 | | UTILITY GRAFFITI |
 A second letter addresses an urban phenomenon he calls “Utility Graffiti”. Associations performing deck or garage construction often require the services of a company known as Sunshine State One Call. This specialty company maps and marks off any buried utility lines to prevent their unwitting disturbance during the demolition phase of a project. Using blue, red, yellow and other colored markers, they locate gas lines, water lines, electrical plexus, telephone linkages and buried cables. When the construction is complete, the lines are erased.
 Unfortunately, utility, telephone and cable companies as well as the City of Fort Lauderdale and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) aren’t similarly predisposed to eliminating their handiwork after tearing up the street or sidewalk. AT&T, Comcast, FDOT, FP&L and other corporate symbiots often leave a litany of cryptic multi-colored markings chemically endowed to outlast a nuclear winter. Chepo wants this repugnant industrial “artwork” GONE.
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UTILITY GRAFFITI AROUND THE CITY
 | | UTILITY GRAFFITI |
While showing some visiting friends our beautiful city by car, they pointed out that sidewalks, streets and curbs have been spray painted with signs, messages and symbols in various colors by utility companies. I found out later that these sprayings are called “markings”, but I like the term used by one visitor better. She called them “Utility Graffiti”.
This brought back memories of when I lived in New York City and graffiti became a major problem, starting in subway cars, them spilling over to stations and finally moving to exterior building walls all over the city. The graffiti, which made the city look out of control, cost millions of dollars to erase.
 I am very concerned that by tolerating the continuous use of spray paint by utilities in Fort Lauderdale, our city could be starting that long road toward looking like a city out of control. It doesn’t take much to inspire teenagers to start spraying their own symbols and art work on our sidewalks and streets, too.
 | | UTILITY GRAFFITI |
Of course the utilities are working all the time all over the city, and they have to mark their work sites to guide their crews. But the problem is that spray paint takes months to fade away.
So I asked myself: How did the utilities make their markings before they started using spray paint? Can they use a durable chalk that gets washed away? Or adhesive plastic strips that can be lifted? Such strips are already in use to mark traffic lanes and to separate parking spaces in parking lots.
 Let’s keep in mind that Fort Lauderdale’s economy depends a lot on tourism. The Utility Graffiti is already offensive, and now is the time to address it before it spreads to the teen community and becomes an epidemic. Please Mayor Seiler and Commissioner Roberts, help us keep Fort Lauderdale free of spray paint and a beautiful place to live.
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 | | UTILITY GRAFFITI |
Since the neighborhood association represents and is wholly comprised of Galt Mile residents, his last letter was written to you.
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 | | CHEPO HOLDING GALT MILE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION AWARD |
I want to thank the Galt Mile Community Association for the award recently presented to me for the work I’ve done to help refurbish and enhance our beautiful Galt Mile drive. I was surprised and delighted. It is a pleasure to be involved and to see the positive changes in our neighborhood. There is still a lot of work to be done and as always, I am ready to continue helping. Thanks again.
Sincerely,
José (Chepo) Vega
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COOPERATIVE FEEDING PROGRAM
Galt Ocean Mile
2010 Food Drive
 | | PLAYA DEL SOL HOSTS 12/7/2009 GMCA MEETING |
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 attend a Presidents Council meeting. Four years ago, Domenic and Scott approached the Galt Mile Community Association with a proposition. Drawing on relationships cultivated as a L'Hermitage resident and local business owner, Domenic had requested space on the Presidents Council meeting agenda. As Vice President of the CFP Board of Directors, Domenic Faro sought to stir interest in sponsoring a food drive. That 2007 Galt Ocean Mile food drive laid the groundwork for their Playa del Sol address.
 | | DOMENIC FARO |
Scott and Domenic represent Broward County’s lead agency for the provision of services to the hungry and homeless. For 25 years, the Cooperative Feeding Program has provided counseling and support to help economically besieged families out of the throes of difficult times. At the December 7th Presidents Council Meeting, they announced that the 4th Annual Galt Ocean Mile Community Association food drive would take place during the month of March, 2010. Scott told attendees that the food drive would follow the annual 5K Hunger Awareness “Walk against Hunger”, a traditional kickoff precedent to the month long competition among member associations. Early Sunday morning, February 28, 2010, participants in the 5K Walk will meet at the Winn Dixie prior to and after the event.
 | | TORNADO BODY DRYER |
The Cooperative Feeding Program helps 700 individuals each and every day. In keeping with modern delivery systems, they implemented a “Drive Through” to efficiently expand outreach. As the economy increasingly victimizes families, lines at The CFP wind further down the sidewalk, often into the street. They provide about 50-60 showers a day to individuals and families who have lost their homes. They plan to build additional showers in order to reduce long waits of four to five hours for a shower. To save money on paper products and truncate potential shower accidents, they installed environmentally friendly Tornado Body Dryers. More than 400 hot meals are distributed each day, along with another 175 family food boxes.
 | | FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH |
The program was launched in 1982 when Pastor Luther Anderson of the First Lutheran Church in downtown Fort Lauderdale turned donations from Church members into a small pantry with food for the needy. The neighbors took umbrage when homeless and hungry people pleading for something to eat filled the street. As the service proportionally grew with demand, it had to undergo several relocations and otherwise adapt. Its initial 1987 501(c)(3) certification as a not-for-profit organization was later restructured as a 501(c)(3) Nondenominational, passing both control and outreach from Lutherans to anyone in need - also enabling eligibility for FEMA resources.
 | SCOTT WOODBURN & DOMENIC FARO AWARD
TROPHY TO ANNEMARIE ADAMS & EDGEWATER ARMS |
From the humble beginnings of distributing a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to the homeless, to today’s provision of 1.2 million meals a year, the agency’s dramatic development has reflected both the growing numbers and the growing needs of the poor in our community. Operating solely on the funds and gifts generated by socially conscious individuals, businesses and organizations like the Galt Mile Community Association, the Cooperative Feeding Program doesn’t abide corporate conveniences. A remarkably pork-free 8% administrative overhead - audited - means resources are smoothly expedited from donors to hungry families. Rents were paid and move-in costs were provided to help families facing the tragic national disgrace of homelessness. The CFP has entered into formal collaborative service agreements with about 100 agencies, entitling them to prescreen clients for emergency services.
 | | SCOTT WOODBURN |
Scott read from a letter he sends to each Galt Mile association several months before the food drive. While requesting participation in the upcoming 2010 food drive, he explained that a special effort should be made to surpass last year’s record collections to compensate for the economic downturn’s impact on families struggling to survive. To help stir the formulaic competition meant to incentivize increased contributions, Woodburn reminded the assemblage that little Edgewater Arms, the smallest member of the neighborhood association, handily took the trophy in 2008 and 2009, both for total and per unit contributions. Since the Program anticipates serving 7,000 families between the first week in November and the last week in December - functionally draining resources - Woodburn outlined a new objective of 20,000 lbs of food for this year's food drive. Scott’s letter is as follows:
A request for you toB e an important part of the 2010 GALT OCEAN MILEC ampaign to reduce hunger in Broward County...
i
 | | 6 TONS OF GALT MILE FOOD FILLS VAN |
Hunger continues as a real problem in Broward County. The Cooperative Feeding Program (CFP), a United Way agency dedicated to reducing hunger in Broward County, is constantly organizing annual food drives with local Homeowner and Civic Associations to help provide year-round assistance to the poor, many of whom would not have adequate food without your help.
 Following the huge success of our 2009 Galt Food Drive where over 15,000 lbs of food was donated, and the Edgewater Arms was overall Champion again for the second consecutive year. The committee member would again invite the entire Galt Ocean Mile Community Association to join our team and participate in the new and exciting 2010 Galt Ocean Mile Food Drive.
 The 2010 GALT Ocean Mile food drive will again feature a special 5K Hunger Awareness “Walk against Hunger” kickoff event, on Sunday, February 28 followed by a March month long food drive.
 | | GALT MILERS START 5K WALK AT WINN DIXIE LAST YEAR |
Last year we had all Galt Condo Associations participate, We have posters, stuffers and flyers to help you announce the walk and food drive to your residents and provide a description of what types of non-perishable items are needed. We can also advise you on organizing the food drive, promotional consideration, food collection and handling delivery to the Cooperative Feeding Program.
 Please take a moment to fill out and fax to us the attached form ASAP. We also would appreciate an opportunity to meet with you and make a presentation at your next association meetings.
 Hunger remains a real problem in Broward County as 1 out of 4 goes to bed hungry every night. With your help, fighting it will be as easy as A-B-C!
Sincerely
Scott A. Woodburn
Cooperative Feeding Program
1 NW 33 Terrace, Ft Lauderdale, Florida 33311
954-629-7381
scott@feedingbroward.org
Federal Health Care Legislation Progress
 | | HOUSE PASSES HEALTH CARE BILL |
November 24, 2009 - In its quest for a health care Holy Grail, Washington DC is narrowing the gap among plans currently under Congressional consideration. By a vote of 220 Yeas vs. 215 Nays, the House of Representatives squeezed through H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, on November 7, 2009. Spun off the abandoned H.R. 3200 in October, the bill’s passage partially addresses President Obama’s stated objective for the two houses to pass separate bills by the end of the year.
 | | BLUE DOG DEMOCRATS BARTER AMENDMENTS |
This House product is the result of two major concessions negotiated to promote inclusion of contingent groups that previously represented ideological stumbling blocks, “blue dog” Democrats and moderate Republicans. In late July, Democrat leaders cut a deal with conservative rank-and-file rebels to release the legislation from committee captivity. To ransom the hostage bill, they reduced the federal subsidies designed to help lower-income families afford insurance, exempted additional businesses from a requirement to offer insurance to their workers and changed the terms of a government insurance option.
 | | HOUSE VOTE FOR AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE FOR AMERICA ACT |
 | SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE'S MIKE
ENZI (R) AND CHRIS DODD (D) |
To win support adequate for passage, they agreed to toughen restrictions on abortion funding, as demanded by an anti-abortion coalition of lawmakers backed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Before voting on the bill, the House passed an amendment to the pending legislation that prohibits federal funds for abortion services in the public option and in the insurance “exchange” created by the legislation.
 | SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE'S CHARLES
GRASSLEY (R) AND MAX BAUCUS (D) |
Before the Senate agrees to pass health care legislation, they must also merge several bills currently being vetted. Prior to Senate Health Committee Chair Edward Kennedy’s replacement by Tom Harkin, Democrat Chris Dodd and ranking Republican Mike Enzi approved a bill in July. The Senate Finance Committee Democrat Chair Max Baucus and ranking Republican Charles Grassley approved its bill on October 13th. Before delivering a Senate Bill to the White House, the Senate’s Democrat Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic Whip Dick Durbin must first merge the various products while retaining enough of each bill’s offerings to marshal momentum adequate for passage. The single greatest political obstacle facing the Senate leadership are issues related to the Public Plan (a government sponsored health insurance plan) as provided for in the House bill.
 | SENATE MAJORITY LEADER HARRY REID
AND DEMOCRATIC WHIP DICK DURBIN |
Allowing the government to compete with private insurers is anathematic to the Senate. Along with Republicans and whatever Joe Lieberman is, many Democrats are palpably uncomfortable with the prospect of establishing another taxpayer funded corporation, anticipating its potential evolution into an entitlement program. If they can’t find a politically palatable version of the Public Plan, Reid and Durbin may have to place it on the chopping block.
 | | REP. SENATOR OLYMPIA SNOWE OF MAINE |
To circumvent this obstacle, the Democratic leadership is considering what’s known as the “trigger option”. A supporter of Health Care legislation, Republican Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine exclaimed that if premiums keep escalating and local health insurance markets remain in the grip of a few big companies over the next few years, she would support a government plan. Democrat moderates such as Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana agree, having stated “If the private market fails to reform, there would be a fallback position. It should be triggered by choice and affordability, not by political whim.”
This federal “fooz ball” tournament won’t impact anyone’s health care decisions until the final changes proposed in these bills are enacted and approved by the White House sometime in the next year - or two. Notwithstanding, Medicare recipients are faced with more immediate concerns.
Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
Open Enrollment Period
 The annual open enrollment period for the Medicare prescription drug benefit is underway and will continue from November 15 until December 31, 2009. During this period, those currently enrolled in a Medicare prescription drug plan have an opportunity to switch plans, or they can remain in their current plan – unless it is discontinued.
 Many 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, the costs of drugs (co-pays), coverage in the “donut hole” (a painful gap between basic and catastrophic coverage limits) and other policies that impact access to particular drugs. Many plans have altered requirements for prior authorization, step therapy and quantity limits. If you are satisfied with your current Medicare drug coverage, you need not do anything. However, since new plans with different options are now available in Broward and Miami-Dade, Galt Mile residents should re-evaluate their current plans, taking into account factors such as coverage policies, monthly premiums and their specific drug needs.
Several free resources, both online and over the telephone, are available to assist you in choosing a Medicare prescription drug plan or comparing your plan with others available in Broward County. They include:
 Medicare Website Tools: Available on the Medicare website (www.medicare.gov), are two important on-line tools and advice about skirting the infamous “Donut Hole” coverage gap, including:
Medicare Options Compare and Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Finder: The Plan Finder will allow you to identify plans in Broward or Miami-Dade and to compare your plan with others available to you. Importantly, the Plan Finder will identify which plans cover the drugs you take and includes features that provide you with an estimate of your out of pocket expenses for each plan you review, including the costs of specific drugs. Information on estimated monthly mail order drug costs compared to retail drug costs is also available. The Plan Finder also rates the plans based on a number of different factors.
Formulary Finder: The Formulary Finder enables you to identify plans in your state that cover the drugs you need.
Lower Your Costs During the Coverage Gap: This section of the site provides tips on how you can lower your out-of-pocket costs, including through assistance programs.
 www.MyMedicareMatters.org: Sponsored by the The National Council on Aging (NCOA), the Access to Benefits Coalition (ABC) and AstraZeneca, this web-based decision-making tool offers information about Medicare Drug Plans, staying healthy and Medicare coverage basics. A section called “Review 2010 Choices” focuses on why those currently enrolled in a Medicare prescription drug plan should consider changing plans, when it is appropriate to do so and how to pick a new plan. For those initially seeking a plan, “Start with 7 Simple Steps” explains eligibility, how to evaluate current drug coverage, cost, and how to pick a plan. The site provides links to Medicare’s Prescription Drug Plan Finder and instructions for using the Plan Finder tool.
Medicare Hotline, 1-800-Medicare: Call Medicare’s toll-free hotline, 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for English and Spanish-speaking customer service representatives prepared to answer questions about the Original Medicare Plan and approved health plans currently available. TTY users please call 1-877-486-2048.
 Medicare & You 2010: Information about the Medicare program, including the prescription drug benefit, can be found in the 2010 edition of the Medicare & You handbook, which was mailed to all Medicare beneficiaries in October, 2009. Since the handbook is traditionally misplaced in Medicare households, it is also available online at http://www.medicare.gov/publications/pubs/pdf/10050.pdf. The handbook includes tips on selecting a plan and an overview of plan options. Those already enrolled in a Medicare drug plan should have received an Annual Notice of Change that describes changes in the benefits offered by your current plan.
State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP): SHIP is a national program that offers one-on-one counseling and assistance via telephone and face-to-face interactive sessions to people with Medicare and their families. For Galt Mile residents, the Florida Department of Elder Affairs provides administrative and management support for the SHIP program. The eleven Area Agencies on Aging serve as partners with the Area Volunteer Coordinators in developing and overseeing the program and arranging for training of SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders) volunteers. The Elder Helpline toll-free number (1-800-963-5337) provides access to counseling statewide. For Snowbirds – to find SHIP offices in other states, go to www.shiptalk.org.
 MAPRx: Medicare Access for Patients Rx (MAPRx) is a coalition of patient, family caregiver and health professional organizations committed to safeguarding the well-being of patients with chronic diseases and disabilities under Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage. MAPRx member organizations collaborate with national and state policymakers to ensure that beneficiaries can access medication therapies they need and deserve. The MAPRx website, www.maprx.info, provides helpful information and answers to questions. It also includes a list of useful Florida resources for additional assistance.
Additional Financial Help is Available
Extra Help in paying for Medicare prescription drug costs is available for those with limited incomes, including through the Social Security Administration and via many other little-known public and private sources.
