has finally been approved to move forward. Originally a Site Level III project approved by Planning & Zoning in November of 2011, it soon became apparent that community outreach had not occurred. As a result, I called the item up for review within the requisite 30-day period. Over the course of the next five months, representatives from the developer, Lauderdale One Condominium, Imperial Point Hospital and Imperial Point Homeowners Association brokered an agreement that alleviated the concerns of all. It was indeed encouraging to observe the professionalism and dedicated desire to solve a neighborhood problem in such a positive manner.

POLICE CHIEF FRANK ADDERLEY

Homestead Exemption Fraud: Our Police Chief, Frank Adderley, recently assigned a detective to work with County Property Appraiser, Lori Parrish, to combat this fraud within the City of Fort Lauderdale. During the month of April, Detective Windes� investigations have resulted in $290,203.96 in back taxes, penalties and interest being recovered. Furthermore, $4,021,332 of assessed value has been put back on the tax roll.

Sea Turtle Nesting Season: It�s here through October 31^st. Sea turtles are protected under the United States Endangered Species Act of 1973 and Florida Statutes Chapter 379.2431, the Marine Turtle Protection Act. These laws provide, �No person may take, harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, kill, trap, capture or attempt to engage in any such conduct to marine turtles, turtle nests, and/or turtle eggs.� Violators may be subject to civil and/or criminal penalties. If you see someone handling a sea turtle or poaching a nest, please call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922).

Customer Service Center: Please remind your neighbors to call the City�s 24-hour Customer Service Center at 954-828-8000 to report emergencies requiring a response from Departments other than Police or Fire/Rescue. Examples would include water or sewer main breaks. For non-emergencies, please visit http://www.fortlauderdale.gov/customerservice/index.htm. You can also download the City�s app LauderServ to request assistance or to report issues that need attention.

FPL�s On-line Calculator: On March 19^th, FPL launched a new, online calculator at www.FPL.com/answers so that residential customers can see the impact on their bills of the company�s requested rate adjustment. Business customers will also find updated information on this site. Our representative also stated that the website can give updated information throughout the rate making- process.

Gene�s Green Scene: Everyone should check out our City Forester Gene Dempsey�s new blog on the City�s website. It�s called �Gene�s Green Scene� and can be found at http://fortlauderdaleforester.blogspot.com. Gene offers easy tips for saving gas, caring for your lawn, and other interesting topics and suggestions.

Broward B-cycle (http://broward.bcycle.com): Bike sharing makes it economical and convenient to use bikes for trips that are too far to walk but too short to drive. As a member, you can use a B-cycle to run an errand, grab lunch, travel from the bus stop to your office, or just get some fresh air. With your B-cycle bike, you don�t have to look for a parking space or bring your own bike with you everywhere you go. Plus, riding a B-cycle is good for your health and for the environment. It�s the newest and best way to get around town. The B-cycles are specially designed for both you and the City: B-cycles fit people of all sizes, thanks to an easy-to-use adjustable seat post. A front basket provides a space to stow your belongings while riding. Fenders, skirt guards and chain guards keep your clothes clean. Automatic lights help keep you safe at all times of the day. Three speeds are perfect for the core downtown Broward area. Broward B-cycle is designed to encourage you to use a B-cycle for all your short trips. Once you have paid your modest membership fee, you can take an unlimited number of rides. Please log on to the address above to register � or just to get more information.

Memorial Day Weekend Party: The City will host its third annual Great American Beach Party from noon to 10p.m. on May 26th. It will include live music on two stages, skydivers, a classic car show, an art show and a sandcastle-building contest! More importantly, this event intends to recognize the ultimate sacrifice our brave men and women in our armed forces gave in order to continue to ensure our freedom. Also, the City will recognize the contributions made by long time community leaders and install a star in their name on the sidewalk in the �Walk of Fame� at Las Olas and A1A.

New "Mix It. Curb It." Single-Stream Recycling Cart Program Coming Soon: In the summer of 2012, the City of Fort Lauderdale is launching Mix It. Curb It., a new program that will make recycling much easier for our neighbors. As part of the Mix It. Curb It. program, the City will be providing residential recycling customers with new, blue, 65-gallon carts that will hold all clean recyclables. Soon, hoisting and lugging those heavy bins full of recyclables will be a task of the past; you will be able to mix all clean recyclables together into one cart and roll it to the curb. Go to http://www.fortlauderdale.gov/recycle/single-stream.htm for more information - also includes frequently asked questions to help you prepare for the launch of the Mix It. Curb It. recycling program.

Pre-Agenda Meetings: A reminder that our meetings are always on the Monday before a Commission Meeting (unless that Monday is a holiday). The agenda is discussed, as well as any other topics that may arise. The first Monday of the month is at the Beach Community Center, and the third Monday of the month is at Imperial Point Hospital (south entrance) � always at 6p.m. Please call the office if you have any questions or need more information.

ROBBI UPTEGROVE

Office Contact: Robbi Uptegrove � 954-828-5033; email: [email protected]. In addition to hosting the pre-agenda meetings twice a month, I am also available to attend your HOA meetings to update your neighborhood on what is going on in the City as well as answer any questions/concerns you may have. Please contact Robbi to schedule. If you would like to be on our email list to receive information, notifications or general information, please email us and you will be added.

Bruce G. Roberts                

If you need to reach Commissioner Bruce Roberts, please contact his assistant Robbi Uptegrove at 954-828-5033 or by e-mail at [email protected]. To access the City Commission Meeting Agendas and Minutes, Click Here. To actually watch the meetings recorded and archived on the Commission Meetings Video Webcast and Archives web site, Click Here.

BROWARD COMMISSIONER CHIP LAMARCA

May 24, 2012 - In the June - July, 2012 edition of his constituent Newsletter, District 4 County Commissioner Chip LaMarca confines his focus to two issues - a new hire and the panoply of Hurricane resources available to Broward residents. Heeding LaMarca�s recommendation that disabled and elderly persons participate in the Broward County Vulnerable Resident Registry could save the lives of pro-active registrants. The Commissioner recently rebalanced his staff, installing John David Newstreet as his District Director. Since his responsibilities include interfacing with LaMarca�s County constituents, some background is in order.

DISTRICT DIRECTOR JOHN DAVID NEWSTREET

One of nine siblings, Newstreet was born and raised in Coral Springs. After high school and two years in the United States Coast Guard Academy, he entered Broward Community College and earned an Associate in Arts degree. He moved to Orlando and attended the College of Business Administration at the University of Central Florida, graduating with a degree in Finance.

FORMER SENATOR MEL MARTINEZ

Following the career path forged in college; from 2001 to 2004 he worked as a Financial Consultant for Chastang, Ferrell, Sims & Eiserman�s (CFSE) Wealth Management, Inc. Subsequently serving as the Department Adjutant for the non-profit American Legion, Department of Florida, Newstreet�s growing passion for politics was fanned by his Presidency of the Orange County Young Republicans. His calling took a detour.

GEORGE LEMIEUX AND CHARLIE CRIST

Beginning in 2006, Newstreet spent three years working for Senator Mel Martinez, rising from Central Florida Regional Representative to Central Florida Regional Director. When former Governor Charlie Crist named George LeMieux placeholder for the seat unexpectedly vacated by Martinez in 2009, Newstreet�s stock burgeoned. As a key link to his predecessor�s political policies, LeMieux elevated Newstreet to the post of Deputy State Director. In 2011, when Marco Rubio clocked Crist for LeMieux�s Senate seat, he inherited Newstreet, who Rubio replaced with Susan Fernandez three months later. On May 3, 2011, Ocala Congressman Cliff Stearns named Newstreet as his $75K District Director. A year later, LaMarca bought Newstreet a one-way ticket to Broward.

While serving as Central Florida Regional Director for Senator Mel Martinez and Deputy State Director for successor George LeMieux, Newstreet earned a reputation for working closely with Democrat Senator Bill Nelson�s staffers to support issues and legislation inherently beneficial to all Floridians. In Washington D.C., safeguarding his benefactor�s image meant arm wrestling with the press. In local government, the same struggle is waged in the trenches. Until he gets up to speed, seasoned LaMarca Commission Aide D. Ryan Saunders and Administrative Coordinator Mary Pryde should help ease Newstreet�s transition. He should have little trouble otherwise adapting to an environment where his value will be measured primarily by what he delivers on the neighborhood streets. Read on for LaMarca�s �Summertime 2012� update. � [editor]

May 31, 2012 - Whether sworn out by business people heading into work, students cutting through Stranahan Park to the Library or tourists returning to their hotels, the unprecedented number of panhandling complaints clogging City Hall finally reached a critical mass. The City of Fort Lauderdale�s new anti-soliciting ordinance precludes panhandling in certain zones, ostensibly to protect the privacy rights of citizens while engaged in particular site-specific activities. While no one would dispute our vulnerability when banking at an ATM, why the City Commission felt compelled to shield people from beggars when entering a commercial building or eating an alfresco lunch is somewhat less clear. These seemingly random zones were selected for two reasons. First, vetting courts had previously deemed these public areas constitutionally worthy of protection from panhandling despite multiple challenges. More importantly, these particular prohibitions were handpicked to address a larger Commission agenda.

ACLU CO-ATTORNEY BEVERLY POHL

ACLU CO-ATTORNEY BRUCE ROGOW

On July 20, 1993, the City of Fort Lauderdale passed Resolution 93-143, in which Beach Rule 7.5(c) prohibits panhandling, begging and soliciting on the Fort Lauderdale beach and nearby sidewalks (the area within 150 feet of Atlantic Boulevard or Seabreeze Boulevard). Since Fort Lauderdale was the nation�s first city to prohibit the homeless from begging in a nonthreatening manner in a public place, outraged constitutional watchdogs � spearheaded by the ACLU � heatedly beat a path to the courthouse (Smith v. City of Fort Lauderdale). As a rule, the courts perceive panhandling as a form of free speech, protected by the First Amendment. Years of legal wrangling in the lower courts had infused the case with a national profile. When ACLU celebrity co-attorneys Beverly A. Pohl and Bruce S. Rogow argued in June of 1999 that �Sidewalks are the quintessential public place� before the 11^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (the highest federal court for Florida, Georgia and Alabama), the court dumbfounded the entire nation by upholding the City�s ordinance. The decision was finally etched in stone on October 29, 1999, when the United States Supreme Court refused to hear an ACLU appeal.

ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY & PUNK MUSIC DIVA LISA HODAPP

The lawyer who successfully defended the City was Fort Lauderdale Assistant City Attorney Lisa Hodapp, better known as the singer/bassist for 80�s Fort Lauderdale punk music legends Morbid Opera, the guitarist for 90�s all-girl group The Gargirls and the anchor of a post Millennial band called Fraulein � before succumbing to cancer at 49 in 2010. Ironically, just prior to upending these legal heavyweights to preserve the beach no-panhandling zone, Hodapp�s Morbid Opera cut a landmark record entitled �Jesus Loves You So Give Us Your Money�, which put the South Florida Punk music scene on the map.

In a second constitutional challenge to the City�s beach no-panhandling law (Chad v. City of Fort Lauderdale), when a district court denied plaintiffs� motion for a preliminary injunction in 1994, both parties filed motions for summary judgment. After rejecting arguments by ACLU superstars Pohl and Rogow that the ordinance violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments and ordering the plaintiffs� motion denied, the district court granted the City�s motion for summary judgment on May 27, 1998.

Until these decisions altered the legal landscape, the only anti-panhandling laws that survived constitutional challenges prohibited aggressive panhandling, or soliciting people at bank machines, in line at public transportation or at outdoor restaurants (all of which are included in the new City ordinance). While these were all narrowly tailored, Fort Lauderdale�s Beach Rule 7.5, which states its intention to �eliminate nuisance activity on the beach and provide patrons with a pleasant environment in which to recreate,� applied to a five-mile swath of public beach. The courts broke with precedent and upheld the broadly defined no-panhandling zone because the City successfully demonstrated that it served a larger civic objective. Since the public beach area is critical to tourism � one of Fort Lauderdale�s main fiscal engines � City attorneys offered credible evidence that soliciting and panhandling threatened the municipality�s economic underpinnings.

Ironically, the Beach Rule wasn�t drafted to target the homeless. In the late eighties and early nineties, homelessness was a buzz word for drug addicted or alcoholic vagrants, yellow-sheeted drifters and mental patients who somehow dodged a butterfly net. Stereotypically pathetic to the general public and invisible to government, requests for spare change by the most chronic cases raised few eyebrows.

