Coral Springs City Commissioners have rejected the idea of the city entering the housing business.

Instead, the city will use the $3,378,142 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide financial assistance for very low, low, or moderate-income residents seeking to buy a home. The money will be used for down payment assistance and repairs.

The city has entered into a partnership with Community Redevelopment Associates of Florida Inc. for implementation of the neighborhood stabilization program. The agency will prepare an action plan within two weeks. The program has to be in place by December, while the funds have to be used within 18 months. The focus of the program will be on foreclosed properties in the 33065 zip code area.

The arrangement with CRA helps the city accomplish more with less risk, said the City Manager Mike Levinson. “The neighborhood stabilization program goes hand in hand with the foreclosure prevention program that we have implementing. We are doing the proactive stuff; this is reactive.”

“We will work with CRA for pre-qualification of buyers,” Levinson said. “We will also pre-qualify homes as well. The money will be given on a first come first serve basis.”

Housing counseling for prospective buyers is an integral part of the program, said assistant city manager Erdal Donmez. “Ten percent of the grant will be used for administrative expenses, with CRA getting 6.8 percent. There are 485 foreclosed homes owned by banks in Coral Springs while 462 are in the final stages of foreclosure."

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The decision of the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) to summarily dismiss a proposal to widen State Road 7 to better link Broward and Palm Beach counties has pleased Coral Springs City commission members.

The decision means that the chances of the city’s preferred option – extension of University Drive to link Broward and Palm Beach – becoming a reality remain bright. City officials believe the MPO’s decision vindicates their stand on the issue.

Commissioner Ted Mena, who is the city representative on the MPO, asked his successor Roy Gold to keep his eyes open at all times. “We thought the proposal had to do with University Drive, but it concerned nothing but SR-7. This is not the first time they have tried to sneak in a proposal and get us to approve it. I want to thank Tamarac and Coconut Creek. They stood up for us.”

Commissioner Roy Gold said he was happy at the stand taken by the MPO against the study. “But there is a feeling that there are mixed signals coming from the county. The MPO wants the county to take an official stand on the issue.”

Mayor Scott Brook wanted Gold to meet MPO director Roger Del Rio and share the city’s sentiment on the issue. “Don’t be bullied. We need to be as aggressive as possible. A lot of times, I have had the feeling that he is not vocalizing our sentiment on the issue.”

Coral Springs and Coconut Creek are in favor of extending University Drive, but Parkland and Palm Beach oppose the plan. Parkland officials say extending University Drive will cause destruction of existing neighborhoods. The issue is of added importance to the city as it will get the wedge - nearly 2,000 acres of Palm Beach County land - only if plans for extending the road are permanently dropped.

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Coral Springs City Manager Mike Levinson got a raise and plenty of praise from City Commission members at last week’s meeting.

After an annual performance review, city officials unanimously decided to give Levinson a 6 percent raise on his existing salary of $205,635, taking into account his performance that substantially above expectations.” His new annual base salary will be $214,374 – 4.25 percent of the raise will be added to the base salary, while Levinson will take the rest home in cash.

Pembroke Pines spends $754,941 every year on its city manager and deputy city manager, while the Fort Lauderdale city manager takes home an annual base salary of $230,090. The corresponding figure for city managers in Boca Raton, Hollywood, Sunrise, and Coconut Creek are $211,576, $201,115, $187,335, and $192,800.

Although Levinson’s contract was originally from Oct. 1, 2003 to Sept. 30, 2009, he has agreed to stay on for another year.

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Barack Obama is getting a lot of love from elected officials in Northwest Broward.

Led by Coral Springs Mayor Scott Brook, officials supporting Barack Obama came together at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts Monday in a show of support for the Democratic Party candidate. Most of them plan to work overtime over the next few days to get undecided voters to support Obama.

Sen. Jeremy Ring, State Representative Ari Porth, Broward County Vice Mayor Stacy Ritter, Parkland Mayor Michael Udine, Tamarac Mayor Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco, Coral Springs Commissioner Roy Gold, Coconut Creek commissioners Marilyn Gerber and Lisa Aronson, and Pembroke Pines Commissioner Angelo Castillo were among those who joined Brook in supporting Obama.

