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!

Cooper City Sign Code Workshop Synopsis

The Cooper City Commission held a sign code workshop this afternoon at 4 PM at Cooper City hall. First, I want to thank the members of the Business Advisory Board and the Planning and Zoning Board for their participation in the process of bringing the Commission the issues that are of concern to this evening's sign code workshop.

Actually, the Commission and the P&Z board have had numerous meetings since the P&Z's inception regarding sign codes. Also, the P&Z Board has also gone over this issue many, many times in the past 7 or 8 years. At this point, I don’t feel it is the P&Z Board’s job to figure out what is wrong with the sign code, if indeed anything is wrong with it at all.

The issues are really quite simple…You have a very small business interest that wants to have new or different 'looking' signs, and you have vast residential interests that want our community to remain a bedroom community, who would like to see almost no signs at all.

Some on this commission apparently have indicated that there were some particular business interests that they had heard from, and they would like those interests to be addressed, yet those specific concerns were not laid on the table for any real specificity except for one or two issues, one being an 'open' [for business] sign and the other a 'monument' type sign.

One of two aforesaid issues on addressing the specific problem, along with giving a specific directive to come back to the Commission with a proposed change for a vote, was that of an ‘open’ [for business] sign not being forced to be 4 or 5 feet back from the front window of an establishment, which was the only real issue at hand this afternoon. There has not been any desire to make any significant changes to signage because apparently the city, the P&Z Board and everyone else, likes things just the way they are.

There hasn’t been a sign waiver variance request in the past few years to my knowledge. When someone requests a variance, we as a city, can indeed cause excessive wastes of time and money as it is. The system process is grossly inefficient to some, but the wheels do turn albeit slowly. My opinion is that the P&Z Board should handle sign changes, approving variances on an as needed basis and forward their decision to the Commisison for approval. I don’t know of any business owner that has not received approval on any variance when they have properly applied for it, as long as they agreed to comply with the rules, policy and procedures set in place.

There is absolutely nothing happening in this City, either from a development or a business aspect, which is compelling the Commisison to make any changes to the sign code. There is also no specific reason for this Commission to have asked the P&Z Board to re-review our sign codes, and to try and figure out what we need to change and why, and then convey that info to us. I believe that we don’t need to change anything at this time.

Asking the P&Z Board to re-review the waiver, or variance process, may be the only applicable and valid directive, but this Commission does not need to micromanage the proces or the sign code, which in doing so, may ultimately open up a lot of issues (i.e., Pandora's Box) which will ultimately create more political controversy and dissention on the dais. I don’t believe that we know what we, as a Commission, want in regards to sign code changes, if any. If so, the previous discussion(s), issues and subsequent directive(s) would have been clear and concise, of which they were not.

I think the economy alone, and possibly one or two Commissioners/Mayor, may be the driving political force on this non-issue. We have a code that works! If somebody wants to change what we have, simply because they want a different kind of sign or something else, then let them petition the P&Z Board with a request for a variance or a waiver. Seeing that there is no major development in the near future, no request for variances, no specific complaints so as to justify changing the code and avoiding more pressing issues that we should be addressing, there is no reason to do this at this time.

The city has rcently spent hours upon hours going through the sign code, even to the point of debating this afternoon and showing the Commisison what other cities do versus what Cooper City should do. It’s not about what other cities do. It's about what our stakeholders want and a valid municipal purpose. We decided to save $350,000+ of our tax dollars because it didn’t make sense to re-write the land use codes in this current financial environment. As such, it does not make sense to needlessly re-write the sign codes.

This issue should be an extension of that previous land use directive, yet the sign issue is continually being pressed. We have spent a lot of time to get to the point of where we started at...the sign code does not need to be re-written. There is currently a specific and detailed remedy and process in place for those residents and business owners who seem to require a variance from the existing code, or for those who want an 'open' sign up against the window.

I believe the sign code issue is a non-issue at this juncture, and unless someone can give specific and compelling reasons why we should change the sign codes rather than approve variances, I will vote against any changes outside of simple sign code amendments placed on the agenda. We need to address more pertinent issues such as the loss of pension funds of $1,415,475 in October, and another $438,573 in November, for a total of about a $4M loss, and we need figure out the funds eventual replenishment (yes, we are on the hook for that amount folks), the loss of about $5M in unrestricted reserves, a 23% budget increase, among other serious issues forthwith.