 Social Security: Under the Medicare Prescription Drug benefit, you may be eligible for Extra Help to pay for all or most of the premiums, annual deductible and copayments. You automatically qualify for Extra Help if you receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and have Medicare; receive Medicaid and have Medicare; OR your state pays your Medicare premiums. You also may qualify and can apply for Extra Help through the Social Security Administration (SSA), www.ssa.gov. People with Medicare may qualify for Extra Help if:
Annual income is limited to $16,245 for an individual or $21,855 for a married couple living together. If you support other in-residence family members, have earnings from work, or live in Alaska or Hawaii, the income limits increase.
Resources (bank accounts, stocks, bonds, etc.) must be limited to $12,510 for an individual or $25,010 for a married couple living together. A house, a car, a $1,500 burial allowance (for singles) or a $3,000 burial allowance (for couples) are all excluded from consideration.
If your income or assets exceed the stated limits, you should still apply for Extra Help. The Social Security Administration considers other deductions that enhance eligibility. To quickly and easily determine your eligibility for Extra Help, call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) to apply over the phone or to request that an application be mailed to you, visit the SSA website (www.ssa.gov) or your local Social Security office.
 BenefitsCheckup.org: Another online tool sponsored by the National Council on Aging, www.benefitscheckup.org will allow you to search for private and public programs that can help you pay for prescription drugs and other health care costs.
Pharmaceutical Assistance Programs: Many pharmaceutical manufacturers have organized assistance programs for people, including those enrolled or eligible for the Medicare Drug benefit.
Please Note: Assistance programs have eligibility requirements. Some apply income/resource limits, some are specific to people without any form of drug coverage and others are unavailable to those who are eligible for Medicare. Verify a program’s access requirements first!
Warning: There are other companies that offer to connect consumers to these same programs for a fee - some of which use or mimic their names and logos without permission. The programs listed will help you find assistance free of charge. You will never be asked for money!
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Impacts  Associations
 | RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER VLADIMIR
PUTIN MAKING BALLOON ANIMALS
FOR SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE |
November 12, 2009 - If you’ve been preoccupied with a hunt for cross-dressing Nazi operatives in the Obama Administration, rumors that rookie Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor endorsed wholesale castration to socially re-engineer Western Culture, and allegations that federal health care initiatives are a collaborative product of East German Stasi expatriates, Chilean DINA deportees and former SAVAK agents, perhaps you are unaware of the newly passed “Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009”. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) did a respectable job of nutshelling the new law, describing its impact as follows:
“All tenants must receive a 90-day notice before being evicted as the result of a foreclosure.
With some exceptions, the law requires that in the event of foreclosure, existing leases for renters are honored to the end of the term of their lease.
 The stated exceptions are for tenants without a lease, tenants with a lease terminable at will under state law, or where the owner acquiring the property will occupy it as a primary residence. In these cases, the tenants must receive a minimum of 90 days notice to vacate the property.
 This law does not affect the requirements of any state or local law that provides longer time periods or other additional protections for tenants.
The new law does not require any agency to issue implementing regulations; these protections apply to foreclosures after May 20, 2009.
FDIC examiners will monitor and enforce compliance with the requirements of this law in the same manner as other consumer protection laws and regulations.”
 | | SENATORS JOHN KERRY AND CHRIS DODD |
Characterizing tenants as “innocent victims of the foreclosure crisis,” Senators John Kerry, Kirsten Gillibrand, Harry Reid, Christopher Dodd, Edward Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, Jeff Merkley and Richard Durbin sponsored an amendment to a mammoth housing bill, the “Help Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009” (S. 896). They filed Senate Amendment 1036 (S. Amdt. 1036), the “Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act” to legally insulate hard-working tenants living in foreclosed properties from consequential dispossession. The Tenant’s Rights amendment survived a May 6, 2009 Senate Vote of 57 yeas, 39 nays and 3 not voting. Later that day, the parent Housing Bill overwhelmingly passed through the Senate by a vote of 91 yeas, 5 nays and 3 not voting. On May 19, 2009, the House of Representatives also voted the bill favorably, with 367 yeas, 54 nays and 12 not voting. It was signed into law the next day by President Obama and designated Public Law 111-22. The Tenant Rights Amendment became Title VII in the new law.
 | | SENATE VOTE FOR PROTECTING TENANTS AT FORECLOSURE ACT |
 The new Act effectively inserts a tenant-friendly “non-disturbance clause”, common in commercial leases, into a residential context inclusive of condo and co-op rentals. The recessionary real estate environment has nurtured a variety of exploitive landlord/tenant relationships. Speculators actively dodging foreclosure measures have packed unrented units with friends and relatives, hoping to cloak incriminating paper trails and derail foreclosure proceedings while inequitably forcing neighbors to financially absorb their defaulted obligations. Conversely, many rental units are legally leased to legitimate tenants. The new law aspires to discriminate between warrantable tenancies and speculator smokescreens.
The law is applicable only to “bona fide” leases and tenants. The act states that a lease or tenancy shall be considered bona fide only if:
the mortgagor under the contract is not the tenant;
the lease or tenancy was the result of an arms-length transaction; or
the lease or tenancy requires the receipt of rent that is not substantially less than fair market rent for the property or moderated by any federal, state or local subsidy.
 In other words, the law protects any person who entered into an arms-length, market value lease prior to a served notice of foreclosure, provided that the tenant is neither the mortgagor nor a relative/friend/accomplice of the served titleholder/landlord. Bogus tenancies and/or rental agreements are ineligible for any protections described in the act. The law is scheduled to sunset on December 31, 2012.
 When confronted by “bona fide” tenants, new owners that intend to occupy units as primary residences can plan on moving in 90 days after serving notices to vacate, despite the terms of any existing leases. If titleholders do not intend to occupy the units, they must honor the full terms of any existing leases, provided that the tenants continue to make timely rental payments. In a recent Community Advocacy Network (CAN) alert, Association Attorney Donna Berger considered how the changes could affect associations.
 | | DONNA BERGER ESQ |
One incremental association impact of the new law inures to “nuisance” tenants that interfere with association operations and/or repeatedly violate association rules despite having been properly warned and legally noticed. When a foreclosing association or bank previously issued a post-sale writ of possession to an abusive tenant, the troublemaker had to make tracks posthaste and the dilemma was discharged. Under the new law, a minimum notice of 90 days is prerequisite to an eviction. How much longer it could take after that depends upon the length and legitimacy of the lease and whether the new titleholder plans to move in.
 Most foreclosing associations will gladly continue to collect a market-value rental income from “bona fide” tenants. However, Berger admonishes that new untested laws traditionally breed abuse. If the tenant claims that the rent was fully pre-paid in cash to the former owner/landlord and therefore seeks exemption from further payments, Donna argues that such arrangements are not representative of an arms-length transaction – especially in the current economic climate – thereby denuding the tenant of the act’s protections. Oral agreements also lack credibility as arms-length contracts. If a “bona fide” rental arrangement is governed by a renewable monthly lease or a lease with three months or less remaining prior to expiration, a properly noticed tenant can be ousted after 90 days.
 “Bona fide” or not, if a tenant fails to pay the rental obligation, the association/landlord will have to navigate an often onerous eviction process, replete with questionably recoverable legal fees. Berger recommends that associations notify their attorneys immediately after foreclosing a tenanted unit, whether or not the tenant is in default. If payments aren’t received as required in the lease and the tenant slips into default, the attorney must be prepared to initiate the removal process by issuing the appropriate default notice. A rapid response will lighten the burden on the other association members since they must ultimately compensate for the defaulted association income.
 Berger focuses on a tactic useful for functionally abbreviating or eliminating altogether the 3-month waiting period, a potential sales deterrent. The law allows new owners to immediately serve any tenant with the 90-day notice upon taking title, whether or not they intend to occupy the unit. If the new owner subsequently sells the unit to a purchaser that intends to occupy the unit, the buyer will not have to wait 90 days to move in - only the balance of time remaining from the original 90-day notice. The seller’s actual intentions with regard to occupying the unit become legally irrelevant. For example, if the resale closing is scheduled on the 90th day of the initial notice, the purchaser can move in immediately.
The act moves the law a bit closer to a feudal English real property system known as Attornment, wherein a new landlord had to obtain consent of a tenant prior to the alienation of land. Given the reciprocal relationship between landlords and tenants, it was considered unreasonable to subject a tenant to a new landlord without approval. Abolished in 1705, Attornment also extended to lifelong lessees. As currently utilized, the term refers to an acknowledged landlord-tenant relationship.
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Chepo Moves Galt Mile
Landscaping into High Gear
 | COMMODORE RESIDENT
JOSÉ “CHEPO” VEGA |
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. Congruent with an understanding brokered by former Commissioner Christine Teel between the Parks and Recreation Administration and the GMCA, Parks Director Phil Thornburg assigned a Parks official to hammer out an improvement plan and timetable with Chepo. In mid-December, Chepo began working with Park Operations Superintendent Brian Hopper, his counterpart in City government. Over the next few months, City crews under Hopper began staking unstable trees, trimming low-hanging branches that posed a threat to inattentive pedestrians and rehabilitating the grates that frame trees along the sidewalk. The successful project kickoff served to mold Chepo and Hopper into a productive team.
 | | VICE MAYOR BRUCE ROBERTS |
During the April 6th Presidents Council meeting, Chepo was introduced to newly elected District 1 Commissioner Bruce Roberts, who agreed to seamlessly step into his predecessor’s shoes and move the project along. Five days later, Chepo sent Roberts a courtesy email explaining “It was a pleasure meeting you at the Galt Ocean Mile meeting last Monday. I am sure that with you and the many hard working people on your team, we can look forward to a continuous and productive time during your administration. As promised, I will keep you posted about the Galt Mile safety and landscape project I have been working on for the last few months. I appreciate your interest in them.”
 | PARKS DIRECTOR
PHIL THORNBURG |
To adequately coordinate the next step, the principals planned a diagnostic tour of the target area for May 14th. On May 8th, Commissioner Roberts’ assistant Robbi Uptegrove notified Parks Director Phil Thornburg that Roberts - who was recently seated as Vice Mayor by the City Commission - would be unavailable until after June 12th and requested an alternate date for the walk-through. By contacting each of the participants, Uptegrove was able to organize the event for Monday, June 22nd at 10 AM.
 | | GREEK ISLANDS TAVERNA |
Early that morning, the Vice Mayor accompanied Chepo, Hopper, GMCA President Pio Ieraci, Beach Foreman Mark Almy and Commodore residents Jack Friedman and Bill Fleckenstein on an area tour to identify landscaping deficiencies and prepare a realistic performance schedule. Starting at the Greek Islands Taverna Restaurant, the group worked their way north. In addition to documenting the requisite rehabilitation and ascertaining which City Department was best adapted to address each task, they noted problems specific to certain associations and vendors - for which they may carry some liability.
 | | MARK ALMY, PIO IERACI, CHEPO, BRUCE ROBERTS AND BRIAN HOPPER |
 | | CHEPO AND MARIA TORRES DISCUSS STRATEGY |
The next day, a flurry of correspondences between the principals defined how they would proceed. Not surprisingly, Chepo got the ball rolling, asking Brian Hopper when he would “have the schedule for the bald spot planting, pruning and any other work to be done.” Hopper answered “I’ll write up a punch list of the things we discussed. Included in that will be to do an assessment of gaps (or bald spots) in the landscaping that will list how many and what type of plants we would need to obtain. You should receive that this week. Once I get approval to buy the plants I will have Maria contact you to say when the work will be done.” Maria Torres is a Parks employee whose longtime assignment to the Galt Mile has endeared her to countless Galt Mile residents.
 | | PIO IERACI |
Since the project will draw on resources from several municipal departments, Hopper sent Julie Richards (Assistant to the City Manager) a version of the walk-through “punch list” that sorted the various responsibilities by department. He asked that the information be appropriately routed and promised to keep her apprised of progress made by his Parks personnel. Copies of Hopper’s punch list were also sent to Vice Mayor Roberts and GMCA President Pio Ieraci. In turn, Ieraci forwarded copies to Chepo and GMCA Vice President Eric Berkowitz. Hopper’s summary is as follows:
 | | PIO POINTS OUT PROBLEM TO BRUCE ROBERTS, CHEPO AND BRIAN HOPPER |
Brian Hopper's Walk-Through Punch List Summary
Per our walk-through of the Galt with Commissioner Roberts yesterday (6/22), the following items will be addressed:
Parks Division Responsibilities:
 | | JOSÉ AND BRIAN HOPPER DISCUSS LANDSCAPING |
1. Allow groundcover and hedge plant materials to grow in to the edge of sidewalk
2. Broken irrigation head on east side of road, across from Sly Fox
3. Indian Hawthorn (shrub) replacement to fill in gaps in all areas of Galt, most were on South end
4. Remove smaller branches sprouting from base of Seagrape tree near the Greek restaurant
5. Remove Sabal Palm growing amongst the Seagrape tree (sabal in poor condition)
6. Remove remnants of palm-like tree near Greek restaurant; consider replanting of a palm in its place
 | | TREE GRATE PACKED WITH MULCH |
7. Inspect all tree grates for stability (mulch was underneath some, causing them to see-saw just a tiny bit)
8. Directional prune all Silver Buttonwood trees to allow for greater pedestrian clearance
9. Confirm that Winn Dixie owns seagrape trees to the rear of store, if so; ask them to lift the trees to eliminate hiding spot
10. Place soil and rat bait station at one silver buttonwood tree grate
 I will let you know when the above items are addressed. However, some of them (like pruning issues) will be a gradual process.
Public Services:
 | | CONCRETE DEFECT BY TREE GRATE |
11. Section of sidewalk higher than curb, suggest shaving down sidewalk to avoid edge/trip hazard. On east side of road, across from Wachovia and Amtrust banks.
12. Minor breaks in concrete on edge of tree grate, near Playa Del Mar
13. Regrade section of raised sidewalk that was previously graded, needs more gradual slope. (exact location will be sent)
HOA:
Contact AT&T regarding abandoned utility boxes
Obtain info on entryway landscaping at sign (part of development agreement)
 | | JOSÉ “CHEPO” VEGA REVIEWS LIST WITH PIO IERACI, SUPERINTENDENT BRIAN HOPPER AND FOREMAN MARK ALMY |
 | | CHEPO WORKS WITH PARKS EMPLOYEES |
True to his word, Hopper loosed his minions on the Galt Mile sidewalk beds a few days later. Pleased with the expeditious progress, Chepo dashed off emails to Pio Ieraci and Eric Berkowitz, stating “I must say that I am flying high with the landscape progress! The palm trees are being trimmed, the Winn Dixie Sea grape trees have been pruned, the sprinklers heads are being taken care of, etc. I just spent over an hour with the tree trimmers at the Greek Isle restaurant and the pruning result is just fantastic. Everything looks clean and inviting. The palm trees that were being strangled by the sea grape trees are free and can see the day light again. Will keep you posted.”
Given Chepo’s propensity for detail, he contacted Hopper and enumerated some of the punch list’s shortcomings. Although delighted with the impressive results, Chepo asked that the following items abet Hopper’s work product:
1. Fill in hedge areas with Silver Buttonwood as needed.
2. Sly Fox Sabal Palm pruning.
 | | GALT MILE PORTAL MONUMENT |
3. New planting is needed on 34th Street next to the synagogue and next to Nick’s restaurant. Nothing has been planted there for a few years.
4. New planting in front of the Galt monuments on 34th & 35th Streets.
5. Finish planting area in front of public parking, next to Bank Atlantic.
6. Extend grass around all palm trees and trees close to the Galt Monument and the Greek Isle restaurant area to eliminate so much mulch around them.
 | | CHEPO AND PARKS DEPARTMENT CREW |
While summarizing his observations in an email to Hopper, Chepo demonstrated a penchant for diplomacy. To officially recognize the Parks personnel actualizing the plan he developed with Hopper, Chepo credited them by name, adding “The work being done by Mauricio Sisterna, Larry Mathews and Ernesto Campisi is outstanding. I even learned new things about tree pruning today.”
 | PARK OPERATIONS
CHIEF BRIAN HOPPER |
The list composed by Hopper distinguished the City’s responsibilities from those of the neighborhood association. For instance, a sizable number of utility boxes suffering an advanced state of deterioration were located in front of several buildings. Thought to have been originally installed by BellSouth to service association residents, the neglected boxes appear to be abandoned. GMCA agreed to contact AT&T, further investigate their necessity and, if appropriate, arrange for their removal.
