No Private CCA / ICE Immigrant Prison in SW Ranches

RAID BLOG UPDATE!!

2013-04-30T17:15:00.001-04:00

Feel free to visit the RAID PAC website with newer content...

Were the Florida State Farm Act changes INITIATED by Town Attorney Keith Poliakoff??
Keith Poliakoff obstructs Pop's Gun Range's FREE SPEECH!

Federal Court Dismisses CCA Lawsuit

2013-03-20T20:39:00.004-04:00

LATE BREAKING NEWS. DATELINE MARCH 20, 2013. PEMBROKE PINES, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA.

IN A STUNNING SETBACK TO CCA'S ATTEMPT TO BULLY THE CITY OF PEMBROKE PINES, THE US DISTRICT COURT OF FLORIDA RULED AGAINST THEIR SPECIOUS CLAIM THAT THEIR EQUAL PROTECTION RIGHTS WERE VIOLATED AND TOLD CCA TO FOLLOW THE PROCESS IN FLORIDA COURTS.

LEST YOU ARE FOOLED (UNLIKE THE FEDERAL COURTS) THAT THIS IS A CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUE OF "EQUAL PROTECTION", WE NEED TO REMIND THE READERS THAT THE DE FACTO TOWN MANAGER, ATTORNEY KEITH POLIAKOFF AND HIS PATSIES ON THE COUNCIL, HAVE REPEATEDLY **DENIED** TAX PAYING RESIDENTS OF SOUTHWEST RANCHES THE ABILITY TO HOOK UP TO MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLIES SUCH AS THE SUNRISE WATER DISTRICT OR PEMBROKE PINES EVEN THOUGH THEIR NEIGHBORS ARE HOOKED UP. THIS IS NOT EQUAL PROTECTION, BUT **SPECIAL** TREATMENT FOR LOBBYISTS AND CORPORATIONS SUCH AS PRISON, INC. THAT WE PLEBEIANS AREN'T AFFORDED. PAY TO PLAY...

ALMOST A YEAR AGO TO THIS DATE, PEMBROKE PINES TERMINATED AGREEMENTS WITH THE TOWN OF SOUTHWEST RANCHES TO PROVIDE FIRE/EMS, WATER AND SEWER HOOKUPS TO THE PROPOSED IMMIGRANT PRISON IN THE NON-CONTIGUOUS PARCEL OF LAND ADJACENT TO THE LAGUNA ISLES GATED COMMUNITY AND BARELY 1 MILE FROM THE $140MM A RATED WEST BROWARD HIGH SCHOOL.

PEMBROKE PINES WANTED FLORIDA COURTS TO JUDGE WHETHER OR NOT THEY HAD THE RIGHT TO TERMINATE AGREEMENTS. IN A MONUMENTAL WASTE OF TAXPAYER MONEY, CCA FILED A LAWSUIT AGAINST PEMBROKE PINES INSTEAD OF GOING TO STATE COURT WHICH HAD AUTHORITY.

IN A STINGING REBUKE, JUDGE ZLOCH SAID, "LITIGATING THE VERY SAME ISSUES IN PARALLEL ACTIONS INVITES THE POTENTIAL FOR INCONSISTENT RULINGS AND IS, IN EVERY PRACTICAL SENSE, AN INEFFICIENT USE OF SCARCE JUDICIAL RESOURCES."

CCA -Order Staying Case.pdf by notprisontown

ICE HAS BEGUN RELEASING DETAINEES DEMONSTRATING THAT THIS FACILITY, AS WE'VE SAID ALL ALONG, IS NOT NEEDED AND IS A WASTE OF TAXPAYER MONEY. IN LIGHT OF THE RELEASE OF DETAINEES, SOUTHWEST RANCHES IS STILL POSTURING THAT THE FACILITY WILL BE BUILT. SW RANCHES MAYOR NELSON IS A STAUNCH SUPPORTER OF THE PRISON.

SOUTHWEST RANCHES HAS ILL ADVISEDLY SUED PEMBROKE PINES FOR "TORTUOUS INTERFERENCE IN A BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP." THIS HAS NOT BEEN RULED ON YET. STAY TUNED. OUR PRESS RELEASE CAN BE READ HERE.

END OF TRANSMISSION...

Protected First Amendment Rights Confirmed by FEC!

2013-03-11T14:14:00.000-04:00

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!

2012-10-30T20:06:00.002-04:00

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!!

Town Attorney pushes Code changes help CCA

2012-10-23T12:54:00.002-04:00

We got more and more curious since our recent Plat Note Delegation Request Rigged article and started to go over some more historical footage of the October 2010 Town Council Meetings. As we reviewed the meetings, it seems Mr. Keith Poliakoff, the Southwest Ranches Town Attorney, is constantly making last minute additions to the Agenda and pushing the Council to approve things in a rush. It really makes you wonder, who is running our Town?

During the October 6, 2010 meeting, we observed near the end during the Town Attorney comments that the town clerk stopped taking the minutes. The subject of CCA was brought up at time stamp 3:32:30 of the meeting. Mr. Keith Poliakoff said that he met with CCA and that they said there were "unique housing opportunities within the town." One would be think that they were talking about Section 8 low income housing. Certainly, most residents had never heard of CCA, never mind knew for what the initials stood. Even when you spell it out -Corrections Corporation of America- unless you're in law enforcement, you wouldn't think they were in the business of prisons.

He goes on to tell the small audience that Council Members Doug McKay and Aster Knight had attended this meeting and hung out in the back of the room, but did not speak; they just "happened to be at the Town Hall". We wonder if Mayor Nelson was at this meeting, as well, as he seems to sit in on all of the contract negotiations with Town Attorney Keith Poliakoff. Does this go against sunshine meeting laws? We'll worry about this later.

He continues to tell the Council that a lot of modifications to the 2005 agreement between CCA and the Town are required. That the Town would "essentially be requesting a grant from the Federal Government" and that "we'd be bringing in a partner (CCA) who would actually be running our facility." This portrays it that the Town would actually own the jail. In addition, he adds that the Town would need to "take the security risk level out of the contract." The 2005 contract did not allow for maximum security prisoners to be held at the facility in question. Mr. Keith Poliakoff states that "when it's an illegal alien, they could be there for a multitude of reasons, so we would have to take the security risk out."

