WMG Volume 3 • Issue 16 August 17, 2016
Wilton Manors Gazette
Medical
Local Eatery Makes Headlines Defending Transgender Employee By Michael d’Oliveira
As the owner of New York Grilled Cheese Co. in Wilton Manors, Leor Barak is used to praise about his food. Now, he’s getting praise for his defense of one of his transgender employees. Barak’s July 26 Facebook post, in which he defended Mia Patryck and the reason for his gender neutral bathrooms, has gotten the attention and praise of media outlets across the country, including The Huffington Post. Barak’s post was in response to a customer on Facebook who said she liked the food but would not return because the restaurant only had genderneutral bathrooms. “We have recently been plagued with ongoing attacks directed towards our transgendered employees, and now our gender neutral bathrooms seem to be an issue as well. I will make it super clear to everyone. Our company culture at New York Grilled Cheese Co. is, and will always be one of acceptance, equality, and support of our transgendered community, and any other walk of life!” wrote Barak. He told the customer that he hopes she will change her mind on her view of transgender individuals. Although marked as available for any gender, the restaurant’s two bathrooms are both single-use. Barak said he doesn’t understand why some people are making a big deal out of it because only one person at a time can use each bathroom. The stated problem many people have with bathrooms being used by transgender individuals, that assaults might occur, can’t happen because only one person can use them at a time. Barak said the single-use bathrooms also benefit fathers who need to take their daughter into a restroom or mothers who need to take their son. But the online comments weren’t the beginning. Previously, Patricyk had a bad experience with a different customer in the restaurant. “She called me all types of words – ‘he-she,’ ‘sir.’ People started leaving because they got
uncomfortable. People have just been attacking our culture of acceptance.” But the attitudes of her co-workers and supporters online have made her feel better about what happened. “We do not tolerate that here and we have a loving and accepting workplace. My coworkers are amazing they’re one hundred percent supportive and they always have my back.” Barak said he was disappointed that customers at the time failed to come to her defense. But he was heartened by the response on Facebook, which he said has been overwhelmingly in support of Patricyk. “She’s one of our best servers. People just love her. They come for her.” But despite the overwhelming level of support online, Barak said he’s knows he’s risking the loss of at least some businesses. “It’s obviously a dangerous situation for our business but we’re going to keep pushing back. I’d rather maintain my employee’s dignity and not take your money.” On Facebook, Patricyk thanked Barak and her other supporters. “He is not only standing up for me, but he is standing up for an entire community. I also want to personally thank each and every one of you that have come to my aid with your words of kindness and encouragement. Finally, I would like to address all the people that have not been supportive. Although you may not approve of my gender-identity the hurtful things you say to others like me can cause serious emotion damage. I am lucky enough to have a great group of people around me that help support through difficult times. Unfortunately, others in my situation do not. Your words can play a crucial role in someone’s existence. At the end of the day we are all HUMANS! And when I was young I was raised to love everyone for who they are regardless of their difference. Hopefully one day people can put their prejudices aside so that we can all live as one.” WMG
Photo: Courtesy Mia Patryck.
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Opinion
Summer Break
WMG August 17, 2016 • Volume 3 • Issue 16 2520 N. Dixie Highway • Wilton Manors, FL 33305 Phone: 954-530-4970 Fax: 954-530-7943
By Sal Torre Those of us who work our schedules around the second and fourth Tuesday of each month being a Wilton Manors City Commission meeting had to find something else to do this past week. Our city government had their usual summer break, voted by our Commission, to cancel the regularly scheduled City Commission meeting at the beginning of August. Needing my regular fix for city politics, I attended the Community Affairs Advisory Board’s workshop on Thursday night to listen to the discussion on the possibility of CAAB hosting a forum titled, “Community Perception of Wilton Manors Safety, Race and Law Enforcement.” One just needs to read responses on Nextdoor.com to understand how a black resident of Wilton Manors might feel uncomfortable walking down to the Drive or anywhere else. However, it was refreshing to hear residents of color who attended the workshop talk about their positive response and interaction with our local Police force. Also refreshing was the discussion on how all city employees have to take mandatory diversity training. Diversity training takes on many forms, not just racial, but also dealing with the LGBT community, sexually abused victims, seniors, people with disabilities, and those of other religions and cultures. Bravo to the City of Wilton Manors for working towards creating an atmosphere that motivates employees to overcome apprehensions and negative assumptions with fellow employees, the public they serve, and within society as a whole. Now wouldn’t that be great if we expected the same from a particular Presidential candidate and those who cheer him on. Donald Trump continues to use hatred and fear mongering in his attempt to claw his way to the White House. Crowds of his supporters continue to demonstrate their prejudices and hatred toward certain groups of fellow citizens of this great nation with louder and more visible contempt. Our society has come a long way in accepting others’ cultural differences, sexual orientation, and religions. Unfortunately, we see how quickly all that can be taken away by a single demagogue firing up the masses. The desensitizing of the American public to insane behavior does not stop with Donald Trump. We barely blink an eye when we hear of the latest mass shooting, the killing of an innocent victim of police violence, or the rising death rate due to gun violence in American cities such as Chicago.
