Thank you for your support Cooper City!

Thank you for your support Cooper City!

By Commissioner John Sims 

Let me begin by saying THANK YOU to all of the residents and business owners of Cooper City who have supported me for the last twelve plus years! I especially want to thank all of my supporters and the voters who have trusted in me, becoming close friends and neighbors and for allowing me the great opportunity to fill this leadership role for the past twelve years and for standing by me especially through all of the trials, tribulations and successes. I also want to profusely thank all of my closest friends who are too many to mention here along with my wife Janet and my family members for the support and mentorship that they have provided to me over the years. It’s been a fun, and rough ride but worth every second of it!

I am especially proud to have been associated with some of the pillars of our community, the late Gladys Wilson and Walt Jolliff, and many, many others who have stood by my side on the residents’ behalf. They were great mentors and professionals and cared very deeply for our community. I cherish the lasting friendships that I have made both with the residents and with the city’s vendors, and let’s not forget other local elected officials, both currently elected and soon to be elected, many of whom I revere and look forward to for their continued leadership.

Over my tenure on the dais, I have sponsored and supported hundreds of initiatives and local laws that have only supported our residents and business owners. I remember everyone whom I’ve met and everything that I wanted to mention for this article, but unfortunately space doesn’t allow that. I certainly have enjoyed working with so many residents over the years, all of whom have helped me in campaigning, creating literature, websites, blogs, social media pages and supporting me financially. My gratitude and love for all of you will forever be a part of my life, and I will never, ever forget your generosity and dedication! Thank you for your belief in me and your friendship.

We've been involved in some outstanding projects together! I'll always cherish our Senior out-reach program and its extraordinary success.  The drastic increases in feel good spending and tax increases in Cooper City has been a vast financial burden to everyone, especially business owners and fixed income residents. Also, the degradation of truth and the extreme partisan politics in a non-partisan environment in Cooper City politics has produced so much division within our small community. Some in Cooper City politics have even eviscerated the policies and procedures originally designed to protect everyone; minorities, seniors and kids among other vulnerable groups of residents. This must cease immediately and we must move forward and unite together for the betterment of our entire community. But, we can all work hard, hope and pray that tomorrow will be a better day for Cooper City residents and businesses.

As such, I offer a strong apology to my friends, my colleagues on the dais both past and present, the residents and others that I may have offended over the years with my ultra-strong personality and strong stance on certain political and personal issues. I’ve always stood my ground on behalf of the residents, and I’ve certainly said things over the past twelve years that I regret, and I think it’s worthwhile for me to step up and say that I have made mistakes, or that I wish I would have done this or that differently, but what has happened in the past was meant to be.  We have all done things we regret and the lessons learned will be forever engrained in my soul, but I would never change the past for anything.

As I leave the Cooper City dais, I feel like our elected officials have not yet completely lost the war on truth, honesty, camaraderie and doing what’s right on behalf of the residents. It’s never been about right or left with me, it’s always been about right and wrong! In today’s society it's all too easy to lose sight of the most important element in any organization – the person, the people. Us. You and me, as individuals with hearts, minds, and feelings. My future hopes and wishes for Cooper City are simply this: I implore our elected representatives to ignore their personal agendas and always do what is right for the residents of our great city in addition to listening more and paying attention to the residents!

I feel truly honored and grateful to have served on your behalf as a city commissioner for one of the best cities in the USA! Always remember, it’s not too late to alter course for the betterment of our city, Someplace Special! And yes, I’ll be watching very, very closely…

The proposed Cooper City Charter Amendments….

Many have asked the question, what are these changes all about?

Well the answer might be. 

First and foremost one must recognize that the charter is liken to the constitution of that of our country in that it sets up the basic structure of the city government. In the case of Cooper City it says that the manner which the city will operate is by an elected commission specifying all the rules associated with that process and  providing  policies and ordinances by which the city manager will operate the city. As one would assume this involves many activities and much of the charter deals with many but not all of these rules. The key here is that these guidelines or rules are treated as the primary laws for the operation of the city. They range from election procedures to many of the other activities necessary for the process of the function of the city needs to perform its’ obligations.   

Do the proposed changes add or take away from the existing charter?

In most cases the proposed changes do materially alter the fundamental structure that has been in place for the last 35 years or so and has been only previously changed in very minor ways. Keep in mind that these types of changes can only occur every four years and absolutely require the voters to approve them. An examination of the proposed changes does raise several questions. The primary one is we the voter are neither familiar with city procedures nor do we wish to become lost in the weeds of this type of detail.  

Rather than provide a lengthy microscopic view a summary will provide a better guide. The changes start with the suggested need for an absentee rules for members of the commission. Seems somewhat childish as most of the commission members are of a character that such a stringent law is  hardly a necessity. Then there are several rather administrative type changes that seem totally out of place in the charter as opposed to simply directives to be given to the city manager as to how the commission wants the city to perform. The reason for a commission is to have them decide what is essential for the process of the city functions and to direct the city manager to implement them. 

Two major concerns arises upon viewing the requested changes.

(1) Is there an hidden agenda underlying the changes?

(2) Do we want to have the commissioners to become immersed in the details of the  running of the functions of the city ?

(3) Why has the current status of the city manager, highly skilled in the process of the city governance and well paid for his/her skill level now being reduced to one of simply a clerk following the direction of members of the commission, who in most cases have had very little if any substantial training or education in governmental management?

