Readers’ rants My resolution for 2008 is to appear on a television reality show. I want the grand prize to be something that is financially rewarding and wherein I get the chance to live out the rest of my life on an island with 10 beautiful women. No, I am not merely dreaming because the lifestyle I currently live is nowhere near reality and all I get is frustration after frustration. This past holiday season I attended various dinner parties, at different homes, every night of the week. Not only did I gain an enormous amount of weight (I only mention this because I have a doctor’s appointment in two weeks and is he going to be upset), but also I discovered many of my readers seem to delight in the fact that I can express my viewpoints – seemingly without interference from either editors or publishers – and my viewpoints appear to have an effect on what takes place. That’s the journalistic analog to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. There was plenty of give and take. I learned a lot and found the party guests willing to inform me and to question me. During the first dinner party, I became openly involved in a discussion of the extension of former City Manager Bill Hargett’s personal service contract with the City. WHAT? Seems that the original ‘you-still-have-pull’ contract with Hargett, which by its terms expired on September 30th, got extended. HOW? After the dinner party I ran into City Manager Keith Chadwell, and asked him if Hargett was being paid on a monthly basis or hourly basis. He told me he honestly didn’t remember. OH? Under City ordinances, the City Manager can contract for a maximum of $25,000 without securing city commission approval. The original ‘you-still-have-pull’ contract called for Hargett to be compensated a maximum of $25,000 – thus avoiding any mention of it to the city commission, so they could vote on the matter. The city attorney did not draw up the contract. Hargett drew up the contract and had interim City Manager Phyllis Korab sign it for implementation. WHO SAYS YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU? However Chadwell extended the agreement with Hargett through December 31st – for consulting services related only to the negotiations with Local 1549 (Pompano Firefighters/Paramedics). My question is: if a contract is extended, doesn’t it then become part of the original contract – and since it would exceed the maximum $25,000 allowed by ordinances, wouldn’t that require the matter to be submitted to the city commission members for their review and approval? At this party were three attorneys – none of whom would render an opinion (a rather unusual situation, since the general wisdom is that when you get three attorneys together you get at least four or five different opinions). Another party attendee suggested that I was a provocative rogue but always looked forward to reading my weekly column. No she was not related to me and it was the first time I ever met the woman. Somewhere along the way, some of these party attendees thought it amusing to talk with me so they could express their opinions about subjects that I had already covered. Many even believe I know about most things going on in Pompano Beach. The revelation about the extended ‘you-still-have-pull’ contract caused quite a stir along with questions from some of why I was trying to put a wooden stake in the heart of Bill Hargett. With that thought in mind, I drove home and had pleasant dreams that night of ‘Bender the Vampire Slayer’. Incidentally, picking Hargett to negotiate with the firefighters may not have been the greatest idea. I know it was his own idea, but someone else might have to take heat for it. Anyway Hargett and the firefighters have reached an impasse, meaning neither will budge. That is likely to result in the whole thing going to arbitration (you know, where each side picks an arbitrator and the two arbitrators pick a supposedly neutral third arbitrator – or maybe they’ll just agree on a single arbitrator). In arbitration, the arbitrator or arbitration panel doesn’t mediate an agreement – they tell you what you have to live with. Now, does that mean that Chadwell will hire Hargett to present the City’s side of the case? Will he get commission approval or do it and ask to be forgiven? Ever feed a stray dog, and then couldn’t get rid of it? At another dinner party we got on the discussion of the State SBA (State Board of Administration) and its recent financial difficulties (stemming from the subprime lending market and investing in worthless and almost worthless securities). The SBA executive director resigned as a result of the debacle, although some other elected officials should share the blame: Governor Charlie Crist, Attorney General Bill McCollum, and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, all fell asleep at the switch and (fortunately for Pompano Beach and a few other cities) allowed a financial run on the fund. More than $14 billion was withdrawn from the investment pool before the losses were apportioned – and the three elected officials claimed ignorance. That might be a fair assessment. An outside auditing/consulting firm from New York was called in to investigate. It turns out the fund had more than two billion dollars in questionable (almost worthless) investments. The pool floundered and cities panicked and withdrew their funds. Pompano’s Chief Financial Officer, Suzette Sibble, withdrew Pompano’s $147 million and secured our funds. Single-handedly she helped save the day for our city. Sibble received a simple ‘thank you’ – one grateful city commissioner recognized Sibble from the dais. Up in Tallahassee, however, the investment managers were awarded performance bonuses, even though their disastrous decisions caused the state’s investment pool for local governments to flounder. Five money managers at the SBA were paid bonuses totaling $50,000 each. The fund executive director who resigned (Coleman Stipanovich) received $14,000, almost 