Florida Agenda

WILTON MANORS —Wilton Manors officials have announced the closure of Wilton Drive to vehicular traffic for the February 15 Island City Art Walk (ICAW) and the city’s “HeARTS on the Drive” event.

At a meeting last week in the City Commission chambers, Community Development Services Director Heidi Shafran and Economic Development Coordinator Randy Welker met with business and community leaders to discuss the planned closure of Wilton Drive, and its potential impact to the street’s businesses.

Shafran told the Agenda that the input of the Drive merchants was crucial to ensuring the evening, which will commemorate both the Art Walk, which will host artists at participating business along the Drive, as well as a chance to celebrate Valentine’s Day for one more night.

“We’re excited about the Drive being closed for Art Walk,” said Anthony LoGrande, co-owner of ICAW.  “It’s going to be a fun evening, with artists on the Drive, music and each business doing their own thing and spilling out into the street.” LoGrande and business partner Krishan Manners have hired strolling musicians to entertain visitors to the Drive.

The Art Walk, which takes place every third Friday of the month, from November to April, is now in its seventh year.  Over 35 businesses sponsor the Art Walk, which features representations from a wide range of mediums and genres, including sculpture, paintings, and handcrafted jewelry.

The idea of combining a Valentine’s Day event with the Art Walk came from the city’s Shafran, who wanted to offer the business community the opportunity to utilize the Drive’s pedestrian-friendly environment to create what is hoped will become an annual event.

Parking for the dual event will be available at the municipal lot behind City Hall, via access from Dixie Highway to Northeast 21st Court and from Wilton Drive on the south to Northeast 20th Street.

“This event is classic Wilton Manors,” said Manners, who also serves as CEO and President of the Wilton Manors Development Alliance. “Love and art come in every form – why not celebrate both?”

Chili con carne (usually known simply as chili) is a spicy stew. The name of the dish derives from the Spanish phrase which means “chili pepper with meat.”

Traditional versions are made at a minimum from chili peppers, garlic, onions, and cumin, along with chopped or ground beef. Beans and tomatoes are frequently included. Variations, both geographic and personal, may involve different types of meat, as well as a variety of other ingredients. It can be found worldwide in local variations and also in certain American-style fast food restaurants.

I got this recipe from a chef and customer in the “West Saloon,” our Tex-Mex restaurant in Vienne, France.

Ingredients

2 cans (15 oz each) of red kidney beans, drained

1 tablespoon of good olive oil

1 large onion, quartered, sliced

2 red bell peppers, roasted, peeled, and chopped

1 lb of ground beef

1 can (14.5 oz) of tomatoes

1 can (8 oz) of tomato sauce

1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon of cumin

½ bottle of full bodied red wine (this gives a fantastic “earthy” flavor)

1 small can of corn (optional, but I think it adds nice color)

1 ½ teaspoons of salt

1 bay leaf

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and brown the onion, then add the ground beef. Cook for a few minutes, and add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, peppers, the wine and seasonings. Simmer for one to two hours, checking and stirring frequently. Add the canned beans and corn and heat through. I usually serve with white rice and garnish with parsley, but you are the chef! (This dish is on special this week at Le Patio.)

WILTON MANORS — Mayor Gary Resnick is drawing criticism from Broward County officials for his plans to become the county’s first elected official to take on work as a lobbyist, despite a Code of Ethics ban that prohibits such efforts.

Resnick, an attorney and partner (shareholder) with the law firm of Gray-Robinson, PA, a mega-practice with offices in 10 Florida cities, is seeking to lobby the Broward County School Board on behalf of a client, Community Education Partner, Inc., despite a voter-approved change to the county charter that “regulates the conduct of elected officials, appointed officials, and public employees through an enacted Code of Ethics.”

The mayor was given permission by Wilton Manors City Attorney Kerry Ezrol, who submitted a letter to Resnick on December 12, 2012 that advised, “The restriction on lobbying, as set forth in the Code of Ethics, would not legally apply to members of the City Commission.”