FORMER FORT LAUDERDALE ASST CITY MANAGER BUD BENTLEY

In contrast, the City was plagued by a seasonal swarm of collegiate locusts who annually transformed the beach area into a pay toilet. Teenagers who ran out of money in the first 24 hours of a three-week psychotic break financed the balance of their bender and the trip home by begging on the beach, stealing from one another or selling any loose furnishings from the hotel room they shared with a dozen other budding sociopaths. Police officers charged with enforcing the beach rule distinguished between the homeless and the visiting youths since Mom and Dad would reliably bail junior out while arresting drifters would simply clog the main jail. According to former Assistant City Manager Bud Bentley, �It was meant to crack down on rowdy Spring Break kids. You had kids out of control panhandling. How do you think they got home? They came and blew all their money on alcohol and girls.� The Homeless were collateral damage.

At the November 1, 2011 City Commission meeting, City staff responded to a prior Commission request to outline some �best practices� used in other jurisdictions to buttonhole soliciting. Since Fort Lauderdale first passed the pioneering 1993 ordinance protecting its beach, Miami, West Palm Beach, St. Petersburg, Orlando and Clearwater had all passed no-panhandling ordinances targeting certain areas or neighborhoods. As such, staffers made two recommendations. They suggested that the Commission take a second bite at the apple and prohibit panhandling in the downtown area and the core beach tourist district. Secondly, they urged development of a mass education campaign to discourage public support for panhandling.

FORT LAUDERDALE CITY ATTORNEY HARRY STEWART

This was a huge policy shift. Resources historically reserved for medical treatment, occupational therapy, housing or other forms of public assistance would also be used to teach guilt-ridden snowbirds that their conscience-clearing handouts often do more harm than good. In addition to appropriating $26,350 for anti-panhandling public outreach, on February 21, 2012, the City Commission asked retiring City Attorney Harry Stewart to craft an ordinance forbidding solicitation in the downtown business area. Given the inherent First Amendment pitfalls, simply criminalizing requests for money would trigger the constitutional dogma that could judicially void the ordinance.

After researching case law, Stewart armed himself with a map and a red pen. By strategically stitching together a Chinese menu of disjointed prohibitions, he tailored an ordinance that placed every square inch of the City�s business district off limits to begging. To conceptually unify the widely divergent prohibited zones, no-panhandling status was theoretically ascribed to areas where people are unable to avoid attempted solicitation, �like when you are on a bus,� explained Stewart.

To pass a First Amendment litmus test, each prohibition in Stewart�s regulatory Rubik�s Cube would have to be content neutral, narrowly tailored to some significant governmental interest and insure the availability of alternative channels of communication to those impacted by the new law. At the April 17, 2012 Commission meeting, the first reading of Stewart�s handiwork earned a thumbs up. At the May 1, 2012 second reading, it went into the books following unanimous approval by the City Commission. As provided in Ordinance No. C-12-10, the law is fully effective 15 days after approval, on May 16, 2012.

HOMELESS BILL

The ordinance prohibits panhandling at bus stops, in any public transportation facility or vehicle, within 15 feet (in any direction) of a sidewalk caf�, at any parking lot, parking garage, or parking pay station owned or operated by the city, in any Park owned or operated by the city, within 15 feet (in any direction) of an automatic teller machine or an entrance/exit of a commercial or governmental building. It also precludes panhandlers from soliciting on private property without the owner�s express consent. Violations can be prosecuted as misdemeanors that carry a possible $500 fine and/or 60 days in jail.

Since a citywide ban on �aggressive panhandling� that was also featured in the measure was vaguely defined, interpretation and enforcement will be left to the discretion of police officers who personally witness violations. For instance, enforcement could be triggered if a person is approached or spoken to in a manner that would cause a reasonable person to believe they are �being threatened with imminent bodily injury or the commission of a criminal act�� A violation could also be charged if a denied solicitation is followed by another request for money or if the solicited person is touched or blocked from passing. Lastly, infractions could accrue to panhandlers whose �conduct would reasonably be construed as intended to intimidate�� Since many of these behaviors are commonly exhibited by dysfunctional family members during an average holiday dinner, most violators should accelerate through the courts like balls in a Pachinko machine.

Not surprisingly, while Stewart explored circumventing First Amendment roadblocks, he aroused those pesky constitutional watchdogs. This time, the City ticked off the National Lawyers� Guild, long-time advocates for the Homeless and their service organizations. Objecting to the City�s use of a �constitutional subterfuge� to outlaw what they call �survival behavior�, the Guild�s South Florida Chapter Vice President Mara Shlackman warned that the new law would consequently throttle support to recognized charities like the Salvation Army or United Way, which will also be prohibited from harvesting donations on the fertile downtown streets.

MAYOR JACK SEILER

While the City might have recoiled in the past when confronted by an organized mass appeal to the public conscience, the epidemic growth of panhandling over the past few years has prompted a reevaluation of personal and civic priorities. When the cost of tolerance suddenly included sacrificing the neighborhood�s public park and rendered streets increasingly unsafe for families, local residents ramped up pressure on City officials to �contain� the problem. Newly armed with this mandate, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler explained �Families don�t feel safe, people going to the library don�t feel safe, people wanting to use public resources don�t feel safe.�

HOMELESS IN STRANAHAN PARK

Passionately favorable to drawing a line in the sand, Mayor Seiler told reporters �At the end of the day, it�s a quality-of-life issue for residents, visitors, and even the individual out in the streets.� The Mayor was referring to a side of begging that most people never see. The homeless make tempting assault prey for thieves, robbers and other homeless persons. When the homeless are beaten and robbed, the perpetrators know that the assault won�t be reported to the police. These unanswered crimes are an unavoidable consequence of street panhandling.

DIST. 1 MAJOR RAUL DIAZ

At a November 17, 2011 GMCA Advisory Board meeting, FLPD Major (and Police District 1 Commander) Raul Diaz told association officials that notwithstanding whether local residents give money to assuage some neurotic personal guilt, to gratefully share their good fortune with others or simply because they were intimidated, they are enabling an extremely dangerous lifestyle. While strongly recommending that donations be diverted to organizations that address the root causes of homelessness and its more severe impacts, Diaz admonished that when a community is reputed as a lucrative feeding ground; along with the additional homeless persons attracted by the easy money are cadres of those who prey on them. Drug addicts, muggers and other street punks that seek out and victimize mostly defenseless homeless people threaten every neighborhood resident. Diaz warned �If a homeless victim isn�t conveniently available for an easy rip-off, anyone who appears vulnerable will suffice.�

NATIONAL HOMELESS COALITION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NEIL DONOVAN

The controversial ordinance is the latest in a series of City efforts to address homelessness. Last December, the City took $25,000 in confiscated dirty money (the Florida Law Enforcement Trust Fund is fueled by resources jacked from nailed slime bags) and bought bus tickets for any drifter with an identifiable support system at the end of the line. Decrying the City�s motive, Executive Director Neil Donovan of the National Coalition for the Homeless commented �The nature of that is quite transparent, to move their problem onto somebody else�s doorstep.� An indignant Mayor Seiler retorted �We�re not pushing them out. If somebody has a network of support, a group of family and friends that will provide for them back home, that�s probably a good place for them to be.� Vice Mayor Bobby DuBose, who was on the short end of the 4 - 1 Commission vote that enabled the program, lamented using City funds to send panhandlers on a vacation. The Homeless Reunification Program, also deployed in West Palm Beach, New York, San Francisco and other municipalities with growing homeless populations, lost some credibility when several of its beneficiaries turned up again a few months later (including one of our Galt Mile benchwarmers).

CITY COMMISSIONER BRUCE ROBERTS

Developed by District 1 City Commissioner Bruce Roberts during his tenure as Police Chief, the City�s current homeless policy funnels resources into a voluntary safety net that includes medical assistance, food and housing. Working with Homeless advocates, Police Officers participating in the outreach effort encourage bench dwellers to avail themselves of City-funded or privately subsidized charitable programs developed for their benefit. If arrested, a referral to the Broward County Social Service Outreach Team enables a post release contact by a social worker to formulate an appropriate assistance regimen.

GET HIGH - MY ASS

When City Parks that long served as shared resources functionally evolved into homeless villages, unrelenting public pressure from every district forced City Hall to circle the wagons. With some 1,600 guests of the city fluffing the bushes each night before nodding off in public parks (incremental to the 7,000 squirreled away in shelters), the City Commission decided that a strategy to reclaim these resources for the general public would have to be integrated into the City�s Homeless policy.

When Homeless advocates claimed that the City�s new policy would irresponsibly divert resources from addressing the underlying causes of homelessness, City officials clarified that the current safety net would be neither withdrawn nor diminished. The additional no-panhandling zones were part of a new safety net � one that would protect the general public. Despite the passionate posturing by Homeless advocates and City officials, no one knows whether the new prohibitions will contain or inflame the problem. Of greater concern to our public officials � how this policy will impact hoped for improvements to the City�s image � will determine whether they expand the program or quietly pull the plug.

SEVENTH CIRCUIT CHIEF JUDGE FRANK H. EASTERBROOK

June 10, 2012 - Despite the budgetary enticements of red light camera enforcement, the City of Fort Lauderdale postponed consideration of an automated citation system until two years ago for good reason. Before 2010, no Florida Statute provided for the prosecution of violations based on red light camera evidence. More importantly, the City Commission was leery of entanglement in a litigious constitutional controversy. Bills filed during the 2009 legislative session by Statehouse Representative Ron Reagan and Senator Thad Altman that would have added red light camera enforcement to the State�s uniform traffic code died on the calendar. While supportive lawmakers in Tallahassee were temporarily thwarted, Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that issuing citations to vehicle owners (or lessees) without any evidence of who was actually driving the vehicle at the time of the violation is not unconstitutional. Bingo!

With a solid precedent vouching for the system�s constitutional adequacy, the City launched a year-long process in early 2009 to implement a red light camera enforcement system. After all, State lawmakers planning to revive the failed 2009 authorizing bills now had the Governor�s support. Until enabling legislation was enacted, the City could circumvent the vacuum in state law by ordaining red light infractions as local code violations - and insuring that cameras were not installed at intersections with state roads. On June 2, 2009, the City Commission laid the legal groundwork by passing Ordinance No. C-09-14, entitled the �Traffic Intersection Safety Act.� Since duly constituted traffic courts couldn�t rule on violations not recognized by State Law, City-appointed Special Magistrates would adjudicate challenges.

On February 7, 2010, the City of Fort Lauderdale finalized a lengthy procurement process by cutting a deal with American Traffic Systems (ATS) to install Red-Light cameras at 6 intersections throughout the City. Citations issued by the automated detection system were projected to annually vest the City Treasury with revenues amounting to $1.8 million. On May 13, 2010, former Governor Charlie Crist signed House Bill 325 into law (AKA the �Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Act�), authorizing municipalities to use Red-Light cameras for enforcement of certain provisions in Chapter 316 of the Florida Statutes. No longer forced to veil violations as code infractions, the City amended its traffic ordinance and the ATS contract on July 7, 2010, modifying their provisions to achieve compliance with the new state law.

CITY MANAGER LEE FELDMAN

Fast forwarding to March 14, 2012, ATS sent City Manager Lee Feldman a proposal that ostensibly addressed City objectives for the program�s financial self-sufficiency. Acknowledging that 3 of the City�s 6 cameras were in the black while the other three barely broke even, ATS observed that the 26,618 violations to date had dumped $685,000 into the treasury while generating another $200,000 in receivables. ATS also recognized that the City was bleeding legal resources. Due to the order in which the tickets were docketed in Broward Courts, Fort Lauderdale was forced to take the lead in defending against legal challenges to the program for all Broward cities deploying red light camera enforcement.

In the proposal, ATS offered the City a $230,000 invoice credit, installation of 30 additional cameras, revenue neutral billing for the non-productive cameras, a 4-year contract extension and revised contract provisions that lighten termination penalties and shape a 50-50 cost sharing agreement when the City opts to relocate a camera. As compared to its initial promise, the program proved a chronic disappointment. At several 2011 Commission meetings, it came within a hair of getting the boot. Before committing to any ATS deal, the City Commission wanted a handle on their cash cow�s mechanics and its prospect for political blowback. To explore the depth of the economic rabbit hole, Commissioners requested updated analytical and financial data.

Which snouts are allowed to root in the trough is dictated by State Law. Of each $158 statutory citation, $83 is allocated to three State trusts ($70 to the State General Fund; $10 to the State Health Administration Trust; $3 for Brain and Spinal Cord research) while $75 covers program costs (including the vendor�s cut) and hopefully bumps up City revenues.

In a six-month Revenues and Expenditures statement dated April 19, 2012 � of the $1,062,942 in gross revenues � $558,380 was gobbled up by the State, yielding $429,242 for the City. After dishing off $152,461 to the vendor (ATS), $273,778 for salaries & benefits and $3.003 to offset petty office expenses, the City was left with a disappointing $75,319. Embarrassingly shy of the $1.8 million originally projected for the program, the scant revenues were a thin shadow of the $2,905,000 targeted in the FY 2012 budget. Excluded from the financial statement were growing legal fees borne by the City to plug ever-surfacing loopholes in Broward Courts.

