Cooper City Red Light Cameras, and more...

On this coming Tuesday's commission agenda, your Mayor has placed on the agenda the issue of Red Light Camera's in Cooper City. The issue was previously raised by Lisa Mallozzi, and at that time it was apparently a 'done deal' with a full presentation by ATS, a well known vendor who is not thought of to be an 'above the board' vendor. The issue is a discussion regarding "Implementation of Red Light Camera Program (please read the attached information in the previous link) in compliance with recently adopted State Law". Unfortunately, the state law has not been made law and implemented, and may even be possibly veto'd by the Governor. I hope so!

This issue is one of the worst issues that could be thrust upon our residents and business owners. Many other cities have placed a halt on the red light camera issue based upon many factors, includint the fact that the red light cameras are a severe detriment to the safety of the public at large, the very core of what government is implemented to protect! There are many issues regarding this item, that we must address before even thinking about implementing this program, but five minutes won't allow us to address it in a clear, concise and detailed manner. I believe that the 'deal' has already been done.

Other cities decided to hold off because of questions about how their plans correspond with legislation approved last week by state lawmakers. Cities will now receive less money than planned because the Legislature requires that fines be divided with the state. The Legislature also bars cities from sharing revenue with camera vendors in exchange for using their equipment.

This is the very reason why the Legislature and our Mayor want to implement this program...money. Your hard earned money. Let's be very clear...this issue has absoultely nothing to do with safety, and if anyone tries to tell you differently, they are being dishonest with you. There are no studies that show red light cameras as being effective in increasing safety. In fact, every study available shows exactly the opposite. They are a detriment to the safety of motorists.

In fact, a Miami-Dade County judge ruled that one city couldn't use red-light cameras to issue fines without a police officer present. Again, let me emphasise, all studies on the issue show that red light camera's don't work. In fact, they increase the amount of crashes and injuries as driver's attempt to abruptly stop at camera spying intersections. As one report stated "Running a red light can cause severe traffic crashes especially when one vehicle runs into the side of another. Red light cameras photograph violators who are sent traffic tickets by mail. Intuitively, cameras appear to be a good idea. However, comprehensive studies conclude cameras actually increase crashes and injuries, providing a safety argument not to install them."

"This paper explains red light running trends in Florida; effective solutions to reduce red light running; findings from major camera evaluations; examples of flawed evaluations; the automobile insurance financial interest in cameras; and the increased likelihood of even higher crash and injury rates if cameras are used in Florida due to the high percent of elderly drivers and passengers. The theory behind red light cameras as potentially effective is that they rely on deterring red light running primarily through punishment of a specific driving behavior and secondarily by changing drivers’ experience. Because the rigorous and robust studies conclude that cameras are associated with increased crashes and costs, any economic analysis of cameras should include these newly generated costs to the public.

Indirect costs to the public are usually not considered in the calculation of total revenues and profits generated from red light cameras. Florida should be cautious in using traffic safety information from the automobile insurance industry. Insurance financial goals are to increase their revenues and profits, which do not necessarily include reducing traffic crashes, injuries or fatalities. Also, public policy should avoid conflicts of interest that enhance revenues for government and private interests at the risk of public safety." (Florida Public Health Review, 2008; 5: 1-7)

The National Motorists Association (NMA) represents driver interests and opposes cameras. In addition to concluding cameras do not improve safety, the NMA is concerned that local governments will not use effective methods to reduce red light running when earning money from cameras. For example, lengthening yellow light timings at traffic signals is effective in reducing red light running (NMA, 2008). theNewspaper.com, 2006). The majority of the red light running safety issue can be resolved through inexpensive engineering remedies that address the timing of yellow lights. In Cooper City, the average yelow light is three seconds or less.

Increases in crashes can raise the risk rating of drivers in a community, which can lead to disproportionately higher automobile insurance premiums, and, subsequently, rising profits for insurers. The Greensboro evaluation was conducted by the Urban Transit Institute at the North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University using 57 months of data (Burkey & Obeng, 2004). The study concluded that in many ways “the evidence points toward the installation of RLCs [red light cameras] as a detriment to safety.” Cameras were associated with:
• A significant increase (40%) in accident rates;
• A significant increase (40-50%) in possible injury crashes;
• No decrease in severe crashes.

The Virginia Transportation Research Council (Garber, Miller, Abel, Eslambolchi & Korukonda, 2007) analyzed camera programs in five jurisdictions using seven years of data. The study concluded their findings “cannot be used to justify the widespread installation of cameras because they are not universally effective.” They used a comprehensive statistical method of analysis (i.e., Empirical Bayes) that found cameras were associated with:
• A significant increase (29%) in total crashes;
• A significant increase (20%) in angle crashes;
• A significant increase (42%) in rear-end crashes, which did not decrease over time;
• A significant increase in injury crashes (18%), with the impact on injury severity
reported as “too close to call”;
• Increases in crash costs.

A study conducted for the Ministry of Transportation in Ontario by Synectics
Transportation Consultants (2003) evaluated two interventions (cameras and stepped-up police enforcement) in six jurisdictions following a public information campaign. Camera intersections had a:
• 16% increase in crashes, compared to an 8% increase at comparison intersections;
• 2% increase in injury or fatal crashes, compared to 10% and 12% decreases
respectively at stepped-up police enforcement and comparison intersections.

The public health policy implications using red light cameras are shocking. Automobile insurance companies can profit if camera tickets are moving violations that add points to a driver’s license. Moving violation tickets allow insurers to charge higher premiums while incurring no additional cost.

Cameras could create an even larger increase in crashes and injuries in Florida since the state has the highest percent of elderly population in the U.S. The elderly have slower average reaction times and may be less likely to stop abruptly as other drivers do so at camera intersections.

The theory behind red light cameras as potentially effective is that they rely on deterring red light running primarily through punishment of a specific driving behavior and secondarily by changing drivers’ experience. There are already laws on the books addressing this issue. By definition, the punishable behavior and resulting potentially harmful action will already have taken place when a ticket is issued. In other words, the crash, injury, and mortality risks do not change immediately, if at all.

In contrast, the engineering solutions such as lengthening yellow lights show immediate reductions in red light running and potential crashes. Thus, even if red light cameras could be effective in the long run, which is debatable, they are associated with an added cost, consisting of fines, crashes and injuries that could have been avoided by using traffic engineering solutions, which are effective in both the short term and the long run.

Further, red light cameras are an inefficient means to raise revenue for local and state governments and can disadvantage the state’s economy. This occurs from the significant amount of funds, paid by local drivers, that ultimately accrues to private special interests from camera use.

Cooper City should be very cautious in using traffic safety information from the automobile insurance industry. Insurance financial goals are to increase their revenues and profits, which do not necessarily include reducing traffic crashes, injuries or fatalities. Also, public policy should avoid conflicts of interest that are a detriment to the safety of the public.

The problem herein is, we all know it's not about your safety, it's about revenues, and the city making more money at all costs...more than likely to pay for a new city hall, and pay for a high priced lawyer to prosectute red light runners, although we have plenty of money in the bank to already pay for that new city hall that Commissioner's Neal De Jesus, Jamie Curran and mayor Debby Eisinger so desperately want!

Please come to the commission meeting on Tueday and voice your objection to this detriment of your safety. One more thought...George Orwell was right.

Cooper City's 51st Founder's Day Events

COOPER CITY'S 51st FOUNDER’S DAY PARADE and FESTIVITIES

SATURDAY, APRIL 24th

MORNING EVENTS held at the Community Center, 9000 SW 50th Place, 954-434-4300 x 233 7:30-10:30 a.m.

Boy Scout Pancake Breakfast - Tickets on sale at the door. 8:00 a.m.

One Mile 90th Ave Family Fun Run, Walk, Stroll 9:30 AM, Cost: $7.00 per person includes commemorative T-shirt. Register at the Community Center or Pool & Tennis Center.

Kiddie Show - Held on the Community Center front lawn. 10:00 a.m.

PARADE - Travels one mile along SW 90th Avenue from Cooper City Community Center to Cooper City High School beginning at 10:00 a.m.. Parade entry forms available at the Community Center, the Pool & Tennis Center or online at www.CooperCityFL.org.

AFTERNOON EVENTS held at Brian Piccolo County Park, 9501 Sheridan Street, 954.437.2600

1:00-5:00 p.m. Car Show, Call 954.434.1047 for entry information.
1:30 p.m. Optimist All-Star Baseball Games
3:00-6:00 p.m. Community Stage Presentations
3:00-8:00 p.m. Arts and Crafts Show - A variety of vendors to visit!
3:00-9:00 p.m. Food Booths - Support our local youth organizations.
3:30 p.m. Fun Bingo Held under the big tent. All ages!
4:00-8:00 p.m. Children’s Games and Activities - local clubs and organizations providing fun activities for children!
4:00-7:00 p.m. BSO Expo - Fingerprinting, helicopter landing, K-9 Presentation, Fire trucks and more!
4:30-5:30 p.m. Youth Free Throw Contest, K-12th grades.
6:30-9:00 p.m. CONCERT IN THE PARK - Bring your lawn chairs and picnic blanket!
9:00 p.m. FIREWORKS - Brian Piccolo County Park weekend gate entrance fee is $1.50 per person. Children 5 and under are free.

