Hallelujah! We're not alone

It looks like something is slowly happening. The hypocrisy of Red Light Cameras being used as Big Brother's new way of raising revenue might be finally exposed.

I keep hoping that people will finally understand the "rip off" factor of this outrageous scheme of skimming a little more from the battered citizen.

Here is some information from Texas:

Traffic cameras fall out of favor

DALLAS -- Public support for the use of red light cameras in Texas and across the country could be switching to yellow.

Maine, Mississippi and Montana banned red light cameras last year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Six others have considered similar proposals.

In Texas, voters forced College Station to take down its cameras last fall even though the program brought $1 million in revenue to the city, while opponents in Houston say they have enough petition signatures to put the cameras to a vote this fall. Camera opponents in the Texas Legislature say they plan again to try to pass a measure phasing out the cameras statewide.

"There is a backlash, for sure," state Rep. Solomon Ortiz Jr., D-Corpus Christi. "City budgeters are counting on these fines as a revenue stream and simply using the argument of safety as cover."

But cities using the red camera systems, which capture images, and sometimes video of drivers running red lights, insist they have reduced intersection accidents and saved lives.

"They've performed much better than I ever imagined," said Elizabeth Ramirez, chief traffic engineer for Dallas.

She said Dallas has seen declines in red-light accidents at nearly every one of its 59 camera-equipped intersections since the first wave launched in January 2007.

While camera critics dispute the safety data, the money generated has raised eyebrows as collections have pushed into the tens of millions.

With most Texas cities charging civil fines of between $75 and $100 per violation, collections across the state have reached more than $103 million since a revised red-light camera law took effect in 2007. State figures show Houston has collected the largest amount: about $24 million through May.

A 2007 state law requires cities to set aside half of all profits to help fund regional trauma care centers. Most cities use their share for traffic safety and enforcement efforts.

Houston police Sgt. Michael Muench, who oversees that city's red-light camera program, said his department has put its revenues into crash-scene investigation equipment, extra traffic patrols, radar guns and other traffic-related improvements.

An analysis of state figures and the vendor agreements of about a dozen Texas cities show the contracts cities have with camera vendors are the biggest factor in whether a city makes money. Cities rent the cameras from vendors under negotiated terms. Houston's $24 million in collections since 2007 is more than triple the total fines collected by Dallas, according to figures from the state comptroller's office. And in the last two years, Dallas' program has cost more to run than Houston's.

Houston pays a flat monthly fee of $3,000 per camera, plus bonuses if a camera catches a high number of violations. Dallas pays its vendor $3,800 per camera per month. Houston, which has 70 cameras, uses American Traffic Solutions Inc., of Arizona. Dallas has 59 cameras and uses Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services.

Paul Kubosh, a Houston traffic attorney who has led the Houston petition drive to repeal the cameras, accuses the city of "selling the streets to the highest bidder. It's a voter revolt."

Associated Press – July 6, 2010

Henry B. Nathan is a Florida Realtor at United Realty Group Inc.
Visit my website: http://www.condo-southflorida.com
where you can search for Aventura Condos, Florida Condos, Sunny Isles Condos,

More Reasons to oppose Red Light Cameras

Let's talk about Traffic Cameras industry's contributions to elected officers' campaigns. I don't know if this is the case or will ever be the case with our Hallandale commissioners. But I tend to think that it, the way politics are conducted in this country, I wouldn't be surprised that one day it could be a factor. That would be an unacceptable, and regrettable reason, in additional to what we already know about the traffic cameras as revenue generator and a tax in disguise.

There is one more argument.Many experts are now affirming that these red light cameras could actually increase accidents.

Read on the following excerpt from an article published on Boston.com (affiliated to the Boston Globe) – Nov.13, 2009

Governor Deval Patrick is advancing a plan to make Massachusetts the 25th state to let cameras play traffic officer at red lights, an enforcement measure that many police chiefs and mayors have been seeking for years.

The administration’s push has set off a debate that is already unfolding in other states: whether the cameras are there to improve driver safety or whether they represent a new source of revenue for cash-strapped governments. The way Patrick introduced the measure, in a budget bill, has some detractors saying that it is a money grab.

