Yes it is something I do. Lumping developers together as enemies of the public interest. Sure it is hyperbole: I did it yesterday with anger at news that the developer lobby is interfering with the implementation of the new zoning code for Miami, Miami 21.
I know why land speculators are against regulations that limit the type or density or height of future projects. Speculators want to maximize revenue per square foot. That is the story of the miserable Shops at Sunset, former Bakery Center, that could have been so much more for the community of South Miami if it hadn't been so much more for Greenberg Traurig lobbyists. Or, Route 1 in Florida City, pre and post Hurricane Andrew, for the local Homestead bankers and yo-yo's. These are two, of ten thousand examples in the state of Florida.
It is the same story outside the Urban Development Boundary where every "wish" to rationalize planning in the future runs straight up against some speculator's plan to replicate the model of suburban sprawl based on the eagerness of Wall Street to be agnostic to sprawl and conform debt to demographic averages that will be used by Moody's or Standard & Poors to rate the aggregate debt as Triple A.
I know all developers do not bear the same tar and feathering in the publick square. I do it for a reason. Developers in Florida will not stand forward and criticize their brethren, no matter how egregious the violation of common sense. Two more examples. First: moving the Urban Development Boundary in Miami-Dade. There are big and respected and small and lesser known developers who are against moving the UDB. I know this, because they tell me. But they won't come out and criticize these efforts publicly, because they consider the protagonists to be friends or colleagues; people they have to work with, in other contexts. As a result of the developers' silence, only a few citizens end up carrying the burden of a massive weight: protecting the rest of Miami-Dade from speculators and their sprawl.
The second example is Amendment 4, Florida Hometown Democracy. The citizens' ballot initiative will be voted in November in Florida. It proposes that changes to local development plans go to a public vote, or electors, and not local zoning councils. Many, many developers could care less about changes to local development plans: their business is not involved in building new sprawl, for instance. Amendment 4 does not apply to their business model or practices or costs. Yet, find one developer who will speak in favor of Florida Hometown Democracy. Show a group of developers who are challenging the $15 million war chest being assembled by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Realtors, and Associated Industries: why not?
So there you have it. As a group, Florida's developers have failed to differentiate their positions from those of the speculators and sprawl boosters. Florida's developers are stuck with elected representatives who believe their marching orders are to destroy regulations and barriers to growth as a matter of political principle, as a matter of "what the market wants", as a matter of property rights. It is the Age of Stupid, and Florida's developers paved the 8 lane highway to its doorstep.
Saturday, May 08, 2010
Some In-Fighting at the County Commission. By Geniusofdespair
If you don't see video here is the link.
You can see Vile Natacha Seijas walk off after Commissioner Souto calls her and Audrey Edmonson out for talking while he is talking.
In the video it is obvious that Natacha is leaning over talking when he calls her out on it, she gets up and storms off the dais saying something we can't hear but the Chair is not comfortable with what she said. Natacha returns saying something that sounded like that he didn't deserve respect/to be listened to, and Souto says back to her "you don't deserve it either."
Close call on who deserves to be listened or respected out of these two. You will remember I have pointed out that Natacha and Audrey are often chattering loudly while Katy Sorenson speaks. Souto is such a bady though, listen to him, like a kid tattling on his brother.
You can see Vile Natacha Seijas walk off after Commissioner Souto calls her and Audrey Edmonson out for talking while he is talking.
In the video it is obvious that Natacha is leaning over talking when he calls her out on it, she gets up and storms off the dais saying something we can't hear but the Chair is not comfortable with what she said. Natacha returns saying something that sounded like that he didn't deserve respect/to be listened to, and Souto says back to her "you don't deserve it either."
Close call on who deserves to be listened or respected out of these two. You will remember I have pointed out that Natacha and Audrey are often chattering loudly while Katy Sorenson speaks. Souto is such a bady though, listen to him, like a kid tattling on his brother.
