Letter to the Town Council on Suing Pembroke Pines

Poliakoff's Selective Truths!

Dear Mayor, Council and Administrator:

It is highly disappointing that the five of you recklessly voted to sue Pembroke Pines last night.  This was entirely based on the stated premise that you were doing so purely to recover financial damages allegedly suffered by Pines' alleged interference in your beloved prison.  This is a prison that required YOU to enter into a third party contract with ICE to OWN enforcement and removal so that CCA could exercise THEIR property rights, by the way.  There is NO established jurisprudence in the USA which supports an obligation of a municipality to enter into a third party contract (IGSA) so that a resident may exercise their property rights.  The property rights argument is specious and hollow in light of the NEED for an IGSA that Poliakoff HID from you for months.

You are acting against the more reasoned advice from me, Mr. Falletta and Mr. Hughdahl to strenuously consider Poliakoff's deficient mathematics where he's convinced you all that your damages are $2MM a year.  I cited CCA's own public statements while YOU allowed him to get away with citing a contract that every one of you knew was obsolete.  Even Sam Poole said this was an embarrassing "marketing contract" that would have to be rewritten.  CCA has repeatedly claimed you would receive $400K for beds and $300K for ad valorem per year.

Well, let's do the simple math based on the existing "John Canada Marketing Contract" anyway.  Poliakoff claims that the receipts will be $2MM for the bed fee as well as ad valorem.  However, he's selectively ignoring germane parts of that very contract which says that the town owes CCA a $100k/year "maintenance fee" back which straight away reduces Poliakoff's amount to $1.9MM.  Do you allow your attorney whom we pay dearly for to hoodwink you so easily?

Next, the contract EXPLICITLY states YOUR obligation to help CCA maintain their AG exemption on the property.  This clause effectively eliminates the $350K Poliakoff cited from ad valorem taxes.  This now brings the total revenue potential down to $1.55 MM based on the bogus "marketing contract" that we knew was being rewritten as he stated so multiple times.  It is outrageous that you all lack the critical thinking skills to challenge these lies by Poliakoff.

Next, Poliakoff's $2MM was based on the estimate of FULL occupancy 365 days per year.  This is an inexcusable assumption which is just as much a pipe dream as anything else surrounding this prison.  You have not asked for ANY evidence as to how CCA will maintain 100% occupancy every day of the year.  I would think an 80% occupancy is aggressive.  I'll give you that optimistic assumption though so the $1.55 MM scales down to $1.24MM in lost REVENUE.

Now, let's look at the other side of the lost revenue.  What are the COSTS associated with this revenue?  We were told my Mr. Holligsworth that you are all businessmen and trustworthy.  Thus, you know that NET PROFIT = REVENUE - EXPENSES.  Poliakoff lied to you by omitting even the stated expense in the contract itself.  So, it's clear that you have blindly ignored the expense side of those sparking dollar signs you see in your eyes and your irrational hatred of Pembroke Pines AND of your own residents who oppose this prison.  There's no judge in the world that is going to let you get away with this fuzzy math, even if that judge has worked for Becker Poliakoff one time in his or her life.

No, you do not have the fiscal discipline to keep Poliakoff's spending in check.  You do not have the critical thinking skills necessary to analyze claims nor do you have the ability to listen to your reasoned residents or think through the ramifications of your actions (kids being picked up on Griffin road all due to your actions closing roads as a Christmas gift).  In fact, last night you shut us out of the process going forward and WE RESIDENTS on polar opposite ends of the prison issue are bringing you issues to look at and QUITE FRANKLY A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF POLIAKOFF'S HOODWINKING OF YOU ALL.  Steve, you shut us out in the NAME of openness.  That's an Orwellian perversion.

Steve, you often chide "bad government" and did so last night when you described your outrage at the school bus situation.   The fact is that YOU are government too.  The council's decision making has been based on woefully understudied facts or awareness of consequences.  You all don't even consider that there were expenses associated with Poliakoff's $2MM claim, for example.  You use your power in government to harass residents, break public records law,  and allow the Mayor and Attorney to personally call out residents and besmirch them with lies.  This is classic abuse of power and you are party to it.

Do the right thing.  Stop this enrichment of Becker Poliakoff now.  Our legal bills for our 2200 households are outrageous.

Here's one last challenge to YOUR repeated claim that the town's viability is and always has been dependent on the development of that CCA property.  If that's the case, why would you all hang your hat on a contract that explicitly deprives the School Board of ad valorem receipts through an abuse of an AG exemption?  But, funny, the Mayor announced that there would be an ad valorem roll back this year on the very eve of the defeat of the prison.  Your claims are specious and demonstrably so.  It doesn't make sense to reduce property taxes at the same time you just lost "$2MM a year" from the CCA deal.  Do you ever stop and think about the big picture of what you are saying?

Regards,
Bill Di Scipio

Do you think Keith Poliakoff is giving the Town bad advice?  Chime in on the discussion HERE!

The West Berlin wall erected in Southwest Ranches!

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 $343,000 in 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...