Our President and Vice President endorse it. A high percentage of the Fortune 500 companies endorse it. More and more Republican and Democrat elected officials in Washington are endorsing it. Dozens of Florida Mayors endorse it. The majority of Americans across the country endorse it. Even the American Academy of Pediatrics endorses it.

And the Supreme Court will be hearing the issue this week.

Yet Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler still refuses to endorse the concept of Marriage Equality (aka: Same-sex marriage) in our City. (If you like, you can go to an article I wrote four years ago about this subject: Alternative views on Familes and Marriage. )

Fort Lauderdale is supposed to be one of the more diverse and progressive cities in the State; with a very high percentage of gay and lesbian couples and singles choosing to live here; with tens of millions of gay and lesbian tourist dollars pouring into the City every year; our Mayor instead chooses to hide in the background on this issue.

Given that he is supposed to be the Mayor of ALL of us, don’t you think he should be taking a leadership role here and promote marriage equality? But here, in one of the most popular gay destinations in the country, he does nothing. Seiler does love parties and parades (he never misses the annual Saint Patrick’s Day Parade); but when was the last time you saw Mayor Seiler featured at a gay-oriented parade or event??

I have been puzzling over this for some time. “In Fort Lauderdale, why isn’t Seiler more of a leader on this issue (or any other issue, for that matter)?”  I recently met someone who supposedly is very knowledgeable about Jack Seiler. From him I discovered some troubling (yet not surprising) information about Jack and his motivations as Mayor of Fort Lauderdale.

When I asked this person (who chooses to remain anonymous) about why Jack Seiler shows so little leadership, I received an interesting reply:

“Wake up Earl! Jack doesn’t care about you. Jack doesn’t care about the Fort Lauderdale resident or taxpayer. Jack only cares about Jack!”

“Jack’s only motivation has been for higher (Statewide) office. He will do or say anything if it helps him get there; and he’ll do or say nothing that could jeopardize his chances.”

“When Jack was a State Representative, he had one of the poorest legislative records of any elected official. From 2003 through 2006, he was able to author only one bill that was ever approved by the Governor. Other State Representatives would author and get approved dozens of bills during that time. Jack doesn’t like to work too hard or take any leadership positions that could tarnish him down the road.”

He gave me the link to see what Jack’s legislative record actually was. Click here:  Jack Seiler’s House record.

“It’s the same thing here as Mayor, Earl. You will not see Jack take a leadership role on any of the needed changes here in Fort Lauderdale: no new Vision for the City; no endorsement of marriage equality, no changes to the War Memorial Gun Show Lease that would provide better protection for the park go-ers and the Fort Lauderdale resident. The more conservative statewide voter would not vote for a candidate that endorsed same sex marriage or infringed upon gun show operations.”

“There are many statewide special interest groups that can help promote Jack into a statewide elected position (like Governor) if they like him:

• The NRA will support Jack because he is protecting their interests at the local Gun Show.
• Police and Fire unions across the State will support him because he keeps providing more raises and more benefits to the local Police and Fire Departments here.
• Even by his actions to allow wealthy developers to build expensive homes on land designated as a Fort Lauderdale park; he will curry favor with them which can be used down the road for more financial support when he runs for a statewide office.”

“That’s how it works, Earl!”

Well, I don’t think it should work that way. But it looks like as long as only 10% to 15% of us ever care to vote in a local election, that’s the way it will continue to be. Lobbyists and special interest groups rule.

Voter apathy will insure that our City remains “stuck in neutral”, when we could be a shining example of new ideas, new innovation, new economic enterprise zones, new development that could turn eyesores like strip malls into something else of beauty, new bike lanes, grander parks, even more infrastructure projects like new sidewalks and paving dirt roads.

It’s a shame that our apathy keeps all this from happening…..Ask yourself: Do you vote? How many other people do you know that regularly vote in local elections? Chances are very few of you do.

Earl Rynerson

This fellow was offering to sell me his "Bushmaster pistol" while I waited in line for the opening of the Gun Show on the morning of Jan 12, 2013.

