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 THIS MONTH SunTrust Sunday Jazz Brunch
SUNDAY - SEPTEMBER 5, 2010 - From 11:00 am to 2:00 pm on the first Sunday of every month, the SunTrust Sunday Jazz Brunch fills the air with jazz music performed on four stages along the historic New River. Each month, bands perform a wide range of jazz in downtown Fort Lauderdale along the Riverwalk. Picnic baskets, blankets, chairs, dogs, children and people of all age groups blend into one large Jazz Appreciation Fest. September is Hispanic Heritage Month. ON SEPTEMBER 5, 2010, Caliente Jazz Sounds will be at the Esplanade, Clube do Choro de Miami at the Broward Center Peck Courtyard, Miami Jazz Quartet will appear at the Connie Hoffman Gazebo and Ghaleb’s Flamenco Group will be at the Las Olas Riverfront. For additional information or to have the 2010 informational brochure mailed to you, Click Here to e-mail your name and address to Debbie Bylica or call 954-396-3622 and leave it on the responding voice mail.
CLICK HERE for Details (CLICK HERE to download 2010 Brochure)Dolphin Day
On FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2010 from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Fort Lasuderdale will honor the MIAMI DOLPHINS for years of quality competition, community spirit, great traditions, and exciting moments. The event will take place at HUIZENGA/DDA PLAZA (Corner of Andrews Avenue and Las Olas Boulevard), admission is FREE! Activities and entertainment include special appearances from the Miami Dolphins Players and Alumni, Performances from the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders, pictures with T.D. the Miami Dolphin Mascot, live Music by Jimmy Stowe & the Stowaways, Children's Entertainment and Activities, Contests, Prizes and Giveaways and much more! Parking is available at the City Park Garage located at 150 SE 2nd Street.
For more information, call Debbie Bylica at 954-396-3622 or Click to Email.
Also, CLICK HERE for DetailsHurricanes Katrina and Wilma Claims Deadlines
HEADS UP! The 5-year Statute of Limitations for filing insurance claims for damage wrought by Hurricane(s) Katrina and/or Wilma is almost over. For victims of Hurricane Katrina, the deadline is AUGUST 25, 2010 at midnight. The deadline for Hurricane Wilma is midnight of OCTOBER 24, 2010. LAST CHANCE PEOPLE! TIME TO ACT!!!
For more information, CLICK HERE Career and Resources Job Fair Expo
THURSDAY - SEPTEMBER 2, 2010 - Hoping to repeat the success of a collaborative job fair initiative in February, Broward County Community Action Agency, Broward College and Work Force One will join forces once again to host a Career and Resources Job Fair Expo, Thursday, September 2, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Broward College North Campus Omni Auditorium, 1000 Coconut Creek Blvd., Building 60, in Coconut Creek. The event is free and open to the public. Expo attendees will have an opportunity to meet with South Florida employers representing such industries as education, health care, aerospace/aviation, government, leisure and hospitality, business, technological services, telecommunications and many more. "Dress to impress" and bring several copies of your résumé. For additional information, please Melvin Parrish at 954-761-2678 or Click Here to e-mail.
CLICK HERE for Details 23rd Annual Las Olas Art Fair
An annual fall tradition returns to LAS OLAS BOULEVARD on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 and SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24 between SE 6th AVE and SE 11th AVE in DOWNTOWN FORT LAUDERDALE. Ranked as one of the top 100 art festivals in the nation by a leading art publication, Las Olas continues to be one of the most anticipated art events in the area. People come out yearly to see over 150 artists display their work in what looks like a mini art gallery lined along the street. The Las Olas Fall Art Fair is a juried show, which means each participating artist is hand-selected from hundreds of applicants to ensure a first-class festival with only the highest quality, original artwork. All exhibiting artists are required to be at the festival the entire weekend. This gives you the unique opportunity to meet the creators of the art on display; commission a specific piece; ask questions about techniques; learn the sources of their inspirations; and purchase fine works of art at affordable prices. All of the work on display is available for purchase, and with prices ranging from $15 earrings to $50 prints to $20,000 sculptures, there is always something for everyone.
For more information, please (954) 472-3755 or Click to E-mail.
Check web page by CLICKING HERE for DetailsFight For Air Lung Walk
SATURDAY - OCTOBER 2, 2010 - The walk will be held at HUIZENGA PLAZA, located on the SE corner of ANDREWS AVENUE and LAS OLAS BOULEVARD. Rain or shine, registration (FREE) starts at 8:15 A.M, runners start at 9:15 A.M and walkers starts at 9:30 A.M. The American Lung Association's "Fight for Air" Lung Walk raises money to fight lung disease in all its forms through lung health education, research and advocacy. More than 35 million Americans struggle to breathe because of lung disease and everyone is affected in some way. The RUN/WALK will begin and end at Huizenga Plaza in downtown Fort Lauderdale at the corner of Andrews Avenue and Las Olas Boulevard. The walk is 5 kilometers and will take you south on 3rd Ave and back up Andrews Ave to the Plaza. There will be water at the park as well as designated water stations along the route. Stay for the party!! After the race hang out with the Lung Association and enjoy music, food and entertainment!
For additional information, call Paula Prendergast at (954) 524-4657 or CLICK HERE to email OR CLICK HERE to web page.Making Strides Walk-a-thon
SATURDAY - OCTOBER 9, 2010 - Making Strides is not a race; it is a celebration of survivorship, an occasion to express hope, and a shared goal to end a disease that threatens the lives of so many people we love. The walk will be held at HUIZENGA PLAZA (BUBIER PARK), located on the SE corner of ANDREWS AVENUE and LAS OLAS BOULEVARD. Registration begins at 7:30 AM and the Walk begins at 9:00 A.M. Teams of walkers and people of all ages are welcome to participate. In 2009, nearly 700,000 walkers across the country, 90,000 in Florida, joined the American Cancer Society in their united fight against breast cancer. Together, we raised $60 million through Making Strides events nationwide, nearly $6 million in Florida alone - and we did it one donation at a time. 145 Making Strides walks are held nationwide each year!
For additional information, call Phyllis Pittman at (954) 564-0880 or Click Here to email
CLICK HERE to the Broward County Making Strides web page. 20th Annual Buckler's Craft Fair
The 20th Annual Craft Fair will be held at the Americraft Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds at 9067 Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach, FL 33422. The Bucklers Fair runs through the weekend of OCTOBER 23 and 24, 2010. On SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, it is open from 10 PM to 5 PM. On SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, its open from 10 AM to 4 PM. Professional, award winning craftspeople from across the country exhibiting and selling items such as Country, Victorian, Folk Art, Primitive, Southwestern, furniture, wood items, toys, dolls, bears, clothing and accessories, jewelry, gourmet delights, homemade fudge, Christmas items and much more. The charge for admission is $6.00 per person ($5 admission + $1 surcharge by South Florida Fairgrounds) although children 12 & under are FREE. One paid admission good all three days with handstamp. PARKING IS FREE! To get there: From I-95, exit 68 (old exit 50), Southern Blvd. - West 7 miles. From Turnpike, exit 97, West on Southern Blvd., South on Sansbury.
For more information, call (386) 860-0092, Fax (386) 860-6157 or Click Here to email or Click Here to web site. Southpoint Bingo
Every THURSDAY, Southpoint Condominium will host BINGO - everybody's favorite! Come one, come all to 3400 GALT OCEAN DRIVE in FORT LAUDERDALE, to the fabulous Southpoint Bingo extravaganza. BINGO will be played every Thursday night at 7:00 PM in the North Lounge at Southpoint (EXCLUDING HOLIDAYS). This is an opportunity to make money, make new friends, and have fun. Refreshments will be served during the break. The cost is $5.00 per person for three boards. We’ll see you this Thursday...
For more information about Southpoint Bingo, call Southpoint at (954) 563-6353 or CLICK HERE to email OR Click Here to web page. Sunset Blue on the Galt Mile
The Sunset Blue Block Party is redefining the old-fashioned neighborhood wing-ding — it virtually explodes with cool blues, box-banging bands and packaged fun on the run. On the third Sunday of each Month between 6 PM and 10 PM, NE 33rd Street disconnects from the surrounding world as the whole block fills with vendor tents, tables, hippies, retirees, hot bodies, street vendors and people marching around in small circles. The Galt Ocean Shoppes area is just north of Oakland Park Boulevard, east of the Intracoastal and west of A1A. Live music, food, drinks and booths from local bars, restaurants and businesses. This is a community event by Galt Ocean Shoppes Improvement Association, Inc. - Access is free to everyone. Every third Sunday, 33rd street turns into an incredible BLOCK PARTY! Jazz Bars and restaurants like Blue Jean Blues, the Dive Bar and Fish Tales anchor the event. The block is plugged with soap vendors, food stalls, clothing stalls and dozens of people merchandizing an eclectic assortment of goods. Cold beer and pizza are always within arms distance. The next event is on SEPTEMBER 19th. NO EXCUSES - BE THERE!
For additional information, CLICK HERE to the Galt Merchants page about Sunset Blue or CLICK HERE to the Sunset Blue web page. 12th Anniversary Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Craft Festival
An annual fall tradition returns to LAUDERDALE-BY-THE-SEA on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30 and SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2010 at STATE ROAD A1A and COMMERCIAL BOULEVATD in LBTS. Situated comfortably between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway just north of Fort Lauderdale, is the town of Lauderdale by the Sea, known best for its warm tropical breezes and amazing ocean views. This craft show is a favorite South Florida tradition as visitors love the events beach view. Find various types of fine crafts including clay work, glass and beadwork, painting and more at this spectacular show.
For more information, please (954) 472-3755 or Click to E-mail.
Check web page by CLICKING HERE for DetailsBroward County Budget Workshops and Hearings
Among other important issues, the Galt Mile Reading Room is likely to face the Budget Block again this year. To familiarize yourself with the issues surrounding the threatening Budget mechanics, residents can attend or watch upcoming Budget Workshops and the Budget Hearings at the BROWARD COUNTY GOVERNMENTAL CENTER (ROOM 422) - 115 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale. Budget Workshops will be held on TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 2010 from 10 AM to 5 PM and TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2010 from 10 AM to 5 PM. The two Budget Hearings are on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 at 5:01 PM (#1) and TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2010 at 5:01 PM (#2). Between the two Public Budget Hearings, on September 21, 2010, a Beach Renourishment Workshop will run from 10 AM to 12 Noon.
For additional information, call County Administration at 954-357-7350 or Commissioner Ken Keechl at (954) 357-7004
CLICK HERE to the Broward County Commission Meeting Schedule web page.Fort Lauderdale Gun & Knife Show
The Sun Coast Gun Show will be held at the WAR MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM at 800 NE 8th STREET in FORT LAUDERDALE. The Fair is scheduled for SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 from 9 AM to 5 PM and SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 from 10 AM to 5 PM. The Ft Lauderdale Gun Show is a favorite for local gun collectors, hunters, and enthusiast. Dealers and private collectors from across the state of Florida exhibit at this show. You'll find a huge selection of guns, accessories, and many hard to find items. Make sure you do not miss the next Suncoast Gun Show coming to the War Memorial Auditorium. The charge for admission is $8 per person - Kids Free (12 & under). Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
For more information, call (954) 828-5380 or Click Here to web site. ¡VIVA BROWARD!
On SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 (11 AM to 10 PM) and SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24 (11 AM to 6 PM), ¡VIVA BROWARD! will happen at the POMPANO CITI CENTRE - corner of COPANS ROAD and FEDERAL HIGHWAY in POMPANO BEACH, FLORIDA. The 21st annual weekend celebration of Hispanic music, food, dance, art and culture enables the community an opportunity to shine a light on the cultural mosaic that makes Broward County so unique. VIVA BROWARD! plans to transform the Citi Centre into a Cultural Village, abuzz with non-stop outdoor live entertainment featuring a free concert on Sunday October 24th, typical Latin foods and drinks, Brazilian capoeria dancers, free salsa dance lessons, folkloric shows, arts & crafts, Free health screenings, educational displays, voter registration and lots of kids fun. Beverage sales will benefit the Light of the World Clinic, the only free healthcare clinic for the indigent in the county.
For additional information, call 954-527-0627 or CLICK HERE to email. CLICK HERE to the ¡VIVA BROWARD! web site.Fort Lauderdale Antiques & Collectors Faire
The Dolphin Promotions Antique Show will be held at the WAR MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM at 800 NE 8th STREET in FORT LAUDERDALE. The Fair is scheduled for SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 from 10 AM to 5 PM and SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24 from Noon to 5 PM. 75 dealers offering quality antiques, collectibles, memorabilia, antique & estate jewelry, orchids & much more. Silver re-plating, doll restoration, and crystal repair available on-site. The charge for admission is $5 per person - good for both days ($4 w/coupon).
For more information, call (954) 563-6747 or Click Here to email or Click Here to web site ($1 OFF WITH PRINTED COPY OF WEB PAGE). 17th Annual Hollywood Beach Latin Festival
The 17th Annual Hollywood Beach Latin Festival will be held on Sunday, SEPTEMBER 19, 2010 from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. (rain or shine) and typically attracts more than 50,000 celebrants to the Hollywood Beach area. The entertainment, as in years past, will include internationally renowned performers. This popular event showcases Latin culture with both traditional and folkloric music on two stages, dancing, food, arts and crafts, a health court and children's activities. Location is along the 2.2-mile Boardwalk on HOLLYWOOD BEACH from Michigan Street North to Garfield Street, admission is FREE! Either “window shop” or stock up on handmade Latin arts & crafts.
