New Cooper City News

My new Cooper City newsletter, that I have enjoyed designing and publishing, is now a reality!

It can be viewed at http://www.johnbsims.com/newsletter.pdf.

I hope you enjoy it. If you would like to subscribe to my newsletter, click HERE.

If you would like to contribute to it with any relevant content, independent opinion and/or commentary, current events, economics, government, politics and culture of Cooper City, please feel free to contact me.

I hope this newsletter will be an informative and valuable information resource for the residents of the City of Cooper City.

My intent is to keep you fully informed on all issues, good or bad, directly affecting our city, our businesses, and our residents in order to accurately reflect on what is happening in your community. Articles may appear not only on internal city matters, but any topic of interest such as business, HOA, community and social events or issues, politics and announcements.

It is an honor and a privilege to serve you, and our great city. I would like to thank you for expressing your concerns to me, asking tough questions and allowing me to help resolve your issues. I encourage and appreciate your concerns and look forward to continued resolution of them.

As always, you can contact me directly any time at 954.445.6997 or by e-mail at johnsims@bellsouth.net.

No obligation, no spam, your privacy is protected, your information is safe, confidential, never sold or shared with anyone for any reason...

Governor bans Cooper City tax dollars for politics

Governor Crist, on Wednesday, signed a bill (SB 216) to keep your hard earned and wantonly spent tax dollars, and any public funds for that matter, from being spent on political advertisements by your city and the commission. Thank you Governor Crist and Senator Charlie Justice!

This is a long overdue Bill that now puts the kibosh on the spending of public funds for political agenda's by the city regarding advertisements concerning an issue, referendum, or amendment that is subject to a vote of the electors.

The Bill states that "...A local government or a person acting on behalf of local government may not expend or authorize the expenditure of and a person or group may not accept, public funds for a political advertisement or electioneering communication concerning an issue, referendum, or amendment that is subject to a vote of the electors."

What a great law this is! I, for one, am fed up with seeing how government haphazardly spends our money to push their political causes. This Bill is long overdue, and I was certain that the counties and cities lobbying very hard to defeat it may have prevailed. Fortunately the Governor didn't cave in to the political pressure, and did the right thing.

I am proud to have supported this Bill while in Tallahassee earlier this year, due to the fact that I believe that our local government should not be expending our tax dollars on issues that may not be agreeable to you, nor should the local government be spending our money on issues that may (usually) benefit(s) some person, commissioner, city department or a vendor, either financially or politically.

The Bill "does not preclude an elected official of the local government from expressing an opinion on any issue at any time" as long as taxpayer funds are not used to convey their opinion.

Is Cooper City's Safety at Risk?

To all Cooper City residents,

Please read the below release...

A Message from Sheriff Al Lamberti

“This afternoon I announced our agency’s new gun violence prevention program. The goal of this program is to reduce the level of gun violence in Broward County. This is not a short-term initiative but a new BSO philosophy. This proactive program aims to remove illegal weapons from the streets and to impede illegal ownership of guns. Our deputies will be trained to spot, track and prevent gun crimes. New technology will be introduced to track and match shell casings to guns used in homicides and robberies. And through Crime Stoppers, rewards will now be made to callers who report people who have weapons illegally or who posses banned weapons. The Crime Stoppers program, Gun Stoppers, will award up to $100 for the recovery of an illegal weapon and up to $1,000 for the arrest of someone carrying a gun illegally. To make a report, call (954) 493-TIPS (8477) or (866) 493-TIPS toll free. Remember, you will remain anonymous. I am confident that if we work together, Broward County will remain a safe place for all of our families.”

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NOTE: I would also urge each and every one of you to support Sheriff Lamberti’s FY 2009-10 budget and his fight against any reduction of it, and give him your full support (See attached .pdf file). This politically created budget issue is not about party politics...It is about keeping our streets and our precious families safe in a time of apparent turmoil in these trying times. Unscrupulous criminals are in our neighborhood and city as evidenced by the BSO RED ALERT of March 12th. These criminals are coming into our local neighborhoods and communities with no regard for your life, your safety, or that of your family. Don’t forget about our brave BSO Firefighters also!

Government’s sole function is simply that of health, safety and welfare of the public at large. Nothing more, nothing less. Make no mistake about it, we need to ensure that our city government, Debby Eisinger, Lisa Mallozzi, James Curran and Neal DeJesus, along with myself and the Office of the Broward Sheriff, are doing just that. Ensuring your safety and that of your family, while ensuring the safety of our communities and families at large, is the absolute number one priority of any government entity. Don’t allow the County’s apparent mis-management of taxpayer money get in the way of your safety and that of your family...

For more, read here...

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-sheriff-overtime-mayocol-060809,0,3836881.column

and here...

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2009/06/with_no_election_in_sight_lamb.html

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2009/06/sheriff_demands_records_from_c.html

Kiwanis Club is 'Growing Gold' in Cooper City

Today at 9 AM, the Cooper City Kiwanis Club participated in the "Growing Gold" 50th Anniversary Event at Christie Schafale park on SW 87th Avenue, at the entrance of Timberlake. Everyone who came and volunteered, helped in planting Marigold's in the design area in front of the park sign.

President Elect Lydia Kruger helped to rally the troops. Lydia was there bright and early 'barking orders' at all of us ;) Now, the Kiwanis Club of Cooper City is ready to clean up Christie Schafale Park and plant marigolds.

Lydia's first task was to get us to wake up and pay attention, so that we could get a group photo. Man, did it get hot out there really quick!

Even the kids in the neighborhood showed up to help! In fact, helpers of all ages showed up!

Lydia's next directive was to get another photo 'just in case'...What a beautiful park! While we planted the Marigold's Bruce Blittman cleaned all of the visible trash from the park, and to our surprise, it was spotless!

Andrew Kruger also helped Joe Baron plant some 'Cooper City gold'. Andrew vowed to re-join Key Club next year. Yeah!

Joe Baron and I laying down the mulch over the dirt. Lydia is still in the background running the show, and taking detailed notes as to who was naughty and nice...

John Sims is no stranger to hard work!

Partial results of our hard work, and what a beautiful morning it turned out to be...

Christie Schafale Park is sadly named after a Cooper City High School teen and good friend who lost her life on a ride at the Broward County Fair about 20 years ago. We have helped beautify the park named in her memory.

The end result...A beauitful dispaly of Marigold's at the entrance to Christie Schafale Park to celebrate Cooper City's 50th Anniversary and the "Growing Gold" campaign.

I would like to thank all who volunteered on behalf of the Cooper City Kiwanis Club. Thanks goes to Steve Cummings for the photos and quotes, and a very special "thank you!" goes to Lydia Kruger of Shirts R Us of Hollywood, Inc. (954-964-6800) for supplying the Kiwanis Club shirts. Thanks Lydia!