He instructs the Town Council, that the "Town had to write to ICE stating that they would be interested in the detention center." In addition, "Everyone in the Town is going to have to contact Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to tell her we really want this." It's interesting that he's said this to a near empty room. So, does the council get to vote on them writing a letter? No, Mr. Keith Poliakoff went ahead and wrote it for them. We wonder, should and can that be done by the town attorney without direction from Council Members?

We then viewed the October 20, 2010 meeting. Again, this item is the last item on the agenda, Item number 11 which changes ULDC (section 55-080) where it discusses "Manufacturing and Industrial District" which Mr. Keith Poliakoff points out, "effects all the penal institutions in the Town." The changes were to delete the limit of beds and increase the square footage allowed. The full text with deletions noted in strike through is shown below taken off the agenda from October 20, 2010 meeting:

055-080 - (H) Penal Institutions and correctional institutions.
                       (1) The minimum distance separation is two thousand five hundred
                             (2,500) feet from any plot in an agricultural or rural district.
                       ~~(2) The maximum size is seven hundred fifty (750) beds and one~~                              ~~hundred thousand (100,000) square feet of gross floor area.~~
                       ~~(3)~~ The minimum plot size is twenty (20) acres.

Mr. Keith Poliakoff then goes on to tell the Council that this change "gets away from the restriction on the beds and the square footage." Again he touts that the Council "would have to approve the site plan anyway," just like he did in the December 2010 meetings and "if it's not approved, it would prohibit us from applying for the ICE proposal." We have to wonder if this this rigged too? See Plat Note Delegation Rigged? Emails dated September 30, 2012 between Sam Poole (CCA's atty), Michell Mellgren (Town Planner) and Keith Poliakoff show that this is being done at the instruction of CCA's attorney Sam Poole. This email is very interesting as a normal homeowner has to wait an average of 10 months for a permit, yet CCA can come in and request the town code to be changed!! WOW!

He then discusses the letter he received back from ICE in which it said that they (ICE) would like Southwest Ranches to submit a proposal to them. We’re not sure, but since when do you reply to an RFP (request for proposal) and they write back a letter inviting you to give them a proposal. Wouldn't that have been what you were doing when you originally responded? Mr. Keith Poliakoff then asserts his position that "this has to be adopted to make sure that we are in line for the possible GRANT OPPORTUNITY." A GRANT OPPORTUNITY? Since when is an IGSA (Inter-Governmental Service Agreement) considered a GRANT OPPORTUNITY? Note, that such an important item is the last item on the agenda, that there weren't many people present and that there was NO PUBLIC COMMENT on this item or any real discussion. It passed UNANIMOUSLY! Nelson, Knight, Fisikelli, McKay and Breitkreuz all voting “YES!”

The Town Attorney’s got more spin than any politician we've seen! Where does the Town attorney end and the Lobbyist begin? Guess that comes with the territory, when you have a lawyer whose firm also doubles as a lobbying firm for your town. That one way to tweak the situation of the federal government wanting to put one of the largest immigration detention centers in the state (to possibly house the BULK of all the state of Florida's illegal immigrants) and he spins it as a GRANT OPPORTUNITY? We have to wonder if he's practicing as a lobbyist for CCA or as the Town's Attorney? Where do his loyalties lie?

With all that we have seen in the October 2010 and subsequent meetings, we have to wonder who exactly is running the town- the elected town council members or the unelected town attorney? One way to start cleaning house is to vote on Tuesday, November 6, 2012.

Sam Poole RemovingBedLimit&SqFt

Pro-Prison Mayor Jeff Nelson says the prison is gone, but the Jail's NOT GONE!!

2012-10-22T00:02:00.001-04:00

Wake Up People!!

We've warned you several times that this Prison isn't gone and that CCA owns the property and we should remain vigilant. Well, do you believe us now?? You'll see in the document below from a firm that CCA hired to help them with the application of the well, Milian, Swain & Associates that CCA is moving forward with trying to get water for their property however SFWMD states there has to be need. With the ICE facility "gone"... we have been vigilantly keeping an eye on things.

CCA_10-2012_WellApplicaion

As the letter above indicates, CCA is digging "test wells" to acquire water for a prison that they have a site plan for that looks an awful lot like a detention center and they have submitted these plans to South Florida Water Management District.

We all know from Mayor Jeff Nelson's statements that he fully supports the prison. Becker & Poliakoff and CCA's attorneys have given him money to be reelected plain and simply based on his position for the prison. They have plans to bring some sort of prison to that land and Mayor Nelson supports it. Do we want a repeat of what happened with the Davie Landfill causing the nearby wells to be shutdown? The Town of Southwest Ranches well system is in JEOPARDY and the Town is completely SILENT! We have to ask, who is protecting the Town's well system?

Mayor Nelson also plainly stated at the debate on October 4th, 2012 that "the prison was gone"... and that they "voted to sue Pembroke Pines over the prison". If the prison is gone, why would CCA be digging a well? Is this just another one of Mayor Nelson's Lies?? In addition, The Town has now filed a lawsuit against Pembroke Pines for cancelling it's agreements with the Town. One of which the Town cancelled first and Pembroke Pines simply honored their request (Roadways & Other Matters) and the Fire/EMS Agreement had a 9 month cancellation clause. When will the Town attorney take responsibility for his errors in trying to "slip" the water into the Fire/EMS contract with Pembroke Pines?? Is there a reason why the Town Attorney is pushing this so hard? How many more lies can we take?

We feel that this lawsuit has no merit as there is no causation. In addition, FOIA documents recently received from ICE specifically state that the Town removed ITSELF from consideration. On page 7 of the ICE FOIA concerning bed needs in South Florida it states,

Unfortunately, due to a multitude of factors and political pressures, the Town of Southwest Ranches removed itself from consideration from moving forward with the construction of the facility. --Page 7, second paragraph

So, what kind of case does the Town really have? This case only benefits one person and you can figure out who that is on your own.... The taxpayers in both Southwest Ranches and Pembroke Pines lose.

