WMG Volume 6 • Issue 13 July 3, 2019
Wilton Manors Gazette Facebook.com/groups/WMGazette
Photo credit: J.R. Davis.
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straight from the gay mayor:
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Opinion
Day of Reckoning Have I become too harsh?
July 3, 2019 • Volume 6 • Issue 13 2520 N. Dixie Highway • Wilton Manors, FL 33305 Phone: 954-530-4970 Fax: 954-530-7943
By Sal Torre Photo via Adobe Stock.
With his many years of wisdom and knowledge, Norm Kent might just be our own enlightened guru guiding us on a more righteous path. Norm’s opinion piece in the last edition of the “Wilton Manors Gazette” might seem to some as a callous, vindictive and juvenile attack on my many years of reporting on life here in our Island City. However, perhaps there lies a much deeper and profound purpose behind his madness. In retrospect it is conceivable that my words have become too harsh and critical. My writings fueled by the addictive nature of sarcasm may now be less witty commentary and more expressions of hostility and anger. Masking witty commentary with sarcasm can easily move beyond my Anger that the Democratic Party has honed skill as a writer into a literary weapon used to mock others in our resurrected Joe Biden as some type of savior community while perching myself on moving into the 2020 election. Anger that some in our community seek to some moral high ground. Divine intervention disguised as exploit their position as community partners for mockery in Norm Kent’s opinion piece personal gains. Anger from encountering shocking displays has made me take pause to ponder, and of homelessness and mental health neglect at to alter my path. Thank you, Norm, for triggering this every intersection when I drive to work. Anger at having to struggle as a working-class moment of contemplation. This period of inner soul searching has led me to American in a nation that rewards billionaires understand the negative and addictive with tax cuts and additional wealth. Anger from watching young innocent nature of sarcasm, and how suppressed children torn apart from anger can fuel such an their parents at our southern embrace. border and placed in forUnfortunately, my Thinking about profit prisons. articles do not materialize Anger that in 2019 we are out of a vacuum. They this suppressed still having a national debate come from conversations anger and how on the right of a woman to and comments many in our choose. community discuss and it fuels both Anger over how certain express to others in various projects and initiatives here settings. How those myself and in our city have failed to thoughts and comments others, I begin happen after many years of are woven into articles is advocacy. my own culpability, but one to see its many I, like many others, have cannot deny the alarming much to be angry about. sources. levels of anger that have Letting that anger permeated our community consume and darken how and our nation. Thinking about this suppressed anger one interacts with the surrounding community and how it fuels both myself and others, is not healthy and offers little hope for the change we so drastically need in our society. I begin to see its many sources. Anger from having to endure Donald However, expressing anger is not always negative. Righteous anger on the night of the Trump as our president. Anger at the fact that healthcare for Stonewall Riots and during the fight for civil all American citizens is still based on rights in this country brought about muchneeded change for the betterment of our society. corporate profit.
WMG Publisher • Norm Kent norm.kent@sfgn.com Chief Executive Officer • Pier Angelo Guidugli piero@sfgn.com Associate publisher / Executive Editor • Jason Parsley jason.parsley@sfgn.com Copyeditor • Kerri Covington
Editorial
Art Director • Brendon Lies artwork@sfgn.com News Editor • Sallie James
Correspondents
Sal Torre • James Oaksun
Staff Photographers
J.R. Davis • Carina Mask • Steven Shires
Sales & Marketing For ad placement in the Wilton Manors Gazette, contact 954-530-4970
Expressing righteous anger and highlighting the many good tales of our community is a healthy endeavor for me to embrace further. Over the years, I am proud to have written many articles highlighting the wonders of this great community we call Wilton Manors. From praising our community activism and participation to the wonderful work being done by nonprofits such as Wilton Art, neighborhood associations and others, I have written more of what makes our city great than what divides us. This past week saw a perfect example of what makes our city so wonderful. To cap off a month of pride celebrations throughout our city, Mayor Justin Flippen and Commissioner JulieCarson hosted the second annual Children’s Book Reading at our very own free and independent municipal library. Rob Sander’s children’s picture book, “Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag” along with his new book, “Stonewall: A Building, An Uprising, A Revolution,” were read by our two elected officials to a room full of young residents, young parents, and many of us older folks as well. The children’s excitement and participation during the reading was much to be proud of here in our community. The unveiling of the rainbow frosted cupcakes after the reading was the perfect way to end the evening and the entire month-long celebrations throughout our Island City. Seeking to talk about what is right as well as what is wrong, to offer hope to make things better, and to highlight what is great and wonderful about this community we call Wilton Manors will always and forever make life just better here. WMG
Sales Manager • Justin Wyse justin.wyse@sfgn.com Advertising Sales Associate • Edwin Neimann edwin.neimann@sfgn.com Advertising Sales Associate • Clark Rogers clark.rogers@sfgn.com Accounting Services by CG Bookkeeping 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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Know any kids who could use a spot to cool down? Bring them by the Splash Pad in Mickel Park! The Splash Pad is open from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Mickel Park: 2675 NW 7th Ave, Wilton Manors.