 In addition to the official data collected to define the city’s scope of work, the group documented problems attributable to individual associations and local vendors. Since the alleged perpetrators are members of the Galt Mile Community Association or the Galt Merchants Association, the City agreed to allow the neighborhood association to address these violations in a discreet manner. To protect four member associations and one vendor from embarrassing and potentially expensive violation notices, they will be contacted and informally asked to correct their respective problems. Since some of these “indiscretions” violate municipal ordinances, if an association or the vendor refuses to comply, the City can pursue legal alternatives, including fines and/or other penalties.
When you hit the street, check out Chepo’s handiwork. He promised to document future progress with pictures and a comprehensive report. Thanks, Chepo, we are all in your debt – big time!
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 | | PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA |
May 28, 2009 - Last year, the “Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008” provided for a first-time homebuyer tax credit of $7,500. Since the terms required repayment, the tax credit was essentially an interest-free 15-year loan. In February of 2009, congress passed President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package, increasing the tax credit to $8,000 and building in an incentive for making the first 36 mortgage payments. If beneficiaries of the $8,000 tax credit hang on to their new homes for at least three years, they need not repay the tax credit.
 Also known as the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009”, about 35% of the stimulus package is earmarked for tax cuts and 65% is dedicated to government spending, the Laurel and Hardy of economic recovery. Half of the new spending will target infrastructure like roads, highways and renewable energy. The other half will be disbursed to states for economic stabilization and stemming unemployment. While fueling local employment will help insure that working homeowners are equipped to meet their mortgage obligations, the Federal Government hopes to simultaneously massage the housing market by stimulating new homeownership.
Where will the $787 Billion Go?
* Tax Relief - includes $15 B for Infrastructure and Science, $61 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $25 B for Education and Training and $22 B for Energy, so total funds are $126 B for Infrastructure and Science, $142 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $78 B for Education and Training, and $65 B for Energy.
 As often occurs with lawmakers’ work product, the term “first-time homebuyer” is a misnomer. In fact, the legislation embraces anyone who hasn’t owned a primary residence for at least 3 years before purchasing a qualifying home. For married couples, if either husband or wife maintained an ownership interest in a primary residence during the 3 years prior to the new purchase, they are ineligible for the tax credit. Qualifying is also conditional on purchasing the home after April 8, 2008, and before December 1, 2009.
 Ownership of a primary residence in the United States is the eligibility threshold. Recent ownership of a vacation home, rental home, or any residence outside the United States will not trigger disqualification. The tax credit could benefit anyone currently relocating their primary residence to the Galt Mile neighborhood from Canada or anywhere outside the United States. Although homeowners officially residing in Boston, New York, Chicago and other parts of the country are ineligible, their tax-paying non-homeowner children may qualify! Homeowners victimized by Wilma or Katrina are eligible if they haven’t used their property as a primary residence for three years prior to the new home purchase.
 The credit is calculated by taking 10 percent of the home’s value - up to a maximum of $8,000. It is reduced or eliminated for higher-income taxpayers. To receive the full $8,000, a single applicant’s yearly modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) cannot exceed $75,000 while married couples can earn up to $150,000 annually. The phase-out range for a married couple filing a joint return is $150,000 to $170,000 and $75,000 to $95,000 for single taxpayers. If two or more taxpayers who are not married purchase a principal residence and otherwise satisfy the requirements, IRS Notice 2009-12 provides that they can divide the credit in proportion to their purchase price contributions, according to their ownership interest or in any manner deemed “reasonable” since they are both technically eligible for the entire credit.
 Since a tax credit (such as the one described in the original 2008 legislation) is ordinarily applied against one’s tax liability, a taxpayer owing less than $8,000 wouldn’t realize the full amount. To avoid the politically unpopular perception that the resource is regressive, the 2009 bill regenerated the benefit as a “refundable tax credit.” In other words, while there are maximum income limits for qualifying first-time homebuyers, there are no minimum income criteria. After applying the credit to any taxes owed, any remainder is sent by check as a refund from the IRS.
 If you made an eligible purchase in 2008, you must claim the first-time homebuyer credit on your 2008 tax return. For eligible purchases in 2009, the credit can be claimed on the 2008 or 2009 income tax return. To claim the tax credit, you must file form IRS 5405 “First-Time Homebuyer Credit” along with your amended 2008 return (assuming you've already filed for 2008) or your 2009 return.
Exceeding the income phase-out range ($95,000 or $170,000 for joint filing married couples) or owning a primary residence in the U.S. within 3 years of purchase aren’t the only eligibility obstacles. You are also precluded from participating if you are a nonresident alien, if you sell the home before the end of the year or if you purchased the home from a close relative (spouse, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild - although homes purchased from step relatives are acceptable). Those of you who were about $8,000 shy of owning your home can now cut the deal. If you could only remember the number for that 2 bedroom overlooking the pool and beach...
Stimulus Package Tax Credit Links
Click Here for details about the “Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008”, the legislation that underwrites the 2008 tax credit
Click Here for details about the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009”, the legislation that underwrites the 2009 tax credit
Click Here for an explanation of the “$8,000 First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit”
Click Here for the actual text of the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” (H.R. 1), A.K.A. - the “Stimulus Package”
Click Here for an explanation of the “Stimulus Package”
Click Here for an Executive Summary of the “Stimulus Package”
Click Here for form IRS 5405 to claim the tax credit
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COOPERATIVE FEEDING PROGRAM
Galt Ocean Mile
2009 Food Drive
Final Results
| | SCOTT WOODBURN |
May 11, 2009 - The 2009 Galt Mile Food Drive was over. In keeping with tradition, Cooperative Feeding Program Executive Director Scott Woodburn sent emails to the participants. The CFP sparkplug notified team captains, Association volunteers and other local program supporters that the recent drive was an unqualified success. Initially concerned about the economic downturn's impact on donations, Woodburn seemed relieved by the final results.
 The email opened “Thanks to all, for your efforts in producing a records setting Food Drive. Not too many folks showed up to celebrate the successful food drive competition.” Turning the focus to the event's competitive underpinnings, he continued, “Congratulations once again to our repeat Grand Champions the Edgewater Arms. I have attached the final results, please share with your board and president.”
 He explained why the annual effort was being shifted to a different - hopefully more productive - month, “Considering the results, I think we will keep the month of March as our Official Galt Ocean Mile Food Drive Month. Thanks again and we'll see you again next year.” The email carried two attachments, a letter entitled, “The Final Note” and an Excel spreadsheet compilation of the final statistical summary - “Final Results”. The letter, fueled by hope and infused with enthusiasm, is as follows:
The Galt Ocean Mile Food Drive Final Note
 | | CRT SOUTH - CAPTAIN: DAVID JENKINS |
WOW, who would have thought, a record setting year for the 2009 Galt Ocean Mile Food Drive. We set a goal of 15,000 lbs and for all intent and purpose we did it! Super congratulations to all our condo participants for a wonderful record setting effort in our 2009 Food Drive.
 | EDGEWATER ARMS - ANNEMARIE
ADAMS - 2008 GRAND CHAMPION |
Our 2009 Galt Ocean Mile GRAND CHAMPIONS for the second year in a row is the Edgewater Condo Association ([sic] - Coop Association). What can you say about that wonderful group at the Edgewater Condo Association ([sic] - Coop Association)? The smallest among us, with just 86 condo units ([sic] - coop units), the Edgewater just blew away the competition again this year with an astounding effort accumulating 3,658 total points and averaging a magnificent 43 points per unit.
 Congratulations to Annemarie Adams, the condo campaign Captain, the Condo Association Board, and the residents who made the fight against hunger in their community a personal campaign. ([sic] - Edgewater Arms is a Cooperative Association)
| | CRT SOUTH - CAPTAIN: DAVID JENKINS |
Congratulations to the Coral Ridge Group. Coral Ridge South hung in there second in total points followed by Coral Ridge Towers Original who was in a fight with up-comer South Point under first time leader Rebecca Olshan. She sure made Bonnie sweat it out.
 | | CRT EAST - JIM RAINEY |
Jim Rainey’s, Coral Ridge East group was solid again followed by our second smallest association the Fountainhead under Jennifer Donnelly. You have got to watch out for those smaller Associations. They stay under the radar but in the end can make a huge impact. Jennifer got a big increase out of her residents and place 6th overall in total points and second in points per unit with 5.1. She also gets my high five for her food collection box decorations.
 | FOUNTAINHEAD - 2nd PLACE - LBS PER UNIT
LED BY JENNIFER DONNELLY |
Following the Fountain Head was Cyndi Songer’s Galt Towers and Rosie Bowers and her Playa del Mar Group separated by just 11 lbs. and then the Rivera, Galleon, Plaza South and Ocean Club, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th & 13th place who were separated by just 50 lbs.
 | | SOUTHPOINT - REBECCA OLSHAN |
In the per unit category, no one could touch the 43 points per unit from the Edgewater but the Fountainhead followed in second with 5.1. Coral Ridge South’s 4.5 and Bonnie Leavitt's Original 3.2 were third and fourth. Things started to tighten up with South Point and the Rivera at 2.4 tied at fifth, then Coral Ridge East at 2.3 at 6th, the Galt Towers, seventh at 2.2 and a bunch at 2.1 points per unit.
 | | PLAYA DEL MAR - ROSIE BOWERS |
Thank you for a great effort in making this Food Drive the best yet. Your efforts and donations will make a difference. Your donations will change lives. Your donations will save lives. What a great gift to your neighbors and community.
 Imagine the difference we can make when we work together. We can work magic. Thanks for making this years food drive a record success.
 Remember on this Tuesday, April 7 at the St Lawrence Gallery 5:30 to 7PM will be our Food Drive celebration and we will crown our 2009 Grand Champion Edgewater plus every Condo Association will receive a food drive certificate of appreciation.
Scott A. Woodburn
CFP Development
954-629-7381
scott@feedingbroward.org
Collection Results
(21 Participating Associations)
|
| | Total Lbs & $$$ (Points) | Lbs & $$$ per Unit |
| |
| Association | Total Points | Association | Points/Unit |
| |
 Edgewater Arms | 3658.0 points | Edgewater Arms | 43.0 points/unit |
| CRT South | 1529.0 points | Fountainhead | 5.1 points/unit |
| CRT ”Original” | 1089.0 points | CRT South | 4.5 points/unit |
| Southpoint | 970.5 points | CRT ”Original” | 3.2 points/unit |
| CRT East | 761.5 points | Southpoint | 2.4 points/unit |
| Fountainhead | 648.5 points | Ocean Riviera | 2.4 points/unit |
| Galt Towers | 565.0 points | CRT East | 2.3 points/unit |
| Playa del Mar | 554.0 points | Galt Towers | 2.2 points/unit |
| Ocean Riviera | 480.5 points | Regency South | 2.1 points/unit |
| The Galleon | 450.0 points | Ocean Club | 2.1 points/unit |
| Plaza South | 448.0 points | The Galleon | 2.1 points/unit |
| Ocean Club | 435.0 points | Caribé | 2.1 points/unit |
| Regency South | 430.0 points | Royal Ambassador | 1.9 points/unit |
| Playa del Sol | 416.5 points | Playa Del Mar | 1.5 points/unit |
| Royal Ambassador | 406.0 points | Plaza East | 1.4 points/unit |
| Plaza East | 385.0 points | Regency Tower | 1.4 points/unit |
| Caribé | 313.0 points | Plaza South | 1.3 points/unit |
| Regency Tower | 283.0 points | Playa del Sol | 1.1 points/unit |
| Ocean Summit | 262.0 points | Ocean Summit | 1.1 points/unit |
| Galt Ocean Club | 140.0 points | Galt Ocean Club | 0.7 points/unit |
| Commodore | 78.0 points | Commodore | 0.4 points/unit |
| |  | | |
| Total Lbs Collected | 14,316.0 points | | |
| | | | |
GRAND CHAMPION
 That’s right! Our community contributed more than 7 tons of food and sundries to local families that are suffering through a tough time. The formula used as a comparative basis assigns one point for each pound of food and/or sundries donated as well as one point for each dollar contributed. Your anonymous contributions will be held up as an example to other Broward neighborhoods, hopefully engendering an epidemic of generosity. Well... perhaps a small epidemic... we’ve earned the right to dream!
The Cooperative Feeding Program is headquartered at NW 33rd Terrace in Fort Lauderdale (on the N. W. corner of Broward Blvd. and NW 33rd Terrace). Call them at (954) 792-2328, fax them at (954) 792-9982 or click here to send an email. Office and Emergency Pantry hours are Monday through Friday, 9 AM - 4 PM. The Community Kitchen serves from 9 AM through 11 AM, Monday through Saturday and Sundays from 11 AM through 12:30 PM.
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COOPERATIVE FEEDING PROGRAM
Galt Ocean Mile
2009 Food Drive
Halfway There
| | SCOTT WOODBURN |
March 27, 2009 - Scott Woodburn, the Cooperative Feeding Program sparkplug that pulled together the Galt Mile food drive during the past three years, has again undertaken to sharpen competitive instincts and stimulate collections. At a January 15th meeting of the Galt Mile Community Association’s Advisory Board, Woodburn notified participants that the economic downturn had exploded the program’s client ranks, burning through food stores at an unprecedented rate. The program’s Executive Director is passionately committed to restocking the endeavor’s severely depleted resources. To enhance perspective of the strain burdening the besieged feeding program, Woodburn exhorted, “Hunger remains a real problem in Broward County as 1 out of 4 goes to bed hungry every night.”
 On March 23rd, Woodburn sent an email to the Galt Mile associations participating in the current food drive. Emulating a race caller at the Belmont Stakes, Woodburn gave an engaging play by play describing the state of affairs as the Galt Mile donors rounded the halfway mark.
 Reviewing the relative success that competing associations realized halfway through the drive, Woodburn opined that “The final place standings should be very close this year.” Following a reminder that cash is now accepted toward an association’s point total at the rate of $1 per pound, Woodburn returned focus to the real motivation for donating foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals and money, explaining “Your donations will change lives. Your donations will save lives.” Point taken! Please read his email followed by a summary of the first half stats:
The 2009 Galt Ocean Mile first half results.
| | CRT SOUTH - CAPTAIN: DAVID JENKINS |
As you can see from the results of our first food collection not only have we set new records from food and cash donations but there is an exciting race for total points. Just 12.5 points separate Coral Ridge South and Edgewater Arms, or Third and fourth just 28 pts separate Southpoint and Coral Ridge Towers Original and for fifth and sixth place just 39 pts separate Playa De Mar and Regency South. Right down the line the separation between Condo Associations is just a few pts. The final place standings should be very close this year.
| EDGEWATER ARMS - ANNEMARIE
ADAMS - 2008 GRAND CHAMPION |
Remember there are two Championships Awarded: Total Points and Points per Unit, plus every Condo Association will receive a food drive certificate of appreciation.
 Very close and exciting - as we are seeing new associations getting excited about the drive. If everyone will continue with the effort just think how much of a difference we will make this year. Good Luck everyone, keep up the great effort, check out the deals at WINN DIXIE, just two weeks left!
 You all will remember that we added the option to donate money to the drive. That's because The Cooperative Feeding Program can leverage that cash donation and purchase food at .19 cents per pound. For the purpose of the drive totals every dollar donated equates to 1 pound of food and the donated food and cash adds up to total points.
 Thank you for a great start to the Food Drive. Your efforts and donations will make a difference. Your donations will change lives. Your donations will save lives. What a great gift to your neighbors and community.
| | TONS OF GALT MILE FOOD FILLS VAN |
The final food pick up is scheduled for Tuesday, March 31. Our “after the food drive celebration and awards ceremony” will be in April. Arrangements will be announced.
Keep up the great work! Imagine the difference we can make working together to make this year’s food drive a record success.
