Election Fall Out/Fall In !
The first election is over, and the generally expected fall out has happened in the completed Fort Lauderdale Commission - District II race.
But maybe the more interesting development is the unusual fall in ! -
Let me explain .....
Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom had a big win last Tuesday. She had two challengers, Mike Ferber and Lester Zalewski.
big winner
The fall out
Lester Zalewski
Zalewski is a former Vice President of the Central Beach Alliance. He is currently a Board Member of the Central Beach Alliance.
But Zalewski angered many of his Board, when he sent out, just before election day, an e-mail from a similarly sounding new group, the Beach Alliance, endorsing Zalewski.
Seems to me that the Beach Alliance endorsement was sent to beach residents in an effort to confuse the voter into thinking that the real Central Beach Alliance endorsed Zalewski. It didn't work.
Today, this message came out from the real Central Beach Alliance....
CBA Board,
Attached is the agenda for the special Board of Directors meeting.
It will be held at 6:00, this Thursday, before the regular board meeting.
It concerns the removal of a director.
Looks like Zalewski is history.
The fall in
Mike Ferber
There was a lot of insider talk during the campaign about Ferber being a crimi , (a put up candidate to force a primary).
Ferber strongly denied it.
But today, just one week after the election, Rodstrom's opponent in the District II race was reinstated to his former position on the Planning and Zoning Board .... appointed by .... that's right - Charlotte Rodstrom!
Maybe Rodstrom was feeling charitable...or,
Maybe there was something to that insider talk after all.
But maybe the more interesting development is the unusual fall in ! -
Let me explain .....
Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom had a big win last Tuesday. She had two challengers, Mike Ferber and Lester Zalewski.
big winner
The fall out
Lester Zalewski
Zalewski is a former Vice President of the Central Beach Alliance. He is currently a Board Member of the Central Beach Alliance.
But Zalewski angered many of his Board, when he sent out, just before election day, an e-mail from a similarly sounding new group, the Beach Alliance, endorsing Zalewski.
Seems to me that the Beach Alliance endorsement was sent to beach residents in an effort to confuse the voter into thinking that the real Central Beach Alliance endorsed Zalewski. It didn't work.
Today, this message came out from the real Central Beach Alliance....
CBA Board,
Attached is the agenda for the special Board of Directors meeting.
It will be held at 6:00, this Thursday, before the regular board meeting.
It concerns the removal of a director.
Looks like Zalewski is history.
The fall in
Mike Ferber
There was a lot of insider talk during the campaign about Ferber being a crimi , (a put up candidate to force a primary).
Ferber strongly denied it.
But today, just one week after the election, Rodstrom's opponent in the District II race was reinstated to his former position on the Planning and Zoning Board .... appointed by .... that's right - Charlotte Rodstrom!
Maybe Rodstrom was feeling charitable...or,
Maybe there was something to that insider talk after all.
Tim you are correct and astute as usual
ferber was appointed tonight back to 'his' vacancy on p&z
hope the citizens of fll are content and satisfied as there will be big surprises in the next 3 years
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Tim, How do you get these shots of people. If I was Ferber I think I would sue you for that candid shot.
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Charlotte Rodstrom is many things - charitable is not one of them. this is exactly why, in huge numbers, the public is turned off and does not vote. Shame on Rodstrom and shame on Ferber for the games they play. And shame on the Commission for placing Ferber back on the P&Z Board - did they not hear his views during the campaign?!
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At the Commission meeting last night, hot air Art Seitz accused Rodstrom and Seiler of taking thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Scott Rothstein; he said he got that info from Buddy Nevins blog. The mayor got a bit heated - so, what's this story about?
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although city took the "link" off their home page last week
http://www.fortlauderdale.gov/clerk/election.htm
this link for contributions to incumbents and candidates
didn't see rothstein listed this time as contributor
contributions from 2009 elections are there for the looking
rothstein was a fellow lawyer till those deals caught up with him
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#1 Lester Zalewski has nothing to do with the blog - "BEACH ALLIANCE – A QUIET PLACE TO SHARE IDEAS AND INFORMATION – THE VOICE OF CENTRAL BEACH RESIDENTS."