BROWARD ATTORNEY TED HOLLANDER

In fact, ATS embroidered its proposal with �we are extremely grateful for the hard work and leadership that Bradley Weissman and Ginger Wald have put into the program, and this effort has been taken into account in the proposal�,� in recognizing that the City was hemorrhaging legal resources. Throughout 2011, 49-year old Assistant City Attorney Brad Weissman had been camping out in the Broward Courthouse. Legal counsel to the FLPD, the former prosecutor was embroiled in exhaustive legal combat with Ted Hollander, a 41 year-old Broward lawyer who runs The Ticket Clinic with Traffic Attorney Mark Gold. After Hollander engineered the dismissal of 550 red light camera tickets in five counties, the City sent Weissman to prosecute its camera cases and torpedo Hollander�s mythic record.

BROWARD MAYOR JOHN RODSTROM

Hollander would probe every aspect of the evidence chain, question the competence of process participants, investigate camera maintenance records, verify notification compliance and run through constitutional challenges like toilet paper. Hollander�s cases evolved into a �how to� primer for local traffic attorneys who parroted his arguments to void their clients� citations. Characterizing the red light camera programs as �a total disaster,� Broward Mayor John Rodstrom summarized the success that local traffic attorneys enjoyed in South Florida Courts, observing �The courts or, you know, the lawyers that they�ve hired are doing a pretty good job of beating the crap out of us and it�s not the revenue that everybody thought it was going to be.� Despite Weissman�s efforts, Hollander lost only 2 of his next 50 cases.

FRANK ADDERLEY

When the program was first introduced, the City anticipated issuing 250 citations each day. The estimate was later lowered to about 80 per day, or roughly 13 for each location. The average number of daily citations currently generated per location is closer to 5. As red light camera income ebbed, program costs that were supposed to decrease after an initial learning curve instead began to grow. Two police aides who were authenticating pictures of violations taken at the City�s 6 red light camera locations were so hopelessly mired in the relentless flood of evidentiary demands that Police Chief Frank Adderley pleaded for 3 more in May of 2011 - nearly one officer for each intersection.

BROWARD COUNTY JUDGE FRED BERMAN

On May 31, 2011, a Broward Judge scrambled one of the State�s oldest traffic laws. As a consequence of his decision, when red light camera enforcement is deployed in a jurisdiction, it becomes unconstitutional for police officers in the same jurisdiction to write tickets to motorists for running red lights. In his ruling, Broward Judge Fred Berman declared it inequitable to punish red light runners caught by police with a stiff fine and points on their license when those nabbed by enforcement cameras face a smaller fine and no points. Berman noted that police write tickets for $260 when they observe a driver careening through a red light while $158 citations are mailed to those caught by red light cameras. In his decision, Berman surmised �This violates the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution, as well as the Florida Constitution.� In short, maintaining two different standards for the same driving behavior is unconstitutional.

FORT LAUDERDALE CITY ATTORNEY HARRY STEWART

JENNIFER KRELL DAVIS

Jumping on the potentially crippling ruling, former spokesperson Jennifer Krell Davis of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi�s office issued a media release exclaiming �In our view, Judge Berman did not apply the appropriate standard of review. From here, we will be weighing all of our options to challenge his ruling, including an appeal to the Circuit Court.� While technically not binding on other traffic court judges, the precedent established by Berman�s decision pressures jurisdictions with red light cameras to choose between empowering cops or cameras to ticket red light runners. Leveling penalties that are dictated by Statute is not an option. Fort Lauderdale City Attorney Harry Stewart agreed with Bondi, pointing out that police officers issue citations to the driver while red light cameras target the vehicle owner. However, until some court of competent jurisdiction rules on how this slippery distinction impacts Berman�s decision, it stands. If the appellate court upholds Berman�s ruling, Stewart said �Fort Lauderdale would stop officer-issued red-light tickets.�

JUDGE JERALD BAGLEY

In December 2010, a divided state Court of Appeals panel ruled that the new State Law authorizing the use of red light cameras to issue citations was superfluous. Before the 2010 enabling Statute was enacted by the Florida Legislature, a statutory requirement that officers only write tickets for violations they personally observe conflicted with the mechanics of a system wherein tickets were issued based on evidence captured by a device. Judge Jerald Bagley of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County found that the City of Aventura was remiss in allowing American Traffic Solutions (ATS) to mail out automated tickets prior to the state passing the enabling legislation.

THIRD DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS JUDGE ANGEL A. CORTINAS

In reversing the lower court decision, Third District Court of Appeals Judge Angel A. Cortinas wrote for the majority �The ordinance allows for a traffic control infraction review officer, who although sharing the qualifications of the type of officer referenced in section 316.640(5)(a), is instead appointed by the city pursuant to the ordinance and for the distinct purposes of viewing recorded images and issuing corresponding citations in accordance with the ordinance. Accordingly, we find the trial court erred in its determination that section 48-26 allowed the cameras to serve as the sole basis for issuing a notice of violation in direct conflict with section 316.007, Florida Statutes.� In short, as long as a qualified officer viewed pictorial evidence of the violation before issuing the citation, red light camera tickets were fully compliant with the earlier State Law. Florida cities with red light camera programs no longer had to worry about tickets mailed before the May 13, 2010 effective date of the authorizing Statute.

About 5000 Broward and Palm Beach red light runners wriggled off the hook in January when ATS �screwed the pooch.� Florida law provides that a traffic ticket � and a follow-up second citation that�s sent if the first isn�t paid � must be processed within 60 days of a traffic violation. If the second ticket arrives after 60 days, the fine becomes unenforceable. When a red light camera captures a violation, the image is sent to ATS headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona for processing before being returned and verified by a local law enforcement officer. An infraction surge during the Holiday Season overwhelmed the company�s processing capabilities, delaying roughly 5000 tickets beyond the 60-day deadline. While Fort Lauderdale blew about $40,000, Margate lost $74,000 and Pembroke Pines was hosed for $200,000 because ATS fell asleep at the wheel.

On August 17, 2011, Broward County Judge Steven DeLuca escorted his courtroom audience into a red light camera twilight zone, ruling on a broad array of constitutional and evidentiary issues governing challenges to red light camera citations. He ruled that red light camera tickets don�t violate due process or speedy trial constitutional protections and pictures of violations are legally admissible. While City attorneys in Broward red light camera municipalities and their ATS representatives celebrated DeLuca�s decisions, South Florida traffic attorneys began preparing an appeal. The one-day pro-camera rulings were suspiciously out of character for Deluca, who upheld 786 of 830 challenges to red light citations in the past year.

Last month, DeLuca again changed hats and declared a red light ticket unconstitutional, signing an order to toss out a citation issued to someone who shared ownership of a car snagged by a red light camera. When two or more people jointly own a vehicle, their names are listed on the registration. If the vehicle gets nabbed by a red light camera, a citation is always mailed to the first name listed on the vehicle�s registration. Judge DeLuca's ruling states that arbitrarily targeting the top name on the registration for every penalty clearly violates the equal protection clause of the constitution, since multiple registrants with an identical interest in the vehicle are treated differently. And the hits just keep on coming...

A twelve-page �Analysis of Red-Light Safety Camera Program and Site Selection Results� prepared by ATS for City Commissioners revealed that through February of 2012, of the 25,403 drivers cited for running red lights, 96.4% were one-time violators, providing a basis for company claims that the cameras served as a deterrent. The report also demonstrated that only 26% of the drivers caught by the cameras were Fort Lauderdale residents. Whether unaware of the program�s existence or which corners are baited with cash-cameras, the visitors and tourists who landed 74% of the tickets were plucked like chickens. The revelation that an overwhelming majority of those ticketed neither live nor vote in the City mitigated concerns about anticipated political blowback from a growing pool of disaffected system victims. While program proponents continually applaud the program�s public safety benefit, statistics quantifying its impact on the number and seriousness of collisions cuts both ways. Despite political remonstrations to the contrary, system advocates are far more concerned with the budget than the accident rate.

Fort Lauderdale is not unique. City budget woes are driving program expansions throughout South Florida as Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade Counties are all planning to treble their existing camera-based cash machines. Broward cities are adding 100 more cameras, Palm Beach County is augmenting its 25 cameras with another 75 and Miami-Dade plans to deploy 200 additional cameras. Broward County�s 50 existing cameras monitor intersections in Davie, Coral Springs, Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale Beach, Hollywood, Margate, Pembroke Pines and Sunrise as Plantation and Tamarac are installing newly contracted ATS systems.

Given Fort Lauderdale�s budgetary pressures and a growing controversy over the program�s promised safety benefits, ATS tailored its proposal to meet the City�s primary concern, the program�s financial self-sufficiency. Expanding the program by placing 30 more cameras at 15 additional intersections will juice its fiscal productivity. As drivers familiarize themselves with camera locations and learn to avoid racing through yellow warning lights, infraction rates decline - along with revenues. Enabling the City to inexpensively relocate cameras from increasingly unproductive sites to prospectively more lucrative new intersections should also boost income. Finally, as Fort Lauderdale continues to confront and plug costly adjudication loopholes in court, the drain on legal resources should abate, further feathering the bottom line.

BROWARD JUDGE ROBERT W. LEE

Judge Robert Lee, who supervises Broward traffic court, was asked in mid-2011 for an estimate of how long it would take to plug red light camera loopholes. He said, �We probably will be bouncing back and forth between the trial court and the appellate court for a couple of years.� Whether the ATS package enables the program to survive another year of traffic court Pac-Man is anyone�s guess.

Despite drooling South Florida city officials and the sparkling optimism emanating from ATS since its Florida lobbyists engineered the 2010 enabling legislation, red light cameras may be euthanized by Florida lawmakers during the 2013 legislative session. In view of studies by the University of South Florida and Virginia Transportation Research Council demonstrating that extended yellow lights more effectively reduce infractions and enhance safety than red light cameras, two failed 2012 bills to repeal red light cameras and lengthen yellow lights will be filed again in 2013. Some 40 lobbyists working for ATS and other camera vendors succeeded in killing the bills in 2012. The repeal bill was kept frozen in the Senate Community Affairs Committee by term limited chairman Mike Bennett (R-Bradenton), a grateful beneficiary of industry �largesse�.

U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE LYNN HUGHES

Fort Lauderdale City officials might take a hint from what happened in Houston. A 2006 contract between ATS and the City of Houston generated $44 million in fines through 2010. A ballot initiative to end the program was successfully adopted in 2010. Following a legal challenge by ATS, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes ruled the ballot initiative invalid. Unable to afford the $18 million demanded by ATS to buy out of the contract, the city was compelled to restart the program. Following another attempt by the city council in 2011 to end the program, ATS increased its demand to $25 million. In January, 2012, the city cut a deal to bail out for $12 million.

Where did a provincial Arizona company get the resources to influence State Legislatures across the nation? On September 25, 2008, when a shaky Goldman Sachs invested $millions in ATS, it coincided with a $5 billion investment by Berkshire Hathaway � the parent company of Geico � in Goldman Sachs. The investment by Goldman Sachs was intended to bankroll an accelerated deployment of photo ticketing programs around the country. In states that impose license points on automated citations (like California and Arizona), every time a camera operated by ATS issues a speed camera or red light camera ticket, it pumps up the vehicle owner�s insurance rates. Ticket recipients covered by Geico will pay millions in increased insurance premiums (Geico collected $541 million in California automobile insurance premiums last year). Profits run upstream to Berkshire Hathaway and company CEO Warren Buffett.

Notwithstanding the unanticipated reversals that crimped productivity, the City Commission opted for the expansion in hopes of weaning the program from a dependence on tax dollars. The locations selected to receive the new cameras will heavily impact Galt Mile drivers. Five of the fifteen chosen corners are within spitting distance, virtually guaranteeing that Galt Mile residents or visitors going for a spin will cruise one or more of the baited intersections. The intersections newly selected for cameras are as follows:

CLICK TO FT LAUD RED LIGHT CAMERA MAP

New Camera intersections (Near Galt Ocean Mile):

• Davie Boulevard and Andrews Avenue

• Davie Boulevard and SW 27^th Avenue

• Davie Boulevard and SW 9^th Avenue

• Commercial Boulevard and NE 15^th Avenue

• Commercial Boulevard and NE 20^th Avenue

• Oakland Park Boulevard and A1A

• Commercial Boulevard and Federal Highway

• NW 19^th Street and NW 31^st Avenue

• Broward Boulevard and NW 5^th Avenue

• SE 7^th Street and Federal Highway

• Oakland Park Boulevard and Federal Highway

• Cypress Creek Road and Powerline Road

• Broward Boulevard and Federal Highway

• SE 17^th Street and Federal Highway

• Cypress Creek Road and Federal Highway

Cameras Installed in 2010:

• Commercial Boulevard and Powerline Road

• Sunrise Boulevard and NW 15^th Avenue
• NE 8^th Street and Federal Highway
• SR 84 and Federal Highway
• SR 84 and SW 9^th Avenue
• Commercial Boulevard and NW 21^st Avenue

PRESIDENTS COUNCIL CHAIR PIO IERACI

June 23, 2012 - Tackling an overstuffed agenda in the final Galt Mile Presidents Council meeting before the summer hiatus, officials from 22 of the 27 Galt Mile associations heard from a panoply of public officials and local bureaucrats. Along with updates by State and County representatives, reports from member associations about shared operational stumbling blocks and a spot review of the failed 2012 omnibus association bill, a team of municipal officials helped defuse community enmity over confusing threats mailed by the City to unit owners and their associations. After apologizing for the ill-conceived correspondences and discussing contradictions that belabor several vague municipal policies, officials from building services, code compliance and the City Manager�s office expressed their intention to cooperatively develop non-contentious viable resolutions with Commissioner Roberts and neighborhood association officials. Kicking off the proceedings was District 91 Statehouse Representative George Moraitis, who distinguished himself in his 2011 rookie year by shepherding his Omnibus Association Bill to fruition.