Scott A. Woodburn
CFP Development
954-629-7381
scott@feedingbroward.org
Halfway Point Collection Results
(21 Participating Associations)
|
| | Associations | Total lbs | Total Dollars | Lbs and Money |
| |
| 1. CRT South | 688.5 pounds | $638 | 1326.5 pts |
| 2. Edgewater Arms | 244.0 pounds | $1070 | 1314.0 pts |
| 3. Southpoint | 672.0 pounds | | 672.0 pts |
| 4. CRT ”Original” | 466.0 pounds | $175 | 644.0 pts |
| 5. Playa del Mar | 434.5 pounds | $10 | 444.5 pts |
| 6. Regency South | 405.5 pounds | | 405.5 pts |
| 7. CRT East | 329.0 pounds | $25 | 354.5 pts |
| 8. Ocean Riviera | 365.5 pounds | | 365.5 pts |
| 9. Plaza South | 339.0 pounds | | 339.0 pts |
| 10. Ocean Club | 224.0 pounds | $100 | 324.0 pts |
| 11. Fountainhead | 297.5 pounds | | 297.5 pts |
| 12. Galt Towers | 286.5 pounds | | 286.5 pts |
| 13. The Galleon | 244.5 pounds | | 244.5 pts |
| 14. Royal Ambassador | 96.0 pounds | $100 | 196.0 pts |
| 15. Playa del Sol | 178.0 pounds | $6 | 184.0 pts |
| 16. Ocean Summit | 156.0 pounds | | 156.0 pts |
| 17. Galt Ocean Club | 140.0 pounds | | 140.0 pts |
| 18. Plaza East | 111.5 pounds | | 111.5 pts |
| 19. Regency Tower | 97.0 pounds | $10 | 107.0 pts |
| 20. Caribé | 80.5 pounds | | 80.5 pts |
| 21. Commodore | 30.5 pounds | | 30.5 pts |
| | | | |
| Totals | 5886.0 pounds | $2134 | 8020 pts |
 Remember, the Galt Mile Food Drive ends on March 31st. Drop off the bags, bars and boxes of stuff in your kitchen that are just taking up space. The can of grape leaves that Aunt Martha gave you. The can of ravioli behind the jar of Prego. Come on. What about that can of spam you bought on sale in Sam's Club. Give it up!.
By the way, Click Here to see the Team Captains for each association.
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José “Chepo” Vega
Lays  some
Groundwork!
| COMMODORE RESIDENT
JOSÉ “CHEPO” VEGA |
March 12, 2009 - In early November, Commodore resident José “Chepo” Vega emailed a complaint to the Galt Mile Community Association about the “precarious” state of landscaping along Galt Ocean Drive. A few days later, he followed it up with a call to GMCA Vice President Eric Berkowitz, exclaiming “While I was walking in front of my building, I saw someone walk into a low hanging tree limb. It could have blinded him. Why doesn’t the City pay attention to the landscaping on our block?” Chepo argued that if he knew who to contact about addressing this issue, he would gladly volunteer his time and horticultural acumen. He was invited to apprise Advisory Board members and Commissioner Christine Teel about his concerns at the next Presidents Council meeting.
 | | GMCA PRESIDENTS COUNCIL MEETING |
At the December 1st meeting, while participants discussed the Calypso Project, Beach Renourishment, monkey business in the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, the impact of deliberately dilatory foreclosures on Association budgets, recent successes realized by the Galt Mile Security Patrol and other agenda items, Chepo cornered Commissioner Teel, detailing his concerns. Offering to contact the Parks Department and investigate the problem, she requested that he contact her office the following day.
 | | POORLY STAKED LEANING TREES |
The next evening, Chepo emailed GMCA officials Pio Ieraci and Eric Berkowitz, reporting his previous evening’s discussion with Commissioner Teel and another earlier that day. Excited about the prospect of finally making headway, he wrote “I spoke briefly to Commissioner Teel at the Monday meeting then called her subsequently at her suggestion. In our conversation I mentioned our concerns about the problems we are having with the sidewalk trees. I told her that the trees are growing bent due to the strong ocean winds and the use of the wrong stakes to prop the trees. I mentioned to her that somebody can injure their eyes with the low branches, etc. I volunteered to meet with anybody from the city that can help solve this problem. Teel told me that she is going to call the persons in charge of the planting and if I did not hear from them in a week, to call her and let her know.”
 | CITY MANAGER
GEORGE GRETSAS |
As directed by Commissioner Teel, commission assistant Eve Bazar sent an email to Julie Richards, assistant to City Manager George Gretsas, explaining, “José Vega resides at the Commodore condo on the Galt. He feels that the trees on the Galt aren’t being pruned properly, and in some cases may cause harm to people since the branches are too low. Mr. Vega talked with the commissioner and would like to meet with someone from P&R (sic - Parks and Recreation) who is responsible for the trees so he can alert them to the problems. Would you please have someone from P&R contact Mr. Vega to discuss this matter. Thanks.”
| PARKS OPERATIONS
CHIEF BRIAN HOPPER |
A week later, Parks Department Operations Superintendent Brian Hopper met with Chepo. On December 13th, shortly after their meeting, Hopper notified Assistant Director Terry Rynard of Parks and Recreation, “I have met with Mr. Vega and we have began trimming and restaking the trees. We will continue this work over the next week or two. Mr. Vega is pleased with our response thus far and was very complimentary of staff. I will follow up when work is 100 prct complete.”
 To recruit additional support from the 27 member associations, Chepo attended the December 18th GMCA Advisory Board meeting at Nick’s Italian Restaurant. Following reports by Broward Commissioner Ken Keechl and City Commissioner Teel, members worked through the packed meeting agenda. Under “Other Business,” President Pio Ieraci reported, “A walk-through of the Galt Mile with city representatives was conducted to review the condition of trash cans, benches and the general aesthetics of our beachscape.”
| GMCA PRESIDENT
PIO IERACI |
Explaining that a full report detailing their findings and potential resolutions would be forthcoming by February, Ieraci turned to Chepo, thanking him for following his original complaint with active pursuit of redress. After announcing, “Chepo is working with the City to address the landscaping problems along Galt Ocean Drive,” he proposed that Chepo be officially vested to represent the Neighborhood Association in this effort. A quick vote affirmed Chepo’s status. After indicating that she would notify the Parks Department about the Advisory Board’s action, Commissioner Teel said that Chepo would “probably hear from them after the Holidays.”
 | | POORLY STAKED LEANING TREES |
Over the next few weeks, Parks personnel completed trimming the trees and the Department ordered 10 new trash cans. Anxious to participate in the improvements, Chepo fired off an email to Eric Berkowitz on January 3rd, stating, “Eric, I have been waiting for somebody from the city to get in touch with me. I am calling the Parks supervisor on Monday now that the Holidays are over. I would like to share with you some new pictures of the Galt landscape that I feel must be tackled too. The sooner the better. Any chance that we can meet for few minutes tomorrow or Monday?”
 | | CHEPO RESTAKES TREES |
Itching to get rolling, on January 7th Chepo emailed GMCA officials “I called Brian Hopper, Parks Operation Superintendent and he will be in touch with me in two weeks. They are very busy finishing the new South Side Park which is due soon and they are a little behind schedule. I will keep you guys posted.” A week later, a relieved Chepo announced, “The City Tree People showed up by surprise. I spent time with them and have pictures. I have some information about the landscape. Let me know if you can use it for the newsletter.” An optimistic Chepo ran up the block and hand delivered pictures detailing the improvements.
| | JOSÉ AND BRIAN HOPPER DISCUSS LANDSCAPING |
Chepo buckled down to work with Brian Hopper. In the first report he prepared for the neighborhood association, Chepo summarized the two week project. Following a walk-through with Hopper and landscaping personnel, crews assigned to the project trimmed more than three dozen trees, cutting branches deemed dangerous to marginally attentive pedestrians and passing bicycle enthusiasts. Sizing stakes were installed to better control future growth and broken metal grates framing the block’s trees were repaired and/or properly reinstalled.
| | CHEPO AND PARKS STAFFER DEVISE REPAIR STRATEGY |
The trees planted along Galt Ocean Drive have two strikes against them. When Urban Forester Gene Dempsey addressed a 2005 Presidents Council meeting, he explained that a newly hired city horticulturist would supervise the planting of all new “environmentally compatible” flora along the block. The plan went awry in 2007 when Parks personnel discovered that the Green Buttonwoods planted years earlier grew Olympian root systems, irreversibly entangling cables, utility lines, telephone lines and drainage elements. Were they simply torn out, residents in the adjacent buildings would taste life in the 17th century. Having failed to pry out the roots, cut them away or selectively poison certain offshoots, Parks Department Assistant Director Terry Rynard explained that the plans were in trouble. They would have to try rooting smaller trees in areas filled with irretrievable root balls.
 | | JOSÉ PLANTS SIDEWALK BEDS |
During a June 2007 landscaping walk through with Rynard and Parks Foreman Tim Southby, GMCA President Pio Ieraci learned why hurricane-damaged trees were deliberately replaced with undersized trees suffering from multi-week life spans. “The silver buttonwoods that we have planted on the walkway were chosen for their size for many reasons,” exclaimed Southby. “The openings in the sidewalk are only so big. Many of the old root systems are still in the ground from the old trees and from other trees along the sidewalk. Electrical and irrigation for these trees runs through these openings, causing us to use smaller and not as mature specimens as we would like to have used.” Southby elaborated, “For this reason we have had to stake and strap the trees in ways we normally would not like to have to use. We know that it isn’t the most attractive method but it is working.”
 | GREEN
BUTTONWOOD |
In 2007, city officials had to find a way to plant new trees without first having to remove the stifling remnant root balls. Initially, unsupported trees were planted in whatever space was available amid the overcrowded root remnants. As often as not, they died. If they could have somehow sustained the trees following their initial implantation, the replacements’ chances for survival would have increased substantially. Tim Southby explained steps taken by the Parks Department to accomplish this objective, “We are also currently topping off most of the buttonwoods to stop adding more stress to the lower trunk and the root system. This will allow the trunk to thicken up and give it the strength that we need to allow the strapping to come off and make the sidewalk area more appealing.”
 | | BRACED SILVER BUTTONWOODS AND COCONUT PALMS |
By initially keeping the trees small, their growth resources would be directed towards bulking up their trunks, enhancing their prospects for survival. Southby theorized that this strategy, in combination with concentrating scheduled fertilization, would shorten the period that the trees appeared undersized. Ieraci asked Southby how long the small silver buttonwoods would have to remain staked and strapped. “We hope by June of 2008 the strapping will come off most of the trees except for the ones that we have had to replace in the last few weeks,” predicted Southby. Unfortunately, things didn’t transpire as planned.
 | | CRACKED AGGREGATE SIDEWALK |
At the time, Assistant Parks Director Rynard agreed with Southby’s assessment, exclaiming “You won’t have to wait ten years to see substantial growth. We’re making the best out of a bad situation. We plan to intensively fertilize the new trees. Once they are firmly rooted, we should see some rapid growth.” Southby also blamed the old root balls for some of the damage sustained by the aggregate sidewalks originally installed as part of the Galt Mile Improvement Project. He explained “The root systems spread under the entire area. We found them wrapped around the tree cover grates and they dislodged sidewalks.”
 | | TREES PROPERLY STAKED AND PRUNED |
To successfully fulfill the City’s contractual obligation to maintain the block “in a Disney like fashion,” Parks personnel should have meticulously micromanaged the immature plantings through their initial growth period. They didn’t. Of the staked trees that ultimately survived, many were severely gnarled – strangely reminiscent of the contorted tree gracing the Addams family household’s front yard. Notwithstanding, any trees that lived did so in defiance of a terminally poor prognosis by the Department.
| PARKS DIRECTOR
PHIL THORNBURG |
On the bright side, nature is reliably unpredictable. With timely trimming and extraordinary oversight, future years may serendipitously bring unforeseen improvement. Admittedly, the key factor is intensive nurturing. Perhaps Chepo is just what the doctor ordered - a committed landscaping advocate. If his efforts insure an ongoing Parks Department policy of properly managing the immature trees, the block may yet achieve the vision shared by a community driven to put a “Smile on the Mile.”
 Chepo recognized the larger benefit inherent in this cooperative effort, topping off his report with, “This cooperation is a positive sign for completion of future projects, like replacing our deteriorating benches, palm tree pruning and the filling of bald spots of ground cover between the sidewalk and the street.” Expressing gratitude to Commissioner Teel while extending an olive branch to Parks and Recreation Director Phil Thornburg’s minions, Chepo added “With the support of our government officials and dedicated Parks employees, the Galt Mile Association and its residents can look forward to a productive partnership to keep the Galt Ocean Drive safe and beautiful.”
 | CHEPO - MADE
A DIFFERENCE |
While Chepo’s work will produce a palpable benefit for every Galt Mile resident, of far greater significance is Chepo himself. Galt Mile Community Association officials have long acknowledged that the neighborhood’s greatest asset is the diversity of its residents. The neighborhood association simply provides a vehicle for these residents to define and achieve shared objectives – a forum to focus on improving their lives. It is fueled by self-motivated people willing to work for these improvements. Without José “Chepo” Vega, and the dozens of other volunteers working together on beach renourishment, neighborhood security, block maintenance, insurance dilemmas, community association operations, beneficial legislation, fiscal efficiencies and a dozen other challenges, the Galt Mile would experience the deterioration suffered by any voiceless community.
As long as our neighborhood’s squeaky wheels meet twice monthly to proactively insure its continued good health, Galt Mile residents will continue shaping their own destiny. No need to take my word for it - just ask Chepo!
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Grips Florida Condos
 | NAR PRESIDENT
CHARLES MCMILLAN |
February 16, 2009 - On January 2, 2009, President Charles McMillan of the National Realtors Association (NAR) wrote a letter to James B. Lockhart III, the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The correspondence expressed NAR concerns about why Lockhart had seemingly abandoned his obligation to promote affordable homeownership. McMillan was referring to Fannie Mae Announcement 08-38 “Updated Flow Business Pricing Requirements”, released on December 29, 2008, increasing fees for mortgages purchased or securitized on or after April 1, 2009. Director Lockhart is the federal conservator and regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two government sponsored enterprises (GSEs).
 Rather than accusing the federal bureaucrat of abdicating his responsibility or undermining the Florida real estate market’s recently optimistic recovery indicators, he questioned the Agency’s inexplicable policy contradictions. He first reminded Lockhart about his stated policy, explaining “In your prepared statement on September 7, 2008, in connection with announcing the conservatorship, you expressed concern about the negative impact of higher fees being imposed by the government sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) to raise capital. At the same time, Secretary Paulson stated that the primary mission of the GSEs under the conservatorship would be to increase mortgage affordability.”
 | FHFA DIRECTOR
JAMES B. LOCKHART III |
McMillan then contrasted Lockhart’s statements with his actions, saying, “With that as background, we were completely surprised that Fannie Mae has decided to raise fees, especially so significantly. If we are interpreting the announcement correctly, a borrower with a credit score of 670 making a 20% down payment for a condominium would have the fee increased from 150 basis points to 350 basis points—more than double.”
 Packing his objection into a query, McMillan asked, “What is the need for these fee increases? What alternatives were considered? Is the purpose of increasing fees to shift higher risk borrowers to the FHA mortgage insurance program? What will the impact of such a move be in terms of risk and cost to the government and the taxpayer? Why did Fannie Mae decide to raise fees on borrowers, reducing affordability and counter-acting the positive impact of recent reductions in mortgage interest rates, instead of relying on other sources of liquidity announced by the Treasury Department on September 7 and the Federal Reserve Board on November 25?” After framing his complaint as a plea for clarity, the NAR President requested justification for the Agency’s enigmatic decision, intimating a suspicious lack of transparency.
 | | FANNIE MAE WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS |
Fannie Mae is the 600 pound gorilla of the mortgage business. Established by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal in 1938 to provide a secondary market for post-Depression Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgages, the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) replenished the supply of lendable money. In 1968, Congress amended its Charter, recreating Fannie Mae as a stockholder-owned, privately managed corporation. To rectify its questionably legal status as a shareholder-owned monopoly, in 1970, Congress chartered another government sponsored enterprise (GSE), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac). Although they don’t directly loan money to homeowners, they ensure that mortgage lenders and brokers are adequately flush with cash to service the home buying public.
