Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Was Wasserman-Rubin good to SWR?

Dear Southwest RanchesFriends and Neighbors:

Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening and if I do not see you later … well then … Good Night!

These two articles say it all about Diana Wasserman-Rubin and her allegedly crooked husband Richard Rubin. Please read this one in New Times and this one in the Sun Sentinel.

If Wasserman-Rubin was good to SWR, it might be a little easier to have more compassion for our county commissioner. However, it seems looking back that the only time this commissioner was good to our little town was when there was something in it for her. It leads your humble Wanch to ask what was in it for her when she voted for Davie Commons? What was in it for her when she voted for the new health benefits package that cost county employees more and gave them less? I can tell you that there was probably nothing in it for the Rubin family when members of our council and administration had approached her many times in the years past and their requests when unanswered.

Was the Dynamic team of Wasserman-Rubin and Rubin really good to our town? Well, since the easy money began to flow in 2001 they got us seven parks. Every one of those parks came with strings attached based on the grant submission Rubin wrote on behalf of the Town. The phrase that was thrown about when Rubin wrote the grant submissions was "Dreaming in living color". Each one of the parks was to be developed into some costly super idea that Mayor Fink and the council absolutely loved. The money was like cocaine to an addict. Mayor Fink, Council members Fisikelli, Knight, Blanton, and Maines kept saying more, more, more! Every time the Town was awarded a park, the council asked for more, more, more! Rubin was happy to write more and more creative submissions, the mayor was happy to sign the submission and Wasserman-Rubin was happy to vote for more, more, more! Finally, when Jeff Nelson was voted on to the council he started to ask how are we going to develop and maintain all of these parks. The experienced council told him we'll just get more grants. More, more, more!

Now reality has set in for our little town. During this bad economic time, the Town can probably get mulligans on the undeveloped parks but for how long? To date, only the Sunshine Ranches Equestrian Park has been developed.

Council member Fisikelli is trying to single-handedly develop fishing hole park by using fill his friends are dumping on the property. (Why can a council member dump as much fill as he wants on town property but we cannot dump more than two loads a year on our yards? He probably has a guilt trip going on all of the debt he helped dump on the town.)

One park, Frontier Trails, is under a foot of water most of the year and the Rolling Oaks Park barn is collapsing one rainstorm at a time. The Town has barely the funds to maintain these parks as they are today. Even if ten of millions of dollars in grants were to come available and the Town won them through legitimate submissions, it could not possible afford to operate and maintain them without a substantial tax increase. After salaries and public safety, the maintenance of the Town's rights-of-way and equestrian park is probably the next highest budget line item.

Of course, the Council has turned over, only Fisikelli and Knight remain. Fisikelli tries to act like a fiscal conservative these days but he was part of the more, more, more council. Knight recently formed a parks foundation to try to get some development done. Both have voiced regret over the actions of the past.

Other than Wasserman-Rubin facing jail time and probably a divorce from her husband, Former Mayor Mecca Fink stands to loose a lot of credibility. She constantly said John Canada was a financial genius (he left with his pockets full and the town nearly broke), Richard Rubin was a talented grant writer, and Diana Wasserman-Rubin was a gifted leader. Good audits, budgetary problems and the courts seem to be proving her wrong an all accounts. It seems her good friend County Commissioner Wasserman-Rubin was not so good for our town.

Do you wonder when the State Attorney General will go after Canada, Rubin, Cor and the rest of their thieving cronies?

That’s All Folks!!!

Wanch Waggler

4 comments:

Buford T. Justice said...

First of all Wanch, you are much too good of a blogs-person to only make an entry every three months. You used to be doing, at the very least, a monthly "waggle". I am disappointed in your long absences.

Secondly, great article. I can't wait to see Canada, Fink, Maines, Lauretano, Haines et al start to feel the long arm of the law giving them all a proctologic exam.

Anonymous said...

What about the merry team of enablers that were on the Southwest Ranches City Council? Shouldn't they be charged as well? Wasserman-Rubin will sing like a canary. She'll even shove her hubby up under the bus to save her butt!

Bye Bye Former Mayor Mecca Fink, Bye bye, Former Town Administrator John Canada and his entire family who worked as a contract company to Southwest Ranches, Bye bye former commissioner and ex-felon Don Maines, Bye bye Mr. "oooops, I accidentally deleted all of the computer records from 2000 thru 2008" computer geek Haines, who is married to the Southwest Ranches parks board czar December Laurentano-Haines. Bye bye now, Bye bye.

Corn Pone said...

March 08, 2010 By Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel


“John Canada, the town's first administrator, said Friday he couldn't recall whether the money was spent on running the town or buying park land.”


Yeah this guy is credible. Glad he’s going to support you Wasserman-Rubin. Maybe you can get Don Maines (ejected from office), Mecca Fink (ejected from office) and the town attorneys the Poliakoff’s (still suckin the prime teat) to come to your aide too!

Tracey Fink Smith said...

In writing a blog post about my mom, Mecca Fink, for this Mother's Day, I Googled to see if I could find a picture of her as Mayor. I can't believe what I'm reading. First of all, "Corn Pone", my mom wasn't ejected from office. She was re-elected to a second term, which she served to completion and decided not to run again when both my sister and I were pregnant at the same time. Second of all, I remember my mom first talking about the possibility of helping to make SW Ranches its own Town when, as she was President of the SWR HOA at the time, she learned of plans for Pembroke Pines to annex it. She didn't want that to happen and fought, I mean really worked hard and fought for YEARS to push the due diligence that led to the 2001 vote to township. I recall her enthusiasm, passion, energy, which she shared freely to help create, build and grow SW Ranches (in addition to her nominal ~$3,500/year "salary", which she felt important to keep low for elected volunteer officials to ensure integrity). I cannot tell you how it saddens me to now find only negative comments about my mom, who honestly believed she was doing good for the town in its boomtime by investing in parks.

I currently live in Oviedo, Florida, a 100-year old town named one of the top 10 places to live in the country for the past three years. Part of what keeps it in the list is the significant investment the town has made in its many parks and protected green spaces.

And while I know that many accomplished dreamers and leaders throughout history are often lambasted and despised for their efforts, it is so acutely painful to see my mom's voluntary efforts over nearly a decade not only not acknowledged (even on the town's own website, there is NO mention of her name), but evidently intentionally discredited. No good deed goes unpunished, as the saying goes.

Debra Wasserman-Rubin may have had less than noble intentions and actions. I don't claim to know about that. However, I do know my mom's intentions and actions were always, ALWAYS, in the best interest of the town she pushed to create.

So mock, throw stones and point fingers as you like. The truth is that if it weren't for my mom (and the town's early leadership), SW Ranches would be the northern tail of Pembroke Pines today and certainly NOT the one wagging the dog.

The rural lifestyle you all value was preserved. The independence you all share was celebrated and allowed to continue. The green spaces you all cherish was spared, not turned into more concrete strip-malls but rather set aside and secured for the enjoyment of all residents.

Forgive me for speaking my mind so boldly. But if my mom's taught me anything, it's to speak the truth as you see it when you know it. And mom, if you happen to see this, know that I'm proud of you. Not just for being mayor and creating a town but for evidently enduring the persecution of the very people you tried to help. I love you anyway. Your grandkids love you. Happy Mother's Day! <3 Tracey