Absentee City Manager Getting Golden Parachute

• No one reads these comments sections. A few commissioners may check out a few comments after an article appears, but it's unlikely that they follow up as more comments appear later on. Many Hallandale residents are elderly and rarely if ever go on line to check blogs like this. You are preaching only to the converted. I've checked out the other articles re: Hallandale, and it's mostly the same people commenting over and over again. I am not impressed or overly-intimidated by our mayor. I simply acknowledge that she is the mayor, and she's who we have to work with. There are aspects about each and every commissioner that impress me, even if there are issues that upset or frustrate us in city politics otherwise. You are very mistaken about those pathetic three minutes you get to speak at commission meetings, however. That is the process in place to speak publicly to the commission, so use it. I'm going to see if the budget meeting is televised tonight, though I won't be surprised if it isn't. There's so much flooding that I don't want to have to try to get over there to the chambers. You can also always go to Shenanigans Restaurant at 3303 Sheridan St. and US 1 on any Wednesday and meet with whomever else show up for lunch at noon to discuss any local political issues. The lunch is hosted by Ken Gottlieb, who ran for state senator for our district and is currently running for Judge Group 20. There you can discuss and sound out your frustrations with dealing with our commission. Ken and others who go there had been a commission in Hollywood.

• From what you have written before, I understand that you are very impressed and overly intimidated by Ms. Cooper. No, I don't want to go to commissions' meetings where I can anticipate that the personality of Ms. Cooper will dominate above the other commissioners (except London for sure), against anything that she has already decided. It's not in my character. This is not where I should be. We gave our commissioners a mandate. They should know what they're doing. Now: if we have to fight every minute against our own commission for the sake of quality of life, less pollution, less indiscriminate construction, less taxes, less waste, then perhaps our mandate has gone to the wrong people. Then, you agree with me that there is no way we can make things change when confronted with one pit-bull will, and then the rest of passive commissioners. In my opinion, the only way that we can influence them is through a show of strength (or many). With all the reserves about Mr. London's attitude that you have made, actually his shouting and screaming brought about the dismissal of Mike Good. Or at least contributed to this effect. I tend to believe that if done otherwise, Mr. Good would still be enjoying his employment. Traffic cameras are just (I already said that) an example of arrogant misuse of power in the form of new taxation. It has been surreptitiously levied without an extensive research about what the people of Hallandale thinks about it. It's surely not the most important issue we confront now. But it is a very unpopular venue and a sign of how our services have degraded and our expenses increased. In few words, bureaucracy and waste, paid for by new taxation. Nobody can discuss that there has been mismanagement in our city. But our commissioners are there to stay till their term is up. Unless we make them understand on our blogs, on in conversations between residents, our displeasure, and our demands, they have no reason to change. My demands actually would include thrift and economies at the cost of a less flamboyant administration. More services, less bureaucracy. Less ridiculous levels of management that our small 40,000 residents city cannot afford. And keeping taxes low. Can we accomplish it? I am sure. Just look at a city managed by a no-show manager during so many years. Would you affirm that it hasn't hurt city's finances? Do we need an audit to anticipate that it wasn't for the best of our interests? And yes we should make some noise and let our voices heard on public forums, since they give us a miserable three-minutes speech on the stage. I just invite you to organize and encourage people through these blogs and within your friends, so that they also make their voices heard. If you other ways, even better. Please don't try to mitigate people's digression or displeasure. If you have a real plan other than go stage our three-minutes shot at the meetings, let us know it. I am an internet person. Internet Forums and Blogs are wonderful and easy ways of communicating. This one made me encounter a few interesting persons and I am sure that most of us are very well intentioned.

• afraid-of-crooks: you don't get it. You need to re-read what I've written more carefully. You are confused, and you are not understanding at all what I've written. I have tried to describe to you the difference between recognizing what you don't like in government and actually doing something about it. So far, most of the people who respond to articles in these comments sections and who create their own websites and blogs about Hallandale only voice their great displeasure, their resentments and their dislikes about others. Chaz Stevens, David Smith, Mike Butler, Keith London- that's all that they basically do. Although London holds his forums and enjoins the United Condo Association and sends out emails, he picks and chooses who he will associate and communicate with based on his own cult of personality. None of those people are actually involved in positive and effective community organizing. While UCA may be attempting that, there's not really a vision based on the realities of what residents can get via lower density and lowered taxes. I don't think that Mike Butler has yet returned Bill Julian's call or set up a meeting with him. While the personalities that most vociferously and publicly complain about Hallandale's government claim to want a lot of change, they determinedly avoid actually cooperating with anyone to achieve it. Think about that. You should find their motives suspect. What I have tried to do is to describe how complaining is not actually a means to effect change. You do not need to "chill out" about what you want to change, but we all need to focus less on expressing our disgust and more on finding a strategy to improve the situation at hand. There is a difference between wanting a fair, just and good government and actually finding a way to bring that about. It is not that we have to accept things the way they are. What I have tried to express is that we should all recognize that matters involving government in Florida, in Broward County, in Hallandale and in America have been pretty bad and may be getting worse. That's why it's so important to focus less on being upset and expressing angry dissent over the internet and instead focus more on what it will actually take to gain the cooperation of other residents and actually find a way to make better things happen. The reason that I have asserted that the situations at hand may be more complicated than many people realize and much more difficult to overcome is because I want people to recognize that they need to plan- to strategize- to carefully consider the most effective way to get what they want out of government. At Public Participation during commission meetings, as an example, you only get three minutes. You have to plan, for example, how to use that very brief time in front of the commission most effectively. I disagree with you that citizens around here are trying to regain control of their government. They may WANT that, but that's not what I see in the thread of discussion here, and that's not what I see from the blogs and from Commissioner London's behavior on the dais. Instead, I see only a lot of animosity and very little accomplishment. Politics is a complicated game of creating alliances, gaining trust and communicating effectively. Despite Commissioner London's terrific and constant displeasure with the running of Hallandale's operations, he has entirely failed at at least those three aspects of successful politicking. Please consider what has been discussed here in this on-line thread more carefully. It seems to me that you are jumping to conclusions based on confusion and mistrust rather than looking at the bigger picture of what it actually takes to organize a community towards a more positive outcome. Those in power can sometimes be a lot more devious and clever than you expect them to be, and the process for citizen involvement can be a lot more sluggish and restrictive than people expect. So plan ahead, organize with others and and try to get them to cooperate with one another. And good luck with that around here, sweetheart.

• Andrew, Now I understand you. Nothing is the end of the world, Andrew, you say. I just have to live with the fact that I cannot change anything. Since I can't change something wrong, I have, (as per your words) try and find some justification in what's wrong. Find some intricate truth and goodness in what I believe is bad. In all kind of discourse you are trying to convince us people that rallying against a bad decision of our commissioners is useless. And that we have to accept whatever we have now, because that's the essence of American' government nowadays, unfairness. You amuse me Andrew. The way you turn around the point and finally convey your feelings that, even though we don't like too much what we've got, we better find a reason why it could be worse, or find a way of accepting something unjust or unfair because our mayor is self-righteous or behaves as a pitbull. You want to convince me and everybody that whatever we do, nothing is going to happen. I do not want to review again my objections to the traffic cameras. I don't want to find any justification to what I have already considered and judged. Of course, Traffic cameras are not what is killing our city finances or our total happiness. But for me, they are a symbol of the ruthlessness of our commissioners. So, you think that I should chill out, like we were all chilling out before some people raised their voices and talked about the scandalous affair of Mike Good, and then be called them warmongers, and disrespectful, etc. etc. Issue after issue, nothing is important for you Andrew. Democracy is not accepting evil. It's about correcting it. And even though you think that the whole government system in the US is a useless mess, I still believe in fairness, justice, and good government. Sorry to disappoint you, Andrew, but I don't think you're doing a good job at cooling citizens trying to regain control of their city's government. You should better (since you write so well) join them in making some changes happen. Not changes in people, but changes in attitudes.

• ROADKILL, I did not assert that Mayor Cooper has the city's best interests at heart. I wrote that "Mayor Cooper can guard what she believes are the city's best interests like a pit bull." I choose my words carefully, and my opinions are clear only if you read my words carefully. What Mayor Cooper believes has no relevance to whatever it is that I believe. It seems that whatever I assert about any commissioner, the people who read and comment on these blogs will continually assume that I am either on one side or another. That, however, is not the case. I only look at the political realities, not who's agenda is pure and whose isn't. If I comment that one individual has handled a situation poorly, that does not automatically mean that any other individual has handled the same situation perfectly or even that much better. I keep repeating that we have to face the reality of who is up for re-election and who is not. If you or I are not happy with Mayor Cooper, voting her out is not going to happen this year, so we had all better learn to deal with what we've got to work with in the most productive way possible. That's precisely what I believe that commissioner London, ChangeHallandale.com's Mike Butler and HallandaleBeachBlog's David Smith are not doing. Sending out alarmist emails and harassing the commission during every meeting; creating a website to assert that we're in a crises that people must change but without any suggestion of how to do that; blogging constant complaints and insults while refusing to participate in the process as a resident instead of just as a blogger- those are all unproductive ways of actually improving our political processes and our quality of life in Hallandale Beach.

• @andrew: It is amusing that you continue to assume and assert that Pooper has the city's best interests at heart. Clearly, she doesn't or she would have gotten rid of Good long ago. It is obvious that her ONLY interest is her own ego. She is a legend in her own mind.

• No, afraid-of-crooks, it's not me telling you to do nothing. What I'm telling you is that our system of government in the United States is in such tremendous disrepair that there is little that you can do about it. Communicating your protest and threatening to withhold your vote and complaining on blogs is not enough. From Washington to Hallandale, politicians have refined our system of patronage to the point that the needs of ordinary constituents can almost be ignored entirely. There has to be a lot more careful strategizing with a lot more foresight about what's coming in the future in order to effect change. It's not easy. It takes cooperation, work and planning, not just complaining. You can let the commissioners know how you feel about traffic light cameras, but just understand that Mayor Cooper's personality is not one that is easily moved by the opinions of others. Ross, Julian and Sanders are more easily swayed by the Mayor's assertions than by anyone else's. I strongly suggest that in regards to the traffic light cameras, you carefully consider exactly what your objections are to them, how those objections can be best and more concisely articulated, and which objections that you have might be most persuasive to city officials who want all of the revenue that they are generating. Don't just react. Think about what I've said here. Consider it carefully. Again: what exactly are your objections? Which of your objections might be most persuasive to commissioners who want that money for the city no matter how upset anyone is about it? How can you best and most concisely articulate your objections? Please don't assume that you're going to change anybody's minds by getting angry. Mayor Cooper is especially immune to anyone's anger and objections. She is stubborn, self-righteous and all about planning out her alliances well in advance of any issue coming up before the commission. Anyone might assume that those are negative attributes, but in regards to dealing with unions, angry mobs and the self-interested, Mayor Cooper can guard what she believes are the city's best interests like a pit bull. We have a continuing problem in this country of people demonstrating against and voting against their own best interests. Understanding how to petition and manipulate our own government actually takes more education and planning than it seems most people realize. I object to the cameras only because of the precedent they set up for a future of increasing attempts to generate revenues through violations rather than increased taxes. But, if the cameras should prevail - like most issues in Hallandale - it's not the end of the fucking world, so take a chill pill and focus on other vital issues in regards to our quality of life and our democracy. Good luck and Happy Fourth.

• Andrew, With all due respect, your last one is a perfect example of how you want to drown us in just talk, talk, talk, to avoid any effective citizens' action. There are two commissioners seeking reelection. Well, we'll make these two understand what we want and they must do it, or they will be out. Cooper has enough influence on the other ones. And the rest of them will also have to face voters next time in a couple of years. I see that you apparently find every time an excuse to stop any effective and immediate action. That was the same attitude our commissioners had when they all knew about the Mike Good disgrace and didn't take any action for such a long time. Read again what you wrote. What exactly is your response to what I proposed regard putting pressure on commissioners to eliminate traffic cameras? Is it YES, or is it NO ? It looks like it's, "let's do nothing, perhaps things will improve by themselves". And NO, I don't want to see our my taxes go up, because actually what the effective services the city is providing me are worse now than 10 years ago. What I want to see is more efficiency and less waste. I am sure that the increase of revenue from construction of thousands of condos during the last decade, as well as assessment increases should have been more than enough to balance our budget. But perhaps not enough to pay incompetent city managers in the $200 or 300's a year in compound compensations/benefits, or support the ridiculous layers of our new bureaucracy, generous pensions, and so many instances of waste that are evident in Hallandale Beach.