 As GSEs, Fannie and Freddie received substantial benefits. They were endowed with access to an astronomical line of credit from the U.S. Treasury (currently $200 billion); exemption from state and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration requirements; exemption from all state and local taxes (except property taxes); and a “gold star” demand for their securities, since the Government gives those securities the same preferred investment status as Treasury debt.
 More importantly, the GSEs benefitted from an illusion. Being perceived as having federal backing for their debt – although they do not – has allowed Fannie and Freddie to borrow at near-Treasury rates and sell their securities at better rates than those of purely commercial firms.
 In return for the GSEs’ competitive advantages, Congress demanded that they undertake certain public purpose activities, notably promoting access to mortgages via HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) in underserved urban and rural communities, in minority communities, and to low- and moderate-income families. The GSEs were also expected to help end discrimination in the lending industry.
 In 1992, Congress enacted the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act (FHEFSSA). This Act further separated HUD’s regulation of the GSEs’ public purposes activities from their safety and soundness components by revising the role of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, an independent financial regulator within HUD. It also established a set of interim regulations for the GSEs.
 FHEFSSA, often referred to as the GSE Act, was motivated by concerns over safety and soundness of the GSEs’ financial underpinnings, rather than affordable housing. Nevertheless, due to pressure from housing advocates, the interim regulations did prescribe certain affordable housing standards for the GSEs. The Act requires the Secretary of HUD to assure that the GSEs meet their housing goals and fair lending obligations. It also expanded HUD’s authority to do so. The Secretary was directed to evaluate the interim regulations Congress had crafted and develop new regulations governing the GSEs.
 On February 16, 1995, HUD released its proposed regulations for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The regulations identified regulatory goals for low-and moderate income home purchases; altered the definition of underserved areas, focusing more on neighborhoods in need; and redefined special affordable housing goals. The Act directed HUD to annually examine these goals and the assumptions upon which they are based and thereafter develop new goals consonant with the current economic environment.
 Saddled with two mandates that were empirically incompatible – practicing fiscal responsibility while underwriting high risk loans – the stage was now set for a decade of seemingly schizophrenic lending policies. Further inflamed by unrelenting pressure to generate shareholder profits, the GSEs’ loan portfolios became top-heavy with lucrative sub-prime or “toxic” loans. Free from SEC reporting requirements, Fannie and Freddie purchased ordinarily ineligible “nonconforming” high risk instruments bundled with traditional debt, thereby disguising the degree that toxicity burdened their portfolios. Since Fannie Mae-backed loans typically have the best rates and lowest down payments for borrowers, their policies exert a tremendous impact on the lending industry. Perceiving the GSEs’ liberalized portfolio complexion as an unofficial license to print money, commercial lenders further loosened lending requirements, dispensing with traditional and time-tested risk management formulas.
 | LONG-TERM
CAPITAL MANAGEMENT |
When the current real estate recession spread across the country, Federal banking authorities timidly admitted that negligible federal oversight was not the panacea they marketed to the borrowing public. Tripping over themselves to finance properties, mortgage bankers emulsified eligibility standards, requiring only that borrowers demonstrate proficiency in finding their advertised telephone number. Entrenched in a euphoric trance-like state, the industry felt justified in ignoring decades-old lessons learned when hedge funds like Long Term Capital Management decomposed – what goes up, must come down.
 When tens of thousands of “no money down”, “deferred interest”, and “negative amortization” mortgages simultaneously imploded, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were diagnosed as terminal. Just as the government sponsored entities were going down for the third time, Congress threw them a life preserver, exclaiming the importance of reestablishing real estate stability. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 targeted lenders and investors at the top of the credit crunch meltdown, declaring that “the nation’s economic turnaround hinges on a healthy housing market and affordable home ownership.” $700 billion was pumped into the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) to purchase distressed assets, especially mortgage-backed securities, and make capital injections into banks.
 | TREASURY SECRETARY HENRY PAULSON, FED CHAIRMAN
BEN BERNANKE, SEC CHAIRMAN CHRISTOPHER COX, AND
FHFA DIRECTOR JAMES LOCKHART TESTIFY IN CONGRESS |
Despite September endorsements by Paulson, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, S.E.C. Chairman Christopher Cox, both presidential candidates and the lame duck Administration, Republicans called the Paulson Plan “Financial Socialism” and Democrats likened it to “buying smog on credit.” When asked how Paulson decided that the Treasury should buy $700 billion of bad debt, a treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com “It’s not based on any particular data point. We just wanted to choose a really large number.”
 Paulson’s impending return to the private sector spurred suspicions that he was fatally conflicted. While acknowledging that the crisis was ultimately driven by the falling housing market, instead of trying to modify mortgage debt and stabilize the housing market with loans to homeowners facing foreclosure, the former Goldman Sachs CEO provided bailouts for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, institutions that borrowed huge amounts to invest recklessly in the securities and derivatives based on those mortgages. By ignoring the cause (the failing housing market) in favor of the symptom (the crisis among investment banks), Paulson also insured the health of his blind trust – predominantly comprised of Goldman holdings (including his last $38 million compensation package). In addition to having hired Goldman executives as plan advisors, Paulson charged treasury staffer Neel Kashkari, a former vice-president at Goldman Sachs, with administering the bailout funds. By the time that Obama’s Treasury Secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, grabbed the reins, Paulson had already spent half the money.
 | TREASURY SECRETARY
TIMOTHY F. GEITHNER |
Instead of using the funds to facilitate lending as mandated, TARP recipients have treated the program as a no-strings-attached windfall that could be used to pay down debt, acquire other businesses or invest for the future. The Congressional Review Panel created to oversee the TARP concluded on January 9, 2009: “In particular, the Panel sees no evidence that the U.S. Treasury has used TARP funds to support the housing market by avoiding preventable foreclosures.” The panel also concluded that “Although half the money has not yet been received by the banks, hundreds of billions of dollars have been injected into the marketplace with no demonstrable effects on lending.” Not surprisingly, banks that received $295 billion in bailout money spent $114 million on lobbying and campaign contributions during 2008.
 On July 30, 2008 – in preparation for the financial bailout – the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 created the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) by morphing the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB), and the GSE mission office at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In addition to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks fell under the regulatory and supervisory oversight of the new agency. As of June 2008, the combined debt and obligations of these GSEs totaled $6.6 trillion, exceeding the total publicly held debt of the USA by $1.3 trillion.
 After seizing control of Fannie and Freddie last September, the Federal Housing Finance Agency enacted regulations enabling troubled homeowners to renegotiate hundreds of thousands of delinquent loans held by the two GSEs. In November, they offered a plan that emulated measures already instituted by commercial lending giants plagued with self-inflicted loan portfolio losses. Citigroup had already halted foreclosures for borrowers who live in their own homes, have decent incomes and stand a good chance of making lowered mortgage payments. JP Morgan Chase & Co. expanded its mortgage modification program to an estimated $70 billion in loans and Bank of America later loosened repayment terms for the 400,000 loans held by newly acquired Countrywide Financial Corporation.
 Since Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee nearly 31 million U.S. mortgages, or nearly six of 10 loans, the scale of their relief program dwarfed those of their commercial counterparts. It was accessible to borrowers who were at least three months in arrears, owed 90% or more of their home’s current value, lived in the home and hadn’t filed for bankruptcy protection. Several options were made available for payment relief. For example, interest rates could be adjusted to insure that no more than 38 percent of a borrower’s income addressed mortgage expense. Another option extended loans from 30 years to 40 years with interest-free principal deferments.
 | | FDIC CHAIR SHEILA BAIR |
Since more than 4 million American homeowners, or 9 percent of mortgage borrowers, were either behind on their payments or in foreclosure, Agency Director Lockhart justified the program’s intent, exclaiming in November “Foreclosures hurt families, their neighbors, whole communities and the overall housing market. We need to stop this downward spiral.” Critics included Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chair Sheila Bair, who characterized the plan as “a step in the right direction but falls short of what is needed.” Financial analysts asserted that it could unintentionally aggravate the problem, postulating that mortgage owners may deliberately withhold payments for three months in order to qualify for relief.
 Three weeks after Lockhart’s Federal Housing Finance Agency sent fees skyward, the other shoe dropped. In announcing an unprecedented set of tough new mortgage requirements, Fannie Mae stunned local Associations by limiting the stringent measures to condominium buyers in one state - Florida. South Florida real estate pundits characterized the policy as a highly prejudicial overreaction to decades of capricious mortgage bank practices across the country. Despite nationwide abuses spanning the full spectrum of property ownership, Fannie’s targeting of Florida condos spurred accusations that Lockhart was creating a sacrificial straw dog. The new requirements intentionally intensify sales pressure on Condo Associations already starved for residents and struggling financially.
These new rules fly in the face of the recently reconstituted Congressional mandate, despite a cursory statement by Fannie Mae officials rationalizing why they singled out Florida and, more specifically, condo borrowers. An Agency spokesperson declared that after reviewing their mortgage loans, they discovered record-high default and foreclosure rates among condo owners. They also cited the excessive number of condos listed for sale, which has driven down prices. Since this is also true for almost every other class of homeownership in dozens of areas around the country (especially in certain West Coast regional jurisdictions verging on bankruptcy), their explanation for exclusively targeting Florida condos strains credibility. The new conditions include:
 No more than 15 percent of an association’s unit owners can be 30 days or more past due on association fees.
For new condo buildings and condo conversions, at least 70 percent of units must have been sold or put under contract. That’s up from 49 percent previously.
Fannie Mae will now have in-house underwriting teams extensively review a condominium’s building, its finances and local market conditions. This review will be at the lender’s expense which will make such loans less attractive. (Previously, Fannie relied on lenders to perform these reviews and the lenders controlled the costs); and
Higher equity will be required up front from non-occupant investor owners (15% down) and those purchasing a Florida condominium unit as a second home (10% down).
 These requirements are arguably oblivious to the difficulties already facing Florida condo mortgage applicants. Over the past two years, many banks have dramatically raised the bar for condo loans, requiring down payments of up to 40 percent in new buildings. Citing a high risk of price declines and defaults, some lenders have blacklisted certain condo buildings while others declared blanket moratoria on condo loans.
 | REAL ESTATE
ANALYST JACK MCCABE |
Much of the property glut left by overextended speculators was absorbed during the past year. Applying these heavily restrictive standards just as real estate is again showing signs of recovery is strategically counterproductive to the Agency’s proclaimed objective of “rescuing the housing market.” Fannie Mae’s timing “couldn’t be worse,” said Jack McCabe, a Deerfield Beach real estate analyst who believes the region is mired in a housing recession. “This is effectively going to make it much more difficult to qualify.” McCabe estimates as much as 25 percent of the market in the tri-county area will be shut out of Fannie-funded financing. A litany of industry officials agree, predicting that this policy will worsen the condition it portends to ameliorate. While Fannie Mae is not the only funding source for lenders who want to make condo loans, No. 2 mortgage guarantor Freddie Mac typically follows Fannie Mae’s lead. On January 30th, Freddie Mac issued a “Sellers Guide Bulletin” increasing fees for cash-out refinancings, interest-only adjustable rate mortgages, and condominium unit mortgages (75 basis points for condominium unit mortgages with loan to value ratios greater than 75%).
 | CHARLES FOSCHINI
CB RICHARD ELLIS |
Certain others claim that this is just what the doctor ordered - a cold turkey fiscal High Colonic of sorts. Vice chairman of debt and equity finance Charles Foschini of CB Richard Ellis, a Miami Real Estate firm, said “In a climate of increased risk, Fannie Mae’s primary responsibility is to protect investors, borrowers and taxpayers.” Foschini’s contention is that borrowers benefit from knowing they are moving into a well-funded condo association awash in reserves, implying assessment stability. He is unconcerned, however, that his buyer’s peace-of-mind comes at the risk of bankrupting thousands of existing associations struggling to survive.
 His perceived protection for taxpayers took the form of a sound bite, “The quicker we can instill sounder underwriting practices for mortgages for Fannie or anyone else the more confidence we’ll have in the market.” While true, it fails to clarify how this action shelters taxpayers. Adequately collateralizing loans is widely considered central to effective risk management and the Congressional Fannie Mae bailout stipulated the revival of sound underwriting practices for mortgages. However, more than doubling the fees and setting significantly tougher credit requirements for only one class of homeowner in only one state is hardly a credible confidence builder.
 Spinning the new rules as a boon to investors borders on Burlesque. The action will admittedly precipitate further price declines and more foreclosures. This translates into additional losses for the GSE - and its investors. Perhaps Foschini conjures a secret Fannie Mae shareholder cult based in an abandoned Northwest Pacific logging camp that aspires to personal growth via diminishing equity.
 | | BROKER GRANT STERN |
Industry experts agree on who will ultimately benefit from this policy direction. The “Fannie-less” finance vacuum will create a garage sale for cash-rich buyers. Well funded investment predators will be able to command unprecedented discounts. Grant Stern, principal broker of Miami-based Morningside Mortgage, explained, “Fannie Mae declared Christmas for hedge funds who want to buy bulk in these buildings, but it’s leaving everyday investors and people who want to buy for their own personal use in the dust.” Asserting that the restrictions exemplified the self-fulfilling, cyclical nature of the credit crisis, Stern hypothesized “Fear provokes a knee-jerk reaction that inflames the problem, causing more fear.”
 Since the Country is currently navigating uncharted economic waters, Agency officials are understandably having difficulty distinguishing between hopefully productive actions and regressive fear-based reactions. Palm Beach housing investment consultant Shirley Evans waxed metaphorically, “When they realize that they shot themselves in the foot, they will either take aim at their other foot or lower the gun. The GSEs are experimenting and the Florida condo market is the Guinea Pig!”
 On the bright side, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has been in a state of perpetual flux since the Congressional GSE rescue. Congress is currently crunching legislation to provide executive agencies with clearer policy objectives. Housing guidance is anticipated from broad recovery bills such as the American Recovery Act of 2009 and dozens of targeted vehicles dedicated to averting imminent foreclosures through debt restructuring, promoting bank liquidity and strengthening regulatory and supervisory oversight of the housing finance system.
 | | FINANCE CHAIR BARNEY FRANK |
For example, Chairman Barney Frank’s House Financial Services Committee just introduced H.R. 703 and H.R. 787, legislation designed to ease loan modifications and improve refinancing options for troubled homeowners by revamping the HOPE for Homeowners program. While HOPE for Homeowners (H4H) was enacted to help families refinance into safer, more affordable mortgages and avoid foreclosure, program constraints deterred lender participation. Frank’s “adjustment” bills are expected to make the program more lender-friendly while limiting risks to the FHA fund and the American taxpayer. Since President Obama’s challenge will be to artfully weave dozens of such program initiatives into a cohesive recovery policy, we can reasonably expect more agency “experimentation” as new legislation is incorporated into the Obama Administration’s “Financial Stability Plan”. As intimated by Ms. Evans, if we survive the experiments, we may survive the recession!
Stopping Foreclosure Links
 HOPE for Homeowners (H4H) - Effective from October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2011, the HOPE for Homeowners (H4H) program was created by Congress to help those at risk of default and foreclosure refinance into more affordable, sustainable loans. H4H is an additional mortgage option designed to keep borrowers in their homes. If you are having trouble making your mortgage payments, HOPE for Homeowners may be able to help you, by refinancing your loan into a new 30-year or 40-year fixed-rate loan with lower payments.
NOTE: Homeowners, contact your existing lender and/or a new lender to discuss how you may qualify for the H4H program.
Hope Now - HOPE NOW is an alliance between counselors, servicers, investors, and other mortgage market participants. This alliance maximizes outreach efforts to homeowners in distress to help them stay in their homes. Its purpose is to reach and support as many homeowners as possible. The members of this alliance recognize that by working together, they will be more effective than by working independently.
Are you having trouble paying your mortgage? Call the Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline: 1.888.995.HOPE (1-888-995-4673) or go to their website at www.hopenow.com. Do it today!
 Homeownership Preservation Foundation - The Homeownership Preservation Foundation, which operates the 888-995-HOPE™ hotline mentioned above, has a single mission: to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. They are an independent nonprofit that provides FREE HUD-approved counselors dedicated to helping homeowners.
On this site, you can arrange an online consultation.
HUD Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure - Whether you're in foreclosure now or worried about it in the future, they have information that can help. Foreclosure doesn't happen overnight. They offer solutions for dealing with every stage of the process.