For more information, call Karl Chuck at (954) 921-3404 or Click Here to email or Click Here to Hollywood Beach Latin Festival web site. Gamma Aquarid Meteor Shower (SDA)
This shower is active during SEPTEMBER 1-14, with maximum occurring on SEPTEMBER 7. Its highest rates of activity only reach 1-4 meteors per hour. This meteor shower was first observed in England during 1921, when A. Grace Cook and J. P. M. Prentice independently detected activity in early SEPTEMBER. Independent observations from 1927 to 1934 were made by groups of observers in New Zealand and Germany. Only one radio-echo survey has ever revealed the Gamma Aquarid stream. During the 1961-1965 session of the Radio Meteor Project, activity was noted during SEPTEMBER 10-11. Although this stream was not noted in any of the analyses of photographic meteor orbits during the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's, the Author has identified two photographic meteors from a list of 2529 orbits computed by Richard E. McCrosky and Annette Posen that definitely belong to the Gamma Aquarid stream. They were both detected on SEPTEMBER 11, 1952, by the Harvard Meteor Project. During the 1970's two detections of this stream came from the Southern Hemisphere. The meteor section of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand observed this shower on several occasions during the decade. Section director John E. Morgan compiled a list of 213 active radiants which included the Gamma Aquarids.
For more information, CLICK HERE to Meteor Shower Web Site. St. Lawrence Gallery September Events
The St. Lawrence Gallery will be hosting many evenings of art and socializing at at 3556 N. Ocean Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Wine and Cheese will be served and raffles will be held as you mingle. Be sure to join us to celebrate local artists and charitable giving, On THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 - 6 to 8 PM - 4th Annual Best of Bonnet House Fine Artists - second reception - featuring Mary Belle Cordell, Nia Nakis, Marilyn Johansen, Joan Keirstead. On THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 2010 - 6 to 8 PM - Arts & Hors d'oeuvres in benefit of Family Central - Please join us as we exhibit the work of artist Anita Orsini for the very first time at St. Lawrence Gallery in benefit of Family Central.
For more information about St. Lawrence Gallery, CLICK HERE call 954-566-8011 or Click Here to email. Harvest Celebration to Observe Autumn Equinox (Mabon)
The public is invited to the Broward County, Florida, Pagan Pride Day Celebration 2010 Family Picnic/FOOD DRIVE, on SEPTEMBER 25, 2010, NOON to dark, in the UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH of Fort Lauderdale at 3970 NW 21st AVENUE (between Commercial Boulevard and Oakland Park Boulevard) in Fort Lauderdale. Bring canned or non-perishable food items, to be donated to the Cooperative Feeding Program of Broward County (or Cash Donation). The event is open to the public, and the admission is non-perishable food items and clothing, to be donated to the Cooperative Feeding Program of Broward County. There will be Workshops on pagan subjects; vendors; and Drumming. Families are welcome. Participants are encouraged to bring drums and percussion instruments for the drumming circle. We wll have live music by Witchs Mark. Note: The celebration's primary focus is the 5:30 PM Autumnal (Autumn) Equinox Sun Celebration Circle. Anyone wishing to stay and participate is welcome.
For more information, call 954-484-6734 or Click Here to email or Click Here to web site. Jazz On The Square - SEPTEMBER 3, 10, 17, 24 - Join us every Friday night from 7 PM - 10 PM for an outdoor festival of music and merriment sponsored by The Chamber of Commerce and THE VILLAGE GRILLE & VILLAGE PUMP! Commercial Boulevard and the Beach at Pelican Square. Phone 954-776-5092 for details or Click to Web Site. Additional information is available by contacting the L-B-T-S Chamber of Commerce at (954) 776-1000 or CLICK HERE to email. GMCA Presidents Council - The GMCA Presidents Council Meeting will be held on MONDAY, JUNE 7, 2010 from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM in the L'HERMITAGE I CONDOMINIUM at 3100 NORTH OCEAN BOULEVARD in FORT LAUDERDALE. Many Thanks to DIANE BERGHEIM, President of the L'HERMITAGE I CONDOMINIUM for graciously hosting this important meeting. Pio Ieraci will chair the monthly Presidents Council meeting. Check GMCA CALENDAR for important meeting information.GMCA Advisory Board
The next regular meeting will be on THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 2010 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at NICK’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT - 35th Street & NORTH OCEAN DRIVE (A1A) in FORT LAUDERDALE. President Pio Ieraci will chair the monthly Advisory Board meeting. Check GMCA CALENDAR for important meeting information.Commissioner Bruce Roberts’ Pre-Agenda Meeting TUESDAY - SEPTEMBER 20, 2010 (6:00 PM) The meeting will be held at Cardinal Gibbons High School, Media Room, 2900 NE 47th Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL. Two or more City Commissioners and/or Advisory Board members may be present at this meeting. All are welcome to attend.
CLICK HERE for Details or Check GMCA CALENDAR for Commissioner Roberts’ bi-weekly Pre-Agenda MeetingsFort Lauderdale City Commission Meeting WEDNESDAY - SEPTEMBER 8, 2010 CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL, 100 N ANDREWS AVE, FORT LAUDERDALE. Conference Agenda - 1:30 PM, Regular Agenda - 6:00 PM. The City Commission meetings are generally held on the first and third Tuesday of the Month - aberrations due to holiday conflicts, etc. are posted. All are welcome to attend.
CLICK HERE for Details or Check the GMCA CALENDAR for meeting dates and times of Fort Lauderdale's City Commission. Fort Lauderdale Planning & Zoning Board Meeting WEDNESDAY - SEPTEMBER 15, 2010 CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL, 100 N ANDREWS AVE, FORT LAUDERDALE at 6:30 PM. The Fort Lauderdale Planning & Zoning Board Meetings are generally held on the third Wednesday of the Month - aberrations due to holiday conflicts, etc. are posted. All are welcome to attend.
CLICK HERE for Details or Check the GMCA CALENDAR for meeting dates and times of Fort Lauderdale's City CommissionCouncil of Fort Lauderdale Civic Associations General Meeting TUESDAY - SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 (7:00 PM - MEET & GREET, 7:30 PM - MEETING) at City Hall, 100 ANDREWS AVENUE. President Genia Ellis convenes the monthly general meeting of the Council of Fort Lauderdale Civic Associations. The meeting will be held in the 8th Floor Commission Conference Room.
CLICK HERE for Details or Check GMCA CALENDAR for information about the monthly meetings Ask Lori!
Read the AUGUST 2010 question asked of Lori Parrish by a Broward resident - Broward County Property Appraiser LORI PARRISH answers questions posed about property appraisals (of course), Save Our Homes amendment ramifications and the ubiquitous “Homestead Exemption”. Located in the Broward County Property Appraiser page on the Galt Mile Community Association web site, Lori Parrish clarifies confusion surrounding the appraisal process and explains our rights in simple Q & A format.
CLICK HERE for Details!
CLICK HERE For Details!
Commissioner Roberts' May 2010 Newsletter
MAY 7, 2010 - Framing the recessionary dilemmas threatening next year’s budget, Vice Mayor Bruce Roberts’ May 2010 Newsletter clarifies the distinction between budget expenses fueled by self-sustaining Enterprise Funds and those supported by General Fund revenues. General Fund beneficiaries are funded primarily by property taxes. The Budget Advisory Board is conducting Departmental reviews to identify potential savings, thereby lightening the burden on taxpayers. The Vice Mayor also reviews legislation in which the City holds a stake, including the Sprinkler Retrofit Relief Bill, a Bill opening the beach to oil drilling, red light camera enforcement legislation and statutory constraint of "Pill Mill" proliferation. After addressing the upcoming "Great American Beach Party", Roberts makes a pitch for volunteers to fill open seats on key Municipal Advisory Boards. Check it out!
CLICK HERE for Details!
 VOTE EASY VOTE EARLY
AUGUST 2010 - You do not have to wait until Election Day to vote. You do not need an absentee ballot or some special dispensation. Early voters can make known their will at a variety of different Broward sites. Nearby locations include the Main Library at 100 S. Andrews Avenue and the North Regional Library/Broward College at 1100 Coconut Creek Boulevard in Coconut Creek as well as the Northwest Regional Library at 3151 University Drive in Coral Springs. Early Voting dates for the AUGUST 24, 2010 Primary Election are AUGUST 9 to AUGUST 14, 2010 and AUGUST 16 to AUGUST 21, 2010. Early voting hours of operations are Weekdays (Monday - Friday) 10 AM - 6 PM, Saturdays 10 AM - 6 PM, Sundays CLOSED. Registered voters can avoid the traffic and the lines that plague overcrowded polling places. If you bring a signature-bearing photo id and a previously marked sample ballot, you'll whiz through the experience. VOTE EARLY! TRAFFIC PLUGS SEPTEMBER 2010 - STREET CLOSURES - S.W. 6th Street between S.W. 2nd Avenue and S.W. 4th Avenue will be open to local traffic only from Monday, August 30 to Monday, September 27, 2010 to complete a construction drainage project. -95 will have the NORTHBOUND inside (HOV) lane closed between the bridge over the South Fork of the New River and Broward Boulevard overnight from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday night, Aug. 30, through Thursday night, Sept. 2. The Sunrise Boulevard Bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale has one lane closed at all times IN EACH DIRECTION until August 31. WATCH OUT FOR RED LIGHT CAMERA INTERSECTIONS!
CLICK HERE for full details - YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!
CLICK HERE TO READ GMCA PRESIDENT PIO IERACI'S PRESIDENTS COLUMN!
PEACE ON EARTH
MAIN PAGE
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS RELEVANT TO OUR COMMUNITY! READ THE GMCA'S CURRENT POLITICAL UPDATES FROM:
GOVERNOR CHARLIE CRIST MARCH 31, 2010 - On Thursday, March 4th, Galt Mile Community Association President Pio Ieraci was surprised by a late afternoon telephone call from one of Senator George LeMieux's staffers in Washington DC, who asked if Ieraci could arrange a March 8th Town Hall meeting for his boss - four days off. Pondering potential benefits to the neighborhood - other than providing residents with an opportunity to "Meet Your Senator" - Ieraci hatched a plan with several other GMCA officials. In an exercise bordering on wishful thinking, they aspired to leverage delivery of LeMieux's requested Town Hall meeting for an opportunity to meet with the Senator's close friend and ally, Governor Crist. They needed to make the Governor understand the disastrous consequences of requiring unit owners to fund an unnecessary $multi-million sprinkler retrofit. Specifically, they wanted to insure that Crist wouldn't veto Representative Ellyn Bogdanoff's sprinkler retrofit relief bill. Inexplicably, despite a chain of unexpected and discouraging twists and turns, it appears that the longshot may have succeeded!
VICE MAYOR BRUCE ROBERTS MARCH 11, 2010 - In his March Newsletter, District 1 Commissioner and Vice Mayor Bruce Roberts shines light on several high-impact issues that resonate across district, city and state lines. Roberts opens by decrying a legislative attempt to open our beaches to the predations of big oil and applauding City employees for their generous contributions to Haitian relief. Aspiring to derail a $multi-million burden facing high rise association homeowners, the Vice Mayor also spearheaded a resolution supporting the sprinkler retrofit relief bill (HB 561) sponsored by Statehouse Representative Ellyn Bogdanoff. Roberts addresses noise complaints from neighborhoods adjacent to Executive Airport, short-term home rentals that threaten a neighborhood's residential integrity, the explosion of Pill Mills that export death across the country and preparations for next year's intimidating budget exigencies. Check it out...
BROWARD COMMISSIONER KEN KEECHL FEBRUARY 20, 2010 - Given the monthly flood damage from deteriorating plumbing, employee lawsuits for a mold infested working environment and a growing litany of structural defects, the Broward Board of County Commissioners approved replacing the County Courthouse by a 6 - 3 vote on February 2nd. An appointed Courthouse Task Force determined that replacing the dilapidated structure with a scaled down new building would be less costly than a commercial relocation, continuously patching the existing courthouse or spinning off courthouse tasks to satellite locations. Irked by local media reports that characterize the action as an unnecessary tax burden, Mayor Keechl's March Newsletter reveals deliberately omitted fiscal factors that soften the tax consequences and otherwise justify the Commission vote.
CITY MANAGER GEORGE GRETSAS JANUARY 15, 2010 - On November 17th, the City of Fort Lauderdale underwent a sea change. Residents from virtually every city neighborhood were joined by dozens of municipal and civic volunteers, business leaders, city employees, former Commissioners, religious leaders and minorities of every stripe in expressing appreciation for the management team that expedited the City's recovery following the 2003 fiscal implosion and subsequently steered Fort Lauderdale to its current status as South Florida's most solvent and well managed municipality. Since the new commissioners all campaigned on responsivity to constituent input and safeguarding the City wallet, city residents flooded the Commission chambers to insure that their elected representatives voted to retain City Manager George Gretsas, a lynchpin of the City's operational and fiscal stability. Instead, the City Manager experienced what Commissioner Bobby DuBose called a “public lynching” by two City Commissioners pursuing what Commissioner Romney Rogers characterized as personal and political agendas over the interests and wishes of their constituents. While sharing in the citywide frustration over the outcome of a process described by former Commissioners John Aurelius and Dean Trantalis as "subverted by revenge and politics," participating Galt Mile residents additionally questioned whether they'd been deliberately misled or only marginalized by District 1 Commissioner Bruce Roberts. Since the current economic maelstrom will intensify the consequences of replacing a competent Manager with an unknown quantity, Galt Mile residents share a significant stake in the dynamic driving this issue. As such, the following unsettling blend of elements from C-SPAN, “What’s my Line” and “The Gong Show” is a comprehensive summary of events surrounding the City Commission's antics of November 17th.
