Blogs

Why am I publishing the Broward County lobbyist registration list? Because I can. And it should be online anyway, so I'm just doing a service. It includes all the lobbyists registered to work at the Broward County Commission, their phone numbers, email addresses, and all their clients. It also proves that Ruden McClosky, George Platt, and Judy Stern run this place.

The list is not perfect at this time, but serviceable (it gets real clogged up on the mass of Ruden McClosky lobbyists and their huge client list). I'll fix it up as I go along. All you reporters who use this list don't have to thank me. Just send cash.

Click below to see the list.

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John DeGroot gives us the background facts on the University of Miami's purchase of Cedar's Medical Center. In short, he suggests, based on the numbers, that UM is buying itself a right big boondoggle.

And this time he tees off on another newspaper instead of the old punching bag down at 200 East Las Olas.

Here's DeGroot:

There’s a fat red line between lazy and stupid in journalism – as illustrated by the Miami Herald’s coverage of the Cedar’s Medical Center by the University of Miami.

Or, as Boll Moyer once said, “Journalists too often are asked to write about things they don’t understand.”

Anyhow, where to begin?

First, the Herald’s John Dorschner rolled over and played dead by allowing the University of Miami (as a non profit corporation and the beneficiary of a ton of local support) to refuse to reveal the price it paid for the 560-bed for profit hospital located next to Jackson Memorial – while the Sun-Sentinel set the price at “$250 million or up.”

Now, while the above might seem a tad “inside baseball” picky, consider how…
- Less than a year ago, the tax supported South Broward Hospital district paid $32 million for the 324-bed Hollywood Medical Center (roughly $100,000 per bed)
- While the University of Miami’s medical school board has voted to pay (if the Sentinel’s numbers are right) $250 million-plus for the 560-bed Cedars (roughly $450,000 per bed).

So. What’s with THAT price spread?

Donors to the University of Miami’s school of medicine might like to know.
While others might ponder the degree of due diligence and fiduciary responsibility on the part of the medical school’s board in voting to purchase Cedars for that kind of money.

But the numbers get worse – or at least, more odd and puzzling According to Dorschner, Jackson Memorial is “cash strapped” and Cedars “has been steadily profitable.”

Which is horseshit! Based on the latest from Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration ACHA, “cash strapped” Jackson Memorial was THE most profitable hospital in Miami-Dade last year – earning a humongous “bottom line” profit of some $188 million.
And as to Cedars being “steadily profitable” in recent years, consider the following numbers from AHCA:

Cedars’ “Bottom Line” Profits
2004 - $20,060,231
2005 - $15,033,740
2006 - $987,254

Now, if that’s Dorschner’s idea of “steadily profitable,” one can only hope his wife handles the family checkbook.

More to the point, the staggering downward

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We've now gotten two comments regarding an alleged State Attorney's Office investigation into JAABlog's posting of the Levenson-Reidy transcript in which the name of the 16-year-old sex crime victim appeared.

In Florida, it's a second-degree misdemeanor to publish the name of the victim of a sex offense (I include the text of the law below). So rumors are swirling about criminal charges and lawsuits.

To get to the bottom of it, I called Bill Gelin, JAABlog's former impresario. He said that prosecutor Chuck Morton called him yesterday and told him about the statute and asked him to take down the transcript. He also said that Morton indicated that the SAO wasn't going in the direction of filing any charges.

Because Gelin no longer has a password or any other way to access JAABlog, he phoned fellow JAAB founder Craig Esquenazi, who immediately took the transcript down from the blog.

I would be stunned if the SAO took the extreme action of filing charges in this thing. It was a mistake and clearly wasn't done with any intent to harm. Further, it was tucked into an official court transcript that should have been redacted by the agency that leaked it (hmmm, I wonder what agency leaked it). And on top of that, the 16-year-old who was involved engaged in consensual sex and is a star high school football player, making it a bit less egregious if you ask me. If you want to see what I think of the possibility of a civil lawsuit, read my comment here (scroll down).

Also, an alert: I just found the transcript linked on another blog. It goes to the original JAABlog document, which is still readable. JAABlog -- don't just delete the link, delete the document as well, if you know what I mean.

