CPCA General Meeting January 2023

 CPCA General Meeting January 2023

—Our meeting began at 7:10 pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. Board members Pat, Michelle, Rhonda, Heather, Jodi, Joe and Virginia were in attendance. Many neighbors attended and signed up for their 2023 CPCA membership.

—Our first speaker was FLPD Officer Jackson with two of her new crew members. The crime report for this period in Croissant Park included one vehicle burglary that involved a backpack being stolen from an unlocked car with windows open.  Two auto thefts occurred; one from a driveway that resulted in no arrest made.  The other auto theft was recovered in Hollywood. 

Ofc. Jackson invited us to take part in a new program called “Walk and Talk”.  We can stroll through our neighborhood with an FLPD officer in the evening. Email Sergeant Graves for an appointment ngraves@fortlauderdale.gov. 

On Monday, January 30th there was an epic traffic jam during the morning rush hour.  It seems all the railroad gates were closed for many blocks, causing a complicated grid lock.  Ofc. Jackson was asked where were all the police units? Apparently there is not enough personnel to cover that size of situation. 

Transients and convicted sex offenders are required to have an address, which turns out to be a hotel in the 1500 block of SE 17th Street, as described by Ofc. Jackson.  

—The ever-popular Neighborhood Support Night will be held on Thursday, February 16th from 5:30-8pm in the City Hall parking lot at 100 N. Andrews Ave.  It is a fun event where you can meet City officials, firefighters and police officers, learn about City career opportunities, play fun games with your kids. There is a tree giveaway among many other free items.  Check it out…its a fun night for the whole family.

—Vice Mayor and District 4 Commissioner, Warren Sturman, came to speak  about City matters and to hear our concerns in Croissant Park.  He covered various projects like the proposed tunnel to the beach (unpopular by  hand vote at this meeting), the park being built downtown, the failing Five Ash water treatment facility and its proposed replacement. There is a proposal to move the trees on the median on La Olas Blvd. to the sidewalks in order to improve traffic.

There was discussion of the approved project to build pickleball courts and a restaurant in Snyder Park.  This is a hot button issue that will affect us, and especially our neighbors to the south in Edgwood, who border on the Snyder Park property.

Discussion about the “affordable housing” incentive to build taller buildings being built near, but not in Croissant Park, will still affect CP because of our proximity. We are a traffic cut-through community, which brings more traffic and more speeders into our neighborhood, affecting our property values. A neighbor on 18th Court is extremely angry about speeders on his street.  One speeder hit and killed a dog on his street. 

Board member Michelle expressed dismay at various issues that we have raised many times in the past that have been ignored. One glaring example is the lack of sidewalks on SE 15th Street, between 4th Avenue and the railroad tracks.  It is extremely dangerous to walk or ride a bike due to cars at the businesses parked in the curve of the street. Vice Mayor Sturman said he would look into it. For Neighborhood Support contact the Vice Mayor’s aide Ryan Thomas at rthomas@fortlauderdale.gov or 954 828-5059.

The meeting ended on that note due to the late hour.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 28th at 7pm.  Hope to see you r there.

Minutes by Virginia-CPCA Secretary.

Pictures by Rhonda, CPCA Director

Neighborhood Meeting - Tuesday, January 31, 2023

 Dear Neighbor,

Vice Mayor Warren Sturman, our newly elected District 4 City Commissioner, will attend our Civic Association meeting TUESDAY, JANUARY 31^ST, at 7 PM to answer your questions on any subject of interest to our neighborhood.  So if you have questions or concerns,  this meeting will address any subject of interest, including development plans for South Andrews, affordable housing, and the current hot potato – pickleball.

The meeting will take place in the Community Center at 245 West Park Drive on the South side of the school.  Light refreshments will be served, and everyone in Croissant Park is invited to attend. You do not need to be a member but are welcome to join your Civic Association anytime. I've attached a membership application if you want to bring it to the meeting.

See you there!

 

Patricia A. Rathburn P.A.

