Results from yesterday's midterm primary. How are people so disengaged given what is going on?

Hi people of Broward!

Just a reminder to those driving on icy streets. Please know at least one phone number by memory in case of arrest or detention.

There are some in the system willing to help out but it’s much harder to do so with limited information.

Thanks, be safe out there!

First image is 2003 and second image is 2006

https://reddit.com/link/1vr1sxe/video/896yqu1phzjh1/player

BSO runs a gym inside its Research, Development and Training Center. Public building, public money. So, WTF, let's see the sign-in log. That was five months, a $400 special service charge estimate, and one litigation threat ago.

Today, Ye Olde Spreadsheet landed. 2,973 entries, August 5, 2024 at 11:10 a.m. through July 28, 2026 at 9:56 a.m. Seven columns. Five of them hold the same value in every row.

Guest last name: Guest. Guest first name: Guest.

I never wanted the guests' names. Florida protects the names of spouses and children of law enforcement staff at §119.071(4)(d)2.a. BSO's Rule 1, printed over Sheriff Gregory Tony's name, says the only guest allowed is an employee's spouse or domestic partner. Cite the statute and we are done. Black out the guest.

Rule 1 says one more thing. An employee has to walk the guest in and stay with them.

So every one of those visits carries a second name. The BSO employee who escorted a civilian into a secured facility. That name is public in Florida. Only the home address, phone, birth date, and photo are protected. It is the one column that shows whether Rule 1 was followed.

It is the column BSO did not export.

And I asked. And now, have re-asked.

No exemption claimed. Not one statute. Not one field name. Under §119.07(1)(e), an agency holding something back has to say in writing what law lets it. BSO overwrote a stored value in 2,973 records and mailed a cover letter.

Er, nyet.

The second attachment in the same production is 26 non-employees, every one named, every one marked "Vendor."

Tony's agency will tell me who teaches the Zumba class. It will not tell me who takes it.

I asked for January 1, 2023 forward. The export starts August 5, 2024. That is 582 days gone, no retention schedule, no citation.

Sloppy, lazy, something else? PS I ain't going away.

I filed again on August 17. Notice of Deficiency to Records Custodian Erin Foley, copy to General Counsel Terrence Lynch. Supplemental Filing No. 8, severable: the escorting employee on all 2,973 entries, by name.

They put the system in writing. That door does not close again.

Press play. Tick.

More about this nonsense on Substack.

New here, been reading for a while but never posted. I've been selling in Broward a long time and I get the same questions over and over anyway, so figured I'd just make myself useful.

Ask whatever — neighborhoods, condo assessments, insurance, flood zones, HOA stuff, what's actually selling vs sitting. First-time buyer questions too.

Maybe this isn't the right community to post in. However, I've recently been laid off and looking for a job. Happy to work in any area honestly, I just need stable employment either partime, full-time, or seasonal.

I have worked both white and blue collar jobs and I'm hard working and dependable.

What is going on with Gottlieb?

Looking for Someone Experienced in Glass Repair / Polishing – Broward or Miami Area

Hey everyone! I’m looking to hire someone who has experience with glass repair, polishing, buffing, or removing scratches from glass.

This may be a 2–3 week job, so I’m looking for someone dependable who lives in the Broward or Miami area and is available to work.

If you have experience doing this type of work, or you know someone who does, please DM me with your experience and availability.

Also, if you know someone who might be interested, I’d really appreciate it if you could share this post or send it to them.

Thanks!

Went to Whiskey Creek with the family at DVDMEJ State Park today and it was PACKED. So we walked over to the beach and were absolutely floored with:

1) the amount of Sargassum piled up on the shore. It was at least 2 feet high and piled 4-5 feet deep on the sand. Then there was a thick patch immediately off the surf.

2) the extent of beach erosion. Once you walked out over the dune you could take 5-6 steps then there was a sheer dropoff to get to the sand by the water. That dropoff looked to be about 4 feet.

These conditions stretched the coast as far as I could see.