HUD Help for Homeowners Facing the Loss of Their Home - If you have been laid off or are facing unemployment, you can keep your home - - if you know the right steps to take. The Department of Housing and Urban Development/Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Labor and the mortgage industry have worked together to produce important basic information - - and key links to local groups and organizations - - that can help you get through difficult times without losing your home.
 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - Mortgage Payment Dilemmas - Regardless of the reason for your mortgage anxiety, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, wants you to know how to help save your home, and how to recognize and avoid foreclosure scams.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - Foreclosure Rescue Scams - Fraudulent foreclosure “rescue” professionals use half truths and outright lies to sell services that promise relief and then fail to deliver. Their goal is to make a quick profit through fees or mortgage payments they collect from you, but do not pass on to the lender. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, wants you to know how to recognize a foreclosure rescue scam.
 Federal Reserve Mortgage Foreclosure Resources - If you are having difficulty making your mortgage payment, one of the most important things you can do is seek assistance. These resources provide information and links to agencies and organizations that may be able to help you. The Federal Reserve Banks have also established Foreclosure Resource Centers to help address local and regional challenges in their mortgage markets and local communities.
 IRS - Home Foreclosure and Debt Cancellation - The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 generally allows taxpayers to exclude income from the discharge of debt on their principal residence. Debt reduced through mortgage restructuring, as well as mortgage debt forgiven in connection with a foreclosure, qualify for this relief.
 Freddie Mac - Avoiding Foreclosure - No one expects to lose their house to foreclosure, but by understanding the foreclosure process and what may lead up to it, you can be in a better position to recognize and address potential problems that may impact your ability to make every mortgage payment on time.
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COOPERATIVE FEEDING PROGRAM
Galt Ocean Mile
2009 Food Drive
 | | NICK’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT |
January 20, 2009 - On January 15th, early in the morning, Cooperative Feeding Program Executive Director Scott Woodburn met Fort Lauderdale Real Estate proprietor Domenic Faro and headed to Nick’s Italian Restaurant. They weren’t hungry. The food Scott was thinking about wasn’t on the menu. When they arrived, they navigated to the back of the well-known eatery, where Domenic greeted about thirty of his friends and neighbors scattered about the room. However, Scott and Dominic were there on business. They then greeted City Manager George Gretsas, Assistant City Manager David Hébert, City Commissioner Christine Teel and Property Appraiser Media Director Bob Wolfe, who were also there on business. At 11 AM, everyone took their seats as GMCA President Pio Ieraci convened the neighborhood association’s monthly Advisory Board meeting. Pio called on Scott to address representatives from the member associations on the Advisory Board.
| | DOMENIC FARO |
Scott and Domenic represent Broward County’s lead agency in the provision of services to the hungry and homeless. For 23 years, the Cooperative Feeding Program has provided counseling and support to help economically besieged families out of the throes of difficult times. In November, as Thanksgiving ritually encourages Americans to appreciate their families and reminds us how good it feels to share blessings, we look forward to extending that warm feeling through the Holiday Season. The Cooperative Feeding Program has institutionalized a methodology for accomplishing that. Last Thanksgiving, the CFP fed more than 4,200 families, distributing turkeys, hams, or gift cards. In keeping with modern delivery systems, they implemented a “Drive Through” to efficiently expand outreach. As the economy increasingly victimizes families, lines at The CFP wind further down the sidewalk, often into the street. Close to 200 showers per week are being provided. More than 350 hot meals are distributed each day, along with another 150 sandwiches for lunch.
| | FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH |
The program was launched in 1982 when Pastor Luther Anderson of the First Lutheran Church in downtown Fort Lauderdale turned donations from Church members into a small pantry with food for the needy. The neighbors took umbrage when homeless and hungry people pleading for something to eat filled the street. As the service proportionally grew with demand, it had to undergo several relocations and otherwise adapt. Its initial 1987 501(c)(3) certification as a not-for-profit organization was later restructured as a 501(c)(3) Nondenominational, passing both control and outreach from Lutherans to anyone in need - also enabling eligibility for FEMA resources.
 | COMMISSIONER TEEL & DOMENIC FARO AWARD
TROPHY TO ANNEMARIE ADAMS & EDGEWATER ARMS
*** CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGER VIEW *** |
From the humble beginnings of distributing a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to the homeless, to today’s provision of 1.2 million meals a year, the agency’s dramatic development has reflected both the growing numbers and the growing needs of the poor in our community. Operating solely on the funds and gifts generated by socially conscious individuals, businesses and organizations like the Galt Mile Community Association, the Cooperative Feeding Program doesn’t abide corporate conveniences. A remarkably pork-free 8% administrative overhead - audited - means resources are smoothly expedited from donors to hungry families. Rents were paid and move-in costs were provided to help families facing the tragic national disgrace of homelessness. The CFP has entered into formal collaborative service agreements with about 100 agencies, entitling them to prescreen clients for emergency services.
| | SCOTT WOODBURN |
Reading from a letter previously sent to each association, Woodburn requested participation in the upcoming 2009 food drive. To compensate for the economic downturn’s impact on families struggling to survive, he suggested that a special effort be made to surpass last year’s record collections. To help stir the formulaic competition meant to incentivize increased contributions, Woodburn reminded the assemblage that little Edgewater Arms, the smallest member of the neighborhood association, handily won last year’s trophy, both for total and per unit contributions. Domenic Faro, a L'Hermitage resident and local business owner who serves as Vice President of the CFP Board of Directors, introduced the program to the Galt Mile neighborhood two years ago. Partnering with the GMCA imparted legs to the annual local event, creating the competitive framework that yielded two consecutive successful food drives. Scott’s address was as follows:
A request for you toB e an important part of the 3rd Annual GALT OCEAN MILEC ampaign to reduce hunger in Broward County...
| | 6 TONS OF GALT MILE FOOD FILLS VAN |
Our 2008 Galt Food Drive, which included 21 Galt Condo Associations, was a huge success. Over 11,000 lbs of food and money donated and the Edgewater Arms was crowned Champion Condo Association.
 Once again we are poised to initiate the 3rd Annual Galt Ocean Mile Food Drive. CFP Director and Committee Chair Domenic Faro, of L’Hermitage invites the entire Galt Ocean Mile Condo Association to join our campaign and participate in another exciting Galt Ocean Mile Food Drive.
The month of March has been designated the 2009 GALT Ocean Mile Food Drive month. A special “Walk against Hunger” will kick off the month long Food Drive.
| | GALT MILERS START 5K WALK AT WINN DIXIE LAST YEAR |
We have the food collection boxes, posters, mail box stuffers and flyers to help you announce the walk and food drive to your residents and provide a description of what types of non-perishable items are needed.
We will also work with each Condo Association to advise you on organizing the food drive, promotional considerations, food collection and handling pick up and delivery to the Cooperative Feeding Program.
 Please take a moment to fill out and fax to us the attached form ASAP. We also would appreciate an opportunity to meet with you and make a presentation to your Condo Association at your next meeting. Please RSVP and confirm the date of our appearance before your Board.
Hunger remains a real problem in Broward County as 1 out of 4 goes to bed hungry every night. With your help, fighting it will be as easy as A-B-C!
Scott A. Woodburn
CFP Development
954-629-7381
scott@feedingbroward.org
Team Leaders
(last years Grand Champion)
- Edgewater Arms: Annemarie Adams, Captain
GMCA
Team Members
- Coral Ridge Tower Original: Bonnie Leavitt, Captain
- Coral Ridge Tower South: Dave Jenkins, Captain
- Coral Ridge Tower East: James Rainey, Captain
- Fountainhead, Jennifer Donnelly, Captain
- Galt Towers: Cyndi Songer, Captain
- L’Hermitage: Domenic Faro, Captain
- Ocean Summit: Lee Lowenthal, Captain
- Playa del Sol: Marcella Santiago, Captain
- Regency South: Isabela Schita, Captain
- Regency Tower: Michael DeBoury, Captain
- Ocean Riviera: Ellen O'Neil Captain
- Southpoint: Rebecca Olshan, Captain
- Playa del Mar: Rosie Bowers, Captain
- Ocean Club: Janet Bolt, Captain
- The Galleon: Darlene Seachrist, Captain
- Galt Ocean Club: Ramon Camarena, Captain
- Caribe: Chuck Swinghammer, Captain
- The Commodore: Ted Rogers, Captain
- Plaza South: Charles Baldwin, Captain
- Plaza East: David Beswick, Captain
- Royal Ambassador: Marty Weinstein & Glen DeAlmo, Captains
Remember this FOOD DRIVE is for the month of MARCH. The food drive begins with the "5K Walk Against Hunger", Sunday, March 1st. An awards party will be scheduled for the first part of April, TBA! The first official food drive pick up will be Friday, March 13th and the last will be Tuesday, March 31st. If your food box is overflowing prior to the pick up dates please call (954-629-7381) for a special pick up.
This year Checks payable to the Cooperative Feeding Program will also be accepted. Please segregate checks until pick up, when each Captain will disburse the collected checks. Each dollar converts to 1 pound of food toward the Association's total.
At each pick up, the pick up total will be weighed. A half time report and a final report will be published so progress can be compared to the rest of the team. The Cooperative Feeding Program distributes over 6,000 lbs of emergency food per day to over 300 families. Last year the Galt Mile Food Drive brought in over 12,000 lbs. With 22 members this year, the 2009 goal is at least 15,000 lbs.
GOOD LUCK, have a great time, feel proud, be blessed as you are doing God's work.
 The Cooperative Feeding Program is headquartered at NW 33rd Terrace in Fort Lauderdale (on the N. W. corner of Broward Blvd. and NW 33rd Terrace). Call them at (954) 792-2328, fax them at (954) 792-9982 or click here to send an email. Office and Emergency Pantry hours are Monday through Friday, 9 AM - 4 PM. The Community Kitchen serves from 9 AM through 11 AM, Monday through Saturday and Sundays from 11 AM through 12:30 PM.
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The  "411"
 ON
Free Directory Assistance
 | REGENCY TOWER PRESIDENT
DOTT NICHOLSON-BROWN |
January 4, 2009 - In most associations, conscientious Board members ordinarily jump on any opportunity to save money. In the Regency Tower, the Board members are all afflicted with an unrelenting compulsion to aggressively hunt down these opportunities. For eight years, President Dott Nicholson-Brown applied tactics she learned while researching inventories for the U.S. Army to save the association $millions. After spending 14 hours in the office emotionally lambasting vendors into trimming prices, she walks the premises turning off lights in unoccupied areas. Assistant Treasurer Bill Tannenbaum successfully tortured the workers comp insurance carrier into issuing overcharge credits by plastering them with enough evidentiary documentation to cause permanent brain damage. Dee Lanzillo doubled the size of the gym using in-house labor and home cooking. When Iris Anastasi found the following little tidbit and sent it to the President, Dott labeled it “Good Info” and promptly distributed it to the immediate world. While riddled with what sounds like marketing hype, the email was embedded with the following message:
 This is something you will want to have and use! I still remember when the telephone company charged me $1.50 to get a phone number from information! My compliments to Google! Just leave it up to Google to come up with something like this!!!
 Here’s a number worth putting in your cell phone, or your home phone speed dial: 1-800-goog-411. This is an awesome service from Google, and it’s free -- great when you are on the road.
 Don’t waste your money on information calls and don’t waste your time manually dialing the number. I am driving along in my car and I need to call the golf course and I don't know the number. I hit the speed dial for information that I have programmed.
 The voice at the other end says, “City & State.” I say, “Garland, Texas.” He says, “Business, Name or Type of Service.” I say, “Firewheel Golf Course.” He says, “Connecting” and Firewheel answers the phone. How great is that? This is nationwide and it is absolutely free!
 Following this intriguing anecdote, the storyteller recommends clicking on a link to “http://www.google.com/goog411/” and watching a brief demo of the free service. The message closes with the admonition to “Put 800-GOOG-411 in your phone to get telephone numbers of people anywhere free.”
 Although seemingly scripted by a third rate PR wannabe, the point is well taken. A quick trip to the web site revealed the engineering behind this new service. In a nutshell, GOOG-411 is Google’s new 411 service. With GOOG-411, you can find local business information completely free, directly from your phone by calling 1-800-466-4411 (1-800-GOOG-411) anytime. Currently, GOOG-411 is only available in the US and Canada for US and Canadian business listings and English is the only language supported. GOOG-411 can be used from any personal or work phone, whether it is a landline phone, mobile phone or VoIP (web-based) phone. However, calls from pay phones are currently not supported. If you are calling from a mobile device, GOOG-411 can even send you a text message with more details and a map simply by saying “Text message” or “Map it.” Keep in mind that features like the text messaging or mapping commands will only work from a mobile phone. Residential information is not available at this time. You should not use GOOG-411 to seek emergency help, since the service is not able to provide your location information to emergency service providers. If you have an emergency, please dial “911” or your local police/fire department.
 | | VoIP Phones - OK |
You don’t need a computer, an Internet connection, or even the keypad on your phone or mobile device. GOOG-411 is voice-activated, so you can access it from any phone (mobile or land line), in any location, at any time (except for pay phones). While your telephone company may apply usual contractual charges for making a phone call or receiving an SMS (Short Message Service or text message), you will not be charged any additional 411 fee for the service.
 | Pay Phones Aren't
Supported - YET! |
Using the service is largely intuitive. Just call 1-800-GOOG-411 (that's 1-800-466-4411) and say where you are and what you’re looking for. GOOG-411 will connect you with the business you choose. Since you will be speaking with an automated system, these hints will help: At any point during the call, you can go back by saying “Go back.” Similarly, you can start over by saying “Start over,” or pressing (*) - the asterisk. When you are prompted for your query, use the full names when describing the city and state and business name or business category (for example, “Nick’s Italian Restaurant Fort Lauderdale Florida.”) If you’re having trouble finding the exact name of the business, try saying a category. For example, instead of saying, “Nick's Italian Restaurant,” just say, “Italian Restaurant.” To enter a zip code, either speak the numbers or enter them with the keypad. To spell out a business name, press the (1) key and use the keypad to spell the name.
 After receiving results, you can elicit additional information. To get more details, say “details” and to get help, say “help.” If using a cell phone, you can also receive an SMS by saying “text message” or a map link by saying “map it.” GOOG-411 uses listing information provided by Google Maps. Of course, texting will only work if your mobile phone has text message functionality.
 Corporate or commercial network operators can use GOOG-411 to provide 411 services to their employees and customers under the certain conditions. First, users should be directed to 1-425-296-4774 instead of 1-800-466-4411 and no additional charge may be levied for using this service. Also, Google reserves the right to suspend or terminate access to the service at any time, provides the service “as is” and does not guarantee service availability. Corporate or commercial network operators are responsible for insuring that their users are aware of GOOG-411’s privacy practices.
 For those of you whose fear of identity theft borders on paranoia, Google adheres to the US Safe Harbor privacy principles. To operate and audit their service, Google collects and stores the phone number, along with the time and duration of your call and the options you select each time you use the GOOG-411 service. Google also claims to use your phone number to distinguish you from other users, and ultimately, to better personalize the service. To improve the voice recognition capabilities of the service, they collect and store a copy of any voice commands you make. Google doesn’t directly link the stored copy of your voice commands with your caller ID and these are automatically rendered anonymous after six months. While they seem to guard against privacy abuse, they operate GOOG-411 using certain third party services. They admit to sharing your data with these third parties only if necessary to operate the service.
 Upon connecting to a business through the GOOG-411 service, your caller ID information will become visible to that business. Although Google maintains that they will not share your information with anyone except in the limited circumstances as outlined in their privacy policy, there are a couple of ways you can control the way they collect and store information from your calls. First, to delete any information they’ve associated with your phone number in the past, press the star (*) key at the beginning of your next call to GOOG-411. When presented with the privacy menu, press 9 to delete past information associated with your phone number. To confirm the requested deletion, enter the given confirmation code when prompted. You can also press star (*) to cancel and return to your search. After you’ve called GOOG-411 several times, you’ll stop hearing the introduction to enter the privacy menu. However, you’ll still be able to press the star (*) key to access the privacy menu.
 To avoid having any information associated with your telephone number, you can block your caller ID before you call. With many phone services, you can do this by dialing *67 prior to dialing the phone number. In most cases, you can also block your number through the menus on your mobile phone. For specific details on how to block your caller ID, contact your service provider.