Ezrol based his opinion on a 2012 change to Wilton Manors’ city charter, which the city’s attorneys say allows officials to abide by the state’s less restrictive regulations governing the conduct of elected and appointed politicians. Resnick supported the city charter change.

The Broward County Inspector General, John Scott, suggested in a statement that his office may use the county’s charter to trump changes to local charters.

“Soon the [Office of Inspector General] will be conducting a countywide compliance review of outside employment disclosures, including lobbying by elected officials. Once we determine the results, we will proceed accordingly,” the inspector general wrote.

WILTON MANORS — On February 1, Reece Darham, Managing Director and previous owner of Island City Health and Fitness (ICHF) announced that he has sold his remaining interest in the gym and fitness club to Ken Hunt, the owner of New York City-based Steel Gym, who had purchased an ownership stake in the popular facility last year.

According to an email from Darham, “Effective immediately, Steel Gym Fort Lauderdale will be the sole property of Ken Hunt, complimenting Steel Gym Miami and Steel Gym NYC.”

“It has been so wonderful to be part of this vibrant community both as a business owner and community leader,” said Darham, a South Africa native who ran the health club under its ICHF brand for more than four years.

“The gym and the [Rainbow Business Coalition, of which he served as founding Co-Chair] have been such a significant part of my life the past few years, however, it is time for me to pursue other business interests that need my full attention,” Darham explained. “I am proud to leave Steel Gym Fort Lauderdale in very good hands.”

Alan Clendenin remembers when Anita Bryant hawked orange juice and bigotry in the late 1970s. And as the newly-elected Vice Chair of the Florida Democratic Party (FDP), he wants to work to ensure the existence of a state party dedicated to defending all of its ideals, including LGBT rights.

Clendenin, 53, who serves as a member of the Democratic National Committee, lost his bid for state party chairmanship last month to fellow FDP member Allison Tant of Tallahassee by a vote of 587 to 507. He says his focus now is to further the party’s objectives in his new position.

In his race for the chairmanship, Clendenin received the endorsements of both the Florida Democratic Black Caucus and the Democratic Hispanic Caucus.

The newly-installed vice chair remembers when Anita Bryant, a former Miss America contestant who was serving as national spokesperson for Florida’s citrus industry at the time, led a successful 1977 campaign to repeal an anti-discrimination ordinance in Miami-Dade County. With her vocal opposition, voters repealed the law 69 to 31 percent.

Clendenin said the city, like much of America at the time, wasn’t a place where gays and lesbians could openly reveal their sexual orientation. “It was not a warm and welcoming place,” he recalls, adding that he and others in the gay community felt isolated.

But Bryant’s anti-gay crusade made things even worse.

“She was a household figure. She was someone whom everyone connected to: mom and America and apple pie. And when she took this stand, it validated the hatred [for gays and lesbians] around the state. It provided fuel to those flickering flames.”

Times may have changed, but as William Faulkner wrote, the past isn’t the past, and Clendenin says another Anita Bryant is always just around the corner.

He notes one of the most recent was Rhonda Storms, a former Republican state senator who lost her campaign for Hillsboro County Property Appraiser. “She would have been a force our community had to battle for years. She was just a woman filled with hate,” said Clendenin.

In 2005, Storms led her fellow Hillsboro County commissioners to pass an ordinance that prohibited the county from promoting or recognizing LGBT pride events. “These people still exist in every community across our state. [Anita Bryant] could happen tomorrow. Our voices [have to be] heard louder than [their voices].”

Clendenin is proud of the progress made so far in the Sunshine State, and he’s optimistic about the future. “I can see an openly gay governor of Florida [being elected one day.] There’s been a generational shift. The world has changed and equality is now accepted by the majority of the population as the right path.”

But while Clendenin says that acceptance of gays and lesbians has moved beyond just “Will & Grace” and into wider pop culture, not enough people are ready yet.

He sees the ultimate LGBT rights issue, the legalization of same-sex marriage, being approved by the courts before it’s approved by a majority of voters. In 2008, 61 percent of Florida voters approved of a Constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage.