As for my earlier question, "Is JAABlog Dead?", I believe the answer is a resounding "yes," at least the JAABlog that we know. I'm anxiously awaiting Gelin's next move and will report on it as soon as possible.

Oh, here's that law:

794.03 Unlawful to publish or broadcast information identifying sexual offense victim.--No person shall print, publish, or broadcast, or cause or allow to be printed, published, or broadcast, in any instrument of mass communication the name, address, or other identifying fact or information of the victim of any sexual offense within this chapter. Such identifying information is confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1). An offense under this section shall constitute a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

Remember that Gulfstream II jet that left Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport and wound up crashed in Mexico with four tons of cocaine aboard? Remember that the jet was previously associated with the federal government and runs to Guantanamo? Remember it had allegedly been recently purchased by a mysterious local airman named Clyde O'Connor? Remember that the local media has almost totally ignored the story?

Well, Jonah Meadows, a producer for National Public Radio in Chicago, has dug deep into the mystery and produced a wonderful report of uncommon breadth. If you click here, you can listen to his report (which includes the voice of the Pulp) and read the full text. Photos are here. Video of the Mexican news report on the crash is here.

The Miami Herald's Joan Fleischman reports that there's a low-budget by University of Miami students (Sam Rega and Josh Miller) in the works. Below is the rather kick-ass trailer, which includes snippets with journalists Jim DeFede and Francisco Alvarado.

(Via Stuck on the Palmetto).

JAABlog, the popular and trenchant courthouse blog spearheaded by attorney Bill Gelin, is out of order. It's been nearly a week since there's been a new post. The troubles appear to have begun when the "moderators" of the blog changed a post written by Gelin about the inappropriate -- and, worse, horribly trite and unfunny -- "tight end" and "wide receiver" exchange between Assistant Public Defender Brian Reidy and Judge Jeffrey Levenson.

Here is what Gelin wrote for the blog:

THE LEVENSON AND REIDY EXCHANGE

As many of you know, there has been a lot of talk around the Courthouse, and in the comments section of this blog, regarding an incident in Judge Levenson's courtroom late last week. Some highly inappropriate comments were made regarding the alleged victim of a sex crime, involving the Judge, and Assistant Public Defender Brian Reidy.

JAABLOG has obtained an excerpt of the transcript, available below. To his credit, Judge Levenson apologized immediately and profusely for his comment, unlike other judges, who refuse to take responsibility when they cross the line. In any event, it's my understanding the fallout from this will continue for some time, following so closely on the heels of Mayor Naugle's perceived homophobic crusade, and Chief Judge Victor Tobin's declaration that sensitivity training is not a necessary priority for the Broward Judiciary.

This is a tough one for me personally. Brian Reidy, a lifelong advocate for the accused, is a founding member of JAAB. Similarly, I find Judge Levenson to be a prime example of the newer, younger breed of Broward judge, who are able to distinguish the true criminal from someone who has committed a criminal act, or from someone who is simply a non-violent victim of drug addiction. As Assistant State Attorney Alcalde pointed out, they should have known better.

That's it. I understand the story will hit the papers tomorrow. I'm sure they'll be contacting all the parties to fill in the gaps. Read the story tomorrow and the transcript below, and draw your own conclusions.

As you can see, Gelin is a bit conflicted -- he likes both the judge and public defender (who is a founding member of JAAB, the organization that started the blog). Blogs are about honesty and this, to me, is honest. But here's what the "moderators" -- presumably other lawyers in the JAAB organization -- changed it to:

As many of you know, there has been a lot of talk around the Courthouse, and in the comments section of this blog, regarding an incident in Judge Levenson's courtroom late last week. Some highly inappropriate comments were made regarding the alleged victim of a sex crime, involving the Judge, and Assistant Public Defender Brian Reidy.

JAABLOG has obtained an excerpt of the transcript, available below. In any event, it's my understanding the fallout from this will continue for some time, following so closely on the heels of Mayor Naugle's perceived homophobic crusade, and Chief Judge Victor Tobin's declaration that sensitivity training is not a necessary priority for the Broward Judiciary.