Although the group that heard the officials speak was not the largest, there was plenty of spirit among the speakers and those who were in attendance. Adding to the spice was the presence of a sizable number of Republicans, wearing McCain-Palin T-shirts and waving placards, near the venue.

The country needs Obama’s vision, Brook said. “He will rally the nation. Post-Bush, we will need to do things differently. Our federal debt has nearly doubled during the last eight years. Obama wants to run government from the bottom up. That is the way we do business in Coral Springs.”

Udine said he was in favor of extending early voting hours. “We should not be limiting the ability of the voters to vote," he said. "We, in the city, are holding an emergency meeting to discuss the issue. If budgetary constraints are the reason for not extending voting hours, we will see what we can do about it.”

The economy has never been as bad as it is now, Gold said. “I am glad to be here representing Obama. In my family, everyone is voting for him. Two terms of Bush have been devastating for the country. If you are going to vote, vote for Obama.”

Shari Black, a Republican supporter who heard Brook and the other officials speak, said people in the country would feel shortchanged if they voted for Obama. “American people need a savior now. A lot of people are hurting. I think Obama is charismatic, intelligent and bold, But I won’t vote for him as I don’t agree with his philosophy.”

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Parkland has joined a growing list of cities that have put laws into place to decrease the effects of foreclosed or abandoned homes on the neighborhood.

The move comes in the wake of an increase in the number of foreclosures in the city over the last year. An ordinance that city officials discussed recently focuses on registration of abandoned homes. This places the burden of maintaining the property on the mortgagee.
The city will be able to impose fines if the mortgagee fails to keep the homes in proper shape.

The city should step in only if there were life, health, and safety issues, Mayor Udine said. “I like the registration provision but what I am not ok with is mowing the lawn. It will never end and we won’t have the dollars to do it. I wouldn’t want to live next to a house with a green pool, but if we intervene once, there would be demands to do others. We will need to go in once in a while, but this is a slippery slope.”

The main thrust of the Ordinance is to have abandoned properties registered, City Attorney Andrew Maurodis said. “There is nothing in the ordinance that obligates us to go in and do a thing. This is not aimed at making us step in and do the work. This is just to ensure that the mortgagee takes care of the property when foreclosure proceedings happen.”

Coral Springs, which has to deal with the problem on a much larger scale, passed a law a few months ago.

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Andrea MacVicar, children’s book writer and a retired pastor, was in college when she rescued Zoftic, a black Labrador pup, from behind her yard.

“It was 1977; I was in my thirties and we were living in Michigan,” the Coral Springs resident said. “There was a large field behind our house. One day, I heard puppies crying and walked out to see five Labrador pups; someone had abandoned them. Four of them were male; I adopted the female.”

Zoftic more than returned the favor, in life and even after her death.

“Tales of Zoftic,” a book that has the Labrador as the central character, has not only won MacVicar praise but also helped her raise more than $5,000 for charity. The money will help the Humane Society, Friends of Greyhounds, Wycliffe Bible Translators and Christian Aid Mission.

“The book is about two love stories – in one, Zoftic helps her master find a life partner. In the second story, she falls in love with a German shepherd, a police dog,” MacVicar said. “I wrote it for third and fourth grade students. Many adults have told me they enjoyed the book as well. I have had nothing but positive reviews; a literary agent said the rhyme is impeccable while a teacher said the vocabulary is very rich.”

MacVicar is back to writing these days. “It’s a mystery science fiction for middle school children. This is prose, a different book entirely. Any writing is a matter of skill, craft and inspiration. I like the challenge of doing something new.”

Tales of Zoftic is available at http://inspirationpress.org for $21.45, including shipping.

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Hooman Rafiee, coordinator of the Baha’i Faith Youth Group, says he cannot put into words the emotions he feels every time the group performs at One Planet United's annual interfaith music concert.

“The experience is unimaginable,” Rafiee said. “There is nothing but unity all around you. Every moment is about love. The event is all about what the society and the world needs.”

This Sunday, Rafiee will relive the experience.

The two-hour long fourth annual Faith in Music concert at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts is expected to feature over 270 performers representing 10 different choirs from Coral Springs and other cities in Broward County. Making a statement for unity in diversity will be five different world religions.

