The Town of Southwest Ranches, Corrections Corporation of American (CCA), and DHS / ICE want to build one of the largest immigration detention centers in the nation within walking distance of thousands of homes; thus, reducing the quality of our life and our community. We do not agree with the federal government privatizing our immigration detention centers throughout the nation when there is clear evidence that privatizing our prisons creates a clear public safety threat. For ICE to continue to privatize these institutions and bring this safety threat through their "secure communities Initiative" to our community is unacceptable. Depriving someone of their liberty is a non-delegable governmental function and privatizing of such a function is infecting our nation like a virus. The Town of Southwest Ranches has now entered into it's THIRD Fire Contract within the last year now with the Town of Davie, costing taxpayers $120,000 in ramp up fees. They are now closing several roads in western Southwest Ranches charging the tax payers $80,000 for the gates. They have paid an unknown amount of money for lobbying with ICE regarding this prison. They have several lawsuits against the Town, 1- Involving Open Meeting Violations on a November 5th meeting concerning the ICE Detention Center, 2- Open Records Violations, and 3- The Town is putting together a lawsuit to sue Pembroke Pines for breach of contract because the City utilized their exit clause and cancelled for convenience their Fire/EMS contract which included water and sewer at the last minute for the CCA prison. In the contract it states that there should be no third party beneficiaries. CCA would be a third party in this instance.
CCA has also filed suit in Federal court against the City of Pembroke Pines saying they are denying them water however the City had never seen a water application. The City did file for a Declaratory Judgement in State Court but that has been put on hold until the Federal Court hears the suit from CCA.
Is ANYONE CONFUSED as to why the Pembroke Pines/Southwest Ranches Fire Agreement was cancelled? The Town Attorney Keith Poliakoff attempted to "slip" into the agreement a portion that guaranteed water for the prison at CCA's request. This is something that should have been brought up separately. CCA should have brought it forward on their own in a water application. This is sleight of hand that CCA and the Town attempted to do because they were so afraid of CCA being on the Pembroke Pines agenda. As of June 2012, ICE put out a statement that the site selection was no longer needed due to the fact that the extra bedspace was no longer needed. READ UPDATE HERE!
In addition to being the Mayor of Southwest Ranches, Jeff Nelson works at Cypress Bay High School where he is an assistant principal. Cypress Bay High School is one of the many schools in Broward County. The Broward County school system is in dire straights from
a combined overspending and the decrease in tax receipts from falling
home prices. They have had to lay off teachers and do alot of cutting
back on extras and certain enrichment courses in this tough economy.
Why is this connection so important? Well, while acting on the Town Council, Jeff Nelson was one of 4 votes approving a deal with the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) in 2005
(Knight Absent/Abstained). In this deal, it enabled the multi-billion
private prison firm to claim an agricultural exemption that cost Broward
County School's ALOT of money! While the agricultural exemption is a legal exemption that many farmers use, in this incidence it clearly shows how developers abuse this exemption by renting cows to place on the property thus avoiding taxes. The snippet from the contract is below.
Since
the private prison firm purchased the property in 1998 and this
marketing contract with the Town wasn't approved until 2005, it has been
a total of 8 years since the Town Council had their hand in
approving this "ag exemption". So for 8 years, Jeff Nelson was party to
helping a multi-billion dollar private prison corporation dodge paying
much needed tax dollars for our schools and teachers. Is this
fair?? According to them they are taking a legal tax break and did
nothing wrong. Which legally they did just what the law required them to do. But is this a justified use of the ag exemption? News 10's Bob Norman did a great story on the tax
evasion/rent a cow from Bergeron here.
Let's calculate how much the schools would have gotten if CCA didn't get the agricultural exemption.
Because of the 2005 CCA-SWR Contract,
Broward County Lost $480,000 ($60,000 x 8 years)
VS. what CCA paid $24,000 ($3,000 x 8 years) (numbers taken from Bob Norman's report above)
So, from where we are standing, Jeff Nelson was a party to $456,000
being ripped off the students of Broward County by voting for the Town
to support this tax exemption. How can any teacher or school employee
support such a fraudulent use of the agricultural exemption?? Over
the past 14 years CCA has owned the property, they have used this
exemption to avoid paying net $804,000(60,000 x 14 years - $36,000) total in taxes.
What kind of leader is this? We feel actions speak louder that
words in this scenario. Jeff Nelson may be an assistant principal, but
he surely showed us who he advocates for with this vote, and it isn't
kids nor the community surrounding the prison parcel.
Do you feel Jeff Nelson should continue to be Mayor of Southwest Ranches?? We will leave you to make up your mind in November.
Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
-- President Ronald Reagan
As the Town of Southwest Ranches erects their wall on ITS border it shares with Pembroke Pines, we are sadly reminded of what this represents. When neighbors are separated... this can't be a good thing. Residents in the surrounding area have called it the Berlin Wall of Southwest Ranches!