SUNDAY, APRIL 25th

ANNUAL FOUNDER’S DAY GOLF CLASSIC - hosted by the Cooper City Optimist Club. For registration & additional information call 305.970.4818

JOIN IN ON THE CELEBRATION! Individuals, groups, and organizations wishing to participate in Cooper City’s 51st

Founder’s Parade and Festivities are asked to please stop by the Community Center or call the Recreation Department at 954-434-4300 x 233 for details.

I'll see you there!

Crime Prevention Tips for Cooper City Residents...

Last evening I was invited to the Home Owner's Association meeting at Estada in Monterra. Commander (Acting Chief) Stoner and his Deputies were in attendance, and gave some very enlightening facts regarding crime and burglaries in our neighborhoods. Acting Chief Stoner gave some outstanding insights and tips on how to avoid crime and burglaries in our community.

Here is an extension of what NOT to do, and are real tips from convicted burglars...

1. Of course I look familiar. I was here just last week cleaning your carpets, painting your shutters, or delivering your new refrigerator..

2. Hey, thanks for letting me use the bathroom when I was working in your yard yesterday. While I was in there, I unlatched the back window to make my return a little easier and less noticed.

3. I love those flowers. They tell me you have taste, and taste means there are nice things inside of your home. Those yard toys your kids leave out always make me wonder what type of gaming system they have.

4. Yes, I really do look for newspapers piled up on the driveway. And I might leave a pizza flyer on your front door to see how long it takes you to remove it.

5. If it snows while you're out of town, get a neighbor to create car and foot tracks into the house. Virgin snow drifts in the driveway are a dead giveaway.

6. If decorative glass is part of your front entrance, don't let your alarm company install the control pad where I can see if it's set or not. That makes it too easy.

7. A good security company alarms the window over the sink, and the windows on the second floor, which often access the master bedroom, and your jewelry. It's not a bad idea to put motion detectors up there too.

8. It's raining, you're fumbling with your umbrella, and you forget to lock your door; understandable. But understand this...I don't take a day off because of bad weather.

9. I always knock first. If you answer, I'll ask for directions somewhere or offer to clean your gutters. Don't take me up on it.

10. Do you really think I won't look in your sock drawer? I always check dresser drawers, the bedside table, and the medicine cabinet. Oh and I don't forget to look under the matress. I've found some nice handguns under them.

11. Helpful hint: I almost never go into kid's rooms.

12. You're right: I won't have enough time to break into that safe where you keep your valuables. But if it's not bolted down, I'll take it with me.

13. A loud TV or radio can be a better deterrent than the best alarm system. If you're reluctant to leave your TV on while you're out of town, you can buy a $35 device that works on a timer and simulates the flickering glow of a real television.

14. Sometimes, I carry a clipboard. Sometimes, I dress like a lawn guy and carry a rake. Sometimes I look like a friend or a neighbor. I do my best to never, ever look like a crook.

15. The two things I hate most: loud dogs and nosey neighbors.

16. I'll break a window to get in, even if it makes a little noise. If your neighbor hears one loud sound, he or she might stop what they're doing and wait to hear it again. If they don't hear it again, they'll ignore it and just go back to what they was doing. It's human nature.

17. I'm not complaining, but why would you pay all that money for a fancy alarm system and leave, or enter your house without setting it, even for a few minutes?

18. I love looking in your windows. I'm looking for signs that you're home, and for flat screen TVs, paintings or gaming systems I'd like to steal. I'll drive or walk through your neighborhood at night, before you close the blinds, just to pick my targets.

19. Avoid announcing your vacation on your Facebook page. It's easier than you think to look up your address. I already have more than what I need from your FaceBook or MySpace profile.

20. To you, leaving that window or garage door open just a crack during the day, or at night, is a way to let in a little fresh air. To me, it's an open invitation.

21. If you don't answer when I knock, I'll try the door. More than occasionally, I hit the jackpot and walk right in.

Protection for you and your home:

If you don't have a gun, here's a more humane way to wreck someone's evil plans for you...Wasp Spray. When asked by a concerned person about using pepper spray, the local police department recommended that you get a can of wasp spray instead.

The wasp spray can shoot up to twenty feet away and is more accurate, while with the pepper spray, an attacker has to get too close and could overpower you. The wasp spray temporarily blinds an attacker until they get to the hospital for an antidote.

More on Wasp and Hornet Spray - On the heels of a break in and beating in Toledo , self defense experts have a tip that could save your life. A teacher in the art of self-defense has told his students for decades to keep a can of wasp and hornet spray near their door or bed. "This is better than anything I can teach them." It is inexpensive, easy to find, and more effective than mace or pepper spray. The cans typically shoot 20 to 30 feet; so if someone tries to break into your home, "spray the culprit in the eyes". "That's going to give you a chance to call the police; maybe get out." Maybe even save your life. Please share this with all the people in your life.

Sources: Convicted burglars in North Carolina, Oregon, California, Kentucky, security consultant Chris McGoey and Richard T. Wright, a criminology professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, who interviewed 105 burglars for his book 'Burglars on the Job'.

Cooper City Sign Relief Proposal, Peacocks and more...

What great weather we have been having! I hope everyone enjoyed the city’s many garage sales that were held this past month. Lots of you attended the Country Address Garage Sale in addition to the Cooper City Annual Garage Sale, and it was great! Good stuff and wares were bought, sold and traded. This annual event proves the old adage that one man or woman’s junk is another man’s or woman’s treasure.

I have received numerous calls about signs. There has been controversy regarding signs, including ‘snipe’ signs in Cooper City. There have been issues regarding ‘open’ signs in business establishments, there are issues regarding ‘garage sale’ signs in our neighborhoods, there are issues of ‘open house’ signs utilized by Realtors used to help direct potential buyers to a home for sale, there are issues regarding temporary signs for houses of worship, and there are issues regarding selective enforcement, or non-enforcement.

A recent attempt at a sign code change was not recommended by the Planning and Zoning Board and supported by the Business Advisory Board. I agree with that recommendation, for now. The majority of the commission’s agenda regarding the sign issue is clear: We want to enhance revenues and opportunities for our local business owners and residents without detracting from the established aesthetics requirements of our beautiful city. The problem has been how to create a balance without being inconsistent, biased or selective in the enforcement process.

In an effort to support local businesses feeling the strain of our declining economy, I propose a temporary ‘Sign Relief Program’. The program may be a way to give businesses more opportunities to reach their customers. Banners, vehicle signs, inflatables and menu boards may be permitted as part of this program, giving businesses additional, relatively inexpensive promotional tools for advertising.

The process is simple. Businesses must apply for a temporary sign permit. Applicants will be required to enter into an agreement with the city acknowledging certain restrictions and limitations of the program. As part of the process, businesses would submit a description of their sign including location, dimensions and wording. With an application turnaround time of 48 hours or less, and no fee to apply for the program, business owners’ only concern will be the cost of the new signage.

Please contact me with your comments, concerns or ideas on how we can address this sign issue and do it in an unbiased, fair manner while being consistent in our efforts to promote our city’s shareholders. I have been contacted by many residents and business owners on this issue so far, but only one Realtor who chose to not offer an alternative solution. Your input and participation in commission meetings is vital!

I am glad to have sponsored the issue of addressing the Peacocks in our neighborhoods. The issue has been finally addressed, hopefully to the satisfaction of my constituents, yet there are some additional steps to be taken. They will be resolved forthwith, and I promise that there will not be any further issues and property damage from these unfortunately destructive and territorial, yet beautiful birds.

Remember, Cooper City residents are now able to watch our City Commission meetings live on the Internet at http://www.coopercityfl.org. Residents can instantly replay all or part of the meetings at their convenience through a link on the City’s web site.

It is my great pleasure to serve as your local city government representative. I am open to your comments and concerns and would like to continue to help resolve your problems regarding city issues. As such, you can contact me as usual at 954.445.6997 or E-mail me at Commissioner_Sims@Cooper-CityFL.org.

Cooper City News, Events and More!

Wow, what great weather we are having! I hope everyone enjoyed the city’s many garage sales that were held this weekend. A lot of you attended the Country Address garage sale in addition to the Cooper City Annual Garage Sale at Brian piccolo Park, and it was great! Lot’s of good stuff and wares were bought, sold and traded. Yesterday proved the old adage that one man’s (woman’s) junk is another man’s (or woman’s) treasure…

I have received numerous calls about signs this weekend. Many residents had their garage sale signs removed, while the city was allowed to have numerous signs. There has been much controversy about signs, including ‘snipe’ signs, in Cooper City as of late. There has also been a good bit of misinformation conveyed to some residents by specific person(s) wanting to make this issue an controversy where there is none.

There have been previous issues regarding ‘open’ signs in business establishments, there are issues regarding ‘garage sale’ signs in our neighborhoods, there are issues of ‘open house’ signs utilized by Realtors used to help direct potential buyers to a home for sale, there are issues regarding temporary signs for houses of worship, and there are issues regarding selective enforcement, or non-enforcement by code enforcement personnel. 

A recent attempt at a code change was not recommended by the Planning and Zoning Board and supported by the Business Advisory Board, and I agree with that recommendation, for now. The Commission’s agenda regarding the sign issue is clear; we want to do what it takes to enhance revenues and opportunities for our local business owners and residents without detracting from the established aesthetics requirements of our beautiful city. The problem has been how to create a balance without being biased, or selective in the enforcement process. Please contact me with your comments, concerns or ideas on how we can address this sign issue and do it in an unbiased, fair manner while being consistent in our efforts to promote our city’s shareholders.