Non-perishable food items will be collected and distributed to local food pantries, said Jack Bloomfield, director of One Planet United. “We have asked performers to bring food, and we are hoping everyone in the audience, too, will support what we are trying to do. If that happens, it will be huge. A lot of people in the community are in rough shape.”

The concert will be at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 26 at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts, 2855 Coral Springs Drive. Tickets cost $10 and are on sale at the center box office and all participating congregations. Call 954-340-2115.

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Coral Springs Mayor Scott Brook wants Barack Obama to be the next president of the country, and he is doing his best to ensure it happens.

Brook said will tell reporters on Monday why "Obama is better for cities, citizens and Florida." He won't be alone; with him, making a statement in favor of the Democratic Party candidate will be other mayors and elected officials.

The coming together of mayors and elected officials to support Obama is Brook's idea. "I've not done this before, but that is how passionate I am about this candidate. Parkland Mayor Michael Udine and Tamarac Mayor Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco will be with me. I am talking with other elected officials, too."

Watch this blog for more information.

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It has taken a while, but Coral Springs Commissioner Roy Gold has finally been granted his wish.

Gold, who was recently re-elected unopposed to the commission, will replace Commissioner Ted Mena as the city's representative in the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). The organization, established in 1977 by the State Legislature, has 19 members and is responsible for transportation planning in the county.

"I've wanted this position for four and a half years now," Gold said. "One of issues I will be fighting for is the extension of University Drive. It's not an easy fight, but it is an important one for the city.I will fight to do the right thing."

"University Drive was always planned to go through," Gold said. "Extending the road will benefit the region a great deal. But recently, we have heard reports of Palm Beach County officials holding talks with Florida Department of Transportation and trying to prevent the road from going through. That is disheartening. All of us had agreed to a process and now, the issue is being discussed without Broward MPO being on the table."

Gold will represent the city well in the MPO, Mena said. "He has been very active in pushing for extension of University Drive. He has the time, ability and the knowledge to do a great job. However, he will have to watch out for the politicking that goes on behind the scenes."

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Coral Springs residents will get a chance tomorrow to indulge their philanthropic instincts while enjoying a wide variety of wine and food.

Proceeds from the fifth annual Festival of the Flutes will benefit the Lisa Boccard Breast Cancer Foundation, the Florida Initiative for Suicide Prevention and Community Chest. All three are charities that help the needy in the community.

The event is being organized by Premier Networking Alliance, Inc. Coral Mayor Scott Brook, who heads the organization, is hoping for another successful year. “Suicide prevention is something very close to my heart. I lost my mother to suicide many years ago,” Brook said. “The Community Chest supports 25 to 28 organizations. Vince (Boccard) is very much involved with the Lisa Boccard Breast Cancer Foundation.”

The event will have wine tasting, food from popular local restaurants, live music, as well as silent and Chinese auctions. Auction items will include reserve wines, themed gift baskets, restaurant gift certificates, spa days, and fine art. The theme of this year’s event - taste of the tropics – offers ample scope for lots of color and fun.

Terry Boccard, who is the chairwoman of the event, said the event has raised plenty of interest in the community. “It is tough for anyone to get sponsorships in today’s economy but things are going well. We hope to have about 300 people at the event. The goal is to raise at least $15,000.”

Festival of the Flutes will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. on Oct. 16 at the Coral Springs Marriott Resort & Convention Center, 11775 Heron Bay Blvd in Coral Springs. Visit www.festivaloftheflutes.org. For tickets, call Carol Warner at 954-757-2108 or Pat Mirabello at 954-344-5907. Tickets are $40 in advance and $60 at the door.

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Coral Springs is one City Commission decision away from entering the housing business.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has offered the city a chance to enter the housing business. Mayor Scott Brook believes it is an idea worth pursuing, but his colleagues on the commission think differently.

The city has been allocated $3,378,142 by the department through its neighborhood stabilization program (NSP). The money is to be used to address the effects of abandoned and foreclosed homes. The funds can be used in five ways, including purchase and rehabilitation of such homes and residential properties.