REPRESENTATIVE ELLYN BOGDANOFF SEPTEMBER 18, 2009 - Following a 2004 12-vote election squeaker, Ellyn Bogdanoff's meteoric rise through the Florida Statehouse has led her to target Jeffrey Atwater's soon to be vacant District 25 Senate seat. Until she makes the move, the House leadership is counting on the Statehouse gatekeeper and fiscal guru to help circumvent budget problems. In her Autumn Newsletter, Bogdanoff describes some of the challenges undertaken during the 2009 legislative session and measures their success from several objective perspectives. She makes reference to an economic study by the non-partisan American Legislative Exchange Conference entitled “State Winners and Losers” which credits recent legislative changes with improving the State's economic outlook, ranking it number 11 nationwide. A scholastic report by Education Week magazine similarly improves the State's educational ranking from number 31 to number 10 over the past three years. Read on - You'll feel better!
What's New?
ASSOCIATIONS
All of the members of the Galt Mile Community Association are entitled to maintain a website that reflects the relevant features and qualities of their residences. This is the link to the websites of the individual Associations. Recently added sites include Caribé, L’Hermitage II, the current L’Hermitage Link Newsletter, The Royal Ambassador, Coral Ridge Towers South, and The Galt Merchants Association! In addition, 90% of the existing Association Sites have been recently upgraded. Check yours out! We’re delighted to see that the PLAYA DEL MAR website is BACK UP and RUNNING. The PLAYA DEL MAR web site offers the entire association newsletter. It also houses past newsletters in the Newsletter Archives! THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS! ANOTHER SURPRISE! The CORAL RIDGE TOWERS EAST Web Site has also been reincarnated. CORAL RIDGE TOWERS EAST resident and Webmaster Warren Eisenberg has done a wonderful job in bringing an online presence back for one of the first GMCA member Associations to create a web site! In April 2005, CORAL RIDGE TOWERS ORIGINAL and RIVIERA both established web sites. PLAZA EAST and the GALLEON set up independent web sites and REGENCY TOWER'S web site was up and running again after an unexpected hiatus. In August, 2006, Director Jack Zink took the initiative to set up an independent web site for FOUNTAINHEAD. Also, PLAZA SOUTH has joined the club, kicking of its web site in June of 2008... congratulations! More good news! COMMODORE CONDOMINIUM has also created their own fully self-maintained web site.
Click to CONDOS
DIRECTORS
The Galt Mile Community Association is administered by a Board of Directors, an Advisory Board, and the Presidents Council (an assembly of the Presidents of each member Association). They are depicted and briefly biographied in this section.
Who Are They?
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| AERIAL VIEW OF THE GALT OCEAN MILE SHORELINE |
 August 30, 2010 - After the FBI spent two decades filling Miami and Palm Beach jail cells with corrupt politicians, Broward County emerged as "Rat's Nest Central". With the Feds breathing down their necks, Broward Commissioners who twice ignored voter mandates for an ethics code finally cobbled together the Broward County Ethics Commission. Despite repeated attempts by County Commissioners to undermine their efforts, the Ethics Board finalized a credible Ethics Code on February 19, 2010. On August 10, 2010, the Broward Commission met to either endorse the Ethics panel's handiwork or reject the voters' will for a third time. When the Commission eviscerated the code's enforcement component and approved a hollow shell, the electorate went ballistic. A few days later, they voted to return some of the code's extracted teeth, claiming it was all a big mistake! Residents watching the proceedings kept looking for a cartoon car filled with cops in big hats and funny costumes.
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It's MY Money... and I Want it NOW!
 August 22, 2010 - Time is running out... with a bullett. Five years ago, Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma blew through the Galt Mile, tearing out windows, shutters, and exterior doors as if they were Kleenex. Cars were tossed around Association parking decks like toys along with interior furnishings that were evacuated from units that lost balcony doors. The damage to Galt Mile Associations ran in the $tens of millions. State insurance statistics indicate that less than half of the damage was reimbursed. While deductibles account for about half of the shortfall, the balance of the repair costs were never paid. Since many insurance carriers repeatedly postponed consideration of submitted claims, frustrated associations either agreed to a substantially smaller benefit settlement or simply threw in the towel. Over the past year, many South Florida associations and individual unit owners have been made whole by previously uncooperative insurers. How about you! If you file your claim now, you will beat the upcoming deadline...
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Take a Number and Get on Line
 August 15, 2010 - When the Deepwater Horizon oil spill spread through the Florida Straits and threatened Florida's East Coast, Governor Crist added Broward to a list of 25 other counties he identified in Executive Orders as eligible for financial assistance. BP has been reimbursing local government remediation costs and commercial losses attributable to the spill. Property Appraisers in several of the threatened counties informed the Governor that local property owners were spill victims, as post-event property values understandably plummeted. To supply property owners with proof of value diminishment (and a basis for legal action against British Petroleum and other culpable parties), the Governor issued an Executive Order authorizing Property Appraisers in the affected counties to provide interim assessments of any real property that may have suffered a loss in value as a result of BP’s Gulf Oil Spill. Until they are exhausted, funds set aside by BP to address these suits will be allocated on a first come-first serve basis - perhaps its time for Galt Mile Associations to take a number and get on line!
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The $ummer of $cam
 August 8, 2010 - Florida has always been a fertile environment for motivated scam artists. Every year, dozens of Galt Mile residents report a broad range of hoaxes, frauds, and stings to the Galt Mile Community Association. While some of these pan out as local "misunderstandings", most of the reported rip-offs are wide ranging scams whose victims number in the thousands. This summer brought a palpable jump in screwball schemes that victimized Galt Mile residents and merchants. Some tricky doggie managed to scam the Postal Service into sending him all the Citizens Property Insurance premium checks addressed to the company's Jacksonville headquarters. Masquerading as the State's Division of Corporations, another slime ball charged victims a fee for the privilege of being scammed. By far, the dirtiest and deepest cutting frauds exploited concerns about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill! See for yourself...
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Keechl Wants to Wax the Tax
 July 31, 2010 - In his July 2010 newsletter, Broward Mayor Ken Keechl harkens back to statements he made shortly after winning his District 4 County Commission seat. In his March 2007 Newsletter - “It’s All About Property Taxes” - Keechl warns his fellow Commissioners that an era of wine and roses County spending is over, admonishing that they wake up and smell the recession. Since then, Keechl has evolved into the Commission's primary advocate for spending restraint and rolling back the tax burden. As the September budget deadline approaches each year, some of his commission peers try to lay the political groundwork for a millage hike by focusing on an intimidating litany of potentially painful service cuts. Having led the charge that trimmed the bloated $3.7 billion County budget to $3.3 billion, Keechl notes, "the world didn’t end, did it?" Read on...
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Bungled Beach Project Back on Track
 July 24, 2010 - For the past decade, increasingly frustrated Galt Mile residents have been anxiously awaiting promised repairs to what the Florida Department of Environmental Protection characterized as “severely eroded beach.” Although the project was temporarily derailed by events blending elements of “Waiting for Godot” with “The Three Stooges Meet Alice in Wonderland,” County Administrator Bertha Henry assures us that our sand is on the way. During the past decade of dilatory progress, sections of beach suffered additional tidal erosion not accounted for in the original renourishment plans. To offset this incremental coastal loss, an interim project will pump sand onto the displaced beach north of Anglin's Pier. The Army Corps of Engineers projects a serendipitous benefit to the Galt Mile Beach. How? Read on...
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Galt Ocean Mile Library Under the Gun
 July 17, 2010 - On July 1st, the meeting room in the Galt Library was filled with local residents concerned about the Reading Room's fate. Their common purpose was to rescue the library from the budget axe. The Galt Mile Reading Center, arguably the most popular local asset on Galt Ocean Drive, is a critical resource for hundreds of mostly elderly local residents. Broward Mayor Ken Keechl and Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Bruce Roberts joined Library supporters to formulate a strategy to salvage the embattled Reading Center. Although the County Commission is theoretically obligated to balancing the sacrifices required of each District’s residents, some Commissioners target resources and programs located in neighboring districts, freeing their own constituents from adverse fiscal impacts. When asked, Keechl informed the anxious patrons that the only defense against such tactics is “a formidable demonstration of community support.” Volunteers agreed to generate supportive petitions, association resolutions, and emails to County Commissioners to insure their Library's survival. You can help! Please sign the petition and send an email... we've made it easy! Read on...
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Lori Parrish: June 2010 Update
 July 9, 2010 - On June 17, 2010, Broward County Property Appraiser Lori Parrish addressed the Galt Mile Community Association Advisory Board. Within months of becoming Property Appraiser in 2005, Parrish introduced a County Constitutional Office mired in the 60s to post Millenium technology while cleaning out a rat's nest of nepots and no-shows. A no-nonsense, straight talking public servant, Parrish opened her presentation with a "grabber", exclaiming that sales trending from late 2009 and the first five months of 2010 strongly support the conclusion that “we may have finally seen the end of this catastrophic real estate crash.” After reviewing the stats supporting her statement, the Broward Property Appraiser revealed how to rent a Homesteaded unit, research foreclosures and save $8000. Winding up, Parrish and GMCA President Pio Ieraci explored the moral exigencies of ratting out association members up to their necks in fraud.
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Roberts: Disasters, Drugs and Dial-a-Park
 July 2, 2010 - In addition to some timely reminders, Vice Mayor Bruce G. Roberts’ June 2010 Newsletter reviews some innovative solutions to difficult problems. Our District 1 Commissioner blends a Hurricane Season preparation heads-up, progress with busting up a commercial engine for the South Florida drug trade and a new parking venue that will enable drivers to feed the meter without interrupting their dinner. A prospective salvation for Fort Lauderdale Stadium bodes a new Sports Village and Water Park that might evolve into one of the City's most magnetic attractions. This alternative is certainly preferable to hosting local Little League games and watching the stadium rust into oblivion.
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Galt to Bog: Thanks for the Bill!
 June 26, 2010 - On June 7th, an unusual GMCA Presidents Council meeting was convened at L’Hermitage I. Instead of plowing through the planned agenda, this final assemblage before the summer break was a tribute to Representative Ellyn Bogdanoff and the successful legislative session. Joining Bogdanoff were Broward Mayor Ken Keechl and Donna Berger, a managing Partner at Katzman Garfinkel Berger who helped draft portions of Bogdanoff's Sprinkler Retrofit Relief Bill. While expressing their gratitude for a bill that will save every unit owner a boatload of money, audience members asked about the back room battles surrounding the bill and how its dozens of new regulations will impact their associations. Before adjourning, they were also treated to a surprise Beach Renourishment update by Mayor Keechl.
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Keechl Shields Beach from Oil & Rumors
 June 20, 2010 - For the first time in Florida history, a Broward County Mayor has been confronted by the effects of an oil spill that originated in the Gulf of Mexico and snagged a loop current through the Florida Straits to threaten the State’s east coast. Since Mayor Keechl’s primary responsibility is to defend the county’s 23 miles of beach from a prospective tar ball assault, he assembled an impressive lineup of “in-house” talent and managed the creation of a realistic environmental defense plan. However, when Governor Charlie Crist included Broward in the two dozen Florida counties covered under a declared state of emergency, he consequently inflamed suspicions that Broward’s status as a coastal paradise had been compromised. To reassure vacationers and travel industry representatives that Broward dodged a bullet, Keechl launched an aggressive campaign to counter any skewed perceptions - since they could cost about $15 million - per day!
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The Bill... and the Gauntlet
 June 14, 2010 - On June 1st, Governor Crist surprised and delighted the 2 million proponents of Senate Bill 1196 - the omnibus association bill - by signing the bill into law. After all, the bill intensified an agenda that had already prompted two gubernatorial vetoes. The legislation’s passage has all the trappings of a Hollywood feel-good epic. To survive, the Bill had to circumvent significant obstacles erected by many of the State’s most formidable lobbies. For the first time in over a decade, controversial Association legislation didn’t self-destruct in deference to directives handed down by special interests. Since the legislative dynamic in Tallahassee hasn’t undergone some cathartic sea change and lobbyists still command enormous resources, how did legislation with so many powerful enemies survive a process ordinarily controlled by the highest bidder?
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Corrupt... or Just Plain Stupid?
 June 7, 2010 - When former Broward School Board member Beverly Gallagher was charged with accepting thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for steering school construction projects to undercover FBI agents posing as contractors, it not only vented a Pandora’s Box of corruption that sent the sweat glands of local officials into overdrive, it brought focus to one of the largest sources of taxpayer bloodletting, the Broward County School Board’s Facilities & Construction Management Division. Of all the agencies, departments, divisions and bureaus in local government capable of providing fertile opportunities for engaging in theft, fraud, kickbacks, graft, or other illicit means of abetting one's income, why does the School Board’s construction arm play such an important role in Broward’s financial debacles? In the words of Willie Sutton when asked why he robs banks, “That’s where the money is.”
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OTHER Assn Bills: Migraines & Dandruff
 May 29, 2010 - Passage of the long awaited Omnibus Association bill could determine whether many of our friends and neighbors will be forced from their homes. Others may have to choose between filling a prescription and eating dinner. While apprehensively preoccupied with the progress of Senate Bill 1196, most unit owners have been oblivious to the other association bills passed during the 2010 legislative session. While some of the surviving association bills portend chronic migraines for unit owners, others are tantamount to regulatory dandruff. Since these bills, along with the critically important SB 1196, have been sent to the Governor, this is your last chance to impact their fate! After the article are email links to Governor Crist, with which you can express your support for SB 1196 and recommend a VETO for two legislative nightmares - SB 1964 and SB 2044. Take 60 seconds and save a BUNDLE!