CPCA, President

500 SE 17 Street #312

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

954-764-6166

CPCA General Meeting October 2022 - Candidates Forum

 CPCA General meeting-October 2022

—The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. Board members in attendance were Pat, Rhonda, Heather, Jodi, Joe, and Virginia.

—FLPD Officers Haggarty and Jackson head up the Community Support Unit for our neighborhood. They report one stolen car that was recovered within a day, stolen tags from another car, a car burglary (car broken into), and one residential burglary (storage shed in the backyard). No violent crimes.  Both officers reminded us of the importance of always locking our cars and not leaving valuables in the car in plain sight. Ofc. Jackson stated that 911 calls will get answered ASAP unless a more dire active crime occurs at the same time.  But she emphasized that they will answer 911 as soon as possible with another unit.  All in all, crime is low at this time in our vicinity.

—The slate of CPCA Board Directors added a new member, Carlos Lang.  The slate includes Pat Rathburn, Michelle DiMaria, Virginia Russell, Joe Russell, Rhonda Kramer, Heather Cunniff, Jodi Perraud, and Carlos Lang.  The slate was voted on and approved by the CPCA members in attendance.  The new Board will convene in January 2023.

—We provided CPCA members the opportunity to hear from all seven candidates running for  District 4 City Commissioner. They are (from left to right) Kevin Cochrane, Ted Inserra, Mike Lambrechts, Kitty McGowan, Ed Rebholz, Jackie Scott, and Warren Sturman. Pat presented a QandA format which included a 5-minute speed round for the candidates to introduce themselves, individual questions for each candidate derived from the audience suggestions, and a final two-minute roundup.

Minutes by Virginia Russell, Secretary

Pics by Rhonda Kramer, Director

Candidates Forum at Neighborhood Meeting - Tuesday, October 25, 2022 7:00 pm

Dear Neighbors,

Please join us on Tuesday, October 25^th for the election of Board members for 2023 and the final candidate’s forum for District 4 Commissioner.

Many of you have already decided which candidate is going to get your vote but just in case this will be the last opportunity for you to see all the candidates together and make your final selection. We also wanted to remind people who are not early voting that the polling place for Croissant Park has been relocated to the Seventh Day Adventist Church on 9^th Avenue and Davie Blvd.

If you have specific questions, please submit them to us in advance as we will be limiting questions from the audience in order to move the discussion along. We care about what you care about so please submit questions in advance.

The Civic Association has already donated our usual trunk full of candy for the Halloween Party that will be held at the Community Center on Saturday, October 29th but they can always use more. So, if you would like to donate a bag of treats, just bring them to the meeting.  Thanks!

 

Pat  Rathburn

President Croissant Park Civic Association

Patricia A. Rathburn P.A.

500 SE 17 Street #312

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

954-764-6166

The Community Center is at 245 West Park Dr. - right next to the neighborhood pools/school.

Croissant Park Neighborhood Meeting -- Sept 27, 2022

 Dear Neighbor,

We anticipate having the Tuesday, September 27 meeting in person at the Croissant Park Community Center at 7 PM - 245 West Park Dr. This is subject to weather conditions-. If we are under a storm warning, the city may close the building. Given the current projected path of Ian, we do not anticipate having to cancel the meeting but Just wanted to put the warning out there.

We have been contacted by the representatives of several campaigns who have asked for a few minutes for their candidates to speak. So far, we have heard from Kitty McGowan, Jackie Scott, and Ed Reboltz. Other candidates may be planning on attending but have not reached out to the Civic Association to let us know. If you have a favorite candite who is not on the foregoing list, you might want to reach out to them and let them know the date and time of the meeting and that they can contact me at patricia@rathburnpa.com to let me know they plan on attending.

For those candidates in attendance, we anticipate them all giving a short introduction and then opening the floor to questions.

We hope to see you all there on Tuesday night!

Pat Rathburn, President, Croissant Park Civic Association

cookies will be served!

Croissant Park General Meeting--June 2022

 General CPCA meeting-June 2022

—Meeting opened with an introduction of the Board members Pat Rathburn-President, Virginia Russell-Secretary, Joe Russell-Treasurer, Rhonda Kramer-Director, and Heather Cunniff-Director.