“We actually have to rely on the courts to strike it down. The Constitution should be never be used to take rights away,” Clendenin argues.

He also partly blames the leadership in the Florida Democratic Party for not doing enough to oppose the amendment, something he attributes to their fear that supporting LGBT rights too strongly could have cause them to lose voters on other issues.

“So many people who should have been our allies [but] the Florida Democratic Party was silent. It was a wake up call to me [and] one of the motivating factors [of why I decided to run for chair.] You have to stand for something.”

FORT LAUDERDALE — An online fundraising effort has been launched to benefit local artist and photographer Valyn Calhoun, who was recently diagnosed with HIV, AIDS, and Hepatitis B.

The life-threatening experience of Calhoun, 29, began when he was molested by a staff member when he was in pre-school, an incident that Calhoun says had a lasting impact upon him and his life.

“I was a sex addict, plain and simple,” Calhoun admits. “Multiple different partners a day.”

Calhoun—who was the subject of a cover feature last year in our sister publication, Guy Magazine (May 17, 2012: “The Art of Valyn”)—says that memories of his childhood molestation returned to him like a blow from a hammer.

“One day while I was driving, I passed by a house that was familiar,” he recalls. “I realized it was my old pre-school, and that it has since been turned into a house. From there, things started to come back to me. The memories of my molestation had been repressed for so long.”

Calhoun says that when he discovered and understood the cause for his addiction, he immediately began to practice celibacy. But it was too late.

His health began to decline, and Calhoun started to exhibit symptoms including hair loss, skin rashes, vomiting, and hallucinations. In the throes of alarming weight loss, the 95-pound Calhoun checked into a hospital.

He says that the representative from his insurance carrier assured him that the eight-day hospital stay would be covered, but that somewhere between the hospital’s diagnosis of HIV, AIDS, and Hepatitis B, that decision quickly changed.

“I was told by my insurance rep that I was covered for hospital stays,” Calhoun wrote online, at a website dedicated to soliciting donations for those in his condition and circumstances. “I was admitted for eight days until we found out I was lied to and became ‘self-pay;’ they practically kicked me out with no treatment.”

Calhoun says that although he had been tested yearly using an oral swab test, those tests apparently aren’t 100 percent accurate, and that he is living proof; he was told that doctors estimate he contracted the virus between seven and nine years ago.

Discharged from the hospital within hours of the insurance denial, Calhoun is now bedridden. He is working with the Ryan White Foundation for help with his disability eligibility, doctor visits, and treatment, but says he is buried in hospital bills and a large debt to his family.

On his donation page (which can be found at giveforward.com/hivaidstreatmentforvalyn), Calhoun reports, “I have been unable to work for so long, and my parents have been doing everything in their power to support me. We are selling everything of value so I may have a chance for quality care. Savings have been depleted and I’m scared this will financially ruin my parents. I’ve never been the kind of person to ask for money or even help for that matter—I’m just terrified that I won’t get on the right meds in time to raise my t-cells over 200, [and] my current viral load is over four million.

“ANY help would be greatly appreciated. I am a fighter and know I can get through this. I just need some help right now. I put up a picture of my body. It may scare some but this is something I see every day.”

Calhoun says that he is trying to remain upbeat, and look to the future. “I’m really just looking forward to the day when I will have the energy to work on my art and photography again,” he explains. “I want to be able to help the community by showing that you can come back from the brink and still live a happy life.”

DEERFIELD BEACH — The Florida Renaissance Festival—an annual tradition now in its twenty-first year—returns to Quiet Waters Park (401 S Powerline Rd., Deerfield Beach), on Saturday, February 9.

The event, produced by Bobby Rodriguez Productions, features entertainment from hundreds of performers on 12 stages, mounted performers jousting on horseback, sword fighters, minstrels, magicians, wenches, and over 100 merchants and artisans demonstrating and selling their wares, including blown glass, hammered pewter, wooden toys, unique pottery, and clothing.