Brian Reidy, a lifelong advocate for the accused, is a founding member of JAAB. As Assistant State Attorney Alcalde pointed out, they should have known better.

That's it. The story will hit the papers tomorrow. They will be sure they'll to be contacting all the parties to fill in the gaps. Read the story tomorrow and the transcript below, and draw your own conclusions.

Futhermore, the transcript of the proceedings does not reflect the off the record continued discussion of the subject between A.S.A. Alcalde and Judge Levenson. Cudos To A.S.A. Alcalde for upholding professionalism and discresion [sic] as befits our profession.

Gelin's admission that this case was a "tough one" for him personally was taken out, as was his defense of Levenson and Reidy. Not cool. Gelin responded by putting the original text in a comment on JAABlog (and it was quickly reproduced here and in a a Sun-Sentinel forum about the Reidy-Levenson exchange. Above it Gelin wrote this disclaimer:

Due to events beyond my control, my original post entitled "The Levenson And Reidy Exchange" was edited, without my permission or consultation, by the moderators of JAABLOG, and signed as "JAAB" (although it still says "posted by William Gelin at 2:22 p.m."). I have reposted it here under my name, in its entirety. It may not be that different in content from the edited version below, but it's important to me that my work not be misrepresented - Bill Gelin.

And the blog has been dead ever since. I called Bill about it but he doesn't want to say anything right now. So I'll just say that I miss it and believe it would be a shame for an internecine power struggle to kill one of the best blogs in Broward County. But I also know that blogs, at least the good ones, are intensely personal things and when they're tampered with, it can get pretty raw. And Gelin had always said JAABlog was uncensored, so the moderators made a liar out of him.

But it's not worth losing the blog over. Glasnost, boys. Glasnost.

As a bit of a Halloween experiment, the Miami Herald published a "ghost story" written by music writer Michael Hamersly that is now occupying prime real estate on the newspaper's webpage. It's a fictional story about a murderous -- and quite insane -- mother which includes this memorable paragraph: "Ve-ron-i-ca-a-a-a, she sang sarcastically. You'd have to be a slut with a slut name like that."

Racy by the Herald's standards, but it's really just a serviceable, if cliched, tale with a slightly chilly finish. Readers, though, seem to think it's more horrible than horrific. Trained to expect straight news from the site, they seem downright angry at the attempt. The first reader comment is a simple: "WTF is this?"

Another chimes in to echo the first, writing, "Now the Herald is trying to write stories to compete with the crap they currently write. WTF."

A third commenter: "Did the site get hacked or something? If this article is posted by one of their employees, maybe they should conduct an investigation on themselves to sort out the crap ..."

The fourth brought up my publication, which is known for the occasional spoof. "Is this New Times or the Herald? What is this supposed to be?"

One has written that it was "scary crap" but all in all it received a negative (and rather small) response.

"They should have posted this article right with Bush's speech about Cuba yesterday!! All everybody thinks is about Halloween!! ... What an embarassment ..."

Yeah, but don't worry about it Herald. Who's afraid of a little criticism, anyway?

Clients of Broward County lobbyist Judy Stern, who might be the most influential of all influence peddlers working at county hall, have gotten a strange letter in the mail during the past couple of days, according to sources.

The letter appears to be from Stern -- it even includes what seems to be Stern's letterhead and signature. In it, Stern's clients are informed that she is under federal investigation for money laundering and perjury and is in the process of negotiating a plea with the government.

Problem: The letter is bogus and Stern, who has close ties to several commissioners, isn't known to be under investigation at all. The letterhead is fabricated and the signature forged. In other words, it's a dirty trick.

And it appears that it's being sent to clients she's registered to represent at the county, Mardi Gras Gaming and Marriott among them.

I hear that the Postmaster General is being notified. So there might just be a federal investigation after all.

I love the way Hollywood Mayor Mara Giulianti turns otherwise normal citizens into rabid activists. It may be the only benefit of the woman's shameful career in public service.

Take David Mach. He's a member of the family that owns commercial property in downtown Hollywood that Giulianti tried to seize by eminent domain to hand over to one of her pet developers. He was so steamed he ran for a seat on the commission (losing to Dick Blattner in February). But Hollywood hasn't heard the last from Mach, whose story you can read here.