• OK, that's fine, afraid-of-crooks, but I think it would be a mistake for people to start complaining about "privacy" issues. Privacy is now re-defined in this era, and in any public spaces the government and private businesses have the right to photograph the goings-on for our own safety, for evidence in law enforcement and for anti-terrorism measures. The issue, I think, should be that the revenue generated by cameras photographing violations, the campaign contributions from the camera operators and installers and the political pressures enhanced by all of that money can lead us down a dangerous road of more and more supposed "violations" being captured on camera and generating fines against people. As far as threatening to not vote for any commissioner who votes for the traffic cameras, I remind you yet again that there are only two commissioners seeking re-election. The rest of them may have other plans, so when their seats are up, those individuals may not feel much concern about your next vote. If both London and Julian choose to oppose the cameras, that still leaves Ross, Cooper and Sanders in the majority should all of them choose to vote for the cameras... and they can't be voted out in November. I'll also remind you here that if you want less density, better streets, recycling of yard waste, lower height restrictions on condos, better schools and less fines and fees on anything and everything, then you need to be willing to see your taxes go up. Ultimately, that's what all of this is about.

• For what I can see, we have been following the usual pattern in Hallandale; which is to talk for long hours, discuss, fight, debate, but never get to any conclusion or resolution. We all agree that M.Good was the worse kind of manager and that it took many years for our commissioners to do the right thing and only under pressure. We are trying to find excuses and analyze the personality of each commissioner. But doing something about some of our specific problems? No way! Andrew, I don't want to be a commissioner. I don't need to be a commissioner to have a voice in the city where I live. In a democracy, not everybody must be a senator or a president to be active. What I propose here is to start addressing at least one issue, which I think we all agree about. Let's make public our disgust with these traffic cameras. And since they were recently voted by a majority of our commissioners, let's tell them here and all over the place that we will give them the opportunity to correct that mistake. If these commisioners don't get rid of the cameras, and reverse that ordinance, we will decide not to vote for any specific commissioner who still validates them. In the same way as the pressure of some of us finally forced Ms. Cooper and the rest of them to open their eyes on the disastrous Mike Good case, they should take note. I invite you all to speak about this proposal to your friends in Hallandale Beach. At least it will be a concrete issue that we will address and not just never-ending and sterile talk.

• HIAG: You nailed it. And, of course, the Mayor is already planning Mike's succesor. She wouldn't have it any other way. The Comm'n must insist on a search firm and a nationwide search. Otherwise, it will be more of the same.

• All very well said, HIAG. I chose to find a house in Hallandale because of its geographical assets, but the lack of oversight and appropriate management doesn't surprise me. As soon as I found my first job in S. Florida about fourteen years ago, I was shocked at how employees and management operated at a hotel in S. Beach. Since then, every job I had exhibited stunning levels of incompetence and outright refusals to attend to the business at hand. I started consulting because I saw a market for it due to such rampant unprofessionalism and incompetence amongst S. Florida businesses. It's the nature of the beast of living here. People are strange everywhere, but when you look at all of the political and other news stories in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach, I've realized that it's not just where I have worked or where I live or what occurs in my city hall. It's all emblematic of living here in S. Florida. People proclaim their surprise and disgust at how our city operates, but I'm never surprised by any of it. Because I am certain that Keith London has to go, that doesn't mean that everyone else is operating beautifully. It just means that we all need to participate and stop leaving it up to Keith London to harass his cohorts as a totally unproductive means of effecting change. Of course the Mayor and the commission have totally failed in supervising Mike Good, and of course there's going to be a back room method of seeking a replacement attempted. But we can be educated and learn how to better participate if only we can recognize a genuine vision of what our city should be instead of operating like much of the rest of the United States of America in this day and age: just a bunch of mangled competing interests always trying to subvert one another- pointing fingers and blaming and all the while continually just trying to take, take, take for themselves. I wish that more people who are concerned and interested about local city politics would attend community events like the Democratic Club, Crime Watch and the American Legion luncheons on Memorial and Veterans Day and things like that, because that way you see the kinds of people that have been voting for Dottie Ross and Joy Cooper and Bill Julian, and you'll see that there are blocs of condo residents and other people that are inclined to vote for those who they feel most comfortable with on a personal level. Ultimately, Joy Cooper answers for her style of supervision on Election Day when her seat is up, unless, of course, she runs unopposed again. But, she'll probably be running against Keith London. London does not share his vision for the city with the other commissioners or any residents that he doesn't believe that he can manipulate. All he shares is his self-aggrandizement and his continual determination to micro-manage everything for the purpose of bullying. We have a difficult situation because the talent and willingness to run for open seats is not yet there. But... that's not much different from other communities. The USA has become just a melange of constantly competing interests that are determined to ensure that we never again have communal or national interests served while the few sacrifice for the benefit of the many. Instead, no one is willing to sacrifice anything for the benefit of the larger community. And we're literally always at continual war somewhere. The politicians and the Pentagon want that, and the people acquiesce to it no matter how much we claim that we don't want war. That's America for you. Let's look at the bright side: we have an interesting mystery to perhaps one day be solved as to why, why, WHY this city tolerated the behavior of Mike Good for so long, all the while proclaiming absolute love and devotion (Ross still doesn't think he should have been fired). Something smells, but unlike London, I'm not insinuating anything until or unless we actually have FACTS. Until then, what we have to point to is apparent incompetence, and we absolutely must allow those who are not up for re-election - and the Vice-Mayor who is but has proclaimed his determination to set things right - the opportunity to try to do better. Filibustering and insulting and holding up meetings going around and around with pointless questions and insinuations will not ultimately accomplish anything but getting a bunch of stupid people to believe that London, Smith and Butler are looking out for us. They aren't. They're only looking for dirt so that they can throw it around. I don't believe that Mayor Cooper's behavior and demeanor both on the dais and in public will change. You can get upset with her, but you'll just be blowing in the wind. Trust me on that. Just be respectful and work with what we've got. Dottie Ross is a lovely woman who is just ripe for retirement. Just nod your head and keep moving. Commissioner Sanders asks excellent questions at commission meetings. He's learning the ropes, and let's hope that he takes a stance on accountability and takes his supervisory role very seriously. I can tell you this, however: he's very professional. In this town and in S. Florida, that is really saying a lot. He knows how to behave and he considers his votes carefully. I am keeping my eye on him as much as I am towards everybody else. Don't jump to assumptions about him yet. Bill Julian is very well liked in much of our community. His care and his efforts for the less advantaged is truly commendable- unless, of course, you're Keith London, who wouldn't give Julian even a figurative pat on the back if you begged him to. His mistakes seem to usually be ones that he is willing to admit to, so give him a chance to take a more scrupulous look at the goings-on in Hallandale operations. I supported and voted for Keith London and attended his meetings and he's been to my house and I've read through every transcript regarding his lawsuit against the city in his preposterous claim that his First Amendment rights had been personally infringed by an ordinance. I watch the meetings (jaw dropping at times) and I've considered all sides. I've also met and spoken with Mike Butler, and I've been very friendly with David Smith (HallandaleBeachBlog) and examined his numerous complaints about the city's operations. While there are so many problems to attend to, the approach of Butler, Smith and London is not productive. They offer no solutions. They are unwilling to directly address commissioners and work with the situation at hand. As I've written in earlier comments, I believe that Mike Good would have been terminated long ago if Keith London had the political talent to have taken the right approach to the situation. Instead, he's made an enemy out of absolutely everyone other than those he has duped into believing that he cares about our city and its residents. Ultimately, Mike Good was fired because Mayor Cooper finally took the initiative and called a meeting for that purpose when Good was not responding even to her. London could have pointed out how things could have otherwise been better if he hadn't been so busy crying "wolf" all of the time... (ALL OF THE TIME!)... and causing such genuine mistrust of himself. It is not simply because of mismanagement or incompetence that the rest of the commission, the city manager, the deputy city manager, the city attorney and anyone and everyone else who has sat on that dais with the present commission has been so resistant and resentful of Keith London. It is because of his own incompetent method of operating. We all may want problems solved and questions answered, but all Keith London has been doing is agitating, not actually finding solutions and suggesting them and encouraging his cohorts to trust in his line of thinking. London believes that every one of them shouldn't be there, and he displays continual disrespect and arrogance towards all of them, both on and off the dais. I hope my points and my willingness to express myself openly and without anonymity will cause people to consider a wider perspective and to also consider their own roles in affecting city government. I fully realize, however, that given the nature of on-line newspaper comment sections (other than at NYTImes.com), most people if not everyone will simply label me a kook. Oh well, I have tried. At least I have pointed to methods and solutions far more so than have Butler, Smith and London, the Fox News section of Hallandale Beach. Let's do better in this city and do it with some kindness and professionalism and show respect for our neighbors and our representatives while expecting more and better at the same time. That may be hard to do when you're angry and mistrustful and frustrated, but try. I believe that such methods will work better than the approach taken by too many Americans these days who are chewing on tea bags and demanding lower taxes while refusing to give up their own benefits and services and always blaming their representatives who are often doing exactly what's been demanded of them by the unwashed masses. Clean up a little. Put on a smile. Be polite. Discuss. Don't jump to conclusions. And HIAG's description is probably right on the mark, so let's start expecting better and have the patience to watch and wait for it while letting the commission know that we all expect them to act as supervisors, not cheerleaders. There's so much that I would like to change about Hallandale, and I won't be surprised if anyone that I've defended or claimed is entitled to respect is ultimately hauled off in handcuffs. But that's S. Florida for you, and there's been problems in this town all through its history and within previous commissions. Get used to it. Work with what you've got and stop just complaining. And for God's sake, please get Keith London out of there. He can stand in front of Publix on a plastic crate with a bullhorn instead of holding up commission meetings to get attention. He'd get about as much accomplished outside with a bullhorn as he is right now.

• Hallandale is a precious gem. The failure in the City is simply leadership. The commission should act in a supervisory role, it doesn't. The Mayor should manage the performance of the City Manager, such as his attendance, his responsiveness to inquiries, and his ability to manage labor contracts. The Mayor should also represent the City professionally by maintaining her composure in public, especially on the dais. The City Manager's office should lead rather than micromanage, assign accountability and establish monthly standards and then manage directors to ensure their professional development. Department Directors should lead, develop their staff and plan succession. This doesn't happen. Instead, Hallandale "leaders" make statements like Bill Julian's earlier post about Mark Atonio: "Don't get excited, he will not be the next City Manager." Commissioner Ross slurs her public addresses (this is common knowledge). The City Clerk's office doesn't respond to Public Records Requests. The Director of Finance expects her hourly staff to work un-reimbursed overtime. Hallandale's day to day operations take place in a maze of confusion; Departments do not have autonomy to manage their own accounts. Hallandale's miles of outdated Policies do not document procedures on "how to". Employees do not understand the function of other departments. Two labor contracts representing nearly 50% of the workforce have expired. Failure of leadership. No documented processes. Contracts executed without Commission review and approval. Yes. This is Hallandale Beach. By contrast to Department Directors, the Mayor is at least planning succession: making backroom offers without the benefit of a nationwide search or posting. Its a shame, since Hallandale has a tremendous amount of untapped talent, ready and willing to competitively apply. Its a shame to see the potential for this gem continue to go unrealized. Compared to the rest of Broward, Hallandale is unique with two casinos attracting a all levels of clientelle. These offer tremendous untapped business opportunities. It is geographically tiny and could be walked by any member of the Commission or City Management. The issues of the residents could be documented, addressed and resolved while fostering business development. There is so much potential here to take care of the residents and put the shine back on this gem.

• We need help here. This is pathetic. I feel sorry for the sun times. Maybe their balls are tied up for some reason. I'd like to read the Larry's opinion and also the opposing position in the same issue. What country do we live in again? Maybe as Julian said "man up". I like that.