WILTON MANORS — A Wilton Manors man is charged with lewd and lascivious battery and lewd and lascivious conduct after luring a middle school-aged boy into his car while the teenager walked home from school. Investigators say that Tyrone Holmes, 31, offered the boy money and engaged in sexual acts with him in a Fort Lauderdale-area parking lot.

On January 31, Holmes had his initial court appearance before Broward County Judge John Hurley. In court, Judge Hurley read the police report, and noted that the alleged victim is 15-years-old. The report indicated that the acts occurred on January 23 when Holmes, a cosmetologist, drove up to the teen in the 2000 block of Northwest 9th Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, and offered him a ride.

The teen, wearing a middle school uniform shirt, entered the vehicle after Holmes reportedly gave him $500 and told him that he would be safe.

Investigators say that when the teen entered Holmes’ vehicle, the man started discussing sexual acts, and convinced the alleged victim to perform a sexual act with him, pulling into a parking lot to do so.

After Holmes allegedly tried coercing the teen to do more, he reportedly gave the money back to Holmes and fled from the vehicle. As read in open court by Judge Hurley, the report indicates that Holmes said that “he gives a lot of boys rides home.”

The teen reportedly told his mother about the alleged sex after he ran away from Holmes, and she reported the matter to police, who found surveillance video from the parking lot where the alleged sex act occurred.

“It does seem like he’s preying on children,” said Judge Hurley. “He’s willing to get them in the car, take them to what appears to be remote locations.”

The judge ordered that Holmes be held on $100,000 bail.

WILTON MANORS — A house fire on Thursday, January 31 has left two gay men displaced from their home, with most of their possessions lost in the conflagration.

Barry Feinstein and David Gilmore were at home watching television when a fire broke out that quickly spread to the carport of their Northwest 28 Court house. A car that was parked in the structure also caught fire, causing a loud explosion which alerted the couple to the blaze, which also struck a nearby tree and fence.

Feinstein, 63, and Gilmore, 60—a couple for more than three decades—were awaiting the arrival of out-of-town friends when the fire started at around 12:50 a.m. The cause of the fire is under investigation, with the findings expected in up to several weeks.

We’re experiencing a time in our local real estate market when there is a lot of good news, and when the overall market is extremely positive. It could be said there is “something for everybody.” Some remain skeptical, but that is understandable, since we were hit pretty hard by the past downturn in our market, and many are still affected by it.

That dramatic plunge in values during past years left some us financially damaged.  However, the bottom of that particular market plunge was now over a year ago. It is in our past. Reports from December 2012 show us at least 12 consecutive months of price increases in South Florida.

Although it leaves a lingering impact, and will take a long time (if ever) to recover financially, those are still the results of a “past” problem. There are many opportunities now.

For homeowners still trapped by the low value of their property and a mortgage, there are more options and support from the government and banking institutions than ever before. If you or someone you know needs help, it is recommended they consult a Realtor with “short sale” experience and a CDPE (Certified Distressed Property Expert) designation. Even for these “short sellers” (people whose properties are worth less than what they owe), the market is recovering quickly. Or, you can refinance while interests rates are at all time lows. No matter what, do something.

If you owe more than your property is worth and are not taking action, it could be a mistake you will later regret.  It is recommended to seek advice before you continue to pay month after month without considering and weighing your options.

Currently there are short sale programs with incentives from lenders that provide cash “moving expenses.”  Meanwhile, lending guidelines are changing so fast that even if you sell your property right now in a short sale you may qualify to buy a new home again very soon. If you know you want to short sell and buy again, there is more urgency.  For those who want to stay in their homes and are not completely “upside down,” you have refinancing opportunities that are incredible.

Some people have issues that go well beyond property ownership. If you have financial problems which are more serious than one or more properties, you may want to consult an attorney for other options, including different types of bankruptcy and ways to start over.

In spite of the stigmas that may exist, I personally believe we all deserve a second chance, and that forgiveness of others is as important as giving yourself permission to accept help and a fresh start.

Rick Gibson is a Realtor and Team Leader with Re/Max Preferred. A Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) and Investment Agent Specialist (CIAS), he is Principal of Gibson Group Property Management, LLC.