In my last post, I discussed Amendment 4 and my concerns on it. My issue now is this…why in the world is it on our agenda for Tuesday, and why are we getting only part, or shall I say ‘one side’ of the information as back-up material to review? I am completely dismayed at the waste of public funds, staff time and the politics on this issue.

Those who say that the Amendment 4 issue will cost jobs, create lawsuits, and ruin our economy are simply not getting, nor conveying all of the facts. The ‘anti 4 crowd’ are only giving ‘one side’ of the story. Some have even used St. Pete Beach as an example, which is a flawed comparison. It’s worth taking a hard look at St. Pete Beach to understand the irrelevancy of the comparison.

The St. Pete Beach litigation was all about developers who wanted to build 15-story hotels on the waterfront and triple the population density of their small island community.  Many residents strongly opposed this.  The litigation that resulted dealt with the developers’ attempt to submit their own comprehensive land-use plan to the voters without complying with the Florida Growth Management Act.  It had nothing to do with Hometown Democracy.

Also, no jobs will be lost! I’ve read all of the studies and information. Amendment 4 is not about zoning issues, it is about quality of life issues. When an amendment to our state Constitution can help protect our quality of life, it deserves the support of all Floridians. Amendment 4 is such an amendment. It finally gives Floridians a say in how their community will develop and for that reason should be approved by the voters on November 2. 

On one hand, our Mayor, according to her support of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, “Strives to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets in [their] own communities, through actions ranging from anti-sprawl land-use policies to urban forest restoration projects to public information campaigns”. On the other hand, does the Mayor support Amendment 4 which is a position contrary to her aforesaid statement? Public information campaigns are now ‘illegal’ regarding the use of public funds to initiate such positional campaigns by a government agency.

I have to agree with the great philosopher Plato who said “it makes no sense that we should proceed to put people in charge who have shaky, or, worse yet, no philosophical positions. A "democratic" system turns up people to govern on the basis of what the majority of the voters say, a majority which when compared to the number of citizens (non-voting included) is likely in fact to be a minority of people who have no plans, no answers other than that necessary to get themselves elected.”

He continued to say “Now, I think most would agree, a stable and efficient society is important; but one should wonder about a society that will use legislation to make the individual give in to the desires of those who have set themselves as knowing what is best for everyone.”

In relation to Plato’s way of thinking, Peter Landry states “Those who subscribe to the theory that we should be ruled by those who really know best, subscribe, whether they know it or not, to Plato's theory of man. It is this theory upon which, in these times, our society rests. The theory, - so attractive in its statement - is that the community is to permit government to use persuasion and force with a view to unite all citizens and make them share together the benefits which each individually can confer on the community for the benefit of the community; it is a false theory.”

“When, in its legislation, in its use of force, government suppresses the welfare of the individual; when its efforts are aimed to foster the attitude that one should not proceed to please oneself, government commits a fatal error in the achievement of its laudable object, the betterment of the whole. The essential problem in proceeding in this manner is that individuals cannot contribute to the whole, indeed will be a drain on the whole, unless they are allowed to be free and productive, that is to say allowed to suit themselves.”

I will give the city the benefit of the doubt on issue, and expect that they give both sides of the Amendment 4 issue before taking a political stance while using your very hard earned tax dollars to do so.

Remember, Cooper City residents are now able to watch our City Commission meetings live on the Internet here. Residents can instantly replay all or part of the meetings at their convenience through a link
on the City’s web site.

It is a pleasure to serve as your local representative. I am open to your comments and concerns and would like to continue to help resolve your problems regarding city issues and requirements. As such, you can contact me as usual at 954.445.6997 or E-mail me at Commissioner_Sims@CooperCityFL.org.

Technorati Tags: John Sims,Debby Eisinger,Lisa Mallozzi,James Curran,Neal De Jesus,Bruce Loucks,Cooper City,Weiss Serota,David Wolpin

More of your rights being taken away in Cooper City, News, March Calendar and more...

Cooper City, FL – An attempt to take away more of your rights regarding oversight of ‘government’ is on the next agenda for Cooper City’s Commission. The Florida Hometown Democracy Land Use Initiative will appear as Amendment 4 on the November 2010 ballot.

Amendment 4 will give you, the voter and taxpayer, a vote on growth in your community. The amendment proposes to require voter approval of all changes to local comprehensive land-use plans, in order to give voters more say over development. In order to pass, the amendment needs at least 60% of the total votes.

Each of us has a huge stake in growth decisions that can drastically alter our community's future for generations to come. Each community has adopted its own comprehensive plan: a long-term master plan for sensible growth. Currently, elected city and county commissioners have exclusive power to make changes to the plan. Rising taxes, falling home values, gridlocked roads, dwindling water supplies and Florida's disappearing beauty are just some of the devastating consequences of Florida politicians' habit of rubberstamping speculative plan changes.

Hometown Democracy Amendment 4 changes all that by giving voters veto power over these changes to your community's master plan for growth. Florida’s Legislators have pretty much given free rein to developers to continue building; quality of life and the state's natural resources be damned, even though there are currently 300,000 homes in Florida sitting empty. Public participation in local government comprehensive land use planning benefits the conservation and protection of Florida’s natural resources and scenic beauty, and the long-term quality of life of Floridians. Direct democracy on land use changes may be the only way to promote smart growth in Florida.

As Richard Creedon said “Amendment 4 should be approved. Why? It's so simple. We ordinary citizens have found that, with some notable exceptions, our elected representatives seem to forget about us as soon as they are elected. They start remembering us again when it is time for re-election. It's like clockwork. Just follow the money. Amendment 4 will give power back to the people, finally. Changing and toughening growth-management laws will not work because soon the politicians will gut them all over again. The [Sentinel] is naive to think that government can be trusted. History shows us that, sadly, has not usually been the case. Why should we expect the future to be different? Rather, trust the wisdom of the people and vote for Amendment 4 in November. Florida can be protected only if Amendment 4 is in the Florida Constitution. It's so simple. Whom do you trust more, The People or the politicians?”

For those who understand the hidden costs to society and the resulting increased tax liability, this is the last straw. In South Florida, paving over paradise, by dredge and fill destruction of wetlands, has reduced our watersheds. This takes the cost of water supply for Florida residents in the opposite direction taken by New York. As the Everglades watershed has diminished, the effect is a local call for deeper drilling in the Floridian aquifer, reverse osmosis and desalination, all at a very high cost.

What development has done is to transform a natural asset to societal liability, with significant reduction of quality of life for all Floridians. As a recent editorial noted, "Unchecked growth is an unsustainable extreme."

In the quest for an approach to nearly unconstrained development at great cost to the taxpayers, Amendment 4 is the unintended consequence. Consider another externality: The developers' cost of political contributions to keep this tax debt spiral going.

With Amendment 4, your power to vote on growth will enable you to preserve your neighborhood and your community and protect the value of your home. Can you say taxation without representation? With "4" there is a chance of representation and restoring the process of democracy. Without "4," past history and current events tell us nothing will change for the better.

Don’t let your Cooper City bureaucrats vote to help take away your oversight of your land! Be at the next Cooper City Commission meeting and strenuously oppose this power grab by big (and small) government! Read more at http://www.floridahometowndemocracy.com

BSO wants you to be aware of Census related scams. The Census is very important and all citizens should participate. Our agency's goal is to ensure your safety.

Recently law enforcement agencies across the region, including the Broward Sheriff’s Office have become aware of scams involving individuals claiming to be affiliated with the upcoming Census. In an effort to safeguard our residents and business owners visit www.sheriff.org/census for more information.

Cooper City Multi-Family GARAGE SALE is Saturday, March 6th from 7:00 am 'til noon At the Cooper City Sports Complex. Whether you are selling or buying, this is the place to be for deals galore! Held on the grounds of the Cooper City Sports Complex at the corner of 100th Avenue & Stirling Road, this twice a year event is open to all residents.

The Country Address Homeowner’s Association will be having their community garage sale on March 6th and 7th at 8 AM. There are over 300 homes in Country Address and Country Address Encore. Entrance to the community can be found off of Stirling Road and on Pine Island Road.

My next Town Hall Meeting will be on March 8th at 7 PM at City Hall. Please come and voice your concerns!. Also, be sure to tune into my Blog Talk Radio broadcast ‘Sims’ City News’ at 6 PM on March 8th. You can listen and call in at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/johnsims The Call-in Number is (347) 215-8968.

The MINI-FLOW mobile (Florida Licensing On Wheels) will be in Cooper City on March 9th to offer drivers license renewals, replacement of lost licenses, address changes, ID Cards, car tags, and handicapped placards inside the Community Center from 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM on the second Tuesday of each month. Please call the Community Center at 954-434-4300 x 233 to verify.

The Community Book Swap is Friday, March 12th 6:00 - 7:30 PM at the Community Center. Drop off your slightly used books in good condition beginning Monday, March 8th through Thursday, March 11th. A ticket is issued for each donated book. On Friday, March 12th, parents and their children may come to the Community Center from 6:00 - 7:30 PM to exchange tickets for books. If you have a question, please call 954-434-4300 x233.

The Jim Richardson 5K Run & 1 or 2 Mile Family Fitness Run/Walk is Sunday, March 14th at the Cooper City Sports Complex.