Our Town obviously needs better leadership than this. It seems as though Mayor Nelson is content to take money from people he authorizes contracts and writes checks for... He is steadfastly Pro-Prison, regardless of the financial implications for our Town and appears to be lying to us at every turn when asked about the Prison. Why would our Town want to go down the same path of Clewiston?? Clewiston was once a beautiful farming community with lots of promise that now is a Prison sinkhole that depends on that type of industry and all the security risk that comes with it. Is that what we want for Southwest Ranches??

We feel like someone is going to jump out at any moment and yell "you've just been PUNK'D"!! Sadly, we have to keep on winding down this Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole to see where it finally ends...

ICE FOIA

Follow the Money in Southwest Ranches with Mayor Jeff Nelson

2012-10-21T18:56:00.001-04:00

Now that almost all of the Mayoral Campaign Treasurer Reports are in, we wanted to give you a break down on WHO is giving money to the Pro-Prison Mayor's reelection bid.

We have taken the liberty of COLOR CODING the contributions because we understand that you may not know who some of the contributors are. This will help the voters of Southwest Ranches know who they are voting for before they go to the polls. A financially backed pro prison Mayor? Or are you going to elect someone who has the Resident's and the Town's best interests in mind?

RED - $1300.00 of Mayor Nelson's campaign contributions came directly or indirectly from the Town Attorney, Keith Poliakoff of Becker & Poliakoff, P.A. to the Jeff Nelson for Mayor campaign that we know of. The same person who enforces code and had attacked Holly Hugdahl for not having permits for her small election signs. Just like they had attacked residents for placing Anti-Prison signs on their property's. MORE HERE.

BLACK - A Minimum of 53% or $11,750 of Mayor Nelson's campaign contributors require or have required a Town Council vote or Town Council vote approval or have had their Company invoice approved with the Town of Southwest Ranches with a check signed by "Mayor Jeff Nelson." Is this right? Should a majority of our Mayor's contributions come from people making money from our Town?

BLUE - 76% or 79 of Mayor Nelsons 104 total campaign contributions come from sources that are NOT RESIDENTS of the Town of Southwest Ranches. Is it right that the candidate doesn't get a bulk of their support from the community they wish to represent??

Total Contributions: $22,295

Source: Florida Department of State Division of Elections Campaign Treasurers Report Summary, 07/21/12 to 08/09/12 & 08/10/12 to 09/14/12 & 09/15/12 to 09/28/12. All public information was obtained from and is available on http://www.southwestranches.org.
Mayor Jeff Nelson Campaign Tresurer Reports ALL

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

2012-10-17T22:46:00.001-04:00

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.

At an October 2nd, 2012 meeting that Mayor Jeff Nelson had with the Hispanic Coalition to get their endorsement for his run for reelection, Mayor Nelson was asked about the Southwest Ranches detention center specifically. His response was that "Broward County Commission approved a 4,000 bed County Prison that's going right beside the 2,400 bed prison that CCA is building." He said that, "construction on the County Prison is going to start immediately!"

We were curious if the Broward County Commission had recently voted on it and we didn't know so we asked our County Commissioner Lois Wexler if there had been any recent discussion about this. Here is the official response from her office.

Good Morning,

The County has no plans, and no funding, at this time, to construct a 4000 bed prison next to the State prison. As to the status and future plans for the Women’s Prison, you would have to contact your State Representative as that is a State owned and operated facility.

Sincerely,

Margaret

Margaret Wolter
Aide to Lois Wexler
Broward County Board of County Commissioners
Phone: 954-357-7005
Fax: 954-357-7044

Clearly Mayor Nelson was not telling the Hispanic Coalition the truth. Along with the other talking point of there being a State Women's Prison by the CCA property which has now been debunked as well. The Women's Prison is CLOSED!! See the State of Florida's official response below!

Mr. REDACTED,

Your inquiry concerning Broward Correctional Institution was forwarded to my office for response. Broward CI has been closed and will no longer house inmates incarcerated in the Florida Department of Corrections.

Sincerely
Vicki Newsome
Assistant Bureau Chief
Classification Management

So there you have it folks! Mayor Jeff Nelson was caught in yet another lie in his attempts at forwarding the Correction Corporation of America's prison scheme. It seems odd that he would go to such lengths to push the agenda of CCA... One has to wonder WHY???

In addition, Mayor Nelson's comments at the October 4, 2012 Town Debate had us shocked when he said that the detention center had gone away and would not be back when clearly he had said to the Hispanic Coalition the week prior that CCA was in fact building a prison. Since ICE has supposedly gone away, what new customer could they entice? Bureau of Prisons? US Marshalls?? Only time will tell what ends up happening, but we can say with definite certainty that Mayor Jeff Nelson is LYING THROUGH HIS TEETH about the Broward County building a prison anytime soon! How can we ever trust anything that comes out of his mouth??

Mayoral Candidate Holly Hugdahl Discusses Outrage of Requiring Permits to Excercise Political Free Speech

2012-10-15T13:51:00.001-04:00

Listen to Mayoral candidate Holly Hugdahl's interview with Jimmy Cefalo this morning on www.610wiod.com. She discusses the Town Attorney's actions in directing Code Enforcement to cite residents who don't get permits for their small political lawn signs!

Is it Safe for Them to go Back Into the Water?

It's as if the law firm of Becker Poliakoff doesn't even understand the basics of protected first amendment political speech. Bob Norman's News 10 reported on Thursday, October 11th, 2012. Where is the Town Council reviewing the decisions of Town Attorney Keith Polaikoff? Also, watch the Norman piece to see the Town Attorney Keith Poliakoff turn tail and run from the camera and refusing to justify his anti first amendment position.

Keith Poliakoff has broken decorum by actually supporting the pro prison, incumbent mayor Jeff Nelson in the upcoming election. Strangely, it's only been Nelson's opponents who have been cited by Code Enforcement which works under the direction of the Town Attorney. We wonder if Mayor Nelson and Poliakoff actually hatched this hair brained attempt to limit free speech themselves or are just acting "independently" on the complaints of pro Nelson supporter and intimidator, Dee Schroeder. It would be in character with Poliakoff's "cone of silence", repeated stonewalling of public records requests, and infamous email where he advised the Town Council to keep the prison plans quiet because "the sharks are circling" to try and suppress dissent elsewhere.