“I’m OK with the city being in the housing business," Brook said. "We already have real estate in Coral Springs. I like the idea of selective purchase of abandoned homes. We will have to spend some money to maintain them, but the market will turn around.”

The city should stay out of the housing business, City Manager Mike Levinson said. “We are not a housing authority; we are not in that business. We can acquire and renovate foreclosed homes but where are the buyers going to come from? There isn’t a market out there. There are carrying costs associated with the properties.”

Vice Mayor Vince Boccard agreed with Levinson. “This is not something I want Coral Springs to be doing. If we are buying houses, we might end up not being able to sell them. I think it is going to be at least two years before the housing market turns around. “It will be good if we can use the money to maintain foreclosed homes in the city.”

It is not the role of a city to be a landlord, Commissioner Roy Gold said. “In the market we are in now, I wouldn’t recommend being in the housing market. I think it would be a great negative. But $3.3 million is a lot of money. We should get as many dollars as we can without putting Coral Springs at risk.”

The last date to apply for the program is Dec. 1.

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It has had a not-so-great first year, but Young at Art Children’s Museum is trying hard to make a success of its alliance with Parkland.

Mindy Shrago, Young at Art executive director, appeared before the City Commission recently seeking a change to the original contract by which the museum would get 90 percent of the gross revenue as compensation for services.

The City Commission was willing to go a step further.

Mayor Michael Udine said he was in favor of the city waiving the recovery of fees from the beginning of the contract to May 2009. The others agreed.

“Let us give them a chance to try and succeed,” Udine said. We are all in tough times. "We want Young at Art to stay. It will cost us much more to run a similar program on our own.”

Young at Art, which was ranked the number one children’s museum in the state this year, will work to market its programs better, Shrago said. “We do want to make this work, to give it our all. We haven’t been able to reach out audience. We are thinking of ways to reach the kids in the community. We need to at least break even.”

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Shortly after he returned from a disability convention in Orlando, Garrett Mayersohn, a wheelchair bound eighth-grader at Westglades Middle School in Parkland, wrote a letter to his school principal.

Gov. Charlie Crist, Garrett wrote, had signed a bill asking Florida public schools to recognize the first two weeks of October as disability history and awareness weeks. During that period, the school should offer programs that create awareness about disability among its students, he said.

Christine Flynn, the principal, and staff were only too willing to oblige.

“These are exciting times for us,” Flynn said. “All through this week, we have programs that create disability awareness. A lot of our clubs have embraced the idea. We are doing this for the first time but I’m sure this will become an annual tradition here. In the coming years, the scope will broaden further, too.”

Garrett, understandably, is a happy young boy. “I’m glad they are doing so much. People sometimes make fun of those with disabilities. Creating awareness will prevent that from happening. My friends treat me like a regular kid, but not every child with a disability is as lucky as I am.”

The commission has tried to bring in as many programs as it can for special needs children, Mayor Michael Udine said. “I am not surprised that Garrett took the lead in making this happen. He is an unbelievable kid and a very good friend. He is going to be a leader.”

Disability history has been largely ignored in curricula at the elementary, middle school and high school levels, said Robert Mayersohn, Garrett’s father. “This is a step in the right direction. Twenty-five years ago, there was a lot of segregation between kids with disabilities and mainstream children. Some schools even used to hide children with disabilities.”

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Brookwood Florida-East, a home for teen girls that have been abused, neglected and abandoned in Coral Springs, is offering people in the community an opportunity to sweat for a worthy cause.

The non-profit will organize its fourth annual 5K "Steps to Independence" walk/run on Oct. 18 at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach. For the group home, much hinges on the success of the event as state funding has come down substantially following budget cuts.

Brookwood site director Stacy Constantine is hoping for a good turnout at the event. “Last year, we raised about $13,000. This year, we are hoping to raise at least $20,000. We hope to get sponsors as well. All the money raised from the event goes directly to the 14 girls that we have here.”

“The deficit per day per child is between $30 to $40 after the money that we get from the State was reduced,” Constantine said. “We give the girls everything they need; it takes a lot of money. Any help that we can get from the community is great. We look for small grants too.”