We have the cash in the bank to bring the General Employees Pension Fund to 'par', yet the Mayor, and Comissioner De Jesus felt that was not the answer. The city would not be "throwing good money after bad" (Quote by the Mayor) if it made timely contributions to push the plan back into 'parity' and bring it up to a good vesting ratio. It seems that the employee pension fund has recently made good profit on interest bearing investments such as CD's, Treasuries and high grade corporate and municipal bonds.

When I heard those two on the commission questioning, at our last meeting, why they should put money into the fund when it is very likely to lose value, my thoughts were that either they had not read the data provided by the City Manager or the Actuarial reports, which showed some gains in interest bearing investments as well as major losses in stock equities, or, they didn't understand much about pension fund financial management, or, they misssed it when the fund manager specified that they had begun to make changes in the fund portfolio towards the aforesaid higher interest bearing investments rather than continue to invest in stocks and mortgage backed securities. It's a no-brainer, but you have to 'follow the money' to understand their reasoning for not doing what we, by law, must do.

Unless these major, priority issues are fully addressed and resolved immediately, I will vote against any change in the 'sign code' at every opportunity.

Cooper City Planning and Zoning Board Appointment

I would like to proudly announce my appointment of Mrs. Marianne McCoy to the Cooper City Planning and Zoning Board. Please welcome her, as she is an invaluable resource, a wealth of knowledge, and a great person!

Mrs. McCoy has many years of experience in public service as a servant of The People of Cooper City on the Planing and Zoning Board, and will indeed continue to do the right thing for the residents and business owners of Cooper City. She will also continue to be a great asset to the management, operations and recommendations to the City Commission of the P&Z Board.

Welcome back Marianne!

Cooper City Autism Awareness Day Event

Cooper City's Autism Awareness Day brought out many families and neighbors with autistic children to the Cooper City Fire Station on Saturday May 9th from 11 AM to 1 PM.

The event was planned as a gathering of residents and neighbors with autism and with BSO police and fire department personnel.

The event had a few goals, one which was to introduce members of the autism community with Cooper City's BSO law enforcement personnel, the BSO fire department personnel along with city employees, and two, to educate the general public, city employees and BSO police and fire personnel about the special needs and behaviors of those with autism spectrum disorder.

The UM-NSU Mobile Family Clinic vehicle was in attendance which facilitates preliminary screening assessments for the disorder. What a nice vehicle and program that was!

We are all very grateful to Mr. Bruce Blitman, Esq., for the hard work he put into making this event a success. Mr. Blitman is a Certified County, Family and Circuit Civil Mediator, a Qualified Arbitrator and Umpire. He is also a constituency board member of the University of Miami -Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism and Related Disabilities.

Mr. Blitman informed all of us that the Broward County Autism Society of America, which had a great assessment program at the function, recently completed training with BSO police and fire personnel to help them understand and recognize common behaviors of the autism, in order to further promote public safety.

Since 1965, the Autism Society of America (ASA) has been a leader in serving people with autism, their families and the professionals. ASA supports research that will help families living with autism.

Demonstrations and displays were performed by BSO police and fire personnel regarding their duties and how they interact with the public on a daily basis. We all learned a great deal from the presentations that were given.

BSO police and fire personnel from the Cooper City District were in attendance. There was also plenty of food, fun and cold drinks.

In addition to the Broward County Autism Society of America sponsoring the event, the Cooper City Kiwanis Club was also a sponsor, and lots of volunteers there to help out throughout the festivities. A big THANK YOU goes out to the Cooper City Kiwanis Club volunteers which included not only Bruce Blitman but also Steve Cummings, Lydia Kruger, Mike Kadel, Linda Victor, and others.

I enjoyed learning about the local awareness programs that are in place and the recent success in treating the disorder from BSO Fire Chief Richard Sievers and BSO Police Chief John Hale. From what I have learned, Autism is indeed treatable. Children do not "outgrow" autism, but studies show that early diagnosis and intervention lead to very significantly improved outcomes.

I fully support and congratulate the Broward County Chapter of the Autism Society of America, Cooper City Kiwanis Club, and Mr. Bruce Blitman for their fine volunteer work and donations of time, sweat, food and supplies during this event. I am certain that next year’s event will prove to be an even greater success!

Cooper City wins at Community Involvement Awards

On April 30th, Cooper City was honored to be selected for numerous awards at the Broward School Board's Community Involvement Awards ceremony held at the Broward County Convention Center.

