Monthly Archives: August 2013

General Membership Meeting

June 11, 2013

City Hall, 8^th Floor Conference Room

1. Meeting was called to order by President Mammano at 7:32 p.m.
2. 1^st Vice President Ron Centamore called the roll and declared we had a quorum.
3. Minutes from the April and May General Meeting were adopted as presented.
4. The Treasurer’s Report was read by President Mammano.  The ending balance was $8255.13.
5. John Bertino the representative for Tim Ryan was introduced and Donna Opert from Galt Ocean Mile was welcomed.
6. Police Report was presented by Captain Alvarez.  Overall crime in Fort Lauderdale was down 7%.  He did note that there is usually an uptick at the end of June.  The Police Games begin on June 15^th and continue through the 22^nd.  The complete schedule is available on the City Website.
7. Guest Speakers from the Broward Public Schools included Dr. Desmond Blackburn – Chief School Performance Accountability Officer and Charles Webster – Liason to the Educational Advisory Board of Fort Lauderdale.

Schools are not changing at the same pace as the rest of the world.  There is a gap to overcome.  Change comes with mixed emotions.  Sunland Park Elementary School, Lauderdale Manors and Arthur Ashe Middle School  were three failing schools.  The options that were available were to change them to charter/private schools, close the schools, or turn them into a turnaround school.  Typically the turnaround option is chosen.  The schools facilitated community outreach meetings and internal meeting with educators.  Rigorous programs, technology increases, increase partnership with colleges and universities were all explored.  The focus is to fix these problems early before the third grade, focus on early learning in the community (33311) and enhance quality of life for adults that are the caregivers of these children.  Social / financial/ immigration options to be considered.  Don’t want to be saddled or required to access a particular school, want options close to work and or relatives.  Overall the school district has 30,000 empty seats.

Sunland Park Elementary – will become a preK to 3^rd grade school.

Lauderdale Manors –  will turn into a community service center with social services, clothing bank , referral services.

Arthur Ashe – will become an Adult Career and Technical School starting with day courses and will have child care on site.

Dillard High School is one of the finest schools whose principal is Cassandra Robinson.  The aim is to create a K-12 fine arts – emergent technology magnate school.

There is a capital deficit in the district.  We need to reinvest in the schools and upgrade technology.  Dillard High School will be getting a 1 million dollar upgrade.  Sunland Park and other surrounding schools will get the money for reading, technology, mentor based skype programs.  Dillard’s emphasis will be on entrepreneurial education.  Lauderhill Middle Schooll will become a 6-12 partnership with Broward College and will be a Boutique High School.  In state compliance terms Lauderdale Manors and Arthur Ashe are considered closings. Sunland Park and Lauderhill are considered Hybrid options.

All taxpayers should be concerned with the 30,000 empty seats, there are no new monies coming in and we are paying for more than we generate.  The quality of the entire system is called into question and the taxpayers should be demanding greater efficiency.

Montessori Model is very expensive(Virginia Schuman) and requires parental partnership.

Workforce Education is excellent.

Level of service, eliminating portables, the western part of the county is busting at the seams, they could force parent to send children to different schools however parents are into choice.  Work with municipalities to use portables effectively.  Non performing children can’t/won’t get to high school, we are losing kids by the 2^nd or 3^rd grade.

Charles Webster:  5 schools in Broward County in top 100 in the United States.  Dillard High School is one of them.  Perception vs. Facts  The school district is the largest employer in the County.  We have to work on welcoming people, Disney is serving as a consultant.  Promise Neighborhood Grant was missed by 3 points this year, they will try again next year.  Partnerships, parents and supporting parents will be a key focus.

7. New Business:

Nominations for Recording Secretary duties include taking minutes, keeping all records.  Betty Shelley nominated Shannon Harmeling from Lake Ridge with Ron Centamore seconding the motion.  Nominations were closed by President Mammano and Shannon Harmeling was elected with a unanimous vote.

President’s Report:

All Aboard Florida and FEC RR Partner are two private companies.  There will be an Environmental Impact Statement.  Federal RR Administration was sent letter of concerns also to Broward MPO and commissioners.  Broward County  MPO is going to vote to deal with quiet zones to allow us to spend our own money.  The meeting is on Thursday.  The money is not coming from private companies.  More information will be forthcoming.  There are 24 members on the MPO including Commissioner Romney Rogers and Vice Mayor Bruce Roberts.  AAF trains approximately 50 per week.  Port Everglades Freight trains once Panama Canal Expansion is completed will be doubled additional FEC Commuter Rail adds up to a lot of trains.  Proposals to move trains west.

President Mammano met with City Manager Lee Feldman.  He was not aware that the Neighborhood Development Review Criteria was not moving forward.  He does not have the staff.  Will go back and review.

Input was solicited for the Better Meetings Committee.  Topics that were brought up that were of interest included, By Law Guidance and Standardization, Common Insurance Policies, FAU is available for other topics, How to get people to come to meetings.