The girls in the group home have been abused mentally or physically, neglected or abandoned. “They are all in the 13 to 18 age group; some of them stay here for years,” Constantine said. “This becomes home for them; you can see their behavior changing with time. We teach them social skills, job skills, education sills. The idea is to get them ready for independent living.”

Register for the event by calling 954-757-3833, visiting www.nwbrr.com or by turning up at Quiet Waters Park at 7 a.m. on Oct. 18.

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The Parkland pumpkin patch is returning to its original location - Old City Hall.

Debra Rowars, a resident who is organizing the event this year after the Parkland Woman’s Club decided it no longer had the resources to make a success of it, had earlier picked the field next to the city’s Equestrian Center as the venue. However, her appearance before the City Commission last week led to a change of plan.

“The Parkland Woman’s Club lost $10,000 last year because the event was moved to Liberty Park,” Rowars said. “If we moved to the field next to the city’s Equestrian Center, it would have been the third location in three years. I’m glad we have Old City Hall. I’m a resident since 1983. I hope we can always enjoy fun family times in the shade of some of our older country settings.”

“We are still accepting applications for vendors to join us on our second weekend, Oct 18th and Oct 19th, for our harvest festival. We also hope to get adult volunteers for unloading the pumpkins at 8:45 a.m. on Oct. 11 and Oct. 18,” Rowars said.

The Parkland Pumpkin Patch will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Oct. 11 to 26 at Old City Hall, 6500 Parkside Drive, Parkland. E-mail bewitched96@mac.com.

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A passionately involved audience listened intently as candidates running in the 19th and 22nd congressional districts took aim and directed barbs at each other at a candidates' forum in Coral Springs Monday night.

The event was jointly organized by the League of Women Voters of Broward County and the Coral Springs Customer Involved Government Committee. There was palpable excitement in the air, and the moderator did not have much success in her attempts to get the audience to be quiet as the candidates spoke.

With approval ratings at an all time low, it is not the best of times to be a Congressman. And so it proved for U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, seeking to retain the 19th district, and U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D- Boca Raton, who is seeking re-election in the 22nd district. Their challengers seemed to enjoy plenty of crowd support.

"People are hurting; foreclosure rates in Florida are too high," said Wexler, kicking off the debate. "It is time to pass universal health care. It is time to bring troops home responsibly from Iraq. We need to focus on our true enemies in Afghanistan and Pakistan."

Ben Graber, an independent, spoke of the "culture of corruption in the congress" and "Wexler's friends in Wall Street." Criticizing politicians in Washington for the bailout, he said, "They created the problem themselves. Anyone who voted for the bill last week is irresponsible. Lobbyists control both parties. Special interests are in control. The economy is in shambles but Wexler voted to support the war in Iraq."

It is "absolutely horrendous" that the congress has an approval rating of 9 percent, Republican challenger Ed Lynch said. "The financial crisis was caused by politicians in Washington. Too many people have no clue what the problem is. A party has been going on too long in Washington at taxpayers' expense. Bipartisanship is twice as bad as partisanship. Wasteful spending needs to stop."

Wexler was quick to counter. "It's baloney to say some of us are part of the problem. The economy we have is an economy engineered by President Bush."

Responding to questions on stability in the Middle East and the Iraq war, Graber said it was important to realize who the enemy is. "The enemies have been smarter than us so far. They are playing chess and we are playing checkers. We are allowing Iran to dictate policy. We should negotiate with Iran but with pre-conditions. War is the failure of diplomacy."

Lynch had a different view on the issue. "We need to win in Iraq and Afghanistan. We had a good reason to go to Iraq. We need to take care of business there. We need to set the tone. Then, we need to address Iran."

Wexler spoke about the benefits of "direct diplomacy." "America works best when it engages from a position of strength. I'm against pre-emptive war. We need to focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan; we have not won the war against Al-Qaeda. Let us get Osama Bin Laden."

Wexler said he was in favor of a new nuclear non-proliferation treaty "as the current treaty had not served as well as it should." "We had to sanction India, a partner and ally. We must not put our head in the sand."

There are a lot of rogue nations in the world these days, Graber said. "We cannot negotiate with these kind of people. We need a new kind of diplomacy; we need out of the box thinking." America needs to be forceful, Lynch said."Rules are for people who are willing to follow rules. We need to be America, the strongest nation in the world."