His most recent bit of political digging has been into the financing of Mayor Mara's campaign. He did an extensive analysis of her contributions and tied them to city projects she backs. Here's a short list:

Project
Sian Ocean -- $6,000
Villas of Positano -- $2,700
Sherifan Station -- $8,250
Marriott -- $3,000
Trump Hollywood -- $2,600
Young Circle Commons -- $5,000
SoHo Lofts -- $2,000
Hollywood Grande -- $1,400
"Unidentified New York Group" (Includes Alexandria Mall LLC) -- $5,000

That's just a bit of the list. I wish I could give you the whole spreadsheet Mach created (and maybe I will a bit later) because it has every individual contribution listed from every developer. (One other interesting Mach finding: La Piazza Pasta Corp., a restaurant that has been delinquent on a $300,000 city loan, gave $500 to the mayor. Nice priorities there.).

Good work, Mr. Mach.

One other thing this morning: I'm following up Howard Schnellenberger these days on Barry Epstein's radio show. It's pretty cool, since Schnelly is a veritable god in my home state (even though he never brought Louisville to the promised land). You can hear the show (which also includes Palm Beach Post gossip columnist Jose Lambiet) every Friday at 10 a.m. on WWNN 1470 AM or go here and click "Listen Live."

This is an email that just came across my transom from Nadine McCrea, president of the Washington Park Homeowners Association, to Hollywood Commissioner Peter Bober demanding that he remove her photo from his campaign website (the offending photo, I presume, is the Xmas shot).

I'd like to say that there is some deeper meaning here, but, nah, it just looks like petty politics at play.

Nice contact list though.

From: Nadinem167@cs.com [mailto:Nadinem167@cs.com] Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 10:18 PM To: pbober@hollywoodfl.org Cc: JCOrtega@sun-sentinel.com; a_day@bellsouth.net; andy_ansola@yahoo.com; astieb@bellsouth.net; Bgmpol@aol.com; nbernard@mhs.net; dbiederman@hollywoodfl.org; bigblackguy@msn.com; blawson@hollywoodfl.org; THEBOHLERS5662@aol.com; Cthebucs@aol.com; glpromo@mybluelight.com; BrowardNews@aol.com; editor@hollywoodgazette.com; ac0892@yahoo.com; feliciabrunson@bellsouth.net; bwhalen@hollywoodfl.org; cal@aol.com; jgrimm@mhs.net; HFBIRDWATCHER@aol.com; nellylilbro@yahoo.com; maryjane066@comcast.net; JenJenGottlieb@aol.com; hopehrd@yahoo.com; ejones@cityofwestpark.org; jscarberry@hollywoodfl.org; ken@gottlieblaw.com; kevin@kdbiederman.com; rlemack@hollywoodfl.org; lesincorp@aol.com; lgoberna@hollywoodfl.org; sssi1942@aol.com; dlowe@hollywoodfl.org; rmack@cityofwestpark.org; mprebal@cityofwestpark.org; ushakia@yahoo.com; natasha@communitynewspapers.com; MPrice1479@aol.com; trode@hollywoodfl.org; eric@emrosenberg.com; hopeisonway@bellsouth.net; ssampier@mhs.net; bsamuels@hollywoodfl.org; wsanders.cityhall.coh@hollywoodfl.org; elaine.schwartz@myfloridahouse.gov; seymourcrew@bellsouth.net; hteeth@bellsouth.net; shellyloos@gmail.com; neverland@bellsouth.net; sida@hollywoodfl.org; ESoler1@aol.com; dstabler@hollywoodfl.org; wsanders.CITYHALL.COH@hollywoodfl.org; warencemaesmith@comcast.net; RWHIPPLE@hollywoodfl.org; lwgifts@hotmail.com Subject: My REQUEST for you to remove my picture from your website IMMEDIATELY!

Dear Commissioner Peter Bober,

Several people have reported, and I saw a picture of Annie Seymour, Karen Scott and myself with you on your wwww.boberformayor.com website. I believe that this picture was taken in December 1999 during our Community Christmas event in front of our home. When Annie passed you had an opportunity to donate to the Annie Seymour's Scholarship fund. Mayor Mara Giulianti and Commissioner Beam Furr as well several friends surrounding the City did. I do not remember your donation. For two years we have not held this event on this block. That goes to show you just how out of touch you are with our community programs and events.