Yep, believe it or not, Fort Lauderdale must endure another gun show this weekend at the War Memorial. Out-of-towners coming in, buying and selling weapons of mass destruction without a background check, and yards from where families and children are playing in a park! This will be the third of EIGHT gun shows that the City agreed to host (via a renewal of a very poorly written lease contract) last fall.

The Gun Show operators violated the terms of that lease contract in numerous ways even before the first show was held two months ago! This gave our Mayor an opportunity to at least suspend future shows until a better lease contract was drafted that would better protect our City, nearby residents and those enjoying the nearby park. Yet Mayor Jack Seiler refuses to take the necessary steps to get the contract updated.

The word is however, that Seiler is embarrassed at the total lack of security that you and I uncovered at the January Gun Show. He is also furious with City Attorney Harry Stewart for not only allowing such a poorly written contract to exist in the first place, but to be so complacent as to not even have anyone from his office review and sign lease contracts.

Here we have dozens of people on payroll at the City Attorney’s office, (many of them receiving over $150K-$200K in compensation yearly), yet they can’t even be bothered to regularly review and update lease contracts that are 20+ years old?  This complacency is an indicator that our City Attorney has become way too apathetic and lazy in his position. We desperately need new leadership in that office.

So unless our Mayor takes action, we are going to be saddled with 5 MORE of these Gun Shows this year, under a poorly written 20+ year old lease, full of loopholes, that has already been violated by the Gun Show Operators, and that endangers local residents.

Had enough of these shows?

One of the wackier Gun Show attendees...

Then send the Mayor an email! Tell him:  

Stop hosting these Gun Shows until a new lease is written that better protects residents and those families and children playing in the nearby park!

His email address is:  jack.seiler@fortlauderdale.gov

Enough of you complained about the total lack of security in January and now we have better security. Tell him to draft a new lease and let’s see if he does!

Earl Rynerson

Yep, you heard me! Get your ass out of bed an hour earlier than normal and GO VOTE for District 2 Commissioner! We have not had representation on the City Commission for months now. Do it in the morning before your day gets started and you forget!

Two qualified people are running for District 2 Commissioner: Charlotte Rodstrom and Dean Trantalis. Both have experience serving on the Commission already. Both have their pluses and minuses. But neither candidate is in the pocket of the Police and Fire unions (unlike Mayor Seiler and Commissioners Rogers and Roberts). In our City, this has become a crucial issue for our future. City Employee Unions have successfully come close to bankrupting Fort Lauderdale. We MUST have an independent voice to counter their constant demands for higher salaries, pensions and benefits.

In Fort Lauderdale, historically, only about 10% of registered voters ever vote in a municipal election. That means that apparently, 90% of us don’t care about what happens in our City. The City’s unions see this. That’s why they actively support (financially and otherwise) their chosen candidates (Seiler-Rogers-Roberts), to get them elected, then have their hand out for higher salaries, pensions, benefits and other perks. And we’re the ones who get stuck paying the bill!

In the District 2 primary election on January 15th (a precursor to Tuesday’s runoff election), the turnout was even worse! Only about 8% of registered voters in our District voted! In Middle River Terrace, South Middle River and in Flagler/Progresso Villages, the turnout was an appalling 4-5%. These are the areas that need the most help from the City (like paving the dirt roads that still exist in South Middle River!).

It has gotten to the point now that our cops (all getting six-figure compensation packages, fat pensions and homes outside of Fort Lauderdale), drive through these neighborhoods in disdain, with their windows up and their doors locked; rarely if ever, stopping to get out of those shiny vehicles to interact with residents. The folks who live there are usually left to fend for themselves; with dirt roads, high crime, and salaries that are a small fraction of what the police and fire personnel get. Aren’t they supposed to be serving us? It more and more seems that we are here to serve them……

So, make it a point to get up early on Tuesday and go vote for either Dean or Charlotte. It doesn’t matter if you are not sure who to vote for; you still need to vote! We need to get more than a paltry 8% of us to the polls on Tuesday. We can begin to send a message to the special-interest groups here that we are starting to get more involved!

Go Vote! Get other family members to the polls as well. Make a commitment to tell 5 of your friends and neighbors in our District to go vote! Organize a car pool if that helps! But we MUST do a better job of getting involved in how our City operates! And YOU are the only one who can make that change happen!