Here are the simple facts:

The Code Enforcement department is at the direction of the Town Attorney
The Town Attorney has the ability to override judgements of the Magistrate
The Town Attorney asked Stan Morris to require the candidate to turn in permits for small signs
The same Town Attorney is supporting the incumbent's reelection campaign with thousands of dollars and fundraisers. $1300.00 came directly or indirectly to Mayor Jeff Nelson's campaign from the Town Attorney; Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.

Is he being impartial? You Decide! Incidentally, these are the same tactics that were used by the pro-prison Nelson and Poliakoff when residents were expressing their freedom of speech about the prison.

Listen to the interview by clicking the audio bar below Jimmy's picture:

Jeff Nelson - Campaign Contributions - TR F2-3

Top Ten Lies of Mayor Jeff Nelson!

2012-10-06T21:10:00.001-04:00

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!

10. ... and is readily accessible via ground transportation options including bus, Amtrak and Tri-Rail allowing convenient access to detainees. -- This whopper was garnered from a letter the Town (approved by Nelson) draft ed for Senator Nelson and Representative Wasserman-Schultz's endorsement letter and was later reduced to "... is accessible by bus, Amtrak and Tri-Rail." The nearest bus station with limited availability is at the FIU/Pines Charter High School campus over 3 miles away. We wondered how these families were supposed to get to the detention center from the bus station? Walk? This is clearly reaching!

9. The site is also bordered by two major arterial roadways including United States Highway Route US 27 and State Route 822, a six lane divided state roadway commonly known at Sheridan Street. As such, none of the facilities traffic will impact any of the local roadways. -- Another one taken from the same draft letter. I don't know how you get to work in the morning, but I'm pretty sure that at least half of the Ranchers take Sheridan to work or to drop the kids off at school. Do you know where there are six lanes? Right by the entrance and exit of I-75 and Dykes. It quickly drops to 4 lanes and then drops again to 2 lanes across just after 184th. Commuters getting to and from school and work would definitely be impacted, so this is just plain false!

8. The Detention Center is too far along. (WPLG Interview - Dec 2011) - In this "excuse" he refers to the fact that there were agreements with Pembroke Pines... Our guess is that he's referring to the Fire/EMS agreement that included a stipulation to provide water to a 2500 bed facility. The size we believe CCA would ultimately wish to expand to, but an agreement that had a 9-month cancellation clause that Pembroke Pines chose to utilize. Interestingly, it seems as though the water servicing the facility was KEY to the Town to sneak in because according to the Town Attorney's emails, he was very relieved when he was able to put that piece into the agreement.

7. CCA can just dig a well! (November 5th ICE Meeting) - Now the Town wants to sue the City of Pembroke Pines because they haven't approved the water contract. If they can dig a well, why is there a problem? Here's yet another inaccuracy from the Mayor. How can we believe him?? Doesn't this guy realize he's just being used as a prop? Where are the strings for the marionette? That's right, he was promised so much money for his reelection bid that he would say whatever they wanted him to say.

6. WE HAVE AN EXISTING CONTRACT. IT WAS SIGNED IN 2000. (WPLG Interview - Dec 2011) -- We believe he is referring to the CCA contract that the council approved in 2005. If my memory serves me, The Town was incorporated in June of 2000 so where is this infamous contract that he's referring to? NO one has ever seen this? In addition, during meetings this contract was always discussed as a simple "marketing contract". The official contract wouldn't even come into play until the Town received the IGSA from ICE. Which was NEVER RECEIVED.

5. THEY ARE BUILDING AN ACCESS ROAD -- (Dec 2011) -- Really? Where is it? We can't confirm this statement anywhere either.

4. There is nothing we can do... (WPLG Interview - Dec 2011) -- Another one of those mind numbing propaganda statements. Did they really think that this would stand with us? Mayor Nelson has said this repeatedly. The Mayor of the Town with the "marketing agreement" with CCA can't do anything. This was proven false again and again. In order for CCA to exercise their Land Rights, they have to get the Town to sign an IGSA (Inter-Governmental Service Agreement). It's a federal loophole that basically lets ICE contract with these private prison companies instead of having to go through a whole bidding process. So ICE contracts with these different municipalities throughout the country where CCA or Geo-Group own land and the towns get a cut of the per-diem for being a "host" to these facilities. We have found that there was always something the Mayor could do. He could not approve the IGSA between the Town and ICE. Until the end, while the other Council members may have swayed from their original stance later saying they wouldn't approve the IGSA unless it was financially beneficial to the Town, Mayor Nelson was adamant that there was no way out, why do you think this is?? In addition, the Mayor went so far as to try and combat the oppositions efforts by writing to ICE Director Gary Mead and President Obama trying to minimize and undermine the opposition the people felt towards the project. What kind of Democracy does Mayor Nelson live in? This type of excuse may work in countries like Iran, Russia or China, but we the people will not stand for this type of representation.

3. CCA IS PULLING PERMITS! -- Permits for Excavating?? Not permits to build. Anyone who knows anything in business, no one is going to build a multimillion dollar facility unless the contract ink has dried. Did he really think we were that stupid? As we saw tractors out there we knew that without a contract, they would not be building. That just didn't make good business sense. In the end, they were just PUSHING DIRT because the Town Attorney Keith Poliakoff kept telling them to!

2. THE CONTRACT FROM ICE WILL BE HERE IN 2 WEEKS!
-- We had been hearing this since December... It never arrived did it?

1. THIS IS A DONE DEAL!! -- How many times did we hear him say this? Well, it's done now... isn't it??

REMEMBER, CCA still owns this property. They are like a silent disease waiting in the wings to spring up. Don't forget how the CCA Plat Note was rigged! We need to elect people into office that are going to urge CCA to sell their property now that it is known that the people do not want a prison. Based on your experience with the Mayor, do you think Jeff Nelson will do this? CCA is NOT GONE! Look at Mayor's Nelson's Campaign report! CCA Attorney's Sam Poole and Leonard Samuels BOTH gave money to him! ALL of Bergeron's Companies gave money to him! Along with all the other Contractors/Special Interest Groups for the Town. I will leave you with that.