Like Tim Smith’s blog, Beach Alliance gives voice to the voiceless. Zalewski was once one of the voiceless. We suggest readers go to the website and judge for themselves. We cover the entire beach and Fort Lauderdale too. We are not affiliated with any specific beach organization. Nothing on the website suggests we do.
#2 The BEACH ALLIANCE blog certainly fulfills a function for all central beach residents who feel left out of the information flow if they are not members of the CBA – which is the majority of residents – or CBA members who no longer receive information packets at meetings or newsletters. And especially the many beach residents who are locked out of participating or joining. There is a long roll call of ex-CBA board members who have “resigned” or been excluded because they wanted to have their own opinion, maintain an ethical standard or offer more access and democracy to the membership. Community leaders of high standing like Miranda Lopez, Judy Sher, Mel Rubinstien, Joe Hessman, Sadler James, Joe Holland, and many more.
#3 There is nothing in the presentation of this blog that passes off as a CBA website. The best URL available back in June 2010 was http://centralbeachalliance.blogspot.com and it is now well established with many thousands of hits. We cover some CBA events* and profiled its original mission way back in June 2010. Most of the time we use blog material and links from other blogs.
*For example, we will republish this posting on the Beach Alliance website only if the topic gains popularity. Or garners contrary opinion.
#4 We understand the CBA board voted funds to design a website themselves over a year but have yet to launch one. And yet nothing has emerged. In twelve months. Why?
Our readers need to know. So should yours Tim.
# 5 We believe that when good candidates come forward and face insurmountable odds, democracy can do with a little nudge to even the balance. We are a “GOOD PAC”. Again that is the decision of this website - one that has been going for almost two years. Not Lester Zalewski. We are fiercely independent of any party or special interest group.
Zalewski’s 364 votes - gained in less than 30 days is a remarkable achievement. Many of his voters must be real thinkers – with some, maybe many, anti-incumbent votes granted - who decided to get off a rickety-rackety bus that never seems to make progress, and try and make a difference in Fort Lauderdale. Consider the vast lead time and budget of the incumbent. And also the Nader-like spoiler who ran interference – which according to Tim Smith’s “insider” was a deliberate ploy by the other two candidates - to thwart democracy and the people of District II. Ferber will have vacuumed up a lot of the anti-incumbent votes too.
TO BE CONTINUED
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# 6 If anyone has a media beef, it is with the Sun-Sentinel and the unethical behavior of its publisher Howard Greenberg in pressuring his editorial lead writers to endorse one candidate over another. The popular website http://myfortlauderdale.blogspot.com consulted with an independent national ethics organization which has pointed to numerous problems with this policy. Here’s another reason we need blogs like www.Blog.TimSmith.com to inform the citizenry. Providing they follow best practices.
Bloggers too, would do well to study their guidelines www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp before publishing anonymous and uncorroborated ravings.
# 7 An email was sent out from beachalliance@gmail.com endorsing a candidate. One email. Whoop-de-doo! Calm down dear. Don’t have a cow. Is that what all the pomp and circumstance is going to be about at the CBA Board Thursday night? One email? They should have better things to do. But unfortunately they no longer do. They are a social club - a closed talking shop for select members who make nothing – create nothing.
“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin.” Matthew 6:28
One reason they may not want a website is that it would lead to too much transparency – too much access to information – which would lead to too much involvement and engagement by condos and individual members.
# 8 Wonder why the District II representative at City Hill ignores the Central Beach Alliance? O.K. Agreed. Now she can, because she’s on her final term .
The District II Commissioner ignored the CBA because it had become redundant.
Like the appendix in our bodies the CBA board once served a valuable function. Now it seems to flares up for no good reason. It’s not Lester Zalewski who should go under the knife folks.
# 9 None of the CBA board have ever been elected. Not a single vote has been cast in their favor. After Mel Rubinstien stood down as President, subsequent Boards pulled out every device to ensure a full and free election process was avoided. No manifestos. No speeches. No harsh glare of the spotlight. No votes. No democracy.