The Florida Department of Education recognized the following Cooper City schools for their Five Star award which shows committment to students' success through involvement in the community:
Embassy Creek Elementary (14th year), Pioneer Middle (8th year), and Cooper City High (1st year).

A "Five Star" school must demonstrate 100% achievement in the areas of community and business partnerships, family involvement, volunteers, student community service, and school advisory councils.

Left to right: Commissioner James C. Curran, Wendy Doll (Principal - Cooper City High), Cynthia Novotny (Principal - Griffin Elem.) Commissioner Neal de Jesus', Angie Moodliyar (Assistant Principal - Griffin Elem.), Robert Becker (Principal - Embassy Creek Elem.), Mayor Debbie Eisinger, Commissioner John Sims, Gail Silig ( Assistant Principal - Cooper City Elem.), Commissioner Lisa Mallozzi, Linda Arnold ( Principal - Pioneer Middle), Nadine Weltman Laham.

The outstanding adult volunteer awards went to Stephanie Ferrara of Cooper City Elementary, Elizabeth Gainsburg of Embassy Creek Elementary, Sandra Gerstle of Cooper City High, and Susan Safra of Cooper City High.

The Outstanding Volunteer Program Organizer awards went to Mayor Eisinger, Elissa Elias (Embassy Creek Elementary), Ginette Hartmen (Cooper City Elementary) and Vito Scotello (Cooper City High).

The Outstanding Senior Volunteer awards went to James Hood (Cooper City Elementary), and Steven Schultze (Embassy Creek Elementary).

Alina Freeman (Embassy Creek lementary) and Diana Morales (Cooper City Elementary) recieved a Five-year VAST pin and award for 200 hours of service and the Ten-year award went to Mary Edinger of Cooper City High.

Cooper City was recognized with a 'School Based Partnership of the Year' award, and Cooper City High was nominated at the High School level.

You can learn more about this program HERE, and HERE .

CONGRATULATIONS to our 2007/2008 recipients!

Cooper City BSO Advisory System Press Release

DATE: April 30, 2009 PIO NUMBER: 09-4-36

RESIDENTS ATWITTER OVER CYBERVISOR, THE BSO COMMUNITY ADVISORY SYSTEM

If you live or work in Broward County, the Broward Sheriff’s Office has something important to tell you. Thanks to a new ground-breaking online community advisory system, it can.

By simply registering online for CyberVisor, residents can receive important e-mails or text messages from the nation’s largest fully-accredited sheriff’s office about their safety, their neighborhoods and their commutes including:

* criminal activity, such as vehicle or home burglaries
* traffic information, including road closures and construction zones
* upcoming events, like car safety seat inspections or Shred-a-Thons
* important safety tips to keep your home, business and property safe
* be-on-the-lookout (BOLO) alerts for wanted suspects or missing children

BSO has always used technology to stay connected to the people it serves. Now it has created its own, secure, no-cost advisory system to communicate with the public. CyberVisor is the first advisory system of its kind created only for public safety news and information.

Similar to Twitter, CyberVisor allows the commands in BSO’s multiple jurisdictions to communicate with the residents and businesses they serve.

“Given the state of our economy, those of us in public safety must take advantage of every opportunity to keep residents informed,” Sheriff Al Lamberti said. “CyberVisor gives us a way to do this at virtually no cost. The more information people have, the safer they are.”

You can find BSO online at www.sheriff.org and on the agency’s Facebook fan page, where you can see important public safety messages, agency photos, check out job opportunities and monitor wanted criminals. To sign up for CyberVisor, “The BSO Community Advisory System,” visit www.sheriff.org/cybervisor.

This report by Dani Moschella 4/30/2009 1000

Cooper City - Celebrating Our Past Event was a HUGE Success

On Sunday, April 19th the Celebrating Our Past event was held from 3 - 5 p.m. at the Pool and Tennis Center. Recognition of past city commissioners, city advisory board members, clubs and organizations that have contributed to the city was the highlight of the event, with group pictures taken for the time capsule.

In addition, there was superb food and refreshments served. There were also plenty of historical photos and memorabilia throughout the center, and the classroom sponsored a video presentation. All in all, it was a fantastic gathering filled with happiness, comeraderie and great opportunities to meet again with both new and old friends.

Photos courtesy of the Wooley family

Special Magistrate in Cooper City...a done deal before it was started?