……a newspaper investigation in Chicago showed that city leaders often place the cameras where they are likely to make money, rather than where they are likely to reduce accidents. And federal government studies say that cameras have actually increased some types of crashes, as drivers are tempted to stop short or speed up to avoid being photographed.

,,.. “By putting it in the budget, they’re admitting it’s about money and not about safety,’’ said Ivan Sever, state chapter coordinator of the National Motorists Association, an advocacy group that opposes the cameras. “That’s not right.’’

Sever said the for-profit companies involved in installing the cameras have been pushing cities to use them as revenue generators as part of their business model. And he points out that studies have shown the cameras actually increase rear-end crashes, perhaps because drivers stop suddenly when they notice the warning signs, only to get hit from behind.

But there are questions about both the money and the effectiveness involved in camera enforcement. Investigations by the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune found that the vast majority of tickets were issued to drivers who failed to stop completely before making a right turn at a red light, a traffic violation that rarely leads to a crash. The Tribune report found that local officials were posting the cameras where they were likely to generate cash, rather than where the most serious crashes were occurring.

And although some cameras have generated $60,000 a month, the city of Dallas had to pull more than a fourth of its cameras because they were not earning enough fines to meet operating costs, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Members of the industry that sells the cameras and their relatives have given thousands of dollars to elected officials at the state level.

Michael Cohen, a spokesman for Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray’s political fund, which has received at least $1,225 in contributions from industry employees since 2005, said the donations have not influenced his support. He has supported the technology for years, dating back to his time as mayor of Worcester.

Senator Steven A. Baddour, the Methuen Democrat who is cochairman of the Legislature’s transportation committee, received a $500 contribution from an account executive at Redflex Traffic Systems last year. He said he supports allowing the cameras but would like to reduce the maximum fine from $100. He said that police chiefs in his district support it and that he had never heard of the Redflex employee.

Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill has received more than $4,000 from an industry official at Affiliated Computer Services and his spouse since 2005. Though Cahill has no direct role in the decision on whether to allow the cameras, spokeswoman Alison Mitchell said “he is absolutely opposed to it.’’

“He feels that it’s a back-door way to raise revenue,’’ Mitchell said.

Henry B. Nathan is a Florida Realtor at United Realty Group Inc.
Visit my website: http://www.condo-southflorida.com
where you can search for Aventura Condos, Florida Condos, Sunny Isles Condos,

More about Red Light Traffic Cameras

I am what you can say a reasonably "good driver".

Throughout my 40+ years driving experience, I have accumulated very few and only minor violations or parking tickets.

So why my "unbalanced" anger about these traffic cameras? It's subconscious I guess.

I am not an aggressive or even a combative person. But, for some reason, I feel that somebody has gone over the top this time.

Perhaps I should direct my wrath on the big bankers, the CDO's creators, or the finance crimes perpetrators.

But traffic cameras might just be a symbol of how honest people can be punished and penalized, while their country is in turmoil, a victim of greed and abuse.

While honorable and law-abiding citizens' life savings have melted in all kinds of creative investment schemes, devised by our educated elite and rubber-stamped by regulators and authorities; when truthful persons of all strata of society are struggling with the mortgage meltdown and the unemployment disaster, all we need now is that our local "elite" adds insult to injury.

Am I exaggerating?

Of course.

I read more comments about traffic cameras:

