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Irrelevant and insignificant meets gullible The only thing that is constant is change and you can’t have progress without change. In the city of Pompano Beach, we are progressing and changing, and it’s time to admit that the Internet has made chambers of commerce obsolete – and especially the local Chamber of Commerce, which has become irrelevant and insignificant. I point this out only because in a two-page explanation to the Mayor and City Commission, Pompano City Manager Keith Chadwell gave the reasons that attempted to justify giving the Chamber all of its money back in their 'sweetheart' real estate transaction (the one where the City bought the $300,000 Chamber property on Atlantic Blvd. for $450,000 and agreed to lease them the Montessori School Building for 30 years at a dollar a year). “I am a stout advocate for an appropriate relationship with the Chamber that provides for a thriving business environment that in turn provides for benefits to the entire community,” wrote Chadwell. What ? He wrote this memorandum on February 21, 2008, and his four-point plan to justify giving the Chamber all of its money back was full of strange assumptions and gaping holes. I don’t know what simplistic publication Chadwell was reading but it must have been written for some third-world developing country trying to attract foreign investment. Unfortunately if this is Chadwell’s real thinking, it is seriously flawed because it fails to take a serious look at basic, well-known facts. For Chadwell to be sold a bill of goods by such flim-flam artists clearly demonstrates that he has a lack of understanding of the local Chamber’s history. I suspect his predecessor, C. William Hargett, Jr., has had a dramatic negative effect on his thinking (and if not, his thinking is seriously flawed). This local Chamber hasn’t been involved in providing anything to the business environment – which by the way isn’t thriving – and they have never looked at doing anything that is beneficial to anyone other than themselves, the Seafood Festival notwithstanding. Chambers nationwide were always considered the place to go when visiting a new city to find out where services were available, and a place to go to learn about the local attractions. Sure, we didn’t expect to be referred to a “dry cleaners” if they weren’t a member of the Chamber, but we could find a dry cleaner – and that was expected. Chamber types used this hook to “force” a business to become a member. I don’t have a problem with that aspect of reality. It was sort of what you could expect from a service station attendant if you were lost and needed directions. You just pulled in and asked for directions. That too has changed. No longer are there any “service” stations and seldom can you find anyone working at one of these mini-food mart/gasoline stops, that sell air and water, who know where any roads are located or directions for you to go. Here’s a warning to the traveling tourist: if you get lost in Miami-Dade County, you might as well be lost on another planet. But we have had progress and it is called the Internet – and that brought change. The Internet does more to promote Pompano Beach in one hour than the local Chamber of Commerce does in an entire year. Today, members of that Chamber are reduced to being members of a self serving social club or children’s fraternity, because they are sterile in effectiveness to the business climate. According to members, “attend one of the ‘Funday Mondays’ parties and see for yourself.” For Chadwell to say differently only shows he has no concept of what is going on in this city. The matter of the Chamber contract and the return of their money was scheduled for the February 26th City Commission meeting. When looking at the back-up information provided to the City Commissioners, not a single member of City Hall staff signed off, or weighed in, on his recommendation. Clearly, this was his show. He made a decision, not based on facts, certainly not based on contract law, and in no way based on what was decent to protect residents’ tax dollars. He found it impossible to separate fact from fiction. You could see the end result coming before he fully presented his case. Four of the elected officials on the dais were not impressed. In effect they slapped him down and rejected his conclusions and recommendations. Numerous citizens spoke against Chadwell’s recommendations while three Chamber officials spoke in favor. One Chamber grandee took a haughty position and suggested that if the City didn’t like the deal Chadwell had recommended, maybe the Chamber would stay in their original headquarters. Mayor Lamar Fisher suggested the city cancel the entire deal. Chamber members and Chadwell didn’t look well after that bluff was called. But the bluff was called and by a vote of 4 to 2, the City Commission tabled the matter for one month and told Chamber members to internally vote to rescind the contract and they could stay put. Or maybe they and Chadwell could seek out a solution other than his initial recommendation. Chadwell had completely misread Commissioners and their intentions. Personally