Protected First Amendment Rights Confirmed by FEC!

Sorry we've been away for a while.  We know you've missed our witty posts...

We thought we'd bring you some recent information that we received from the Florida Elections Commission by way of a letter regarding a complaint against our PAC that was alleged by Mary Gay Chaples.  It would appear that Ms. Chaples is not a fan of our First Amendment Rights as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.  It does, however, fall in line with the Town Attorney's continued obstruction of Free Speech.  This is a common theme we are seeing with the Town of Southwest Ranches.

 

Also, it's worth noting that the complaint was notarized by Becker Poliakoff who represents the Town and was strongly supportive of Mayor Jeff Nelson's successful reelection bid.  Don't believe us, look at the Notary stamp and the registration address with the State of Florida.  You'll notice that it's the same address as the law firm of Becker & Poliakoff. 

 

 

 

The lines of ethics are blurred and not by the resident's group opposing the corruption and the prison....

Stay tuned as apparently the prison has new legs...  The Mayor and the Town attorney are apparently trying to "unring" the bell of taking themselves out of the running for the ICE prison to prop up their frivolous lawsuit against Pembroke Pines. Official FOIA requests prove the Town withdrew itself. (Page 7, Second paragraph)

How many people did Jeff Nelson tell during his campaign for reelection that he made the call to ICE to withdraw the Town from the Prison??  For the Town Manager Andy Berns to now flip-flop all of a sudden is just another legal maneuver to try and convince a Judge that they have any grounds at all to sue Pembroke Pines.  Now they think with the sequester happening, ICE is going to follow through with a new detention center??  Not gonna happen!! 

(Page 7, Second Paragraph)

ICE FOIA by notprisontown

Asking for records in the Ranches? Think Twice!

This is the perfect way to show people the administration of Mayor Jeff Nelson and what a hostile environment that has been created at Town Hall.

A member of our group went to Town Hall today to inspect some records and had an appointment with the Town Clerk to do so that she had made the day prior.  The right to inspect public records is protected in Florida by Florida Statute 119.  Immediately after she sat down with the Town Clerk to view records, one of Mayor Jeff Nelson's supporter's Dee Schroeder, (pictured below on right) enters Town Hall. 

Upon walking into the Town Hall, Dee Schroeder immediately starts berating the woman and asking why she "has to waste her tax dollars" on the Town Clerk meeting with her to inspect records and even went on to question the woman's parenting ability along with committing all sorts of character attacks.  She went on and on until BSO Commander Wally Haywood was called to come to the front as well as the Town Administrator, Andy Berns.  How could anyone put up with such a verbal assault?   

You can see some of the verbal attacks Ms. Schroeder has performed on others in the past on this Bob Norman video which include leaving harsh messages that appear to sound like a drunken dialer and an uncivilized person. She seems to patrol the streets of Southwest Ranches and turns in people for having small political signs on their property if she deems them inappropriate.

We have to wonder who exactly informed Ms. Schroeder of this visit?  How she could have known that this person was there?  Our only conclusion could be that someone from Town Hall must have leaked the information to her.  We do know that a certain employee at the Town is her close friend.  Ms. Schroeder had showed up the day prior as well and done the same thing to this innocent woman just exercising her protected right to access public records which forced the woman to have to leave the building.    She happened to be with her young daughter during this visit and the child was questioning what Ms. Schroeder was saying.  What possesses her to be such a nasty person towards people?  Why is she so hell bent on attempting to obstruct someone's access to records?

Could it be that having that access equates to "power" for her (information equals power), and she feels her "power" is slipping through her fingers with the major support that Mayoral Candidate Holly Hugdahl is getting throughout the community and by large voting blocks such as the Police Benevolent Association and The Hispanic Vote?  In addition to a most recent endorsement from Southwest Ranches Councilman Freddy Fisikelli... That must really hit the Jeff Nelson campaign pretty hard that they are resorting to such combative and desperate measures!!

Coincidentally, the Town is currently involved in multiple open records violation lawsuits, a couple of which involve a resident who filed lawsuits for being denied access and was told by Mayor Jeff Nelson at a Town Council Meeting that if they didn't drop the lawsuit the Town would go after them.  How is this promoting an Open Government?  How is this being a "self described activist for my neighbors"?  Do you have to live right next to him in order for him to take action??

VOTE AGAINST THIS TYPE OF BULLYING!!

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON NOVEMBER 6th!!

Oops Mayor Nelson did it again...More Lies Uncovered!