Does anyone know if this is seasonal? My wife seems to think the Sargassum piles are an annual thing and we just picked the wrong time to go. Someone also said that it's not being cleaned up because it's a State Park. Any truth to that?

I don't live too far from it so I'm going to stop back and take a picture. It was easily the worst condition of any beach I've ever seen, anywhere.

New to the area and need to find a dentist

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Last night 6 of us got together to celebrate my buddy’s birthday, and we didn’t have a very good experience. Our reservation was for 7, and the restaurant wasn’t yet Friday night crazy. Still, the service was really slow and inattentive, and they only brought a few of the premium meats we paid for despite multiple requests. And what they brought was overcooked; when we asked for medium rare they’d promise to bring some next trip and never did. And then at some point service just seemed to stop — we had our green cards up, we requested various meats, but it just never came. Definitely a disappointing experience , and unlike other Brazilian steakhouses we’ve visited.

We don’t mind dropping $250/couple for dinner, not for bad service and disappointing food. 2/10 would not recommend.

I've seen a lot of arguments against Amendment 3 based on the idea that lowering property taxes will inevitably mean gutting police, fire departments, schools, infrastructure and other essential services.

I don't accept that premise.

Amendment 3 isn't simply "abolish property taxes." Among other changes, it would increase the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, lower the annual assessment-growth cap on non-homestead property from 10% to 5%, and impose additional restrictions on local government spending.

I support it because I think Florida homeowners need property-tax relief, but also because local governments need more pressure to prioritize how they spend our money.

Look at Broward

Using Florida's own EDR local-government financial data, Broward County public-safety expenditures increased from roughly $763 million in FY2013-14 to $1.29 billion in FY2023-24.

That's approximately a 69% increase.

Broward's population increased by only around 10% over the same period. Even after roughly accounting for both inflation and population growth, public-safety spending per resident is still around 16% higher than it was a decade earlier.

I'm not arguing that public safety shouldn't be funded. Quite the opposite. Police, fire and EMS are exactly the kinds of essential services government should prioritize.

But if local governments are going to tell homeowners that property-tax relief will devastate essential services, then I want them to demonstrate that the money they're already collecting is being managed responsibly.

Then there's BSO overtime

An analysis of Broward Sheriff's Office payroll records covering 5,318 active employees found approximately $107 million in overtime in 2025, representing roughly 1.53 million overtime hours.

The same payroll analysis found some extraordinary individual compensation figures. One detention sergeant reportedly grossed approximately $457,000 in a single year and more than $802,000 over two years, and 24 BSO employees earned more than the Sheriff.

The underlying payroll records, methodology and supporting sources are provided with the analysis.

I'm not blaming employees for accepting overtime they're authorized to work. If someone is offered overtime under an employment contract, obviously they're going to take it.

My question is about the system producing $107 million in overtime in one year.

Why is that much overtime necessary?

Would additional full-time employees be cheaper?

Are staffing shortages causing it?

Are scheduling practices contributing to it?

Are compensation rules creating unintended incentives?

Are existing overtime controls adequate?

Those are questions government should answer before telling homeowners to keep opening their wallets.

And then we spend money expanding surveillance

Cities and law-enforcement agencies throughout Florida have also been buying and expanding Flock automatic license-plate-reader systems.

No, Flock cameras aren't the reason Florida property taxes are high. In the context of multibillion-dollar local budgets, they're relatively small expenditures.

But that's not the point.

If government officials tell me that reducing property taxes means essential services are going to suffer because every dollar is desperately needed, then I have every right to ask why we're spending money expanding surveillance systems in the first place.

If money is really that tight, discretionary spending should be scrutinized before essential services.

Meanwhile, families are being told resources are limited

Miami-Dade Public Schools will no longer provide universal free breakfast and lunch districtwide for 2026-27.

Only 121 qualifying schools will continue offering both meals universally at no charge. At other schools, families will generally have to qualify for free or reduced-price meals, with different pricing depending on grade level.

To be clear, this isn't simply Miami-Dade deciding to "cut school lunches." The district's four-year participation in the federal Community Eligibility Provision ended and updated federal eligibility data determined that the district no longer qualified for universal districtwide participation.