GOVERNOR RICK SCOTT SIGNS HOUSE BILL 1195 WITH REP. GEORGE MORAITIS AND PIO IERACI

Moraitis� star rose within a year of winning the District 91 Statehouse seat vacated by Ellyn Bogdanoff when she ran for the District 25 Senate seat formerly occupied by Florida CFO Jeffrey Atwater. Months after his election, Community Advocacy Network (CAN) Executive Director Donna Berger (Managing Partner at Katzman Garfinkel & Berger � KG&B) and Becker & Poliakoff (B&P) lobbyists Peter Dunbar and Travis Moore decided to collaborate on four association bills built around Ellyn Bogdanoff�s groundbreaking 2010 legislation quashing a $multi-million mandate to retrofit sprinklers in high rise associations.

REP GEORGE MORAITIS AND DONNA BERGER LEGISLATOR OF THE YEAR

The final legislative configuration teamed Senator Mike Fasano�s Senate Bill 530 with Representative George R. Moraitis� House Bill 1195. Backed by the two legal powerhouses and coordinated statewide support from millions of association members, the bills empowered associations to punish deadbeats, prevent speculators from forcing their neighbors to subsidize their defaults, streamline bulk purchases to diminish a bloated statewide unit inventory and reverse dozens of expensive and counterproductive legislative glitches enacted in previous years. On June 16, 2011, Moraitis was recognized by a grateful coalition of community associations as �Legislator of the Year.�

GEORGE MORAITIS, PIO IERACI & ELLYN BOGDANOFF

Feeding on the infectious enthusiasm generated by his first-year legislative triumph, Moraitis decided to use the same formula to further empower associations in 2012. Teaming with newly elected Senator Ellyn Bogdanoff and buoyed by unprecedented support from millions of condo and co-op owners, his House Bill 319 was poised for success. Drawing on impressive legal clout and a busload of political influence, as his bill whizzed through House Committees, Bogdanoff�s Senate counterpart followed suit. In addition to allowing associations to postpone retrofitting their elevators with Phase II Firefighter Service until their next modernization (when the cost becomes negligible), fast tracking impact glass hurricane protection, suspending voting and use rights for delinquent unit owners and deadbeat speculators and providing Cooperative homeowners with statutory rights that previously only benefitted condo owners, the bills corrected glitches affecting the maintenance of association records, Board member certification and association recalls. Suddenly, the music stopped.

When a legal problem dogs an association, a good attorney can give its members a new lease on life. However, when attorneys opt to believe that they are better equipped to make decisions for an association than its members, it�s time to reboot the process. A conflict over a statutory provision that spelled out a lender�s financial obligation when foreclosing association properties suddenly took center stage in Moraitis� high-flying bill. Called the �Safe Harbor� amendment, it limits what a foreclosing bank must pay in association dues to �12 months of the unit�s unpaid assessments or 1 percent of the original mortgage debt, whichever amount is less.� This crushingly inequitable statutory guideline has been manipulated by lenders to push hundreds of associations into receivership.

In response, cash-strapped associations hired specialized collection attorneys to challenge lenders who exploited safe harbor protections in order to stiff associations and force their unit owners to pay the bank�s ignored obligation. Using a variety of unorthodox tactics, some lawyers proved in court that the bank�s claim to title was faulty or fraudulent, enabling the judge to award title to the association. Since a client association�s very survival was often at stake, others flirted with extortion and blackmail by hinting that the local bank branch would be shunned by its unit owner customers if word leaked out that the lender cheated their association, forcing its unit owners to subsidize the lender�s unpaid dues.

YELINE GOIN

Becker & Poliakoff, despite a deep roster of association clients, also represents Bank of America, HUD and other �A� list mortgage lenders. Rationalizing a need to �protect associations from themselves� and exhorting that angry banks may hit back, firm attorneys insisted that Moraitis add language to his bill confirming that associations were not entitled to one cent more from lenders than delimited by the safe harbor provision. Executive Director Yeline Goin of CALL (Community Association Leadership Lobby), B&P�s advocacy stepchild, warned that deep-pocketed banks would countersue or threaten to choke financing in the association market (a threat repeatedly leveled by the lending industry to intimidate lawmakers). Despite their obvious conflict of interest, B&P arguments resonated with Moraitis, a real estate attorney who feared being blamed for threatened lender reprisals. Not surprisingly, it wasn�t nearly as popular with the vast pool of association supporters who asked �Why is a pro-bank provision in an association bill?� Ironically, their question became the bill�s epitaph.

Ignoring its negative impact on his credibility and hoping to win points for sticking to his guns, Moraitis stubbornly refused to sever the controversial provision from his bill. The results of a CAN poll released in the February 2012 edition of the Florida Community Association Journal suggested that 82% of the bill�s association supporters perceived the provision as a favor to B&P�s lender clients. Since the bill had already survived a full House vote and Bogdanoff's sister bill (Senate Bill 680) enjoyed good support in the Senate, bill proponents surmised that it could weather a deep split in support if they nervously stood by Moraitis and his allied �legal muscle� while momentum propelled it across the finish line.

SENATE PRESIDENT MICHAEL HARIDOPOLOS

They ignored a factor that was staring them in the face since day one of the session. Florida Senators were not about to risk alienating voters they might need to survive a redistricting process they could no longer manipulate. After flipping through dozens of angry emails from his hometown Space Coast constituents on the final day of the legislative session, Senate President Mike Haridopolos decided that Moraitis� safe harbor provision was political Cyanide. Following a 60-second conscience-testing epiphany, Haridopolos drop kicked the bill off the Senate calendar, consigning it to the Tallahassee cornfield.

Having recounted his legislation�s disappointing implosion, Moraitis promised the Galt Mile audience to revive the failed bill in the upcoming 2013 legislative session. After admitting that dropping the divisive safe harbor language could have salvaged the bill�s positive provisions (and chalked up another impressive �first term� win), Moraitis shifted focus to his efforts on behalf of Port Everglades.

When the Panama Canal is reconfigured to accommodate supersized transports, tankers and cruise ships in about two years, plummeting shipping costs will significantly shift newly ramped up international patterns of commerce. Port Everglades will have to compete with other East Coast and Gulf ports for an impending trade windfall that could deliver a steroidal jerk to the State and local economic recovery. Moraitis pointed out that while tourism continues to play a major role in the regional economy, it has been nosed out by the Marine Industry. �Port improvements enhance both of these economic engines,� exclaimed Moraitis.

PORT EVERGLADES

INTERMODAL CONTAINER TRANSFER FACILITY

In preparation for the projected August, 2014 completion of the canal�s expansion, ports in Savannah, New Orleans, Norfolk, Baltimore, Miami, the Port of South Louisiana (tonnage king of U.S. ports) and Port Everglades are racing to adapt their facilities for berthing and offloading oceangoing monsters carrying two to three times the cargo of the largest vessels currently able to navigate the canal. Despite a gubernatorial death grip on the State budget, Representative Moraitis was instrumental in lining up state funding for the construction of a turning notch, deepening and widening the port channel and development of an Intermodal Container Transfer Facility. Moraitis stated �These improvements will bring $billions in new revenues and tens of thousands of new jobs to Broward County and the State.� He�s right. It will.

PORT DIRECTOR STEVEN M. CERNAK

PANAMAX VESSEL ENTERS LOCK

Commenting on the port�s new leadership, Moraitis acknowledged �I�m pleased with the Broward Commission�s appointment of Steven M. Cernak as new Port Director.� Cernak, who doubled revenues while serving as Director of the Port of Galveston before recently taking the reins from retiring Port Everglades Director Richard Allen, just completed similar structural improvements in Galveston, where he deepened the channel from 40 to 45 feet. In Port Everglades Cernak plans to enlarge the channel to the 50-foot depth required for Post Panamax shipping (nomenclature for ships that are 25% longer and 50% wider than the largest vessels able to pass through the canal). Instead of continuing to divert cruise ships to Miami when port facilities are overloaded, Moraitis described a $54 million renovation project for four cruise terminals that Cernak is building in partnership with the Carnival Corporation.

FORT LAUDERDALE-HOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

While collaborating on the association bills, Moraitis and Bogdanoff also teamed to promote legislation needed by the Broward Commission to enable local projects. Keeping a promise to the Galt Mile Community Association, Moraitis safeguarded vulnerable state funds appropriated to renourish our shrinking beach. He also described his funding efforts for other Broward infrastructure projects, including the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport expansion. Before issuing a reminder about his upcoming Statehouse campaign, the incumbent candidate detailed plans to �continue building local economic infrastructure, bring more jobs to Broward, improve educational opportunities and fight for better access to healthcare right here at home.�

COMMISSIONER CHIP LAMARCA'S DIST DIRECTOR JOHN DAVID NEWSTREET

TERRY CLAIRE AND FRIENDS OF GALT LIBRARY PRES. HERMAN GARDNER

The meeting segued to Broward Commissioner Chip LaMarca�s representatives, Commission aide D. Ryan Saunders and recently hired District Director John David Newstreet. After introducing himself and describing his previous service to Senators Mel Martinez, George LeMieux and Ocala Congressman Cliff Stearns, Newstreet invited attendees to contact him with any County concerns. LaMarca�s staffers recognized Plaza South resident Terry Claire, who the Commissioner appointed to the Broward County Library Advisory Board given her leading role in repeatedly rescuing the Galt Ocean Mile Library from the County budget axe. After promising that LaMarca will keep the local library�s doors open, Saunders shot off a reminder about the key role played by his boss in reviving the threatened Beach Renourishment project.

CITY COMMISSIONER BRUCE ROBERTS

Galt Mile President Pio Ieraci introduced District 1 City Commissioner Bruce Roberts, who opened by enumerating a litany of municipal issues impacting the Galt Mile community. Referring to the new panhandling ordinance, Roberts asserted �It doesn�t target homeless people; it targets illegal activity, whether or not the perpetrator is homeless.� The ordinance outlaws aggressive panhandling - when a request for money is couched in an implied threat. Roberts also clarified that the law recognizes that being homeless doesn�t entitle people to treat public parks like their private property. In addition to establishing a set of citywide panhandling prohibitions, it precludes any soliciting in the downtown Business District � mirroring a 1993 ordinance that shields the Fort Lauderdale beach from panhandlers.

�CHEPO� & COMM ROBERTS

SERGIO J. CLAVIJO

Thanking Commodore resident Jos� �Chepo� Vega for his ongoing efforts to maintain the Galt Ocean Mile neighborhood in a �Disney-like manner,� Roberts lamented the recent explosion of �Utility Graffiti� on the street and sidewalks. He imparted plans to arrange a meeting with Damage Prevention Liaison Sergio J. Clavijo of Sunshine State One-Call, contractors responsible for the admittedly improper markings, the utilities they work for and Galt Mile officials.

Accompanied by a team of City officials with ties to the Building Division, Roberts addressed two festering neighborhood hot potatoes. With the help of Fort Lauderdale Building Services Manager Terry Burgess, Roberts sought to explain why Galt Mile associations and unit owners received letters threatening financial retribution for unresolved construction permits opened in their names. With few exceptions, construction performed in Fort Lauderdale requires a permit issued by the building department. Along with defining a project�s scope and verifying contractor credentials, the permit forms a basis for follow-up City inspections to insure that the work was properly completed. When the project passes a final inspection, the permit is closed, precluding further work without a new permit. Unfortunately, contractors don't always complete the process, leaving the permit in limbo.