The Broward Schools Integrity ethics panel will have a public hearing on Monday, March 15th, 2010, from 6 pm to 8 pm at the Cooper City High School Auditorium. The high school is located at 9401 Stirling Road, Cooper City, FL 33328. The public’s attendance is strongly encouraged to provide much needed input on the workings of the Broward County School District and its School Board. Parking for the event is located in the northeast corner of the high school campus. Cooper City High School is located at 9401 Stirling Road, Cooper City. For more information, please call (954) 604-3117 or go to www.browardschoolsintegrity.org

St Patrick's Day Luncheon. Wear your green for an afternoon of fun, lunch, music...Wednesday, March 17th, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM. Cost $3.00 plus a side dish or dessert. By reservation only! Held at the Community Center. Call Kathy at (954)434-4300 x255 for reservations and more information.

Family "Ceramics Night Out" with Gail. Enjoy creating a special ceramics piece with your child, then taking it home that night! Held at the Community Center. Children must be in first grade and up. Must pre-register at the Community Center. Call 954-434-4300 x 233 for more information. Cost is $10.00 per family, plus $10.00 per child for project materials. Friday Nights: 6:30 - 8:30PM. March 19th "Springtime Project”. Come at 6:00 and join the "Pizza Crowd"... reserve a space for you and your kids by phoning ahead at 954-434-4300 x233 and feeding your whole family pizza for $6.00!

Today's Headlines in Cooper City Newspapers

Today's headline -- "Broward exploring hike in property tax rates, Officials question ability to cope with another major budget deficit". Why doesn't it read "Budget shortfall forces Broward County Government to make long delayed cuts to useless, unneeded services"?

Also in today's headline was the comment that "The Federal Reserve expects unemployment will stay high over the next two years because recession-scarred Americans are likely to stay cautious, making for only a moderate-paced economic recovery."

Against that backdrop, the Fed said that it expects the economy will grow between 2.8 percent and 3.5 percent this year. They also believe that growth will pick up to between 3.4 percent and 4.5 percent next year and have similar growth in 2012. Analysts say the economy would need to grow by at least 5 percent a year to make a dent in the unemployment rate.

I’m a deficit watcher and I hope you’re one too. Somehow though, I have my reservations since only two people showed up at this year's Cooper City budget hearing to officially protest a 24% tax assessment increase by your city officials. But, if you are, it means you want to see our gargantuan government put on a strict diet. I believe that the government belt needs to be tightened by more than just a few notches, just like you and I have had to do.

We all want to force government at all levels to live within its means rather than borrow trillions of dollars, or to irresponsibly use your hard earned tax dollars that you are forced to give up. It is irresponsible for all levels of government to spend your money on ‘feel good’ items and unnecessary special interest programs that we don’t want or need, rather than using those dollars to supplement health, safety and welfare of the public (government’s sole purpose under the Constitution) or to take care of your own family’s needs.

What about all of the years of boom surplus revenues? Nothing is apparently left in reserve for times like these, which is astounding! My property is still assessed higher than the current market value and Broward County wants to raise taxes which seems like it may be based on their mismanagement and lack of foresight, not to mention the new courthouse debacle. It seems to me that lack of proper management and maintenance created the problem, and a new building is not the current economic solution.

Some blame the budget deficits on Amendment One or Save Our Homes which really have nothing to do with this current budget problem. The responsibility squarely rests with the public servants, who after years of unprecedented, sky high tax revenues, now cry poor mouth because they simply can't seem to manage your money.

The article continues to characterize the real "shortfalls" which are government health insurance and pension programs. These scams, or ponzi schemes if you will, are whereby the government worker is somehow 'entitled' to better benefits than you are. Yet, the real intent seems to work to mask the cost of big government and a growing union public employee base from your average voter while benefitting only the patrons of the political class.

I wonder if someone in the county manager's office has proposed an across the board ten percent cut of all salaries and spending, which would probably take Broward County out of the deficit? It seems like a reasonable and shared sacrifice in these tough times. In Cooper City alone, our Police and fire costs are sixty percent of our total budget. Another thirty to thirty five percent is employee salary, wages, benefits and operating costs. The rest is left to hopefully provide quality ‘services’ to the resident.

Of course when Cooper City recently cried 'poor mouth' and I proposed the same percentage of cuts across the board, no viable discussion or executive summary was put on the table other than the ‘we will have to lay off employees rather than submit to cutting discretionary expenditures’ mantra. When I also proposed a ‘zero-based budget’ and the method of going over the budget line by line, yet again I was completely ignored by the majority on the commission. How irresponsible! Only one department had a budget reduction, and that was parks and recreation to the tune of about five percent.

It’s no secret that government employees receive generous pensions and benefit packages that many private employees do not. Some in our city even receive benefits who are not entitled to them! Yet, our city’s General Employee’s Pension Fund is about six million dollars in the red. And, we are ‘on the hook’ for every dime, yet the pension funds have been contractually guaranteed an eight percent return in the future, regardless of our severely depressed economy.

The fact is, a major part of the Broward County Government expenses is Wages and Benefits, so you can't "save" money by closing Parks and Libraries, and reducing services. Additionally the County must go forward to dictate to the public employees and their unions, health care and retirement benefits that are affordable to the taxpayer. Public employee salaries, retirement and health care are far, far in excess of what is standard in the private sector and this is a financial time bomb that must be addressed now.

The "budget cuts" don't have to be "devastating" at all. They simply need to be properly managed, logical and approached with the objective of benefiting the Taxpayer, not the government employee. As always, the politicians in charge (i.e., majority vote) always threaten to cut services that The People actually use. Never is there a mention of the droves of useless bureaucrats and wasted tax dollars behind the scenes and the plan to cut those wasted tax dollars.

Difficult times always seem to lead to difficult measures. Public officials need to start leading by example and stop playing with our tax dollars that are meant to strengthen the valid municipal purpose doctrine. Unfortunately, the Municipal Home Rule Powers Act (Ch. 166, F. S.) grants broad home rule powers and authority to counties and municipalities. The law states that they shall have the governmental, corporate, and proprietary powers to enable them to conduct municipal government, perform municipal functions, and render municipal services, and may exercise any power for municipal purposes, except when expressly prohibited by law. This includes spending your tax dollars however the majority on the commission dais sees fit.

Historically, politicians and bureaucrats only know how to operate with ever increasing tax revenues. My government experience regarding a yearly budget called for spending every dime, and even included ‘making up things to spend money on’ in order to get the same amount of funding, or more, for the following year’s budget. Trust me when I say that this practice is alive and well in every county and city government in America.

How many elected officials are actually business oriented? I can tell you that there aren’t enough. I have also said many times, and have promised, that I will never vote to raise taxes or lay off employees as long as I am a public servant as it simply isn’t necessary. Until government at all levels realizes that the 'spend it or lose it' attitude will no longer suffice, ‘We the People’ will continue to suffer at the hands of politicians, not public servants, and from the mismanagement of government services and our hard earned tax dollars.

When speaking of government, I am referring to all facets of government. Local and government in our small town all the way to the White House. Quite frankly, I am surprised at the lack of attendance at our twice a month commission meetings since most elected officials make decisions and vote for their best political interests.

At first it was upsetting to me, and then it dawned on me, why would my fellow commission members vote for something to benefit the people that elected them if they could vote to further their political career. You see, not all are cut from the same cloth, and with that being said we need you to help watch over spending habits. I question myself as to how many of the residents really know what that guy or gal on the commission with the big smile and great personality is doing to better the city and the residents' services when no one is looking.

I ask each and every person reading this article to attend future commission meetings. Residents must show their elected officials at all levels that their irresponsible spending behavior will no longer be tolerated! There are several ways that you can find out the dates and times of the commission meetings.

The city holds two commission meetings per month and can be seen on Comcast cable channel 78 during the meetings or can be viewed via the internet, at the Cooper City website under the archived agendas and meetings link. I can not stress enough how important it is to have the physical attendance at the meeting to help keep your taxes down and the City budget in check.

I will do what I can to keep the costs and waste of your local governemnt reduced, but those of you reading this may want to consider that your support at commission meetings is absolutely vital. The elected officials that are pushing through “feel good items”, supporting, or pertaining to their own political gain need know that you care!

I welcome all comments and suggestions for a better run city and government. I am only one person and vote on the commission dais, so I will need your support! Contact me at 954-445-6997 or E-mail me at johnsims@bellsouth.net. Thank you.

Cooper City Relay for Life and more...

Relay for Life Davie-Cooper City

36 Days Left Until Relay! Teams:26 Dollars Raised: $12,852.72 Participants:221

One in three people will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. The American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life^® is a life-changing event that brings together more than 3.5 million people across the country each year to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost and to fight back against a disease that takes too much, and we all pray that it will eventually be curable.

Cancer will overtake heart disease as the world's top killer by 2010, which is part of a trend that should more than double global cancer cases and deaths by 2030. If we take action now, we can keep the numbers from going where they would otherwise go, says the cancer society's chief executive officer.

This year marks the celebration of over 11 years of Relay For Life^® for the Davie-Cooper City Relay for Life teams!

This year’s event will be held on March 20, 2010 at Western High School. Sign up or donate today, and join Relay for Life to mark this milestone and the successes that they have achieved.

Please do your part, if possible, and follow the lead of the Cooper City Commission to support Relay for Life with your generous donation.

Please join us on Friday, February 12th, from 6pm until 8pm at the Cooper City Community Center as Relay for Life hosts the official Launch Party for the Davie/Cooper City 2010 Relay for Life event. It will be a fun filled night, with dinner included, as we start the countdown leading up to the Relay. I hope to see you there.