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Mayor Keechl's Tallahassee Dollar Hunt
 May 21, 2010 - Reading Mayor Ken Keechl’s newsletters, one could be forgiven for nursing the impression that he loves his job. In addition to expanding his outreach to other elements of the regulatory hierarchy that impact our lives, his appropriations expeditions to Washington and Tallahassee provide an opportunity to bring some balance to our fiscal relationship with these revenue black holes. This month’s offering is Part 2 of his hunt for County dollars. While his Washington sojourn largely benefitted projects with county-wide relevance, in Tallahassee Keechl refocused on district issues. Meeting with the Governor and County lawmakers, Mayor Keechl checked on our beach renourishment bank account, blasted offshore oil drilling and lobbied hard for the right of Association unit owners to set their own fiscal and life-safety priorities - like every other homeowner!
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Bogdanoff: Galt Mile Legislative Update
 May 14, 2010 - A few days after the Sergeants-at-Arms of the Florida Statehouse and Senate simultaneously dropped their handkerchiefs in celebration of the session-ending Sine Die ceremony, Statehouse Representative Ellyn Bogdanoff addressed the May 3, 2010 Presidents Council meeting at the Commodore Condominium. Having made the 6-year transition from timid rookie Representative to Statehouse flamethrower, Bogdanoff ran down a summary of the session's new legislation, focusing on the bills with greatest local impact. The former Majority Whip and candidate for the District 25 Senate seat reviewed the State budget, the Broward Ethics bill, the "Pill Mill Bill", Red Light Camera Enforcement, offshore oil drilling, the Seminole gambling pact and the long-awaited sprinkler retrofit relief, insurance fixes and foreclosure cap increase in her omnibus association bill.
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Roberts: Budgets, Bills & a Beach Bash
May 7, 2010 - Framing the recessionary dilemmas threatening next year’s budget, Vice Mayor Bruce Roberts’ May 2010 Newsletter clarifies the distinction between budget expenses fueled by self-sustaining Enterprise Funds and those supported by General Fund revenues. General Fund beneficiaries are funded primarily by property taxes. The Budget Advisory Board is conducting Departmental reviews to identify potential savings, thereby lightening the burden on taxpayers. The Vice Mayor also reviews legislation in which the City holds a stake, including the Sprinkler Retrofit Relief Bill, a Bill opening the beach to oil drilling, red light camera enforcement legislation and statutory constraint of "Pill Mill" proliferation. After addressing the upcoming "Great American Beach Party", Roberts makes a pitch for volunteers to fill open seats on key Municipal Advisory Boards. Check it out...
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Will Tallahassee Cure Utility Graffiti?
 May 1, 2010 - Since Commodore volunteer José “Chepo” Vega was charged with performing pro-active oversight of the hardscape and landscape features along Galt Ocean Drive, the City has never come closer to fulfilling its contractual obligation to maintain the Galt Ocean Mile in a “Disney-Like Manner”. At Chepo’s request, Vice Mayor Bruce Roberts looked into the proliferation of an aesthetic irritant that Chepo characterized as “Utility Graffiti,” street and sidewalk markings applied to deter an excavator from inadvertently damaging interred utility elements. The City exclaimed that legislation recently filed in Tallahassee might resolve this legal vandalism. A closer inspection of the bill revealed that Chepo might want to hang onto his Excedrin.
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Mr. Keechl Goes to Washington!
 April 24, 2010 - Within hours of being appointed by his peers to spearhead the County in 2010, Broward Mayor and District 4 Commissioner Ken Keechl declared next year’s budget his overwhelming priority. Keechl has long lamented an imbalance between the staggering consignment of Broward tax dollars that travel north to fuel state and federal enterprise and a significantly less impressive ration of reciprocal resources. Our fiscally disciplined “Blue Dog” Mayor spent a healthy part of March and April lobbying Tallahassee and Washington D.C. officials, primarily to insure that we receive at least as much as we shovel into state and federal coffers. In his April 2010 Newsletter, Mayor Keechl enumerates which programs will benefit from the federal government bouncing some of our tax dollars back to us.
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2010 Galt Mile Food Drive Final Results
  April 17, 2010 - The food drive was over. In celebration of another successful effort, Executive Director Scott Woodburn of the Cooperative Feeding Program sponsored an April 9th awards event at the St Lawrence Gallery on A1A. Earlier in the day, he sent email reminders to team captains, Association volunteers and other local program supporters that were instrumental in delivering the most impressive result in the Galt Mile Food Drive's 4-year history. Although pleased that Galt Mile contributors statistically exceeded his expectations, he was particularly taken aback by their having done so amid this crippling economic environment. Woodburn knew that much of this year’s collected food wasn’t pulled from donors’ shelves, but from their tables. Curious about your Association's competitive standing? The final statistics are chock full of surprises!
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State Settles 31-Year Gaming Quagmire
 April 10, 2010 - The wide disparity of lawmaker sentiments about gambling has long precluded State officials from agreeing on a coherent gaming policy, dooming past attempts to negotiate a profit-sharing pact with the Seminole Tribal Council. A $3.2 billion budget shortfall and the actualization that Florida gambling is a $7 billion bell that cannot be “unrung” has finally ended 31 years of dogmatic “moral” posturing that often cloaked a thinly veiled “turf protection” strategy by lawmakers from jurisdictions with tourism-based economies or pari-mutuel constituents. A House panel birthed a $1.5 billion deal approved by the Governor and the Tribe offering a larger first year budget infusion than any of its derailed predecessors - $437 million. The compact additionally assists pari-mutuel operators while leaving the door open to future licensing for casino-based mega-resorts comparable to the Bellagio or The Venetian in Las Vegas.
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George and Charlie on the Galt Mile
 March 31, 2010 - On Thursday, March 4th, Galt Mile Community Association President Pio Ieraci was surprised by a late afternoon telephone call from one of Senator George LeMieux's staffers in Washington DC, who asked if Ieraci could arrange a March 8th Town Hall meeting for his boss - four days off. Pondering potential benefits to the neighborhood - other than providing residents with an opportunity to "Meet Your Senator" - Ieraci hatched a plan with several other GMCA officials. In an exercise bordering on wishful thinking, they aspired to leverage delivery of LeMieux's requested Town Hall meeting for an opportunity to meet with the Senator's close friend and ally, Governor Crist. They needed to make the Governor understand the disastrous consequences of requiring unit owners to fund an unnecessary $multi-million sprinkler retrofit. Specifically, they wanted to insure that Crist wouldn't veto Representative Ellyn Bogdanoff's sprinkler retrofit relief bill. Inexplicably, despite a chain of unexpected and discouraging twists and turns, it appears that the longshot may have succeeded!
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2010 Assn Omnibus Bill - Condo & Co-op
 March 24, 2010 - Three weeks into the 2-month 2010 legislative session, bills impacting associations are dancing through committee minefields en route to a single omnibus association bill. Sharing center stage are Representative Ellyn Bogdanoff's House Bill 561 and bicameral counterpart Senate Bill 1196 by Senator Mike Fasano, heirs to last year's vetoed Senate Bill 714. In addition to providing sprinkler retrofit relief and fixing a score of expensive insurance inequities, the 2010 legislation goes a lot further, balancing financial reporting requirements, shielding confidential contact information from identity theft, relieving the onerous mandate to retrofit an elevator access key, enabling the bulk purchase of communication and internet services, allowing suspension of common area use rights and voting rights for delinquent owners, and a wide range of other legislative corrections. For a summary of these provisions and how they apply to condominiums and cooperatives... Read on...
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Bogdanoff on Broward Ethics Bill
 March 18, 2010 - For two decades, federal investigators surgically removed a battalion of crooked politicians - along with enabling lawyers and lobbyists - from Miami and Palm Beach, leaving Broward to stew in its own juices... until now! The Broward Ethics Commission finally formulated the ethics code mandated by Broward voters in 2002 and 2008. At its heart is an Inspector General empowered to issue subpoenas, take testimony under oath and investigate any reasonable suspicion of misconduct. To accomplish this, the Broward Delegation asked Republican Ellyn Bogdanoff and Democrat Ari Porth to file the legislative basis for asking Broward voters to decide whether an inspector general should look into complaints of waste, mismanagement and abuse by public officials and refer violations to the state attorney’s office. After filing House Bill 1425, delegation members in cahoots with elements of the Broward Commission tried to sink the bill in partisan sludge. In her early session update, Bogdanoff confirms her intention to see this through, as desperately sought by Broward residents. Read on...
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Roberts: Oil, Oxycontin & Opt-Out
March 11, 2010 - In his March Newsletter, District 1 Commissioner and Vice Mayor Bruce Roberts shines light on several high-impact issues that resonate across district, city and state lines. Roberts opens by decrying a legislative attempt to open our beaches to the predations of big oil and applauding City employees for their generous contributions to Haitian relief. Aspiring to derail a $multi-million burden facing high rise association homeowners, the Vice Mayor also spearheaded a resolution supporting the sprinkler retrofit relief bill (HB 561) sponsored by Statehouse Representative Ellyn Bogdanoff. Roberts addresses noise complaints from neighborhoods adjacent to Executive Airport, short-term home rentals that threaten a neighborhood's residential integrity, the explosion of Pill Mills that export death across the country and preparations for next year's intimidating budget exigencies. Check it out...
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Pre-session Foreclosure Relief Landscape
 February 28, 2010 - During 2009, the agenda of nearly every association board meeting along the Galt Mile was footnoted with the current and future impact of foreclosures on association finances. This year, Tallahassee will host another round of attempts to somehow engage banks in paying their fair share of maintenance costs for units in various stages of foreclosure lock-down. Responding to constituent pressure to “DO SOMETHING,” lawmakers have pulled the tires from last year’s failed bills and are bravely pushing this year’s retreads uphill. Having been burned by unanticipated and costly consequences of their procrastination policy, the juggernaut Bank Lobby in Tallahassee might lift the industry’s foot from the legislature’s neck long enough for one of this year's bills to squeak through. The following is a review of the pre-session line-up. ALSO...
How YOU Can Stop the Retrofit Ripoff!
 Shortly after professing support for Representative Bogdanoff's sprinkler retrofit relief bill, Governor Crist executed one of his classic "flip-flops", revealing at a news briefing that he might again veto legislation that returns the decision about installing sprinklers in unit foyers to the homeowners who must live with and pay for that decision. The Governor's political handler's want to determine if the huge assessment will translate into lost votes. This campaign diagnostic provides us with an opportunity to avoid this unnecessary $multi-million assessment. Please take sixty seconds and register your concern or prepare to soak the household budget for an additional $8,000 to $18,000 for this pork monument.
Review the Pre-session Foreclosure Relief Bills
and
Help Prevent the Retrofit Budget Burner
Keechl Clarifies Courthouse Tax Catch
 February 20, 2010 - Given the monthly flood damage from deteriorating plumbing, employee lawsuits for a mold infested working environment and a growing litany of structural defects, the Broward Board of County Commissioners approved replacing the County Courthouse by a 6 - 3 vote on February 2nd. An appointed Courthouse Task Force determined that replacing the dilapidated structure with a scaled down new building would be less costly than a commercial relocation, continuously patching the existing courthouse or spinning off courthouse tasks to satellite locations. Irked by local media reports that characterize the action as an unnecessary tax burden, Mayor Keechl's March Newsletter reveals deliberately omitted fiscal factors that soften the tax consequences and otherwise justify the Commission vote.
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Cameras Catch Cash & Snag Snowbirds
 February 14, 2010 - Those of you who followed discussions about the City’s FY 2010 budget possibly remember one of the more esoteric sources of municipal revenue, tricky traffic tickets from vehicular violations caught on covert corner cameras. Intrigued by the prospect of addressing two serious problems on the same dime, city planners carefully scrutinized the issues surrounding what ultimately evolved into the new “Automated Camera Red Light Traffic Enforcement System”. In addition to reducing traffic violations and resulting collisions, injuries and fatalities, the system has been annually budgeted to pump $1.8 million into the City treasury. More money... fewer accidents... lives saved... Sounds Great! The tricky part is to realize these benefits without unnecessary psychic disruption to our Galt Mile snowbirds and visitors. Read how...
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Third Time’s the Charm
 February 7, 2010 - Since 2002, when Florida association members hear the word “sprinklers”, they either wince or cringe. Condo and Co-op owners have spent the past eight years nervously awaiting notice about some mysterious assessment that could deep-fry the household budget. Recently, some Galt Mile Associations expressed shock and dismay upon receiving a disconcerting letter from the local Fire Marshal – reminding them that they will be tagged for a boatload of money by 2014. For those of you who have moved here since 2002 and/or take pride in ignoring the legislative antics annually cooked up in Tallahassee for you and your neighbors, there’s some good news. (This may also provide a modicum of relief to nervous Board members cogitating how to break the mysterious letter’s bad news to residents.) First – some history...
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Roberts Hits the New Year Running
 January 30, 2010 - Fort Lauderdale Vice Mayor and District 1 Commissioner Bruce G. Roberts weaves seven informational snippets into his January snapshot of Fort Lauderdale. He opens by ironically juxtaposing the joy experienced by 100,000 celebrants at the Downtown Countdown ball drop with how deterioration of local real estate values will hamper next year’s budgeting efforts. After explaining the value of the 2010 census, he enumerates the responsibilities facing the members of two municipal committees. The City's Visioning Committee is charged with developing a long term visioning plan that the City Commission can use as a guide for policy and decision making. The Centennial Celebration Committee was recently established to commemorate Fort Lauderdale’s 100th Anniversary in 2011. Roberts jumps to a the vacancy problem created when the Baltimore Orioles abandoned their Fort Lauderdale spring training facility for cushier digs in Sarasota. Finally, the Vice Mayor is pleased with recent progress made toward the realization of a Central Beach Master Plan. See for yourself...