Don't forget to VOTE NOVEMBER 6th! You can register to vote until October 9th, 2012!

Jeff Nelson - Campaign Contributions - TR F2-3

Plat Note Delegation Request Rigged??

2012-09-30T12:18:00.000-04:00

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!

So, during these Attorney comments from Keith Poliakoff at the December 15th, 2010 meeting he brings up the fact that CCA is applying for this plat note amendment increase to Broward County and they need to submit it quickly to have it coincide with their submission of their whitepaper to ICE so they can say they are able to accommodate the 2200 detainees mentioned in ICE's RFP. There was no vote on whether to send the letter, there was only a three minute discussion and then they decided to have a public meeting on it the first meeting in January 2011. However they still sent the letter dated December 16th, 2010. What does a public hearing do after the letter has been sent?

The Broward County Senior Planner Evangeline Kalus submits in an email dated days before the December 15th Council Meeting to Keith Poliakoff asserts that this type of backtracking is not possible,

If they write a letter of no objection, then it’s no objection. They can’t take it back later.

But we find it rather curious that the Town's own contracted Planning Department (The Mellgren Planning Group) senior planner Jeff Katims opinion agrees with our assessment that the Town having a public hearing after sending a letter is rather moot in addition to calling Poliakoff''s advice to the Town Council into question that they would be able to object at a later date.

Keith, this is not the same as when the council issues a letter consenting to concurrent county review of a plan amendment prior to formal council action, whereby the town reserves the right to do whatever it wants at a later date.

However, Mr. Poliakoff keeps alleging to the Town Council during both meetings that it could be taken back later that they didn't have to approve the site plan. HOW IS THAT? Several attorney's we have spoken to say that once a plat note amendment is approved to increase whatever... it's done. Just like Broward County's Senior Planner AND the Town's Planners say the Town can't object after it approves a letter of no objection.

Luckily for Mr. Poliakoff, it was approved at the January 6th, 2011 meeting. However we believe it to be based on the information the Town Council was given by Mr. Poliakoff and confirmed by Michelle Mellgren and CCA attorney Sam Poole (Who all gave money to Mayor Jeff Nelson's reelection). It's surprising that Michelle would contradict her colleague Jeff. We've got alot of Attorneys in the Town who can feel free to weigh in on this slight of hand by our Town Attorney with our Town Council. This isn't a matter of perception. This is simply giving inaccurate advice to our Council. Who wants to call Broward State Attorney Micheal Satz? Feel Free! (954) 831-7487

Sources are taken from the Town Video of Meetings dated December 15th, 2010 & January 6th, 2011.
SWR_PlatNote_NoObjection_BrowardCounty_12-16-2010
No Objections Later
TownPlannerConfusion_JeffKatims_TMPG

Don't forget all of Debbie's Lie's On Election Day!

2012-09-28T11:04:00.001-04:00

Much to all of our shock and dismay, our Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz supported the Detention Center in our Town, near our homes, schools and our children. She even put in a "cursory letter of support" for it. However, this would seem to not be the case since there is a clear history of her supporting this detention center and the private prison system in general. Let us describe her history with the prison in our Town.

She was in the State Legislature at the time of the Town's incorporation in which the non-contiguous prison parcel was pulled into the incorporation of our town.
She submitted a letter of support for the facility favoring the Southwest Ranches/CCA proposal.
She had accepted money from CCA right after her letter of support was issued. We all know that money is often hidden in other PACs earmarked for certain candidates.
We even have an email stating they "thanked her for her efforts" that enabled our Town to get this contract with ICE. What other efforts could they be referring to?

How many more lies must we take from our Representative? In addition to this, she has been caught lying about what Israel's ambassador said and turned it into a partisan statement that Republicans were dangerous for Israel.

Yet the audio of her actual words clearly states that she said what the reporter said.

She lies about the changes that Paul Ryan wants to do to FIX Medicare which is crumbling from all the borrowing from our Representatives and Senators have approved over the years including the borrowing that happened with the Health Care Reform Act that the Obama administration pushed. Paul Ryan has clearly stated numerous times that for seniors who currently receive Medicare that their plan wouldn't change and that the changes would be for those 55 and younger. Let us be clear that no matter how you feel about what was good or bad about the Healthcare Reform Act/Obamacare, our Representatives shouldn't be lying about proposals to fix the ailing Medicare system brought forward by another Representative. We shouldn't be scaring senior voters into voting for any party because they are being told the wrong information. This is not giving voters the facts.

She lies about Romney's stance on Abortion.

We want to be clear that this is a non-partisan group, not connected to any candidate and we are simply trying to let the people in our district (the newly created District 23) know about all these lies our Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz tells furthering her and the DNC's agenda. She supported and advanced this detention center and pushed for the private prison industry when the democratic party is supposed to be for unionized labor and immigration reform. Why would she push for a new prison to lock immigrants and their families up in? Why would she want to waste more tax dollars on a company with such a horrible human rights record and history of riots to be placed near our schools that could end up in lock down. Don't forget the widely publicized riot in the CCA prison that happened in May of this year.

No matter which side of the aisle you are on, how can we get actual immigration reform if we are just building more and more prisons? How is the Federal Government spending MORE money to keep this facility at 90% capacity helping our economy when the other two facilities are underused? How many more lies are there going to be if she is reelected? Shouldn't we be discouraging this by not re-electing people into office who lie to us? Use your voice in your vote on November 6th!

Election day is November 6th, so please make sure you are registered to vote and get to the polls. Tell Debbie it's not ok to lie to her constituents especially Seniors who get taken advantage of already too much. They should be able to trust their Representatives when they speak!

The Prison Industrial Complex, Coming to a Plat Near YOU!

2012-09-18T15:01:00.000-04:00

Via: Rehab International

Resident Outrage on the Road Closures in Sun Sentinel

2012-09-07T13:26:00.000-04:00

End Southwest Ranches blockade
Congratulations to the town of Southwest Ranches and more specifically the town council. For those of us who live in The Trails and Durango Estates in Pembroke Pines, you have closed off all roads leading to Griffin Road. First there was 199th, 202nd, and 205th Avenues, and now the road that we were taking to get to 208th Lane has been blocked. And just so you know, it has a lock and chain on it so no emergency vehicles can pass through there either.