Publisher • Norm Kent norm.kent@sfgn.com Chief Executive Officer • Pier Angelo Guidugli Associate publisher / Executive Editor • Jason Parsley jason.parsley@sfgn.com
Editorial
Art Director • Brendon Lies artwork@sfgn.com Designer • Charles Pratt Internet Assistant • Brittany Ferrendi Webmaster@sfgn.com News Editor • Michael d’Oliveira
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Natalya Jones • John McDonald • James Oaksun
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J.R. Davis • Pompano Bill • Steven Shires
The news is much grimmer beyond our shores. Two million people in Aleppo, Syria, are without basic needs and are trapped in an unending war zone. Refugees are stranded by the thousands in Greece as the doorways to a safe life for their children are slammed shut in Europe and Turkey. Libya is spiraling down a path to anarchy. Abducted schoolgirls are used as human shields in Nigeria by Boko Haram. The world we live in has definitely taken a turn toward a more dangerous and unknown future. This unease and breakdown of order leave good fellow Americans vulnerable to the rants of hatred and lies coming from Donald Trump, as he tries to bamboozle American workers, middle class voters, farmers, religious conservatives, and gun owners that he actually cares about them and their issues. Really? And at the expense of American Muslims, Mexicans, veterans’ families, the poor, perhaps you and me next. So as summer break comes to an end, kids are getting ready to go back to school and election frenzy is kicking into high gear, it’s time we take a good hard look at what is going on in our society and take a good hard look at ourselves. There is still much work to be done. We must work together to bring about the change we would like to see in this country and throughout the world, but we must start close to home, right here with ourselves, our neighborhoods, our community and our great city we call Wilton Manors. ‘Cause then life will truly be so much better here …. WMG
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Director of Sales & Marketing • Mike Trottier mike.trottier@sfgn.com Sales Manager • Justin Wyse justin.wyse@sfgn.com Advertising Sales Associate • Edwin Neimann edwin.neimann@sfgn.com Sales Assistant • Tim Higgins Tim.Higgins@sfgn.com Accounting Services by CG Bookkeeping National Advertising Rivendell Media 212-242-6863 sales@rivendellmedia.com South Florida Gay News is published weekly. The opinions expressed in columns, stories, and letters to the editor do not represent the opinions of SFGN, or the Publisher. You should not presume the sexual orientation of individuals based on their names or pictorial representations. Furthermore the word “gay” in SFGN should be interpreted to be inclusive of the entire LGBT community. All of the material/columns that appears in print and online, including articles used in conjunction with the AP, is protected under federal copyright and intellectual property laws, and is jealously guarded by the newspaper. Nothing published may be reprinted in whole or part without getting written consent from the Publisher, at his law office, at Norm@NormKent.com. SFGN, as a private corporation, reserves the right to enforce its own standards regarding the suitability of advertising copy, illustrations and photographs. MEMBER
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City Looking For Security Risk Assessment By Michael d’Oliveira In an effort to improve safety, city officials have requested bids from various security consulting firms. The chosen consultant will be tasked with creating a security master plan and assessing the security of city hall, library, fire station, parks, lift stations and other parks and facilities. The firm will also be required to provide an analysis of: crime,
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possible vulnerabilities to facilities, current policies and procedures, the city’s ability to implement mass communication, video surveillance systems, security staffing, city incident reports for the last two years, security training and staffing and more. The costs of recommended upgrades will be part of the firm’s presentation. The final ranking and selection of the
winning firm was scheduled to be held today, Aug. 17. The city commission will be asked to approve the contract with the winning firm at an upcoming meeting. The bid comes as controversy still surrounds Colohatchee Park, with residents demanding that the city do more to stop people from using the park as a place for public sex. WMG
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Where Are The Customers?