This wall between the two municipalities creates a larger problem for the residents. One that the Council doesn't see nor do they care to address. Southwest Ranches residents can't travel south to Pembroke Pines to shop at the closest Publix nor take the most convenient route to take their children to the schools they have been re-districted to since they are now going to Pembroke Pines schools. In addition, their Pembroke Pines neighbors can't travel north to the Town to pick up their child's friend to go to an after school activity without going all the way around to HWY 27. Buses do not pick the kids up in these neighborhoods because the children live within 2 miles of the school. So the burden to drop off and pick up their children lies on the parents. When August 20th hits, families will really feel this in their their fuel bill as all this traveling around to HWY 27 or through 185th will become a real issue for their pocketbook in these hard economic times.
These gates are clearly a stop gap because the State separated the community into two different municipalities when the Town was incorporated in 2000 as a way to stop the traffic flow which has grown over the years. It makes as much sense as the prison parcel they decided to incorporate into the Town that was non-contiguous. What was the State of Florida thinking? We don't think they were thinking...AT ALL. Mostly to blame for the traffic are the big trucks traveling down 199th to and from the businesses in Pembroke Pines such as the Mobile-Mini or the Car Auction that have brought down power lines in the area when they have gotten lost. They just haven't gotten the memo that this is a residential street... which is now creating this headache for the electorate. Also, don't order your pizzas people because I don't think they will be willing to deliver to the Ranches...
Instead of fixing potholes on 210th and 188th, they went on a spending spree. They purchased these heavy duty gates for $88,000 and voted to have Davie for the Fire/EMS contract with ramp up fees of $120,000. They borrowed$90,000 to fix the road and drainage on 210th Terrace where only a handful of people live,$43,000 was also spent on guard rails from SW 195th Terrace to SW 198th Terrace -- ALL ON A LINE OF CREDIT. Since May of this year, the Town Council has approved $343,000in expenditures! NONE of this was budgeted! Isn't it borrowing too much money one of the reasons that got us into this economic depression we are currently living through? Though not purely indicative of taxation without representation, it does question the fiscal responsibility of the Town Council members. (**Numbers taken from 5/10/2012, 5/24/2012 Council Meeting Agendas, Fire/EMS Contract with Davie)
As these gates cost the Town approximately $88,000 for the three gates on 199th, 202nd and 205th; these gates aren't going away any time soon. Made of steel beams and cemented into the ground... no car would dare attempt to crash through these things! You can view the images of the wall on 199th below. Did the Town of Southwest Ranches consider the MAINTENANCE COST of these new gates?
Where they once had said they would allow golf carts to pass freely,
they must have decided against that with this type of
horse/pedestrian/bicycle throughway. It was former Town Mayor, Mecca
Fink, who was the advocate for licensed golf cart use in the Ranches and
even went so far as to get the speed limits lowered to allow for them.
What direction is our Town heading?? Backwards you say? Where we
barricade ourselves from our neighbors instead of coming to a peaceful
resolution with the neighboring municipality because they disagree with
the Town's prison plans that NO ONE wants. They claim that the roadway
blockade is a "public safety" issue because of all the traffic, but
where was this concern for the public when it came to putting a prison
so close to our schools and homes?? Again, what direction is the Town
heading? Who benefits from all this controversy? Fleece Me, Please
discusses who really benefits in the Town and it AIN'T the Taxpayers!
Who do you have to thank for this reckless spending?? Again, Follow the
money. The Town Council did publicly vote for it though. They
approved this gate installation and the money to pay for it. If you
wish to express your displeasure, I would suggest you attend the Town
Council meeting and let them know your feelings. The next meeting is
scheduled for Thursday, July 26th at 7pm. If you cannot attend you can always email them and let them know what you're thinking. Voice your opinion
and let them also know in the next election they will pay dearly for not
coming to a compromise. You may want to ask them where the money is to
fill in your potholes while you're at it since they seem to be in a
money spending mood...
Ever since its founding in 2000, the Town of Southwest Ranches has been the source of free money for every sort of grifter that has ever passed through south Florida. Who can forget the Canadians who made it a Family Affair? Where else can you run the Town, have your wife oversee the finances and have your daughter control access to public records all for $750K per year?! Possibly only Bell California has a better life for the grifter on the taxpayer's dime. Who could forget the double teaming of the SWR taxpayer by the Wasserman Rubin pair through their "you write grant - I'll vote for it - you get the commission" scheme? Pure Southwest Ranches. Pure graft.