• I don't think that the Sun-Times will be amenable to having any critical opinion of Hallandale Beach government in their paper. The Sun-Times is a pro-retail and service business paper that carries the only pretense of covering news through editorial comments written by editor Larry Bluestein, the Mayor, the Vice-Mayor and a couple of other sitting officials. If you want to utilize another on-line venue to post comments, you can search for TalkAboutHallandale all as one word, and join the Yahoo! Group. Any postings can go right into your email in box: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/talkabouthallandale/

• I agree with you, HRose, about needing another venue besides this post. Have you seen this one? http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/juice/2010/06/joe_kessel_email_mike_good_consultant_contract.php And stay tuned. We've got more big stories coming out on Hallandale Beach this week.

• I'd like to see http://www.changehallandale.com do a column in the suntimes. Andrew, could you make that happen? You seem to know alot. I bet the blogger would do it for free. We need another venue besides here.

• I did not write that Joy Cooper is or isn't a nice person or is or isn't a good mayor. All I'm saying is that she's Mayor, and she performs her duties as Mayor. Keith London does not behave as a commissioner. He behaves like a state legislature, as if instead of participating in a meeting, he's in a legislative session and he can take to the floor and make speeches and point fingers and speak to an audience. He's there to participate in a meeting with his colleagues, however, not to go on and on and around and around like he's on CSPAN. No one cares about all his objections and insinuations. The only thing that matters at all is the final vote, and he's the lone NO vote in most occasions, and it means nothing ultimately. And your "embarrassment to the city" ran completely unopposed in the last election. It's the Hallandale residents who should be embarrassed, not Joy Cooper, because they cannot foster any candidates to run for seats in our little city. Lastly, Cooper did move to fire Mike Good, and she expressed profound displeasure with David Jove at the last commission meeting. What people often don't perceive is that the kind of representative democracy we have can too often seem to move too slowly. Eventually, issues get attended to, and most often not as quickly as you or I would like. The difference between Cooper and London is that I can try to talk to Mayor Cooper. She may be very stubborn and unwilling to listen, but you can try to talk to her. Keith London will entirely cut people out of communication if he's labeled them an enemy. Do you know that when he sees his fellow commissioners in chambers or in the offices at city hall, he completely ignores them? He won't even look at them or say hello? That's not a politician or a representative. That's just someone collecting a paycheck to be a lone activist. No one reads the Hallandale Beach Blog and it's unreadable, and ChangeHallandale.com doesn't tell us what the hell we're supposed to do about the sky falling in over Hallandale (supposedly). The Sun-Times tells us that there's Lasik Surgery over at Braverman Eye Clinic and early bird specials over at the local buffet. People need a news source, but Keith London is not paid as a commissioner to provide that, and what he writes is STRICTLY tabloid. Everything he says and writes is intended to agitate and alarm. Everyone thinks that Hallandale is worse than anyplace else because of him. Well, it's certainly not the best, but our commission could actually function in its basic duties without London on the dais, and he's still free to call out everything wrong with Hallandale and make requests for public information without holding up the meetings just to call attention to himself. Anyone who believes that they support London needs to watch every meeting. If you work someplace where you can have TV or audio on while you work as I do, then you can play those meetings in the background. I don't know why anyone watches CSI Miami or Law and Order when they can watch Hallandale Commission meetings. Without London, they'll be so boring that they could sell Hallandale back to the Spanish and we wouldn't know it. But, there are rules and procedures and common knowledge, and all of that is tossed to the wind with London on the dais.

• Also, outside the city of Hallandale Beach, Joy Pooper is commonly referred to as a "loose cannon" by fellow Browardians. She is truly an embarrasment to the city.

• Andrew, I have to disagree with you about Pooper. She does NOT do her job. If she did her job, she would have led the effort to fire mike good a long time ago and she would currently be getting rid of david jove. She may understand the charter, but she doesn't do one thing as a commissioner that isn't for her own sense of agrandizement and power. I don't even think she knows what her job is, other than stroking her own ego. She makes incredibly STUPID decisions which cause great embarrasment to the city. You would be mortified if I shared any of them with you. Don't fool yourself. Joy Pooper is not a nice person and she is not a good Mayor.

• Hrose: The problem is that you are apparently always believing London when he claims that he's "lacking all the facts." I've seen in commission meeting after commission meeting that Keith London has received the materials that have either been supplied or that he had requested, and that he continually jumps to conclusions instead of just asking. Much of the time, he is just duping you. Don't fall for it. Futhermore, even when information that he expects is not in front of him, it is not information that the commission should require in order to vote. No city can benefit from micromanaging. Part of his job is to trust that city officials do their jobs. The commission is only a supervisory body. They don't have to check everybody's homework for every single matter that comes before the commission. Without at least a modicum of trust that paid professionals are doing their jobs and that they are all subject to regularly scheduled accounting audits, then nothing could get done, which is precisely what would occur if London's continual NO votes were in the majority. And it is a cult, not a group of supporters. Part of what defines a cult is that those who question or disagree are ostracized and ex-communicated, and the leader is idolized and his/her edicts are unquestioned by followers. No city official, whether elected or hired as an employee, should ever cut any residents or other officials or commission members out of public communications (or attempt to do so, as they can always be sought out from others) because they are singled out as enemies. That is ridiculous and should not be behavior that's tolerated by anyone. If you're getting London's emails, he includes his assumptions and his accusations, but he does not include the answers that he's been provided because he wants his followers to believe that there haven't been any answers, and he does not include any criticism of him during Public Participation. I absolutely do not believe, ROADKILL, that London will "mellow out or "tone down." He is entirely, completely, utterly unresponsive to any kind of criticism whatsoever, and he's not actually there to serve the city and its residents. He's there to live out his libertarian fantasy of hating government and calling attention to himself. Name anything he has ever done for any single resident. And whatever the Mayor's behavior, she does perform her job as an administrator and she understands the city charter and how the government functions, unlike London. No one's ever going to be happy with everyone's personality, but the Mayor certainly performs the job she's paid to do, whether or not it's to the liking of everyone. London is not actually a commissioner. He's an agitator engaging in harassment of the commission and city employees- something he should be doing off of that dais, not as a commission member.

• I agree with Hrose, to some extent, about London. He isn't as annoying and stupid as Mayor Pooper. He can be obnoxious, but then, he's sort of been forced into that. Having said that, he's not the most talented politician. A talented politician would have been able to oust Mike Good by creating alliances, rather than alienating. If London would mellow a little bit and tone down the agressiveness, it would do loads for his effectiveness.

• I'm sorry for using cult. I will now refer to them as London supporters.

• Andrew why do you hate London so much? The man seems not to want to vote for anything if he's lacking all the facts. Why aren't they supplied in a timely fashion? Why not give him what he wants & then see what else he can or cannot do? Oh, I'm not a member of his cult. Just an observer.

• The thing for our commissioners to look out for is the future. In regards to traffic cameras, bear in mind that a simple violation, such as running a red light, can turn into much more in order to increase revenue in the future. If campaign contributions, hunger for more fees in order to avoid raising taxes, and political interests can override legal and ethical questions, then what's next for cameras? Let's say that in the future, the city decides that automobiles traveling through the city should never be too dirty. If pictures demonstrate that vehicles are excessively dirty, then a violation and a fine is issued. Sound outrageous? Well, it hardly matters how outrageous any supposed "violation" may be because if there's money to be made by a private company operating cameras and a municipality as well as the political hacks who want contributions from the private money-makers involved, then all bets are off. Just about anything could push the bounderies, forcing ordinary people to scramble together resources to take their arguments perhaps all the way to the state supreme court. So, it's not simply a matter of stopping at red lights. It's a matter of that ever-growing hunger for revenue based on what can be caught on camera. I hope that Bill Julian will read this and think about it and discuss it with better advisers than David Jove, Chief Magill and the Mayor. And Ex Employee-2, another reminder from me that although we all may have frustrations with every commissioner, we can't sweep them all out. Even the two up for re-election can't necessarily be replaced with another resident willing and capable of taking the job. Raising money and running a viable campaign is a lot to ask of anyone, especially these days. Do you know how much one single mailing just within Hallandale costs? Somewhere in the range of $25,000! Therefore, we have to look at who we could best work with to effect change. As much as Keith London has purported to expose and seek out misdeeds and incompetence, he is actually only one lone NO vote- often for very stupid reasons, which effectively accomplishes nothing. He will not work with ANYONE who is not there to stroke his ego. He won't even say "hello" to his fellow commissioners, various city employees and lots of residents who he has decided are his enemies. You're not dealing with a normal person there. Bill Julian has his weaknesses, but you're dealing with a far more maleable character there and one who is willing to professionally communicate with any and all residents. Anyone who is a member of the Keith London Cult in Hallandale likely believes that all is well in the world of Keith London, and they refuse to perceive what it means when an elected member of a commission cuts out his constituents who he's decided don't properly attend to his ego. It shouldn't matter if you're a member in good-standing of the Keith London Cult or not, however. His behavior is bizarre and unacceptable. No matter what kinds of problems we have had with all of the commissioners, it should be accepted as reality that while improving the city's operations and transperancy must be a continual process, Keith London is not a man that can be worked with by all and he must go in November. He is perfectly able to agitate off of the commission dais. Our commissioners should represent every resident professionally and strive to present the city in a welcoming and positive light. There are other ways to get answers and shine a light on city operations than continually being rude and obnoxious. And about Nydia, no- she turned down the role of Interim City Manager, but she had to helm that position at the last commission meeting while Mark Antonio was on vacation, and she kicked ass. A woman as professional and competent as she is asserted her own honesty and integrity in the face of London's continual insinuations and allegations, and she wasn't having any of it. If a person like Nydia was not having any of Keith London, then that should also demonstrate that he is absolutely nothing but the Glenn Beck of Hallandale Beach.

• Question, To answer your question, Hallandale Beach has contracted with a private corporation that does business all over the US, which apparently has developed certain technology to make it very easy for cities to implement their traffic cameras. I understand that most of the work is done by this corporation and they have it made very easy to dig in its citizen's pockets without using much staff.

• If Julian does not know anythink as he states. Then how can he lead the city into the future. Cooper demanded agood work with her behind the scenes. And Julian did nothing about it. And London is a fool.

• Anybody know what Hallandale pays, in salary & bennies, to the people who view the traffic videos?

• Andrew, Right on the mark this time, about the traffic cameras. They are a flagrant example of fines used to raise taxes in disguise; as well as generating revenues for the corporations operating these cameras, with their subsequent and inevitable contributions to political campaigns. It is a shame and reminds me of the traffic violation ticket quotas believed to be assigned to cops in some cities. They are proven not to avoid accidents or improve safety. Personally, I believe they make everybody more nervous at certain intersections.A driver can never fight a ticket, even though the videos they produce could be doctored; the calibration of these cameras cannot be verified and they are operated by outside corporations who have a vested interest in raising as many fines as possible. Just the feeling of being observed by "big brother" is disgusting and makes me unhappy to live in this city. I didn't vote for any commissioner to bring up more aggravations and intrusion in my life. I propose to everybody here not to vote in the future for a commissioner who supports these traffic cameras, because it tells a lot about how this person doesn't give a damn about the happiness and quality of life of city residents, but just thinks of new ways of financing inefficiency, and waste.

• Andrew, Right on the mark this time, about the traffic cameras. They are a flagrant example of fines used to raise taxes in disguise; as well as generating revenues for the corporations operating these cameras, with their subsequent and inevitable contributions to political campaigns. It is a shame and reminds me of the traffic violation ticket quotas believed to be assigned to cops in some cities. They are proven not to avoid accidents or improve safety. Personally, I believe they make everybody more nervous at certain intersections.A driver can never fight a ticket, even though the videos they produce could be doctored; the calibration of these cameras cannot be verified and they are operated by outside corporations who have a vested interest in raising as many fines as possible. Just the feeling of being observed by "big brother" is disgusting and makes me unhappy to live in this city. I didn't vote for any commissioner to bring up more aggravations and intrusion in my life. I propose to everybody here not to vote in the future for a commissioner who supports these traffic cameras, because it tells a lot about how this person doesn't give a damn about the happiness and quality of life of city residents, but just thinks of new ways of financing inefficiency, and waste.

