Election Lies?: Misleading voters

As a note, there will be no endorsement from the Sun Sentinel or other papers for Hallandale Beach as they are no longer covering Elections for cities under 50,000 residents. If you have questions about information you are receiving from candidates or an issue that is important to you, please feel free to call me anytime. This Election is so important to keep us on the right path of stability, civility and fiscal responsibility. Misinformation is already out there.

Overall, every candidate was civil and positive except for the agitator, Keith London. He certainly has not changed his enjoyment of being negative and attacking the City without any solutions. He actually mocked everyone for getting along. In fact, he is a large part of our prior problems. He simply cannot help himself from creating misinformation.

Primarily, he has sent out propaganda that suggests we have a $5 Million Dollar Reserve. That is blatantly false, in fact we have in overall Reserves funding of $21.8 Million Dollars. Actually, if it were $5 Million Dollars, we would be at a negative $700,000 Million Dollar reserve and insolvency due to the $5.70 Million Dollar Lawsuit that is hanging over our heads due to his firing of Former City Manager Daniel Roseman for cause. He has truly harmed our City. Know why? He gambled with your tax dollars and knew he would not personally be impacted.

This year, we have balanced our budget without using reserves. This amount is in line with the commission policy of 16% of the General Fund should be covered to provide for our ability to operate in case of emergencies. As a note, during the time he was in Office, the Reserves were reduced. By 2018, when Joy Adams was Mayor for a year, they had gone all the way to $8 Million Dollars, the lowest in the history of the City.

Many residents are not aware that each other Enterprise Fund; Water, Sewer, Stormwater and Sanitation to name a few have Contingencies that work like reserves in the event of disasters or operation emergencies during the year. A good example of the use of these types of Reserves is a one year Sanitation Truck caught on fire. These trucks cost $300,000 and up. The Contingency Fund was used to replace it.

Another issue he has complained about is the purchase of Green Vehicles, Tesla’s. These vehicles were purchased for $10 Thousand Dollars less than what they are being sold for now. Not much more than other Electric and Hybrid Vehicles. They are being used for our Detective Bureau, not “Top Brass.” These vehicles eventually cost less than gas and have the benefit of helping the environment.

Another salient point when it comes to propaganda are the Budget and the Tax Rate. Over the past 5-10 years our Police Department has been operating with over twenty-two patrol vacancies. This is disgraceful. Currently, we only have five and on the way to fill the rest.

One of the recurring themes during the Forum was communication. I agree that making sure that our residents have access to information. It is one of the reasons I write this column. Our City utilizes all types of tools to keep our residents up to date. Residents need to sign up for them on our website. We have many Social Media platforms and some Departments even have their own pages. We also have our own HB App. I actually worked to get it through the US Conference Of Mayors and it is called MyHB. You can report issues and get information on many issues.

Flooding and Water Issues were also one of the main topics. Sadly, over the past 8 years improvements were at a standstill. The dysfunction and having four different City Managers over a 4-year period created such instability. In fact, professionals did not even want to stay in the City and Recruitment was at its lowest due to the negativity from the Dais.

Well over the past two years this has changed dramatically. We are currently replacing and upgrading our lift stations. We have executed a request for a Proposal for an Expansion of our Water Plant. We have a $20 Million Dollar Bond and are Awarding Proposals to replace Water Mains on both Three Islands Boulevard and Golden Isles Drive among other Major Water Supply Infrastructure. In the next few weeks, I will be writing more in-depth on the very impairment issue.

Economic Development was also a topic discussed. Every candidate except one actually discussed how well they believe we were doing in supporting new business and expanding opportunities. They all go back to the commuting issues when it comes to CRA Programs.

It was a very good Forum and I left thinking we have some really great candidates. They all have different backgrounds. Some have been involved on City Boards. I hope no matter what the outcome, they all stay involved and work with the City addressing concerns and help make the City A Better Place!

Early Voting started this past Monday. It is taking place at our Community Cultural Center behind the Library at our City Hall Complex, located at 400 South Federal Highway, Hallandale Beach, Florida 33009. There are other locations around the County as well. If you are registered in Broward County, you can vote at one of them. Also, if you have a Mail-In-Ballot and are concerned about it getting in on time, there is a drop box at the Cultural Center. Make sure it is all filled out including our Eight Charter Amendments. As a reminder, we as a Commission are recommending them all!

As always, I am available for your questions, concerns and ideas to help make our City a better place. Please feel free to reach out at my office: (954) 457-1318. On my Cell/Text at: (954) 632-5700. Or email at: jcooper@cohb.org.