The first time you ran, you asked me to support you. The second time, I believe that you needed more years. But with in those years, I found out that you are more about self and rising to the top than about our community initiatives. Think about it! So, therefore as I have told you repeatly and recently, I do not support you.

Let this email serve as My REQUEST for you to remove my picture from your website IMMEDIATELY! Oh, by the way, someone else will be calling or emailing you the same request.

Nadine McCrea

Click here at the WPLG site to see video of the arrest (and an accompanying blurb wherein the reporter's own station misspells his name "Weisnier"). It's several minutes long and quite interesting. Weinsier clearly knew he was going to be arrested. wanted it on tape, and refused to obey what he called his "lawful order."

The big question: Was it really a lawful order? Hell no, since it was a public sidewalk and he wasn't doing anything wrong.

The tape also shows him calling his bosses back at the station who FLTV is reporting gave him their consent to go back to the sidewalk. Now apparently WPLG is giving Weinsier flack over possibly violating station policy forbidding its reporters from packing heat (thanks to Stuck on the Palmetto).

But the gun charge appears to be bogus too since there's no evidence he ever stepped on school grounds. This is no time for the station to get nitpicky with Weinsier. It needs to be aggressive with authorities, fight for the right for its newspeople to stand on public sidewalks, and get the charges dropped. It can bicker over internal policy later.

Obviously, I've been in the same situation several times, where I'm certain that police are giving me unlawful orders to leave an area. Just last year I flat refused a Riviera Beach cop's order to leave a public marina (I told him the first thing that came into my mind: "This is a free country") -- and the officer, an assistant chief, relented. What would I have done in this case? Probably just gotten the stinking shot from across the street, since it was good enough.

But Weinsier was fighting for a principle and that's a good thing. He's not the first to get shafted this way in South Florida. Carlos Miller was arrested last year in a similar incident. And we at New Times are quite familiar with it, since freelance photographer Joshua Prezant was arrested on a public sidewalk outside the Social Security Administration building in Fort Lauderdale in 2000. Those charges were later dropped. Why? Because they were bogus. Exactly like the ones against Weinsier.

To expound further on John DeGroot's take on the yacht trade, I give you Martha Brannigan's piece in the Miami Herald on megayachts. Basically, it backs up DeGroot's finding that while the boat industry isn't doing all that well as a whole, the megayacht business is going swimmingly. And yes, that horrible jackass Bush and his tax cuts for the rich have something to do with it.

Here's the guts of Brannigan's well-done article:

The 223-foot vessel, with a glass elevator spanning six levels and a dance floor, epitomizes the over-the-top, if-you've-got-to-ask-the-price- you-can't-afford-it sector of the boat market. And the sector is red hot.

As the housing slump and the sputtering U.S. economy spur consumers to cut back, much of the boating industry is in the doldrums. The number of powerboats sold is expected to plunge about 10 percent this year, and many exhibitors at the show, which opens Thursday, are cautious about prospects.

Yet builders of superyachts -- boats 80 feet or longer -- have full order books with delivery dates well into the next decade.

''The megayacht market is very resilient,'' says Frank Herhold, executive director of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, which owns the Fort Lauderdale show, the world's largest in terms of exhibition space. ``It looks like full speed ahead.''

Behind the boom: an explosion in the number of rich people, who covet ever bigger and fancier yachts to round out their opulent lifestyles. On top of some 4,500 superyachts in operation, 700 are under construction, straining capacity at many of the world's shipyards.

''The personal wealth of the world is growing by quantum leaps,'' says Buddy Haack, a Fort Lauderdale-based representative for Lürssen Yachts, a 132-year-old yacht maker based in Bremen, Germany. It's the company that constructed the Kismet for an Ohio auto-parts magnate. ''Demand [for superyachts] is stronger than supply. We're backed up until 2013 for a deliver,'' Haack said.