For more information or to know how you can participate, please contact Diane Sori, Davie/Cooper City 2010 Relay for Life Publicity Chair at gabootica@aol.com. Thank you!

Real Estate Assessed Values

‘The People’ are suffering in Cooper City. The decrease in assessed value of real estate in our city was recently reported to be just at -6%, yet as of last month, there are over 360 properties either already foreclosed, or being foreclosed on.

A Cooper City real estate agent recently reported in e-Foreclosure magazine that all the homes she has sold so far were either foreclosed or distressed. There are also numerous businesses being foreclosed on. The unemployment rate has also skyrocketed in our city.

We are looking at several more years of extremely challenged times because of the unpredictable nature of the economy and the ad valorem tax base. Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures and I hope and pray that our city does not succumb to the economical pressures placed upon our county, state and nation, and attempt to raise taxes.

I will continue to attempt to lay a foundation and the groundwork for our city which needs to continue to move aggressively into the future at an affordable cost to our residents and business owners without raising taxes.

We need to reduce inefficiencies and mistakes, reduce taxes, reduce the influence of government and its negative influence on The People’s daily lives.

As such, I will continue to vote no on any and all tax increases, no on increased spending, and I will continue to look to reduce inefficiencies and eliminate any mismanagement of your tax dollars at city hall. Please help to do your part…

Broward Days in Tallahassee

There is no place like Tallahassee for the Legislative Session, and a few simple ways are available that will keep your taxes low and government services intact.

Broward Days will take place this year on March 17^th & 18^th and I will be representing your concerns on Education, Advocacy, Sustainability, Environmental, Economic, Leadership, Census, Political Endorsement, Finance and Technology issues while attending this year’s conference.

If you would allow me the honor of representing your issues and concerns at this year’s Legislative Session at The Capitol, please contact me.

Again, I will go to Tallahassee with your issues in mind and will fight for your issues and your rights. You can read all of my issues that I will be representing and more, on my blog athttp://johnsims3.blogspot.com

Happy Valentine’s Day & Ash Wednesday

I would like to wish each and every one of you and your family in Cooper City a Happy Valentine’s Day. If you practice Lent, I would also like to say that I join in your prayers, as we all have faults.

This is a time of repentance, joy and love, so go and do something nice with your family and loved ones and please do what you can to help others. Be safe, and have a great weekend!

Thank You!

It is an honor to serve you as Commissioner of District 1 on the Cooper City Commission. As always, I remain dedicated to Accountability and Excellence in Government.

I am dedicated to The People of Cooper City, and will continue to provide Leadership and ensure Honesty, Transparency and Integrity in City Hall.

As a Public Servant I am committed to the highest standards, actions of integrity, decisions made responsibly and honestly, and will stress the importance of everyone adhering to uncompromising integrity & ethics rules.

Rules alone can’t guarantee ethical conduct. Only people can do that, but we indeed have a responsibility to uphold the code of ethics for public officials in everything we do. It starts at the top.

If there is ever anything I can do to help you, please don’t hesitate to email me at johnsims@bellsouth.net or call me directly at 954-445-6997. You can also feel free to visit me on the internet at http://www.johnbsims.com

Let's Talk Cooper City!

Let's talk Cooper City! Join me at Sims' Cooper City Radio Talk Show tonight at 6:00 PM.

As a person who cares deeply about Cooper City, we can talk about your city and your issues, or...let's talk about Politics, 'Politricks', Taxes, Commissioners & Staff, Local News, Health, Safety, Community Events, Business and whatever you think is a great topic for great City of Cooper City.

Tune-in to my new Blog Talk Radio Show at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/johnsims which starts at 6:00 PM on the second Monday of the month, just before my town hall meetings (which are at 7 PM at city hall on the second Monday of the month), or to the shows you missed at the above link. Just click on 'download' and you can hear them at any time. Radio shows are available 24/7.

If you would like to advertise your local business free of charge, let me know. I will be happy to accommodate you. If you have any local event’s you would like to freely advertise, let me know also.

I’ll see you on my YouTube channel or you can join me on Facebook and Twitter via the links on the site above or click on the icons to your right.

Let's Talk Cooper City!

Let's talk Cooper City! Join me at Sims' Cooper City Radio Talk Show debut tonight at 6:30 PM.

As a person who cares deeply about Cooper City, we can talk about your city and your issues, or...let's talk about Politics, 'Politricks', Taxes, Commissioners & Staff, Local News, Health, Safety, Community Events, Business and whatever you think is a great topic for great City of Cooper City.

Tune-in to my new Blog Talk Radio Show at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/johnsims which starts at 6:00 PM on the second Monday of the month, just before my town hall meetings (which are at 7 PM at city hall on the second Monday of the month), or to the shows you missed at the above link. Just click on 'download' and you can hear them at any time. Radio shows are available 24/7.

You can also hear me from last week on BlogTalkRadio's Hour of Power with Matthew Brower, HERE.

If you would like to advertise your local business free of charge, let me know. I will be happy to accommodate you. If you have any local event’s you would like to freely advertise, let me know also.

I’ll see you on my YouTube channel or you can join me on Facebook and Twitter via the links on the site above or click on the icons to your right.

Cooper City webcasting, garage conversion grace period & more...

It was great to see all of you at this years 'Light Up Cooper City' event earlier this evening. The Cooper City Kiwanis Club was there collecting canned goods for the needy, along with the Scouts and the American Legion fundraisers performing their volunteer efforts to better our society.

Cooper City residents are now able to watch local City Commission meetings broadcast live on the Internet. Users can also instantly replay all or part of those meetings at their convenience through a link on their City’s web site (www.coopercityfl.org and click on the link titled “Archived Mtg Videos”).

The City will officially launch the new webcasting technology at the December 8, 2009 City Commission meeting enhancing the accessibility of Commission Meetings to citizens who may not have access to Comcast Channel 78.

Currently the City televises the regular City Commission meetings on Comcast Channel 78. These meetings can be accessed live at their regularly scheduled time.

“The City is very excited about this new technology as a way to outreach to a greater number of residents and members of the community,” said Bruce Loucks, City Manager. “This is one of the Website enhancements that the City has been working on and looking forward to for the past year.”

At our last meeting, the Cooper City Commission has approved a Building Department Garage Enclosure Initiative. This allows for any Cooper City resident, who has received a Notice of Violation for an 'illegal' or un-permitted garage enclosure (constructed without the proper building permits before November 10th, 2009), to obtain the required building permits.

This will ensure that the garage enclosure meets the Life Safety Requirements of the 2007 Florida Building Code for the proposed use of the space. This initiative also applies to any resident who suspects that they may have an illegal garage enclosure constructed without permits, possibly installed without their knowledge. The deadline to obtain compliance, within this initiative period is March 1st, 2010. Please contact the Building Department for further information at 954-434-4300, ext. 230.

As many of you are well aware, the Broward County School Board is considering potential school boundary changes that would require some students of Pioneer Middle School to be transferred to other middle schools outside the City limits.

At the October 29th meeting of the Broward County "Staff Working Group" a recommendation was made to amend the Interlocal Agreement for Public School Facility Planning (ILA) to continue use of a 110% permanent capacity level of service standard, but changing to 8 concurrency service areas. A significant reduction in the number currently used. In essence, this recommendation will allow the School Board to hold off the need for action on the proposed Pioneer Middle School boundary change and the subsequent "domino" effect this change will cause throughout the County.

Procedurally, the "Staff Working Group", which is comprised of staff representation from the School Board, the County and the Municipalities will forward their proposal to the County Oversight Committee for further review.

The recommendation of the County Oversight Committee is subsequently forwarded to the Broward County School Board, County and Municipalities for approval. In order for the ILA to be amended, the County, the School Board and at least 75% of the Municipalities, which includes at least 50% of the population within Broward County, must vote for approval.

While the amendment process will likely not occur prior to the School Board vote on the "Superintendent's Boundary Recommendations", the recommendations brought forth by the ILA committees should be helpful in providing alternatives to the proposed boundary changes. As of this writing, the process has been delayed possibly up to a year.

Please contact your Broward County School Board Member to learn more. All Cooper City residents are encouraged to attend upcoming Broward County School Board meetings to make sure that your opinion is heard on this controversial issue. You can learn more at http://www.BrowardSchools.com. All I request is that we keep politics out of this issue. It is about our kids, not an issue to be utilized for personal or political gain.

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO COOPER CITY! -- In keeping with an old holiday tradition, BSO Fire Rescue Station #28 firefighters will help rollout Cooper City’s Annual Holiday Santa Program by escorting Saint Nick onboard a Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue truck as he delivers gifts to hundreds of local kids.

This year's Santa visits are: Saturday, December 19th & Sunday, December 20th
Registration: Monday, November 30th through Friday, December 11th 10:00 am - 7:00 pm, Monday through Friday ONLY
Cost: $30.00 per stop
Checks payable to: City of Cooper City

We hope to provide a wonderful visit with Santa for everyone so anxiously awaiting.
Santa will begin his route at approximately 6:00 PM each night and will end when all stops have been visited. Please be patient with Santa's arrival, as 911 emergencies take priority.

Please Note: Firefighters are unable to predict Santa's arrival, so please DO NOT call the fire station. Please label gifts clearly.

Please have gifts secured outside your home, clearly labeled so that Santa's elves may easily find them or have someone meet us out front with the gifts when you hear the sirens.