It is unfortunate that the special magistrate ordinance passed 4-1 last Tuesday night. Only 27 cases, none of which were code enforcement related as per the attached memo to the ordinance, went to county court last year. I made my amendments without so much as a second (With one commissioner stating "I didn't know..." in regards to a second being required for discussion), and was dismayed at the ‘done deal’ attitude of the rest of the Commission, which has transpired a lot lately.

The ordinance is not fully vetted nor properly written, in my opinion, and I have placed it on the next agenda for further discussion. It also shouldn't have been written based on politically favored reactions to recent and few abuses, but on what is "reasonably expected" of the residents and public officials. If future discretions are found to occur, and are outside of those ‘unwritten’ standards (similar to the unwritten rules that continually arise on an as needed basis), then clear and actionable severe repercussions could be available. Not a good way to treat our valued shareholders, I'd say.

The majority of the Commission has not acted like true professionals on this issue, but more like unskilled amateurs, particularly in Parliamentary procedure, and are no longer interested in any meaningful dialogue, nor have they been intent on listening to each other’s opinions outside of their own in a meaningful manner in its recent agenda discussions. There is no real leadership at city hall, so I guess that means that this is the way we will continue to operate.

Cooper City's new Judge, Jury and Executioner

Cooper City Commissioners want to implement a Magistrate system in our city at tonight's commission meeting, apparently to “ensure compliance” per the direct quote of the City Manager. Funny…The Ordinance says it is to be “a more efficient, effective and inexpensive method”. Hogwash! They can do that now without a judge, jury and executioner deceitfully named a Magistrate. Take out the Code Enforcement provision and you’re pouring money into a black hole. This needs to be BID OUT. The law firm’s agenda is to be profitable. There is no reason to rush to implement this. Per experts, including the Clerk of Courts, this will cost the city more money and be paid out to the city attorney and the Magistrate and is not necessary in the time of a budget crisis.

Many have said to me that they believe the Ordinance was developed to funnel the new city attorney and his law firm more money in exchange for campaign donations and other ‘favors’. Their nickname apparently has now become 'Rainmaker', and the way the Ordinance was written, the contractor-magistrate will be held accountable to absolutely NO ONE! Not even the Commission. The city attorney will also be the Magistrate’s "legal advisor" along with having the title of 'city prosecutor'. Also, the way the Ordinance is written, any violations will be adjudicated by a city contractor-vendor who will be paid directly from the proceeds of his or her fines and assessment adjudications. Can you say “conflict of interest”?

The Special Magistrate is an attorney and member of the Florida Bar who is appointed by the majority of the City Council to preside over Code Enforcement matters. The Special Magistrate has the jurisdiction and authority to hear and decide alleged violations and exercise the powers of a Code Enforcement Board as provided in chapter 162, Florida Statutes.

The Special Magistrate also has the authority to subpoena people and records, hear cases involving suspected violations, order rulings on violations, assess fines and order liens to be placed upon property. There would be less of an appearance of impropriety with a Code Enforcement Board than a Special Magistrate. Accountability is so important to this city, and all of us campaigned on the issue, yet none of the other commission members have been accountable in their actions on this particular issue, more particularly accountable toward the residents.

Why do they think we need this? Cooper City used to have this system in place, and it was deemed to be bad for the city. Cooper City doesn't seem the type of city that is in need of such a hastily prepared legal ‘set up’, after all, that's why we all live here. We're basically a bedroom community with minor crime and code problems. Unfortunately, the rest of the commission supports this debacle with no solid facts or data to justify it, no valid or substantial cost-benefit analysis, no offered justifiable facts or data for reasons other than stated in the Ordinance and no set of valid figures on which to base a future review other than a 'best guess'.

We don't need this ordinance, and we don’t want it! Why potentially spend more money on more lawyers, and fix something that currently isn't broken? If it is broken, why hasn't it been delineated in black and white by the City Manager? If it costs less, then show me the cold hard cash. If it’s better, show me why, not just take the word of the City Attorney on the matter, with all due respect. If the County Court Judge’s aren’t doing their job as alluded to, why aren’t they being held accountable? Apparently, the “inform, warn and cite” practice that this city has supported for so long, will no longer be available to its shareholders upon passing of this hastily initiated Ordinance. This is another non-issue that's bad for the city, bad for our image, and bad for you...if you agree, show up Tuesday at the Commission meeting and voice your objections.