 Thus, it is fair to conclude that why are all of these seemingly minor (one could also call them trivial) changes be placed before the voters as being needed to be changed when that is what the city commissioners are elected to do when necessary after through and thoughtful debate? Several persons with whom I have spoken, knowledgeable in the workings of city governance,  have reached the pretty much the same conclusion which is, why is it necessary that these be put before the voters?

Rather than delve into what could require many pages of discussion, they have all agreed to the following statement, an old adage my father often said to me,
“If It Is Not Broken, Then Don’t Attempt to Fix It”.

Therefore it is urged that the residents of Cooper City cast a straight down the line the ballot, NO, to all of the proposed these changes, thereby putting the task of the commissioners to make the necessary changes when a need is required.

Cooper City Commission Set To Give Themselves a 100%-233% Raise

We are asking all of our Cooper City residents to come out to the special Commission meeting on September 11th at City Hall beginning at 6:30 PM. The Commission is discussing giving themselves a minimum of a 100% to a maximum of 233% pay raise! While the charter gives them the power to do it, it doesn't state the amounts. I can't imagine themselves giving THEMSELVES that kind of an increase. As Taxpayers this will mean a minimum of $30,000.00 per year up to $70,000.00 total per year, each. It is important to remember that it is an elected position and a part-time one at that, but of course Comm. Curran will attack me on that premise. We pay a city manager over $150K to run our city.

You can view the entire discussion at the Commission Meeting at http://cooper.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2... . If you would like to see the Commissioners discuss the topic of their raises click on http://cooper.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2... and go to 1:58. We went three times around before the vote. Listen to the rationale of some of the city commission members as to why they are voting for a pay raise...ridiculous, and absurd in my humble opinion as to why the commission deserves a raise! This is all about public service, not about making money on your dime!

Apparently some on the Commission have publicly stated that I voted NO at the above referenced meeting (and I quote) 'because it is an election year'. Let me set the record straight with truth and facts...I voted NO for the reasons explained on record in the above referenced video. In addition, I have voted NO for commission pay raises at least twice in the past, since I have been so fortunate to represent your best interests, for the same reasons. Don't be fooled...I think it is absurd for the commission to ask for a pay raise when there are families in Cooper City who are still struggling to make ends meet...

Hope to see you on September 11th at 6:30 PM at City Hall.

Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/coopercitycorner

Yes, Let's give some of the city taxes to the school board

At first glance this seems OK. However upon a closer examination this starts to appear as a really bad idea. The track record of the Cooper City High School expenditures for the building repairs gets quite scary as it appears it might have been better to just have a big bonfire and let it the dollars fuel the fire. And a city commissioner, namely Jamie Curran, wants to ingratiate himself to the board by supporting $100K, (that's $100,000.00 of your additional taxes) to be collected by Cooper City and be given as a donation(?) to the public schools only, does that sound like discriminating against the charter and parochial schools?  This is being done as ‘doing for the Cooper City Kids’. Does that mean that all of the kids in the non-public schools are non-residents of Cooper City and therefore we should not be concerned about them? Contrary to some of the thinking in Cooper City all schools in Broward are paid for by all of the residents of Broward regardless of what city they may live in.  Sounds like some kind of convoluted logic.

To set your mind at ease please, click on the link at the end and get an ear full of the proposed $800 million bond issue and the manner of its planned expenditures, then think how your money, oops, donation just might be spent. Maybe Mr. Curran could explain how he can assure us as to how this benevolent distribution of Cooper City taxes will be properly done.

BTW, the estimate of the how much each property owner in Broward will be assessed in the event we blindly and IMHO, irrational approve this irresponsibly conceived burden upon the taxpayers of Broward at $50 per. Noting of course, this amount may well be the start of a process of double taxation. Lord, help us when the BLOC comes up with a taxing scheme that somehow the city must pay their fair share of the school board cost as another special assessment.

Let’s remember the famous quote of the CCHS janitor, (AKA your District 4 Commissioner), “everyone can afford $50”.  I guess it time to view the members of the commission in terms of their source of income. Three of the five directly on the public payroll and have not been just subjected to the vicissitudes of the economic impact as suffered by the private sector. Thus, one can conclude that fifty bucks ain’t no big deal. Tell that to the parents who spent substantially more than that getting their kids ready for the new school year.  

TAKE A LOOK. BCSB

'Thank you' from Commissioner John Sims

Dear Neighbor,

On behalf of the campaign to keep John Sims as your Cooper City Commissioner on Tuesday, November 4^th, 2014, my faithful constituents, my campaign staff and I would like to take this opportunity to express our sincerest appreciation and gratitude for your very generous campaign contribution. I am deeply grateful for your friendship, support and extreme generosity!

It is through the direct support of individuals like yourself, that I will be able to continue to strengthen my message, convey my initiatives and to continue to develop new and innovative methods to serve the shareholders of our great city, you and our local business owners...

The People of Cooper City have blessed me with the opportunity to serve them again, and I am humbled by the trust and confidence that they have placed in me. I will continually strive to honor that trust and confidence every day in my service to our great city and its many diverse communities.

As we approach the election season, I wish you; your family and your colleagues the very best, and I faithfully promise to continue to provide the necessary leadership and to lead the charge in providing excellence, accountability and transparency in our local government services to our residents and local business owners.

Please ask your neighbors and friends to support me, and remember, it does not matter where you live in Cooper City…everyone can vote for me on the upcoming ballot!

If there is anything I can do to assist you in any manner, please do not hesitate to contact me as I am at your service. Again, thank you for helping to make our mission a reality.

Sincerely,

John Sims

Your ‘Go To’ Commissioner!
Cooper City Commissioner, District 1 (At Large)

http://www.keepsims.com

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