• Andrew, Right on the mark this time, about the traffic cameras. They are a flagrant example of fines used to raise taxes in disguise; as well as generating revenues for the corporations operating these cameras, with their subsequent and inevitable contributions to political campaigns. It is a shame and reminds me of the traffic violation ticket quotas believed to be assigned to cops in some cities. They are proven not to avoid accidents or improve safety. Personally, I believe they make everybody more nervous at certain intersections.A driver can never fight a ticket, even though the videos they produce could be doctored; the calibration of these cameras cannot be verified and they are operated by outside corporations who have a vested interest in raising as many fines as possible. Just the feeling of being observed by "big brother" is disgusting and makes me unhappy to live in this city. I didn't vote for any commissioner to bring up more aggravations and intrusion in my life. I propose to everybody here not to vote in the future for a commissioner who supports these traffic cameras, because it tells a lot about how this person doesn't give a damn about the happiness and quality of life of city residents, but just thinks of new ways of financing inefficiency, and waste.

• It should tell you something that the best qualified person for the position didn't want it.

• EX-Employee I wanted to pick Nydia for the temporary position, at the meeting. But she didn't want it, so mark was the next choice, as we had to appoint someone at the meeting, according to the charter. Don't get excited, he will not be the next City Manager. Bill.

• I don't know why appointing Mark Antonio was a mistake because I don't know anything about him other than the fact that he, as a city employee, is already a part of the political dynamic in the city, which is intrinsically a problem. There must be a search for a new city manager conducted by an outside search firm. I've changed my mind about the red light cameras. I had an interesting talk just now with Alexander Lewy, who has composed a statement about it for his campaign for a commission seat. The law that the Governor signed just recently allows drivers licenses to be suspended if tickets are unpaid, despite the fact that the cameras do not enforce moving violations. I certainly object to that. Furthermore, the legal and ethical objections to the cameras can potentially be overcome by the politicians craving the revenue they provide and the political campaign contributions provided by the camera operators. So... I've changed my mind on that. I don't support the cameras because of the complexities that they stir up, both ethically and politically.

• Appointing Mark A. was a mistake. Bill and you went right along with it. When will you learn?? I think never.

• Eh. Probably. The problem with Ross is she's just OUT of it, so she has no concept of reality, unlike Major Pooper, who has full touch with reality uses the fact that he is a suck ass attorney and can't get a job else where to her full advantage. His nose is so far up her butt, he can see what she's eating for lunch next. When the city attorney is that beholden to one commissioner and so terrified of losing his job he will do anything to hold onto it (including actively ignoring the fact the city manager doesn't show up for work), the CITY and the city commission cannot properly be represented as an entity.

• Any insiders know if Ross thinks Jove is a saint also?

• I'm just glad mike good is gone. David Jove should be next. It is appalling what those two did together to the city over the last 4 or 5 years. It was the blind leading the dumb. Unles Jove goes, trust me, it is just going to more of the same bullshit.

• Afraid-of-crooks: Just look at who has run for a commission seat in the previous couple of elections. We did not have any candidates that could truly be competitive against the incumbent commissioners. No one who had run in the last election had one single thing to say about the city's finances, its reserves or the operations of the city as a whole. I wrote an email to the commission to say that the questions and answers at the candidates forums did not pertain to anything that commissioners would truly be directly involved in. No candidate ever expressed a strong opinion about anything in regards to the city's operations. I had been very frustrated about that. We have had candidates who were entirely inappropriate for the city commission. The Mayor ran UNOPPOSED in the last election, yet residents complain about her constantly. If you want to replace commissioners, then you have to have candidates to run against them. We have had very few candidates, and even fewer viable candidates. The Mayor did not even have any opposition. That's Hallandale for ya. And yes, the fiscal and operational situation in Hallandale Beach could be much, much worse. There are scandals and financial misdoings in other nearby communities that have been truly outrageous. S. Florida and the state in general is known for that. You only believe that the situation is so bad here because you have been receiving emails and listening to gossip that only insinuates wrong-doings when, in fact, you are not being given all of the information. Answers provided by the Mayor and city officials are left out of Keith London's emails. I've been to his forum meetings where I've seen him lead residents to believe that basic questions have gone unanswered. He continually claims that he has posed questions or made requests for reports that have been ignored, but he's a liar. That is why a forensic audit is so dangerous. There will be a constant drumbeat of insinuations and accusations that will call for further and further digging that will never satisfy London or his followers. There would be no end in sight, and forensic audits are called for only when there are indications of financial inproprieties, not simply accusations. Hallandale Beach is not in a "hole." Things are not so bad, and the city is not in any kind of trouble that is not also common to most other American communities, especially in regards to pension obligations and union negotiations. We will pursue the mystery of why Mike Good was retained for so long despite his lack of performance, including being missing and unreachable. We will get Mike Butler's questions answered. But, you must realize that Mike Butler (changehallandale.com), David Smith (hallandalebeachblog) and Keith London don't actually want their questions answered. They simply want continual dissension from the public to use as a political tactic to call attention to themselves and get votes for a commissioner- Keith London - who does nothing for the community. London finally started coaching softball or something in the NW section when the gossip about his lack of community involvement caused him concern about necessary votes, but I don't know what happened with that effort. Other than that, he only sticks to the cult of London and no others. He has no presence in the community and does not involve himself in community efforts to better our neighborhoods. He is the epitomy of cynicism in politics. So no, we're not sunk in a hole in Hallandale. We just have a lot of suspicions that need to be quelled. Bill Julian can be a much better agitator for getting answers than can Keith London because Bill is willing to work with people, be polite and respectful and communicate openly. He doesn't lead his own cult of followers while ignoring everyone else, and he doesn't cut out information to mislead people the way London does. Mimicking was not the best word to use, but your comments are similar to the kinds of comments I read about Hallandale when other articles have appeared on-line about the city. I didn't mean to imply that you were deliberately copying anyone else's comments, only that your comments are similar to others who have been listening to and believing anything Keith London asserts about the city. Certainly there are problems with the commission and other city officials, but they are not worse problems than elsewhere, and they are not unsolvable. If you really want different people on the commission, however, then I stronly suggest that you start fostering support for individuals that you know who you would like to encourage to get involved and run for a seat. Otherwise, we'll just have Mayor Cooper re-elected again because she's unopposed, and Dottie Ross will be re-elected again by a handful of votes because most people remain uninvolved. Instead of just complaining, we all need to participate in the process. I have yet to hear of one solution to anything proposed by changehallandale.com, and all Keith London does is let fly a bunch of allegations and insinuations and then voting NO on anything and everything for stupid reasons.

• Andrew, my comments are of course provocative and I like to read other people's comments because I actually knew very little about the intricacies of Hallandale Beach politics. I don't quite understand your statement that I should be careful with what I wish for. Is it that you are trying to give us some relief saying that it could be much worse with other commissioners who we could vote in the future? Frankly speaking, I don't know how much worse it could get. Could new commissioners sink us in a worse hole? Perhaps. but that doesn't validate the damage that was done. I am sorry if you think that my comments are mimicking somebody else's remarks. They are not and I thought I was original. I check from time to time this blog because I have been learning a lot about what's going on in this city since I first read it. I don't know any of you all personally. I am not in any way related in friendship or interests to Mr. Julian or Mr. London who you keep mentioning all the time. It's just the facts, Andrew.

• First of all, I can save a lot of space and allow my writing to be much shorter because I agree with everything that ROADKILL has recently posted. But then again, maybe I'll just be my usually verbose self... As for Afraid-of-crooks' last post, which mimicks some previous comments from others, including ChangeHallandale.com, be careful what you wish for. Even Mike Butler, the man behind ChangeHallandale.com and who has so vociferously criticized the city's operations, has never shown any intention to run for an elected seat. We don't have the pick of the litter in Hallandale Beach. We could end up with much, much worse commissioners than we have now. And as far as quoting Reagan, Mike, that may perhaps confirm my suspicions about your and Keith London's true political orientation. While the commission should have full backup documents before approving expenditures, the $70,000 requested for architectural plans are an add-on to a previous project, and the Deputy City Manager answered commissioner London's concerns and said that the rest of that contract would be provided. In order to best serve the residents of the NE section, the application process for FEMA and the necessary plans should have been approved by him, as they were by the rest of the commission. His NO votes have no meaning. That's what he and his followers don't get. Once the majority has spoken, then the ENTIRE commission has spoken. If there are discrepencies or a lack of promised documentation, that can be brought up later, but voting NO only is intended to cause dissension. It serves absolutely no other purpose. The priority should always be to serve the residents, not to make some point about the process at hand. But that brings up a larger point: commissioner London brings up allegations and insinuations and mistrust at each and every meeting,and in most cases if not in every case, the Mayor, the city manager, the city attorney or someone involved provides an aswer to his allegations. But that's just it... instead of asking questions directly about matters, commissioner London very often just makes an allegation without any understanding of either the facts or the process, and then his allegations are refuted with great frustration and with offense by others, as the deputy city manager did continually during the last meeting. Then what happens is this: commissioner London sends out his emails and/or conducts his meetings with residents in which he re-states his allegations but DOES NOT INLCUDE THE ANSWERS that he was provided or the refutation of his assertions. He allows- deliberately- his followers to believe that while he is making allegations or insinuating wrong-doings, that no one has refuted or answered his assertions. ...And if any resident does- any resident- then he simply takes that resident off of his email list. I spoke up at a commission meeting to say that I had heard the city manager provide an answer to an allegation Keith London had made, but that the city manager's response to his allegation was LEFT OUT of his email summary of the meeting. Also, when a resident spoke up to criticize commissioner London during Public Participation, commissioner London simply LEFT THAT OUT of his email summary of the meeting. He does that stuff constantly. And after I criticized him to the commission, he cut me out of his emails. Then I found out that he does that to others all of the time. That is NOT NORMAL behavior! That is NOT PROFESSIONAL! He doesn't ever want his followers to know that many if not most of his questions and allegations have been answered in some respect during commission meetings. He censors those responses like he's the KGB- all to politically aggrandize himself and trick his followers into believing that he's fighting for them and there's constantly unanswered questions. Even information that is RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM on the dais, he will act like he doesn't have it. ROADKILL is absolutely right to imply that Keith London sees everyone as his enemy. This has gone beyond repair. Those who believe that Keith London is fighting for them are sitting back and allowing him to slash and burn, but if they actually took action themselves and spoke directly to their representatives and city officials, they would quickly realize that Keith London will make an enemy out of them, too. We are not dealing with a normal, functioning person here. We are dealing with a man who politicizes absolutely everything to get his followers all worked up, angry and mistrustful because he's in constant campaign mode- all the time and about everything. Nothing he does is for the benefit of any individual resident. It is all done to get votes in the next election from those he has duped into trusting him. His behavior has been entirely unprofessional. He refuses to work with, cooperate or to be respectful of anyone on that dais- and no matter what you think of anyone, if you are collecting a paycheck to be a commissioner then you should behave with respect for your cohorts and reflect well on your city. No matter what you think of the other commissioners, they all behave professionally on that dais other than Keith London, even though the Mayor has exhibited very heated behavior and taken personal offense- but that's her personality, not her political tactic that she assumes is part of her job the way London does. And Bill Julian owed no apology for using the term "man-up." He was absolutely right. Instead of accusing and insulting, everyone should be willing to communicate directly with the commissioners, attempt to get answers, and take their answers to Public Participation at the meetings, even if they could not get a satisfactory answer. Bill Julian is not a lawyer. He's not a manager. He's not even a politician outside of those chambers. He's just one of us, as he's supposed to be. We elect from our own. If some sly practioners took advantage of our system and the situation at hand, we'll find out about it. The truth will come. In the meantime, work as a responsible citizen on our problems, not an agitator insulting, implying, judging and being mean on the internet. If anyone would like to introduce themselves or comment on my viewpoints, please feel free to politely approach me should you see me out and about. I have no agenda, and I have no enemies except for those who choose to believe that I'm an enemy for some reason. I would just like to see commission meetings operating without intimidation and harassment. The intimidation sometimes comes from the middle of the dais- and the constant harassment from the one with the ponytail who only looks out straight ahead at an imaginary audience and never directly at the cohorts he's supposed to be conducting a meeting with. We're all just observers. We're not a participatory audience unless we sign up for three minutes to speak. It's their meeting, not ours. They represent us-they don't have to pretend that we're working alongside them. I look foward to Bill Julian exhibiting less and less willingness to be intimidated by any more forceful and energetic personality on the dais, and I very much appreciate his newfound effort to represent the concerns of residents that have been agitated by Keith London's emails and meetings. I also appreciate commissioner London's attempts to bring concerns about the city's operations to light. But in all respects, commissioners have to act as commissioners- representatives of the city and our mutual intrest in making it a continually desirable place to live, to buy property and to conduct business. In his basic duties, including being kind and polite to residents who will likely find meeting local politicians to be intimidating and city issues to be confusting, Keith London has failed to the point that he is plainly unethical. Just the fact that he drops residents and city officials from the emails he sends out to his list giving public information should clearly demonstrate to anyone that that is unacceptable and unethical behavior that would not be tolerated by any city attorney who displayes a modicum of competence and a commission that truly tries to enforce ethical standards across the board. I look forward to hearing about a productive meeting between concerned residents and Bill Julian.