Friday, May 07, 2010
Help Amendment 4, Florida Hometown Democracy ... by gimleteye
Every dollar you donate becomes $2 for Amendment 4, and FHD needs your HELP NOW to win in the fall. Donate now, and help FHD take up the opportunity of an anonymous donor's matching challenge! (click, read more)
Here's the story on Amendment 4's new Matching Funds Campaign:
"Your donation will doubly protect your investment in your home (that is, your property values), as well as the quality of life you and your family enjoy here in Florida.
Don't let us miss out on this generous matching offer: if you donate now, your contribution is magically doubled! You’ll have twice the impact on this, the most important issue in this fall’s election. And we must have your financial help to put Amendment 4 over the top with the 60% “Yes” vote required to pass.
Send as much as you can today -- or just as soon as you possibly can. Here’s how:
-- Mail a check to “Florida Hometown Democracy, Inc.” PO Box 636, New Smyrna Beach, FL, or
-- Use your credit card online at www.FloridaHometownDemocracy.com.
And remember this: our big-pockets opposition -- frantic to preserve their gravy train (paid for by you) -- is raising a $15 million war-chest to kill Amendment 4. Don't let Amendment 4 fail! Do your part. The benefits you'll enjoy will be tremendous. . . and lasting!
Your contribution (times 2) will determine how effective we can be at getting out correct information on Amendment 4 to Florida's 6-8 million voters.
Donate today, as much as you can! On November 3rd you'll be glad you did!
--
*** Vote Yes on Amendment 4 in November 2010
"The Hometown You Save Will Be Your Own !"
Get the facts and donate at www.FloridaHometownDemocracy.com ***"
Here's the story on Amendment 4's new Matching Funds Campaign:
"Your donation will doubly protect your investment in your home (that is, your property values), as well as the quality of life you and your family enjoy here in Florida.
Don't let us miss out on this generous matching offer: if you donate now, your contribution is magically doubled! You’ll have twice the impact on this, the most important issue in this fall’s election. And we must have your financial help to put Amendment 4 over the top with the 60% “Yes” vote required to pass.
Send as much as you can today -- or just as soon as you possibly can. Here’s how:
-- Mail a check to “Florida Hometown Democracy, Inc.” PO Box 636, New Smyrna Beach, FL, or
-- Use your credit card online at www.FloridaHometownDemocracy.com.
And remember this: our big-pockets opposition -- frantic to preserve their gravy train (paid for by you) -- is raising a $15 million war-chest to kill Amendment 4. Don't let Amendment 4 fail! Do your part. The benefits you'll enjoy will be tremendous. . . and lasting!
Your contribution (times 2) will determine how effective we can be at getting out correct information on Amendment 4 to Florida's 6-8 million voters.
Donate today, as much as you can! On November 3rd you'll be glad you did!
--
*** Vote Yes on Amendment 4 in November 2010
"The Hometown You Save Will Be Your Own !"
Get the facts and donate at www.FloridaHometownDemocracy.com ***"
Miami 21 under attack by Growth Machine... city officials, don't listen to the developers ... by gimleteye
The Herald reports a behind the scenes attack of the new Miami zoning code, Miami 21 before it is implemented, by land use attorneys and builders associations including the LBA. 5 years and countless hearings and controversies proceeded its passage. The developers never want more government intervention through zoning and planning. Even in the worst bust since the Depression, they want whatever it takes to bring the boom times back. In the state legislature, the Growth Machine worked like busy beavers dismantling state planning requirements. And it is no different, here in one of Florida's most populous cities and the political epicenter of the housing boom and bust.
