MORE RANDOM THOUGHTS

As promised, I am trying to blog more often. I received good feedback on my recent random thoughts style so here it goes.

CITY MANAGER SEARCH

I sat in on the commission workshop where the three finalists for the city manager position were interviewed. All three candidates had their strong and weak points. Of the three, Lee Feldman, Mike Levenson and Paul DiGiovanni, one stood out to me as the best qualified.

Lee Feldman has 25 years experience here in South Florida and is currently the City Manager of Palm Bay. Mr. Feldman came across as strong, confidant and willing to work with the City Commission more than our previous manager. One statement that stood out to me was that we should we should step "away from managing cities and treating them as communities." "We should treat our citizens as neighbors and not customers"

Maintaining compliance with our City Charter, Mr. Feldman would allow staff to directly interact with commissioners, "after all Commissioners are citizens too". He would "set community involvement day one". Mr. Feldman instituted a 'Telephone Town Hall' meeting wherein he had over 2,000 participating, with 50 questions asked and answered, and over 500 citizens still on line after 2 hours.

He stated that the Fund Balance needs to be gradually drawn down, it should not be used to cover reoccurring expenditures. he stated that "the fund balance should not be the only mechanism to balance the budget". He does not support a zero balance budget "you can never have a true zero balance budget". He believes in a performance budget through action planning. A five year plan is a good option. Mr. Feldman stated that the administrative "organization needs to be reigned in". He stated that he is not a micro manager (we all know how that worked out).

I was extremely impressed with Lee Feldman. He has reached out to the community, department heads, city commissioners. Mr. Feldman spent the entire day observing the afternoon and evening agenda meetings, and appears truly interested in the goings on in my beloved City of Fort Lauderdale. I urge my City Commissioners to select Lee Feldman as our next City Manager.

BIRTH ERS:

Yesterday, President Obama released his long form birth certificate. This non controversy has been following him since January 20, 2009. Finally the Tea Baggers can stick it. I am sure this is not the end, as they will surely find another non issue to interrupt the job at hand which is to fix the economy, bring our troops home and rehabilitate the United States standing on the world theater. Donal Trump, now you can S.T.F.U!

FLEET WEEK:

This week is Fleet Week, where thousands of Sailors and Marines decent on Fort Lauderdale to enjoy our pristine beaches, perform community service, and fully enjoy shore leave. Last night American Legion Post 304 in Dania Beach had the honor of hosting a dinner for crew members of the SS Iwo Jima. Prime Rib, Pork Loin, Chicken Marsala, Halibut were among the choices provided. Prepared by a sharp crew of volunteers (myself included), Chef Patrick Smith (US Marine Corp, ret) served about 25 members of the crew, and 75 other guests and veterans. The food was awesome. We had Ellen providing Karaoke with many of the shipmates joining in. This was a fun and successful evening. I am proud and grateful to our Men and Women in service to our Country. May God bless and protect you all.

Until next time, Namaste'