—All present took part in the Pledge of Allegiance.

—Officer Pena with FLPD tells us we have the lowest crime statistics in the City. He recommends that we “lock, lock and lock…car, house, outer buildings”. FLPD and the City are working on a solution to the panhandling problem. They are limited on what they can enforce due to the 1st Amendment.

—We have two candidates tonight who will run for  Commissioner of the 4th District, to replace Ben Sorenson, who will run for Florida Congress.

—Ted Inserta, is running for the Commissioner of District IV, a chef who grew up locally and wants to “keep things as they are…we are the epicenter of Broward”.

—Jackie Scott is also running for District IV Commissioner. Jackie is the President and originator of the Colee Hammock Civic Association. Jackie’s priorities are public safety, infrastructure,
waterways, and development.

—Our speaker tonight is from Code Enforcement, Reggie White, Community Inspections Supervisor.  Reggie urges us and our neighbors to understand that all containers of trash, recyclables, and yard waste must be removed from the street after being emptied and located in an area behind the front of the house - basically, out of sight.  Inside a carport is acceptable.  Containers still out on the street on Saturday will be cited. 

—Vacation Rentals are under scrutiny by Code.  No parties are allowed and only 2 people per bedroom, per unit, are permitted. You can call a non-emergency number 954-828-8000 to report parties, etc.

If you are calling Code Enforcement to report an infraction you will be required to give your name and address.  It is no longer anonymous to report a neighbor’s infraction.

—Our next speaker was Ryan Thomas, District IV Director of Community Affairs, Ofc of Comm. Ben Sorensen.  Ryan is a take-charge kinda guy and we hope he stays on after Comm. Sorensen moves on. He reported that the Tree Ordinance is being rewritten and will be voted on again in the future.  Also, a panhandling law will be in effect and will clarify what can and cannot be enforced regarding panhandling. Meanwhile, complaints go to rthomas@fortlauderdale.gov. 

—Croissant Park will be hosting our annual Bark-in-the-Park, a pet parade and bicycle safety event for all neighborhoods on October 29th at Bryant Peney Park.  Stay tuned.

—Poinciana Park Civic Association will host an SRAC meeting.

—Croissant Park Civic Association will have its next meeting on September 27th.  See you then, enjoy the summer.

—Have a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July weekend.

—Minutes by Virginia-Sec’y.

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Pictures by Rhonda, Director

Neighborhood Meeting - Code Enforcement, Tuesday, June 28, 2022 7:00 pm

Are you tired of your neighbors leaving their trash bins out on a permanent basis? Annoyed when bulk trash appears on swales three weeks before bulk trash? Upset about boats or trailers permanently parked on swale? Concerned about enclosing carports or screen porches without permits? Well, these are some of the most common complaints that Code Enforcement (and the Board of CPCA) get from neighbors who want to make Croissant Park "a nice place to live”. Everyone wants to know why SOMEONE is not doing something but due to recent changes in state law Code Enforcement is required to get the name and address of the person calling in the code complaint before they will act. A lot of folks are seriously annoyed by their neighbor’s actions but don’t want to cause bad feelings by ratting them out to Code. We are often asked "well if no one is calling in complaints, what do the code officers assigned to Croissant Park do all day?" You would think that they would notice some of these violations on their own just by driving through the neighborhood. This is particularly true on the east side of 4^th Avenue where dumpsters are in the streets, not covered, overflowing with trash, abandoned vehicles (and boats) litter the swales, etc.

Well, if you want to know the answers to these questions or have some of your own attend the last Croissant Park Civic Association meeting before summer break and ask. We will have representatives of Code Enforcement there to answer your questions and give an update on enforcement activity.

 Don’t complain if you don’t participate.

 Hope to see you all there tomorrow night at 7 PM.

 Pat Rathburn, CPCA President

The meeting will be in the Community Center - 245 West Park Dr. (next to the pools) at 7:00 pm.

AGENDA:

Call to order

Establish Quorum

Pledge to Flag

Intro police officers

Intro City of Fort Lauderdale Code Enforcement

Code presentation

Questions and Answers

New business

Old business

Adjourn