Applications went “missing”. Candidates were disqualified for spurious reasons. One candidate was deliberately provoked by the then CBA President, who then had him escorted out of the meeting by the police who were conveniently on-the-spot and played no other role in the evening’s events. (This led to an IA investigation and the Chief of Police issuing an instruction to 5000 officers to leave the maintenance of order at community association meetings to the membership and its chairperson. That is not what ‘community policing’ is about. This episode is a particularly disturbing and chilling illustration of the CBA concept of democracy. It also illustrates part of what Charles King and Lester Zalewski are arguing for in bringing the police “back home”.)
TO BE CONTINUED...
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BEACH ALLIANCE part three
The infighting led to many members leaving and the CBA becoming redundant and irrelevant. A chat club designed to make a few people feel important at city functions.
Some of the current directors may be qualified, but as of now, for all we know they are placeholders, waiting for real leaders, like the original founders fifteen years ago, to step up to the plate and campaign for the endorsement of CBA members. By that count, Lester Zalewski’s 364 votes in this recent municipal election place him head and shoulders above those petty people seeking to depose him.
The first step forward the CBA board can go to prove Beach Alliance wrong is to realize the tremendous asset they have with Lester Zalewski, recognize his accomplishment in holding it together in a time of crisis at the end of 2010, and not just keep him on the board, but restore him to office. He’s served as Vice President already. Rotation is healthy. We suggest Director-liaison to City, County and State Government.
And ask all those fine people you’ve alienated to return too. Stop living in denial. Turn over a new leaf. Prove us all wrong CBA Board. Become relevant.
# 10 Lester Zalewski’s campaign website now renamed “Good neighbors for good neighborhoods” at www.LesterZ.com says he is waiting to hear from District II voters and people across Fort Lauderdale at LZFortlauderdale@gmail.com.
Here is an opportunity for all those Fort Lauderdale boosters out there – not just those on the beach or in District II - and certainly not those not distracted by the three-year election cycle or special interest groups or self-aggrandizing petty politics- but those who write passionately and well on Tim Smith’s blog – those who put duty and service first – those who care - people like Tim Smith - Charles King – Cal Deal and many others to get Fort Lauderdale moving in the right direction. You know who you are. You are involved already. You are community leaders. This is how real organizations work.
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"Beach Alliance" writes about :"anonymous and uncorroborated ravings" - that is too funny because that is exactly what this post is! Everyone knows that this is written by Zalewski's campaign mangager Chris (CJ) Beck and his "facts" are so distorted that it is laughable. It is easy for him to try and marginalize the CBA when in fact membership is healthier than any other civic assocation in Fort Lauderdale! He and others like him can not just get over the fact that the majority of folks have rejected his ideas and claims a long time ago. And the rest of the public has to try and read his rantings like this one - always so pious, self-righteous, and self-promotional. Like anyone gives a shit.
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she was endorsed by you for a third term
alls fair in love and war
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Tim Smith for Sheriff!
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YES!! BSO Sheriff Tim Smith
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Does Ferber have any teeth?
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Tim,
Just a clarification, in case anybody is interested.
The special meeting concerning removal of a board member was called for at the CBA board meeting on 01/16/12, PRIOR TO the beachalliance email. It had nothing to do with the election, therefore, it is not a 'fall out' of the election.
Sorry about ruining a point of the this blog entry, but I don't want anyone to think that one email caused the board to call a special removal meeting.
Thanks for your good work,
John Weaver
CBA President
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thanks John for clearing that up.... though the beach alliance e-mail may have not been the sole reason for your possible action, I bet it was the straw that broke that camels back !
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I for one am offended by Mr. Becks attacks. If he just wanted to help the city he would not be writing and saying these vicious attacks on the dedicated and selfless volunteers at the CBA.
His performance clearly implies that he is trying to buff up himself by way of unfounded and vicious attacks on good people who really do try to help others and our city. This is a sad waste. A good mind gone astray.
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You've got to love condo politics at the beach.
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