In summary, you don’t have to pay for standard directory assistance anymore. 411 is on the house, at least in the US and Canada. Given Google’s predisposition for global outreach, it is reasonable to assume that this service will ultimately extend to the rest of the planet. For additional information and a box of other free services, you can access the Google Mobile Help Center, the Google Mobile Help Forum or the Google Mobile Blog. Give this free service a try by programming the number into your cell and/or home phones. By the way, some goofball on the blog explained that when his outgoing phone service is suspended due to late payments, he places all of his calls through GOOG-411. Hmmm...
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  BROWARD COUNTY
Library
galt ocean mile reading center
Shows  a Pulse
 | | GALT OCEAN MILE READING CENTER |
December 4, 2008 - The Galt Mile Reading Center - one of our local “gems” - will soon be closed for approximately one to two weeks. A popular improvement project to expand the facility was repeatedly raped by Murphy’s Law during the past few years. Broward County leasing specialists rented space adjacent to the Reading Room to accommodate the expansion. Unfortunately, they forgot to check the premises. WHOOPS! The floor and one of the two ceilings were loaded with asbestos! If disturbed, the toxic cocktail would precipitate a virtual mesothelioma epidemic among Reading Center fans.
 The Broward Public Works Department’s Real Property Section houses two ancillary components called Asset Leasing Services and Due Diligence Services. Asset Leasing Services is used by the Real Property Section in its capacity as the County’s professional advisor for the leasing of Broward County property, or the leasing of non-Broward County property for Broward County business - such as the Reading Room. Due Diligence Services enables the Real Property Section to act as the County’s real estate advisor in conducting adequate and professional research into and reporting of factors that could affect the use and market value of real property. Both County Services are theoretically required to apply “professional real estate standards and methods in accordance with Florida Statutes, Broward County Code, and Broward County Administrative Code.” Whoever negotiated the Reading Room expansion lease dropped the ball.
 In 2005, $471,200 was plunked into the county budget for the expansion ($370,000 for renovation of the new space, $66,000 for furniture and equipment and $35,200 for the rent). On March 21, 2006, the County Board approved a 2,200 sq. ft. lease with landlord Sharon Manelas for the property at 3411 Galt Ocean Drive at a rental rate of $19.08 per sq. ft. for the first year and increasing 3% thereafter. The term ran from April 20, 2006 to June 30, 2009 and cost $3,500 a month with additional operation and maintenance costs estimated at $3 per square foot. The Broward Board simultaneously amended the lease of the existing Reading Room location at 3405 Galt Ocean Drive, giving $6500 to the landlord for the Tenant’s right to make structural modification to the leased premises for the purpose of ingress and egress between the existing library and the adjacent expansion space. Since the Real Property Section neglected to verify the environmental adequacy of the premises, the asbestos wasn’t discovered until October 2006, when the Construction Management Division hired hazardous construction materials specialist Advanced Industrial Hygiene Services to ascertain the extent to which the facility was infused with the toxic fire retardant.
 | BROWARD COMMISSIONER
KEN KEECHL |
Since first discovered, the asbestos dilemma was investigated continuously by Property Management, Construction Management and the County Attorney throughout 2006 and 2007. When asked by the “Friends of the Galt Ocean Mile Reading Room” and the Galt Mile Community Association to investigate the lack of progress, Commissioner Ken Keechl surmised that if the county couldn’t devise a cost-effective strategy for using the additional space, it should get out of the lease. In September 2007, Property Management, the Libraries Division, the County Attorney and Construction Management decided jointly to restrict use of the leased space to library offices and storage instead of implementing the more ambitious renovations that were initially anticipated or escaping the lease. The rationale for this strategy centered on the fact that if the asbestos is left undisturbed, it will remain benign. This scaled back compromise seemed appropriate since the lease will terminate on June 30, 2009 and the cost of the original renovation was inordinately high given the area’s utilization limitations.
 In January, 2008, after the Friends of the Galt Ocean Mile Reading Room advised Commissioner Keechl that using the tainted space for offices and some programs is better than nothing, they requested that he help “jump start” the project. In February, Facilities Maintenance Division reevaluated the renovation plans and their prospective cost at Keechl’s behest. Simultaneously, Keechl warned Library proponents that the Commission was considering budget cutbacks that threatened the county’s four leased library facilities. Fortunately, the Reading Room was given a fiscal reprieve, allowing further consideration of the expansion compromise.
 No one ever accused Broward County of acting precipitously. Following a frustrating six month hibernation period, Friends of the Galt Ocean Mile Reading Room President Herman Gardner asked Commissioner Keechl to take the pulse of the comatose Reading Room project. At Keechl’s request, Library Division Director Bob Cannon summarized the Reading Room’s status in an October 30th response to Gardner. Cannon’s message to the Galleon resident was as follows:
Dear Mr. Gardner:
This is a follow up to your letter to Commissioner Keechl about the Reading Center and the progress concerning the many renovation projects for that library.
 | | GALT READING CENTER COMPUTERS |
As you know, we previously agreed that certain improvements to the Galt Ocean Mile Reading Center would be made. Several improvements have been made already and several others are pending.
 The laptop computers have been delivered. We intend to provide more stacking meeting room chairs and will send an order in November. We have re-wired the kitchen to accommodate the copy machine. The facility has been re-carpeted and painted throughout. We have worked up the shelving improvement plan and have submitted that to our purchasing division for processing and ordering, which should occur in November. The shelving vendor won’t manufacture the shelving until he has the specifications and order in hand.
 We hope to move the Public Art by the entrance, where the Friends want a bulletin board. If we are allowed to move the art, the bulletin board will be provided. We have ordered a certain number of shelves in the new shelving order to accommodate CD’s. We don’t think the purchase of the large panels for art in the meeting room is feasible. The room is too small for these panels.
The order for the pull down screen and ceiling mounted projector was awarded to a vendor August 8. We have not received the equipment and have not scheduled installation for these improvements as of this writing.
 | | RESIDENTS ENJOY READING CENTER |
As I told you in our phone conversation, we won’t be able to order the shelving until sometime in November and the manufacturing of the shelving and its delivery will take several months before installation. When the shelving and audio-visual systems arrive, the installation of these items will disrupt library operations but only for a short while.
 We understand your frustration and the needs related to the use of the meeting room and the high attendance you are experiencing for all the many programs you provide. We are in circumstances that we must meet the needs of the audience the best we can until all the improvements are installed. This is going to take several months.
We appreciate the support of the Friends over all these many years and will work with you cooperatively in the interim as these improvements are fully implemented. I apologize for our slow processes and many procedures but all of them are in place to protect the taxpayers, by making sure our bidding requirements are fair and professional and the vendors selected are qualified and thorough in their work.
Sincerely,
Robert E. Cannon
Robert E. Cannon, Director
Libraries Division
 | BROWARD LIBRARY
DIRECTOR BOB CANNON |
When juxtaposed with the nearly $100 K in unrequited rental expense, Cannon’s intimation that the inexcusable delays suffered during this fiasco are somehow beneficial to Broward taxpayers drips with irony. Although Cannon is not responsible for the Real Property Section’s failure to perform an initial environmental assessment of the asbestos laden premises, it shouldn’t have taken almost three years to implement an alternative use plan or relocate the project to a space devoid of toxic construction pitfalls.
| CITY MANAGER
GEORGE GRETSAS |
The next flicker of progress came in the form of a November 24th letter from Director Cannon to City Manager George Gretsas. The letter was a courtesy notification explaining that the Galt Mile Reading Room would be will be closed to the public for approximately one week in the near future for library improvements (installation of more shelving to accommodate additional library materials). Cannon told Gretsas that when an exact date was determined, he would issue a news release and again flag the City Manager.
 | | GALT OCEAN MILE READING CENTER |
It appears that we will soon be awakening from this 3 year nightmare. During the past 8 months the Galt Mile Community Association web site received dozens of inquiries about the Reading Room from local residents. Many asked why the County initially agreed to lease the contaminated space and others wondered how long the seemingly endless renovation would take. The greatest confusion, by far, was reflected in questions asking why the county didn’t eighty-six the tainted lease after learning about the asbestos and rent an alternative space more conducive to flexible long term use. In view of the extremely abbreviated term remaining on the lease and the limiting impact of the center’s construction obstacles, the question was often accompanied by theories about the participants’ motives that presumed varying levels of greed and/or incompetence. It provides little consolation that the smart money is on the latter.
 If not for the persistent efforts of the Friends of the Galt Ocean Mile Reading Center and Commissioner Keechl, three years of expensive serial blunders would have remained safely couched in a bureaucratic cloud. Nevertheless, if fate smiles, the renovation may be completed before the lease expires.
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Notice 
Commissioner Bruce Roberts’ District 1 Pre-Agenda Meeting
 City Commissioner Bruce Roberts’ District I Pre-Agenda meeting will be held on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. 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 invited to attend.
The Date: Monday, February 1st, 2010
The Time: 6:00 P.M.
The Place: Cardinal Gibbons High School, Media Room
2900 NE 47th Street in Fort Lauderdale
 For more information, please call the City Commission office at 954 828-5004, Fax: (954) 828-5667, Email: RUptegrove@fortlauderdale.gov
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community
ASSOCIATIONS INSTITUTE
SOUTHEAST FLORIDA CHAPTER
ANNOUNCES THEIR ANNUAL
Community Association Trade Show & Exposition
Please join us for this free event featuring speakers recognized Statewide and over 70 exhibitors demonstrating goods and services for community associations.
 Keynote Presentation features a representative from Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored lending enterprise. Learn about lending guidelines and what association leaders can do to improve mortgage options for properties in their communities. Special introduction by Gary A. Poliakoff, J.D., co-author of New Neighborhoods: The Consumers Guide to Condominium, Co-Op and HOA Living.
Homeowner Education: 40 Year Building Inspection & Safety Program - Led by Klein and Hoffman, Inc. - Structural and Safety Inspections are required in both Miami-Dade and Broward Counties for buildings 40 years old and older. Learn what is included in the required inspections.
The Date: Saturday, January 30, 2010
The Time: 8:30 a.m. through 4:00 p.m.
The Place: Signature Grand
6900 State Road 84, Davie, FL 33317
There are Continuing Education Classes & Credits for Managers
The cost of Continuing Education Credits is $40.00 for members and $55.00 for non-members. Lunch Included in Registration Fee.
For further information, please contact Jill Prioetti, CED, at 954-816-0661 or click here to the CAI Trade Show web page. Door prizes and giveaways all day long – Win a Flat Screen HDTV for the Grand Prize Raffle! Admission to Event and Parking Free.
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community
ASSOCIATIONS INSTITUTE
SOUTHEAST FLORIDA CHAPTER
ANNOUNCES THEIR ANNUAL
Golf  Tournament
Join your CAI-SEFL friends and colleagues this November and enjoy a day of fun on the fairways. Show your support for the Chapter and join your ‘golfing buddies’ for a day on the links. Golfing experience is not necessary; this is a fun, social event. Best Ball Format!
The Date: Friday, November 6th, 2009
The Time: 11:00 A.M.
The Place: Bonaventure Country Club
200 Bonaventure Boulevard
Weston, Florida 33317
Tournament Information
Contests for men and women include: Closest to the Pin and Longest Drive.
 11:00 a.m. - Registration
- 12:00 Noon - Shotgun Start
- 4:30 p.m. - Tournament Awards Dinner & Raffles
- Golfers will have the opportunity to win raffles, door prizes and a Grand Prize in the Grand Raffle!
- Awesome hole-in-one contest prizes!
- Tournament is Best Ball Format!
After Golf
 An awards dinner will wrap up the day’s activities. Trophies will be provided to 1st, 2nd, 3rd and the team that “Should Have Gone Fishing!”
The East Course at Bonaventure Country Club
 | | NATIONALLY FAMOUS #3 WATERFALL HOLE |
We are celebrating the completion of the East Golf Course, Green, Tee and Bunker Renovations, Featuring the Nationally Famous #3 Waterfall Hole.
The East course, designed by Joe Lee, is a par 72 that measures 7,158 from the Black tees. This course has been rated as one of Florida’s top ten. Our East course is a classic Florida layout with holes routed through strands of mature palms and hardwoods, and around numerous water hazards and expansive bunkers.
 For more information, call Jill Proietti at 954-816-0661 or Email: jillproietti@bellsouth.net. Click Here for the 2009 Golf Tournament page on the Southeast Florida Chapter of CAI web site.
Click Here to register for the CAI-SEFL 2009 Golf Tournament. Click Here for info about sponsorship opportunities for the Golf Tournament.
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Scam - of   the - Month
Bogus FHA Website
 
Scams Galt Mile Residents
 | Broward Coalition President
Charlotte Greenbarg |
November 6, 2009 - Senior AmeriFirst Underwriter Theresa Schmitz forwarded an email with an importance designation of “High” to Broward Coalition President Charlotte Greenbarg on October 28, 2009. Given her fiduciary responsibilities, Terri is recipient of official informational bulletins from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The message was originally from Congressional Liaison Cheryl Marken of HUD’s Miami Field Office.
 Addressed to “HUD Partners and Elected Officials,” Marken’s email states: “HUD’s Web team has confirmed that the site www.fhamodification.com is NOT a HUD site. The site has good information (all copied from legitimate HUD sites), but when you click on ‘contact us’ we do not know who ‘us’ is. The proper HUD authorities are investigating this matter, and I do not know if anything can be done other than preventing unauthorized entities from using HUD’s seal, but it is important that you know this site is out there and not affiliated with HUD or FHA.” The message closes with a warning, “FOREWARN your friends, family or neighbors of this recent HUD warning to stay away from company listed.”
Of the three Galt Mile residents who recently sent emails to the Galt Mile Community Association asking about the fraudulent website simply entitled “FHA Modification”, only one had already divulged personal data. She was referred to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to hopefully limit the damage wrought by these identity thieves. The web is ablaze with sites similar to 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.
 In the field of computer security, 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 in an electronic communication. While most phishing expeditions are promulgated to access existing accounts, others seek to elicit names, addresses, telephone numbers, names of family members and identifying information useful for initiating new accounts. Ordinarily, an email is used as the hook, baited with an anxious admonition to confirm mottled bank account or credit card data, claim some mysterious refund, address an account threatened with suspension or verify a recent nondescript charge or withdrawal.
 The “mark” is sent to a web site impeccably designed to mimic a credible and trustworthy institution, where logins, passwords, account numbers, email addresses, etc. are cheerfully harvested by crooks that will either sell the data or simply bang away at the newly accessible accounts. Although the websites of banks and Online Payment Services are traditionally simulated, the scam is metamorphic, adapting to take advantage of opportunities indigenous to the economic climate. As such, many recent rip-offs were socially engineered to exploit lucrative real estate and mortgage lending opportunities.
 After acquiring email lists either stolen and brokered on the black market or purchased from mostly questionable commercial data purveyors such as First Data Solutions or 1st Source Information Specialists, Inc., the scammers usually cast a wide net, randomly hooking a few victims. If a customized list enumerates clients of a particular financial institution, the more targeted variation of the scam is known as “spear phishing”. After TD Ameritrade announced in September 2007 that their database of 6.3 million customer email addresses, account numbers, dates of birth, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers and trading activity was hacked, the thieves decided that the stolen information would be geometrically more valuable if packaged with user names and passwords. They launched a follow-up spear fishing attack. To help violated customers contend with the resulting blizzard of baited spam (junk emails), the company purchased $6 million of spam-blocking software from Trend Micro Internet Security.
 When an attack is directed at certain high profile business targets such as senior executives and major stockholders, the term coined for such ambitious enterprise is “whaling”. A Survey conducted by leading information technology firm “Gartner Research” found that during the 12 months prior to August 2007, 3.6 million people in the United States lost $3.2 billion to phishing assaults.
 | RUSSIAN BUSINESS NETWORK
LONDON FRONT |
By inserting links to an often imperceptibly misspelled URL or subdomain, bogus websites imitative of those managed by HUD, Fannie Mae, FHA and a wide variety of mortgage banks are soaking additional $billions from unsuspecting online targets. The current economic turbulence has nurtured a battery of predatory mortgage bottom feeders, foreclosure frauds and other recovery-related scams conducive to phishing. When mimicked institutions that actively monitor the internet discover a fake internet presence, they simultaneously alert customers (potential victims) and report the suspected website to the authorities. Unfortunately, the international nature of these crimes undermines implementation of a concerted effective response to violators. Almost half the thefts in 2006 were committed by groups operating through the St. Petersburg-based “Russian Business Network”, a legally bulletproof web host for sites specializing in child pornography, patent piracy and other variants of cybercrime.