8 percent of his $177,000 annual salary. Believe it or not, agency officials say their bonuses pale in comparison to what private money managers can make. This week, acting SBA director Bob Milligan told Crist and the SBA trustees, the state might have to double what it currently pays to lure a new permanent head for the agency. “That sounds like a lot to me,” Crist said afterward. “Those of us who choose to go into public service understand that it’s not for the money. It’s for the opportunity to serve.” I hope the bozos up in Tallahassee don’t discover Suzette Sibble. We need her in Pompano Beach. But she would end up making more than our city manager and doing a better job than Stipanovich. Local leaders are not immune from making stupid decisions. Kristin D. Jacobs –Broward County Commissioner for District 3 – single-handedly took it upon herself to kill the proposed 179,000 square foot Super Wal-Mart on NW 3rd Avenue, just south of Copans Road. Her justification to kill the development along with Wal-Mart building a new – and much needed – fire station, was listed in an eight-point program that she sent to the Broward County Planning Council. I tried unsuccessfully to reach Thomas A. Pennavaria, Jr., president of Creative Reporting Group and spokesperson for Wal-Mart stores in Florida for comment. He was not available and out of town for the holidays. From what I did learn, Pennavaria got fed up with Jacobs and her demands. Jacobs had made some extravagant demands for the Coconut Creek Wal-Mart, and Wal-Mart caved in. Pennavaria appears to think the demands were ridiculous, and has told associates that he will not give into any demands made by Jacobs on the new Pompano Beach Super Wal-Mart. Jacobs made the demands, and Pennavaria said ‘no.’ While some of the County’s objections to the City’s Eastern CRA plans have saved residents from City Hall folly, the Western CRA has not been plagued with such nonsense. Jacobs overstepped, and it is going to cost us dearly. Jacobs, long considered a lightweight on the County Commission, has shown she can be a nitwit, and this latest idiocy makes Kay McGinn look like a Phi Beta Kappa. Thankfully Jacobs is term-limited and she is in her last term of office representing our city. During his reign, Hargett was the director of the CRA’s. We know where that got us. While the news is not officially out, Chadwell has hired a director for the Eastern CRA. Now I would love to tell you his name – it’s something-Frank – but all the generously-paid occupants of City Hall’s 4th floor took an extended holiday time-off, so for more information we’ll have to wait for the two-week city hall shutdown to end. I did, however, get a tip that this new director has recommended that the City put the LAC request on hold for another six months to give him an opportunity to study the proposal. Probably just as well – maybe we’ll get a plan this time that doesn’t line the pockets of special interests and developers. So now to my readers’ rants. I want to tell you up front, there is not a reporter or columnist on the face of this earth (and that includes me) who has any solutions to the myriad of problems that we report on – because all we do is report. We are not gifted nor blessed. Sure we have a sense of news and can figure out when someone is giving us a lot of BS – but all we do is report – we do not solve anything. Well, not usually. I also want to assure you that not all of my readers agree with me on all issues. During the holidays, I was going to erase the e-mails I received in 2007 – so I can start fresh with an empty deleted file folder. I received 18,559 e-mails last year – but after all of these dinner parties, I thought I would refresh my memory of what a lot of readers told me throughout the year. They certainly didn’t express the same sentiments as I heard at these dinner parties. Many of the e-mails expressed varying opinions but ended up with the same suggestion that I do something to myself that would be physically impossible. In the first part of 2007, I was in the final stages of writing what developed into an 18-part series on former City Manager C. William Hargett, Jr. I received 213 e-mails in approving the series and 39 e-mails criticizing my coverage. The 39 urging me to stop the series were well written and very thoughtful – but all had hostile overtones. I can’t get life insurance, so we limited the series to 18 installments. My six-part series on former City Commissioner Susan Foster didn’t generate as much e-mail but only 3 people did not agree with the coverage. I did, however, get chided at a civic association meeting by members who thought I was unfair and creating an unnecessary investigation. The vote was 54 e-mails in approving the series with 3 e-mails dissenting. I neglected to check whether any came from Foster or her husband, but two did come from a computer in a library, so who knows? In covering Mayor Lamar Fisher’s problems with the state ethics commission, 24 e-mails approved the coverage while 18 e-mails did not. The six-part series on the Chamber of Commerce and their lack of fulfilling the contract – 185 e-mails thought the Chamber was out of line while 7 e-mails thought I was being unfair and provided poor coverage. I know that some of the favorable e-mails were from Chamber members, and I suspect . . . well, never mind. While covering the hiring of a new City Manager, 34 people voiced an opinion that the whole thing was my entire fault since I had cost Hargett his job. A full 127 residents said the new city manager would be of great benefit and it was time for a change. So, now that I have explained it to you, maybe you can understand why I want to get on a nationally televised reality show – and win. I don’t want or need the money. I just want to live on an island with 10 beautiful women – no attorneys – no politicians – no editors – no deadlines – no fatwas. If I did, I wonder if I could get rid of all 67 years of Roman Catholic guilt.