City commissioners would do well to consider how the absence of rational zoning created exactly the quality of life deficits and conditions for disaster that developers want to re-create, again. We can't go backwards, except at great expense, and correct the problems etched in the Miami landscape in cement, steel and glass, but we can remember just what grief has been inflicted on Miami taxpayers and voters by our local builder and development lobby. Former LBA president Willy Bermello etched that hubris turned to grief in The Miami Herald in a 2005 editorial:
" Lately, there has been more written about the "condo bubble" than the weapons of mass destruction during the Iraq war. There is a relationship in both phenomena: If you say it often enough, you actually start believing it, and soon enough you're on your way toward a self-fulfilling prophecy. Miami is a great world city, and there is no going back. Build them, and they will come." (May 21, 2005) The parallel logic to this nonsense is driving the Growth Machine today. Build whatever we want to build, for which there is "demand", and it will be good for the tax base. It is a bunch of nonsense that also lead to enormous billion dollar infrastructure deficits and a built landscape that makes little sense at all in terms of layout and transit.
Miami 21 can't go backwards and fix all the mistakes made in South Florida by developers who made the playing field uneven as possible, to get what they wanted out of local government in zoning changes when they wanted it. The damage by speculators like Greenberg Traurig's land use lobbyists and attorneys is right there. "... real estate continues to still be a safe harbor for investors," Mr. Bermello wrote in 2005, "whether it be equity or the purchase of a condo in South Florida, where doubling of your investment in less than two years is commonplace... Miami deserves its place next to Shanghai and Dubai. More important, it deserves our confidence. The bubble is not latex but stainless steel."
What did listening to this nonsense accomplish? City commissioners should understand it made Miami what it is today: a casino for vulture investors. So let the developers and their lobbyists froth. Leave Miami 21 alone.
City commissioners would do well to consider how the absence of rational zoning created exactly the quality of life deficits and conditions for disaster that developers want to re-create, again. We can't go backwards, except at great expense, and correct the problems etched in the Miami landscape in cement, steel and glass, but we can remember just what grief has been inflicted on Miami taxpayers and voters by our local builder and development lobby. Former LBA president Willy Bermello etched that hubris turned to grief in The Miami Herald in a 2005 editorial:
" Lately, there has been more written about the "condo bubble" than the weapons of mass destruction during the Iraq war. There is a relationship in both phenomena: If you say it often enough, you actually start believing it, and soon enough you're on your way toward a self-fulfilling prophecy. Miami is a great world city, and there is no going back. Build them, and they will come." (May 21, 2005) The parallel logic to this nonsense is driving the Growth Machine today. Build whatever we want to build, for which there is "demand", and it will be good for the tax base. It is a bunch of nonsense that also lead to enormous billion dollar infrastructure deficits and a built landscape that makes little sense at all in terms of layout and transit.
Miami 21 can't go backwards and fix all the mistakes made in South Florida by developers who made the playing field uneven as possible, to get what they wanted out of local government in zoning changes when they wanted it. The damage by speculators like Greenberg Traurig's land use lobbyists and attorneys is right there. "... real estate continues to still be a safe harbor for investors," Mr. Bermello wrote in 2005, "whether it be equity or the purchase of a condo in South Florida, where doubling of your investment in less than two years is commonplace... Miami deserves its place next to Shanghai and Dubai. More important, it deserves our confidence. The bubble is not latex but stainless steel."
What did listening to this nonsense accomplish? City commissioners should understand it made Miami what it is today: a casino for vulture investors. So let the developers and their lobbyists froth. Leave Miami 21 alone.
Marco Rubio on Offshore Drilling. by Geniusofdespair
I think he still sounds like a member of DRILL HERE DRILL NOW.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Allen C. Harper, Ghost Town at Maggie Valley: Miami owners buy theme park out of bankruptcy: and Steve Shiver, too? by gimleteye
This is a story that doesn't add up, and so belongs with the long list of banking stories revolving around saving skin in the real estate collapse that require more in-depth investigation than blogs can provide. A bankruptcy court judge in North Carolina has approved a deal to allow the current owners of the failed theme park run by former Miami Dade county manager Steve Shiver to buy the park, erasing its creditors including many small local business vendors, owed more than $2.5 million. According to news reports, BB&T Bank-- that has recently planted its flag in South Florida-- would have to absorb a loss of at least $3 million from the prior $10 million mortgage. Where the bank will take $.70 cents on the dollar, local creditors-- many small businesses-- $.10 on the dollar. According to The Smoky Mountain News, "More than 200 businesses still owed money by Ghost Town would be left holding the bag, including local contractors and laborers who did work for the park and were never paid. Myriad Ghost Town supporters in Maggie Valley coughed up cash to help the amusement park get off the ground when it reopened. They were promised a stake in the company in exchange for their investment, but they, too, would be left with nothing." (Please click, 'read more')
The key figure is MIamian Allen C. Harper. Harper's business and political connections run through powerhouse real estate companies like Flager Development and Florida East Coast Industries, whose shareholders include Armando Codina.