President Mammano brought up whether or not to hold the July General Meeting.  Shannon Harmeling made a motion to cancel the July meeting, seconded by Betty Shelley and it was unanimous vote to cancel the meeting.

8. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Linda Nugent, Corresponding Secretary

For Donna Mergenhagen, Recording Secretary

General Meeting Minutes

May 14, 2013

City Hall, 8^th Floor Conference Room

1. Call to order:  President Mammano called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
2. Roll call:  1^st VP Ron Centamore called attendance (respondents answered by name) and declared a quorum.
3. Treasurer’s Report:  President Mammano read the report provided by Treasurer Golub.
4. POLICE/FIRE REPORT

• Major Michael Gregory from District 2 represented the Police Department
  • Promotions:  Asst. Chief Williams is now in charge of all operations; many other promotions have taken place.
  • Reorganization of Patrols:  This will be taking place in the very near future. (Lt.’s will be moved up to shift captains/commanders)  New assignments will be sent to neighborhoods as soon as they are finalized.
  • Smart Water CSI:  This technology is being tested in South Middle River.  It will take 6 months to a year to determine if this product and program are successful.  You use smart water to mark your possessions and it has an embedded code that stays on your property permanently.   Currently, only the police have the equipment to detect if this product is on recovered stolen property.  The signage that you purchase with the program seems to be a significant deterrent.  Confiscated drug money was used to pay for the test program and equipment.  You can learn more about this product at www.smartwatercsi.com .
  • Captain Jo-Ann Lorber from Fire Emergency Management
    • Jo-Ann reminded everyone that Hurricane Season is only 18 days away.  She encouraged everyone to visit www.ready.gov which is a FEMA website for Hurricane Preparedness with comprehensive information on mitigation.
  • She also reminded everyone that it is National Law Enforcement Week.

5. ANNOUNCEMENTS/GUEST INTRODUCTIONS

• Maria Sachs – State Senator District 34 was introduced.  Ms. Sachs stated that she started as a leader in her community association.  She wants the neighborhoods to invite her into their communities.  She stated she is here to listen even if it is only to complaints.  She is here to listen to your community and bring your concerns to Tallahassee.  She stated that she is not a political idealog.  She wanted the

Neighborhoods to know some of her priorities and the bills she introduced, which include: Educational Appropriations (she worked to increase funding to Broward Community College); Texting While Driving (as a secondary offense, it is a beginning and hopefully the governor will sign the bill); Parasailing Safety; Alarms for Daycare Vans.  She encouraged the neighborhoods to give her ideas.  Laura Croscenco raised the concern of safe routes to and from schools including sidewalks and bike lanes, which is an issue in Middle River Terrace.  Ms. Sachs stated that she wants to take care of our communities and our children. She indicated that she raised five children in South Florida.  President Mammano introduced Richard Johns who is the chairperson of the Council’s Legislative Committee.  Ms. Sachs finished by stating that she did not care if a neighborhood was in her district or not, that she was interested in all concerns.

• Fort Lauderdale School Board Representative Katherine “Katie” Leach from District 3 called to indicate, that the School Board Meeting, which began at 9 a.m., was still ongoing.  President Mammano indicated that we would try to reschedule for the next meeting and would also contact Dr. Rosalin Osgood the District 4 Representative and Robin Bartleman the At Large Representative.  Education continues to be an important issue with the Visioning Report indicating that Fort Lauderdale is not a good place to educate your children.
• Interviews for City Attorney were held May 13^th. Five candidates were interviewed, 2 internal and 3 external from other parts of Florida.  Cynthia A. Everett  from Pinecrest Village was the selected candidate and hopefully will be on board soon.
• Tomorrow, May 15^th is the Transportation Summit, which will last all day.  The FEC Railroad situation will increase train traffic and impact the entire city and its residents.  President Mammano asked that an e-mail blast be sent out to remind everyone of this important event.  She encouraged neighborhoods to urge their Commissioners to get Broward County to establish quiet zones.  President Mammano asked Steve Stahl of Middle River to take the lead in Transportation Issues and indicated she would discuss with him after the meeting.
• Membership:  1^st VP Ron Centamore indicated that we have 34 members as of tonight’s meeting.  If there have been changes or updates in neighborhood contacts i.e. Representation that this information needs to be communicated to the Council and to Maxine Singh who maintains the recognized neighborhood information for the City.
• The Public Participation Ordinance was brought up for discussion.  In plain speak; the revised ordinance requires developers to have a meeting with the community prior to the DRC (Development Review Committee) meeting if the proposed development is a Site Plan 3 or Site Plan 4.  The public meeting must be held 21 days in advance of the meeting and the developer must send a letter or an e-mail to the President of the Civic Association(s) listed on the city website that are effected.  (That means the burden is on the neighborhood to get the word out.)  Prior to the DRC meeting they must present a Report Letter, which indicates yes I had a meeting, yes I notified the President, how many people attended the meeting and the issues raised.  This is then given to the city and made part of the record and then they can proceed to the DRC.  The members raised many concerns.  The feeling seems to be that this at least sets some type of standard (now this is an informal understanding).  Some believe that if this becomes policy the minimum becomes the maximum.  Shelby Smith from Shady Banks indicated that the meeting place needs to be located in proximity to the community and that city staff needs to educate the resident about what is allowed.  Shirley Smith from Central Beach Alliance felt that the requirement should be that the developer attends the association meeting.  Shannon Harneling from Lake Ridge felt that 21 days is not enough time and that the improved draft did not take in our concerns.  The June 4^th City Commission Conference Meeting will hear the revised draft.  The consensus is that opposition from developers will be to keep the process simple.  Shelby Smith from Shady Banks then brought up the concern of the “LETTER”, does the 21 days constitute from the postmark, mail could be held.  There is mistrust on both sides and the ordinance at least formalizes that we must talk to each other…it may not be the best time to push for the maximum, at least try to make sure the communication happens.  If we push to far the developers will feel we want too much.  Dave Parker from Sailboat Bend indicated that we need a more specific ordinance and that the education aspect by city staff is a good idea.  Ron Centamore from Downtown indicated that right now there is no requirement and at least this is a step in the right direction.  The Marina Lofts Developer gave no notification prior to DRC.  There are instances when a developer cannot deliver what they have promised to do.  Shirley Smith from Central Beach stated that there have been several Site Plan 3 and 4 projects that the Neighborhood has said no to and the Commission has voted to build it anyway.  Cal Deal indicated that 21 days prior could be meaningless as sometimes there are changes to the site plans right up to days before the meeting and they are allowed, as they are not considered a “substantial change”.  He indicated that their needs to be a date set for the lock down of documents.  President Mammano indicated that she would be attending the Commission Conference Meeting and would speak to the Council’s concerns.

6. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Linda Nugent, Corresponding Secretary

For Donna Mergenhagen, Recording Secretary

Fort Lauderdale Council of Civic Associations
General Meeting Minutes
April 9, 2013

City Hall, 8th Floor Conference Room

1.  Call to Order:  The meeting was called to order by President Mammano at 7:30 pm.
2.  Roll Call:  VP  Centamore called attendance and declared a quorum.
3. Minutes:  Minutes of the March meeting were approved as presented.
4. Treasurer’s Report:   Former Treasurer Klein read the report provided by Treasurer Golub.
5. POLICE/FIRE REPORT

• Captain Luiz Alvarez reported on upcoming beach events.
• Captain Jo-Ann Lorber reported the Port Everglades emergency drill has been re-scheduled and introduced Broward District Chief Gregory Holness.    He is the new Chief in Port Everglades and reminded members of the option to register for Broward County CyberVision.   Chief Lorber also recommended a Code Red App and distributed flyers on hurricane preparedness.

6.   ANNOUNCEMENTS/GUEST INTRODUCTIONS

• Todd Okolichany and Anthony Fajardo, Dept. of Sustainability, presented two ordinance change proposals.  1) Altering the process to apply for Flex Units from FZ49 and 55 to make them available for use in the Downtown RAC.  2) Change in the ULDR in the RO districts.  A number of concerns were expressed from the audience about the future availability of flex units.  A number of members raised  points from the Council Consensus Report regarding protection of single family neighborhoods, and honoring master plans, and balancing development with preservation.
• Rafael Vazquez, Broward County presented the 211 Service and the addition of the Senior Touchline application.

7.   OLD BUSINESS – REPORTS

• President Mammano announced the Citizen’s Committee of Recognition Event on May 7 at 11:30 am in City Hall.  Both Betty Shelley and Jorg Hruschka will receive awards.
• Victoria Park was thanked for providing the evening refreshments.
• First Vice President Centamore stated that renewals are still being received.

8. COMMITTEE REPORTS

• Cathy Stubbs read the Legislative Committee report prepared by Committee Chair, Richard Johns.  The next meeting has not been scheduled.

9.  FOR THE GOOD OF THE COMMUNITY

• Susan Howell thanked the neighborhoods who had participated in the “Power of One Hour”/CVC project in Poinciana Park on April 6.
• The Police Memorial Service will be held on April 30 at 2:30 pm at the Police Memorial in Esplanade Park.
• Haitian Flag Day was announced by Reverend Jean Ch. Renelus on May 18 6:30-10:00
• Hal Barnes from Neighborhood Services announced staffing changes.  Stephanie Denham will be relocating out of state.  Jorg Hruschka has accepted the position of Chief Service Officer in Neighborhood Services within the City Manager’s Office.
• Chuck Black announced that Fleet Week has been cancelled.  In its place there will be activities to recognize local service members.
• Barbara Haggerty announced the Shady Banks neighborhood Flea Market on Saturday.

10.  The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Donna Mergenhagen

Recording Secretary