The Klein-Allen West debate, that followed, also saw some interesting moments. Judging by the reaction, West had more supporters in the audience.

Klein said he would keep voting for common sense solutions that will bring the country back on track. "We got here because of eight years of greed. A lot of mistakes have been made in the last eight years. It was a very difficult vote (on the Wall Street bailout) but I did what I thought was right."

West said he would not have supported the bailout plan. "There are other things they could have done. They showed they are not leaders. Washington is a place so infested with corruption, incompetence and irresponsibility."

The candidates also answered questions on Israel, energy, the Iraq war, illegal immigrants and the economy.

Wexler's district covers parts of Coral Springs, Margate, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, and Coconut Creek mostly west of I95. District #22, Klein's district, covers parts of Deerfield Beach, Coconut Creek, Oakland Park, Cooper City, Boca Raton, Parkland, Coral Springs, Davie, Plantation and Ft. Lauderdale.

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Here is some news you can use.

Deputy Appraisers will assist with homestead, senior and other property tax exemption applications, as well as answer questions on property taxes, from 3 to 5 p.m., on Oct. 8 at the Northwest Regional Library, 3151 University Dr, Coral Springs. The event is open to the public.

Applications for Portability will be entertained at the program. The outreach program is designed to provide convenient and accessible service to the residents of Broward County. Documents required to file a Homestead Exemption include a current Florida driver's license or Florida identification card, and a current voter registration card or declaration of domicile. Non-US citizens must also provide proof of permanent residency.

Qualified residents 65 years of age or older as of January 1 this year can apply for the additional senior exemption. Eligible seniors must have a total household adjusted gross income not to exceed $24,916. Documents required for the Senior Exemption include a 2007 income tax return or, if one does not file income taxes, a copy of the 2007 Social Security 1099 Form.

Visit www.bcpa.net, call 954.357.5579, or e-mail kbrown@bcpa.net to find out details.

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The League of Women Voters of Broward County and the Coral Springs "Customer Involved Government Committee" is offering you a chance to listen live to the incumbents and challengers in two Broward congressional districts.

The "Congressional Candidate Forum" will be held 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts, 2855 Coral Springs Drive, Coral Springs. Interest in the event has increased following the absence of Democratic incumbents at a Palm Beach County forum last week. The incumbents remained in Washington to vote on the Wall Street bailout.

U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, Republican challenger Ed Lynch and independent Ben Graber are running in the 19th Congressional District. They will be joined at the "Congressional Candidate Forum" by U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, and his Republican challenger, Allen West, who will contest the 22nd District.

Wexler's district covers parts of Coral Springs, Margate, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, and Coconut Creek mostly west of I95. District #22, Klein's district, covers parts of Deerfield Beach, Coconut Creek, Oakland Park, Cooper City, Boca Raton, Parkland, Coral Springs, Davie, Plantation and Ft. Lauderdale, mostly along the coast but inland in certain communities.

The event is just one of the activities of the League of Women Voters during election time, said Stephanie Pearson. "We have a very active speakers bureau. Our speaking engagements address the 16 ballot amendments - both state and county. We do take positions on issues but only after studying them and arriving at a consensus. We have earned a name for being thoughtful and non partisan."

"We do a lot of work during election time; we encourage informed and active participation of citizens in government,," Pearson said. "Our members are interested in politics, no question about that, but none of the leaders are allowed to work for political parties."

For information about the Forum, call Stephanie Pearson at 954-752-2713.

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Parkland Mayor Michael Udine has had enough of residents not turning up at public workshops on the budget.

“I don’t want to deny anyone the right to participate, but no one goes to them,” said Udine. “And I don’t think it’s fair to staff to stay extra nights. For citizen’s meetings instead of 2 or 3 we should have 1 or 2 to save money. Every time staff stays here it costs more money.”

Udine certainly has a point. At two public workshops on the budget for fiscal year 2008-2009 that the city held, one man - Bob Meyersohn - turned up.

Last week, the City Commission adopted the budget with no increase in the fire assessment fee or the millage rate. Like most other cities, Parkland also had to make cuts in all its departments due to the increasing costs of providing services to its residents and the slowing economy that has impacted all cities across Florida.