Easter Festivities in Cooper City

The Easter weekend in East Cooper City got off to a great start with the Country Address Easter Egg Hunt this afternoon. Many residents and their children arrived and were greeted by the Easter Bunny, along with lot's of games and festivities planned by the Country Address homeowners.

There were lot's of prizes, two egg hunts and many fun filled games.
The kids as well as the adults had a great time!

Again, Sherri was the MC and as always, managed to run a great event! I think she had more fun than the kids! Every one who attended fully enjoyed the comeraderie along with the beautiful weather, and the neighbors were very happy for the kids and the fact that it was such a beautiful day!

Somewhere in all of those eggs is the "Grand Prize"...

We hope to see all of you agin next year at the Easter Egg hunt in Country Address! Have a great Easter everyone!

Cooper City's 50th Birthday & Annual Founder's Day Events

From April to June 2009, Cooper City will mark the 50th anniversary of its incorporation and will also be celebrating Founder's Day. Such a special occasion requires a special celebration, and a volunteer committee has been formed by the Cooper City Commission to make plans for the city's 50th celebration.

The Cooper City Commission and Cooper City employees invite you to participate in Cooper City's 50th Anniversary by joining the 50th Celebration Committee, by contributing financial support, by attending the 50th Anniversary events, and by helping to promote the celebration throughout Cooper City.

COOPER CITY'S 50TH FOUNDER'S DAY EVENTS INCLUDE:

April 2009
Tuesday, April 14th - 50th Birthday Kick-off, 7:00 pm. - 7:30 p.m. in City Hall Auditorium prior to city commission meeting to include: City Proclamation, Cooper City's 50th Fabulous Years Celebration Days, unveil time capsule and display contents, honor Pioneers of Cooper City, refreshments with cutting of 50th birthday cake, staff, volunteers and council to wear 50th celebration shirts.
Wednesday, April 15th - Historical Picture Display Business Rotation. Begin 5 - 7 day rotations of historical pictures throughout businesses in Cooper City.
Sunday, April 19th - Celebrating Our Past, 3 - 5 p.m. at the Pool and Tennis Center, 3:15 p.m. Recognition of past city commissioners, city advisory board members, clubs and organizations that have contributed to the city, etc. with group pictures for time capsule, refreshments, historical room open, classroom open with video presentation.
Saturday, April 25th - (Traditional) Founder's Day Celebration, Morning parade with theme "Cooper City - Celebrating 50 Fabulous Years!" followed by afternoon festivities at Brian Piccolo Park, fireworks.

May 2009
Saturday, May 2nd - 50th Countdown begins with countdown display on corner of Stirling Road and 100th Avenue.
Saturday, May 2nd - Family Night - "Movie Under the Stars" Cooper City Sports Complex 8 - 11 PM, Movie on the field. Wii Rock Band and Guitar Hero Contests on other field for additional entertainment fun.
Sunday, May 17th - "Tour de Cooper" Family Bike Ride 7:30 - 10 am, staged at the Cooper City Sports Complex, refreshments.
Saturday, May 23rd - Party at the Pool! 1 - 5 PM Family events, music, and contests poolside at the Pool and Tennis Center.

June 2009
Saturday, June 6th - Cooper City "Going Gold" - Community Volunteer Day, Provide marigolds to be planted by volunteers at all parks, city facilities and entrance ways to the City to encourage everyone to "go Golden" for our 50th !
Saturday, June 20th - Cooper City's Celebration of "50" Fabulous Years! 5 - 10 p.m. on Cooper City High School football field, bounce houses, food, concert, laser show, closure of time capsule, large Birthday cake.

For more information please contact staff at 954-434-4300, Ext. 233 or go to the city's website.

Click HERE to view the itenerary or click HERE to download a Founder's Day Parade Application if you'd like to participate in the parade. We'll see you there!

COOPER CITY ATTENDS BROWARD DAYS IN TALLAHASSEE

Issues that matter...

I recently attended ‘Broward Days’ at the state capitol in Tallahassee, along with the entire Commission and the City Manager, which provides a venue for the citizenry and focuses on issues that matter and directly affect all of us at the state legislature. Broward Days hosts monthly meetings and promotes receptions and workshops dealing with appropriations, Sunshine Law, and advocacy in Broward County, and also publishes a magazine distributed throughout Tallahassee and Broward. Broward Days also coordinates the annual two-day state legislative issues forum at the state capitol at Tallahassee, Florida. With less and less tax money coming to the state for supporting health, safety and welfare issues, it's not going to be easy getting anything out of the Florida Legislature this year, especially if it involves any substantial sums of tax dollars.