Harper purchased Ghost Town at Maggie Valley, installing former county manager Steve Shiver as CEO, in 2006. He has now bought the company from bankruptcy through another entity; American Heritage Family Parks LLC. Who are the limited partners who are providing $7 million in new capital to chase after $20 million already invested is not clear, nor is the role of Shiver. The theme park has suffered through major controversies, chronicled on this blog, including a winter landslide that required a $1.3 federal taxpayer funded emergency investment. Liability for the mudslide has not been established, or, whether that liability now disappears that the company has emerged from bankruptcy under substantially similar ownership.
Here is what Forbes.com writes about Harper: "Allen C. Harper, 64, Chief Executive Officer of the American Heritage Railways since 1998. Director (Class III) since 2009.Mr. Harper served as Director on the Tri-County Rail Authority, a state-owned commuter railroad, from 1989 to 2005, and was Chairman of the Board for three terms. In 2003, Tri-County Rail was incorporated into the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, and in 2004 Mr. Harper was elected its Chairman. He also served as director of Florida East Coast Industries, Inc., a railroad and real estate company based in St. Augustine, Florida, for 12 years. In May 2001, Mr. Harper was appointed for the second time by Governor Bush to serve on the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority Board. Mr. Harper was an investor in, as well as an officer and member of Ghost Town Partners LLC, owner of Ghost Town in the Sky, a theme park that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 10, 2009. Mr. Harper was not involved in the day-to-day operations of the theme park or its parent company." Really? Given the theme park's trouble, that is not credible.
Harper is also a director of a major sprawl-inducing development company in Florida, Consolidated Tomoka. The publicly traded company is active in land development west of Interstate 95 in Delray Beach; an area hit very hard by the housing market crash. According to a recent SEC filing, "Mutual-fund manager Wintergreen Advisers wrote to the board on April 12 to state concerns about Consolidated Tomoka's proxy statement, including "a lack of adequate disclosure in several areas, as well as mischaracterizations of fact" on corporate-governance issues." Directors include former secretary of the Florida Department of Community Affairs Linda Shelley.
Harper is chairman emeritus of Esslinger Wooten Maxwell Realtors and owns several theme park railroads across the country. Local reporters should be digging deeper into the ownership records to find out what other Florida investors have a piece of Ghost Town.
The key figure is MIamian Allen C. Harper. Harper's business and political connections run through powerhouse real estate companies like Flager Development and Florida East Coast Industries, whose shareholders include Armando Codina.
Harper purchased Ghost Town at Maggie Valley, installing former county manager Steve Shiver as CEO, in 2006. He has now bought the company from bankruptcy through another entity; American Heritage Family Parks LLC. Who are the limited partners who are providing $7 million in new capital to chase after $20 million already invested is not clear, nor is the role of Shiver. The theme park has suffered through major controversies, chronicled on this blog, including a winter landslide that required a $1.3 federal taxpayer funded emergency investment. Liability for the mudslide has not been established, or, whether that liability now disappears that the company has emerged from bankruptcy under substantially similar ownership.