However, the city is increasing public safety personnel. The city will pay for an additional School Resource Deputy and overtime pay will be provided for additional police presence within the city.

“It was a difficult budget year," Udine said. I’d like to say that I hope it gets better next year, but I doubt that.”

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What’s the lesser evil if you have a young child at home, a PlayStation or a computer?

Eric Ackerman, Nova Southeastern University professor, believes gifting the child a PlayStation would be a better idea than letting them use the computer at home. “There are people out there who want to prey on your children. PlayStation is good. Predators don’t get into them,” he said at a “safety night” organized by Riverside Elementary PTO last Friday.

Computers should be kept only in an open and common space at home, Ackerman said. “Don’t shelter your children from the fact that there are bad people in the world. Second or third grade is a good time to tell them a bit about the dangers out there. Educating children early about Internet safety is important.”

“There are many social networking sites on the Internet," Ackerman said. "Children from 8 to 16 dominate such sites as they like to make friends online. Create an account and see how it works. Talk to your children about the information they can share with others online. Using parental control software is a good idea, but don’t rely on that alone.”

Sixty five percent of the content on the Internet is sex, Ackerman said. “That is what makes money. Sex offenders on the Internet, on average, are white males in the 25 to 55 age group. They belong to the middle to upper class and are often professional employees. Many are involved in children’s activities,” he said.

Riverside Elementary is implementing many programs to combat bullying, school assistant principal Sherry Rosen said. “We don’t have a problem with bullying but we teach children how to be nice towards each other and how to stand up for themselves. It’s all about having respect for each other.”

Grace Stambaugh, PTO secretary, said the event was organized to empower parents. “We wanted to give them as much information as we can to keep their kids safe. This year, we have focused our efforts on parental participation in our activities.”

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If you love books and live in and around Coral Springs, now would be a good time to support the only library in the city.

The Northwest Regional Library has had its hours and number of staff reduced following the budget cuts, Mimi Hershenson, Regional Library manager said. “Prior to August this year, we were open 70 hours a week. That has been cut back to 58. We have lost positions too. Five positions that fell vacant last year were eliminated this year. Four of our staff members were reassigned to other libraries.”

While many of the other libraries in the county get adequate support from their respective Friends of the Library group, the Friends in Coral Springs could do with a bit of help themselves.

The Friends of the Coral Springs Libraries has only about 40 active volunteers, president Mary Riley said. “Most of the other libraries have many more. A lot of our members have died or either grown old. We need more support from the community.”

Libraries in the county are counting a lot on the Friends in the current economic climate, Friends vice president Brad Roth said. “We fund a lot of programs. The number of active volunteers that we have has begun to drop. We would also like to have younger members who are willing to spend time for the library.”

To know more about the library or to become a member of the Friends of the Coral Springs Libraries, call 954-341-3900.

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Coral Springs officials and staff believe spreading the good word about the city is a great way to attract new businesses and ensure economic development.

At a recent workshop, Christine Verdi-Sarwar, Director of Communications and Marketing, presented a status report on the city’s branding effort to the commission. The idea is to sell the city’s strong points, with an eye on attracting new businesses and maintaining a strong sense of community pride.

The city’s branding efforts are paying off, City Manager Mike Levinson said. “We’ve come a long way. This is not about balloons, t-shirts or coffee cups. This is about using the Baldrige award to validate our community of excellence approach. This is all about return on investment.”

Mayor Scott Brook was convinced that the city had the right strategy. “We want to have successful development of business so that we can diversify our tax base. We have to use Baldrige to promote our city as the location of first resort for both residents and businesses.”

Commissioner Ted Mena did not like the idea.

“It looks like we are blowing our horns a bit too much," Mena said. “The more we do that, the more people hate us. They think we are too elite. Why do we have to brand our city? Shouldn’t we be humble? Are we going a little overboard with how great we are?”

In the coming weeks, city staff, in partnership with the Economic Development Foundation, will develop prospectus materials as part of the branding efforts. Although the branding efforts will hinge on the Baldrige award, the city’s low crime rate, AAA credit rating, A-rated schools, the presence of Olympians in the community, and performance awards will also be used to create a buzz.

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