Broward Days has become a voice to be reckoned with in Tallahassee with teams posturing on positions regarding various legislative issues. Broward Days is the local county organization that melds residents from the business world with those in government and politics, and attempts to present united, bipartisan leadership. Broward Days is one of the largest, most diverse and focused organizations of its kind, with over 600 actively involved participants and sponsors serving as a voice for your valued concerns in Broward County.

Here is the meeting itinerary that I had planned out, and what I accomplished while attending Broward Days this year in Tallahassee...

I arrived on Monday afternoon and after checking in, I greeted Governor Charlie Crist while he was at the Florida Hospital Association press conference, then I took a quick tour of the old Capitol building before they closed.

On Tuesday (3/10), at 10:45 a.m. I met with Joslyn Wilson, Director of Opinions, at Attorney General Bill McCollum’s office regarding public records and open government issues. We had a very lengthy and productive meeting, and clear direction was given to me regarding some of my constituents concerns regarding public records and requests.

At 11:15 a.m. I met with Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink regarding the Cooper City Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFR) and Monterra Community Development District Annual Reports. We also had a very productive meeting and clear direction was given to me regarding some of my constituents concerns regarding the CAFR and Monterra financials and issues to address.
At 12:30 p.m. I attended the Buffet Luncheon & Welcome at the Governors Club and was able to privately speak at length with Hon. Senator Jeremy Ring, District 32, State Senate, and Chair of the Broward Legislative Delegation. We then listened to Hon. Bill McCollum, Attorney General of the State of Florida, give a synopsis of the plan of action regarding his fight against child pornography and internet child predators. Attorney General McCollum also highlighted his plan of action on other priorities including developing a statewide gang reduction strategy; consumer protection; combating Medicaid fraud; improving the state’s security against terrorist threats, and fighting crimes against the elderly, especially identity theft.

At 2:00 p.m. I was able to privately speak to Attorney General McCollum at length regarding public records, public records requests, open government initiatives and issues along with his direction on my constituents concerns regarding these issues. I certainly let him know that he has my full and unwavering support on these issues, and his initiatives, particularly the street gang reduction issue, consumer protection and child safety initiatives that he espouses.

At 2:30 p.m. I attended the Panel at the Governors Club on Florida's Economic Recovery. They provided their current assessment & future proposals. In attendance were Karen Woodall, Florida's Center on Fiscal & Economic Policy, Deborah Wilkinson, Broward County Office of Economic Development and Florida Economic Development Council, Mark Wilson, CEO, Florida Chamber of Commerce and Harvey Bennett of Florida Tax Watch. Afterwards, I asked lots of questions and received lots of great answers from these individuals regarding your concerns.

At 3:45 p.m. I attended the Panel at the Governors Club on Florida’s Open Government. I was able to subsequently speak at great length to JoAnn Carrin, Director, Office of Open Government, Barbara Petersen, President, First Amendment Foundation and Pat Gleason, Director of Cabinet Affairs & Special Counsel on Open Government. Our discussions were about promoting open government and transparent dealings with all government entities. Also in attendance were Jo Moskowitz (Broward Days Immediate Past Chair) and Stella Tokar (Chair).

At 6:00 p.m. I attended the evening reception featuring Alex Sink, Chief Financial Officer, State of Florida. She discussed the state of the economy and how Florida and it's local and county governments can be fiscally responsible and successful through these tough economic times.

On Wednesday (3/11) I attended the 7:30 a.m. Leadership Breakfast, featuring Governor Charlie Crist at the top floor of the Capitol building. Other speakers and attendees were Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottcamp, Hon. Max Osceola, Seminole Tribe Councilman, Stella Tokar, Jo Moskowitz, Tim Rodriguez, Calvin Giordano, Hon. Franklin Sands, Florida House of Representatives, Dist 98, and Hon. Jeremy Ring, Florida Senate, Dist 32, Sen. Howard Forman, the Executive Director of the Broward League of Cities, Rhonda Calhoun along with the entire Cooper City Commission and Cooper City Manager.