The Town of Southwest Ranches being Fleeced Again
(Attention Mr. Breitkreuz, a sheep is part of a rural lifestyle, not a prison)
In a rare instance of fiscal prudence, the Council forced the new Town Administrator, Ken Fields, to resign for giving $40K in raises to support staff at the Town Hall after Ken bent the process to avoid an independent financial review of the proposed raises. Unfortunately, the Council's worrying about $40K is akin to concerning yourself with a hangnail *on* the severed arm... What kind of reckless spending has been going on to try and bring a mega prison run by the notorious CCA do you suppose has been going on? Where is the Council's fiscal prudence here? What about Mayor Nelson? He's signs every single check the Town writes... to Becker Poliakoff, for example. $40K is just the tip of the iceberg, Captain Smith.
Did you know that the Town pays for its very own lobbyist who just purely coincidentally happens to work for the condo attorney firm, Becker Poliakoff? And that the Town Attorney's name is Keith Poliakoff? And the first Town Attorney and a Town Founder was Gary Poliakoff? Hey, it's a Family Affair. Doesn't every 7500 person town dedicated to preserving their rural lifestyle have their condo attorney firm running it and supplying lobbyists? Legal documents recorded with the Clerk of the House show the Town spent approximately $20,000 for lobbying for the CCA prison in 2011.
The lobbying was conducted by the Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart's former Chief of Staff, Omar Franco, who now has a position with the firm Becker & Poliakoff. He worked very hard to get Congresswoman and Democratic National Committe Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to endorse an enormous federally funded bit of corporate cronism in the form of a DHS/ICE prison. It is well known that CCA and other private prison firms spend MILLIONS of
dollars a year in lobbying grifters politicians for the chance to get these lucrative contracts with the federal government. If CCA is willing to spend the lobbying coin, WHY did the Town's taxpayers have to pay a DIME on lobbying for this prison? There is something you might want to ask your representative on the Town Council and see what they have to say about it.
Spending on lobbying is something we're pretty sure they didn't agree to when the council approved the 2005 agreement with CCA and subsequent delegation requests to increase the bed space... Maybe Prison Inc's lobbying money was well spent ON OUR Town Council, perhaps? Or maybe the de facto Town Manager's law firm stood to profit handsomely over the contracting and litigation related to the proposed prison. Maybe? We are told to always follow the money. Much of the money leads to Becker & Poliakoff. Just file a public records request for their invoices to the Town.
By the way, this increase in bed space was touted in emails as giving a greater per diem to the Town by CCA Attorney Sam Poole showing all their loyalties lie with greater profits instead of with the people the Council was elected to serve. But, selling out to predatory corporations is really nothing new for Sam Poole and his law firm, Berger Singerman.
An increase in bed space does offer a greater per diem to the Town, but who would benefit mostly from this increase in bed space? 96 to 98% would go to CCA. Some great deal, hmmm? What about our hemorrhaging federal budget? It's ALL ultimately funded with your federal tax dollars. The Feds are bleeding money faster than they can print or borrow it. What does this show for our economic recovery? Surely investing more federal tax dollars into the private prison complex is not going to have some magical effect on paying down the deficit nor will the few hundred dollars offer much of a relief in unemployment rates... Prisons are overhead and not a productive use of capital.
The money trail for the CCA prison lobbying doesn't stop there. The Town attorney, Keith Poliakoff has racked up an enormous register of legal fees because of this prison. Who is paying this bill? The Town Taxpayers! Last year, the Mayor approved over $900,000 dollars in attorney expenses!! Bills, that we are still sifting through. Below is a comparison of the two municipalities involved with this prison, Pembroke Pines and SWR, based on their budgeted numbers. It is further broken down as a "cost per person" which is commonly used in comparing legal fees amongst municipalities.
Population Budgeted Atty's Fees Cost per Person
SWR 7,500 $335K $47.00
PP 154,000 $855K $5.55 ** Population was taken from US Census numbers for 2010, Atty Fees were taken from 2011 Budget for both municipalities.
Election day is coming... You have a voice in your vote. Let it be heard! The time for a change in leadership is now!
Don't just change the leadership in your own municipality but at all levels that were involved in this prison scheme that didn't benefit taxpayers nor the residents living in Southwest Ranches or Pembroke Pines.
The players consist of Senator Bill Nelson (D), Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D), Allen West (R), Marco Rubio (R) (Former B&P Atty with connections to the Blackwater prison scandal) all knew about these plans and all of them ignored their constituents.
Another thing that bothers us is that if the letter of support for the Town's proposal was just a "cursory letter of support" (as Debbie Wasserman Schultz put it in a previous Jimmy Cefalo interview) and if Senator Bill Nelson is a Senator for the entire STATE of Florida, then why wouldn't he have noticed that one of the three sites that had submitted for the project was shutting a prison down and should have rightly gotten this project to fill this gap in their budget. If we must fund a federal detention center, which it is believed that we don't really need one, then why not put it where people would be losing their jobs? I guess that would make too much sense for the feds to understand. Or maybe it adheres to the most basic calculus of all... Follow the money.
In the end, it's just gut churning. Throw all the bums out from the Nelsons to Wasserman Schultz to Keith Poliakoff. Kick them all to the curb as Heidi would say.