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Keechl's Role as Broward's Mayor
 January 22, 2010 - In his January Newsletter, Broward Mayor and District 4 Commissioner Ken Keechl compares his job as Mayor to that of a County Commissioner. Throughout his year-long mayoral term, in addition to interfacing with the public, Keechl will officially represent Broward in County dealings with officials and agencies at every level of government. Although the seat is largely ceremonial, Broward's Mayor is vested with several significant advantages for shaping policy. Specifically, by flexing control over the Commission agenda and affording prominence to issues he considers important, Keechl can insure that his priorities (and those of District 4) receive adequate attention by the County Commission. Immediately after being sworn in, Keechl clarified his primary policy objective, exclaiming “This upcoming year’s budget will be our most difficult and challenging yet. In the past three fiscal years we have cut spending by $385 million. We must continue to separate our wants from our needs and starting tomorrow, I will begin overseeing the 2011 budget process.”
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The City Commission's Public Lynching
  January 15, 2010 - On November 17th, the City of Fort Lauderdale underwent a sea change. Residents from virtually every city neighborhood were joined by dozens of municipal and civic volunteers, business leaders, city employees, former Commissioners, religious leaders and minorities of every stripe in expressing appreciation for the management team that expedited the City's recovery following the 2003 fiscal implosion and subsequently steered Fort Lauderdale to its current status as South Florida's most solvent and well managed municipality. Since the new commissioners all campaigned on responsivity to constituent input and safeguarding the City wallet, city residents flooded the Commission chambers to insure that their elected representatives voted to retain City Manager George Gretsas, a lynchpin of the City's operational and fiscal stability. Instead, the City Manager experienced what Commissioner Bobby DuBose called a “public lynching” by two City Commissioners pursuing what Commissioner Romney Rogers characterized as personal and political agendas over the interests and wishes of their constituents. While sharing in the citywide frustration over the outcome of a process described by former Commissioners John Aurelius and Dean Trantalis as "subverted by revenge and politics," participating Galt Mile residents additionally questioned whether they'd been deliberately misled or only marginalized by District 1 Commissioner Bruce Roberts. Since the current economic maelstrom will intensify the consequences of replacing a competent Manager with an unknown quantity, Galt Mile residents share a significant stake in the dynamic driving this issue. As such, the following unsettling blend of elements from C-SPAN, “What’s my Line” and “The Gong Show” is a comprehensive summary of events surrounding the City Commission's antics of November 17th.
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Corporate Cacography Chafes Chepo
 January 6, 2010 - To insure that the City of Fort Lauderdale complies with their agreement to maintain the Galt Ocean Mile in a “Disney-like manner”, José “Chepo” Vega accompanied Parks officials and maintenance crews as they actualized a maintenance strategy hammered out by the unassuming Commodore resident with Park Operations Superintendent Brian Hopper and Beach Foreman Mark Almy. Within a year, the team of civic and municipal stalwarts, with the blessings of Parks Director Phil Thornburg and Vice Mayor Bruce Roberts, reversed almost 4 years of maintenance neglect and reclaimed much of the neighborhood's former ambiance. Ever vigilant, the watchful Chepo has targeted several new obstacles obscuring the community's aesthetic rebirth. Along with strengthening tree braces that succumbed to unusually harsh seasonal winds, he intends to face down corporate purveyors of an urban phenomenon he dubbed “Utility Graffiti”. He wants the industrial psychedelia GONE!
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Judges Jump when Banks Bark
December 29, 2009 - On November 30, 2009, association attorney and activist Donna Berger sent an email recounting a November 24th blog she wrote about banking industry in-court maneuvers that have associations frantically trotting a legal hamster wheel. The blog entry speaks to institutionalized tactics promulgated by banks to forestall taking title to foreclosed properties. Among the battery of methodologies deployed by the banking industry are legal motions that are akin to monkey wrenches thrown into the judicial process. Usually reserved for urgent matters where requiring notice would subject one party to irreparable harm, ex parte motions are requests for emergency rulings on behalf of or involving only one party to a legal matter and in the absence of and usually without notice to the other party. While it is possible that judges are oblivious to the part they play in exacerbating the burden on every one of the association’s unit owners, the regularity with which courts cooperate with these overtly abusive tactics supports that their complicity is “informed”.
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Galt Mile Preps for 4th Annual Food Drive
 December 21, 2009 - On December 7th, Cooperative Feeding Program Executive Director Scott Woodburn and Fort Lauderdale Real Estate proprietor Domenic Faro made their way to Playa del Sol Condominium Association to address a GMCA Presidents Council meeting. Four years earlier, Domenic and Scott invited the Galt Mile Community Association to sponsor a food drive on behalf of the Cooperative Feeding Program, Broward County’s lead agency for the provision of services to the hungry and homeless. Since then, the annual event marshaled over 5000 lbs. of food and hygiene products in 2007, more than 11,000 lbs. in 2008 and almost 15,000 lbs. during last year's effort. As Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler and Vice Mayor Bruce Roberts patiently waited to address the room of association officials, Woodburn faulted the economic downturn with burning through program resources and prompting a new objective for this year's Galt Ocean Mile food Drive - 10 tons of relief for hungry Broward families!
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Comm Keechl Elected Broward Mayor
December 14, 2009 - Despite the relative brevity of his tenure on the Broward Board of County Commissioners, District 4 Commissioner Ken Keechl was elected Mayor of Broward County by his Commission peers on November 17, 2009. Actually, he was preordained as the County’s top dog last November when Stacy Ritter was elected Mayor and Keechl was named Vice Mayor. In Broward County, the Commission practices a variation of Mayoral musical chairs, allowing every member one year in the largely ceremonial catbird seat after first spending a year as Vice Mayor. Although Keechl's new status isn't accompanied by the big stick warmly spoken of by former President Teddy Roosevelt, he can more closely align County policy with his own fiscally conservative, environmentally conscientious ideologies. It also won't hurt the County's ethically tarnished image to be headed by a squeaky clean, clear-thinking work-a-holic. As to his District 4 constituents, the Mayor will continue to address their concerns, only with a louder voice.
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Rip Current Grabs Galleon Guest
 December 7, 2009 - In November, a Galleon resident rescued a visiting guest from the grip of a deadly rip current. Responsible for 8 out of 10 beach fatalities worldwide, rip currents annually claim the lives of several Galt Mile residents and visitors - and threaten dozens more. The City of Fort Lauderdale is fiscally incapable of providing lifeguard oversight along its entire shoreline. Despite the heroic efforts of unheralded Samaritans and other first responders, the obituaries persist – mostly for fatally unprepared visitors. Ironically, these lethal surf beach artifacts are eminently survivable – if the prospective victim remains calm and knows exactly what to do. By minimally enhancing the process ordinarily used to enlighten visitors and guests (the largest pool of rip current victims) about association rules, we may finally rack up a year without an avoidable drowning death!
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40-Year Building Recertification Program
 December 1, 2009 - Patterned after a Miami-Dade County program in effect since the 1970’s, Broward County's 2005 “40-year or Older Building Safety Inspection Program” was implemented to minimize the dangerous structural and electrical failures that increase with a building's age. Following a 2006 program suspension because of Hurricane Wilma, Fort Lauderdale Building Services Director Valerie Bohlander reviewed the revived plan's requirements at an April 10, 2007, GMCA Presidents Council meeting, explaining that the existing inspection backlog would forestall issuance of Galt Mile association compliance notices until 2009. As warned, several Galt Mile Associations were charged in 2009 with recertifying their structural and electrical building elements. Other member associations built before 1970 should anticipate similar notices next year. An authoritative columnist for the Florida Community Association Journal, well-credentialed Galleon General Manager Marcy Kravit shares her practical conversance with this new challenge. Read on...
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Healthcare Update & Medicare Deadline
 November 24, 2009 - In its quest for a health care Holy Grail, Washington DC is narrowing the gap among plans currently under Congressional consideration. With the House bill already on the books, Senate leaders are struggling over the Public Option, as Senators tend to recoil in fear whenever Uncle Sam considers plying a new trade. Notwithstanding, Galt Mile Medicare recipients face a more pressing decision. The annual open enrollment period for the Medicare prescription drug benefit is underway. From November 15 until December 31, 2009, those currently enrolled in a Medicare prescription drug plan have an opportunity to switch plans. Since most plans have made important changes to their benefits for the upcoming year, including changes to monthly premiums, deductibles, the drugs that are covered or included on the plan formulary, co-pays and coverage in the “donut hole”, tools have been provided to help evaluate your options. A few minutes here could save you $thousands over the next 12 months - whether or not you have any coverage!
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Roberts: Firehouse, Football & Free Food
 November 18, 2009 - Having carved his public persona from a passionate commitment to public safety as Fort Lauderdale's former Police Chief, District 1 Commissioner and Vice Mayor Bruce G. Roberts opens and closes his November 2009 Newsletter with reference to another municipal force preoccupied with Public Safety, Fort Lauderdale’s Department of Fire-Rescue. He reviews the new Fire Station located at Executive Airport and recruits participation in the Department's Annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. Roberts also considers three past and future municipal events - the recent 50th Annual International Boat Show, the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl, assessing the fiscal impact that each portends for the City's treasury.
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New Tenant Rights Law Impacts Assns
 November 12, 2009 - If you’ve been preoccupied with a hunt for cross-dressing Nazi operatives in the Obama Administration and allegations that federal health care initiatives are a collaborative product of East German Stasi expatriates, Alaskan Inuits and former SAVAK agents, perhaps you are unaware of the newly passed “Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009”. The new Act inserts a tenant-friendly “non-disturbance clause” - common in commercial leases - into a residential context inclusive of condo and co-op rentals. 90 days before a new titleholder can occupy the unit as a primary residence, the tenant must be notified. If the new titleholder does not plan to live therein, an existing lease must be honored through the end of its term. The Act distinguishes between "bona fide" tenants and speculator-installed "placeholders", who remain unprotected. Although new laws traditionally breed abuse, familiarity with some of the law's idiosyncrasies should help diminish potentially adverse association impacts.
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Bogus FHA Website Scams Galt Milers
 November 6, 2009 - On October 28th, Congressional Liaison Cheryl Marken of HUD’s Miami Field Office notified Senior AmeriFirst Underwriter Theresa Schmitz about a fake HUD website entitled “FHA Modification” at www.fhamodification.com. Impressively bedecked with HUD and FHA logos, the site would pass even informed scrutiny as an official government offering. In fact, it is a “phishing” website. Phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, account numbers, Social Security Numbers and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity. The multi-$billion criminal enterprise hooks dozens of Galt Mile residents every year. A metamorph, the scam has adapted to exploit foreclosures and recovery-related economic pressures. Protecting yourself isn't difficult. Read how...
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Revived Claims Could Fill Condo Coffers
 October 31, 2009 - Following the serial hurricanes of 2004 and 2005, many Galt Mile associations entered into a long slow waltz with their property insurance carriers. When the State balked at a 2005 insurance industry ultimatum to approve virtually unlimited rate increases, almost every admitted windstorm carrier hit the road, abandoning the Florida property and casualty market. Divested of any competitive incentive to engender "good will", the few remaining Florida insurers (e.i. Australian carrier QBE) restructured their corporate policies - delaying claims via incessant requests for irrelevant documentation, purposely valuing damage loss below the hurricane deductible or portending eligibility exemptions not listed in the policy. As expressed by activist association attorney Donna Berger, recent court decisions have strikingly altered the legal landscape, allowing short-changed Galt Mile associations another bite at the apple!
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Keechl's Post-Budget Galt Mile Letter
 October 24, 2009 - Broward County District 4 Commissioner and Vice Mayor Ken Keechl has been delivering on his promises with religious regularity since elected 3 years ago. He has prodigiously directed his efforts, dividing his contributions between the county and District 4. After the Vice mayor and his Broward Commission peers finalized the controversial County budget on September 22nd, he wrote a letter to his Galt Mile constituents, summarizing the two issues that most impact the neighborhood. Earlier, Keechl promised to defang the County tax bite. He also made a commitment to circumvent attempts by some County Commissioners to close the Galt Mile Reading Center as a budget measure. To see how he rates his effectiveness with respect to these issues, read his letter...
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Recipe for Retrofit Ripoff
 October 16, 2009 - Heeding some questionable advice, Governor Crist vetoed a bill passed favorably by both houses twice within 3 years. In addition to implementing important insurance fixes, SB 714 would have postponed a $multi-BILLION payday for the sprinkler industry. Since successful pursuit of his political aspirations will have placed him in Washington DC by the time the bill's provisions decimated condo budgets across Florida, the lame duck Governor took a page from his predecessor's playbook and paid off a political debt before hitting the road. Like Governor Bush, he issued a veto message directing the Department of Business and Professional Regulations (DBPR) to study a retrofit’s cost impact on condos and coops. Recently released, the completed report confirms what the bill's supporters already knew - that unit owners in cash-strapped associations can't afford the huge expense!
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Galt Milers Rescue Reading Room
October 8, 2009 - On September 22, 2009, the Galt Ocean Mile Reading Center dodged a bullet. Arguably the community’s most popular local asset, the mini-library has been under the County budget gun for months. Angered at the prospect of losing the only County resource dedicated to the Galt Mile neighborhood, a large group of indomitable seniors inspired their friends, neighbors and public officials to see through the engineered budgetary spin and prevent the library from falling prey to county politics. A strategic plan molded by Broward Vice Mayor Ken Keechl and expedited by the Galt Mile Community Association and Fort Lauderdale Vice Mayor Bruce Roberts came to fruition at the final Broward County budget meeting, reprieving the popular Reading Room for at least another year. Congratulations to the many thousands of Galt Mile residents who participated in this successful campaign. You've improved all of our lives! See how...