On behalf of the Broward Sheriff's Office, Department of Fire Rescue & Emergency Services, we thank you and wish everyone a wonderful holiday season. You can call Santa's Hotline Number at (954) 436-7310 for more information!

I hope all of you had a Happy Thanksgiving, and I certainly want to wish all of you a Happy and Joyous Christmas and Holiday Season. I hope that 'Santa' is good to everyone as we all have alot to be thankful for. Also, let's not forget our men in blue, our military members and our veterans for their faithful and dedicated service, and let's especially not forget those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to keep our counrty free and safe. Think of them and their families this holiday season...and have a great weekend!

Cooper City Budget Comments and More...

The People are suffering in Cooper City. As of this month, there are over 360 properties either already foreclosed, or being foreclosed on. A Cooper City real estate agent recently reported in e-Foreclosure magazine that all the homes she has sold so far were either foreclosed or distressed. There are also numerous businesses being foreclosed on. The unemployment rate has also skyrocketed in our city, contrary to the belief of a few in city hall.

We’ve now adopted an increased budget and spending rather than a decreased budget and reduced spending. My proposal(s) to cut unnecessary and discretionary spending were either ignored by the staff and other members of the commission, or responded to with threats of proposed layoffs which may have created a crisis situation. I've never known of a city commission that didn't want to know the implications of their actions, until the new commission was seated. I simply attempted to lay a foundation and the groundwork for our city which needs to continue to move aggressively into the future at an affordable cost to our residents and business owners without raising taxes.

The adoption of a 23.2% increase in the fire assessment tax only illustrates the current governing body's inability to do the real work that is needed to bring Cooper City’s budget into reality mode. Absolutely no-one on the commission or staff did their due diligence and homework on the issue.

Also, the mayor is obviously not willing to lead the city into prosperity, nor is she willing to lead the way in cutting expenditures and has her head firmly planted in the sand. Being in a state of denial regarding the city and our residents is absurd, reckless and misguided. Cutting expenses more aggressively will leave a cushion of future reserves as well. This is not rocket science and as the old saying goes, “If you feed the beast, it grows. If you starve it, it will shrink.”

We are looking at several more years of extremely challenged times because of the unpredictable nature of the ad valorem tax base. Thank goodness there is one commissioner who places the city's residents and business owners as a priority.

Regarding the recent federal arrests of Broward politicians, public servants and civic leaders are supposed to hold the bar high on themselves before holding the bar high on others. A leader’s example is supposed to inspire and serve others. In my eyes, these public officials that were recently charged with public corruption sold us out for a pittance. Issues like this tarnish everybody who is in public service, even the employees. Sort of like the same way people generally think about lawyers. Thank goodness the FBI prosecuted them under the honest services fraud laws and then said "We are not done".

So what exactly is honest-services fraud? The typical case of honest services fraud is that the public is not getting what it deserves: honest, faithful, disinterested service from a public official. Honest Services Fraud is very broadly defined and encompasses any scheme to defraud citizens of an intangible right to honest government from public officials. A scheme to defraud is defined as "a departure from community standards of fair play and candid dealings” and/or “a willful act with intent to deceive or cheat."

I will also include that it is considered a deprivation of honest services as anything that encompasses the misuse of public office. Intent is all that is required to be found guilty. Concrete parameters outlining the duty of honest services should not be necessary in order for a person to be charged with violating this duty. The prosecution simply must show that the scheme would have deprived an individual of interests protected under the law. It all boils down to trust and betrayal.

A public official has a duty to disclose information regarding any personal interest that may affect his or her judgment and therefore undisclosed, biased decision making, regardless of tangible loss to the public, which constitutes a deprivation of honest services. How many times have we seen this violated in our own city business dealings? Not only are we required to disclose who we have spoke with on business matters, we are required to explain the substance of our communication, which is rarely, if ever done.

Public officials do not have to receive personal gain from their scheme. In general, courts have held that "The prosecution need not prove that the scheme was successful or that the intended victim suffered a loss, or that the defendant secured a gain. The gist of the offense is a scheme to defraud.” Need a summary? Here it is: "The loss of good faith services alone establishes the breach."

The city's sole role, according to the charter, is to protect the health, welfare and safety of The People and safety should be number one in my eyes. Our city government does not exist to promote business, economic development, or the welfare of selected public officials and their friends. In the terms of our own charter, the city government is supposed to be honorable.
Simple honestly is the core value of any system of government and ethics. The profound truth is that you cannot legislate truthfulness, fidelity, ethics or dedication. A public official is either honest or dishonest. If he or she is not completely honest in his or her dealings and decisions on behalf of The People, he or she will not be any more honest the day after a code of ethics is enacted than the day before.

Our residents and business owners want honorable, efficient and responsive local government. As such, I urge each and every person in our city to report to the proper authorities, any and all information regarding any personal interest that may affect the judgment of anyone on the commission, a staff member, an advisory board member, or vendor/contractor including any and all appearances of impropriety, no matter how small or insignificant, and whether in the past, present or future. Our government can only be ‘cleaned up’ and made completely honest with the help of The People that we are privileged to serve.

Cooper City Residential Burglary Alert!

Cooper City Residential Burglary Alert!
We have had an increase in residential burglaries on weekdays when homeowners are at work. Burglars pick empty driveways, knock on front doors to see if anyone is home then smash rear sliders to enter the home. Witnesses observed a dark compact vehicle and a tall, thin African-American male at two scenes. If you observe suspicious persons or vehicles in your neighborhood, please dial 911 immediately. Activate your alarm system and be extra watchful for vehicles or people that look out of place.

The more information you have the safer you can be. Registering for BSO's CyberVisor will enable you to receive e-mail or text messages from the Broward Sheriff's Office with information on criminal activity, traffic, events or other security concerns arising in your business or residential neighborhood. You may also sign up to receive important messages from Sheriff Al Lamberti or breaking news from our Media Relations staff. To get started, simply enter the required information below and choose one or more of the BSO-patrolled cities from which you would like to receive information. Once signed up you will need to confirm your e-mail address, so please keep your e-mail application open. You can register for BSO's CyberVisor HERE

The 'Kingdom' in Cooper City

A long time ago, a King had a boulder placed in the middle of a roadway that was ancient Cooper City. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone from the town would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest residents and merchants came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the giant stone obstacle out of the way. Then, a mere peasant came along, who lived in the town for a long time, while carrying a load of fresh vegetables to market.

Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his heavy burden of trying to make a living, and attempted repeatedly to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a small, tied up leather sack lying in the road underneath where the boulder had been. The leather sack contained many, many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold riches were for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. There was also a prayer from the King that he would become the most respected person in the city. The peasant immediately learned what many of us, especially those in politics, never understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our immediate condition. The obstacle now in 'our path' is the cost of running your local government and the fact that ‘Together We Can’ does not apply any more to all of the residents and representatives that you elected, but only to a choice few who’s agenda is not that of the will of The People.

We need to move that levity approach to the ‘togetherness’ obstacle out of the way in order to improve the condition of our stakeholders; our residents and business owners! The only way for that to occur is if we work together to move the political and personal obstacles initiated on the commission dais out of our cumulative path toward success. I ask everyone to join together and help me in removing any and all obstacles in city hall that hamper your future success here in Cooper City.

Cooper City in the News...Again

Cooper City in the news…again

As you may or may not be aware, Cooper City has been recently battling a drug problem in our town. More particularly, we have been battling a certain pharmacy at the corner of Stirling Road and Palm Avenue that is sometimes labeled as a ‘pain clinic’. The Commission recently passed a law to deal with these types of pain clinics and illegal drug issues, along with the Florida Legislature. Kudos to both entities for strengthening our local drug laws!

Why am I blogging this? Because of this Sun-Sentinel newspaper article. This week I received an e-mail from our city manager regarding a previous newspaper article posted on the Sun-Sentinel website regarding a drug bust on July 23rd. The e-mail was forwarded to me by the city manager which emanated from the BSO public relations office.

Not knowing about, or being informed as to what the issue was, I searched the online version of the newspaper and found nothing. I subsequently asked the city manager what newspaper article he was referring to, which is when I was told that the article was promptly removed from the Sun-Sentinel website. Nothing further was thought about regarding this incident. It was simply an incident and drug bust between two Cooper City residents and BSO police officers in my opinion.

Let me give you a bit of additional information on this case. Last week, this story was on the Sun-Sentinel website for about 10 or 15 minutes before it was taken off. You may ask, why was it removed from the website? Apparently, because the complaint was originally made by the public defender’s office against a BSO deputy and not the alleged criminal.

The only problem was that the alleged criminal had not yet made any complaint to anyone other than the public defender’s office, and BSO had no knowledge of the issue before it went to press, therefore not having the opportunity to comment before the story was hastily posted on the Sun-Sentinel website. I have no idea if the complaint is legitimate or not, but I thought it was interesting that the Sun Sentinel would name someone as a drug dealer suspect without any hard evidence, or at that time, even a complaint.

I discussed this issue with Chief Hale on the phone this week in detail, and again at our budget meeting on Monday evening. I initially asked Chief Hale what the issue was all about and he informed me that it was about a drug bust, and that “the father” (allegedly Mr. Ronald Dwayne Sigers Sr., 40, of Cooper City) allegedly drove his 16 year old son to a drug deal and was subsequently arrested. I was also informed that the entire issue was based on the fact that that the suspect, Mr. Sigers, subsequently complained that the BSO officer grabbed him by the crotch. The Chief also informed me that originally, there was no mention of this incident or any complaint lodged by the alleged suspect; Mr. Sigers, until last Thursday.