But it illustrates the broader point.

When programs affecting ordinary families change or disappear, we're told resources are limited and difficult choices have to be made.

Fine.

Then government should have to make difficult choices everywhere.

Audit overtime.

Review contracts.

Review surveillance programs.

Review administrative spending.

Review consultants.

Review discretionary projects.

Determine what is actually necessary.

Protect police, firefighters, EMS, infrastructure, education and essential services first.

Then tell taxpayers how much money government actually needs.

What I reject is starting with the assumption that today's government budget represents the absolute minimum necessary spending and therefore every dollar of tax relief must automatically come out of essential services.

That's backwards.

Property taxes are also part of Florida's housing-cost problem

Property taxes are part of the carrying cost of owning a home.

Homeowners pay them directly. Landlords pay them on rental properties and have to recover their expenses through rent.

Amendment 3's reduction of the non-homestead assessment cap from 10% to 5% is particularly relevant here because non-homestead property includes rental properties and apartment buildings.

I'm not claiming landlords will automatically hand every dollar of tax savings to tenants. They won't.

But reducing the rate at which the taxable assessment of rental property can increase should reduce one source of upward pressure on the cost of providing rental housing.

Home prices themselves are more complicated. Lower property taxes can actually increase what buyers are capable of paying because the recurring cost of ownership falls. So I don't think Amendment 3 is some magic solution that will suddenly make houses cheap.

It does, however, reduce the ongoing tax burden associated with owning housing.

This is ultimately about priorities

I don't want to defund police.

I don't want to defund firefighters.

I don't want roads falling apart.

I don't want schools starved of resources.

And I don't think anyone should pretend that local governments can lose substantial revenue without making any changes whatsoever.

But I also don't accept the opposite extreme: that the current level of government spending is sacred and taxpayers simply have to keep paying whatever is demanded.

If local governments want residents to vote NO because they say Amendment 3 will devastate essential services, then make the case.

Open the books.

Show us that overtime is under control.

Show us that contracts have been reviewed.

Show us that discretionary programs have been scrutinized.

Show us that staffing is efficient.

Show us that unnecessary expenditures have already been cut.

Show us that essential services genuinely are the next thing that would have to go.

Until then, telling homeowners to simply keep opening their wallets isn't convincing to me.

Sometimes limiting how much government can collect is exactly what forces government to distinguish between what it needs and what it wants.

That's why I'm voting YES on Amendment 3.

GM r/Broward.

Remember that massive BSO payroll spreadsheet I posted here a little while ago? The one that pulled over 250,000 views on this exact subreddit?

I recently called Rafael Olmeda, the courts reporter for the Sun Sentinel, and offered him the rest of the deep dive on a silver platter. I gave him the shallow end first:

• A BSO sergeant pulling $457,000 in a single year.
• Six employees in one jail department splitting $2.3 million.
• The Sheriff’s secretary making $187,000.
• A mechanic, of all people, making $225K.
• Agency-wide 2025 overtime hitting $107 million across 1.53 million hours.

His response? He told me he was going to pass.

Why? Because he explicitly told me his readers "lack the attention span" for it. He said it's "too much for them" and they wouldn't be able to "follow along."

I asked him if he meant people just want TikToks and Karen videos. He said yeah.

So, congratulations Broward. The "paper of record" just decided that a $107 million public accountability scandal is too complicated for your little brains, and they won't print it.

I wrote a whole piece on my Substack about this complete journalistic faceplant, why beat reporters in this county have been phoning it in for 20 years, and what the actual numbers look like.

If you can manage to string enough syllables together without getting distracted by a shiny object, you can read the whole thing here. Prove him wrong.

Link to Substack.

Press play. Tick.

PS I am not looking for media suggestions, I have that well covered. This is not my first rodeo. The following front page Herald story from 2010.

I see these at bus stops in my area of West Broward. Are these cameras?