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Roberts: Post-Budget & Water Rate News
October 1, 2009 - Keenly aware that we have stumbled into a historically unprecedented economic environment, District 1 Commissioner and Vice Mayor Bruce Roberts' September Newsletter considers the preparations facing the City Commission to better facilitate next year's presumably tighter budgeting constraints. While pleased with the Commission guidelines incorporated into FY 2009/2010 budget, Roberts anticipates implementing a zero-based budgeting departmental analysis, examining service fee assessments, studying and recommending pension reforms and assessing the current departmental management structure. Responding to some of the inconsistencies and inequities in the new water and wastewater rate schedule as reported by Galt Mile associations, Roberts reviews some tenets of the enabling ordinance. Read on...
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Keechl: 3 Busy Years and Counting...
September 24, 2009 - In his September 2009 Newsletter, Broward Vice Mayor and District 4 Commissioner Ken Keechl reviews his past 3 years on the Broward Board of County Commissioners. The Vice Mayor compares his post-election promises of November 2006 to subsequent hallmarks reached by the County Commission and his part in their actualization. The Commission's lowering of the Broward tax bite by $300 million over Keechl's timeline is matched against his post-campaign exhortation that “The overwhelming local issue of the 2006 campaign season was property taxes. They are too high – period.” Vice Mayor Keechl additionally serves up convincing examples the Board's progress in conservation, land use, animal safety and ethics - virtually every issue upon which he campaigned. See for yourself!
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Representative Bogdanoff on Budget
 September 18, 2009 - Following a 2004 12-vote election squeaker, Ellyn Bogdanoff's meteoric rise through the Florida Statehouse has led her to target Jeffrey Atwater's soon to be vacant District 25 Senate seat. Until she makes the move, the House leadership is counting on the Statehouse gatekeeper and fiscal guru to help circumvent budget problems. In her Autumn Newsletter, Bogdanoff describes some of the challenges undertaken during the 2009 legislative session and measures their success from several objective perspectives. She makes reference to an economic study by the non-partisan American Legislative Exchange Conference entitled “State Winners and Losers” which credits recent legislative changes with improving the State's economic outlook, ranking it number 11 nationwide. A scholastic report by Education Week magazine similarly improves the State's educational ranking from number 31 to number 10 over the past three years. Read on - You'll feel better!
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Seasonal & Swine - The Two Flu Blues
 September 12, 2009 - U.S. health officials are readying a unique flu vaccination campaign for this fall, but the initiative is burdened by public confusion, epidemiological uncertainty and an unprecedented medical mystery. 2009 is the year of the “two-flu” blues, requiring what Health Department honchos believe will be 3 inoculations to properly protect against this year’s deadly influenza onslaught. Along with the seasonal flu vaccination, we will face possibly 2 additional inoculations to insulate ourselves from the effects of the H1N1 Swine Flu. To defend against the second wave of the Northern Hemisphere’s first influenza pandemic in 41 years, the campaign aims to vaccinate at least half the country’s population within months. Unfortunately, when the new wave of infections begins peaking in mid-October, only about a third of the expected vaccine will be available.
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Vice Mayor Roberts' Budget Newsletter
 September 2, 2009 - Our District 1 City Commissioner and Vice Mayor Bruce G. Roberts is no longer an unknown political quantity. After squeaking by incumbent Christine Teel in the March 10th election runoff, residents nursed nagging concerns over his motives for leaving his iconic niche as the City’s top cop and chasing down a seat on the municipality’s governing body. After weathering months of glass-eye looks from constituents, the former City Police Chief has proven to be an unrelenting, no-nonsense work-a-holic. Instead of simply denying the rumors, he shifted into high gear, attacking neighborhood problems while working with the Mayor and the City Manager to grind out a remarkable budget. In his August Newsletter, the Vice Mayor details how the City Commission's Budget Guidelines imprinted on the City Manager's draft FY 2010 Budget. Check it out!
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Sunset Blue - New Hope for Galt Shoppes
 August 26, 2009 - The Sunset Blue Block Party is redefining the old-fashioned neighborhood wing-ding – it virtually explodes with cool blues, box-banging bands and packaged fun on the run. On Sundays between 6 PM and 10 PM, NE 33rd Street undergoes a dimensional severance from the surrounding world as the whole block fills with stalls, tents, tables, hippies, retirees, philosophers, hot bodies, pedestrian artists and people marching around in ever-diminishing circles while attempting to communicate telepathically with their pets. Live music, food, drinks and booths from local bars, restaurants and businesses energize the entire Galt Ocean Shoppes neighborhood. The party area is just north of Oakland Park Boulevard, east of the Intracoastal and west of A1A. This event could catalyze the kind of stability required to realize the neighborhood's development into a “Las Olas North”. You've got to see it to believe it!
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Keechl Pops Courthouse Finance Surprise
 August 18, 2009 - In his January 2009 Newsletter, Broward Vice mayor Ken Keechl summarized the need to rehabilitate, relocate or replace the dilapidated, mold-infested Broward Courthouse, focusing on the latest disaster suffered by the Judicial Center - a late November water main break that flooded the Clerk of the Court’s Office and shut down the facility for days. Since the anticipated expenditure would be significant, he supported the appointment of a Task Force charged with vetting the issue and developing a viable resolution. In June, Keechl revealed their recommendation, a scaled-back $328 million structure instead of the original $510 million project. Keechl ended the newsletter with a teaser. To find out how the County Commission could actualize the huge undertaking without increasing the millage rate, we had to “tune in to the next newsletter.” Well - this is it! To review the creative fiscal gymnastics - Read on...
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BCPA Expands TRIM Season Access
 August 13, 2009 - Now that the TRIM Notices have been distributed, Broward County Property Appraiser media liaison Bob Wolfe notified Galt Mile residents on August 6th that BCPA has expanded their assistance with understanding the components of this critical document. The basis for upcoming assessments, TRIM notices are the key to property owners' tax indebtedness. The well known voice of the Property Appraiser’s office for GMCA residents, Bob is a trustworthy source of answers to your inquiries. P.S. - Many of your questions have already been addressed in the “Ask Lori” section of the BCPA page.
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Courts Break Back of Shadow Rentals
 August 7, 2009 - Condo Associations across the State are suffering from plugged cash flow stemming from an epidemic of unit owner defaults. While “too-good-to-be-true” mortgages attracted home buyers from every segment of society, an inordinately large number of toxic mortgage defaults inure to investors. When the bank lobby euthanized every relief bill filed during the 2009 legislative session, nervous investors sought to weather the recession by dumping hundreds of thousands of units into the rental market. In the resulting underground economy, speculators who stopped paying their mortgages and association fees continued to pocket the rent. The $millions extracted from the monthly income streams of cash-strapped associations had to be subsidized by the understandably angry neighbors of these delinquent speculators. By clearly interpreting a previously vague statute, the courts empowered associations to recapture the resources being surreptitiously siphoned by deadbeat landlords.
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Florida Court Fixes First Amendment Flaw
July 28, 2009 - Concerned by the growing perception that legislative seats were essentially commodities with price tags, U.S. Senators Russell Feingold (D-WI) and John McCain (R-AZ) collaborated across the aisle to sponsor the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (AKA - The McCain–Feingold Act). The Act was anticipated to stigmatize the increased role of soft money in campaign financing, even for state and local races or issue discussion. It defined any broadcast ads that name a federal candidate within 30 days of a primary or caucus, or 60 days of a general election, as “electioneering communications” and prohibited their payment with funds from corporate (including nonprofits) or union treasuries. Running far afield of the Federal template, Florida legislators subsequently passed the nation's most restrictive law against politically inconvenient speech, forcing groups that merely mention political issues or candidates' names - even in an association newsletter or web site - to register with the state, appoint a campaign treasurer and disclose personal financial information of association members! This had to go.
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New City Budget is on the Money
 July 21, 2009 - Although Broward County and Fort Lauderdale share the objective of freezing the millage rate for the third consecutive year, the County is so enmeshed in conflict that Governor Crist specifically warned the parties against bringing their bloodletting to the State Capitol! On July 17, 2009, when City Manager George Gretsas released a first draft of the new city budget, city residents who missed the 2003 budget crisis learned why their neighbors who lived through it hold the City Manager in high esteem. His “Budget Message” enumerates five priorities developed by the new City Commission. They are (1) no property tax increase; (2) no increase in fire assessment fee; (3) maintenance of adequate reserve funds; (4) no reductions in vital City services; and (5) no layoffs. While the Commission's "Zero-based Budgeting" strategy effectively prioritized potential spending cuts, without Gretsas’ five-year rehabilitation of the city’s fiscal underpinnings, this proposed budget would be a fairy tale and City Hall would be consumed in the same controversy plaguing its the Broward County Government Center!
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New Battlefield for Broward Budget War
 July 7, 2009 - Broward County Vice Mayor Ken Keechl has consistently applauded his commission colleagues for cumulatively reducing the annual tax bite by $177 million over the prior two years. Having already pruned the high-visibility pork, commissioners prepared for the FY 2010 budget by first measuring their respective constituencies' anticipated backlash to weathering deep service cuts versus raising taxes during a recession. After weighing public feedback, they opted to freeze last year's millage rate and purge another $108 million from the budget. Since the Broward Sheriff’s Office harvests 50% of the County’s general operating fund, Sheriff Al Lamberti was tagged to equitably share the burden by absorbing half of the $108 million in spending cuts. Stunning the Commission, Broward residents and his own staff, Lamberti shed the temperate ethos that betokened his career, morphing overnight into a canny politician. After considering his options, Lamberti decided that he had to keep the money, move the forum from the Government Center to the streets and possibly to Tallahassee. Leery of being publicly forced to referee a politically anathematic conflict, Governor Crist warned the adversaries to keep the problem local ...and the hits just keep on comin'!
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Chepo: Galt Landscaping in High Gear
 July 1, 2009 - Late last year, the Galt Mile Community Association Advisory Board charged Commodore resident José “Chepo” Vega with overseeing the city’s landscaping activities along the Galt Mile, a project for which he expressed both aptitude and a passionate interest. Working with Park Operations Superintendent Brian Hopper, Chepo initiated a plan designed to breathe new life into the browning flora along Galt Ocean Drive. Stage Two of the project kicked off with a diagnostic tour by Vice Mayor Bruce Roberts, GMCA President Pio Ieraci, Chepo, Hopper and Beach Foreman Mark Almy. The walk-through produced a comprehensive punch list of improvements to Galt Mile landscape and hardscape elements. Guided by the new botanical roadmap, Hopper's crew hit the street running. Accompanied by Chepo, Parks employees have expeditiously reversed years of neglect in a few months. Although incomplete, the changes to date are remarkable. According to Chepo, we ain't seen nothin' yet!
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Keechl on Courthouse Task Force
 June 23, 2009 - Last December, Broward Mayor Stacy Ritter proposed a resolution to form a Task Force Committee charged with ascertaining whether the deteriorating Broward Judicial Complex should be renovated, relocated or rebuilt. In his June Newsletter, Commissioner Ken Keechl reviews the interim findings of the “Broward County Courthouse Task Force”. Since the building skeleton is not capable of adequately housing a modern code compliant courthouse environment, gutting and renovating the existing structure was ruled out. Fitting another commercial space with the required structural elements was also declined. After carefully weighing the alternatives, the Task Force concluded that rebuilding a scaled down ediface where the judicial garage is currently located will address the County's need without straining the already burdened county budget. Keechl closes by promising to reveal how the project will not consume property tax dollars in his next newsletter. Dig in...
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FP&L Plans to Plug Public
 June 17, 2009 - Go ahead, open that email from Florida Power & Light. Are your eyes playing tricks or is FP&L really lowering rates? Unfortunately, FP&L is playing tricks. The email is part of a multi-million public relations campaign to whitewash an impending rate hike that would embarrass P.T. Barnum. FP&L is spinning that “the typical 1,000 kilowatt-hour residential customer bill would decrease by an estimated $4.92 monthly, or 4.5 percent, from $109.55 to $104.63 on January 1, 2010.” Actually, a precipitous decline in fuel prices requires that they pass through a roughly $17 monthly savings to customers. Simultaneously, they are asking for the largest monthly base rate hike in history - $1.3 billion - at least $12+ each month. What’s left? $4.92!!! However, the fuel price decrease could disappear overnight. The base rate increase will survive ad nauseum! The rate hike will increase the yield to FP&L’s investors from 10.8% to 12.5%. The national average is 10.5%. You can either help prevent this increase from passing... or you can load up your equity position!
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Crist Vetoes Association 'Glitch' Bill
 June 11, 2009 - Popularly known as the association “glitch” bill, Senate Bill 714 (SB 714) sought to reverse poorly drafted, contradictory, expensive and/or unworkable regulations. Since Governor Crist vetoed SB 714 on June 1st, unit owners must still purchase individual property insurance with at least $2,000 of “special assessment” coverage (despite the fact that such a product does not exist). Associations can still “force place” this coverage (and assess the cost to any unit owner). Unit owners must still name their associations as additional insureds and loss payees on their insurance policies. Unit Owners are still required to insure “improvements and additions” that benefit fewer than all the owners. A long anticipated extension of the $multi-million fire sprinkler retrofit, postponing an onerous assessment from 2014 to 2025, was squashed. The Silver Lining: When this issue is revisited next year, it will not face a Governor en route to Washington.