Please don't tell me this is about anything except the detention center that is at the core of this issue. We all know that the detention center was planned and of course behind everyone's back, even the residents in Southwest Ranches. Had you driven up and down 199, 202, or 205 you would have seen signs that said "No Prison" in both Southwest Ranches and Pembroke Pines. How blind could you have been to the people who put you in office? You really wanted a prison in your backyard, well not really in your backyard, more like a prison that you got all the financial benefits from but in Pembroke Pines.

To the mayor of Southwest Ranches —- that would be you, Jeff Nelson, the assistant principal at Cypress Bay — can you please tell me what lessons you are teaching your students when you do what you do and close the roads to your neighbors? The words that come to mind are isolationist and separatist. Does the Berlin Wall bring back memories of when you were in school, you know that wall they actually tore down not too many years ago? Shame on you.

Danny Zuccari, Pembroke Pines

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/fl-letters-friday-0907-20120907,0,3481431.story#tugs_story_display

Who owns Mayor Jeff Nelson??

2012-09-02T19:05:00.000-04:00

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 Idiots Guide to Profits!

2012-08-27T23:17:00.000-04:00

prof·it/ˈpräfit/

Noun:

A financial gain, esp. the difference between the amount earned and the amount spent in buying, operating, or producing something.

It seems that some attorneys recently have had a hard time understanding what the word profit means. So much so that it's beginning to make us question what they are teaching kids in college nowadays. We decided to concentrate on this word in today's blog post to give those that don't understand it, a little accounting lesson they must have missed out on while getting their law degree.

We wanted to give everyone a broad range of definitions for the word profit so the could see how it is used in the different worlds in Accounting and Finance. In the Finance world, profit is the financial return or reward that entrepreneurs aim to achieve to reflect the risk that they take. The accounting definition is simply the difference between revenue and costs. Here is the mathematical representation of the equation.

REVENUE - COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) = PROFIT

Why do we feel we need to spend our valuable time explaining this? Well, it's come to our attention that the Town of Southwest Ranches is pretty sore about not getting the detention center pick and now wish to create even more havoc in our lives by dragging the City of Pembroke Pines and the Town of Southwest Ranches into a lawsuit because they say they lost out on "profits". At the time of the deal being killed the Town had not presented anyone with any type of contract that delineated any profits but we'll get back to the profits discussion later.

Mediation has failed over the last several months between the two municipalities and now the Town is coming out GUNS BLAZING! Who is pulling out the guns? None other than Town Attorney Keith Poliakoff of Becker & Poliakoff along with CCA's attorneys (AKA "DEEP POCKETS") Sam Poole and Leonard Samuels of Berger Singerman, who will probably say they will fund the lawsuit just to stick it to Pines for not going along with their prison plans.

An interesting quote from Susannah Bryant's Sun Sentinel article,

Southwest Ranches officials accuse Pembroke Pines of breach of contract for reneging on an agreement not to 'interfere'

OK, If we remember correctly the Town cancelled the Roadways Agreement first and all the City of Pembroke Pines did was honor their wishes. They wanted to cancel it and the City did just that. Now they want to turn and sue because they honored their wishes? This enabled the Town to expeditiously close roads in the west side of Southwest Ranches on 199th, 202nd and 205th Streets. They were SO happy to be able to do this, they were quoted by Doug McKay to be "Happier than Pigs In Slop!", but they wouldn't have been able to do this with this agreement still intact. In it, was a hidden non-interference clause forbidding the City from interfering with the Town's prison plans thus enabling them to continue to get increase after increase in the bed counts with Pines having it's hands tied behind it's backs unable to speak up for the residents nearby and the schools that were there prior and after this plat became a prison parcel. SO that's the agreement about the roads and "non-interference."

Now we turn to the Fire/EMS agreement... This had the last minute addition that Pines would provide water/sewer to the prison while almost the entire Southwest Ranches is on a well system. The addition that Mr. Dodge took approximately a WHOLE SIX MINUTES to consider before conceding the water addition in the Fire/EMS agreement to Southwest Ranches. Also, Jeff Nelson has been quoted many a times as saying that the CCA could just dig a well on many occasions and why would Pembroke Pines not want to get the profits from selling water to CCA for the prison. ?? Yes, Profits. Revenue minus Costs. This agreement was cancelled for convenience (9 months), a provision that the Town agreed to. This final cancellation completely severs any ties that Pembroke Pines might have had with the prison property. They were no longer enabling a project that would only have put the community at grave risk.

SO now we are present day where mediation seems to have failed and now the Town Attorney is pushing this along with CCA's attorneys as they were in attendance at the most recent mediation.

They [ICE] don't want controversy," Southwest Ranches Mayor Jeff Nelson said. "They don't want to read about this in the newspaper. -- Sun Sentinel, July 31, 2012

Maybe ICE realized they were dealing with a bunch of amateurs and decided it wasn't a right fit seeing as everything the Town does ends up in some sort of controversy one way or another. Name an issue: Road Closures, Land Deals, Fire Contract conflicts with Weston, Davie and Pembroke Pines... ICE must have realized to put a prison in this municipality would bring alot of scrutiny to the project and decided against it. No one really knows... How would a Judge know what ICE was thinking when they decided to pull the site selection? Only one person TRULY knows.

In addition to the Town being sore, there has been "posturing" in the press from both the Town Attorney Keith Poliakoff of Becker & Poliakoff and CCA's hired gun, Leonard Samuels of Berger Singerman. They claim that the Town & CCA has lost out on this huge amount of PROFITS! Profits that they seem to calculate in some "New Math" that they must have taught in them fancy law degree schools.