Earl Rynerson

Yep, but not the smart water you’re thinking of….

Most of us know of “SmartWater” as the bottled water that you can pick up at the grocery store, bottled by one of the large soda companies in the U.S. But what you may not know is that there is another newer “SmartWater” in Fort Lauderdale, and it is having an immediate impact on deterring theft in our City! (Good news!)

SmartWater is a company recently headquartered here in Fort Lauderdale founded by several ex-British police officers. They provide a liquid that (once applied to your valuables) easily enables police officers or pawn shops to identify stolen merchandise! It is part of a program that has just been introduced into the South Middle River neighborhood and is having an immediate impact on deterring thefts and break-ins.

History:

The executives of this company recently decided to move their firm here in South Florida, because we seem to rank number one in break-ins in the U.S. (It figures….). Those executives approached our Police Chief Frank Adderly and offered a deal: The company would provide $50,000 worth of their SmartWater theft deterrent products (500 kits) for a price of $15,000. This would enable 500 households to register with SmartWater and receive one of their theft deterrent kits

Here’s how it works:

See the picture below.

The kit consists of the invisible liquid, stickers and instructions!

The kit consists of warning labels to put on windows and valuables, instructions, and a small tube of a milky liquid that (once dabbed onto an item and dries), provides an invisible marker that can be seen with a blacklight. If the item is stolen and ends up in a pawnshop and if police come through and scan items with a blacklight, any item that reacts to that blacklight will be confiscated and taken to the SmartWater company. The company has a special device that can scan over the invisible liquid on the item and identify the owner from their database. Cool, huh?

The President of the South Middle River Civic Association, Sal Gatanio was contacted by Chief Adderly and executives of SmartWater, the $15K in funds were found, and voila! SMRCA now has 500 of these kits and has already dispersed 350 of them to households in their neighborhood. According to Sal, they are already having an impact of deterring crime.

What’s next?

Pawn shops are now being encouraged to obtain blacklights. They could then scan any item that comes in for sale to make sure it’s not stolen.

And according to Sal, there will soon be a SmartWater spray, (a light, invisible spray that leaves a permanent marker on anyone and their clothes). Once that kit gets installed on doors or windows of homes or cars, that spray will get on the intruder without his knowledge, and stays on the person. It won’t be noticed by the thief, but will show up under a blacklight.

This will give police another tool to fight crime. Say they drive through a neighborhood, shine a blacklight onto a group of kids and discover that one of them lights up under the light. Presto, they not only have a perpetrator, but will know which home or car was broken into, once Smart Water analyzes the dried liquid on the individual.

This is new technology, and there may be kinks that have to be worked out in the future, but it seems like a great idea and one that neighborhood groups all over Fort Lauderdale should be investigating.

To learn more, go to: www.smartwatercsi.com, call Chief Adderly’s office at 954-828-5700, or email Sal Gatanio at info@smrca.com.

Earl Rynerson

Your involvement=better protection for Fort Lauderdale!

This month’s gun show brought a dramatic improvement in many areas of security for Fort Lauderdale residents. I and many other involved citizens attended this show and we all saw the same thing: police were actually present at this show — and in force! In fact, the Gun Show operator was forced to pay for this additional police presence to protect Fort Lauderdale residents, and had to increase the entry fee from $8 to $10 to cover those costs.

Last month:

I did not count a single Fort Lauderdale police officer outside the morning I visited the Gun Show, and there were dozens of people selling firearms freely. The outdoor proliferation and sale of firearms was reminiscent of something you’d see in the Middle East! They violated the terms of their lease by NOT providing sufficient police protection, as their lease contract calls for!

This month:

I counted 11 marked police vehicles with lights flashing in all areas of the War Memorial grounds. Park police were at the neighboring entrances to Holiday Park’s parking lot, blocking gun show attendees from parking there. There were at least three unmarked police cars, several roaming police golf carts, State Law Enforcement vehicles, a digital sign warning attendees, and even a parking lot security hoist contraption. That’s the way it should be!