The featured speaker was Hon. Charlie Crist, Governor of the State of Florida. The Governor spoke at length and was very enlightening on issues facing the State of Florida and it's counties regarding the budget. The Governor also spoke on the three 'E's', the Environment, Education and Ethics. I let him know that he has my full support on these initatives.

At 9:30 a.m. I briefly attended the Education Panel on 22nd floor of the Capitol. In attendance were Maggie Zalamea, Director of Government Relations for Broward County Public Schools, Shane Strum, Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Charlie Crist, Alan Stonecipher, Florida's Center for Fiscal & Economic Policy, Joy Frank, General Counsel and Legislative Director for the Florida Association of School District Superintendents and Ruth Melton, Director of Legislative Affairs for the Florida School Boards Association.

At 9:45 I attended the Senate Governmental Affairs Policy Commitee hearing, which concentrated on balancing the budget, fostering economic growth and job creation, lowering the tax burden on families and businesses, restraining or reducing the growth of government, promoting public safety and educational accountability and protecting Florida's natural beauty and resources. The committee also spent a great deal of time discussing government employee's pension plans, retirement benefits and budgeting. The committee also discussed the Open Government Sunset Review Act which requires the Legislature to review every 5 years, each public rcord and meeting exemption for re-enactment. The commettee also talked about the issue of secret ballots when exercising the right to vote.

At 11:00 I attended the presentation SB 2018 by Senator Mike Fasano & Secretary George H. Sheldon of the Department of Children and Family Services, which creates the community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment and Crime Reduction Act. The Act provides goals for the community mental health and substance abuse forensic treatment system and requires the DCFS, in consultation with the AHCA, to develop and implement such forensic treatment system.

At 11:30 a.m. I went to a sponsored Luncheon at Clyde’s & Costello’s, and discussed Secretary Sheldon's initiatives along with other local issues such as Transportation, Technology and Pre K-12 matters with local elected officials from various parts of Broward County and Florida.

From 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. the Senate Select Committee on Economic Recovery had a hearing mostly on repealing tax exemptions. Rather than attend that hearing since other members of the Cooper City Commission attended, I elected to meet with privately with House of Representatives members Joe Gibbons, Ari Porth, Gwendolyn Clarke-Reed, Hazelle Rogers, Evan Jenne and Martin Kiar, Jim Waldman, Ellen Bogdanoff and Sen. Nan Rich between 1:30 and 5 PM. The issues I discussed with them were the Transportation, Technology and Pre K-12 Education initiatives that the Broward Days committees were instrumental in developing.

As a member of the Metropolitan Planning Organization Board, I supported the Transportation team's mission which is to seek legislative solutions to provide the residents and businesses of Broward County, and more importantly the South Florida Tri-County region, with a viable funding source for smart regional transportation facilities. These smart regional transportation facilities will improve the quality of life for the flourishing urbanized South Florida community in a current time of increased Traffic Congestion on the existing transportation facilities.

The mission of the Technology team is to educate Members of the Florida State Legislature on issues of importance to the high-tech industry, and demonstrate the critical role that the high tech industry plays in the health and diversification of Florida's economy. The mission of the Pre-K-12 Education Team is to raise public awareness about the lack of adequate funding for Pre-K-12 public education in the State of Florida and to provide holistic solutions to key policymakers, such as the Governor and State Legislature.

also spent a good deal of time between meetings in the afternoon voicing my opposition to SB 0074 (regarding the use of the Term ‘Illegal Alien’, which prohibits the term's use by a state agency or official in an official document of the state) and meeting with Sen. Lawson, Rep. Coley, Rep. Zapata and Sen. Storms staff voicing my opposition to SB 1488, SB 2292, HB 817 and HB 1477.

All in all, I had a great and safe trip, and I accomplished and learned alot on behalf of the People of the great City of Cooper City, and Broward County. If you have any questions of would like to convey issues to me or your Senate or House Representatives during the current Legislative Session, please let me know.

Cooper City Code Red Alert

CODE RED ALERT

3/12/09, 5 PM EST

This is a Broward Sheriff’s Office, Cooper City information alert.

A series of home burglaries has occurred during the past few weekdays while homeowners are at work.

Burglars are pulling into empty driveways and knocking on front doors to see if anyone is home.

If nobody answers, they smash rear sliding glass doors and enter the home.

Please activate your home alarm system and be extra watchful for suspicious vehicles or persons around homes. If you see suspicious activity, please call 911 immediately so we can respond.

Thank you for working with us in keeping your community secure.