CITY MANAGER LEE FELDMAN

When City Manager Lee Feldman streamlined the City�s organizational table, folding 16 bloated bureaucracies into 9 more manageable departments, staffers uncovered a truckload of construction cases that were inadequately closed out. Closer scrutiny revealed hundreds of open permits, in many cases going back decades. Since most property owners know little about regulatory documentation required for construction projects, they were understandably flustered by an official municipal correspondence threatening penalties for jobs performed years earlier. Correcting these oversights isn�t simply an exercise in overzealous record keeping protocols; unresolved permits discovered during a title search become impediments to selling (or buying) a property.

Targeted unit owners were suddenly required to locate contractors who were no longer in business or had shuffled off their mortal coils. Building managers and board members were confounded by letters describing repairs to equipment that had been discarded years earlier. The Galt Mile Advisory Board requested that Commissioner Roberts investigate this dilemma. A few months later, he was applauded for informing association officials that the City would only actively pursue open permits going back to 2007.

At the Presidents Council meeting, when Roberts repeated his take on the City�s open permit policy, Building Services Manager Terry Burgess added that all permits had to be closed for properties being sold - notwithstanding when they were originally issued. Troubled by seemingly contradictory messages, association officials requested clarification. Admonishing that open permits serve as serious obstacles to selling a property, Burgess tried to surgically excise the discrepancy by proclaiming �While all open permits have to be closed, we are only actively pursuing those going back to 2007.� It didn�t work. However, before audience grumbling could coalesce into complaints, Burgess diplomatically invited those burdened with much earlier permits to contact him, promising to fast track closure. Every association official in the audience scrambled for a pen and paper as Burgess said �You can reach me at 954-828-5913.� His email address at the Building Services Division is [email protected]. For those association officials who knew little about Burgess, his decisive remedy helped validate his recent ascendancy to the top spot in Building Services.

Roberts jumped on the second hot button issue. In Mid-April of 2007, Galt Mile associations received official notices from the Building Services Department that threatened financial penalties for not extinguishing lighting on parking decks, patio decks and other association areas. Several association managers called Building Services and asked if they could turn off the lights listed in the notice. Building Services told them that doing so would elicit a violation notice; that they were required by law to light these areas. Armed with letters and tapes proving that a City Department was planning to violate beachfront associations for leaving their lights on and/or turning them off, the neighborhood association voted to leave the lights on and commence an action against the City. First, they would contact Building Services and give them an opportunity to explain their seemingly schizophrenic behavior.

CATE MCCAFFREY

Code Compliance Officer Al Lovingshimer, City liaison to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, apologized for the misunderstanding and explained about a virtually unknown City ordinance passed to enable sea turtle survival. A few days later, officials from several City departments asked to address the neighborhood association and further explain the dilemma. At the subsequent May 7, 2007 Presidents Council meeting, former Building Department Community Inspections Manager Catherine McCaffrey (currently an Assistant Parks and Recreation Director) apologized to attendees for the ill-advised violation notices and introduced Facilities Manager Tom Terrell from Public Works and Environmental Services� Kris McFadden to explain the threat posed by artificial lighting to nesting sea turtles and their hatchlings. After detailing the evolutionary basis for marine turtle �Disorientation Events,� Broward County Natural Resource Specialist Lou Fisher answered questions about how people and sea turtles perceive light differently. City officials and the neighborhood association agreed to explore a resolution to the lighting dilemma.

VALERIE BOHLANDER

In subsequent meetings, Lovigshimer and Galt Mile officials negotiated a process that balanced the needs of sea turtles with those of local residents and their associations. By respecting the security concerns of unit owners and the financial constraints of their associations, the mutually conceived plan cured 90% of the Galt Mile code violations by the following November. Taken by cancer a few weeks later, Lovingshimer was posthumously named �2007 Code Enforcement Officer of the Year� by former Building Department Director Valerie Bohlander on November 20, 2007.

An open channel between the Galt Mile Association and code compliance successfully addressed turtle-safe lighting issues over the next three years. As a rule, when a violation was reported, the compliance officer would work with the association to cure the infraction inexpensively and in a manner that didn�t compromise resident safety. If a violation involved a major fixture, such as a parking deck lamp, the officer would recommend an inexpensive shield to temporarily deflect light from the beach. When the fixture approached the end of its useful life and was budgeted for replacement, the association would incorporate a turtle-safe substitute into its lighting plan. By blending short and long term solutions, associations achieved compliance without incrementally burdening budgets or creating a gauntlet of dangerous tripping hazards.

OPENLY NON-COMPLIANT LIGHTING IS PREVENTABLE

In late 2010, personnel changes in City government left a vacuum in city policy that crippled the process. With no guidance from the City, when newly elected board members and/or new managers who were oblivious to the ordinance evaluated their associations' lighting needs, they applied for and received City approval for lighting elements that once again endangered sea turtles. As compliance unraveled over the next year, no attempt was made by the City to revive the process they unilaterally slammed shut a year earlier. Soon after the Turtle Nesting Season began in March, associations began receiving threats from code compliance reminiscent of those that sparked the 2007 conflict. The adage that �those who forget history are doomed to repeat it� assumed a special significance as resident resentment over the ill-advised violation notices exploded overnight.

DIRECTOR GREG BREWTON

Fortunately, one code compliance officer who originally participated in the 2007 negotiation realized that the communication lapse would rekindle the acrimony that blistered the neighborhood five years earlier. After an April 25^th conference with Galt Mile representatives he worked with during the 2007 negotiations - Compliance Officer Mario Sotolongo reached out to Building Services Manager Terry Burgess. At the May 17^th Advisory Board meeting, Galt Mile officials and District 1 Commissioner Bruce Roberts explored defusing a growing community rancor fueled by the mailed threats. Having witnessed how quickly this misstep deteriorated into a neighborhood polemic five years ago, Roberts suggested a comprehensive vetting of this issue at the upcoming June 4^th Presidents Council meeting.

ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER SUZANNE TORRIENTE

To help address this conflict, Commissioner Roberts and Building Department head Burgess asked veteran Building Official Chris Augustin and code officer Sotolongo (who currently serves with fellow officer Dick Eaton as City liaison to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) to join them at the neighborhood caucus. Also invited was Greg Brewton, the longtime Guru of Planning and Zoning before his elevation to Director of the Department of Sustainable Development, parent agency to the Building Services and Code Enforcement Divisions. Since Department heads take their marching orders from City Manager Lee Feldman�s office, Assistant City Manager Suzanne Torriente filled out the city delegation. Tempering an impressive set of management skills with common sense, Torriente works with Brewton to insure that his Department and its Divisions constructively implement and execute City policy.

BUILDING OFFICIAL CHRISTOPHER AUGUSTIN

Given his reputation for amicably settling scores of potentially volatile Galt Mile turtle lighting violations, Burgess introduced Mario Sotolongo. The code officer apologized for the confusion resulting from the violation notices. After reviewing the purpose for the turtle-safe lighting ordinance, Sotolongo surprised a skeptical audience when he exclaimed �We will never achieve compliance with this law.� The room muted as Sotolongo continued �We need to find a balance that�s fair to you while providing for the survival of sea turtles. Correcting lighting violations doesn�t have to be expensive and should never sacrifice personal safety.� After inviting notice recipients to contact him, he offered his assurance that �By working together we can always find a solution that works for everyone.� For association representative that failed to record his contact info, Sotolongo�s telephone number is 954-828-6326 and can be reached by email at [email protected]. Following his conciliatory missive, Sotolongo opened the floor to questions.

CITY DARKENS A1A IN 2007

In a knee-jerk initial spate of jeers and complaints, members contemptuous of the City�s 2007 decision to darken A1A without enhancing a local police presence blamed the city for the concomitant spike in crime along the beach. Several members complained about safety and security dilemmas created by the ordinance. Others vented about a poorly balanced policy that pits residents against sea turtles. When Assistant City Manager Suzanne Torriente and Commissioner Roberts intimated their intention to revive a framework that will enable code officers to work constructively with each association to address compliance issues, the rancor abated.

FISHER - NEW RULE FOR MARKING NESTS

Several audience members asked why areas roughly 30 feet wide were being cordoned off around every turtle nest on the beach, observing that 2 or 3 such nests rendered the beach impassable, even at low tide. GMCA President Pio Ieraci described a letter he received from Beach Raker, the Pompano vendor responsible for daily beach maintenance along the Galt Mile shoreline. At several coastal sites where adjacent turtle nests were each encircled by a 30-foot exclusion zone, the All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) used to pull the sand rake was forced to drive through the surf in order to pass the otherwise blockaded beach.

MARINE BIOLOGIST LOU FISHER

Ieraci contacted Natural Resource Specialist Lou Fisher of the Broward County Environmental Protection and Growth Management Departments, inquiring why the restricted zones were expanded to 30 feet. A Marine Biologist who spearheads the County�s Sea Turtle Program, Fisher agreed that the buffer zones were excessive. Since the sole purpose for erecting warning signs and roping off nest areas is to deter curious beachgoers from disturbing the nest, handling the eggs and/or interacting with the hatchlings, only one in five nests will be measured for the large buffers going forward. 80% of the interdicted zones will be sized more closely to the nest, eliminating the obstacle to beach maintenance while providing beachgoers and turtle watchers unfettered access to the unrestricted beach area.

RESCUED NEST BETWEEN PLAYA DEL MAR AND REGENCY TOWER

Notwithstanding their beef with the City, most Galt Mile residents are innately protective of their sea turtles. One night last July, when some kids began digging at nests between Regency Tower and Playa del Mar, residents from both buildings yelled from balconies high above that they were calling the police. One idiot began raining down chicken bones, olive pits and assorted detritus presumably filched from her garbage. Within minutes, the nests were surrounded by unit owners who were soon joined by the Galt Mile Security patrol.

CRTN MNGR LISA EDWARDS

Although Presidents Council meetings are ordinarily adjourned at 9 PM, the atypically congested agenda for this seasonal finale ran past 11 PM. Following the palliative outreach by our municipal officials, President Don Larson and Manager Lisa Edwards of Coral Ridge Towers North gave a progress report about employee benefits. Larson volunteered to investigate the perks and pitfalls of treating this shared expense collectively to exploit a bulk discount. Unfortunately, time constraints precluded scheduled presentations by several local vendors.

GMCA OFFICIALS PIO IERACI AND ERIC BERKOWITZ

ROBBI UPTEGROVE

With the parties now on the same page, Roberts� next challenge is morphing good intentions into a palpable policy. On June 12, Roberts� Commission Assistant Robbi Uptegrove began scheduling the first of several meetings with City, State and association officials to address Utility Graffiti, revive a non-contentious turtle-safe lighting process and flesh out the procedural outline for closing open permits. If the July 24^th �Utility Graffiti� conference engineered by Uptegrove is even moderately successful, its impact will ripple across the state since hundreds of other Florida communities are equally chafed by contractors who fail to remove markings that blight their streets and sidewalks. If we work throughout the summer, by autumn we may also have viable processes for permit closure and turtle-safe lighting compliance. Having set the table for comparably sticky forums, both Roberts and Uptegrove know that the Devil is in the Details.

• Click Here to Department of Sustainable Development

• Click Here to Building Services Division

• Click Here to Code Enforcement Division

• Click Here to Online Services (eGovPLUS)

• Click Here to "How-to" Guides - A Guide to Permit Information Available Online

• Click Here to Check Permit Status

• Click Here to Check Code Enforcement

• Click Here to Code Case Tracker

• Click Here to Sample Permit (Check Fees)

• Click Here to Building Services Staff Contact List

• Click Here to Code Enforcement Staff Contact List

• Click Here to Sea Turtle Nesting Season is Here - What You Should Know

• Click Here to "Turtle-Safe Lighting Ordinance" - Aa Applies to Galt Mile beachfront associations

• Click Here to Beachfront Lighting and Sea Turtles

• Click Here to Sea Turtle Nest Locator Program

• Click Here to How You Can Help

• Click Here to Volunteer and Educational Opportunities

• Click Here to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) - Sea Turtles

• Click Here to FWC - Fish and Wildlife Research Institute - Sea Turtles

• Click Here to FWC - Certified Wildlife Lighting

• Click Here to Sea Turtle Conflict on the Galt Mile

• Click Here to Companies that make Turtle-Safe Lighting for Galt Mile associations

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Commissioner Bruce Roberts

Bath Salts|| Sun Trolley || Visioning

In his July Newsletter, District 4 Broward Commissioner Chip LaMarca reminds constituents of his campaign promise to expedite the County�s recovery from the effects of the collapsed housing market. After repeatedly piling enough bad pork into the annual County spending plan to trigger a nationwide epidemic of political trichinosis, tanking property values finally prompted long overdue fiscal restraint by the same County Commissioners who fleeced Broward taxpayers for decades.

