It’s terrific that seemingly every level of government has been infected with vigilance toward waste, but you can have too much of a good thing. Prudence with trimming budgets can quickly turn to hysteria, especially when politics is involved. There’s a risk of being penny-wise and pound-foolish.Consider a scene from…
In March 1998, months before he was supposed to graduate high school and head off to Florida State University, then-18-year-old Eric Brody was driving home from his job at Sports Authority in the Sawgrass Mills Mall. Around the same time, a Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy named Christopher Thieman left his…
Now that Lake Worth has a transgendered city manager and an anarchist commissioner, it deserves its place among the state’s most progressive, open-minded cities. A hell of a good thing to be known for. But why stop there? Why not go for the most mind-blowingly diverse city government in all…
With a local legislator, Sen. Nan Rich, touting a bill that would make it a felony to have sex with an animal, I’ve recently interviewed a self-described “zoo” from the upper Midwest, “James.” Part one of that interview is here. I asked James whether zoophilia was the product of life…
There is no organized opposition to the legislation being brought by Florida Sen. Nan Rich, or Sunrise, that would make it a third-degree felony to have “sexual contact” with an animal. As Rich put it a few weeks ago, “Who thinks it’s OK to have sex with animals?”Perhaps no group…
Thanks to the New York Times for nudging those suddenly budget-conscious East Coast and Midwest staycationers out of their stupor and toward South Florida. This weekend, the Gray Lady recommended a trip to the less celebrated tourist nooks of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, and Hillsboro Beach, all of which…
In her capacity as a leading Democratic surrogate, West Broward Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has had some tense moments while appearing on the allegedly “Fair and Balanced” news network. But two weeks after revealing that in the past year she had seven surgeries to defeat breast cancer, Fox News yesterday…
Thanks, New York City. A few days ago, you somehow convinced part-time Palm Beach resident Rush Limbaugh to ditch his Big Apple digs (presumably so he can spend more time being our neighbor), a bit of news that received this homage from Jon Stewart… The Daily Show With Jon StewartM…
Bernard Zyscovich is the Miami-based urban designer who has the unenviable task of crafting a modern, architecturally vibrant downtown Hollywood. Thanks to the Hollywood City Commission’s habit of preempting his plan by green-lighting huge condo projects, Zyscovich must hit a moving target.I talked with Zyscovich last month in connection with…
Seriously, wouldn’t that be fun? Kendrick Meek versus Dan Gelber. Both were college athletes in another sport: Meek played linebacker at Florida A&M, while Gelber rowed for the crew team at Tufts University. And yes, I know that linebacker translates better to basketball and that at age 42 Meek is…
Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Kendrick Meek, of Miami,continues to tear up the fund-raising circuit — an article in today’s Roll Call says Meek will report $1.5 million in campaign dollars in the year’s first quarter, which ended March 31. His primary competition for that nomination, Florida Sen. Dan Gelber…
Hallandale Beach Commissioner Keith London has been on the warpath ever since he learned that City Manager Mike Good grossed $422,000 in 2008. Last week, he asked city staff to describe at what rate Good was paid. Theoretically, since Good started his employment with the city as a construction worker…
And you wondered why former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush didn’t want to run for U.S. Senate in 2010? That campaign would have taken time away from his superhero hobby, which will be on display this time next week.Bush is scheduled to appear on “special” edition Fox News’ Hannity — not…
No city in Broward County has high stakes development decisions like Hollywood. It’s why for the last decade it’s become an emotionally charged issue. For all the fine points that fill the debate, the argument comes down to whether you believe the city should accommodate the developer or if the…
Yesterday, the Florida Governor’s Office posted this press release on Gov. Charlie Crist’s “Kids Only” town hall meeting. It contained the following statement:”It is important that our leaders hear what Florida’s youth have to say and consider their ideas to make our state better for future generations,” said Governor Crist…
State Republicans are accusing Florida CFO and likely gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink of placing politics before the safety of children who’d be victimized by sexual predators.Last week, Sink demanded that Attorney General Bill McCollum explain why he gave a no-bid contract to his own political consultant to produce public service…
Freshly arrived election data, suggests that Barack Obama’s defeat of John McCain in Florida was not the product of an energized Democratic base:Updated election data shows that Florida Republicans actually turned out at a greater rate than Democrats — nearly 80 percent of Republicans voted, compared to 76 percent of…
We all know how well it worked out when MoveOn.org took out an ad in the New York Times in 2007 calling General Petraeus “General Betray Us.” (President Bush called the ad “disgusting,” polls indicated a majority of America found it distasteful, and the Senate even passed a resolution to…
I’m speaking of the Deferred Retirement Option Program that made such a lucrative payout to Hallandale Beach City Manager Mike Good. He’s not the only public official getting rich from this excessively generous policy. In editorials yesterday and last Sunday, the Orlando Sentinel lists officials who stand to be paid…
(Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t seen the movie The Prestige, stop reading this post now, because I’m going to give away a crucial plot twist.)Remember that seemingly impossible trick in The Prestige by Christian Bale’s character? On one side of the stage, he closes a door behind himself while in…
Last year, Hallandale Beach City Manager Mike Good officially, and briefly, retired — a move that allowed him to cash in some 25 years of accumulated sick and vacation time. This, according to Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper, is how in 2008 Good’s gross income reached the astonishingly high figure…
We’re living in a bizarro world where Republican state legislators are willing to defy loyal lobbyists and increase taxes on alcohol and tobacco, plus give serious consideration to a compact that would let the Seminoles gamble Vegas-style. And now there are increasing signs that another favorite policy of state conservatives…