From "TheNewspaper.com" - July 17, 2010

Traffic Cameras Worldwide Go Haywire
Speed cameras and red light cameras in the US and Australia accused innocent motorists of wrongdoing.
Traffic cameraSpeed cameras in California, Florida and Australia are not living up to their image of providing infallible evidence of traffic crimes. To the contrary, officials must find clever excuses to cover for the mistakes that are uncovered with increasing frequency.
In Hallandale, Florida, the private firm American Traffic Solutions mailed a $125 ticket to Phil Kodroff accusing his car of "running a red light" at the intersection of Federal Highway and Hallandale Beach Boulevard on May 22. The Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel reported that Kodroff's vehicle committed this crime at the speed of 0 MPH.
To explain the lack of speed noted on Kodroff's ticket, Hallandale Beach police spokesman Dwayne Flournoy told the Sun Sentinel, "Zero doesn't mean zero."
A motorist in Capitola, California received a red light camera ticket after his car stopped and made a legal turn from 41st Avenue onto Clares Street, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported. Police once again struggled to come up with an explanation.
"It may have not been the person involved that tripped the light," Capitola Police Sergeant Matt Eller told the Sentinel.
In San Diego, red light cameras are randomly flashing motorists who have done nothing wrong, generating up to thirty complaint calls every day. Local police told KGTV-TV that the flashing happens when the red light camera reboots.
A Queensland, Australia electronic engineering teacher is fighting an A$200 speed camera ticket he says is clearly bogus. The Gold Coast News reported that Philip Williams' motorcycle photographed in Robina last November at 79 km/h (49 MPH) in a 60 (37 MPH) zone. Williams argued that even the radar device's manufacturer, Gatsometer, said the device should not be used on a curve. Moreover, other vehicles are visible in the citation photograph, and radar is unable to determine which vehicle produced the speed reading (the citation shows a Gatso radar, not a lidar device).

Henry B. Nathan is a Florida Realtor at United Realty Group Inc.

Visit my website: http://www.condo-southflorida.com

where you can search for Aventura Condos, Florida Condos, Sunny Isles Condos

Hallandale Beach: you're not alone

We're not alone.

Traffic cameras syndrome is spreading fast. And people's reaction too.
Authoritative government and abusive over-taxation used to impose bureaucrats will, must have a limit. This is my humble opinion at least...

I'm glad that I am not the only one worrying about police departments peeping in every little thing we do in life. The law must be respected, but let's not forget that we make the law and the law should be oriented to increase the quality of our life, not the quantity of our misery.

From "TheNewspaper.com" - Monday, July 19, 2010

Ohio: Voters In Two More Cities Poised To Ban Traffic Cameras

A pair of Cuyahoga County, Ohio cities are likely to have a public vote on banning red light cameras and speed cameras in November. A sufficient number of residents in Garfield Heights and South Euclid signed a referendum petition that organizers expect to turn in this week, as early as today. Once approved, these municipalities will join Anaheim, California; Baytown and Houston, Texas; and Mukilteo, Washington in voting on the future of cameras on November 2.

Cuyahoga County for Liberty (CC4L) coordinated the signature gathering effort in conjunction with the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) which successfully built a coalition to defeat Cincinnati's red light cameras in 2008. CC4L Chairman Grant McCallum explained the reason his group decided to fight the cameras in South Euclid.

"It's clearly an overreach of government, as far as I'm concerned," McCallum told TheNewspaper. "It's a way for local governments to extract money from their citizens. It has nothing to do with safety."

City leaders hope to deploy speed cameras and mount cameras on school buses to issue expensive citations. McCallum says he has more than 500 signatures in hand -- double the 251 required to force the vote.

His most successful tactic has been to direct traffic into a drive-thru petition signing area in parking lots that allow supporters to quickly and conveniently register. McCallum says the support has been tremendous.

"Everyone sees this as just a money-grab -- a scam," McCallum said. "Some people are concerned about Big Brother and electronic surveillance, but the majority of people understand it's just another way for the city to make money.... The support is across all the political spectrum."

Garfield Heights has also lined up more than enough signatures. So far, 2300 have said that they want a vote to end cameras, even though only 875 signatures are needed. Once on the ballot, Ohio voters have always approved bans on cameras. Last November Chillicothe and Heath voted to ban them -- with 72 percent of voters in the latter city rejecting automated ticketing. In 2008, residents in Cincinnati, Ohio rejected red light cameras. Seventy-six percent of Steubenville, Ohio voters rejected photo radar in 2006.

Elsewhere, 61 percent of Sykesville, Maryland voters overturned a speed camera ordinance earlier this year.
In 2009, eighty-six percent of Sulphur, Louisiana rejected speed cameras. College Station, Texas also rejected cameras. In the mid-1990s, speed cameras lost by a two-to-one margin in Peoria, Arizona and Batavia, Illinois. In 1997, voters in Anchorage, Alaska banned cameras even after the local authorities had removed them.

Henry B. Nathan is a Florida Realtor at United Realty Group Inc.