RICHER AND RICHER

The number of ''ultra-high-net-worth'' individuals -- defined as those with at least $30 million in assets, excluding their primary homes and consumable goods -- rose 11.3 percent last year to 94,970, according to the 2007 World Wealth Report released in June by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini.

Forbes magazine, in its 2007 survey, tallied 946 billionaires worldwide. That includes 178 new ones and 17 who returned to that rarefied realm after falling short for a period. Two-thirds of the billionaires are richer than last year, the magazine said. And what's a billionaire without a really big boat?

Ten years ago, a 165-foot yacht was huge. Today, 250- to 300-foot is increasingly common. Many are bigger. That means more amenities: submarines; helipads; gymnasiums; big bars; movie theaters. Some have 35-foot tenders that are fancy boats in their own right.

Feinberg And Penrod During Proverbial Happier Times

Busy day on the Pulp. Now we hear that Joel Feinberg, the 30-year-old son of big money and owner of the 790-The Ticket radio station, has been arrested for allegedly beating up his fiance during a fight in California. A Monterey newspaper broke the story and David Ovalle of the Miami Herald has it first locally. What nobody has reported is that the fiance/victim is Susan Penrod, the former daughter-in-law of Miami entrepreneur Jack Penrod, who owns the South Beach nightclub "Nikki Beach." Jack Penrod named that club and other establishments he owns (including Nikki Marina at the Westin Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood) after his daughter Nicole, who was killed at age 18 by a drunk driver in 1997.

Jack Penrod's son, Michael Penrod, divorced Susan two years ago according to court records.

The fight -- during which Feinberg snatched the 36-year-old Penrod's $40,000 engagement ring -- may have stemmed from Feinberg's frustration at losing at the track that day, according to police. Not that money should mean much to Feinberg, since his real estate mogul father, Michael Feinberg, owns the golf Club at Emerald Hills in Hollywood, among other major holdings.

Suddenly, the hiring of Sid Rosenberg makes so much more sense.

UPDATE: Below is a copy of the mugshot.

This from Jack Lessenberry of Detroit's Metro Times:

I had dinner the other night with a fine reporter and writer who works in another city where I was once a consultant. She loves what she does, and is good at it; she covers community news and sports. She has done this all her life, and still enjoys it. But she is now 48 years old and is a little concerned about security.

That's because she makes ... $28,000 a year.

That's enough to make me pray daily that all the executives of every large newspaper company, but especially Gannett, get some terrible skin infection that isn't covered by health insurance. What makes me maddest is not that they aren't paying this poor woman even half of what she is worth.

(Via Romenesko)

Boynton Beach police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater is once again showing her unorthodox approach to dealing with the press. The former Palm Beach Post crime reporter -- who created controversy in June with an ill-advised attempt to "call truth to the media" -- sent out an email to several area reporters this morning reminding them of a fundraiser for the daughter of a police officer who is suffering from leukemia. Because the young girl is losing her hair due to chemotherapy treatments, several officers are donating ten dollars to her medical care and getting their heads shaved in solidarity.

That's great. But Slater wants reporters to get in on the act and she offers this "incentive" in the email:

"Any reporter/photographer who shaves his or [her] head – preferably on camera – will be rewarded with an exclusive the next time we’ve got something going on!"

Okay, I don't want to get unduly heavy, but there's plenty wrong with this picture. For one, reporters shouldn't donate to police fundraisers, no matter how good the cause (write about it, sure, donate, no). For another, public information officers shouldn't trade scoops for favors. When Slater rewards the shaven reporters (if any actually take the offer), is she going to withhold important information about public safety to other news outlets?

The full email is below (and fore more check out the department's MySpace page-- and yes it has a MySpace page):

From: Slater, Stephanie [mailto:slaters@ci.boynton-beach.fl.us] Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 9:07 AM To: Police Media Distribution Subject: Story/Photo Op TODAY

Just a reminder that our “Bald is Beautiful” head shaving event for Maggie Schoenfeld is today from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. We hope that you or someone from your news outlet will be able to attend.

And here’s the incentive: Any reporter/photographer who shaves his or head – preferably on camera – will be rewarded with an exclusive the next time we’ve got something going on!

Hope to see you there.