Here is what Forbes.com writes about Harper: "Allen C. Harper, 64, Chief Executive Officer of the American Heritage Railways since 1998. Director (Class III) since 2009.Mr. Harper served as Director on the Tri-County Rail Authority, a state-owned commuter railroad, from 1989 to 2005, and was Chairman of the Board for three terms. In 2003, Tri-County Rail was incorporated into the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, and in 2004 Mr. Harper was elected its Chairman. He also served as director of Florida East Coast Industries, Inc., a railroad and real estate company based in St. Augustine, Florida, for 12 years. In May 2001, Mr. Harper was appointed for the second time by Governor Bush to serve on the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority Board. Mr. Harper was an investor in, as well as an officer and member of Ghost Town Partners LLC, owner of Ghost Town in the Sky, a theme park that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 10, 2009. Mr. Harper was not involved in the day-to-day operations of the theme park or its parent company." Really? Given the theme park's trouble, that is not credible.
Harper is also a director of a major sprawl-inducing development company in Florida, Consolidated Tomoka. The publicly traded company is active in land development west of Interstate 95 in Delray Beach; an area hit very hard by the housing market crash. According to a recent SEC filing, "Mutual-fund manager Wintergreen Advisers wrote to the board on April 12 to state concerns about Consolidated Tomoka's proxy statement, including "a lack of adequate disclosure in several areas, as well as mischaracterizations of fact" on corporate-governance issues." Directors include former secretary of the Florida Department of Community Affairs Linda Shelley.
Harper is chairman emeritus of Esslinger Wooten Maxwell Realtors and owns several theme park railroads across the country. Local reporters should be digging deeper into the ownership records to find out what other Florida investors have a piece of Ghost Town.
Oil Spill: The rest of the country is chock full of morons. By Geniusofdespair
As 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) a day flow into the Gulf of Mexico, incredibly, 62% of voting Americans STILL support an expansion of oil drilling according to a Zogby Poll conducted Tuesday (Miami Herald).
Floridians, we can do better...we aren't morons like those polled are we? We don't STILL support oil drilling off our coast do we?
Who am i kidding.
Van Morrison Concert at Hard Rock in Hollywood Florida. By Geniusofdespair
One thing about Van-the-Man, he starts his concerts on time. The lights went out and they started playing before half the venue patrons were seated. Speaking of the venue, it is more suited for boxing matches than for concerts. You had to look sideways to see the band and there were railing blocking the views from some seats. It was strange -- seats facing a center pit but the stage was at the end. There were very few good seats unless you wanted to sit on the floor level which actually was level, not graded up as it should be. My seats for $100 sucked. I didn't like the Hard Rock venue but the sound system was excellent. Van Morrison was great. At the end of the concert it was the end of the concert. He closed with not one of his best songs and never came back for an encore, it started at 8:05 and ended at about 9:45.
The low point of the concert, Terry Murphy, Vile Natacha Seijas's Chief of Staff, was there with his new bride.
The low point of the concert, Terry Murphy, Vile Natacha Seijas's Chief of Staff, was there with his new bride.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Is Rentboy.com what State Sen. Mike Bennett was looking for? by gimleteye
I got it all wrong! State Sen. Mike Bennett wasn't looking for Girlz Gone Wild Bradenton from his computer at the Senate Chamber in Tallahassee; he was channeling fellow GOP activist Dr. George Rekers, a leading "scientific" voice in the anti-gay movement and founding board member of Dr. James Dobson's Family Research Council. Dobson and Rekers' views neatly twin around extremist views mostly commonly associated with the GOP. Props to Miami New Times breaking the biggest GOP sex scandal since ... let's see, foot tapping by a married US Senator in the men's room at the airport, or, a South Carolina governor who pretended to be soul-searching on the Appalachian Trail while fucking his g/f in Buenos Aires.
"On April 13, the "rent boy" (whom we'll call Lucien) arrived at Miami International Airport on Iberian Airlines Flight 6123, after a ten-day, fully subsidized trip to Europe. He was soon followed out of customs by an old man with an atavistic mustache and a desperate blond comb-over, pushing an overburdened baggage cart. That man was George Alan Rekers, of North Miami — the callboy's client and, as it happens, one of America's most prominent anti-gay activists. Rekers, a Baptist minister who is a leading scholar for the Christian right, left the terminal with his gay escort, looking a bit discomfited when a picture of the two was snapped with a hot-pink digital camera." Miami New Times, welcome back! Doggg, you rock.