Police watching the line of Gun Show attendees

 

Thanks to the hundreds of people calling and emailing the Mayor after the January Gun Show debacle, Jack Seiler finally got the message.

Police monitoring the War Memorial entrance

Roaming police in golf carts cruising the parking lots

Portable Police monitoring station and an unmarked police cruiser

 

Even State Law Enforcement personnel were present!

One of the wackier Gun Show attendees...

Those who wanted to sell their weapons outside got a surprise when police officers were aggressively enforcing the law this time. Most people who had cards offering weapons for sale were immediately confronted by police. Those who had weapons for sale had to put them in boxes or bags in order to get them into the building.

There were exceptions to all this, unfortunately. I still was able to photograph the occasional person with cards trying to sell weapons to anyone. I came to one person (shown below), who offered to sell me his guns. “Just come over to my car over there”, he pointed to his car in the War Memorial parking lot. “I’ve got them there and you can see for yourself.” We engaged in a brief discussion. At some point he became suspicious though. “You have a concealed weapons permit?” he asked. When I told him no, he quickly told me he couldn’t sell me anything without it. Shortly after that a police officer came up & told him to put his advertising sign away.

Someone else trying to sell me his guns...

This month I went with a friend who is a lifetime member of the NRA. He and I have different opinions about the merits of the show (being held 8 times this year at the War Memorial!), but we agreed to go together and perhaps learn something from each other.

We saw hundreds of military style assault weapons (he would say “military-style sporting weapons”). He mentioned that none of the weapons for sale were full automatic assault weapons that the military has. “Most of what you see here are AR weapons, the civilian version of an M-16. You have to pull the trigger each time you want to fire. Most of the weapons that you take issue with Earl, are sporting arms that mimic the appearance of military weapons.” (But that was the type of weapon used at Sandy Hook elementary school…..)

“What’s the largest weapon for sale here”? He pointed it out. It was a (single-shot bolt-action) 50-caliber weapon with a scope (which is used for long-range competition shooting). “It’s illegal to own anything of a larger caliber, other than a shotgun”, he mentioned. (There is no earthly reason that anyone would need to have something that powerful, in my mind. My friend countered that he did not know of any violent crime ever committed with this type of weapon.)

We met a police officer inside the War Memorial (one of many this time) monitoring the scene. We chatted with him briefly. “A lot more police presence this time,” I commented. “Yeah, some blogger raised a stink last month when a guy tried to sell him a Bushmaster pistol. He got a bunch of people to call the Mayor’s office to complain,” he said. (My NRA friend smiled at me, knowing that the blogger was me….)

What was still disconcerting was that all the people who were outside last month selling AK47’s and other guns were now inside selling those same weapons. They walked the aisles with signs. “That’s legal to do, inside the confines of a gun show”, my NRA friend told me. “Yeah, but there are no safeguards to ensure that these individuals perform a background check when they are selling their weapons to others,” I said. “And the police still can’t keep the back-room deals from occurring out in the parking lot or in a hotel room after they meet inside.”

He stated: “Most of the concerns that you have, Earl, would probably be solved if the City just enforced existing laws.” And that was one of the few points that he and I could agree on.

Will this enforcement by police continue in upcoming shows? Only if you, dear reader, hold the Mayor’s feet to the fire and make sure that you let him know how you feel about having all these Gun Shows on City property, yards from a park where kids are playing.

I personally have no problem with these types of shows if they are held on private property, with rules and laws enforced by police, and away from families and kids playing in a park. But I personally don’t think that these assault-style weapons that are designed to kill people should be something that anyone needs or should buy. Similarly, I’ve never understood why someone needs a car that can go 2 to 3times the legal speed limit.

But these shows have been going on for years in the same City location next to the park with no law enforcement. It’s hard to get our City bureaucracy to change. It’s going to take continued monitoring and complaining by residents like you, to make sure that the Mayor, City Manager, City Attorney and Police Chief all do their job. They now realize that they need to do better. Let’s make sure that they do! Keep sending the Mayor the message: “Jack Seiler: Get off your butt! Start protecting the residents of Fort Lauderdale!”