Had the detention center come to town, Southwest Ranches was to have been paid $1.6 million a year plus $350,000 in annual property taxes, Poliakoff said. -- Sun Sentinel, July 31, 2012

In what contract was this stipulated? That's RIGHT! There wasn't ever a contract from ICE. In addition, what was it going to cost the Town to have this prison for increased police, bonding, indemnity, hire new staff to oversee millions of dollars of transactions that were going to be going through the town coffers, etc that would then have to be taken from the prison "income" that would then equal the profits. Again, this attorney doesn't seem to understand how to calculate profits... We hope he can balance his checkbook, let alone the mounting legal bills he's charging the Town of Southwest Ranches for! We think the Town needs to take a longer look at who they are hiring to represent them and see if they have had problems in math during their educational background. Did we mention he just talked the Town Council into voting to sue Pembroke Pines so they can discuss strategy in the shade... once he's gotten this ball rolling it's going to be a tough bell to un-ring in the courts. Poor Freddy didn't even know what he was voting on as he had to get things clarified for him twice. KA-CHING for Poliakoff... Bad News for our Town Budget!!

REVENUE - COGS (Cost of Goods Sold)/COST = PROFIT
**Attorney's Cliff Notes on how to calculate PROFITS**

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

Letter to the Town Council on Suing Pembroke Pines

2012-08-24T09:52:00.000-04:00

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!

School Buses and the Road Closures do not equal SAFETY

2012-08-21T19:13:00.002-04:00

We weren't planning on blogging about this, but since we advocate for the community and this issue came up we felt compelled to let everyone know. Since the road closures went up there has been alot of upset people on both sides, Southwest Ranches AND Pembroke Pines. The Town Council has said that they were closing the roads for "Public Safety" as they voted to close them at an emergency meeting without sufficient notice to the effected residents. However, now the Broward County School Board has pushed the bus stops to be on a dangerously busy Griffin road.

Janine Stanwood from Local 10 did some coverage on it last night.
http://www.local10.com/news/Gates-keep-school-buses-out-of-Southwest-Ranches/-/1717324/16203062/-/uesd70z/-/index.html
And then John Turchin did another story today after hearing what the Town had to say.
http://www.local10.com/news/Southwest-Ranches-blames-Broward-for-bus-problems/-/1717324/16214212/-/13k8iqiz/-/index.html

What we can't understand is WHY wasn't the Town Council working with the School Board to make this transition painless PRIOR to school starting? They sent a letter... THAT'S GREAT! But, what are they doing to be proactive for the children in the Community?? Are they THIS out of TOUCH? This is just a continued "business as usual" of the Town not being IN FRONT of an issue and getting things done for the PEOPLE that live in the Town. Is the Town just using the School Board bus woes in their favor?? For someone that is an assistant principal (Jeff Nelson), he sure has NO CONNECTION at the School Board for our Town. Way to put children's safety first Jeff! Is it going to take someone's kid getting hurt and then a huge lawsuit against the Town before people WAKE UP?!!

You can decide at the Ballot Box in November! Make sure you are registered to vote!

Jeff Nelson breakin' the law...

2012-08-20T22:14:00.001-04:00

Now that the primary is over, our elections are in FULL SWING!

Setting a good example and abiding by the rules isn't something you would expect from Beavis and Butthead, however we should expect that from the Mayor of our Town, right? Well, we aren't getting that from Mayor Nelson. Not that we're trying to be picky, we feel obligated to point out how Mayor Nelson isn't abiding by the law of our Town. According to the Town's sign ordinance (law) passed in 2010, campaign signs are NOT ALLOWED to be displayed until 60 day's prior to the election. Don't take our word for it, download Ordinance 2011-01 for yourself HERE. (Page 31, Section M-1-e)

It was passed unanimously by the Town Council on October 20, 2010. Jeff Nelson voted on it, so you would think he had read it, right? We understand how some people might not remember something they VOTED on, PASSED, and then SIGNED. So, how could he have missed it in the Candidate Handbook that all candidates were given? Surely he reviewed the requirements to refresh the old noggin'?

Our best guess is that Jeff Nelson didn't read the candidate rules either since the sign below has been up for the past several weeks. It makes you wonder what other "rules" he skirts around for his convenience? Also, if he didn't READ the Ordinance he passed, what other laws or documents has he NOT READ yet voted for? Moreover, whose counsel is he depending on for the ordinance's contents? This is worse than using "cliff notes" in high school. This shows a complete disconnect for an assistant principal and the Mayor of our town to be taking the "easy route" and not doing what he was elected to do.

Maybe you should ask Mayor Nelson why he's "breakin' the law" next time you see him or you can feel free to email him...

JNELSON@southwestranches.org

(Picture taken on 8/15/2012) - See Green and White sign to the right of Korn's sign

The Nelson Vendetta

2012-08-07T15:20:00.000-04:00

Do you know any of Jeff Nelson's history with Pembroke Pines?

Let us help you better acquaint you with the Mayor's past dealings with Pembroke Pines. Jeff Nelson started working for the Pembroke Pines Golf course managing the pro-shop for $15,000/year in September of 1983 shortly after the City purchased the golf course and Nelson was later elevated to managing the entire golf course. Since 1982, when the City purchased the golf course, it had lost about 2 million dollars during 8 of those years Nelson was in charge. So, the City decided to privatize the golf course in 1993 giving up municipal management.

Incidentally, his father Charles Nelson was a Pembroke Pines commissioner at the time and voted against the privatization. Is this vote a surprise... but hey, of course he wouldn't possibly want his son to be out of a job. If his son Jeff were out of a job, then he might have to move back home !! So, the City offered Jeff a job at another facility. Jeff turned that down and decided to file a lawsuit against Pembroke Pines, instead. He won the lawsuit and the Judge awarded him $282,000 for his nine years of service for letting a facility run at a loss creating a 2 million dollar hole. WOW! If we all could be so lucky! But, in all seriousness, any business looking at any sort of loss is going to look at replacing the management. The fact that he walked away with this hefty sum seems idiotic, but that was the judgement.