• In classic Japanese movies, Harakiri or ritual suicide is the only way a hero, a villain, a warrior could confront defeat, dishonor, humiliation, or failure. Far for being a suggestion for our honorable commissioners, it's only a reminder that responsibility is an integral part of honor. I am thinking that hiring and maintaining Mike Goods for so many years while he was destroying the services and finances of the city of Hallandale, and periodically rewarding him with constant raises and benefits is not understandable to my modest common sense. I am sure that most of us agree. Should we call this conduct a failure, a conspiracy, negligence? In all cases whoever participated, at any stage, in this sad part of Hallandale Beach history, should assume his responsibility. Audits, controls might unveil some or many irregularities. But that's not the point. The point is, may I say: You guys messed it up... big time. Resign!

• Ex-Employee You are right on about RJ. Itindola. List this as another something I did not know that there was an opportunity to bring him back, at least temporary. He would be perfect to come back full time. He did however offer a while back to assist our city in finding a new City Manager. The commission should have known this. He is considered one of the best in the business, and I will bring this to the commission, to accept his offer to help. Lord knows we do need it. Bill Julian

• Roadkill,they will not get better because the guy they put in as the interim, is not competent. Everyone knows it except for the commission and that's dangerous because they'll probably put him in permanently and the city will continue to go downhill. And to those of you that suggested Mr. Intindola comeback, I spoke with him last night and he told me he was not interested in reentering the profession on a full-time basis. He did say that he spoke with Cooper and offered to come back on an interim basis but never received a courtesy response. It appears that Cooper does everything in a vacuum without consulting publicly with the city commission. Further, he offered to come back gratis with the city just covering minimal expenses. Can you imagine getting a pro to come back without cost while paying a fool who destroyed the organization $300,000. For the most part Mayor I always liked you, but in this case, you and the commission are extremely foolish for not taking him up on the offer. Instead, you play somebody in the position who was part of the problem.

• Bill, That is truly one of the funniest comments on here. You might get a campaign contribution from me, but I doubt you'll get one from ex employee #2. If I were you, I'd let the hate roll off your back. There is nothing you'll do to convince Mike or Keith to be less vitriolic towards you. That's just they way they operate. It is too bad because if they'd tone it down a notch, people would listen more. I happen to agree with Mike (changehallandale), but it would be cool if the shrillness level could go down a decibel or two. The sad fact is that Hallandale is one of the worst operated cities around, largely because of the mike good and Major Pooper. It is standard operating procedure in every city to have agreements attached as backup when items are brought before the board, so I'm not sure why that's sooo difficult in Hallandale. Hopefully, now that good is gone, things will get better. We'll see.

• Ex-employee-2. Sorry I told you to Man-up, I didn't know you are a woman. Sometimes is a little hard to communicate with all of you since none of you will idenity who or what you all are, as I do all the time. Such as changeHallandale who has such a hatred towards me, and thinks he knows all of the facts, and has this thing figured out, but has trouble using a telephone. I suggest you vent your hate before you make an attempt to communicate with me, or you will be very disappointed in me, a lot more than you are now. Ex-employee-2. What makes you think I will accept campaign money from the Mayor or her husband? I will however accept a donation from you, remember nothing over $500. Oh, Architect, thank you for my new name. It shows me you really care, and I do appreciate that. You all have a good night, and we will continue this therapy session again tomorrow.

• 1) Julian, the intent of our meeting next week isn't so we can be friendly. That isn't on the agenda. We're discussing city issues. Period. No time for chit chat. You get paid to do your job, this is volunteer work for us. 2) And quit telling people to "man up". You've allowed this city to intimidate its residents and employees for too long. Want an example? You voted to sue me in an attempt to shut me up. Now you want people to trust you and the city? People are commenting on these blogs anonymously because they're concerned about retaliation. Hell, the mayor and Sanders have both publicly and verbally attacked residents for daring to ask questions. Be thankful there are people out there willing to stick their neck out at all. Your best customers are the ones who complain; most just quit doing business with you. Encourage more dialogue. They're providing invaluable information, even if anonymous. Then you can choose to ask questions or ignore it. But at least the lines of communication are open. 3) You keep saying you weren't aware of what was going on. So why the hell do you keep approving expenditures without getting adequate information? At Wednesday's meeting you voted to approve spending money despite London pointing out that adequate back-up material wasn't provided. Please stop doing that. Ask for an ROI, a justification, a financial analysis...something. Its not about trust, its about protecting you, the residents, and the city. Like Reagan said, "trust, but verify". I'm looking forward to our meeting next week.

• When I say in the last comment "I am glad he is finally standing up to pooper", I mean Julian, not the city attorney.

• I think Commissioner Julian was duped to a large extent about what went on in the City Managers office by the Mayor and the City Attorney. Unless you personally witness it, it is hard to believe just how out of control mike good was. It is truly hard to believe that someone who purports to be a professional just doesn't show up for weeks at a time to work. The problem is, both the Mayor and the City Attorney had a lot to lose if Mike Good's secret got out. In the case of the Mayor, she had face to lose. In the case of the City, he was afraid of losing his job. I, for one, I glad that he is finally owning up to his own lack of oversight and I find it refreshing that he is standing up to Major Pooper. While some may say that London was screaming about mike good to anyone who would listen, that is just the problem: he was screaming at banshee levels and making it hard to find the truth in the hyperbole. Keith is a good guy, he just needs to calm down, grow up, and take his opinion of himself down a notch or two. Not everyone is your enemy Keith. Having said that, the City Attorney is the one who needs to go next. He is just as much in the pocket of Major Pooper if not more. He is simply DESPERATE to hold on to his job and will do anything to keep it. Has anyone asked him why HE didn't say anything about good? Wasn't it his duty as legal counsel to the commission to let them know that their City Manager was in dereliction of his duties? Why the hell is David Jove still around? HE is the guy who is supposed to be telling the City Manager that he can't approve certain things because they aren't within his authority. Jove needs to be FIRED like yesterday.

• "I didn't know" is the new name for Julian

• Good stuff, ex-employee-2. You hit the mark. Mike chased so many good employees away that no one was left to keep the ship on course. Within two years, Lorenzo was gone, Shannon, later Jeff and several other key staff members. He brings in his friends, relatives and gives his wife a $10,000 increase for a demotion. Which the commission, including Commissioner Julian approved. As for Intindola, why would he want to come back to the hellhole Mike and the commission created. I can't see the upside of him ever coming back.

• This is a response for Commissioner Julian. First of all, quit telling me to man-up because I'm a woman. Secondly, you're always making excuses. You say you don't know who they hire and fire. But it tells you about Mike�s Good�s character of which you still did nothing. When you found out he hired his son-in-law and then promoted him, why didn't you place an item on the agenda. You sat back and did nothing. Isn't it a sunshine violation for you to be talking to other commissioners as you say you did about Mike got the goods. And why didn't you place an item on the agenda so the matter could be discussed. I'll tell you why. Because you and the commission did whatever you wanted with Mike got the goods in office. That's how he got all that money, is by not making waves. You probably were all glad when Mr. Intindola left because he wouldn't let you run roughshod all over him. He wouldn't take the commission's crap and did what was best for the city. But you all are interested in yourselves and that's why you placed Mark Antonio into the manager position. Many of the employees think it's a joke. He's a wimp that comes in late, leaves early and of course I know you're going to say, you know nothing about that. Because that is your standard excuse. You don't know and if you think you should have, then you should've taken some action. But as always you sat back and did absolutely nothing. You are referred to as don't make waves Julian. Now, go collect your campaign contributions from Joy and her husband.

• Great meeting Mr Julian. Does it bother you when the mayor points her finger in your face when she disagrees with you? Grab it & bite it next time. Can you address this link below? Maybe you can use this money to fund the audit. http://web.me.com/mike.butler/Change_Hallandale/Blog_Updates/Entries/2010/6/18_Continued_payments_to_SunTimes_appear_to_sidestep_internal_controls.html#

• I personally cannot answer any questions in regards to the specifics of city management. I do not have inside knowledge and my opinions are varied based on any new set of facts that I obtain, and I always view the political realities in addition to my personal preferences. Representative democracy can be slow and frustrating, but as Winston Churchill said, despite its many problems it's a better system than anything else that's been tried. Unfortunately, Commission London believes in "direct democracy." He believes that "the people" are the commissioners' "bosses." That's not actually the case. The residents of Hallandale Beach are only the bosses of the commissioners when it comes time to vote. In the meantime, they represent us after being elected, and they can do whatever it is that they want to do as long as it's not illegal, and your recourse as a resident if you're not happy with your representation is to vote for somebody else at the next oppportunity. The only opportunity we have is in Novemeber. While ChangeHallandale.com says that we should vote out Bill Julian, thus far we only have one candidate who's filed named Alexander Lewy, and Mr. Lewy is certainly qualified as he's a Congressional Aide to Congressman Kendrick Meek, he's president of Florida Young Democrats and he's president of Hallandale Beach Crime Watch, amongst other administrative and representative political positions. The candidates from our community who have run in previous elections for commissioner have been either lacking in qualifications that would demonstrate that they have the administrative skills for the job of commissioner, or they have simply not been competetive candidates to run against the incumbants. If given a choice to replace Keith London or to replace Bill Julian, I have continually asserted that we should replace Keith London. While I fully understand that Commissioner London has attempted to act as a watch dog and point out discrepencies, he has also caused the commission to delay needed action because he has determinedly alienated their trust. I have watched every single commission meeting since shortly after commissioner London had been elected, and his behavior has gone from resistant and aggressive to outright and entirely inappropriate and very disturbing. At the last meeting, despite an ordinance passed that would disallow any commissioner from making a motion on the same matter over and over again despite a lack of any second to any motion, commissioner London ignored that rule and continued to attempt to make his motions for which he knows that there's no second. Such behavior is a waste of time and accomplishes nothing but grandstanding. Commissioner London has also continually insulted his cohorts on the commission and called them insulting names to other residents while off of the dais. That kind of behavior clearly demonstrates that he does not understand what it is that he is paid to do. Worst of all, Commissioner London continually votes "no" on just about everything for reasons that are entirely irrelavent to the issue at hand because he does not understand his role or the needs of his community. For example, street drainage issues in the NE section are dire, yet London voted "no" on proceeding with an engineering contract for designs and an application for a FEMA grant, all which will delay actually starting the drainage projects until the end of the year as it is because it's a cumbersome process. Despite those delays and the beauracracy required from FEMA, commissioner London voted "no" because he refuses to trust the deputy city manager to provide the entire contract to him. Such micro-managing is inappropriate and only causes needed work for the community to be stalled. Bill Julian states that he trusted the city attorney, city manager and city staff to attend to matters, and while that trust seems to have gone way too far, Commissioner London's mistrust also goes way, way too far. In a representative democracy, there has to be a level of trust that a system will operate and others will do their jobs. Otherwise you have "direct democracy" in which every single resident has a say in directing the city staff and representatives to do whatever each resident wants, which pulls everyone in all directions all the time and causes constant strife and resentment. This country does not operate on direct democracy. We are a "democratic republic." Commissioner London's behavior at commission meetings has been extraordinarily unprofessional. If you haven't been watching those meetings, then you should refrain from judging. You may be unhappy with Bill Julian, but, as I've written before, we don't have Jeezus H. Kryste waiting in the wings, so get together and work with what you've got. This is a small community with a very small group of people willing to undertake the process of raising money and running for a seat, as well as few people with the capabilities to take on the job. And by the way, I support the red light cameras. Sorry, but I've weighed the issue, and I do. The expense of a forensic audit is only justified if the accounting firm(s) that have conducted regularly scheduled audits have found anything that they can recommend requires further and more intensive examination. While emotions are running high on the issue, the decision to undertake those runaway costs (it will cost more and more and more as it goes on) should always be based on evidence, not on emotion. While many of us have questions and perhaps suspicions as well about the current commission and the former city manager, let's take those concerns to the commission and the staff, not just to the blogs, and let's please stop expecting that we're going to clean them all out of office. It doesn't work that way. Only two seats up... and I strongly recommend replacing London because his behavior and attitude, while bringing up concerns about the city's operations, are not normal and professional behavior. We can do better... a lot better, and we can solve problems even without London to obstruct anything and everything all only for political grandstanding rather than a genuine concern for us.