Earl Rynerson

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Yep, we the residents of Fort Lauderdale will have to endure another weekend of buying and selling of weapons (many of them assault-style weapons) on City property at the War Memorial Building (Federal near Sunrise) this weekend.

More out-of-towners will be there with their AK-47s, Bushmasters and trunks full of ammunition, wheeling and dealing yards from where children are playing at neighboring Holiday Park.

According to sources in City Hall, I and others thoroughly embarrassed Jack Seiler and our City Manager last month, when we uncovered the bazaar-like (and very bizarre) atmosphere outside of the War Memorial. People were wandering around on the street with all kinds of exposed weapons and bullets for sale, selling to anyone with enough cash. Fort Lauderdale apparently has become the place for gang members, drug dealers, criminals, militia members and others to expand their weapon arsenals without having to go through a background check!

Jack Seiler refused my invitation (along with others) to see what was happening. As Mayor, don’t you think he should be more involved in what goes on here? He continued to lie about “more than adequate” police presence, when in fact, there were none. Once more, he showed his ignorance about what is going on in Fort Lauderdale.

Well, thanks to your emails to the Mayor, he finally got the message. It appears that there WILL BE police on hand this weekend to keep order. I have noticed a new digital sign there warning attendees to “keep weapons unloaded and encased”, and have been told that there will be 8-10 times the number of police present than there were last month. Good job, readers!

I and others will be there this weekend to verify whether the City is doing a better job of protecting us residents. I also plan on attending the show with an NRA member who can better educate me on the lethal capabilities of some of the weapons for sale there. He and I don’t agree on the merits of this City-sponsored gun show, but hopefully, we can learn from each other. I’ll be reporting on both next week.

The Mayor had an opportunity to declare a moratorium on all future gun shows last month after it was disclosed that the operators had violated the terms of the lease. In addition, the lease is so old and so poorly written that it exposes the City to liability. Why he has not stopped these shows until residents are better protected and the lease is re-written?  His motivation to keep these gun shows operating on City property is not clear and defies common sense and all logic.

One thing is for sure. The Mayor will now bear full responsibility for anything that happens at these shows this year. He had his chance to better protect residents and he blew it. Let’s just hope that luck is on his side.

Earl Rynerson

Many of you have followed my suggestion over the last several weeks to call and send emails to Mayor Jack Seiler demanding that he do something to stem the bazaar-like buying and selling of weapons openly on City streets at the War Memorial.

For weeks after the January 12^th gun show, our Mayor stubbornly refused to admit that there was even a problem occurring at the War Memorial, even though I and several newspaper and television crews were there, and saw buying and selling of weapons, with no police presence. He even refused invitations to go to the gun show to see for himself the “flea market” atmosphere that existed. He was clearly out of touch with reality.

 Here is an example of one of the emails sent to Jack Seiler (after my suggestion), and Jack’s unprofessional response. This is an issue that endangers all of us, yet read what Jack says below:
On Jan 29, 2013, at 11:15 AM, “B******”   wrote:

“Mayor Jack
this is an outrage to me and many others here.
Everyday there is a shooting here in South FLA and im getting tired of it
I don’t feel safe here either.
I urge you to end this insanity. Cancel the remaining seven gun shows currently scheduled this year in Fort Lauderdale.
Or at the very LEAST get some security and Police officers there at the War Mem for the next show and stop persons from openly selling weapons on the street and in line.  
Take Action NOW…”

The Mayor responded:

—–Original Message—–
From: Jack Seiler <Jack.Seiler@Fortlauderdale.Gov>
To: B********
Sent: Tue, Jan 29, 2013 11:23 am
Subject: Re: Stop the Madness and the Guns

“We had more than enough security and law enforcement present at WMA for the Gun Show.

Once again, Earl totally misrepresented the facts in a blog in order to further his agenda of whining, complaining, and moaning.  

Thanks.”

John P. “Jack” Seiler

Our reader replied to me:

“He is full of crap…
I tried
thanks for pointing things out to all of us.”

B*******

This (unfortunately) is representative of the type of leadership we have come to expect from Jack Seiler. Rather than look for new initiatives and ways to improve our City, or ways to take on an issue and solve a problem, he prefers to hide and blame others.