Doing Away with the Miami Dade Strong Mayor: The Discussion. By Geniusofdespair
We all signed petitions to get power away from the County Commission to give it to the Mayor. We still have the same rat's nest of a County Commission and now they want to put on the ballot that we do away with the Strong Mayor form of government. I am not for this. The Commissioners have not gone to the public to see what WE WANT. First and foremost, we need term limits without caveats. After that the Commissioners can float any other wacky ideas to give them more power. And, County Commissioner Katy Sorenson, I am surprised at you saying in the Miami Herald today that term limits are not necessary because we can vote Commissioners out of office. You know we wouldn't be asking for term limits if we could get the losers out of office, so how can you say that we should vote them out? We can't vote them out because of district voting and because of money funneled to the corrupt. We NEED term limits. We have term limits on the Mayor and WE CAN ALL vote him/her out of office. That is why he/she should have the power advantage.
Below are Commissioners talking about doing away with the Strong Mayor at a Commission Meeting May 4th, I have posted 4 Commissioners, all videos are about 2 minutes or less (Hit read more to see others):
Carlos Gimenez hit this link if you don't see video.
County Commissioner Dorrin Rolle Link
Barbara Jordan link
County Commissioner Dennis Moss Link.
Below are Commissioners talking about doing away with the Strong Mayor at a Commission Meeting May 4th, I have posted 4 Commissioners, all videos are about 2 minutes or less (Hit read more to see others):
Carlos Gimenez hit this link if you don't see video.
County Commissioner Dorrin Rolle Link
Barbara Jordan link
County Commissioner Dennis Moss Link.
Porn surfing Florida state senator Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton ... by gimleteye
Florida state senator Michael Bennett was caught surfing what looked to be soft porn from his state-issued computer in the Senate Chamber last week. Although the images went viral on the internet in short order, the media attention missed what the Republican from Bradenton is best known for.
Press read more...
For years, Sen. Bennett lead the charge of Florida developers to weaken state regulations governing growth management, a state whose current economic crises are largely the result of too much development in the wrong places.. Taxpayers incensed by the costs of growth might consider what Sen. Bennett promotes is a more appropriately pornography than the Girlz Gone Wild stuff in Senate Chambers.
In the 2009 session of the Florida legislature, Senator Bennett pushed the worst legislation of the year; Senate Bill 360, or, "The Growth Anywhere Act". The Miami Herald wrote, "Floridians, living amid the rubble of a real estate collapse, hardly noticed SB 360 as it was slipped through the Legislature. Who was paying any attention to growth issues? Housing prices were down 31 percent from a year ago." County Commissioner Katy Sorenson said... : ''No doubt about it, the recession gave them cover to pass this bill. Calling SB 360 a "growth-management bill, was a downright Orwellian touch." Or, porn:
After Bennett's masterstroke for sprawl was signed into law by Gov. Charlie Crist, he engaged in acrimonious verbal sparring with the state cabinet official charged with growth concerns, Florida DCA Secretary Tom Pelham. In unusual language belying the highly charged debate, Pelham suggested Bennett was misrepresenting the intent of the law to the public.
In the recently concluded session of the Florida legislature, the internet surfing state senator again lead the charge to eviscerate growth management in Florida, attempting for a while to pass legislation that would have killed off the state agency as an independent authority. On April 22, the Palm Beach Post wrote, "Also making a late appearance is the annual attempt by Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, to do a favor for Palm Beach County citrus grower Callery-Judge Groves. This year's attempt, in HB 7099, is designed to exempt the 4,000-acre grove's development proposal from meeting state rules for building roads to meet traffic demand. Sen. Bennett hoped to make the same bill palatable by adding language to reauthorize the Department of Community Affairs. House leaders have been content to leave the state growth-management agency in limbo until next year, when the DCA could be dismantled without worrying about retribution from voters."