Whenever the police arrest and subsequently frisk someone, they have to check their crotch, as this is the first place that drugs and weapons are hidden by criminals. It's not a pleasant thing to do, but it is an absolute necessity of police work and it is absolutely necessary in order for police officers to save their own lives. With that said, most of you would not even want to get near or even touch the alleged criminals that the police sometimes encounter, much less check their pants for dope and guns.

The formal complaint came apparently after the news of another BSO Deputy being charged with sexual assault was reported in the Sun-Sentinel, and hit the airwaves on CBS 4. Mr. Sigers filed a complaint of the un-named deputy ‘fondling’ Mr. Sigers and grabbing his crotch. I see a new trend…Getting arrested for a crime and subsequently claiming to be groped in the crotch by the police in the hopes of getting the charges dismissed.

Chief Hale also told me that someone from the state attorney's office contacted the Sun-Sentinel, not only discussing this incident with them, but giving the newspaper much more detail than was necessary on this matter before BSO was even aware of the incident.

My first question is why wasn’t the complaint filed immediately upon booking, and secondly, why did the state attorney contact the newspaper and give them information on this case, and thirdly, why did the state attorney say anything about this case to anyone outside of the immediate investigation team in the first place? The state attorney involved in this matter should be reprimanded for interfering with a criminal investigation at best.

"Because Mr. Sigers wrote a letter to the State Attorney, and the [Sun-] Sentinel forwarded a copy to us, Sheriff [Al] Lamberti felt that we should initiate an internal investigation to bring out all the facts," BSO said. "Since that process has started we are now prohibited from further discussing the matter." According to the Sun-Sentinel, Mr. Sigers stated in his letter to the State Attorney that "This experience left me horrified…"

I am not prohibited from discussing this matter, and what I have to say is this…

Mr. Sigers, your alleged drug deal in our beautiful city leaves me and many, many other parents, residents, business owners and children horrified!

A complete lack of discretion, and respect for our city and the law has again tarnished our good name. Now we have to apparently witness a deliberate and apparently frivolous attempt to tarnish the reputation of our fine police officers. Police officers who routinely risk their lives fighting gun toting drug dealers, who are simply doing their job, who are simply protecting their very lives and that of our children and families against criminals, drug dealers and possible carriers of weapons when they make an arrest. As such, in Cooper City, we have zero-tolerance for drug dealers. I hope that if anyone dealing drugs in Cooper City is ever found guilty and convicted, they throw away the key…

Cooper City's Latest Budget Workshop

This past Friday I read the news and did my homework for this evening’s budget workshop, and what I saw was very frightening. What I saw is that interest rates are at zero, and the government is flooding the market with cash. Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac are up 251% and 286% respectively, yet they were in big trouble 6 months ago, and now they are soaring. Bank of America is $40 billion in debt to the government, AIG is 80% government owned (along with the auto makers) and had a 277% gain in one month, yet they were left for dead last fall. The USA is broke, and as such, you don’t print more money, or raise taxes and fees. What does all of this tell us?

I don’t know about you, but it tells me that this country and government is just delaying the pain. The risk in holding any investments in US dollars is tremendous! The government, including ours in lil’ ol’ Cooper City, is turning the recession into a depression. It also tells me that our government called the Municipal Corporation of the City of Cooper City, has not done its due diligence in protecting its residents and business owners from excessive costs and fees in a time of recession.

Yes folks, the national economy and crisi directly affect all of us whether you see it, feel it or not. Consumers aren’t buying anything of real value right now. The consumer is scared and won’t infuse capital into the system for a long time. The government is on the short squeeze & the last thing you want to do is get in bed with the government! What happens when all of this passes over? We will have inflation like we’ve never seen before. Probably upwards of up to 400 to 500% in the next few years.

What does this have to do with us, lil’ ol’ Cooper City? Well, for one, our General Employees Pension Fund was at least $4 million in the hole a year ago. It may very well be another $2 million in the hole on top of that for this year. We spent lots of money on consultants for water conservation matters and water studies, when in reality, it was more than likely a political action, and we raised water rates up to 75% because we lost revenues due to the people’s proud and meaningful conservation efforts in saving water.

There was no 6 month review of the 2008-09 budget. 1 in 16 residents in Cooper City are unemployed, almost 350 homes are now in foreclosure, and we want to spend $3.5 plus million dollars on basically what amounts to water enforcement, we want to buy a backhoe for 300+% more than monthly rental costs, we cry ‘poor mouth’ yet we have millions in cash per the auditor. We were lied to for 3 or more years about the so-called ‘reserve funds’, we completely ignore the Enterprise funds, and the department heads threaten layoffs when asked to suggest cuts in expenditures and discretionary operating costs, when they could have easily found and submitted ways to reduce expenses and costs, and eliminate known waste. The problem is the Department Heads don’t want to cut discretionary expenditures. They haven’t ever had to do it, so the backup data which threaten layoffs that is before us tonight is the end result.

As tenured employees and professionals making well over 6 figures a year, they should be able to do a simple task such as provide detailed specifics on cutting expenses and waste, not just say “we have to lay off employees”, which would contribute to the already high unemployment rate in our city and county.

The fire assessment for a residential single family was just approved for a 23.1% increase and the total of the fire assessment in revenues per the recent trim notice for next year says Cooper City will derive one million two hundred thousand in additional revenues, in English that’s $1,200,000.00, when we are all scrimping and scraping every dollar we can justify. What is that $1.2M going to be spent on? That question should have been answered at the last budget workshop.

The question arises as to what exactly does the trim notice mean when it says that the City will receive $1,200,000 in funds? If the funds are collected by the county and then returned to the city are those funds entered into a special fund for payment for the services of the BSO fire division or are they placed into the general fund? Or are they meant for some special purpose expenditures? I know asking these questions is a little on the late side but they only arose once I received my TRIM notice.

Just the fact that this workshop is today at 5 PM tells me that this commission does not care about its stakeholders. A 5 PM start time is ridiculous and absurd. If the majority on the commission have so much to do that they couldn’t have had this meeting at a later time to cater to their constituents, then there is a problem. It is downright insulting to our residents and business owners, most of who don’t even get off of work at 5 PM, much less have to rush home, feed their family and try to make it to the budget workshop before adjournment.

Cooper City has a history of spending money like crazy. The resulting debacle is what we have before us now. The ‘voodoo economics’ practiced in Cooper City is largely due to decided fiscal issues a few years ago which are definitely affecting all of us now.

As such, the current Cooper City commission just hasn’t done the job that the residents and business owner’s expect us to do. We bicker about petty nonsense, personalities and collectively allow it to happen at each and every commission meeting while we sit back and 'cry poor mouth'. The Mayor can’t play by the rules, and the rest of the commission can’t seem to lay out a solid financial plan and a future for our city in this economic crisis due to the politricks, hatemongering and bias and prejudice emanating from, and occurring at city hall. It is very apparent that we sorely lack real leadership in Cooper City.

As such, for this Commission to approve this proposed budget as submitted would be a disgrace and an injustice to our constituents and the city’s stakeholders.

PS, there were some issues that were addressed and at least in consensus, parenthetically yet to be confirmed, scheduled for the budget hearing of September regarding the water meter project and capital expenditures. Stay tuned for more...

Cooper City Budget Issues...continued

The essence of a good Government is that they are prepared to make difficult decisions to achieve long-term prosperity. Given the recession, one would think that the city manager's proposed 2010 budget would include a reduction in city generated taxes and fees, and that he would be very prudent regarding discretionary expenditures. We will see that this is not the case.

What we have is a national, state and county/local government that is completely out of control regarding the recent expenditures of taxpayer dollars. True leaders in our city should consist of private business owners, not ‘go-along-to-get-along’ politicians, who will unfortunately approve this upcoming budget because they just don't want to challeng the 'status quo', or they don't understand what it is we are all facing. The commission should consist of the same type of business oriented leaders that understand that during a recession you don't charge your customers more money just because you refuse to make the cuts that are necessary and expected when revenues are down. Some on the commission just don't seem to get it. I guess it's because it is not their money. If they disagree, rather than attack me, I say "put your money where your mouth is, and reduce this budget drastically!".

As public officials, we are in a position of Public Trust and as such, we have a sole duty to provide honest services while in elected office and to do our absolute best to assure absolute public confidence in the government. This has simply not been the case in our beautiful city since even before I was elected. The public’s trust is imperative and is determined by civic values such as open government, integrity and professionalism. Although the integrity of our Mayor and some on the commission has been sorely lacking, I won't discuss that issue here, as it is a subject for another upcoming article.

Schemes to defraud citizens of an intangible right to honest government services and irrational spending in a recession by public officials runs rampant at all levels and must be stopped. It's only the beginning…Government needs to completely slash their budgets like the rest of us have had to do, but this should not come as a surprise to anyone who understands the problem.

Our budget process is in full swing and as such, I recently requested answers from our new City Manager to some questions that I had, and some that I was asked by my constituents, such as "What is your plan to control overall spending? I'd like to see you propose an across the board 10% cut in operating costs on paper. Easily done...Send me a proposal." No reasonable response or attempt to control spending has been given.

I also asked "Are there any pay raises scheduled for employees?" The response was that a '2.5% merit increase has been budgeted based on satisfactory performance. A lump sum longevity increase of $1,500 has been budgeted for 34 employees who are at the top of their pay range.' Although no Cost Of Living Allowance was budgeted this year, my concern is that if the money given is a merit raise, why is it given to 'satisfactory' employess, those who are expected to do their jobs and do it well?