Fortunately though, enough of you have sent emails and phone calls to Jack over the last three weeks, he realizes now that he can no longer ignore this problem.

According to a memorandum I received last week, City Hall is finally getting the message that you are sending them:

“In an effort to ensure that the public has the opportunity to enjoy Holiday Park’s facilities during the upcoming and all future Suncoast Gun Shows, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department will be enforcing all Florida State Statutes relating to firearms and ammunition, including but not limited to the prohibition on the open carrying of firearms. Anyone attending the gun show at the War Memorial Auditorium will be required to unload and encase all firearms (handguns and/or rifles) being brought into or from the auditorium.

In addition, it is important to remember that the City of Fort Lauderdale Park Rules prohibit the sale or offering for sale any articles (merchandise) within the park or the adjacent roadways.

So let’s see whether Fort Lauderdale police in fact do come out in force at the next gun show (once again, at the War Memorial, February 23 and 24).

I know that I and many others will be there to monitor what is happening. This is a safety issue that each of us needs to pay attention to, especially those that live in the nearby neighborhoods and those that want to enjoy the park next door.

If the police are successful in stopping the buying and selling of weapons on city streets, then we will have accomplished one of two goals. The second goal is to declare a moratorium on any future guns shows until a new lease is written that better protects us.

The current lease is such an embarrassing example of the apathy and complacency that comes out of City Attorney’s office, that it should be cause for dismissal of our City Attorney Harry Stewart:

• The contract is over 20 years old and is used whenever anyone wants to rent the facility.
• It was never written specifically for a gun show.
• It was never intended for an event that was to be held multiple times throughout the year.
• Many clauses in the contract contradict each other!
• There are no definitions to many of the terms used in the contract (ie: what is “sufficient” police protection?).
• Our City Attorney didn’t even bother to review the lease renewal last fall.
• He chose to allow a non-attorney from the War Memorial facility to sign on behalf of the City, putting the City at risk for future liability issues.
• The lease was never brought before the Commission to review before it was signed.

As sloppy and as poorly written as the lease is, the Gun Show operators still managed to violate the terms of the lease in at least four different ways before the first gun show even opened last month!

So now we need to put pressure on the Mayor to declare a moratorium on future gun shows until he can better protect us with a new lease agreement. You pressured him to take action on (hopefully) more police presence; you can do the same with getting him to stop any future guns shows until we have a lease that better protects us.

It is up to you. You have the power to improve things for all of us. It is up to you to make a difference and protect us!

Let the Mayor know how you feel!

His email address is:  jack.seiler@fortlauderdale.gov. 

His phone number is: 954-828-5003

Earl Rynerson

So far, he has ignored my email to him. Maybe you can do better by sending him your own email. (His email address is: jack.seiler@fortlauderdale.gov). Let me know if you hear from him.

Earl (email follows)

This fellow was offering to sell me his "Bushmaster pistol" while I waited in line for the opening of the Gun Show on the morning of Jan 12, 2013.

Jack-

Why do you place the desires of an out-of-town gun show operator over the health and safety of Fort Lauderdale children and families?

You have heard about the out-of-control sales of assault weapons (loaded or unloaded, who knows?) this month on the street in front of the War Memorial; just yards from the park where children and families were playing. This was not only mentioned by me, but by several television news reporters who were there to record this activity.

You have stated that you will not breach the lease contract with the gun show operator. Why, Jack, when the gun show operator violated the terms of the lease in at least five different ways! For example:

1.       They did not provide Liability insurance to the City by the deadline. Violation! 

2.       The insurance they finally provided covers the City only under “the gun owner’s negligence”. It does not provide the full coverage asked for by the City. Violation! 

3.       They did not provide a list of the groups using the facilities as the contract demands. Violation!

4.       They did not provide sufficient police force for the first gun show. Violation!

5.       They allowed a third party to post billboards, and signs in front of the War Memorial. Violation!

These violations make it easy for the City to extricate itself out of an embarrassing (and poorly written) lease contract, thereby providing better protection for our residents, and insuring that the City will not continue to expose itself to, (nor tacitly endorse) assault weapon sales in our City, on City property, yards from a children’s playground.