Has anyone noticed an absent Mayor in our Town??  He was absent from the October 11, 2012 Council meeting saying he was out of Town and has had no response to the media with regard to the Sign Debacle going on in the Ranches.  We have to wonder if it is to keep him out of public forums so he doesn't get off his talking points too badly.  It's like listening to a robot that stutters (Uh, Uh, Uh.) when he can't remember what he's supposed to say.

Top Ten Lies of Mayor Jeff Nelson!

We decided to bring a little comedy to you as the elections approach and we reflect on the fight in the Town of Southwest Ranches David Letterman style.....

We're going to highlight some of the big whopping lies that Mayor Jeff Nelson managed to tell everyone during the past year his constituents and their neighbors in Pembroke Pines fought the proposal to let a private prison firm, Corrections Corporation of America, build an Immigration Detention Center on their non-contiguous parcel of land.  Without further adieu we bring you the...

TOP TEN LIES OF MAYOR JEFF NELSON!

Plat Note Delegation Request Rigged??

More "inaccuracies" discovered at Town Hall...

At the December 15, 2010 meeting under Attorney comments, the Town Attorney Keith Poliakoff brings forward CCA request to increase the plat note on the prison parcel to allow 2200 prisoners from 1500 that the Town Council had originally approved in the 2005 agreement.  This wasn't on the agenda...  the public didn't have any clue it was being brought forward.

More loopholes to allow CCA to keep increasing and increasing the bed count so they get the most amount of profit.  WOW!  Once CCA got that 2005 contract passed, they knew it was just an easy plat note amendment away to keep increasing their profits. We already know from emails sent by Mayor Jeff Nelson that he is keen on getting more and more money for the Town regardless of the ill effects!

Who owns Mayor Jeff Nelson??

You can tell alot from campaign reports.  Has anyone ever looked at one?  It basically shows who is supporting a candidate (or their own interests) when they donate to a candidates campaign.  We just had to look at one campaign contribution report to know who is trying to BUY the election in Southwest Ranches.  JEFF NELSON!  He's been a pro-prison advocate not even taking into account the negative impacts it would have on the town nor the financial implications and has this continued mantra with slogans such as "IT'S A DONE DEAL!" and "THEY CAN START BUILDING TOMORROW!"  We all knew better.  No business starts building anything until ALL CONTRACTS ARE SIGNED!   They were merely "pushing dirt."

An interesting tidbit from the last Jeff Nelson mayoral campaign was that he was actually a WALK ON because no one opposed him...  and he has been on the Council a total of 8 and a half years.  Do you believe in term limits?  He obviously doesn't!!  We all know better than to let this reign continue.

When we took a look at Mayor Nelson's campaign reports it was made clear who is pushing their interests.  In typical "Pay to Play" fashion we saw the likes of Leonard Samuels and Sam Poole of Berger Singerman (CCA's lawfirm) as well as other interested parties like Keith Poliakoff his lawfirm Becker & Poliakoff that are so obviously advocating for a lawsuit against Pembroke Pines for the non-existent contract from CCA so they can get more money in FEES.  Then there are the FIVE Bergeron companies listed as giving donations as they were wanting to make sure they get the trash and recycling contracts for the Town. (Sun Bergeron, Bergeron Land Development, Bergeron Sand Rock & Aggregate and Bergeron's Partner Southern Waste Systems) Almost all of the donors are contracts with the town or associates of Becker & Poliakoff and had a grand total of over $15,000.  We found it very interesting that there weren't many donations from THE PEOPLE in Southwest Ranches... We could count them on ONE HAND with one of them being a Becker & Poliakoff partner and founder of Southwest Ranches, Gary Poliakoff.  You can view the actual report for yourself here.

In the end...who do you want running YOUR TOWN?  Becker & Poliakoff, CCA and Bergeron??  Or do you want someone with YOUR interests in mind??  Think about it before you vote!! TAKE BACK OUR TOWN! Jeff Nelson - Campaign Contributions - TR F2-3
TR - Jeff Nelson F3

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...

Wasserman Schultz Spanks Mayor Jeff Nelson

Paucity of Public Information

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2011/10/debbie_wasserman_schultz_letter_southwest_ranches_jeff_nelson_cca.php

Even though Debbie Wasserman Schultz is COMPLICIT in keeping opposition to HER Immigrant Prison away from the powers that be, she still took time to SPANK Southwest Ranches Mayor Jeff Nelson for his STUNNING attempt to push this prison through under the cover of darkness.