PORT EVERGLADES INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS

However, simply forcing the spending plan through an ever-tightening fiscal shredder won�t reverse the County�s decline. Until recycling the backlog of toxically submerged homes revives property values, the County�s skull-blocked economy can best be awakened by stoking its economic engines. LaMarca and Statehouse Representative George Moraitis spent the past year working to upgrade the transportation hubs (Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades) that enable Broward to successfully compete with neighboring tourism and shipping venues while providing hundreds of new jobs. Strategically located at Fort Lauderdale�s Port Everglades tourism nexus, enhancing the County�s aging Convention Center with a dedicated hotel and a facelift will plug a fiscal leak through which the County loses $tens of millions in new business every year.

Warehousing thousands of guests who attend the 280 annual Convention Center events in 50 different local hotels is a marketing nightmare. LaMarca laments the loss of longtime convention center customer ARVO (Association of Vision in Ophthalmology) � which will send their 13,000 guests to the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle in 2013, Orlando in 2014 and Denver in 2015. Following their annual gathering, Harley-Davidson said they would look elsewhere in the future for a Convention Center with a hotel. Scores of other convention customers, including the 9,000 attendees from an annual Department of Defense contractors� convention, warned that if Broward couldn�t provide them with fully integrated lodging, they would not return.

GREATER FT LAUD/BROWARD CNTY CONVENTION CNTR

Without an affiliated hotel, the Convention Center is precluded from even bidding on more than one third of the prospective convention opportunities � those that require dedicated lodging. Of the remaining client prospects, the Center must offset their lack of a hotel with a laundry list of expensive perks, further squeezing embattled profits. Since prior attempts to correct this competitive shortcoming were seemingly lifted from early episodes of the Three Stooges, fleshing out elements of LaMarca�s context-driven �abbreviated history� is in order.

R. DONAHUE PEEBLES

As outlined by LaMarca, when the the Greater Fort Lauderdale / Broward County Convention Center opened in 1991, County attempts to build a related hotel flopped. Beginning in 1997, threats of an African-American tourist boycott prompted the County Commission to exclusively consider hotel plans submitted by minority-owned developers. Shortly after 49-year old real estate magnate R. Donahue Peebles was awarded the hotel contract, partnering hotel Management Company Wyndham International pulled out along with the National Baptist Convention, washing out the project while setting the stage for strike three.

CONV. & VISITORS BUREAU PRES. NICKI GROSSMAN

On November 1, 2007, the Broward Commission selected a bid winner from two world-class hoteliers (and their partner developers), each of which presented plans for a 1,000-room Convention Hotel on 17^th Street - next to the Broward Convention Center at Port Everglades. Rejecting a plan submitted by Marriott and developer Hensel Phelps Construction, a ten-person selection committee chaired by tourism Guru Nicki Grossman that included 8 Broward Commissioners instead awarded the project to Hilton Hotels and their developer FaulknerUSA by a close six to four vote.

FORMER JP MORGAN BANKER CHRIS ROMER

Both teams planned on using hotel revenues to repay $400 million raised from Broward-authorized tax exempt bonds. While Marriott declined any public backing, Hilton wanted an annual $6 million pledge of hotel bed taxes as a guarantee against missed loan payments. Also, if the hotel went South, Broward taxpayers would pay down the debt service. Hilton�s ace-in-the-hole was former Executive Director Christopher Romer of JP Morgan Securities, who pledged to purchase all $398 million of Hilton�s bonds, while Marriott would have to hunt buyers in the tight credit market.

Since Marriott�s plan was financially self-sufficient while Hilton placed every Broward taxpayer on the hook for their debt, President Mark Schultz of FaulknerUSA, Hilton�s partnering developer, conceded that opponent Marriott�s deal was far better for the County. When informed that the Commissioners ignored the risk to taxpayers and selected his team�s less favorable project, a disbelieving Schultz declared, �I�m shocked!� Although compelled by years of Pavlovian conditioning to frivolously opt for expedience over prudence whenever managing tax dollars, our County Commissioners were primarily moved by enlightened self-interest as Hilton lobbyists offered committee members more valuable �incentives� than their Marriott peers.

It was no secret that Hilton banking partner JP Morgan Chase was also suing FaulknerUSA for $6.1 million in defaulted loans from a similar project in Austin, Texas. Focusing on the questionable County decision, local media took a closer look at Hilton�s builder. In addition to a $6.6 million court judgment stemming from a hornet�s nest of litigation over flooding problems in the Austin Hilton Convention Center Hotel, FaulknerUSA was facing $millions more in liabilities from 17 lawsuits (and 68 liens) by irate condo owners, unpaid subcontractors and project organizer Austin Convention Enterprises Inc. Despite under-the-table �agreements� between project lobbyists and inappropriately vested public officials, the handwriting was on the wall.

BROWARD ADMINISTRATOR BERTHA HENRY

After registering a very public demand for proof of FaulknerUSA�s fiscal health in January of 2008, a supposedly surprised County Administrator Bertha Henry stoically announced, �There is nothing that says Faulkner is dropping out of this deal, but they have to respond to us that they have the wherewithal to do this project. We will not enter into a development agreement with a company that is not stable.� In a frantic attempt to salvage their project, Hilton brought Hensel Phelps Construction, the partner of rival bidder Marriott to an emergency meeting with County officials, largely to hedge against an anticipated County maneuver to sever besieged FaulknerUSA from the project. The gesture proved futile.

On December 8, 2009, the County Commission officially pulled the plug on the $400 million project, but not before frittering $1.6 million in pork disbursements to LMN Architects; Hospitality Real Estate Counselors; the law firm of Siegel, Lipman, Dunay, Shepard & Miskel; the engineering firm Craven Thompson & Associates; the urban planning firm Hughes Hughes Inc.; the architectural firm Arch Alliance and the law firm of Squire Sanders - primarily for thinking positive thoughts. To avoid threatened legal action, intimidated Commissioners also refunded FaulknerUSA�s $2 million deposit � with interest.

Hopefully, the County Commission will avoid the pitfalls that plagued earlier attempts to fully develop competitive Convention Center infrastructure, especially since LaMarca has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to expose the type of self-serving maneuvers that earmarked those failures. Since his election to the County Board, LaMarca�s peers have come to understand that he takes his responsibility as Commission gadfly seriously... as do we. Read LaMarca's July 2012 update below... �Build It and They Will Come�. � [editor]

July 25, 2012 - On April 4, 2012, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced the termination of a program enacted in 2006 that allowed agents writing national flood insurance policies to rebate a portion of their commission to cash-strapped customers. In 1996, the Florida Legislature enacted Senate Bill 438, providing a statutory foundation for commission rebates (Florida Statute 626.572) to help smaller �Write Your Own� (WYO) private insurers better compete with industry goliaths. While the statute enabled individual insurance agents to voluntarily rebate a part of their commissions, in 2005 Senate Bill 1912 extended that option to licensed insurance agencies, authorizing them to similarly discount their products.

Delighted by the opportunity to expand consumer access to their products, especially in smaller communities serviced by local agents, FEMA officially initiated a commission rebate program later that year. Unburdened by corporate drawdowns for fueling the company�s private aircraft or sending corporate executives on fact-finding missions in the world�s gambling capitols, giving up a few points enabled mom and pop agencies to snag clients from industry giants. These voluntary flood policy commission rebates of up to 15% concomitantly played a critical role in the fiscal survival strategy of thousands of Florida associations.

Of the nation�s 5,554,617 flood policies, 37% cover Florida properties. As of May 31, 2012, the 459 governmental jurisdictions in the state that participate in the program represent 2,050,991 flood policies with a total exposure of $471,343,906,700. By definition, an overwhelming majority of these properties pepper the high-risk Florida coastline. These highly prized beachside locations also house a great majority of the State�s 60,000 common interest communities.

FEMA does not directly regulate insurance agents who sell standard flood insurance policies. The Write Your Own (WYO) private insurers that actually write the policies also market them through proprietary agent networks and administer any associated claims. Once a claim is submitted and processed, FEMA�s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) reimburses the WYO.

However, the Code of Federal Regulations (44 CFR, Section 62.23 and the �Financial Assistance/Subsidy Arrangement� 44 CFR, Part 62, Appendix A) that authorizes FEMA to administer the NFIP specifically empowers the agency to set standards that govern how participating WYO Companies sell and market NFIP flood insurance products. Changes made to these standards are supposed to be driven by some public purpose objective.

When Hurricane Andrew�s unprecedented devastation in1992 awakened FEMA to the necessity of pro-active emergency management, mitigation became the cornerstone of federal disaster assistance. On November 29, 1993, the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA) was created to analyze and manage long-term risk from natural hazards. To reduce flood losses, one of its three new divisions adopted and enforced floodplain management regulations and created the NFIP to provide property owners with affordable flood insurance.

FEMA DEPUTY ADMIN. FOR FEDERAL INSURANCE EDWARD L. CONNOR

Exclaiming in a recent memo that FIMA had received numerous inquiries focusing on the federal National Flood Insurance Program, FEMA Deputy Associate Administrator for Federal Insurance Edward L. Connor added that �insurance rebating has been the source of many complaints from agents and companies.� After indicting the practice as �confusing to consumers,� Connor dropped the bomb, announcing �...effective October 1, 2012, WYO Companies shall not authorize the rebating of commissions on new or renewal NFIP policies.�.

The enigmatic FEMA maneuver simultaneously stripped thousands of small agencies of their ability to compete with industry behemoths while significantly driving up insurance costs for thousands of associations. The fiscal havoc wreaked on hundreds of thousands of homeowners living in affected associations was compounded by the questionable zone assignments applied to the Agency�s recently redrafted flood insurance rate maps. Although data assembled by FEMA engineers enhanced the maps� topographic accuracy, a new set of arbitrary risk assumptions approved by Agency bureaucrats will add $thousands in unjustified premium costs to associations unable to �grandfather� rates applicable to their former zoning designation. Simultaneously, recent Congressional negotiations over agency funding provides for a 5 � 20% general rate increase (depending on hazard zone designation) that�s scheduled to incrementally impact all renewals and new flood policies after October 1, 2012.

FEMA is inherently steeped in operational dogma. Although its mandate dictates a response to events with impacts that are virtually unpredictable, Congressional critics insist that FEMA adhere to a traditional business model � like the Post Office. In exchange for a series of 17 short-term Congressional funding reprieves since 2008, FEMA officials repeatedly made amorphous promises to raise rates and cut overhead. On July 6, 2012, President Obama signed �The Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012�, which authorizes NFIP funding through September 30, 2017. However, the agency�s $18 billion debt is in no way impacted by the rebates, which are wholly funded from the commissions voluntarily contributed by individual agents. Why did FEMA suddenly reverse a policy that helped consumers without costing the agency (or taxpayers) a dime?

The complaints fielded by Connor weren�t from customers or the thousands of agents that benefitted from the program. They were lodged by a small number of disgruntled agents employed by insurance conglomerates, including associates from Connor�s former employers Allstate and Chubb. When these agents complained to corporate about losing business to discounting local competitors, the insurance juggernauts sent lobbyists to convince FEMA that competition is �un-American�. Fearful of alienating prospective employers when faced with �life after government service�, FEMA bureaucrats jumped on the bandwagon. While insuring a cushy post-retirement parachute is certainly a time-honored motivation for shafting the public, Federal and State bureaucrats try to avoid appearing like shareholders in the institutions they are supposedly regulating.

Connor initially declared �The goals of the NFIP are better served by a system of uniform national pricing that will ensure that policyholders pay the same price for the same risk.� Hoping it would resonate with the public, Connor issued his outcry as if he were spearheading a campaign to protect the beleaguered agency�s premium income or shield consumers from an inequitable or fraudulent pricing scheme. However, NFIP receives full price for policies funded in part by commission rebates, consumers save money and smaller agencies successfully compete by offering clients a better price for the same product. When consumer advocates attacked the decision as a blatant attempt to favor a small group of politically powerful vendors by eliminating their competition, FEMA bureaucrats whipped up a new public rationalization for this overtly anti-consumer policy. A FEMA spokesperson announced that the program was being discontinued to stop a proliferation of �policy churning.�

This nefarious-sounding �buzzword� actually refers to the consumer practice of switching policies. When precipitated by an unscrupulous agent�s misrepresentations to a policyholder to generate additional commission income, the term connotes fraudulent behavior. However, it also applies when a customer cancels a policy to take advantage of a competitor�s better rates. The double-entendre backfired. Instead of quelling growing opposition to the ill-conceived decision, the statement functionally conceded FEMA�s intention to pump up profits for industry giants by stamping out local competitors.

Several petitions aimed at pressuring FEMA to rescind this damaging decision before its October 1^st effective date are being circulated � some by the insurance agencies that were functionally crippled by FEMA�s patronage of their larger competitors and others by advocates for the thousands of associations (and millions of homeowners) whose insurance rates will unnecessarily skyrocket. One such petition was launched by the Community Advocacy Network (CAN), and can be accessed online at: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/petition-to-fema-regarding-detrimental-decision-to-disc.html.