We don't know about you, but we think that this shows a pattern. We believe Jeff Nelson clearly has it out for Pembroke Pines now given he has a history of suing Pines. In addition to his demonstrated litigiousness he also seems to have established a pattern of not being able to manage money. Why did the golf course lose so much money and what fault lies with Nelson for this? Consider the financial decisions he's made FOR Southwest Ranches. These range from the purchasing of parks in the Town which at one point saddled Southwest Ranches with over $30 million in completely unfunded obligations, to possible vicarious land deals with Ira Cor, to Richard Rubin's grant writing with wife Diana Wasserman Rubin, or the Prison plans that were not made so public. Also, he was willing to recklessly increase the prison bed count to get increased profits while it isn't in the best interest of the surrounding schools nor residents who have kids going to those schools. This really shows poor leadership, poor financial responsibility, and poor judgement.

He even lists his specialty as "School & Education" on his bio on the Town Website. We don't see where he was using these skills when he said "the school board should have looked at what was zoned for that area".. when asked about the prison plats close proximity to the newly built West Broward High school. Perhaps Mr. Nelson should have warned Broward County School Board that they were going to build a state of the art $140 million high school 1.1 miles from an immigration prison. Is this the man you want to be Mayor of OUR TOWN? Do you want someone that is supported by Lawyers, Lobbyists and Private Prison companies just so they can remain in power of the Town and get more $$?

Feel free to review the following references:
Pines Ordered to pay Ex-Worker Sun Sentinel May 3, 1996
City to appeal decision - Sun Sentinel May 9, 1996
Jeff Nelson recklessly agrees to increase of bed space from 1500 to 2200!! -
Email between Keith Poliakoff, Sam Poole (CCA Atttorney) and Mayor Jeff Nelson
Cash Cow - Broward-Palm Beach New Times, Bob Norman
Ira Cor FBI Sting - Broward-Palm Beach New Times, Bob Norman
Jeff Nelson's Campaign Contributions

Jeff Nelson... Leadership of Southwest Ranches?

2012-07-30T15:25:00.001-04:00

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.

The entire CCA contract can be downloaded here.

The West Berlin wall erected in Southwest Ranches!

2012-07-25T23:32:00.000-04:00

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...

Fleece me, Please!

2012-07-11T05:56:00.000-04:00

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.

Southwest Ranches Press Release!

2012-06-19T19:26:00.000-04:00

The Town of Southwest Ranches has released a statement regarding the cancellation of the ICE Detention Center. In it, it blames the uncertainty of water and sewer services and the associated NEPA process that the government must have found it needed to complete before moving forward in the contracting process. For those that haven't heard about the NEPA, it's basically an environmental study that is required when the government takes a financial action where it brings into account things like water use, public safety and other factors.

In addition, last month CCA had recently applied with the South Florida Water Management District to dig a well into the Biscayne Aquifer. This is something I don't see the Town Council allowing to happen since the wells for the entire Town's population could be negatively affected by this rather large commercial well use of about 60 million gallons of water per year. In addition, the letter back to CCA notes the continued "grazing land" or infamous "ag exemption" they had received for the past 12 years to avoid paying taxes on their prison parcel. They still hold the Ag Exemption on the property even though the property appraiser says it was taken off.

Essentially, they were not very forthcoming with the South Florida Water Management District that the permit was for a large commercial use and a prison of at least 1500 beds. Documents regarding the drilling into the aquifer can be found here. (Application #120514-14). The RAI letter from SFWMD to CCA can be viewed here, section 2.

According to the Town's press release, President Obama's announcement regarding a shift in DHS deportation priorities (something several members from RAID had warned the Town Council could happen) had nothing to do with it. On Friday, June 15th the President held a press conference to discuss this change in policy stating,

... deportation will no longer apply to immigrants who came into the country before they were 16 and are now younger than 30, have lived here for five straight years, have never been convicted of a crime or graduated from high school or got a GED. Such immigrants will be allowed to apply for a two-year work permit that can be renewed unlimited times.

This statement renders a new detention center unnecessary as it would pertain to approximately 800,000 undocumented immigrants and ICE released a statement saying as much. Shortly after the President's announcement the following statement was released by ICE,

ICE has reevaluated its need for an additional detention facility in South Florida and has decided that it will no longer pursue a facility in the Town of Southwest Ranches. We are examining our options for additional detention space in the region and will make the appropriate notifications when a decision about the way forward has been made.

You can read the Town's full press release below:

Written by: Ryann Greenberg

VICTORY!

2012-06-15T17:34:00.001-04:00

*** LATE BREAKING NEWS! DATELINE SOUTHWEST RANCHES, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA JUNE 15, 2012

ICE PULLS PLUG ON SWR FACILITY.

IN A FIGHT WITH A CORRUPT, INSULAR TOWN GOVERNMENT, A BEHEMOTH ALPHABET SOUP FEDERAL AGENCY, AND THE EVER PREDATORY PRISON, INC. TO PLACE A 2500 BED IMMIGRANT PRISON IN OUR BACK YARDS WHICH BEGAN ALMOST EXACTLY A YEAR AGO APPEARS TO HAVE ENDED AN IGNOMINIOUS DEATH.

MULTIPLE SOURCES AT THE LOCAL LEVEL AND IN MEDIA HAVE CONFIRMED THAT DHS'S IMMIGRATION CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT (ICE) HAVE PULLED THE PLUG ON THE PROPOSED CCA / SWR FEDERAL IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTER.

THE CENTER HAS BEEN THE TARGET OF A PITCHED BATTLE BETWEEN RESIDENTS WHO DON'T WANT THE FACILITY AND EVERYBODY ELSE FROM CCA TO MAYOR JEFF NELSON, CONGRESSWOMAN DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ AND SENATOR BILL NELSON. PINES COMMISSIONER CARL SHECHTER SAID IT HAS BEEN THE MOST BLISTERING GRASSROOTS CAMPAIGN HE'S EVER SEEN.

WE ARE WAITING FOR THE MEDIA REPORTS WHICH SHOULD START TO APPEAR OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS TO CONFIRM THIS.

UNFORTUNATELY, THE TOLL HAS BEEN GREAT AND MANY IMMENSE SACRIFICES HAVE BEEN MADE TO DEFEND OUR COMMUNITY FROM THIS INVASION. IN THE END, IT WAS THE ONLY COURSE OF ACTION POSSIBLE. APOLOGIES TO ALL WHO HAVE SUFFERED...

*** END TRANSMISSION