Visit my website: http://www.condo-southflorida.com

where you can search for Aventura Condos, Florida Condos, Sunny Isles Condos

More about Traffic Cameras

Did you get it yet?
I hate Traffic Cameras.
The more I read about them, the more I think about them, the more they represent a symbol of greed by inefficient government, resourceful when it comes to overwhelm citizens with new and creative types of taxation, stingy when it amounts to services provided. Here is another story on CBS4.com about Red Light Cameras in South Florida:

Hallandale Beach Red Light Cam Generates Big Bucks

The City of Miami Beach is expected to add 15 new red light cameras after a vote Wednesday night. The city currently has 10, and assistant City Manager Robert Middaugh says the cameras reduce traffic crashes and promote safer driving.

"It really does create a heightened awareness as people go up and down the streets to pay attention to the intersections and pay attention to the traffic laws," Middaugh said.

While Miami Beach plans to add cameras, Hallandale Beach Commissioner Keith London wants to get rid of the only red light camera in his city. He calls it a hidden tax.

"It's a speed trap, it's a red light traffic trap. It's about the revenue, it's not about public safety," London said.

CBS4's Natalia Zea did some checking and found that Miami Beach issues an average of 1,000 tickets a month, but that is small potatoes compared to Hallandale Beach's camera at the intersection of US-1 and Hallandale Beach Boulevard.

The one red light camera there is giving out an average of 700 more tickets every month than all 10 of Miami Beach's cameras combined.

Hallandale is making a killing off those tickets to the tune of $1 million since January. Some drivers were furious to learn that.

But Hallandale Beach police said there are simply more drivers making rolling turns on red lights at their intersection. 93 percent of the tickets they've issued were for that violation. CBS4's cameras caught plenty of people rolling right on the red.

Middaugh believes Hallandale officers reviewing the video footage and issuing the tickets are stricter on the rolling right turns than Miami Beach cops.

"We're not writing as many tickets as the others and that's okay. We didn't do this for revenue, we did this to reduce intersection accidents," Middaugh said.

Hallandale police deny that. Either way, some drivers we spoke with like Bob Mendola say no matter the speed, the intersection, or the camera the law is the law.

"If it's the law and you break it, you should be ticketed.

I got it Big Brother.

Henry B. Nathan is a Florida Realtor at United Realty Group Inc.

Visit my website: http://www.condo-southflorida.com

where you can search for Aventura Condos, Florida Condos, Sunny Isles Condos

Traffic Cameras - Call it Big Brother's New Tax

Do you still think that Hallandale Beach the "City of Choice" ?

Not anymore for many drivers who, as you will read below, will try to avoid Hallandale's cameras trap.

One Million Dollars in six months! This is the take of the city and they have recently increased the fine from $125 to $158, so that they can share part of this revenue with the State of Florida.

And that's just the beginning.

$158 for not slowing down enough at a red light right turn, seems so excessive and such an hypocritical money grab!

Just more money-generating, privacy-invading, shameful scheme.

Every little chip hammered out of our Constitution brings us one step closer to George Orwell's and Aldous Huxley's perfect universes.

I'll take freedom over the so called "safety" any day of the week.

Big Brother has many Eyes!

Here is what I read today in the Sun Sentinel:

Rolling right turn could cost you $158

Red-light cameras are helping Hallandale Beach raise $1 million

In theory, red-light cameras are supposed to be about safety, curbing reckless drivers from blowing through intersections at high speeds.

But the reality at one South Florida intersection seems more like a game of "Gotcha," with an astounding 93 percent of violations going to unwitting drivers making rolling right turns on red. "This feels like a money grab," said Phil Kodroff, one of almost 11,000 drivers to get snagged by Hallandale Beach's red-light camera since it started snapping away in January.

The city's take by mid-June: almost $1 million.

"Let's be honest about it, we're here to gouge you," said Hallandale Beach Commissioner Keith London, an opponent of red-light cameras. "To say it's about public safety is pretty disingenuous. It's all about the revenue." Love them or hate them, the cameras soon will become fixtures of South Florida life. Now that the devices have gotten the green light from the Legislature and Gov. Charlie Crist, more cash-strapped cities will be turning to them for easy money.