• Afraid of Crooks, You are right. We are supposed to be responsible in the end for all the actions of the city. It was my short coming that I trusted the system. I trusted the City Manager's office, and the City Attorney's office to run their part of the program and report to us. As we can see, this system failed us, and there we as the commission have failed our residents. I will do my best to see this never happens again. This is why I am requesting a Forensic Audit of the City Manager's Office, all contracts, all Development agreements, all major development projects, Gulfstream, Forest City, European Club Project, 2500 Project, Tower Trailer Park,and others, including the CRA since it's beginning. I also made a motion to have a nightime workshop with three companies that do the Audit, to pick one. Spending so much time doing Community work, Food Bank, School Fundraising, Relay, and more, while I feel this is important, I let the other side of my duty go un-noticed thinking every one was doing their job in the administrative end. I believe when the Audit is finished, and we hire a new City Manager, we will get Hallandale to move forward in a new direction, with more Community involvement, in the process. I do not put the blame on anyone but myself, when It comes to making mistakes. Bill Julian, Vice-Mayor.

• From I can read here, something positive is that some commissioners are starting to un-hide now. Nobody was hearing commissioners publicly stating that they had a problem with Mike Good. Mr. Julian now says that he wasn't very happy with Good's performance, but did Mr. Julian support those who were accusing M.Good a few months ago? I understand that there was a commissioner, K. London, who was raising hell and the rest of the commissioners were not very supportive of his proposals regarding investigations in ref. to the hiring of a realtor as a paid "consultant" by M. Good. The rest of the commissioners were all along affirming that London was a disrespectful, outrageous, and disorderly wannabe. Even though I never went to any of these public meetings, and can't assert about the conduct of any commissioners, I suspect that if London hadn't raised hell, perhaps Mike Good would still be around, sinking Hallandale Beach in debt and mismanagement. Responsibility is the essence here. I respect all commissioners and am sure about their good intentions. But they have to take responsibility. Many citizens are worried about the direction that the city has taken, and its future, and they believe that Mike Good's case could just be the tip of the iceberg. It's up to the commissioners to try to repair some of the damage. No passionate speeches will do. Full disclosure and self criticism are the only way our commissioners will keep residents' trust and respect.

• That's not true.

• I would like everyone out there to know that all of you bloggers that have made a comment about this article, have not responded to my invitation to call or meet with me. You my call me anytime, or meet with me anywhere, still no response. So it seems like you get off on throwing insults out there, with no real positive ideas on how to improve our city, and hide behind your little screens. Well the ball is in your court, it's time to MAN-UP for once in your lives, and do something good. Bill Julian (954) 274-7230.

• To Ex-Employee, and ChangeHallandale.com. Where do you guys get off that I am supposed to know who and every employee that gets hired or fired in this city? You were there too, did I go over your qualifications, when you were hired, and when you left the city? No I left that up to the personel director, and the city manager's office, which I am supposed to do. As far as his son in law. Never met the man until I ran into him and Mike said who he was, and was engaged to his daughter. Wow big problem, I didn't ask for his resume. City Clerk, again I met her after she was hired, and again left the hiring and firing to personel, and the city manager's office. If you want to know the truth, I have been complaining to the Mayor, and the City Attorney, about Mike Good for over two years, and to the rest of the Commission, with no response from any of them. Ask them about that. I am the one who produced the Attendence Record,and I am the one who chopped down the severance package, and commented he is being Fired, to the commission. And if you watched the last meeting, it was me who made the motion for the Forensic Audit to the City Manager's office, the CRA, for all contracts, development agreements, and projects, from January 2005. And to go futher my motion included a nightime workshop with 3 Forensic Auditors to start the process. Now ChangeHallandale. com. After I invited all of you bloggers to meet with me, you were the only one that had called me to meet with you. Do you think the continued knocking, and insulting me will start our meeting on a friendly note? And ex-employee, do you have the time to meet with me, or do you get off on hiding behind your screen. Its time all of you Man-Up, and discuss how we can turn this city around back on course, instead of these child like comments on the internet. The ball is in your court, Call Me, (954) 274-7230. Thanks, Bill Julian , Vice-Mayor.

• Well said Ex city employee 2!!

• I am an ex-city employee also but was not in management. I don't want to say specifically that I retired a few years ago. I am a resident and I have some questions for Commissioner Julian. you understand that it's not always what you do but it's also what you don't do. You permitted Mike good to hire his son-in-law into a job he created and was not even qualify for. You did nothing and said nothing when Mike good promoted his son-in-law into a job for which he was not qualified and at a higher rate than the starting salary level. You did nothing when Mike good, gave his wife a $10,000 increase after a demotion. A sham. You did nothing when Mike good hired a neighbor when the city did not even have a vacancy and sat her at a chair, at a table in the personnel department until a vacancy came open. You did nothing when Mike good hired John Canada's daughter into a position for which She wasn't qualified and at a higher rate than what would be normal for starting; This of course is after his wife was hired by John Canada to be the city manager of a second city. You did nothing for all those weeks and days that Mike good did not show up at work and no one could even locate him. It's a big joke currently in the city manager's office that the commission is stating "when he started missing work as of January. The problem is, it was January of 2003." You did nothing when he came in to work most days with alcohol on his breath. And as far as you'd challenging Mayor Cooper; how could you do that when both her and your husband donate to your campaign? And you did nothing all of these years that he destroyed the city. The city I retired from and the city I live in.the city was well managed before he came in. Now it's a disgrace and a joke from what I understand. The bottom line is, you did nothing while the city manager was unethical and possibly even broke the law. Commissioner, you should not be permitted to serve another term that I will do everything in my power to ensure you lose.

• Let them eat cake. The people don't need to see last nights meeting.

• It's Thursday nite. Why no replay of the commission meeting on 78 at 6pm as stated on the website?

• Commissioner Julian, To you I say BRAVO!!! I watched the commission meeting yesterday on the internet and you were great. Keep up the good work. Thanks for standing up to the "Mayor". A little part of the universe seems more right now. I also say Bravo to London and Sanders (I missed the vote but I am assuming they voted for the audit too?).

• Vice mayor, I missed the forensic audit vote. I was having one of those mini seizures from watching the screen twitching back & forth. But I'm ok now. Sorry & thank you! I'll watch the rerun....promise. Can you try to have the local paper print that you brought this up? Maybe you could mention the blogs that write about Hallandale too. When do you think the audit could happen if all passes soothly?

• Hrose, or anyone else out there. Anybody like to comment that I made the motion and fought to get the Forensic Audit? And plus we will have a public meeting on this? We do have a night time meeting, once a month, and a daytime meeting once a month. Bill Julian.

• Vice mayor, I wish you would have agreed to evening commission meetings. Bummer. Can't seem to come up with a word to describe the mayor's performance tonight.

• Well said everyone...all of us must hold our elected officials accountable for their lack of oversight. And right now our city needs an audit of its internal controls, which have been systematically dismantled during the past 5 years. I've posted more details at changehallandale.com. Please tell the commissioners. One thing I want to make clear: prior to starting changehallandale.com, I had multiple email conversations with the mayor. None of my questions were ever answered satisfactorily. Many others have since experienced the same thing when asking her any questions. There is little logic to the responses, and that's being generous. In addition, I contacted the vice mayor multiple times prior to starting the website, by both email and phone. Not one single email or phone call was ever returned. And finally I spoke with Ross and requested an opportunity to meet her. I offered to buy her coffee or breakfast or lunch. Her response to me was something like "I don't have time to meet with residents. I don't do that." End of conversation. So like Hrose says, remember on election day. And tell your neighbors.

• What can we do but spread the word with our neighbors and wait for election day?

• Afraid of Crooks: You have numerous quality questions that I don't think Butler or Andrew can answer. I see Mr. Intindola posted and I wish he would read your questions and respond. I have not seen the gentleman in approximately 2 years nor had contact with him but he's probably one of the most astute individuals that I have known, or possibly in the country in regards to local government administration. He has written numerous articles and has an entire website dedicated to the subject. I did e-mail him the other day but as of yet did not receive a response. If you google his name, maybe you can leave a question on the website. Having been in this city many years and working in the finance industry, if I was the commission or the Mayor I'd make every possible effort to locate him and get him back. He probably would not come though. Sorry I can't help further but I do believe the city commission has lost touch with the residents and more concerned about their own self interest than doing what's right for the city.

• Mr. Markoff I just read now your response to my second posting. I made some very clear remarks and pointed out a few areas that concern me as well as many Hallandale residents. You have answered vaguely but gave no clear answers about any of those points. You are rather trying to justify, forgive, or just dismiss any responsibility that is on the hands of our commissioners, and city officials. 1) You admit that Mr. Mike Good had to be dismissed long time ago. No explanations why he wasn't fired before. Everybody agrees that he was a no-show most of the time on his job, never answered phone calls, etc. etc. As a businessman, this kind of employee would have lasted for just a couple of days if he was my employee. So far, no answer why our commissioners permitted this to go on till the fan's shit was starting to hit them. 2) Mike Good was hired at extra-high wages just because he had previously been an employee of the city for many years. You couldn't explain on what high qualifications grounds commissioners dedided to pay him more than the Paris or New York City Manager. This is a troubling question. And why did the city have to add these incredibly and unusual high "compensations" and "retirements benefits" or whatever you want to call them? Were they so afraid that he would run away when they were negotiating his contract? competed with us to grab Mr. Good's incredible bargain? I would only give this type of compensation if my city was about to bankrupt and I was hiring a Nobel Prize. Evidently that wasn't the case. So, that is another unexplained and very worrying question. 3) Re: my concern about the unexplained fact of our city going into deficits, when it traditionally had a large reserve of up to 40MM ? Y You just answer that this kind of questions should be answered by Mike Butler. I don't know this gentleman. I still believe that these are fundamental questions that are too important to be answered anything but directly by our commissioners. 4) Hallandale Beach does not have a "decreased revenue". Comparing 1999 or 2000 when Hallandale had a tremendous reserve to the present 2010, you will easily notice that present revenues is much higher now than 10 or 15 years ago. Thousands of new luxury condos are generating new taxes. Of course these decreased in the last three years or so, because of the real estate situation, but the total revenue is still much higher than in 1999 or 2000. My feelings: WASTE and mismanagement. 5) Regarding the degradation of some of our services, yes they haveno degraded. Our garbage collection is w once a week instead of twice. Recycling of yard waste, do you remember? Gone. You just mention Mike Good's "funny" answers when told about the garbage strewn all over the place. But thais only confirms that our services are not satisfactory. 6) Traffic Cameras. You respond by stating that red lights cameras are not a Hallandale issue, but that the problem is all over the state and even the US. That doesn't mean that it's something that we can agree about. The fact that other cities can be greedy and mismanaged is not an excuse for Hallandale to nickel and dime its citizens. This topic is all over the internet. Traffic Cameras haven't avoided one accident and they serve only the purpose of raising a tax in disguise. They do not help in reducing traffic jams; I would say that they contribute to more jams. Why didn't our commissioners dedicate their time to traffic lights synchronization, which is disastrous in Hallandale Beach? Honestly I am thinking of changing my id name in this blog, from "afraid-of-crooks" to "bottom line man". There is a bottom line that has to emerge at any discussion, at a certain point. Mine is: Whoever was there, and in charge of our interests, is responsible. Politician know very well how to delay the time of the bottom line, with words, phrases, citations, and more words. I realize, Mr. Markoff, that you are trying to understand some of what happened without hurting anybody's feelings and that's remarkable. However, unless we get to the heart of the subject, and understand what's exactly is going on, we're never going to solve anything. Nobody that I know has say "Sorry... I made a mistake..." However there is a lot of damage done. Pointing our fingers at the accusers is not going to solve our problems. Insulting those who were negligent is not what really matters. What's important is: What are we going to do to correct it.