The proposed 2010 budget reflects only a a 1% reduction in discretionary operating costs in the General Fund (see page 11 of the budget) yet the proposed 2010 budget shows a 5% increase. The 2008-09 budget showed an 18% increase on top of a 5% police increase for a total of 23%. To reach a 10% reduction level in discretionary or operating costs spending would possibly require an additional $867,000 and may have service level impacts. What services? Who knows, but any cuts would certainly not impact the 'feel good' programs liked by the majority on the Commission. Instead, any cuts proposed and subsequently implemented may indeed impact essential services that are there for health, safety and welfare reasons.

At the August 11th workshop we discussed, at length, whether to continue funding the Broward County Transit program rather than discuss much more important items such as the extreme pension fund losses and how to ensure that the pension fund is fully funded. If this is the desire of the Commission to review non-priorities and waste excessive amounts of time on mandatory and required city services, we would have to establish additional workshops to review the budget proposal and what other 'services' would be reduced. The problem is, we are already looking at September along with having no mid-year budget review of '09.

An ominous storm cloud is gathering monthly as governments try to pay for the lucrative pension promises made to their employees. And these clouds are not just over a few city skies. They are virtually everywhere. Government employee pension funds across the nation are in a crisis. The Cooper City Police and Firefighters' pension funds alone had net losses of $2.1 million and $1.3 million respectively for FY 2007-08. However, BSO, not the City, is responsible for any losses as part of our merger agreement. You still pay for that, so don't be mislead. The Cooper City General Employees Pension Fund had a net loss of $1.9 million, on top of a $4 million loss. This is clearly a national, systemic problem. In fact, American taxpayers are exposed to a total of more than $350 billion in combined unfunded government pension liabilities just this year alone.

Commissioners still need to pull out their red pens. It's clear that the majority's budget choices reflect personalities, non-priorities and past incompetent budget behavior. Just look at the steep climb in spending per the Finance Director's charts! Spending such as $12K for Commission travel, and city attorney costs of almost $400,000 when the reason given by Commissioner De Jesus to hire long time friend of the Mayor, and neighbor to Commissioner Curran was “to save money” is disgraceful, and disingenuous.

I feel that our local government must change their ‘Spend it or lose it’ attitude and they must immediately tighten their belt like all of us have had to do in the recent past. The question that all of us should be asking is “What does this proposed 2010 budget specifically do?” We just don’t know. There is a severe lack of backup material and an apparent lack of fiscal responsibility in the air.

The departmental and fund comparisons are budget to budget, rather than the 2010 proposed budget compared to actual numbers for 2007 and 2008, and the easily, but not provided projected year-ending 2009. What this means is that we are comparing estimated 2010 to estimates in the budgets for 2007, 2008 and 2009. This is a poor and misleading practice as there is no reason to use the estimates for 2007 and 2008 because we have the actual results for 2007 and 2008.

Some commissioners and residents think that this budget proposal is well done and a fantastic presentation. I disagree. It is almost a trivial exercise to provide a very close estimate for how 2009 will end up. As of now, the staff should have 10 months of 2009 numbers already on the books. They know their run-rate numbers for Year-To-Date. I think that the City Manager should have these numbers, and he should provide them so that we can estimate our budget a little better than trying to make a 'best guess' at it.

It is standard management practice to request budget and expense estimates from departments all throughout American businesses. The City knows, or should know almost to the dollar, what each department expects to spend vs. the run rates through 9/30/09. This would be a much better and much more accurate method than using budget estimates made as much as a year ago. The Manager gave us numbers that he very possibly knows are incorrect as to the real world (the 2007 and 2008 budget figures) and, so far, he refuses to estimate the year-end 2009 numbers when he easily can do so.

So, in essence, the commission and the public are given comparisons that mean little to nothing in terms of actual budget experiences, facts and trends. Somehow or another, we all need to be comparing actual numbers to requested departmental budgets as much as possible, otherwise, we are just comparing one guess to another.

I suggest that all of you ask your Commissioners and the City Manager to re-submit his comparisons using actual '07 and '08 numbers, estimated year-end '09 actuals and proposed '10 budget numbers. I have done so with no response, which is nonfeasance in my humble opinion. I am trying to obtain for my constituents, a much more responsible budget for 2010 that is more in line with the economic recession, current and future hardships being faced by many, many Cooper City residents. As such, it's very obvious we are not hurting for money, but we are indeed spending way too much.

A 'balanced budget' is simply not my idea of prosperity. Costs of Police & Fire are up, along with costs associated with our utilities infrastructure. We must make further deep cuts regarding waste and unnecessary spending in the proposed upcoming budget in order to put even more tax dollars back into the pockets of our families, businesses and employees. We must drastically reduce the extreme operating costs of our local government and increase its level of customer service. No one person or party can claim to have all of the answers. In the end we all must work together, residents and this administration alike, and the people must get what they have long demanded government to do...Be fiscally responsible with their hard earned money.

Another thing that is critical, is that government must focus on results, not politics nor process. And I know that if we all work together, we can succeed. I invite all of you to the budget workshops and public hearings (posted here) and I implore you to give valuable and much anticipated input throughout the entire budget approval process.

Let me know what you think our budget priorities should be. The Commission cannot satisfy everyone’s concerns, especially in this economic recession, but your concerns on what should and should not be spent and/or cut are very important issues to me. Just as important are your concerns of where local government waste or inefficiencies are occurring. If you have any concerns to convey toward your elected officials, please be as specific as possible. Comments such as “Don’t hurt the bus program” are not going to give us specifics on what to propose in our upcoming budget meetings.

At the heart of the local government budget and pension crisis is a set of incentives that encourages elected officials to make decisions in which they don't have to bear the consequences for. Since your elected city and county officials will not immediately bear the costs and consequences of the budget and employee benefit increases that they are responsible for and supported, there is no incentive for them to show future fiscal responsibility and restraint.

At the end of the day what we should be doing is simply our job...public service. In this process, we've got to ensure that our tax dollars are spent very wisely and only on the bare necessities...needs, not wants. Budgets should reflect the desires and relevant issues of the community, not that of those in power. As I stated in my public commentary, politics must be completely eliminated from the budget process. We need open, honest government in Cooper City. We require and demand a Commission that works together for the will of The People!

As long as the Mayor and individual Commisisoners remember that we all serve The People, and we work together to do what is right, putting aside our continually ensnaring and petty personal, negative and political differences, the goals of prosperity that all of us share and dream of can be achieved right now. A house divided cannot stand. In public service, it is always important to remember, we serve our boss “We The People”.

Contact your Commission members and city staff, and demand that they cut discretionary spending for this upcoming budget. Otherwise, your taxes will continue to increase...

Cooper City Commissioner challenges multi-million dollar ‘hi-tech’ water meters as excessive and unnecessary spending

For Immediate Release Contact: Commissioner John Sims
August 12, 2009 Cell: 954-445-6997
E-mail: johnsims@bellsouth.net

Cooper City Commissioner challenges multi-million dollar ‘hi-tech’ water meters as excessive and unnecessary spending

Commissioner John Sims displaying an example of
Cooper City’s Multi-million dollar water meters

Cooper City, FL – Cooper City District 1 Commissioner John Sims released a statement today saying that “Cooper City residents cannot afford to spend an assumed $4.7 million dollars on new electronic residential water meters that will take more than 15 years to recover the costs.”

“Our residents are hurting financially, and many have lost their jobs or have seen their incomes drop substantially. For the Cooper City Mayor and Commission to even consider spending four-plus million dollars at this time on unnecessary, hi-tech water meters is a travesty and an insult to our employees, residents and business owners. We should be looking to cut spending, to cut unnecessary programs and to give back excessive, surplus revenues to our stakeholders in the form of tax cuts. We should not be increasing discretionary expenditures in a time of economic concern. I would question such a large expenditure at this point in time when it is not a priority, who would benefit from the project, and who would lose their jobs. It makes no sense at all to fully implement this project in our fiscal year 2010 budget”, Commissioner Sims said.

The City Manager, Mr. Bruce Loucks, is recommending converting all of the city’s water meters to a high tech meter that use a wireless network, possibly eliminating the meter reader jobs. If in fact the jobs are truly eliminated, and not simply transferred to another area, it would take decades to recover those salaries over the costs of the new system.

Although no cost to benefit analysis, efficiency and performance or collection rate data justification has been provided by city staff to date, Commissioner Sims said the initial loan amount for the project is estimated to be approximately $3.2 million.

Allowing for an average annual interest percentage rate of 5.5%, the total equates to about $4.7 million for the hardware, not including future maintenance, replacement and non-warranty expenditures. The city may or may not be able to receive a low interest bank loan to fund this massive project. If not, the total interest rate may indeed be much higher, pushing the cost upwards and possibly above $5 million.

Commissioner Sims has urged all Cooper City residents and business owners to contact their elected officials and the City Manager, asking them to reduce or eliminate any and all unnecessary or discretionary spending at this time. He further stated “Please call your Mayor and Commissioners and tell them ‘no’. We need less spending, not more. I ask you to attend the upcoming Commission budget meetings and voice your concerns about the rising and excessive costs of managing your local government” Sims said.

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If you would like more information about this topic or to schedule an interview, please contact Commissioner John Sims.