In the past week, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Boynton Beach have moved forward with plans to install cameras. They will join Hallandale Beach, Pembroke Pines and West Palm Beach, which already have cameras running. Royal Palm Beach installed cameras in November but has been issuing only warnings; fines likely will start by September. Under the law that took effect July 1, fines for the first offense increased to $158 from $125, with the money now divided between the state and cities.

"The mentality of the South Florida driver is going to have to change," said Mark Antonio, interim city manager of Hallandale Beach. Said Hallandale Beach Police Maj. Dwayne Flournoy: "It's the 'Halo effect.' If you get compliant at one intersection, your behavior will change at all the others."

Kodroff, of Hollywood, said his behavior has changed: He is avoiding Hallandale Beach's camera intersection at Federal Highway and Hallandale Beach Boulevard, along with the businesses on that corridor.

After a steak dinner at the Gulfstream Park casino complex May 22, Kodroff thought he had an uneventful drive home to his beachfront condo. A month later, he opened his mail to find a $125 ticket. His speed when he made the right on red onto Hallandale Beach Boulevard, according to the violation notice: "0." "It's not sensible," Kodroff said. "I hit my brakes, I thought I came to a full stop."

A Miami-Dade judge put the brakes on the cameras in February, when he ruled that Aventura's program was improper. But legislators rewrote state law to allow them. Fines are sent to the registered owners of vehicles. The owners can appeal or get the fine transferred if they weren't driving. Under the new law, the vendor no longer gets a percentage of revenue, but a fixed monthly rate. American Traffic Solutions of Scottsdale, Ariz., dominates the market, managing the programs for all the South Florida cities.

Camera advocates say they make red-light runners think twice before blowing through intersections, reducing devastating T-bone crashes. But critics say the cameras could spur an increase in rear-end collisions, as people slam on their brakes at the last second. "If it's used in the right context, catching people who blow through a light, I don't have a problem with it," said Kodroff, who paid his fine without disputing it. "But getting people making a right on red, if they stop after the crosswalk or are going two miles per hour, seems a little shady."

Hallandale Beach is alone in enforcing right-turn violations

The Sun Sentinel - July 10, 2010 – By Michael Mayo.


Henry B. Nathan is a Florida Realtor at United Realty Group Inc.

Visit my websites: GoldenIsles-homes.com

and Golden-Beach-Homes.com

and The Beach Club Condos

Foreclosure Roundup

And it goes on and on. The worrying state of business in the US and in Florida is nowhere more evident than in the empty store fronts, deserted shopping centers, warehouses, office buildings.

And in South Florida, we are not the exception. I read daily about bank foreclosures on commercial real estate.
Is this an opportunity?
Unless you believe that the United States will sink like a rock, you must have some confidence that, at a certain point, there will be a real recovery.

Not a recovery sustained by Federal "injections" of money to artificially and temporarily reduce unemployment. But a real change in the economy, when things will revert to what we have known not so long ago. Days when you just go through the newspapers' classifieds and promptly find yourself a decent job. As it was in the good times when worldwide immigrants would flock in search of our number one wealth: Jobs.

Then everything will be alright. People will perhaps reduce their addiction to consumption, live in smaller homes, drive in smaller cars; but everybody who is reasonably trained and educated never be denied of an opportunity to work.

This will be the day when we won't read any more stories like what follows.
And it with this mentality that you could invest today in commercial real estate, because the opportunities are here and tomorrow will possibly be another day.

I read in the South Florida Business Journal - July 2nd, 2010

Magnolia Shoppes hit with foreclosure

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Half of the Magnolia Shoppes in Coral Springs was hit with a foreclosure action by a commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) fund.
Wells Fargo Bank, as a trustee for a CMBS fund originated by Countrywide, filed a foreclosure lawsuit on June 11 against Westview Shoppes Fla, according to Broward County Circuit Court records. It concerns a $12 million mortgage issued in 2006.
Westview Shoppes Fla owns the eastern half of the Magnolia Shoppes, at 9525 and 9545 Westview Drive. Tenants include Anthony’s Coal-Fired Pizza and Mega Discount Liquors. The developer bought the 64,011-square-foot property for $6.2 million in 2004.
The west side of Magnolia Shoppes, which includes a Regal Cinemas movie theater, and its outparcels are owned by different companies and not included in the foreclosure lawsuit.
According to an April report by CMBS analysis firm Trepp LLC, Westview Shoppes Fla was more than 90 days late on the $11.9 million remaining on its mortgage.
Miami attorney Lee Mackson, who represents Wells Fargo and the CMBS fund in the lawsuit, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Juno Beach townhome project defaults on $22M loan