• Ex-city employee: I agree with you 100 percent.

• Andrew-Roadkill: Make no mistake about it. I worked for Mr. Intindola for nearly 6 years and for Mike for approximately 3 years. There is actually no comparison and Mike drug the city down into the sewer. It's laughable hearing his comment that the city was in bad shape when he took over as manager. The city is in bad shape because he was the manager and made it difficult for those more intelligent around him to function, so most of us left. In conferring with another person whom I worked with MG took over, there was approximately 13 professionals that want through his office during his tenure. I do not think there were 13 professionals or any close to that turnover in the 20 years that Mr. Intindola was the manager. Reid Silverboard, the current city manager of treasure Island Florida worked for him for 12 years if I'm not mistaken. A subject, a monument, something to stand as an issue between her and London and she made the worst possible choice, Mike Good. Most of the people that work for him, despise the lying fool.

• HAH. Lap dogs. I like that, Andrew.

• ROADKILL, you'd be mistaken to assume that we do not think along similar lines, only I try to figure out what are the questions to ask and not jump to conclusions until I get all of the facts. You may notice that I inserted the word "perhaps" in my surmising about the use of city debt. From what we've all been told so far, Mike Good was the greatest thing since icing on a cake. The mayor, like me, is a dog lover and has several little lap dogs at home. As to what is the plan for the city attorney, therefore, you can draw your own conclusions.

• WOW, Andrew. You are channeling Major Pooper. How cool is that? Just between the three of us, ask her if she plans on apologizing for letting Mike Good run amok in the city or she just hopes that everyone will forget about that? Because in her heart of hearts, she knows what an irresponsible fool that guy is. Also, ask her if she plans on keeping the city attorney around for much longer.

• The mayor asserts in her latest writing that taking on debt makes more sound fiscal sense than spending revenues or reserves in order to meet the needs of infrastructure and to buy land. As I questioned earlier, although the city had a surplus years ago, does that mean that infrastructure had been thoroughly attended to at the same time? We know that Rosenberg was tight-fisted and didn�t believe in spending money on much of anything. Therefore, while there may be much more debt today, there are also, perhaps, more improvements and more land banking for future investment.

• I write quickly, and writing is much easier for me than the average person. I've read over what I've written, and I think it's very readable, so I don't know why people would have difficulty reading my comments. I should have been a political reporter, but it had never occurred to me until very recently. I have watched the meetings during which the purchase of the church property was discussed, but I have not understood the city manager's reasoning. Something about parking- that's all I know. I know that Chief Magill is double-dipping. Don't know about who else, and you have to be a very senior employee to have that option. The exact same pension problems are being faced by businesses, states and communities all over America. I would like to know more about the "drop" and why it was created and by whom. That guarantees an 8 percent addition to retirement money even if the market drops. Why is that available to government employees but not to the private sector (assuming that it's not)? Who introduced that in Hallandale? www.cmrji.com/blog/2010/06/13/post-for-all-issues-related-to-hallandale-beach-florida

• Andrew, You seem nice, but WOW, you write a lot. Are you a frustrated political reporter? :)

• What can they do about the pension problems? Seems to be a problem that's mentioned but not addressed in detail and no alternatives are given. Curious about the percentage of HB employees double dipping. I'd like to see their names and positions posted somewhere . Do you think it's a good time to purchase a church?

• ALERT!!! I found this explanation by the Mayor about Hallandale's budget, including deficits and debt, but it has no date attached: http://www.southfloridasun.net/330667.html

• Andrew Markoff says: I have never heard of the city's previous surplus or debt addressed, unless it was amongst the sludge of accounting-speak during a financial presentation at a commission meeting and I didn't catch it. I don't regularly read what the Mayor writes...but of course, English is my first language. The idea that our current news media such as newspapers or local TV would cover anything to do with our budget and deficits is laughable. I had communicated with Michael Putney at Channel 10 and Michael Mayo at the Sun-Sentinel several times to lament the lack of local coverage of municipal issues in regards to running our local governments. While they claimed to be sympathetic, I doubt that will have any coverage of our budget issues in local newspapers or TV. They will, of course, if there's the kind of action that the news crews are always looking for, so bring ketchup to the podium and maybe that'll help. I respond to your comments and questions here. http://cmrji.com/blog/2010/06/13/post-for-all-issues-related-to-hallandale-beach-florida/comment-page-1/#comment-115

• Mike, London has been asking for budget workshops, not executive sessions. They, of course, surmise that it would simply be another venue for his grandstanding and insinuations. London asked to see the appraisals before any request to purchase property was brought to the commission, and he's only asked on a case-by-case basis- and that would be like checking homework or a work in progress as an attempt to micro-manage the city manager. Now Intindola asserts that the CM can purchase property w/out ever going to the commission for approval. London's failures stem from his misunderstandings of the process and his unproductive approach to the issue. If he wants the commission to pre-approve any purchases of property, then he has to explain that. Instead, he just keeps making the same motion over and over again to lower the CM's spending authority. He gets no second, and that's it. There's no explanation of how he thinks his ideas would improve anything for everyone other than his insinuation that he doesn't trust (and dislikes) the City Manager. That's not gonna work. Bad politician. He just expresses his mistrust, but he does not DISCUSS with the other commissioners why his way would be better for everyone. London has entirely destroyed his opportunity to gain the trust of his fellow commissioners. Anything that he asserts or proposes will be met with profound mistrust, which is entirely mutual on his part. These are not the kind of people that he could ever kiss and make up with. One must work on their level and within the current paradigm. As I keep saying, we don't have Rhodes Scholars on our city commission, so learn how to most effectively work with what you've got. London is way beyond that opportunity, and he clearly does not represent his constituents. Cutting residents and city officials out of his communications to the public is totally outrageous. Since RJ Intindola has graciously created and offered a Hallandale section on his blog, try to continue your comments over there: www.cmrji.com/blog/2010/06/13/post-for-all-issues-related-to-hallandale-beach-florida

• I have never heard of the city's previous surplus or debt addressed, unless it was amongst the sludge of accounting-speak during a financial presentation at a commission meeting and I didn't catch it. I don't regularly read what the Mayor writes...but of course, English is my first language. The idea that our current news media such as newspapers or local TV would cover anything to do with our budget and deficits is laughable. I had communicated with Michael Putney at Channel 10 and Michael Mayo at the Sun-Sentinel several times to lament the lack of local coverage of municipal issues in regards to running our local governments. While they claimed to be sympathetic, I doubt that will have any coverage of our budget issues in local newspapers or TV. They will, of course, if there's the kind of action that the news crews are always looking for, so bring ketchup to the podium and maybe that'll help.

• Left out one word on the post above: "combined". Got it fixed below, for anyone who's grading these posts...hey, did you notice the amount of the swing between the debt increase and reserve decrease? $76 million. Staggering. BTW: London has been asking for workshops repeatedly for a very long time. He's requested documentation to support every recommendation made by the city manager; for example, he asked to see property appraisals before approving property purchases. Crazy huh? You'd think all the commissioners would want to see the appraisals before making property purchases. But no, they just went with the city manager and mayor's recommendation. The city's budget hasn't been balanced for years.. ...despite record increases in property tax values AND a huge amount of new construction: combined over $2 BILLION from 2005 to 2008. 2010 property tax values are still $168 million higher than 2006 property tax values. During the same period, the city added $36 million of debt. During the same period, financial reserves decreased by about $40 million.

• Thanks Andrew. Have you seen any public record or news article where any of the three addressed this, like in mayor cooper's Thursday newspaper?

• Please everyone who wishes to continue an ongoing discussion about city issues, let's take advantage of RJ Intindola's experience and historical perspective and continue this on his blog, as he's offered: www.cmrji.com/blog/2010/06/13/post-for-all-issues-related-to-hallandale-beach-florida

• Hrose: Bill Julian is not allowed to personally ask Cooper, Ross or any other commissioner any question or to have any kind of discussion outside of public meetings due to Florida's "Sunshine Law." I have had a problem with that, especially because Keith London has been so uneducated about how government works and about the city charter. They can hold "executive sessions," however, that do not have public attendance necessarily but have transcripts. Bill Julian told me that he thought it would be a good idea to have more of those so that commissioners could get their facts straight, but I feel certain that Keith London would not attend as he requires an audience that he believes is cheering him on. Commissioner London is not interested in actual governance or working with the other commissioners one on one, let alone with most residents, especially the poor and disenfranchised ones.

• Vice mayor Julian, will you answer this question? What do Cooper & Ross say to you personally when you ask them this question? Where'd the money go? Why did you get us into this situation?

• The city's budget hasn't been balanced for years.. ...despite record increases in property tax values AND a huge amount of new construction: over $2 BILLION from 2005 to 2008. 2010 property tax values are still $168 million higher than 2006 property tax values. During the same period, the city added $36 million of debt. During the same period, financial reserves decreased by about $40 million. Why? Ask Cooper, Ross, or Julian. The "buck" stops with the city commission.

• Change Hallandale: Mike, you're correct. I had completed the budget before I left in 2002 and it was approximately 61,000,000+. After I left, they added nearly $2.5 million. I'm assuming it was for the changes that mandated everybody in the drop received an 8% regardless if investments were substantially lower. This started the climb in the pension costs. If You remember,I told you that substantial changes to the pension were made after I left to enhance the benefits. Specifically those people that were in the drop. Andrew, Good's contract is not standard in the industry. What is standard is a continuation of paying insurance for a certain period Equal to the severance pay provisions. Nine months for example. After that period, I find no contracts that include paying for family health coverage and College tuition. Although I have not conducted a significant Internet search and analysis, I have on file over 100 contracts from various cities and none of them include those provisions. Furthermore, his contract essentially requires he be paid regardless of performance. That also is typically not standard, although approximately 25 to 35% pay,regardless of performance. Andrew and others, why don't we post here? http://cmrji.com/blog/2010/06/13/post-for-all-issues-related-to-hallandale-beach-florida/