By taking half a minute to add your signature, , you can help thwart an openly abusive attempt by FEMA bureaucrats to forbid competition, push local agencies into the cornfield and stick it to South Florida association homeowners. Can you think of a more productive way to spend the next 30 seconds?

JOS� �CHEPO� VEGA

GALT MILE UTILITY GRAFFITI

August 12, 2012 - For more than a decade, the Galt Mile Community Association (GMCA) fumbled enforcement of a City promise to maintain in a �Disney-like manner� the self-funded landscape and hardscape assets included in the 1993 Galt Mile Improvement Project. In late 2008, the GMCA Advisory Board unanimously appointed Jos� �Chepo� Vega to perform an ongoing review of these features along Galt Ocean Drive and the surrounding area. The Commodore resident provided two critical ingredients previously absent in attempts to reverse the frustrating municipal neglect - a passionate commitment to unwavering oversight and the dogged pursuit of governmental officials and bureaucrats charged with neighborhood maintenance.

CHEPO WORKS WITH CITY CREW

Under his supervision, Parks Department crews trimmed and restrapped trees that were inadequately supported or cast atilt from high winds, repaired cracked or destabilized sections of the pink aggregate sidewalks that line the block, leveled dozens of street and sidewalk tripping hazards, upgraded receptacles for regular and recyclable trash, replaced rusting multi-color hulks with neatly aligned newsletter boxes, replanted and meticulously maintained sidewalk beds, repainted faded traffic lines, handicap markings, stop lines and delivered dozens of other aesthetic and structural enhancements. An unstoppable gadfly, bureaucratic justifications for any adulterated section of our neighborhood bounced off Chepo. In time, city crews and their supervisors developed a healthy respect for his input. In the vast majority of cases, Chepo�s persistence bore fruit. Throughout his tenure as the neighborhood association�s liaison for block maintenance, one obstacle has proven irresolvable... a local incarnation of a nationwide street blight he dubbed �Utility Graffiti.�

Often misconstrued by angry residents as a form of legal vandalism, the cryptic multicolored ciphers splattered across sidewalks, streets, crosswalks and parking fields on both public and private property aren�t random insults to the neighborhood�s aesthetic integrity. They are the functional by-product of a company parented by the State Legislature, Sunshine State One-Call of Florida, Inc. (AKA One-Call, SSOCOF or its newest moniker - Sunshine 811). While the graffiti-style marks have fueled nationwide outcries by neighborhood activists (One-Call corporations proliferate across the country), local governments and state lawmakers, these unavoidable irritants have become the �devil in the details� of this otherwise indispensable service.

SLEDGEHAMMERED WATER LINE

DAMAGED TELEPHONE CABLES

When contractors anticipate tearing up the street, sidewalk, parking field, etc. they must first locate any buried utility lines to avoid disturbing or damaging electrical wiring, telephone lines, fiber optic cable, catch basins, gas lines, transformers, water lines, drainage and sewer conduit and other interred utility components. Prior to commencing excavation, the location of every utility element must be identified and marked with different color marking materials to distinguish telephone, gas, water, electric, etc. Armed with a map of the buried wires, cables, lines, pipes, ducts and conduits, the contractors can excavate without wreaking havoc on local services. Following an article about this issue last April, my inbox was clogged with more than 50 emails questioning whether these markings are legal, how the streets become marked and why this is permitted. This is how it works:

LOCATOR

When informed of a proposed excavation anywhere in the State, One-Call notifies member operators with underground facilities in the area of the planned excavation or demolition. Within two business days (except when emergency repairs are indicated), personnel using a pantheon of expensive electronic detection equipment (Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), GPS locators, etc.) deploy an 8-color palette standardized by the American Public Works Association (APWA) and scores of anagrammatic identifiers to mark the location of interred gas lines, pull boxes, water lines, electrical plexus, telephone linkages, cable conduits and other buried utility components. A similarly marked hand-held map is delivered to the excavator, who can then proceed without disrupting local utility services.

MARKING DETECTED UTILITY

GROUND PENETRATING RADAR

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. While the excavator is liable for damages resulting from misinterpretation of degraded or adulterated markings, if the site is fully eroded or functionally unmarked, One-Call risks sharing that liability. To avoid the dilemma, members are tempted to use marking materials chemically confected to withstand a nuclear winter.

MARKINGS FLOOD GALT OCEAN DRIVE

For projects that extend beyond one month, they are supposed to return each subsequent month to map the next 30 days of planned excavation. While this strategy effectively limits the offensive markings a neighborhood must tolerate at any given time, it doubles the mapping delays for a two month project and requires twelve postponements for mapping visits during a year-long project. To save mapping time � and costs � operators will flood the street with months of markings while executing a boilerplate apology alleging some unfortunate administrative miscue.

DO THESE MARKINGS LOOK FAMILIAR?

While these circumstances explain the predisposition to use improper marking materials or deliberately overmark a job site, they pale when compared to a far greater source of abuse � competitive bidding. When 5 or 6 contractors bid on a project, to more accurately estimate the costs of avoiding damage to interred equipment, each will place a separate �locate� request with One-Call. Unless the operators are somehow made aware of the mercenary reasons for these multiply duplicated requests, they are forced to finance 5 or 6 marking visits to the same site, not to protect buried service lines but to help contractors tailor their bids. When these abuses are occasionally caught by an observant dispatcher or supervisor, the vendors are correctly charged for the service.

UTILITY REMOVES IDENTIFIERS

In a perfect world, the markings are erased when the construction is complete. In reality, the markings ordinarily survive the attendant project by months � or years. When scores of local governments across Florida passed a wide variety of ordinances requiring that operators apply for a permit, pre-mark the target area, use certain low impact paints or remove the marks when the job was finished, the legislature responded in 2010 by countermanding these local laws and forbidding future local interference with One-Call operations. Lawmakers unilaterally agreed that the uninterrupted delivery of critical resources like water, gas, electricity and communication services outweigh local concerns about a jurisdiction�s marred appearance.

SENATOR MICHAEL BENNETT

When the legislature passed the Underground Facility Damage Prevention and Safety Act, Chapter 556, F.S. in 1993, it failed to provide for removal of the markings required by the legislation. In 2010, Florida Senator Michael Bennett filed Senate Bill 982 to cure that enigmatic omission. Unfortunately, his bill was neutered during an eleventh hour swap for a committee substitute. Instead of requiring facility operators to remove whatever substance they use to mark a designated area, SB 982 encouraged One-Call to educate member operators about the benefits of low-impact marking practices, reducing the bill from a reasonable remedy to a toothless shadow. It additionally prohibited local government from �adopting any conflicting laws.�

CHEPO AND COMM. BRUCE ROBERTS

It also left the bureaucrats who operate the program in the crosshairs of those on both sides of this controversy. Last year, the Galt Mile Advisory Board enlisted Commissioner Bruce Roberts to broker a meeting with Sunshine State One-Call officials and representatives from the local utilities that participate in the program (operators). Following the March 17, 2011 Advisory Board meeting, Galt Mile Officials met with Damage Presentation Manager Cheryl Ritter and South Florida Damage Prevention Liaison Sergio J. Clavijo of Sunshine State One-Call and representatives from AT&T, FP&L, TECO Gas, Comcast and USIC (United States Infrastructure Corporation - a well-reputed marking contractor engaged by Florida utilities without in-house marking capabilities).

SERGIO J. CLAVIJO

Early in the meeting, it became evident that Clavijo and Ritter survive in a state of quiet desperation. The same people who bitterly complain about the street markings would spit blood if their telephone lines were clipped by some non-compliant landscaping contractor or more to the point, if their lives were endangered by an inadvertently ruptured gas line. Consequently, One-Call also takes heat for the actions of member-operators who inflame neighborhood tensions by overmarking excavation sites and fail to remove markings for long-completed projects. During the 19 years spent in futile anticipation of a legislative rescue, all parties to the One-Call system were forced to muddle through without an integral part of their operational playbook.

GALT MILE MARKINGS

From their discussion with One-Call and area utility representatives, GMCA officials learned that one obstacle to timely removal of utility markings is a communication lapse at the final stage of the process. Since there is no financial or statutory incentive to remove the markings, utilities have historically assigned a low priority to following up on a project�s progress. Similarly, once excavators finish digging their holes, they collect their fees and hit the wind. Because One-Call doesn�t have the resources to aggressively monitor the status of excavations statewide, these projects understandably fall through the cracks.

FORMER ATTY GENERAL BOB BUTTERWORTH

A second systemic stumbling block is the absence of reliable enforcement. Within months of One-Call�s 1993 enactment, the corporation�s befuddled Board Secretary Larry Lesnett asked Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth �What enforcement procedures may be used to assure compliance with Chapter 556, Florida Statutes?� After prefacing his Advisory Legal Opinion (AGO 95-04) with �I have not found, nor have you directed my attention to, any legislatively authorized administrative means to enforce compliance with the act,� Butterworth concluded �Due to the lack of clearly defined procedures available to enforce compliance with Chapter 556, Florida Statutes, this matter may be appropriate for legislative consideration.�

COUNTY COMMISSIONER CHIP LAMARCA

One-Call is only equipped to address blatant marking infractions with education, a fact that�s emboldened chronic violators. To address what the Statute describes as a �non-criminal infraction�, a �citation issued by any local or state law enforcement officer, government code inspector, or code enforcement officer� carries a maximum penalty of $500 (increased from $250 in the 2010 legislation). While little more than a slap on the wrist to a utility, program supporters thought it adequate for the purpose it was enacted. They place the problem elsewhere. Since the local law enforcement officials empowered by the statute to cite violators understandably assign a low priority to this �noncriminal infraction�, few incidents are investigated, and fewer citations issued.

GMCA'S IERACI AND BERKOWITZ

PLAYA DEL SOL

Pleased with the tenure of the meeting and optimistically anticipating that additional progress would be achieved at future gatherings, the meeting was adjourned. At the April 4, 2011 Presidents Council meeting in Playa del Sol few weeks later, after describing some of One-Call�s historical problems, Sergio Clavijo and Cheryl Ritter outlined the prospective initiatives being considered. Earlier in the day, they met with City Commissioner Bruce Roberts and Broward Commissioner Chip LaMarca at the Beach Community Center to discuss the bureaucratic mechanics of moving the project forward. Following One-Call�s Playa del Sol presentation, Commissioner Roberts announced �If successful, the Galt Mile community will have established a prototype that will be duplicated in hundreds of Florida neighborhoods.� Unfortunately, since no follow up meeting was convened, the advances established were never implemented, and eventually faded to oblivion.

CITY COMMISSIONER BRUCE ROBERTS

Throughout the next year, complaints stemming from rampant marking abuses along the Galt Mile continued unabated. Finally, on May 17, 2012, the Advisory Board asked Commissioner Roberts to tackle three hot potatoes, a city campaign to close pre-historic building permits, sea turtle survival issues and the explosive proliferation of utility markings throughout the neighborhood. At the June 4, 2012 Presidents Council meeting, Roberts promised to broker the revival of all three derailed processes. His first effort was realized on July 24^th, when an impressive roster of One-Call participants came together at City Hall.

Building on the prior year�s list of players, Roberts invited One-Call�s Damage Prevention Manager Cheryl Ritter and Liaison Sergio J. Clavijo, who serve as buffers between hyperactive excavators, well-meaning albeit cynical utility representatives, bloodthirsty community ideologues and local public officials concerned with politically surviving this two-decade dogma. Representatives from FP&L included State Cable Locations Manager Joseph W. Heatherly, Cable Locator (and troubleshooter) Mario Escalona and Cable Tech Angel Larramendi. AT&T sent Damage Prevention Manager Margaret Rodriguez. Speaking for TECO Peoples Gas were Mylene Arza, Sergio Abreu Jr. (actually a TECO lobbyist) and M.J. Chamorro. Tomas Fernandez represented the United States Infrastructure Corporation (USIC), the locate contractor for AT&T, Comcast and FPL. Vice President of Subsurface Utility Engineering Greg Jeffries spoke for Craig A. Smith & Associates, another locate enterprise contracted by the Cities of Bal Harbour, Pembroke Park, Davie, Hollywood, Coconut Creek, Oakland Park and other municipalities in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties. FDOT, which grinds out projects rife with abuse all over Florida, was represented by Sara Duffoo (Senior Project Engineer at Target Engineering Group, Inc.), who is also construction coordinator for the A1A resurfacing project and the project�s information specialist Miranda Iglesias (Public Information Officer at The Corradino Group).

PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR ALBERT CARBON

ROBBIE UPTEGROVE & MAXINE SINGH

Joining Roberts was a panoply of City officials and staffers. Since Roberts� popular Commission Assistant Robbie Uptegrove was on vacation, Maxine Singh organized the meeting. City Manager Lee Feldman came with Assistant City Manager Susanne Torriente, Assistant to the Mayor Safeea Ali and Assistant City Attorney Carrie Sarver. Public Works Director Albert Carbon led a boatload of his staffers to the meeting, including Assistant Utilities Services Director Julie Leonard, Public Works Land Development Manager Dennis Girisgen, Public Works Distribution and Collection Division Chief Kris Kmon, Distribution and Collections Systems Manager Mark Darmanin, Distribution and Collection Supervisor Keith Hutchison, Customer Operations Manager Linda Gee. From Susanne Torriente�s Sustainable Development family came Code Supervisor Skip Margerum, Detective Jorge Maura and Building Services Manager Terry Burgess.

Although the operators and members supporting this effort know more about the challenges plaguing Sunshine 811 than the lawmakers who shaped its statutory skeleton, until they could access adequate enforcement and a reliable local on-site vehicle for reporting violations, they would remain ill-equipped to mollify the statewide outcry by angry neighborhoods and their public officials. Two of the new project participants were about to change the playing field.

Among the large contingent of ForLauderdale officials and bureaucrats was FLPD Detective Eugene McCoy, a specialist in Environmental Crimes with extensive experience in citing One-Call marking violations. McCoy would fill the statutory requirement for a �local law enforcement official� to mete out citations on the Galt Mile. While serving as a wake-up call to scofflaws who�d grown confident that their infractions would continue to be ignored, the $500 fine threatened by McCoy�s citations would have a limited impact as a deterrent - especially when weighed against the $500,000 statutory liability for inadequately marking the construction site or sacrificing the lucrative productivity boost realized by cutting corners.

CITY MANAGER LEE FELDMAN

City Manager Lee Feldman chimed in, announcing that he had a recommendation that would stiffen the program�s wimpy statutory enforcement threat. Feldman remarked, �I think that companies we hire to do jobs for the City should respect our streets and comply with One-Call regulations.� As the room fell silent, Feldman continued, �If they are incapable of following these rules, I don�t think we should invite them to bid on City jobs.� Game, Set and Match! Sergio Clavijo�s eyes lit up. Stigmatizing violations with a blackball wouldn�t violate the statutory prohibition against local interference in One-Call policy while astronomically raising the table stakes for violators. Feldman said that he would propose this to the City Commission �when their meetings resumed after the summer hiatus.� Although the immediate objective was to relieve the problem in the Galt Mile neighborhood, Feldman noted its relevance to every district, prospectively engendering support by the entire City Commission.

There was a broader downside to being locked out of City jobs. To function efficiently, City Managers maintain open communications with counterparts in jurisdictions across Florida and other States. In the vast majority of these jurisdictions, there is no shortage of contractors. A vendor whose reputation is adulterated by confirmed violations would feel the heat all over the State. With a viable enforcement option in the works, the parties adjourned the meeting. Recalling how the fruits of last year�s efforts dissolved when the process was allowed to languish, participants agreed to meet again on August 6^th, a few weeks later. At the next meeting, they would try to devise a methodology for identifying and correcting violations.

CRAIG A SMITH VP GREG JEFFRIES

Along with One-Call�s Sergio Clavijo and the Galt Mile�s Pio Ieraci, Eric Berkowitz and Chepo Vega, the guest list for the August 6^th meeting was tailored to its newly narrowed objectives. Perceived as indispensable to a resolution was FP&L�s Statewide Cable Locations wizard Joseph W. Heatherly and AT&T�s Damage Prevention Manager Margaret Rodriguez, both of whom serve on One-Call�s Board of Directors. Sergio also invited TECO Energy�s Mylene Arza, Subsurface Utility Engineering V.P. Greg Jeffries of Craig A. Smith & Associates and Tomas Fernandez from the United States Infrastructure Corporation (USIC), whose firm performs �locates� for utilities throughout Florida. After years on the front lines, they were tired of their respective utilities taking a �bad rap� for violations committed by others. For the City of Fort Lauderdale, in addition to some Public Works officials, City Manager Lee Feldman�s office was represented by Stephanie M. Denham and FLPD�s Gene McCoy would return to address residual enforcement issues.

FP&L�S JOSEPH W. HEATHERLY

That these markings persist long after the related construction is finished isn�t lost on the local residents of neighborhoods blighted by marking violations. If a community representative could somehow confirm a project�s completion and promptly notify the relevant operator, any improper markings could be expeditiously removed. Sergio admonished, �It is impossible to ascertain a project�s status based solely on casual observation.� For community representatives to accurately assess potential violations, they would have to undergo enough baseline training to interpret the markings. Several operators suggested that a community observer could also report incidents where excavation was underway in the absence of any markings, which could threaten local residents with service disruptions for water, electricity, communications and more importantly, ignite gas escaping from an inadvertently damaged underground gas line. While Sergio volunteered to teach community representatives how to read the marking ciphers and report their observations, each of the operators agreed to equip the community representative with an emergency telephone contact useful for verifying the �legitimacy� of any marking. By the meeting�s end, the coalition had pieced together a workable plan to beat back the marking abuse.

To help define the new process, a flow chart outlined by FP&L�s �locate� impresario Joe Heatherly was applied to the following scenario. When a community observer identifies markings for a project that was either completed or suspiciously inactive for a reasonable period of time, after determining which operators are involved by interpreting each cipher�s shape and color, calls will be placed to the various operators� emergency contact numbers. After receiving a photo of the possible violation and an exact address (sent on-site from the observer�s camera phone), recipient operators would consult their proprietary database and One-Call, enabling them to ascertain whether the markings are currently justifiable. Depending on the circumstances they uncover, the operator would report the markings as appropriate;arrange for their removal, dispatch Detective McCoy, or some combination of these alternatives.

If the observer witnesses ongoing excavation where no markers are apparent, he or she would contact the emergency number for One-Call. If the excavation was being performed illegally (without having contacted One-Call to issue locate requests for interred utility elements), Detective McCoy would again be summoned. If citations issued by McCoy are confirmed as violations, culpable contractors and/or excavators would forgo future opportunities to participate in City projects. Since the impact of such a blackball could conceivably resonate across Florida and to jurisdictions in other States, excavators and the builders who they subcontract with will soon learn that the adverse repercussions of cutting corners outweigh any potential benefit - by far.

Another meeting will be convened after the City Commission considers Feldman�s blackball proposal in September. Before the process is implemented in the Galt Mile neighborhood, several GMCA representatives will undergo a brief course in reading the markings and each operator will provide the neighborhood association with a dedicated telephone number. If the new process successfully reduces violations along the Galt Mile, it will be applied throughout Fort Lauderdale. If the offending markings are abated across this larger jurisdiction, it will become a State template for the scores of neighborhoods that have repeatedly lodged complaints with One-Call and the local utilities.

While benefits that accrue to participating neighborhoods and Sunshine 811 are self-evident, One-Call member utilities and other operators will finally be divested of the large public relations black-eye they�ve borne for decades. Not too shabby for a small neighborhood filled with sleepy retirees.

TURTLE HATCHLING DEATH TRAP

In many highly populated coastal areas, artificial lights near the beach are brighter than the moonlit ocean, reversing the turtles� biological compass. Nesting females seeking the darkened shore instead head out to sea where they cannot lay their eggs. If they find the shore and successfully deposit their eggs, the disoriented hatchlings travel inland, toward the artificial lights, where they often die from dehydration or predation by fire ants and ghost crabs. They also become �road kill� on local thoroughfares.

Sea turtles are either endangered or threatened (the loggerhead is the only species that has sufficient population to be classified as threatened in Florida). They are protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 and Florida�s Marine Turtle Protection Act (379.2431, Florida Statutes). Florida Law (F.A.C. Rule 68E-1) also restricts molestation or harassment of marine turtles, nests or eggs as well as the marine turtle habitat. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) together review permits for coastal construction under Chapter 62B, F.A.C. (Florida Administrative Code) that affects Marine Turtles. The state of Florida developed a model lighting ordinance (62B-55, F.A.C.) to guide local governments in creating turtle-safe lighting ordinances.

Broward County adopted Chapter 39, Article IX, Sec 39-107 in 1989. Ten years later, Pompano Beach followed their lead (Ords 99-18, 2000-64), Deerfield Beach in 2000 (Chapter 34, Article V, Sec 34-96), Hallandale Beach in 2001 (Ch. 6, Art. I, Sec 6-10), Lauderdale-by-the-Sea in 2002 (CH 30 Article V Div 2 Subdiv L Sec 30-313 [27]), Fort Lauderdale in 2003 (Chapter 6, Article III, Div. 2, Sec. 6-51), Hillsboro Beach in 2007 (Ord 232), and Hollywood in 2011 (Chapter 108). Despite enacting its ordinance in 2003, Fort Lauderdale postponed enforcement until 2007, after recovering from the serial hurricanes of 2004 and 2005. Every jurisdiction that passed a local variation of the State template assigned a liaison to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Fort Lauderdale�s official contact in 2007 was a code compliance officer named Al Lovingshimer.

In May of 2007, Lovingshimer and Galt Mile officials negotiated a process that balanced the needs of sea turtles with those of local residents and their associations. By respecting the security concerns of unit owners and the financial constraints of their common interest communities, the mutually conceived plan cured 90% of the Galt Mile code violations by the following November.

MICHAEL MALONEY

CATE MCCAFFREY

Although Lovingshimer was claimed by cancer a few weeks later and posthumously named �2007 Code Enforcement Officer of the Year� by his Building Department peers and the City Commission, the understanding was upheld by then Code Compliance Manager Cate McCaffrey, who initially approved the agreement when first negotiated by Lovingshimer. When McCaffrey was later named Director of Business Enterprises, new Code Compliance Manager Mike Maloney also perpetuated a balanced enforcement policy.

An open communication channel between the Galt Mile Community Association and code compliance officials successfully addressed turtle-safe lighting issues over the next three years. As a rule, when a violation was reported, the compliance officer would work with the association to cure the infraction inexpensively and in a manner that didn�t compromise resident safety. If a violation involved a major fixture, such as a parking deck lamp, the officer would recommend an inexpensive shield to temporarily deflect light from the beach. When the fixture approached the end of its useful life and was budgeted for replacement, the association would incorporate a turtle-safe substitute into its lighting plan. By blending short and long term solutions, associations achieved compliance without incrementally burdening budgets or creating a gauntlet of dangerous tripping hazards.

In late 2010, personnel changes in City government left a vacuum in city policy that crippled the process. With no guidance from the City, when newly elected board members and/or new managers evaluated their associations� lighting needs, they applied for and received City approval for lighting elements that once again endangered sea turtles. As compliance unraveled over the next year, no attempt was made by the City to revive the process they unilaterally slammed shut a year earlier.

Code Compliance officers were also awash in confusion. Until the 2011 nesting season, when a compliance officer realized that an alleged violation was �overreaching� or baseless, it would be tossed. If it had merit, the officer would negotiate a resolution that was acceptable to the association. With no viable guidance from their supervisors, when handed a list of alleged lighting violations by Nova University volunteers who video beachfront light sources during evening patrols of the shoreline, instead of objectively evaluating the infraction and productively interacting with an association official, they could only confirm the violation and threaten repercussions for non-compliance.

When association representatives asked compliance officers whether a particular solution was acceptable, they would respond, �I�m not supposed to comment on that. We can only tell you whether a solution is acceptable after it�s implemented.� Aware that they were burdening associations with irresolvable Catch-22 dogmas, enforcement visits were often concluded with a frustrated apology.

GMCA's IERACI AND BERKOWITZ

New Senior Compliance Officer Ingrid Gottlieb lamented that they were in an impossible situation. �I�m very frustrated by this,� exclaimed Gottlieb. Code compliance official Mario Sotolongo - a party to the original agreement - while addressing an April 25^th Regency Tower violation, admitted that the City had a huge problem - and his bosses didn�t know how to address it. After discussing the violation, the two officers met with GMCA President Pio Ieraci and V.P. Eric Berkowitz. Mario explained that the city�s erratic enforcement policies were making things worse. He said that we should revive the understanding that allowed them to work constructively with associations. When Pio asked how to best go about doing that, Mario recommended asking our City Commissioner for help. At the May 17^th Advisory Board meeting, Commissioner Bruce Roberts agreed to help reinstate the lapsed format.

ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER SUZANNE TORRIENTE

At the June 6^th Presidents Council meeting two weeks later, Roberts was accompanied by management personnel from Building Services and Code Compliance, now part of Director Greg Brewton�s Department of Sustainable Development. Also attending was Assistant City Manager Susan Torriente, their liaison with City Manager Lee Feldman�s office. After Code Compliance Officer Mario Sotolongo discussed the department�s environmental objectives and Building Services Manager Terry Burgess expressed an intention to address the enforcement dilemma with GMCA representatives, attending association officials were given the floor for questions. It soon became evident that the enforcement issue veiled a Pandora�s Box of frustration and animosity that had grown exponentially over the nesting season. An acrimonious nest marking policy hatched in the State Capitol similarly antagonized beachfront communities all over Florida.