A stalled townhome project near the Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach is targeted for foreclosure.
Branch Banking and Trust Co. filed the foreclosure lawsuit on June 29 against Seminole Ridge LLC, along with managing members Kenneth Page, Matthew J. O’Connor and Gaile Irwin, according to Palm Beach County Circuit Court records. It concerns a mortgage last modified at $21.8 million in 2007 by Colonial Bank, which failed in 2009. BB&T acquired its assets under a loss-sharing agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Seminole Ridge obtained approval from Juno Beach to build 31 townhomes at the site in 2007, but little construction has taken place. The site is located at the intersection of Ocean Drive and Celestial Way and it stretches to U.S. Highway 1, about a block from the ocean.
Fort Lauderdale attorney Richard B. Storfer, who represents BB&T in the lawsuit, was not immediately available for comment.

Townhome project loses $22M foreclosure

Coconut Grove-based Bridgeloan Investors won a $22.3 million foreclosure judgment against the developer of the Townhomes of Oak Lane in South Miami.
The judgment against 5700 Dev LLC was based on a $17.9 million mortgage, plus interest and fees. Colonial Bank originally granted the mortgage in 2003, but it was sold to Bridgeloan Investors.
The judge also denied Gamma Construction’s claim to collect on a construction lien.
The site is set for online auction on Sept. 27.
Planned for 40 townhomes, Oak Lane is on the east side of Red Road (Southwest 57th Avenue) between Southwest 74th Street and Southwest 76th Street. The developer is affiliated with George Allen Luxury Homes of Miami, according to its website.

Capital Loft foreclosure puts county loan in peril

If the $22.7 million foreclosure judgment against the Capital Lofts project in Miami goes through, Miami-Dade County’s $1 million loan to the developer could be wiped out.
Aventura-based investment group Capital Loft Miami won the judgment on June 25 against 117 NE 1st Avenue LLC over a $21.1 million mortgage, plus interest and fees. It targets the 47 unsold units in the project at the same address as the developer.
Following a renovation and conversion into condos in 2008, only 13 units were sold. The county gave the developer a $1 million loan to promote affordable housing units, but the judgment in favor of the lender, which is managed by Guy Sharon, has priority over the county’s debt.
Unless the property sells for more than the $22.7 million judgment at the Sept. 20 online auction, Miami-Dade will be left empty-handed.

N.J. investor buys Palm Beach building

An office building in the town of Palm Beach could be headed to a New Jersey real estate firm after its owner lost an $18.6 million foreclosure.

Henry B. Nathan is a Florida Realtor at United Realty Group Inc.

Visit my website: http://www.condo-southflorida.com

where you can search for Aventura Condos, Florida Condos, Sunny Isles Condos

Bella Mare Condos in Aventura

BELLA MARE is one of my favorite condominium buildings in Aventura.

The last addition at Williams Island is a stunningly modern, functional and architecturally rich project, that overlooks Biscayne Bay and adds a new dimension to Aventura luxury living.

Breathtaking views, architecture that is a celebration of Florida glorious light, spacious floor plans, full services and recreation. Luxury in every detail.

All units have east and west views, and no hallways. Private elevator to each unit’s foyer.

You should visit the Bella Mare just for the experience.

Amenities include:

Marina

Tennis

Pool

Spa

Fitness Center

Club House

Billiard

Library

Security

Business Center

Restaurant

Front Desk

Playground

Storage

Property Management

Laundry R

oom

Please click here to review all listings for sale and rent at The BELLA MARE in Aventura

Henry B. Nathan is a Florida Realtor at United Realty Group Inc.
Visit my website: http://www.condo-southflorida.com
where you can search for Aventura Condos, Florida Condos, Sunny Isles Condos,

Hallandale Beach Blues - 2010

The City of Hallandale is having a nasty dispute, that can be seen on several blogs, between some of its commissioners, residents, and some condo association societies.

The fact is that, after years of paying the City Manager incredibly high salaries and benefits, it appears that this Manager wasn't even going to work most of the time.