Having done his work for the session, Sen. Bennett apparently started surfing the web without being aware of the press corps behind him. So incensed was the Bradenton Republican for being caught at his little mouse clicks that he sent a blistering message to the Sunshine State reporter: "I will do everything in my power, everything -- I don't know what that is exactly -- but I will do everything I can to make sure your days at the Capitol and reporting are over." The reporter wrote on the Sunshine State blog, "I'd like to remind readers that Sen. Mike Bennett was viewing the image on the Senate floor during session -- while I was in the standard place for reporters during session, which is one floor above in the reporters' gallery."
Several hundred miles removed, I tried a google search to duplicate the images Sen. Bennett was looking at: topless girls and a wet dog. At Youtube, I searched Girls Gone Wild Bradenton and Girl Dog. Although my limited imagination didn't turn up evidence of the senator's keystroke command, I did enjoy surfing and found a video he could use for his theme for Congress:
Press read more...
For years, Sen. Bennett lead the charge of Florida developers to weaken state regulations governing growth management, a state whose current economic crises are largely the result of too much development in the wrong places.. Taxpayers incensed by the costs of growth might consider what Sen. Bennett promotes is a more appropriately pornography than the Girlz Gone Wild stuff in Senate Chambers.
In the 2009 session of the Florida legislature, Senator Bennett pushed the worst legislation of the year; Senate Bill 360, or, "The Growth Anywhere Act". The Miami Herald wrote, "Floridians, living amid the rubble of a real estate collapse, hardly noticed SB 360 as it was slipped through the Legislature. Who was paying any attention to growth issues? Housing prices were down 31 percent from a year ago." County Commissioner Katy Sorenson said... : ''No doubt about it, the recession gave them cover to pass this bill. Calling SB 360 a "growth-management bill, was a downright Orwellian touch." Or, porn:
After Bennett's masterstroke for sprawl was signed into law by Gov. Charlie Crist, he engaged in acrimonious verbal sparring with the state cabinet official charged with growth concerns, Florida DCA Secretary Tom Pelham. In unusual language belying the highly charged debate, Pelham suggested Bennett was misrepresenting the intent of the law to the public.
In the recently concluded session of the Florida legislature, the internet surfing state senator again lead the charge to eviscerate growth management in Florida, attempting for a while to pass legislation that would have killed off the state agency as an independent authority. On April 22, the Palm Beach Post wrote, "Also making a late appearance is the annual attempt by Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, to do a favor for Palm Beach County citrus grower Callery-Judge Groves. This year's attempt, in HB 7099, is designed to exempt the 4,000-acre grove's development proposal from meeting state rules for building roads to meet traffic demand. Sen. Bennett hoped to make the same bill palatable by adding language to reauthorize the Department of Community Affairs. House leaders have been content to leave the state growth-management agency in limbo until next year, when the DCA could be dismantled without worrying about retribution from voters."
Having done his work for the session, Sen. Bennett apparently started surfing the web without being aware of the press corps behind him. So incensed was the Bradenton Republican for being caught at his little mouse clicks that he sent a blistering message to the Sunshine State reporter: "I will do everything in my power, everything -- I don't know what that is exactly -- but I will do everything I can to make sure your days at the Capitol and reporting are over." The reporter wrote on the Sunshine State blog, "I'd like to remind readers that Sen. Mike Bennett was viewing the image on the Senate floor during session -- while I was in the standard place for reporters during session, which is one floor above in the reporters' gallery."
Several hundred miles removed, I tried a google search to duplicate the images Sen. Bennett was looking at: topless girls and a wet dog. At Youtube, I searched Girls Gone Wild Bradenton and Girl Dog. Although my limited imagination didn't turn up evidence of the senator's keystroke command, I did enjoy surfing and found a video he could use for his theme for Congress:
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