Real Estate Geek
Realtors may not like Zillow, but customers sure do By James Oaksun This is a column for both the real estate consumer (a buyer, seller or investor in real estate) as well as a real estate professional – someone who either has a real estate license or aspires to have one. You really don’t have to get very far in the real estate business before you hear people dumping all over Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor. com. Trainers do it. “Experienced” Realtors do it at happy hour, at conferences, at seminars. Always good for a laugh and some nods, some shaking of the heads. But who is having the last laugh? There are a couple points I want to make this week. Point one is that it’s not about the feature, it’s about the benefit. Point two is it has nothing to do with you, it has everything to do with the customer/ client and what they want, what their pain point is, what their need is, what their problem is and how someone out there can best solve it. Realtors might be able to describe what they want or might prefer that someone do. Perhaps it would be more effective or useful, however, if they would assess what it is that customers actually do, and then see how they can best work with that. Through a service called Alexa we are able to get a ranking of the most popular websites for the whole world, and in any particular country. In our case we are only concerned about the United States. Take a look at the table nearby. Let’s start with the top websites regardless of category. It’s probably no surprise to anyone what the top four are – Google, Facebook, YouTube and Amazon. Ask anybody walking down the street which websites they spend the most time
on, what tabs they have open on their laptop or desktop right now, it’s going to be at least two of these if not all four. Now let’s go the next step to the subject at hand. Let’s talk real estate. What’s the most popular real estate website? Not one of the big national real estate brokerages – not by a longshot. It’s Zillow – ranked number 29. Realtor.com makes the top 100 just barely, and Trulia is just a hair’s breadth behind at 118. But surprise (or maybe not)! There is no brokerage website even in the top 1,500! So listen up: Realtors can think Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com are silly till the cows come home. But the customers think they are great. That will probably never change. I’ve said it before in public, I’ve said it before in this column and I’ll say it again. It’s all about the value. The customers want value. The customers are time stressed and time pressed, and want answers. They do organic search. They talk to their friends and trusted sources. They watch video. They know how to look for information, and buy products and services that are well ranked, timely, innovative and well regarded. Where are you? WMG James Oaksun, Broward's Real Estate Geek(SM), is Broker-Owner of New Realty Concepts in Oakland Park. In addition to having degrees from Dartmouth and Cornell, he is a Graduate of the Realtor Institute (GRI).
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Crime
Politics
Crime Blotter By Michael d’Oliveira The following crime incidents occurred in Wilton Manors and were gathered from the city’s RAIDS Online crime reporting system. Auto theft On Aug. 7 at 6 p.m., a vehicle was stolen at the 2400 block of NE 15 Avenue. Retail theft On Aug. 6 at 8:52 a.m., a retail theft occurred at the 1100 block of NE 26 Street. Business burglary On July 31 at 12:45 a.m., a business was burglarized at the 2600 block of N. Dixie Highway. Pick pocketing On July 31 at 10:18 p.m., a pick pocketing occurred at the 2200 block of Wilton Drive. Home burglary On July 25, a home burglary occurred at the 2200 block of NE 14 Avenue.