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Real Estate
A Better Rule By James Oaksun Last time, you’ll remember, I discussed development of a statistical model that produced a much better estimator of property value in Wilton Manors than the cruder method “price per square foot.” The multi-factor model did include price per foot as one of the inputs, but also included several other statistically significant variables. Astute, knowledgeable readers (i.e., all of you) will rightly ask, “Does it work? Is it better? And by how much?” I applied my model to all 67 single family home listings active in the Multiple Listing Service database as of this morning (June 30th). I compared the output for each property to the current listing price. By comparison, I also looked at the market value as stated by the Broward County Property Appraiser, and also considered information from the Zillow real estate portal (in common use among the public). The results are in the graphic included here, but require explanation. The current average list price for a single family home in the Island City is $604,000. My model — without even a drive-by or peek in the windows or yard — comes up with an average
value (sale price) of $588,000. That’s just over 97 percent of list price. (I think that’s pretty good, frankly.) The “market value” from the property appraiser averages to $418,000 — 69 percent of list price. This may not seem very good. However, it’s a readily available number, developed (presumably) by people with knowledge of the local market. So, if you are trying to value a property not currently on the market and not sold recently, it can give you a quick ballpark number — just multiply by 1.45. You will note two Zillow numbers. The first number is the average of the current Zestimates on the MLS-listed properties, which turns out to be $582,000 — a bit lower than mine but at just over 96 percent of list, it’s not bad. But I don’t think that’s the relevant measure to use to assess the value of the Zestimate. If a realtor lists a property, there is some degree of evaluation of the current market, property condition, recent sales and such to set a list price. It wouldn’t require a great deal of analytics to take 96 percent of a list price and use that as a value estimator – especially since state and local realtor boards frequently publish statistics
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comparing sales prices to list prices. The problem comes when you’re trying to value a property that is not listed for sale. Helpfully, Zillow provides the Zestimate history for us (thanks, Zillow). If you consider what the Zestimate was right before the home was listed, you get an average value of $465,000 — 77 percent of list price! This would compare with my model’s estimator of 97 percent. Now, of course, Zillow has a great website, provides many other features and value, and calculates the Zestimate for
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millions of properties, not just those in our fair Island City. Yet an enterprising geekish entrepreneur might consider regional application of more-robust models. For starters. WMG James Oaksun, Florida’s Real Estate Geek(SM), is Broker-Owner of New Realty Concepts in Fort Lauderdale. In addition to having degrees from Dartmouth and Cornell, he is a Graduate of the Realtor Institute (GRI).
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this, justin
Flippen News:
Planning and Pride By Justin Flippen Wilton Manors Stonewall Pride 2019. Photo: J.R. Davis.
Planning and pride matter to Wilton Manors. They both can define and help guide a community and demonstrate what’s important to people who see themselves as neighbors and stakeholders with a long term vested interest in their city’s future. I am pleased to report to you that the city is moving forward with our waste and storm water inventory study as an important tool in maintenance and continued operation of our wastewater system. I also look forward to examining the general water rate structure once the study is complete, as I believe an improved and more fair tiered rate structure is worth looking at. We are also continuing with our code rewrite and have engaged a consultant to help with urban land use planning, green building code updates, and design guideline standards as we seek to best position the city for strategic development opportunities. So when you hear of public workshops on these future planning items, I hope you will attend and provide your feedback. City hall site master planning is something we are also undertaking to help us maximize
How the Island City celebrates its identity is unique to us.
our city hall property to hopefully include improved parking options (maybe even something with a shared parking structure). Rather than ruling out opportunities, I want to see opportunities maximized in a way that plans for our city’s future 20-30 years out. How the Island City celebrates its identity is unique to us. When one paddles around the waters of Wilton Manors whether in canoe competition or leisurely by SUP or kayak, the reality that we are an Island City is best experienced. In fact, during waterway cleanups and paddling with friends, I’ve had the special experience of passing beside a manatee — reminding me and those aboard that our diversity doesn’t always come by land and have two legs. Speaking of legs, I hope those of you with barking four-legged pets will take your dogs out to enjoy the recently opened Colohatchee Dog Park. Just remember to get your canine companions registered with the city to have access to all the fun your pups are sure to experience in their new park play areas. While we are the Island City, no man or woman is an island in our community. We are a wonderful mix of neighbors from all walks of life — from other parts of the nation to other countries in the world, a people of varied races, ethnicities, backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities. From neighborhoods we have created to parks we have established for our families to the way we celebrate our community identity — we have much to be proud about. One way our community celebrates pride is with the Stonewall Pride Parade and Festival during National LGBT+ Pride Month in June, which this year commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. What began in 1969 as a demonstration by patrons of New York City’s Stonewall Inn against unfair treatment
by the police became a catalyst for the LGBT+ civil rights movement across the nation. America has come a long way in advancing LGBT+ equality, and Wilton Manors has benefited from becoming a city that welcomes all, a place where our residents — LGBT+ and allies — continue to build a stronger community together. This includes fostering a business community that caters to and proudly serves patrons from all walks of life. We are fortunate organizations like the Pride Center at Equality Park, Stonewall Gallery, Island City Stage, World AIDS Museum, and numerous art galleries call Wilton Manors home and that our city government creates and sponsors events in which families of all kinds can take pride. Our annual one-day Wilton Manors Stonewall Pride Parade and Festival brings in tens of thousands of visitors to the city. Whether from an economic or social justice perspective, equality simply makes dollars and sense. For as long as I am blessed to serve you, you can count on me to support policies and practices that are proequality, a hallmark value that defines us as Island City People, gives us a sense of pride, and is another reason why “life’s just better here.” In your service,
Justin S. Flippen, J.D. Wilton Manors Mayor WMG
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