I urge you to end this insanity. Cancel the remaining seven gun shows currently scheduled this year in Fort Lauderdale.

Earl Rynerson

Lt Colonel, US Air Force (retired)

Again, let me know if you hear from Jack Seiler-

Earl

Another embarrassment for Fort Lauderdale! 

Most of you who read my articles by now know of  what occurred on Saturday morning at the front of the War Memorial: dozens of people selling guns, bullets assault weapons (semi-automatic and automatic weapons of every description), to anyone who wanted to buy. Police were nowhere to be found. It was bizarre.

Fortunately, there were television news crews there to record what they saw. They saw and reported the same thing: people buying and selling weapons, (including AK-47s), and Fort Lauderdale police were nowhere to be found. I even had someone trying to sell me a “bushmaster pistol”! (See photo below)

This fellow was offering to sell me this while I waited in line this morning. He called it a "Bushmaster pistol".

All this yards from where children were playing in the park!  I contacted Mayor Jack Seiler several times the day before the show and that morning asking him to come see for himself what was going on. He refused. People have asked Jack if he intends to close the show. Again he refuses, saying that he; “…will not breach the contract…”.

Well, I am here to help educate our Mayor (along with our City Attorney Harry Stewart, City Manager Lee Feldman, and Police Chief Frank Adderly.)

First though, a verbal “spanking”: Jack, Lee, Harry, Frank: You should all be ashamed of yourselves to allow this sort of out-of-control gun sales activity to occur, and on City property nonetheless! And right next to a park where families and kids play!

Harry/Frank/Lee: You’re all getting six figure salaries (Harry’s getting a total compensation of over $400K a year, and Lee’s got a lifetime employment contract, thanks to Jack Seiler), yet you guys can’t even get your act together and prepare for a planned event like this gun show! What happens when there is an unplanned catastrophe in this City! You guys are like the three stooges, three incompetents, bumping in to one another as you run around City Hall!

Jack, you seem to be more interested in protecting yourself and your political future than in protecting Fort Lauderdale families. Shame on you! You need to look at ways to terminate this Lease contract and declare a moratorium on future Gun sales in Fort Lauderdale. Fortunately, I am here to help you do that. You say that you “cannot breach the contract”.  I am here to show you how.  First, click on and print out the City’s Lease Contract and Liability Insurance document so you can follow along. (Click on the links below): The lease is 1.4MB, so be patient and give it time to load to your PC-

Lease Contract from City

Certificate of Liability Insurance

Violation #1:

1. Go to Section 2: The contract calls for Sun Coast to have a liability policy that covers “all costs and expenses arising out of any claims for personal injuries, including death, and any claims for property damages sustained by any person….”  (That means a “slip and fall” accident, etc.) However, the Liability policy they provided to the City only covers the City “… with respect to Insured’s negligence only…” .

After speaking with the insurance company representative (Annette), she wasn’t sure if the policy would cover the “any claims” clause mandated by the City. “I am not sure” was her reply. That means we may not be covered!

This means that they may have not provided the liability policy requested by the City. Result: The contract could be null and void!

Violation #2:

1. Again on Section two: The date on the policy form is Jan 9, 2013. I spoke to the agent about this date. She told me that January 9 was the date that they had been contacted by Sun Coast to place the City on their master policy. January 9. Hmmmmm; interesting! It was January 7 that I asked the City about the liability policy. The City was supposed to have this policy no later than 5 days before the event (January 7).

But we did not have the policy on that date mandated by the contract! After my inquiry with the City Attorney’s office on the 7th, the City then (frantically, I bet) contacted Sun Coast, who then contacted their agent, who then put us on their policy, but several days too late, according to the terms of the contract. Why was this not done earlier???  Laziness on the part of City Attorney Harry Stewart, I believe. In any event, we didn’t have the liability policy when we were supposed to. So the contract is null and void!