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Neighborhood Fights to Save Galt Library
 June 2, 2009 - The Galt Ocean Mile Reading Center serves as a portal to the world for literally thousands of local residents. Broward County’s Herculean budget deficit has placed the tiny storefront branch of the huge Broward County Library System on the chopping block. In a frenetic marathon to offset the Property Appraiser’s projected 15% drop in the County’s tax base, County Commissioners are gouging away at libraries, parks, animal shelters and other “non-critical” services loosely characterized as “quality of life” expenses. County budget director Kayla Olsen projected the shortfall between $135 million and $160 million. The Galt Mile Reading Center hosts 2,390 weekly visits by local residents who check out 1695 items each week. How many $millions will the County save by turning them away? NONE! The net annual savings would be $101,168. Either county bean counters lost a few beans or this is a budget season dog and pony show. Not surprisingly, several residents noted that “By canning one big shot, we can pay for the library for the next two or three years.” The question is... which big shot?
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 Galt Mile News ONLINE 
 The “Galt Mile News”, the official newsletter of the Galt Mile Community Association, IS NOW ONLINE! The print issues of the monthly newsletter, distributed directly to each of the GMCA member Associations, are available in the “Newsletters” section of GMCA’s web site. Although each Condo or Coop independently determines how the thousands of monthly print issues will be internally distributed, as well as those distributed to the Galt Merchants, there is a chronic shortage of print copies! Snow birds also miss issues distributed while “out of town”. The Galt Mile News will be republished on the GMCA web site, every article and ad, one month after its initial print publication. If you miss an issue, you can find it here!
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 Save the Galt Mile Reading Center Meeting - 11 AM ON JULY 1, 2010 AT THE GALT MILE READING CENTER - Last year, our community residents waged a hard-fought campaign to save the Galt Mile Reading Center from the Broward County Budget Axe. Arguably the neighborhood's most popular community asset, the Galt Reading Center is again threatened with closure. To salvage the unique neighborhood resource, BROWARD MAYOR KEN KEECHL, Friends of the Galt Ocean Mile Library President HERMAN GARDNER and the Galt Mile Community Association are convening a meeting on THURSDAY, JULY 1 AT 11 AM. at the Reading Center (3403 Galt Ocean Drive). Its time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO ATTEND THIS STRATEGY MEETING.
Sprinkler Retrofit Relief Bill Becomes Law - On June 1st, Governor Crist surprised and delighted the 2 million proponents of Senate Bill 1196 - the omnibus association bill - by signing the bill into law. After all, the bill intensified an agenda that had already prompted two gubernatorial vetoes. The legislation’s passage has all the trappings of a Hollywood feel-good epic. To survive, the Bill had to circumvent significant obstacles erected by many of the State’s most formidable lobbies. For the first time in over a decade, controversial Association legislation didn’t self-destruct in deference to directives handed down by special interests. Since the legislative dynamic in Tallahassee hasn’t undergone some cathartic sea change and lobbyists still command enormous resources, HOW DID LEGISLATION WITH SO MANY POWERFUL ENEMIES SURVIVE A PROCESS ORDINARILY CONTROLLED BY THE HIGHEST BIDDER?
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 The Sprinkler Retrofit Money Pit - When Governor Crist vetoed Senate Bill 714 in 2009, he chose big campaign dollars over the 2 million voting association members burdened with spending $billions on retrofitting their UNIT FOYERS with sprinklers. Projected assessments to every unit owner are between $8000 and $24,000. Representative Ellyn Bogdanoff filed House Bill 561 to return the decision about Fire Sprinkler retrofits to the homeowners that would have to pay for and live with that decision. To insure that the Governor doesn't thwart the people's will AGAIN in order to curry favor with the deep pocketed Sprinkler Associations, please CLICK HERE AND ASK THE GOVERNOR TO SUPPORT HB 561 AND SB 1196. You can also call him at (850) 488-7146 or send a Fax to (850) 487-0801. His mailing address is The Capitol, 400 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399. Please take 30 seconds to help STOP THIS FINANCIAL NIGHTMARE!
 Save the Galt Sun Trolley Meeting - On TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2010 - and every month thereafter - a meeting will be held at the Galt Mile Reading Center at 3403 Galt Ocean Drive to formulate a strategy to save the Sun Trolley's Galt Mile Route. Sun Trolley needs you! Our Sun Trolley riders and the businesses along our route are invited to open community meetings to work together on solutions to keep Sun Trolley going. Please join Steve Lucas and Sun Trolley staff for these monthly meetings at AARLCC. For information, call Patricia Zeiler at Sun Trolley - 954-761-3543 - or pzeiler@suntrolley.com.
Galt Mile Reading Center - On TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2009, Broward County Commission meeting was flooded with Galt Mile residents seeking to rescue the Galt Mile Reading Center from political machinations surrounding the FY 2010 County Budget. The Galt Mile Reading Center, arguably the most popular community asset for Galt Mile residents, was threatened with closure. To salvage the unique neighborhood resource, Commissioner Ken Keechl advised demonstrating support for the Galt Mile Reading Center to the nine County Commissioners. IT WORKED! CLICK HERE for background info and details about the final outcome. THANKS! WE DID IT - TOGETHER!
The Challenge - A Pre-Budget Meeting Galt Mile Reading Center Report
The Victory - Why the Galt Library Survived
 Calypso - A Deepwater Port and pipeline is planned for installation directly of the Galt Mile Beach. Its purpose is to offload liquid natural gas (LNG) from tankers into the Calypso Pipeline which will make landfall at Port Everglades. Past incidents in Cleveland and Algeria in which the gas ignited destroyed entire city blocks and killed everyone within the heat flux perimeter. Only Governor Crist can VETO this potential holocaust. The articles about the Calypso Project on the GMCA web site divulge the catastrophic safety hazards, damage to the maritime environment and the mandated cost to Broward taxpayers.
CLICK HERE to when Commissioner Teel first revealed project in December 2007
CLICK HERE for what happened at an April 2008 Presidents Council Calyposo presentation in Plaza South
CLICK HERE for how the City passed an ANTI-Calypso Resolution in May 2008
CLICK HERE to learn what happened at the Dania Calypso Meeting
CLICK HERE to see what happened at the Broward Legislative Delegation Calypso Workshop in August 2008
CLICK HERE to review the world-wide damage done by SUEZ, the Calypso parent company
CLICK HERE to read the environmental concerns of authoritative conservationist Michael Leech
CLICK HERE to read about huge new domestic shale gas deposits
CLICK HERE to read how the Governor stopped Calypso
CLICK HERE to informative LNG Links
CLICK HERE for more extensive LNG Links
CLICK HERE to see Resolutions and Letters opposing the Calypso Project
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 2010 Galt Mile Food Drive - In celebration of another successful effort, Executive Director Scott Woodburn of the Cooperative Feeding Program sponsored an April 9, 2010 awards event at the St Lawrence Gallery on A1A. Association volunteers and other local program supporters that were instrumental in delivering the most impressive result in the Galt Mile Food Drive's 4-year history. Although pleased that Galt Mile contributors statistically exceeded his expectations, he was particularly taken aback by their having done so amid this crippling economic environment. Woodburn knew that much of this year’s collected food wasn’t pulled from donors’ shelves, but from their tables. After calculating the final results, Woodburn exclaimed that this year's effort yeilded a record of 19,281 points - surpassing last year total by more than 5,000 points. A point represents one pound of food (or sundries) or one dollar. For the third consecutive food drive, Edgewater Arms Cooperative Association recorded the best statistics in both divisions, totaling points 3,530 altogether and 41.5 pts per unit. Following the trophy-winning Grand Champion was Southpoint, Galt Ocean Club, CRT South, Fountainhead, CRT Original, Regency Tower, CRT East and Galt Towers. The equivalent of 10 tons of collected food will help feed the recession-swollen ranks of hungry Broward families.
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 Please! - When you take your pet for a stroll down the Drive - please clean up afterwards. Its nothing less than inhumane to expect Fido to do all the work! Lets keep the Galt Mile clean!
 Free Turtle-Safe Lighting Review - MAY 2007 - On TUESDAY, MAY 22, Turtle-Safe Lighting experts from Florida Fish and Game will be offering FREE lighting reviews for Galt Mile Associations. They will make INEXPENSIVE suggestions and recommendations that will insure compliance with the City Ordinance WITHOUT sacrificing safety and security. Participation is voluntary. CALL MARIO SOTOLONGO at 954-828-6326 or CLICK HERE to email.
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 Ocean Rescue - Over the years, the Galt Mile has suffered its share of beach fatalities from Rip Currents! CLICK HERE to read about an unfortunate example. The CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE OCEAN RESCUE now maintains a web page that offers the current beach hazards, including Rip Currents, Marine Pests, Intracoastal conditions and the Beach Warning Flag daily designation. CHECK HERE before you - or the kids - go to the beach!
CHECK OCEAN RESCUE DAILY HAZARD REPORT or
Read Recent Incident Report
 CODE RED - The City of Fort Lauderdale has instituted the CodeRED® Emergency Notification System -- a high-speed phone communication service for emergency notifications. This system allows the City to telephone either all subscribers or geographically-targeted areas of the City in case of an emergency situation that requires immediate action (such as a boil-water notice, missing child, evacuation notice, utility outage, fires or floods, bomb threat, hostage situation, chemical spill or gas leak). It then delivers a recorded message to either a live person or an answering machine, making three attempts to connect to any number. ITS FREE!!!
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 Bus to Holy Cross - Car being fixed? Stuck in the house? You don’t have to hang about, waiting for someone to take you to Targets, the Beach Community Center or the Fort Lauderdale Beach area. For a quarter, you can comfortably travel to these locations all day during the week and on the weekend you can go downtown - for free - day and night! Now you can also ride to HOLY CROSS HOSPITAL in comfort and safety - FOR 25 CENTS! Starting APRIL 9, 2007, the Galt Ocean Mile Sun Trolley route will be extended to HOLY CROSS HOSPITAL all day Monday through Friday.
Read New Galt Mile Route Info
New Galt Route Map
New Galt Mile Timetable
 Sun Trolley Cut Backs - On April 16, 2009, Sun Trolley Executive Director Les Hollingsworth updated the Galt Mile Community Association Advisory Board about an ongoing struggle to rescue the Galt Ocean Mile Sun Trolley route from budget-based funding shortages. Despite the implementation of an aggressive marketing campaign, recruitment of corporate sponsors, cultivation of alternative revenue streams from advertizing and renting the Sun Trolley’s 14 flashy vehicles for birthdays, weddings and other private events - flat ridership plagued the neighborhood bus. Thanks to Hollingsworth and City Commissioner Bruce Roberts, the Galt Mile route survived, although in a less robust format.
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 Flu Shots - Influenza Season has arrived - time to protect yourself! CLICK HERE to Locate Flu Shot Clinics.
Click for Flu Shot Locators
 Hurricane Claims Deadline - The Statute of Limitations to pursue a claim for property damage resulting from HURRICANE KATRINA will expire midnight, AUGUST 25, 2010 and for HURRICANE WILMA on OCTOBER 24, 2010. For Hurricane information, go to the HURRICANE PAGE. Available are up to the minute HURRICANE ADVISORIES and a huge section of useful HURRICANE LINKS.
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CONDO - COOP BILL
House and Senate Bills affecting condo owners, coop owners and members of Homeowner Associations are navigating the legislative vetting process and converging into an omnibus association bill. Many of the bills affecting Associations are merging into SB 1196 by Senator Mike Fasano. The Statehouse correlative of SB 1196 was HB 561 - sponsored by Representative Ellyn Bogdanoff. Until late April, scores of corrections and improvements will continue being made to the bill until it is finally deemed acceptable for passage. Information about its dozens of changes to the CONDOMINIUM ACT and the COOPERATIVE ACT are available here with links to source data. SEE HOW THESE NEW LAWS AFFECT YOU!!!
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 Early Foreclosure Relief Bills
Community Associations anticipating legislative relief may be surprised this year. When tens of thousands of mortgages simultaneously turned terminally toxic, droves of homeowners abandoned their suddenly unaffordable properties to bank foreclosure. Since the mortgage debt in these foreclosures exceeds the property value, every foreclosed home means more red ink in the foreclosing bank’s portfolio. The banks developed a “foot-dragging” strategy to delay taking title, further depriving associations of the minimal statutory relief. Cash-strapped associations must incrementally assess the shortfall to the full membership. The banking lobby, after forestalling legislative relief for years, has realized that their dilatory strategy is costing them $billions, and may allow passage of a bill to expedite foreclosures! Then again, they may not...
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 IMPACT RATED WINDOWS - The recent intensification of HURRICANE SEASON presents a new threat to Galt Mile residents and Associations. Protecting ourselves and our homes from this threat has become an urgent priority. The Florida Division of Emergency Management admonishes, “The most important precaution you can take to reduce damage to your home and property is to protect the areas where wind can enter. According to recent wind technology research, it’s important to strengthen the exterior of your house so wind and debris do not tear large openings in it. You can do this by protecting and reinforcing these five critical areas: ROOF | STRAPS | WINDOWS | DOORS | GARAGE DOORS” The Galt Mile Community Association, in an effort to assist residents and Associations to better protect themselves, published a series of articles about IMPACT WINDOWS, the only glazing able to effectively withstand hurricane force winds and the associated debris. “Through a Glass Darkly” gives scope to the issue. “The Regency Tower Window Project” describes how a member Association successfully tackled the problem. A forum hosted by the Presidents Council about IMPACT WINDOWS is reviewed in the “GMCA Presidents Council Windows Forum”. An explanation of the Code and associated nomenclature is offered in “The Miami Protocols”. CLICK HERE to check out various links to WINDOW INFO. PLEASE TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THIS CRITICAL ISSUE!