• Afraid-of-crooks- Mr. Good got hired after working for almost two dozen years for the city in Public Works. He has strong personal relationships with Cooper, Julian and Ross, along with several others in the city. Beyond that, I know nothing. When he retired for a minute and collected accrued vacation and sick pay, he had worked for us for 24 years. Commissioner London continually asserts that his payouts were part of his salary, or he uses the word "compensation," but any CEO accumulates a lot of payout after more than two dozen years of service. Our entire nation gives away the entire store to CEO's of all types. We have "double dipping" in Florida, whereas they can retire, collect pensions, and continue working at the same time. That's not a Hallandale issue. Welcome to America. I fly my flag outside of my house, but I know that we are fucked. His contract is likely fairly standard for CEO's and city managers, and although lacking in some parameters (like, we're supposed to pay his health benefits to age 62 even if he gets another job with benefits??) the terms can be negotiated if he's terminated or resigns, so it's not fixed. Vice-Mayor Julian has done a good job so far in trying to whittle down that contract to a severance package that Good might accept and would be a lot more reasonable for the city. You should be very worried about Commissioner Ross' determination to ensure that Good gets anything that he wants- and how Cooper and Sanders feel about that, however. We shall see. If Good doesn't return to the commission w/in the 21 day period he's allowed, I don't know what they have to give him, or if the contract becomes null. Good luck trying to get answers on that. We're all sitting and waiting to see what happens. I don't know why he wasn't terminated long ago. It's a Hallandale mystery, but I think that Cooper, Ross, Julian and perhaps Sanders as well would argue with your assertion that he had been a bad choice. They apparently think that he was a magnificent choice, and even after massive attendance problems and being continually unreachable and having, uh... personal pursuits that have taken up his time and energies... Commissioner Ross still doesn't want to fire him. She's really upset about it. I have absolutely no explanation about that. Your questions about how and why a surplus had been turned into debt and why services haven't improved despite increased revenues should be addressed to Mike Butler at ChangeHallandale.com. He asserts such things but offers no explanation as to why such things have occurred. That is why I have continually asserted that residents MUST HAVE PERSPECTIVE and all facts are relative to what surrounding municipalities provide, not just in dollar amounts but in direct services and quality of services. We must know some history as well as facts before we jump to conclusions. Then we might know better what it is that we want and figure out a way to get it. Revenues have certainly decreased, however, given the economic conditions and the housing market. You can view commission meetings on line or as they're aired on Comcast and see such financials explained to the commission by their accounting firms. It's a snore-fest, but it's not like they're hiding anything for sure. The Mayor also writes her column for the Sun-Times, but that's her perspective as much as she insists that what she writes is all entirely fact. I don't pick up the Sun-Times, however, unless I have a cat that needs to be caged and pee on paper. I used to get her writings via email, but that ended, and I don't know if she cut me out a la London or she's neglected to update her website and send out emails. I don't agree that we have "sky-high rates" for sewage, garbage and water. Surrounding cities contract out their services, and if you ask people who live in, for example, Hollywood, you'll hear a lot of complaints about poor service. We have our own water treatment plant and an in-house sanitation department. We are getting and spending a fortune on new sewage and drainage. Other communities may be paying less and getting less quality service. I'm not saying that they are... I'm just saying that those are possibilities to consider. I can tell you one thing, however: as we move forward in human history, our water bills are only going up, up, up and UP. The Mayor has been asked about this before, but commission meetings are not a good venue for getting answers. They're there to attend to the agenda at hand, but ad hoc questions can be met with very poorly articulated answers (I've seen that a lot). It's better to try to get answers outside of meetings by speaking to commissioners and the city manager's office directly via appointments or by writing a letter and then going to the commission if answers are either unsatisfactory or you want to state what you found out publicly. Our county commissioner is also up for re-election, and I recommend speaking to her (Sue Gunzburger) as well as her opponent (Steve Geller) and finding out how willing and able they are to help you sort out this information. We could arrange a group meeting about these issues. As I always say, the best way to get anything done is to approach someone running for office or up for re-election, not necessarily somebody comfortably ensconced. The red light issue is hardly a Hallandale issue. It's an issue all over the state, if not all over the country. The Governor just recently signed a new law to create some legal validity for them. Cameras everywhere are the wave of the future. It's already being done in Great Britain and in much of Europe and Scandinavia. In some respects it's terrific for safety and anti-terrorism matters, but it's not Hallandale at the forefront of the cameras issue. That's a situation being addressed everywhere. I did mention everyday quality of life in this comments section and complained that retail and commercial development have been emphasized over daily life and work. I feel that Hallandale has a poor quality of life for average people, and I would leave if I could. While the city has a lot of potential - or had before the American economy crashed thanks to Bush II, and we officially entered into a plutarchy under the current Bush III presidency- I have experienced too many nasty and unkind people in this community to believe that it's worthwhile to stick it out- especially the "el hefe" in my neighborhood who got kicked out of the volunteer police because of his crazed determination to harass his neighbors but who is becoming even worse since. I've also long been very unhappy about the immense amounts of garbage strewn everywhere that the city expresses no concern about whatsoever. Mike Good even mockingly said at a quadrant meeting that, "I know someone's going to say something about littering here," referring to me. I walk my dogs in the neighborhood and have to constantly bend down to pick up bottles and cans and other trash strewn absolutely EVERYWHERE. In the sweltering heat with all the weeds and badly treated dogs and stray cats and unhappy and rude neighbors and kids with too little to do with themselves, it's just not a good quality of life. Hallandale, Florida and America could do better. ...But, things will only get worse. We are not living in a system of government, in this city, county and state, that is geared for improving our schools, our transportation and our quality of life. The legislature in Tallahassee even made it illegal to propose minimizing or doing away with all those millions of plastic bags given out in the stores and supermarkets. Oil is gushing and making its way into the Atlantic with no end in sight, and the over 40 million gallons so far represent just over one hour of America's oil use. They're not really trying to get us off of foreign oil out there. They're trying to give us teaspoonfuls while making gazillions of dollars for themselves. All ye abandon hope who enter here. You may be mad and frustrated, but we've got to figure out a way of dealing with the elected officials we've got. Perhaps you should discuss proposing that all commissioner terms be up at the same time rather than voting for just two at a time. I have no recommendation there. You'd have to ask around. I have continually asserted that there's just no way of working with Keith London, as his personality is not wired towards dealing with ordinary people and finding consensus and expressing a positive message that promotes a better future. That's my main thrust, as only he and the Vice Mayor are up for re-election. Anyone who bothers to read what I've written here knows that I go on and on about that, but re-electing Keith London would be an outrage if you want an improvement to political discourse and a faster track towards solutions. Vice Mayor Bill Julian posted his phone number in a comment above. Here it is: (954) 274-7230. Call him. Make an appointment, or meet him for lunch or a soft drink- he likes to go to that beach bar behind the A1A fire station. Tell him your frustrations and ask your questions. Ascertain if he's giving you honest answers and decide whether to vote for him or not. Always remember, however, we don't get a gold-star slew of candidates at election time to choose from. Believe it or not- we could do worse. No... believe it. There's also "commissioner forums" held for the commission candidates, and you should attend to ask questions and hear what they have to say. No-party affiliation, Independent and Democratic Party members can also attend the Hallandale Democratic Club (I don't think there's a Republican club as yet) to meet and talk, but they don't get into city issues and it's not the friendliest crowd, but they do need members and a fresh blood, that's for sure. Gunzburger and Geller will be speaking to the club about their candidacies for the county commission. The reason that I write too much for the illiterate to read here is because people in Hallandale do not meet to discuss these issues. This kind of venue is all we've got so far to discuss the commission and the city's recent fiscal history. The United Condominium Association invites the public to their meetings, but that's for condo people, and it's part of the angry cult of Keith London. They're not going to want to hear my perspective. They'd probably run me out with a sawed-off rifle. I've purposely gone to venues where I had expected to have conversations with residents about who's who and what they want, like going to the American Legion on Veteran's Day and Memorial Day to meet and talk with people, but people are just not conversationalists. The condo people and the elderly people are too-often wary of younger and newer residents, and some of them, like George PosNasty, can be extremely hostile. That's why I keep asserting that we've all got to be friendlier and more welcoming to those who want to have civic involvement (shut up, Chaz, you asshole), and we've got to learn to work with the elected officials we've either voted in or we're stuck with, depending on your own perspective. Thank you, Afraid-of-crooks, for bringing up such good and very important questions. I only hope to promote a better way of getting answers for those with complaints. That doesn't mean that I have the answers, however. We certainly can expect better of our elected officials if we stay involved. ~Andrew

• Afraid-of-crooks: you hit the nail on the head. The city's budget hasn't been balanced for years.. ...despite record increases in property tax values AND a huge amount of new construction: over $2 BILLION from 2005 to 2008. 2010 property tax values are still $168 million higher than 2006 property tax values. During the same period, the city added $36 million of debt. During the same period, financial reserves decreased by about $40 million. Is the quality of life better? Are the residents happier? Where was all the money spent? Who's responsible?

• Afraid-of-Crooks, If you go here,I will try and answer your questions. http://cmrji.com/blog/2010/06/13/post-for-all-issues-related-to-hallandale-beach-florida/

• Mr. Andrew Markoff. I just read your comments on my only post, regarding the worsening state of Hallandale Beach. I insist that, no matter what discourse we get from politicians, matters are really simpler to solve than what most people realize. a) On what high qualifications did Mr. Good get hired, and got such a magnificent contract? b) Why didn't our commissioners terminate him long time ago if everybody is now agreeing that he was a very bad choice, and that they knew about his shortcomings long time ago? c) Where does the city's very high debt originate? Hallandale Beach has a much higher revenue now than 10 years ago. We do not see any significant improvement in residents' services. However, a large cash reserve has been turned into a tremendous debt. Can somebody explain what happened, please? Does this say something about the work of our commissioners who directly supervise the city manager and every dollar spent? d) I don't in fact understand what you explained about the city contracting sewage, water, etc. to explain our sky-high rates. In all cases, if our commissioners were doing a good job, we shouldn't be getting a lower level of service and pay higher prices for our services than other cities around. Period. e) The cameras are a terrible idea. The concept of "added revenue" is nonsense. We are not living in Hallandale Beach for any "added revenue" purpose. I could care less about "added revenue" for my city if that means being highly taxed or charged for services. The cameras have been proved to be just a "revenue generator" without any improvement in traffic or accident avoidance. Therefore, let's face it: their bottom line is a a new type of additional tax. Let them also place cameras in our theaters, our restaurants, our bars, and watch every gesture we make, and how many drinks we had, and so forth. This is not the way I envision a healthy society. No BIG BROTHER is needed in Hallandale Beach, and this is how most people now feel at every crossroad in the city. Instead of trying overwhelm us with "added revenue", our elected officials should reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, waste, and mismanagement, which in common sense, have caused these debts and deficits. And a last thought: Nobody lives in a city for its prestige, its grandiose city hall and facilities, the million dollars of its tax revenue, or the height of its buildings. Progress in a city can only be measured by the happiness of its citizens, and its quality of life. I haven't read such considerations in this blog. And with all due respect, yes I will remember who voted and supports the traffic cameras, which are like the last drop in this dirty bucket.

• Yeah Spartacus, you go with that there opinion of yours. You're certainly entitled to it. However, you aren't entitled to your own set of facts...

• It's really not that I write too much. It's that too many of those who think that they have an opinion are capable of only reading very little.

• Chaz, we sorta ignore "zen master Andrew" he writes too much. I think we try to respect our elders too....well.....in a way. I learn much from the old folk even if I occasionally disagree. I'm surprised these guys are on the blogs so it's kind if cute. Don't you think? Hope you wore sunscreen while tea bagging!

• "Good and Pooper have attempted every unconstitutional method to shut him up but have failed." The Mayor and Good have never made any attempt to "shut him up" other than stating in an ordinance that no city official should be a presence at public meetings involving Waste Management until litigation was concluded, which resulted in London filing a lawsuit because he's an obnoxious fool. Other than that, the Mayor as chair of commission meetings has never, ever, ever prevented Commissioner London from saying his spiel and asking his questions and making his assertions and casting his aspersions. She always- always- gives him plenty of time whenever he requests to speak to go wherever he wants and make all the ridiculous assertions he chooses to while never actually getting to the point. He plays to his imaginary crowd rather than attending to the issues at hand and addressing his colleagues with his direct concerns. The Mayor has only tried to shut him up after he's had plenty of opportunity to speak, could not get a second to his motion, and would not stop going on and on and on to nowhere. Clean House is quite obviously not watching those commission meetings. Keith London is a smart guy, but he exhibits sociopathic qualities and he is a libertarian who does not understand government, the city's charter or the structure of the city manager system, and he won't accept our system of government. The appropriate thing to do in that circumstance is to resign. No matter the character or the nature of the other commissioners, including the Mayor, at the very least the commission meetings should precede according to the agenda at hand instead of the constant interruptions from London and his sarcastic remarks and questions that go around and around and around without leading to any motion or second to a motion. All that he ever leads to is a single no vote on just about everything... which ends up helping NOTHING. Can't anyone see that??? That's why he wants summary minutes. It's all he's got to show that he tried to do something, but all that matters at all is the final winning vote on anything. All his aggravating accomplishes absolutely nothing in the end. We all have to work with what we've got at hand, not just be a lone dissenter to nowhere. Mutual cooperation would better ensure that problems and mismanagement are brought to light and dealt with. Much of the fault for the commission not attending to details that came back to bite them is because of the distractions and animus that Keith London has continually engendered during commission meetings. As far as his communications to residents, I certainly do not appreciate having been blatantly lied to or being cut out of his communications because he determined that I was not a willing follower of his cult. While there may be severe problems with the other members of that dais, at least we should expect commission meetings to function and move forward and get through the agenda and be done within a few hours. The Mayor and the other commissioners are willing and capable of at least doing that. I do not believe, although Mike Good and some of the commission's actions have been highly questionable, that Keith London would have been happy with another city manager and another commission. Keith London's political tactic is to be excessively negative and disparaging of whomever it is that sits on that dais or on any other community's council or commission. Clean House, you are duped, and there's nothing that anyone could say or do to make you think otherwise. I certainly hope, however, that there will be many more others who understand and agree with my points and we can try to get educated, be alert, vote out London and then work with what we've got towards a better vision for Hallandale government and quality of life at least until it's time for yet another election.

• Clean Horse-----you're probably dumber than people actually tell your friends you are. And by the way, I was morally opposed to abortion, but now there are some cases I believe where it is acceptable in your one.

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