I like Chadwell, but his actions were arrogant, self-serving, and a feeble attempt to ingratiate himself into this slef serving fraternity. This analysis is not an unfair attack on Chadwell’s personal life; his personal life, character issues, and leadership will soon enough come into play. No, this is an evaluation of his professional style. I fear he wants to be one of the ‘good ole boys’ overnight. He should have avoided Hargett and paid attention to those who have deep concerns about this city and its future; and to those who have a vision for the city – those who want change for the better. But he didn’t follow that path. In only a few short months, he now has earned a citywide reputation of not making decisions that are beneficial to the residents, not responding to E-mails or returning telephone calls, and become the head of ‘wasteful spending incorporated.’ I said professional reputation because residents don’t want to get into a personal evaluation – at least not at this time. Gee, there’s something new – Bender taking a shot at the city manager. Well, to be honest with you, I really wanted to give our new City Manager a chance; I wanted to see him succeed; I have given him the benefit of the doubt. But things don’t look good. In his two page memorandum to the Mayor and Commission, Chadwell pointed out he was forming his recommendation based on the premise that his desire for coordination has not waned – even in the midst of information he had received (solicited and unsolicited) that the relationship between the City and the Chamber has experienced ‘challenges’ (I’m being nice). Chadwell points out that the information received was both solicited and unsolicited. What a unique way of telling his superiors those community residents wanted to express their opinion. I realize that Vladimir Putin and Caesar Chavez wouldn’t want someone’s unsolicited opinion. But here in Pompano Beach, that should be considered an asset for decision-making – this is not a dictatorship. I appreciate community involvement and concerns. I have received so many E-mails and telephone calls I think that there soon will be a local chapter of “Whistle Blowers Anonymous,” and they’ll probably use my address. I should consider bomb insurance. Back in September 2007, I remember being impressed when shortly after he was hired, Chadwell arranged over a couple days, for all city employees to come into the Commission chamber and talk with them – not to them – not at them – but with them. He gave them a vision of what to expect from his administration. Unfortunately, city employees no longer refer to that speech anymore as a positive presentation – they now refer to it as the biggest professional bs session ever presented to them – by anyone, including Hargett. Chadwell’s professional judgment has also recently been called into question when Chadwell hired Robert R. Franke, 51, to be the new Community Redevelopment Director, with an annual salary of $107,000. Everybody in the community wants the two CRAs to be successful, but something is missing. The previous City Manager Bill Hargett claimed that he spent more than 70 percent of his time on CRA matters, instead of city business. The City Commission didn’t want that so Fisher led the charge to hire an independent CRA executive. Fisher made that point clear when he sponsored the motion to seek a CRA candidate. After a long search, Chadwell chose Franke, but the hiring conditions make for some interesting analysis. Franke will be a city employee, paid for by the citizens and will report to the City Manager. No independence – just a figurehead. That wasn’t quite what the Commission had in mind, and not quite what residents were expecting. Under an ideal situation, Franke would have been hired by the CRA, to head the CRA, and would report to the City Commission – without any interference by the City Manager. When the job was completed, then his contract would be terminated and the City could move on. Among the residents, there has always been the somewhat unrealistic dream to repeat the design and reap the success of the projects of Los Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale and Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach. Unfortunately, as it looks today, the way things are going, we might just get a repeat of skid row in New York City. Serious questions need to be answered. For example, why will taxpayers have to pick up his salary tab, when he should be paid from CRA funds? Will residents also pay for Franke’s administrative assistants and office staff? Why will Franke have to report to Chadwell, instead of directly to the City Commission? Why are City Commissioners allowing this to become a repeat of the past? If we don’t learn from our historical mistakes, we are doomed to repeat them. Some city officials that I have talked with are now questioning if Chadwell will be receiving a golden parachute or an early buy-out on his contract; and he has only been on the job seven months. If that happens, he only has himself to blame – he is the gullible one who befriended his predecessor Hargett and followed his advice. This pot is almost ready to boil. |