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TALLAHASSEE ARCHIVES - Any legislation oozing out of Tallahassee that impacts our homes, rights or lifestyles is reviewed in the Tallahassee page. Each year, the info is placed in the Tallahassee Archives. To see what happened in 2009, Click Here. To see what happened in 2008, Click Here. To see what happened in 2007, Click Here. To see what happened in 2006, Click Here. For 2005, Click Here. For 2004, Click Here. Same with 2003, simply Click Here. To go to the Tallahassee Archive Index, Click Here.
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2010 POLITICS - TALLAHASSEE - Every year, we send an assortment of well-educated men and women to Florida’s State Capitol to represent us. They speak for us, act on our behalf, educate themselves about importatnt issues, learn how to work together and try to execute productive resolutions. Sometimes, their reasons for being there differ from those given to their constituents prior to Election Day; when this occurs, its usually a good time to consider “changing the guard”. Legislation affecting Galt Mile residents oozes out of Tallahassee annually, often unnoticed. The issues surrounding that legislation will be explained in this new TALLAHASSEE POLITICS SECTION. Before next year's legislative session, the articles will be relegated to the site's archives, setting the stage for the new session.
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 HURRICANE SEASON - BONNIE, CHARLEY, FRANCES, IVAN, JEANNE, KATRINA, WILMA! - We are in the midst of the GALT MILE's most active series of HURRICANE SEASONs. PLEASE go to the new HURRICANE PAGE. Available are up to the minute HURRICANE ADVISORIES and a huge section of useful HURRICANE LINKS. MOST IMPORTANT - GARY A. POLIAKOFF, a pioneer in the field of Condominium Law, has executed a DISASTER PLAN tailored to the needs of GALT MILE ASSOCIATIONS AND THEIR RESIDENTS! BEFORE THE STORM speaks to the preparation necessary to avoid being victimized by unfortunate oversights - to the tune of $$$ MILLIONS. AFTER THE STORM addresses the steps necessary to successfully recover from disaster. DON'T PROCRASTINATE - READ IT! - DO IT!
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 ENTRY PASS - Armed with the knowledge that many domiciles are vacant during an evacuation, certain human insects will attempt to gain unobstructed access to the temporarily “easy pickings”. In response, police stationed at entrance checkpoints carefully scrutinize the identification of anyone attempting to return to the island, verifying credentials as either a resident or an owner/operator of a barrier island concern. If you can’t prove that you either live or work here, you won’t get in! CLICK HERE to learn how to get an ENTRY PASS!
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 HURRICANE FRAUD - Hurricane season, an annual source of emotional distress, brings out the best and the worst in us. There are several species of VAMPIRE that feed on the misery of the season’s victims. Two popular scams – “cleanup” and “emergency repair” - have developed into a cottage industry. FEMA and SBA impersonators are reviving old fashioned confidence schemes that have attracted the attention of Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist. These VULTURES are preying on people who've lost everything, towns desperately trying to right themselves and, quite possibly, YOU!
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 INSURANCE CYCLONE - Public concern about the season’s insurance impacts has sent bureaucrats scrambling from city hall to Tallahassee. Insurance lobbyists are gearing up for both overt and “under the radar” attacks on premiums, regionally and statewide. Carriers may threaten to abandon certain Florida insurance markets as part of their effort to force the Office of Insurance Regulation to float rates. Tallahassee wants to roll back the “Double Deductible” that Tom Gallagher terms “fundamentally unfair.”
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 WHEN THE BUDGET BURST - The City of Fort Lauderdale, despite benefitting from the highest per capita tax contributions ($570 per person) as compared to other large Florida municipalities, suffered a budget disaster. On December 16, 2003, the City Commission approved a financial package of cutbacks, layoffs, and program freezes designed by Acting City Manager Alan A. Silva as part of a two-year effort to help the City find its financial feet. How we were immersed in this mess is easy to follow but difficult to fathom. Mr. Silva put it succinctly, "We had been living beyond our means." Surprisingly, our elected representatives elected to ignore the wealth of danger signals that heralded our fiscal demise. Gulping down a bottle of aspirin, we documented the unfortunate experience. Check it out
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 A CHRONOLOGY - A 3 year period of gross mismanagement has transformed a city with an $18.3 billion tax base into a municipal basket case. Despite protests of surprise and shock by municipal representatives, the budget disaster we now face did not ambush Fort Lauderdale. City officials have had a ringside seat to a three year fiscal mismanagement spectacle. They were not, however, spectators. They were participants. The City's finance officials consistently warned of impending budget troubles. Memoranda went to Commissioners, the Mayor and their staff personnel. This is what happened...
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 GRETSAS Chosen New City Manager - At the MAY 17, 2004 City Commission meeting, Commissioner Cindi Hutchinson moved to select Gretsas for the point position in the war to reestablish Fort Lauderdale’s fiscal credibility. Characterizing Gretsas as “a person who has fire in his belly”, Commissioner Christine Teel seconded Hutchinson’s motion. The former Executive Officer of White Plains Mayor Joseph Delfino, Mr. Gretsas was never a City Manager...until now. City Commissioners are banking on his integrity and intensity, not his resumé.
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 Love Hits Treasury - In June 2004, City Auditor Renee Foley released a report concerning serious deficiencies in the City's Treasury Department. Her report concludes that, “No reliance could be placed on the systems to safeguard the city’s assets.” The City maintains no record of personnel who possess keys or the combinations to its safes. The current audit focuses on “severe deficiencies” in the way the Treasury Department tracks and handles money. City Auditor Allyson Love has been an extremely active part of the City's budgetary housecleaning effort. Her audits of the Parks Department and some questionable practices ascribed to a contractor doing business with the City have affirmed the City Commission's commitment to tightening fiscal controls.
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Sprinkler Controversy - The residents of the Galt Mile community are currently tolerating an exasperating and expensive ordeal that accompanies the massive renovation efforts required to bring their 20-30 year old buildings into the 21st century. The specter of another million-dollar project unceremoniously dumped on the top of this construction quagmire would have to be, at the very least, a clear and uncontested necessity.
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GMCA Fires Back - One of the country's premier legal condominium specialists, the well-known firm of Becker & Poliakoff, P.A., has offered to spearhead a lobbying effort to correct the critically flawed legislation that will result in your Association having to pony up over a million dollars to install a questionable "Fire Safety" system. Their success is contingent upon our willingness to help ourselves. Find out HOW!
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CHIEFS OFFER HELP - On October 30, 2003, Fort Lauderdale Fire Marshal Steve Kastner, Division Chief of the Fort Lauderdale Fire Prevention Bureau, and Chief Robert Edgar of the Emergency Medical Services Bureau met with GMCA Presidents Council Chairman Pio Ieraci and Advisory Board Member Eric Berkowitz to improve communications among the Fire Marshal’s office, the E.M.S. Division and the community. Marshal Kastner has invited the Galt Mile Community Association to request his official or unofficial input on any fire-related issue. He offered to provide timely advice to help any Association cope with the legislative confusion or the upgrading of their fire safety systems. He also agreed to suspend enforcement of the dogmatic provisions in the Fire Safety Legislation until the Legislation is claified in Tallahassee!
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TWO FIRE BILLS - While the opt-out provisions inherent in the Fire Safety Amendment are definitely a step in the right direction, they contain several irrational obstacles whose only discernible purpose is to increase our maintenance assessments in exchange for nothing. Two bills, Senate Bill 1938 and House Bill 747, have been drafted which will allow you to exercise your opt-out rights granted last session in an easier and more streamlined process. The deep-pockets lobbyists for the National Fire Sprinkler Association and the Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Union have launched a well-funded campaign to reverse last year’s achievements. A battle to defend that progress and retrieve control of our Fire Safety Standards is again underway!
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Broward Beach Coalition - The threat to our beaches has united concerned citizens, government, business, workers, and the environmental community in a partnership designed to alert our representatives to the disquiet precipitated by this impending disaster. The Broward Beach Coalition is a grass roots cross section of community interests that have conjoined to convey our concerns and the pertinent facts to the Governor, the Cabinet,and the community at large.
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Beach Victory - After over two contentious years of disappointments, delays, and deferrals, the Governor and the Cabinet finally issued the permit sought by the Broward County Department of Planning and Environmental Protection to proceed with the Beach Renourishment Project.
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Final Environmental Impact Statement - The FEIS addresses all of the concerns expressed by an assortment of official environmental watchdog agencies in response to the original Draft EIS drawn in March, 2002. It finally establishes a timeline for the project's implementation.
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Final Record of Decision - That’s it - its official - the plan has the blessing of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, all of the environmental watchdogs with authoritative standing and the people that live on the beach. Broward County now carries the ball. They will implement the southern segment of the project first, monitor the effects for 18 months, and complete the northern portion when the southern portion receives a clean bill of health.
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County Celebrates Beach Renourishment Kickoff - On May 6, 2005, a long-awaited celebration took place in Hollywood. The immediate beneficiaries of the Broward County Shore Protection Project, the municipalities of Hollywood, Hallandale Beach and Dania Beach, joined Broward County in throwing a party to highlight the project’s commencement. Joining Broward County and local municipal officials, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and the Army Corps of Engineers, many civic and environmental groups (including the Galt Mile Community Association) that spent the past 5 years locked in a frustrating struggle to save Broward’s beaches were grateful to witness the project start.
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Cleveland Clinic - And then there were none. The Cleveland Clinic, along with the only emergency room on the Barrier Island, was gone. The Cleveland Clinic moved here via the acquisition of the old North Beach Hospital. Their stated intention was to "grow with the Barrier Island". They did. What happened?
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The 32nd Street Alley - STILL A MESS Despite repeated attempts by City Commissioner Christine Teel and others to bring the concerned merchants to the table to initiate a voluntary "clean-up" of the unsanitary state that persists, the lack of response has precipitated enforcement action by the City.
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AEDs - Sudden Cardiac Arrest - It happens quickly. Without warning. It can affect anyone - healthy adults, even teenagers. It cannot be prevented. There is no vaccine. Most do not survive. It's called Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) and there's only one way to treat it. DEFIBRILLATION. An untrained eleven year old child recently saved someone's life using an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). ANYONE CAN USE IT, SAFELY...and with no LEGAL LIABILITY!
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GMCA GRADUATES ITS FIRST CPR/AED CLASS The Galt Mile Community Association, having partnered with the Fort Lauderdale Department of Fire-Rescue to bestow certification training in CPR/AED for residents and employees of Associations that purchased defibrillators, graduated 15 students from REGENCY TOWER and SOUTHPOINT condominiums. Having several residents and/or employees certified in CPR/AED from each AED-equipped Association is not required but is recommended as part of a well-rounded AED implementation program. The free training is a LIMITED RESOURCE that is available on a first come, first serve basis to Associations that have already purchased and AED.
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Race with the Clock For years, the specter of a lawsuit delayed the acceptance of defibrillators by litigation-leery Associations. During the 2004 legislative session in Tallahassee, laws protecting Condo Associations, Cooperatives and Homeowner Associations from civil liability were enacted. The question confronting condo residents and their Boards is no longer, “What will happen to us if we purchase and install a defibrillator?” It is now, “What will happen if we don’t?”
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FLPD Crime Statistics - The Fort Lauderdale Police Department (FLPD) Crime Analysis Unit produces reports which depict our crime and service statistics. The reports are avaiable here.
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FLPD Crime Update - On November 17, 2004, Major Mary Negrey of Police District 1 sent a crime update for the Galt Mile neighborhood to Commissioner Christine Teel. She forwarded it to us.
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 FLORIDA Crime Statistics - FDLE's (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) Uniform Crime Report (UCR) system provides standardized reports on crime statistics based on data gathered from across the state. Reports that provide both summary and detail information are issued yearly. You can find data from 1994 up to the most recently released reports.
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THE HOMELESS - Fort Lauderdale Police Assistant Chief Chuck Drago suggests that the best way to contend with the recent infusion of homeless people permanently occupying the benches along Galt Ocean Drive is to stop giving them money.
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 ASK LORI! - Broward County Property Appraiser Lori Parrish responds to questions posed by residents about the value of their homes. Inqueries about the "SAVE OUR HOMES" amendent, the SENIOR EXEMPTION and the ubiquitous HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION are answered by the County's Property Appraiser.
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HOMESTEAD EXEMPTIONS - The Broward County Property Appraiser's Office will conduct special taxpayer sign-up sessions for the 2007 Homestead Exemption and Senior Exemption at City Hall, the Beach Community Center, and various Homeowners and Civic Associations this September, October, November, January, February, March and April. The Beach Community Center (3351 NE 33rd Street) sign-up dates are Friday 10:00 AM on September 28, October 26, November 30, January 25, February 29 and March 28th.
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GALT MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION - The Galt Merchants Association (GMA), an active member of the Galt Mile Community Association, was created to accomplish and promote a harmonious relationship between our residents and the businesses that service them. The GMA defines our residents' commercial needs and promotes those merchants who successfully satisfy them. The result is a highly diversified, competitive, and responsive collection of competent, helpful, and friendly vendors and service personnel. SEE WHO THEY ARE!
Go to Galt Merchants Association Website
NEW GALT SHOPPES DEVELOPMENT! - The Galt Merchants Association has shepherded its project to transform the Galt Ocean Shoppes into a unique tourist and shopping mecca through all the preliminary governmental and engineering hurdles. We now have a viable Master Plan designed to bring us the rest of the way!
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