City Moves Ahead With New Parking Lot By Michael d’Oliveira City officials are moving forward with the development of the lot they purchased last year. The lot, located at Northeast 23 Drive and Northeast 11 Avenue, was bought for about $447,000. At the time, some residents criticized the purchase as too being too high, and for other reasons. “We can’t keep taking property off the tax rolls,” said Sal Torre, president of the Westside Association of Wilton Manors, in October. “It’s incumbent upon us as policy makers to act. This land is available. We have to act,” said Commissioner Justin Flippen at the same meeting. Parking has been a complaint of residents and business owners for at least a decade and the purchase of the lot, and another at Northeast 26 Street and Northeast 8 Terrace, is one of the ways the commission has tried to provide more parking. When finished, the new parking lot will have 23 spaces. To create more space, city staff members requested landscaping and set-back variances for the property from the Planning and Zoning Board. All but one, to
build a fence around the property instead of a concrete wall, were approved. It is unknown at this time when the lot will be paved and open to the public, but Bob Mays, the city’s finance director, said the estimate cost to pave the parking lot is between $225,000 and $230,000. Mays said the concrete wall increased the cost of the project from the previous $210,000 estimate. Mays said the city is creating a bid to send out to construction companies. When the bids are sent back to the city, the commission will have to decide which company to hire. WMG
Briefs
Around Town Check out what’s happening
Kiwanis Bowling Tournament By Michael d’Oliveira
Pokemon Go in Wilton Manors Looking for Pikachu in Wilton Manors? City officials have released a list of locations where players of Pokemon Go can to find characters in the game. Locations include city hall, 2020 Wilton Drive; Colohatchee Park, 1975 NE 15 Avenue; Colohatchee Boat Ramp, 1975 NE 15 Avenue; Donn Eisele Park, 701 NW 29
Street; Hagen Park, 2020 Wilton Drive; Jaycee Park, Wilton Drive/NE 21 Court; Rachel Richardson Park, Andrews Avenue/ NE 21 Court; Richardson Historic Park, 1937 Wilton Drive; Richard C. Sullivan Public Library, 500 NE 26 Street; M.E. DePalma Park, 641 NE 20 Drive; Mickel Park, 2675 NW 7 Avenue. WMG
The Kiwanis Club of Wilton Manors will hold a bowling tournament on Sunday, Aug. 21 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Manor Lanes, 1517 NE 26 St., Wilton Manors. The cost is $20 per entry and includes shoe rental and two games of bowling. For more information or to sign-up, call 954-729-0837 or email sjchesler@ gmail.com. The money raised will be used to benefit programs that focus on needy children in and out of the city.WMG
CDBG Public Hearing
Free Mosquito Spray to Combat Zika
Members of the public can provide their input on how the city should spend the $64,000 in Community Development Block Grant [CDBG] money it expects to receive. Public input will be taken at the commission meeting on Aug. 23. The money can be
Broward County residents can request a free mosquito spray in their neighborhood to help combat Zika and the other negative impacts of mosquitos. To make a request, visit the Broward County Mosquito Control Division at broward.org/streets/mosquito and fill out the request form or call 954-765-4062. Spraying is usually completed within three business days, but can take longer depending on the volume of requests and weather conditions. WMG
spent on capital projects in the Highland Estates neighborhood or anywhere west of Andrews Avenue. Suggestions can also be sent to Todd DeJesus, capital projects and grants manager, at tdejesus@wiltonmanors. com or 954-390-2100. WMG
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Police
What Do You Think About Our Police Force? City to send out surveys to ask just that Michael d’Oliveira There hasn’t been a controversial police shooting in Wilton Manors, and members of the city’s Community Affairs Advisory Board [CAAB] want to keep it that way. To do that, CAAB wants to send out a survey asking residents and business owners what their perception of the city’s police department is. If enough concerns are voiced, CAAB says it wants a community forum held to address those concerns. If the feedback is positive, a meet and greet would be organized instead. The issue was discussed at the Aug. 11 CAAB meeting. CAAB members said they hoped to have the survey ready by next week. “We don’t want a Ferguson to happen here. We don’t want an Overtown,” said board member Tim Ross. He added that the police should also be surveyed to see how they perceive the residents. “What’s the perception that the police have? [Are they thinking] is someone going to take a shot at me? It’s a two-way street.” The idea comes from CAAB member Isaac Brooks III. Brooks, a black man and former police officer, had nothing but praise for the city’s police. But he said he’s worried about how others might view them. “It’s all perception . . . That’s my point. To start the dialogue,” Brooks said. Commander Gary Blocker said the police department was open to the forum and wants to participate in what questions are placed on the survey. A resident satisfaction survey by the city in 2015 found that
73 percent of respondents were “very satisfied” with the service offered by the police. Fifteen percent were “very dissatisfied” and 12 percent were “neutral.” About 450 residents responded to the survey. The survey also stated that residents responded with a desire for a more communicative and pro-active police department. CAAB members expressed a similar belief and said more needs to be done to make the police more visible and part of the community. Blocker said that the police department takes part in community events and has begun using social media – Facebook and Twitter. There’s also a YouTube channel with several videos. CAAB member Bryan Wilson said that it was up to everyone in the city to communicate. The more communication occurs, he added, the less likely the occurrence of tragic incidents. Audience members in attendance also commended the police but agreed that things could always be improved. Geoffrey Vancol, a black man, works in Wilton Manors but lives in Miami. He said previous incidents in Miami, such as being stopped by police for seemingly no reason, make him generally nervous and Wilton Manors because the city reminds him of some of the areas he’s been stopped in. “I always do feel uncomfortable.” WMG
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