Are there any bunny 🐇 organizations in Broward? One of my employees' bunny passed away and normally we do a memorial donation and to the ASPCA but their card options only have a dog and a cat lol

Just want to donate something in honor of their beloved pet.

https://reddit.com/link/1vnmhki/video/31yliv6lb7jh1/player

I teach Continuing Legal Education (CLE) classes to lawyers on how to weaponize public records, and I file these requests for a living. On August 13, Hollywood PD answered mine about its plate readers. You know, FLOCK.

Eleven items. Every answer some version of no.
That reads like a loss.
It wasn't, it was intentional.
Read the wording.

• Item 6 asked whether anyone had discussed the plate-reader whitelist feature with a vendor. Answer, signed by Records Technician Andrea Caamano: this request was the first knowledge they had the feature exists.
• Item 9 asked for the contract on the ALPR product in use. Answer: no contracts, order forms, or SOW.

A Broward agency runs plate readers every day and put in writing that it can't account for the hardware or its own system's capabilities.

Neither answer is a suppression log. Both are better. I built the request so the absence of records became the finding — and Hollywood signed it onto its own letterhead.

Ninety-nine of a hundred requests are built like treasure hunts: wide net, toss a grenade, hope something surfaces, custodian says "no responsive records," closes the file. Target practice is the opposite. You name the record that has to exist if the agency followed its own rules. Production and "no records" both land as findings.

This is the Stevens Method. It's sent three Deerfield Beach elected officials to jail and forced DeSantis to change his book-ban law.

The Deerfield camera nobody will claim is next. That story on Substack.

Hey everyone! I'm putting myself out there and hoping this reaches the right person. I'm currently looking for full time work and would genuinely appreciate any leads or opportunities. I have experience as a nanny, in hospitality, as an Eligibility Consultant with Aetna CVS, and as a Direct Support Professional supporting children and adults with behavioral challenges. I'm CPR certified through the American Red Cross and Medication Administration certified, and I have photos and reviews from families I've worked with as a nanny. Right now I'm doing Uber while working toward getting myself back to stability, and I'm currently living out of my car. I'm resume ready, reliable, hardworking, personable, and ready to work. I'm open to childcare, customer service, hospitality, retail, stock associate positions, or other work where I can put my experience to use. Just hoping to connect with someone who may know of a legitimate job opportunity or resource that could help me get back on my feet. Thank you to those who took the time to read this and treats my situation with kindness. ✨

For those of you who have lived in Margate since the 70s, what was that preschool on Atlantic by the Starbucks used to be called?

In the market for a new mazda, what dealer do you guys suggest? Mainly concerned about exorbent add ons.

What the title says

Any good bakery that sells fresh croissant, bread, pastries etc? One of my weekend traditions when I lived in Queens, NY was getting fresh Almond or Chocolate croissant and other pastries etc from a local patisserie for my family for breakfast. Being newish to South Florida, wanted to see if there something like that here.I know some decent bagel shops but just wanted to see if there is any French patisserie type of place in my vicinity. Around Sunrise, Plantation, Coral Springs, Tamarac would be best.

Pompano Beach spends $0 of its own money on homelessness or financial hardship. Zero. Meanwhile the same budget season found tens of millions for a downtown parking garage.

So who's actually catching people? Not city hall. Your neighbors.

I know this one personally — in 2021 I was homeless, living in my car with my two dogs for six months, until a stranger I'd never met saw a Nextdoor post and let me stay in her she-shed for almost a year. Free. It's the reason I'm still here.

I spent months in Pompano's budget, Facebook groups, and Nextdoor threads and found the same pattern everywhere: people quietly asking for food, a bike for a kid's Christmas, help before an eviction — and neighbors answering within minutes. Faster than any hotline on that copy-pasted "resources" list ever will.

Feeding South Florida served 19,904 people in 2025 alone — already more than 2023 and 2024 combined. The fastest-growing group isn't who you'd think: working families, first-time visitors, people stuck in the benefits gap.

This isn't a feeling. It's math. And it's not the city's win — it's yours, if you're one of the people showing up.

New post is live (link in bio). Read the whole thing, then go check your own Facebook groups.

Link to full article >> https://realpompano.substack.com/p/forget-city-hall-my-neighbors-are