They have finally decided to fire him.

The dispute is apparently about paying him now 11 months of severance package, plus health insurance for life, I think, and some additional benefits. And that the total bill could be almost a million dollar.

Some time ago, and looking at the high property taxes in Florida which we had to endure during the last few years, due to the accelerated increase of assessed values, I wrote that our cities cannot understand that, since we are in a period of recession, they have to learn how to spend our money more wisely.

I wrote a few times, on how they found the turnaround way of avoiding what our legislators had mandated: reduction of taxes.

This is an example.

The City manager, recently fired, made apparently between $250,000 and $450,000 a year (depending on whose information you read).

If in fact he made these last figures, I bet that not even the City manager of Los Angeles, Tokyo, or Paris would match it. That's really something to brag about!

Hallandale Beach is a city of about 40,000 residents. Schools are some of the worst in the state.
Services are very expensive and considered inferior.

But the City Hall is impressive...

You just draw your conclusions.

Henry B. Nathan is a Florida Realtor at United Realty Group Inc.
Visit my website: http://www.condo-southflorida.com
where you can search for Aventura Condos, Florida Condos, Sunny Isles Condos,

I like this book

FAME and OBSCURITY - By Gay Talese.

I discovered this writer recently.

An Italian (born Gaetano Talese) who wrote in the New York Times, years ago, his portraits of famous people are delightful. In this book: Frank Sinatra, Joe DiMaggio, Joe Louis, Peter O'Toole.

If you are a fan of good writing, you will enjoy Talese, a writer and a non-fiction painter of vivid portraits.

The book also includes The Bridge, a chronicle on how the Verrazano-Narrows bridge was built in New York and a history of the "boomers", builders of bridges and skyscrapers.

And there is some more in the book that I will leave you to explore.

Sorry, it's supposed to be a Real Estate Blog, but it's a lazy summer day.

Henry B. Nathan is a Florida Realtor at United Realty Group Inc.
Visit my website: GoldenIsles-homes.com
where you can search for Golden Isles Real Estate

Books I'm reading

The Jews of Arab lands
A History and Source Book
By Norman A. Stillman - 1979

Some might know that I am an Egyptian Jew.

The subject, therefore, has periodically fascinated me.

Norman A. Stillman, an Associate Professor of History and Arabic at the State University of New York at Binghamton, has written a classic book of reference on a subject that has not attracted as much attention as it should. At least, this is the opinion of people like me, who are very close to becoming the "Last of the Mohicans" of a millenarian civilization in the lands of the Middle East.

In our days of erudite analysis and opinions about the roots of the Israeli-Arab conflict, re-reading this book can put them in a new perspective.

While it is generally accepted that Jewish life under Islamic rulers was fairly acceptable in contrast with medieval European persecutions, Norman Stillman's book brings about some significant facts that could definitely alter this line of thought.

The book is divided in two parts: the History and the Sources.

I was mostly interested in the Sources which is a vast and rich collection of translations and excerpts of Notes and Documents now existing in Archives, Museums and Public Records.

While I must acknowledge the often more tolerant Islamic rulers, Jews as members of the "Dhimmis" or non-Muslim minorities, were in fact a discriminated and persecuted part of that society, with variable experiences and rights according to the ebb and flow of thirteen centuries of Arab and Turkish rule. So, if you heard of pogroms, massacres and injustices in the lands of Europe, they have also existed here.

Both parts of the book are enlightening. Of course, the book was written by a Jew.
But Stillman's intelligence and wide perspective validate this substantial contribution to Middle East History.


This is not the usual posting on a real estate blog. But this is also my personal blog and I have been told that I can post here whatever goes through my mind.
It doesn't mean that you have to stop selling or buying homes from me. God Forbid.
Take it as a cup of Turkish coffee, while we take a pause and relax.

Reading books is sadly an "endangered species" in human culture. Lately, I am reading more books and less newspapers, websites, and magazines. Don't ask why.

Commenting about a good book is perhaps as good as giving my friends a good restaurant address, do you agree?



Henry B. Nathan is a Florida Realtor at United Realty Group Inc.
Visit my website: Golden-Beach-Homes.com
where you can search for Golden Beach Real Estate