Violation #3:

1. Go to Section 3: The contract demands that Sun Coast furnish “not later than five days before each event, a list of the performers and/or groups that will be using these facilities…” I asked the War Memorial Manager (Orlando Castellano) last week about that little bit of information the City requires. “Oh they (Sun Coast) never provide that. That’s just for on-stage performances..”  Sorry Orlando, but read the contract! It says “performers or groups that will be using the facilities…” The people selling guns from booths and tables and using the War Memorial to do so are groups using the facilities. Sun Coast has not provided that information. Contract therefore should be null and void!

Violation #4:

1. Go to Section 9: That section says that Sun Coast has the responsibility to “have on duty at necessary times sufficient police force to maintain order and protect persons and property.” Nowhere in the document does it say what “sufficient” is. But to anyone at the show on Saturday morning, and seeing dozens of people carrying and selling assault weapons to anyone with no police in sight, it was clear that there was completely insufficient police presence. Sun Coast did not provide a sufficient police force. Contract is null and void on that issue as well!

Violation #5:

1. Go to Section 11: That section stipulates that there should be no posting of “signs, advertisements, showbills, lithographs, posters or cards of any description, inside, or in front of or on any part of said building…”. “Posting of signs in violation of the City’s code may result in immediate termination of the Agreement…” To those who attended, you should have noticed an NRA table set up in front of the building hawking NRA memberships. Did they pay to have that table there? Did Sun Coast give them authority to have that table there? It doesn’t matter. Another violation!

So there you have it, Mayor Jack Seiler! Here are four, possibly five violations of this agreement and all within the first show! Here are four, possibly five ways to get out of the Gun Show contract, enabling you to better protect the citizenry of the City of Fort Lauderdale.

Will you take this opportunity I am giving you, Jack! It appears that no-one in our City Attorney’s office has the mental ability to figure this out, so I have done it for them.

Jack, you need to terminate this agreement, declare a moratorium on assault weapon sales and (if you feel it necessary), write a new contract that takes these gun sales into a part of our City away from parks. Better yet, have them establish a lease contract with a private firm and get the City out of this nonsense. 25 years of hosting gun sales in Fort Lauderdale is long enough!

You have an opportunity here, Jack. Will you take it?

Time will tell. Remember reader: we only have 29 days left until the next Gun Show opens at the War Memorial.

Earl Rynerson

This morning I visited opening day of the gun show. This year there were literally at least 2,000 to 3,000 people lined up waiting for tickets and waiting to get in to the show. It took over an hour to get in.

While waiting to get in,  (to my dismay),  I witnessed dozens of people with placards and guns walking along the lines offering everything for sale, from AK -47s to Bushmasters to hunting rifles to boxes of bullets. The common phrase I kept hearing was: “You selling?” “You selling?”

These transactions were occurring on City Property, were not inside the War Memorial, they were being held in plain view in front of the War Memorial and in the parking lots, just yards from the playgrounds where children were playing this morning. There were no background checks going on, no permits, no police presence, nothing to keep guns out of the hands of gangsters or criminals. Transactions were occurring on the spot.

I have been emailing Mayor Jack Seiler for the last couple of days, asking him to attend the show with me. (He and I don’t agree on much of anything as to how our City should be governed, but I thought this would be an issue that would enable us to work together on solving a problem.) Yesterday he simply refused to acknowledge my request.

This morning at the show this person came up to me and offer to sell me this “Bushmaster pistol” as he called it. I frantically emailed Jack again, sending him this picture. Finally, Jack replied back:

“Our police will make sure that there is no illegal, unlawful, unlicensed, or unauthorized activity going on at War Memorial Auditorium or in Holiday Park.”

It’s a little late for that Jack! The damage has already been done, sales have already been made, and once again, the Mayor has demonstrated that he is clueless about what is going on on City Property.

Look at the pictures (from others who were at the show this morning) that were sent to me:

This fellow was offering to sell me this while I waited in line this morning. He called it a "Bushmaster pistol".

Thousands of people waiting in line to get in!

They don't let you take pictures of what goes on inside...Notice the sign on the wall

Rapid fire assault weapons of every kind for sale inside

Someone selling ammunition to anyone who wanted to buy. See his placard?

The NRA hosting a booth in front of the War Memorial, in violation of the Lease agreement

More assault weapons for sale

A scary looking rapid fire weapon for sale.