 In March, HUD found a site that bilked $millions from unwitting mortgage clients, http://bailout.hud-gov.us/. To demonstrate the international nature of this criminal enterprise (as officially classified by the FBI in 2004), the Domain name was registered in Germany and the site was hosted in California. Newspapers and local governments nationwide issued releases warning readers and constituents against potential victimization. On March 30, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) won a Stipulated Preliminary Injunction, freezing the site’s assets.
Since then, the FTC has been closing similar sites at a healthy pace. As evidenced by the recent HUD warning, the phishing business is adequately lucrative to outlast these disjointed deterrent strategies. For a few hundred dollars, rudimentary familiarity with HTML (Hypertext Markup Language - the main coding language on the internet) and lust for a quick buck, any slime ball can set up a phishing bear trap. Since rooting them out is only useful for limiting the prospective damage, it is imperative that people never respond to online requests for personal information. To avoid victimization, first install good virus protection software. Some downloadable freeware versions are adequate for this purpose and most internet service providers offer free online or email protection (including Comcast and AT&T). If an email or an instant message stirs concern about any of your accounts, call the bank or credit card issuer and make an inquiry. Protecting yourself is seldom that simple. DO IT!
November 20, 2009 - ALERT! - Since posting this article on the GMCA website, 2 Galt Mile residents reported receiving suspicious emails with the following content:
|
| |
We are contacting you in regards to an unusual activity that was identified in your mailbox. As a result, your mailbox has been deactivated. To restore your mailbox, you are required to extract and run the attached mailbox utility.
Best regards, xxxxxxxxxxx.com technical support.
|
Another email contained the following text:
|
| |
Dear user of the xxxxxxxxxxx.com mailing service!
We are informing you that because of the security upgrade of the mailing service your mailbox (customer.service@xxxxxxxxxx.com) settings were changed. In order to apply the new set of settings click on the following link:
|
 The hackers want the user to click on a link provided below the text, initiating one of two consequences. In one case, the link triggers installation of a computer virus. The other carries the user to a site with another link that the user is encouraged to click, which also infects the user’s computer with a virus.
 In both cases, the links in the emails are coded to simulate valid communications from the user’s Internet Service Provider (ISP) or web host, but they are not. They LOOK like they contain either your web-site address or your email address, but they do not. A quick “Google” of the text revealed that this malicious email is nationwide, with client admonitions from IndyWeb, a web host serving Indianapolis, Indiana and local web hosts such as Host Depot. Please be extremely cautious with these kinds of emails and don’t hesitate to delete them ASAP.
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Driven to  Distraction
August 22, 2007 - Over the summer, 58 Galt Mile residents corresponded with the Galt Mile Community Association after having received notification that a law was passed during the 2007 legislative session governing newly enacted draconian penalties for traffic violations. Although two letters and one telephone call were received, the vast majority of communications were forwarded emails containing the original threatening content or emails describing the penalties at issue. The forwarded emails revealed a statistically improbable similarity in structure and content generally indicative of an organized agenda – otherwise known as a hoax.
While several variations of the email were sent, the following version is representative of the basic genre. It was sent by a friend who shall remain anonymous. This is the email’s content: 
Eric: do you have any way of verifying the recent changes in Florida Driving Laws enumerated in this email? Thanks - (name deleted)
 Attached was the following document:
 This was received from someone who should know, and who is attempting to get the word out to people in his company. I think for those of us in Florida, this is really worth knowing, and for those not from Florida, worth remembering should you decide to travel this way.
Thanks, Arnold
Subject: FLORIDA DRIVING LAW –
This is very interesting for you to read – new Florida driving laws enacted today…
 These are new fines that were implemented on 8/1/07 for the State of Florida.- As of 8/1/07 cell phone use must be “hand free” while driving. Ticket is $285. They will be looking for this like crazy – easy money for police department.
- Cell phone use in the construction zone – Double Fine
- Carpool Lane – 1st time $1068.50 starting 8/1/07. 2nd time is doubled 3rd time is tripled and 4th time license suspended
- Incorrect lane change – $380. Don’t cross the lane on solid lane or intersections. Block intersection $485.
 Driving on the shoulder – $450- Passengers over 18 not in their seatbelts – both passengers and drivers get tickets
- Speeders can drive only 3 miles above the limit
- DUI (Driving Under Influence) = Jail (Stays on your driving record for 10 years!)
Drive SAFE......!!!!!
Please forward to ALL friends and family...
 In the Urban Legends and Folklore section of About.Com, they offer, “This message is a slightly revised version of an email hoax circulating since January 2007 which purports to announce new California traffic laws slated to go into effect this year. Similar copycat hoaxes have also circulated in Texas and Georgia. ”
An April 14, 2007 article published in the Palm Beach Post explains, “Hundreds, if not thousands, of Floridians are getting e-mails warning of new traffic fines including $285 for improperly using a cell phone and $1,068.50 for illegally driving in a carpool lane. Outraged motorists are calling Florida’s motor vehicle department demanding to know more about the new laws. The answer: There are no new laws. It is all an email hoax.”
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A broadcast on NBC6-TV News reported last week, “‘We have been getting a lot of calls on this,’ Pat Santangelo of the Florida Highway Patrol said. NBC 6’s Hank Tester quizzed cell phone users on the street in South Florida. ‘I heard about that,’ Cindy Maradona said. ‘I was all ready to buy a Bluetooth.’ It turned out the e-mail was only a rumor. ‘I have seen the e-mail you have seen,’ Santangelo said. ‘That’s not anything official from the state of Florida.’”
 Another web site devoted to exposing rumors, scams and hoaxes, Snopes.Com, provides more extensive background for the email, stating that the original email was entitled, “New traffic laws going into effect in California in 2007” A June 2007 variant of this message claimed the new traffic laws applied to Texas, not California. That version is also false, as the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has noted on its web site:
 “False information has been circulating regarding new traffic laws. There are no new traffic laws going into effect in July. More specifically, there are no new laws going into effect in July related to cell phones, seat belts or carpooling. No cell phone bills were passed this Legislative session. (This misinformation started as the result of an inaccurate e-mail and incorrect information on various Web sites.)”
 A July 2007 variant of the e-mail asserts the new traffic laws applied to Georgia, not California. That version is also false, reports Georgia’s Governor’s Office of Highway Safety:
“An e-mail has begun making its rounds across the country listing several traffic laws that supposedly took effect in Georgia on July 1, 2007, including carpool lanes, incorrect lane changes, driving on the shoulder, and DUI. The e-mail also lists fines for the violations.
The e-mail is false and is being adapted for various states as it is passed along, most recently listing Georgia.
Please be aware that this is false information and no such changes have occurred in Georgia.”
Another July 2007 variant of the e-mail asserts the new traffic laws applied to Florida. That version, which elicited unnecessary statewide concern as expressed by residents along the Galt Mile, is also false.
 As a rule, if unsolicited information mysteriously appears in your email box, it warrants a skeptical reception. Typically, these will be sent to you by trustworthy friends who received – and then forwarded – the fake messages out of a genuine concern for you and their other friends. This imparts to the information an undeserved appearance of credibility. The victims of the email hoax often wind up confirming its veracity with one another, thereby further perpetuating the scam.
Ironically, many of the correspondences were post scripted with suggestions that some or all of the hyper-punitive penalties contained in the hoax email are worthy of enactment, intimating that they could possibly help abate Florida’s burgeoning traffic death statistics.
Widely distributed internet hoaxes will usually be reported in the local media, as was this one. If searching the news media for confirmation of the unsettling news usually contained in these scams leaves you cold, there are web sites, such as Snopes.Com (www.snopes.com) and the “Urban Legends” site, that collect and expose these hoaxes. As such, two minutes of surfing will clear the air. If the info isn’t there, wait several days and try again. A new or recently revived hoax may require some investigation before being admitted to the “hoax-identifier” web sites. Notwithstanding, another one bites the dust!
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Jury Duty – Identity Theft!
April 5, 2007 - Scams abound without end. As long as people believe that short cuts are a fruitful path to accomplishment, they will get caught in their own trap. This scam takes advantage of the widespread ignorance that most people have about how the jury system works and inadvertantly eliciting the Government’s ire. I recently received this information in an email from Lorraine Alfano, the concierge at L’Hermitage. Lorraine has a penchant for checking out information that doesn’t pass the smell test. This Jury Duty Scam didn’t make it passed her nose!
“Most of us take the summons for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of scam has surfaced. Fall for it and your identity could be stolen, reports CBS.
 In this con, someone calls pretending to be a court official who threateningly says a warrant has been issued for your arrest because you didn’t show up for jury duty. The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Sometimes they even ask for credit card numbers. Give out any of this information and .... Bingo! Your identity has just been stolen.
 The scam has been reported so far in 11 states. This scam is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they're with the court system. The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.
Pass this on.”
The person who contacted Lorraine also said, “I checked Snopes and this is for real.” This is the link to Snopes (a scam check site): http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp
Thank You, Lorraine! - *editor
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A True Rarity – A Lifesaving Email!
July 22, 2005 - I am often targeted by an assortment of confused individuals who implore that I send out an email to “ten other people” in order to achieve cosmic wealth. My finger has been conditioned to delete these prior to contacting the area of my brain that cognates. I recently received an email from Lorraine Alfano, the concierge at L’Hermitage, which prompted me to alter my usual behavior. It is excellent advice; it saves lives. After sending it off to friends and family, I decided to make it available to everyone. Following is the message contained therein.
“Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
Ask the individual to SMILE.
Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e. It is sunny out today)
If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.”
After discovering that a group of non-medical volunteers could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech problems, researchers urged the general public to learn the three questions. They presented their conclusions at the American Stroke Association’s annual meeting last February. Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and treatment of the stroke and prevent brain damage.
A noted cardiologist said if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people many lives will be saved. My physician agrees; so do I.
Thank You, Lorraine! - *editor
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Do Not Call  SCARE
 Have you received an email warning similar to this?
In 31 days from today, cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sale calls. YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS. To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years.
 If you’ve received an e-mail telling you that your cell phone is about to be assaulted by telemarketing calls as a result of a new cell phone number database, REST ASSURED THAT THIS IS NOT THE CASE. Telemarketing to cell phone numbers has always been illegal in most cases and will continue to be so. In response to recent e-mail campaigns urging consumers to place their cell phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission issue this advisory to give consumers the facts. Not sure? Click Here to see for yourself!
Here’s what you need to know about the National Do Not Call Registry program:
FCC regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers. Automated dialers are standard in the industry, so most telemarketers are barred from calling consumers on their cell phones without their consent.
The federal government does not maintain a national cell phone registry. Personal cell phone users have always been able to add their numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry — the same Registry consumers use to register their land lines — either online at www.donotcall.gov or by calling toll-free 1-888-382-1222 from the telephone number they wish to register. Registrations become effective within 31 days of signing up and are active for five years. There is no cut-off date or deadline for registrations.
Business-to-business calls are not covered under the Registry.
To learn more about the National Do Not Call Registry and the rules that enforce it, visit the FTC at www.ftc.gov or the FCC at www.fcc.gov. For more information about a planned “wireless 411” directory, visit http://www.qsent.com/wireless411/index.shtml.
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Phishing on  the Galt
 Internet scammers casting about for people's financial information have a new way to lure unsuspecting Galt Mile victims: They go “phishing.” Phishing, also called “carding”, is a high-tech scam that uses spam (unsolicited “junk” email) to deceive consumers into disclosing their credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security numbers, passwords, and other sensitive information.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the emails pretend to be from businesses the potential victims deal with - for example, their Internet service provider (ISP), online payment service or bank. The fraudsters tell recipients that they need to “update” or “validate” their billing information to keep their accounts active, and direct them to a “look-alike” Web site of the legitimate business, further tricking consumers into thinking they are responding to a bona fide request. Unknowingly, consumers submit their financial information - not to the businesses - but the scammers, who use it to order goods and services and obtain credit.
Banks and Internet Service Providers like America Online and Comcast will never ask you for password information via phone or E-Mail, as that information is private and is only known by users. Additionally, ISPs will never ask for billing or payment information through E-Mail.
To avoid getting caught by one of these scams, the FTC, the nation's consumer protection agency, offers this guidance:
- If you get an email that warns you, with little or no notice, that an account of yours will be shut down unless you reconfirm your billing information, do not reply or click on the link in the email. Instead, contact the company cited in the email using a telephone number or Web site address you know to be genuine.
- Avoid emailing personal and financial information. Before submitting financial information through a Web site, look for the “lock” icon on the browser's status bar. It signals that your information is secure during transmission. Always ensure that you’re using a secure server when submitting credit card information. To make sure you're using a secure server, check the beginning of the web address in your browsers address bar - it should be https:// rather than just http:// (note the “s” after the “http”).
- Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them to determine whether there are any unauthorized charges. If your statement is late by more than a couple of days, call your credit card company or bank to confirm your billing address and account balances.
- Report suspicious activity to the FTC. Send the actual spam to uce@ftc.gov. If you believe you’ve been scammed, file your complaint at www.ftc.gov, and then visit the FTC’s Identity Theft Web site (www.ftc.gov/idtheft) to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from identity theft.
- Visit www.ftc.gov/spam to learn other ways to avoid email scams and deal with deceptive spam.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
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Pay - per - Call  cam
A fast-growing scam that has been identified by the National Fraud Information Center, the F.C.C. and others is the “809”, “284”, “876” or some other three-digit phone number. You may receive an e-mail, usually with a subject line of “ALERT”. The message reads something like: “I am writing to give you a final 24 hours to settle your outstanding account… If you would like to discuss this matter to avoid court action call (e.i.) 1-809-496-2700.” Or, you could receive a similar message on your answering machine asking you to call an 809, 284, or 876 number. Since there are so many new area codes these days, many people unknowingly return these calls. If you call from the United States, you apparently will be charged $25 per minute - or more.
The 809 area code is located in the Dominican Republic and can be used as a “pay-per-call” number, similar to 900 numbers. Since 809 is not in America, it is not covered by U.S. regulations of 900 numbers. Similarly, “876” is an area code for Jamaica and “284” goes to the British Virgin Islands...same deal!
The bottom line is do not respond to these e-mails or messages by calling the 809 (or 284, or 876) phone number. Trying to fight the charges later can be a real nightmare since you actually did make the call!
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A Word of Caution
60% of all emergency patients go to the hospital by private transportation, some even drive themselves! Using a private vehicle, you have no control over the bridges and you are at the mercy of an open bridge. Conversely, when EMT personnel determine that there’s a real emergency in your home, they radio the bridge control center and the bridge is ordered locked down until after your ambulance passes. The moral of this story is “a real emergency should be handled as such with nothing left to chance.”
This article was written by Robert Eagan. It continues to be excellent advice! [Editor]
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THE TAX ADMINISTRATOR'S OFFICE SAYS:
“You may be the cause of increasing your own taxes!”
 Every time an owner sells an apartment for a price representing something other than the real property, that price is registered in the tax appraiser’s roles as the real estate value on which taxes are levied.
This can amount to many thousands of dollars, resulting in severely over valuing the real property and it’s taxes. Most buildings avoid this by the use of a form that requires the buyer and seller to report only the actual value of real property to the County Tax Collector who, incidentally, also encourages buyers and sellers alike to do it right.
After all a $5000 built in sound system shouldn't raise the taxes levied on a real property!
This useful advice was also written by Robert Eagan. When buying or selling a condominium, request the appropriate form from the condominium’s business office! [Editor]
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In December, the grateful neighborhood association recognized his unwavering commitment by conferring Chepo an achievement award. His unmistakable mark on the Galt Mile is evident in the trimmed and bound trees, cleaned and repaired tree grates and manicured sidewalk beds. Less evident are the missing low-hanging tree limbs, which no longer present a hazard to pedestrians and bicycle enthusiasts. 
