Wilton Manors Gazette 4/5/2017 by The Gazette

WMG Volume 4 • Issue 6 April 5, 2017

Wilton Manors Gazette

Community

Stonewall Organizers Open GoFundMe Page to Cover Security Costs By Michael d’Oliveira Like Wicked Manors before them, the organizers of this year’s Stonewall festival are dealing with soaring security costs as a result of the mass murder of 49 individuals at Pulse Nightclub in June of 2016. To cover those costs, organizers have set up a GoFundMe page to help supplement sponsorship money which will be used to help pay for the event – Saturday, June 17 from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. along Wilton Drive. As of March 30, only $100 has been donated to the GoFundMe page – gofundme.com/wiltonmanors-stonewall-security – but Jeff Sterling, CEO of the Wilton Manors Entertainment Group, which has been chosen by the city for the third year in a row to run the event, said it hasn’t been advertised yet. He expects more donations once the advertising campaign is started in earnest. “We’re treating the GofFundMe page as another avenue [of revenue]. Obviously, we’re chasing other sponsors to cover the highly, almost insurmountable cost, of security,” Sterling said. “We’re going to have to

raise more money than Stonewall has ever had to in the past.” Sterling said the expected cost of security will be about $50,000. It was $24,000 last year. It’s an expense which he joked has added a few gray hairs to his head. Next year, he said he hopes the city will take care of the security costs. “We’ve requested to put this stuff in the police budget. The city should just consider it an expense of doing business here.” Along with additional security, Sterling said organizers and city officials are making a bigger effort to estimate the economic impact the festival has on the city, county, and region. He wants to use the information to get more financial support from the county. Using his own internal numbers, Sterling estimated Stonewall brings in $650,000 to the businesses in the city and $3 million to the county. “We need Broward County to recognize the contribution of Wilton Manors. [People who come to Stonewall] spend their money outside Wilton Manors, too.”

STERLING SAID THE EXPECTED COST OF SECURITY WILL BE ABOUT $50,000. IT WAS $24,000 LAST YEAR.

2016 Stonewall Pride. Photo by Brendon Lies.

In addition to using a drone and additional cameras to take photos of the crowd, Pamela Landi, assistant city manager, said she’s working on a survey to give to festival attendees. “This isn’t anything we’ve done before. We want to be able to provide realistic and hard data on the impact the festival has on the region,” Landi said.

Landi is still in the preliminary stages of the survey but said that it will include questions about how much people spend and where they are from.

For more information on Stonewall festival, visit x WiltonManorsStonewall.com.

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Opinion

National Poetry Month WMG By Sal Torre

APRIL 5, 2017 • VOLUME 4 • ISSUE 6 2520 N. DIXIE HIGHWAY • WILTON MANORS, FL 33305 PHONE: 954-530-4970 FAX: 954-530-7943

PUBLISHER • NORM KENT NORM.KENT@SFGN.COM CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER • PIER ANGELO GUIDUGLI ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER / EXECUTIVE EDITOR • JASON PARSLEY JASON.PARSLEY@SFGN.COM ASSOCIATE EDITOR • JILLIAN MELERO JILLIANMELERO@GMAIL.COM

Editorial

ART DIRECTOR • BRENDON LIES ARTWORK@SFGN.COM DESIGNER • CHARLES PRATT WEB MASTER • BRITTANY FERRENDI WEBMASTER@SFGN.COM NEWS EDITOR • MICHAEL D’OLIVEIRA

April is full of topics to write about. April Fool’s Day, Tax Day, and the springtime holidays all offer opportunities for articles. Likewise, Wilton Manors decision to fly the Transgender Flag on Transgender Visibility Day on March 31, offers plenty of material one could write about. I decided instead to remind everyone that April is National Poetry Month. To many, poetry is some obscure form of writing, an elitist art form, that requires too much effort to write and understand, and is no longer relevant in today’s electronic world. However, the power of just a few words, the intensity of language, the ability to spark great controversy, and the capacity to change lives and influence young minds are what makes poetry so important. This is why we should stop and ponder this medium during National Poetry Month. Take a moment to look back to a time when smartphones did not dominate our lives, when communication was not governed by 140 characters of Tweeting, and when we read, we consumed information and gained knowledge that gave us the ability to move beyond ourselves. As a young gay man, reading and specifically reading poetry showed me a whole different world. It gave me the awareness that there were others like me who lived in silence amongst the many, but who craved acceptance, understanding, love, and especially freedom to be who we are. Many suffered humiliation, hatred, violence, but remained beautifully optimistic and longing for better days. As with many young gays of the 70’s, aware of the inequality, lack of civil rights and protections, I was inspired by the black civil rights movement and its leaders. The talk of rights and liberties for marginalized minority groups demanding their fair share of the American Dream and the fight for equality of those who had been pushed into an inferior class of citizenship inspired me to become involved. No wonder two of my favorite poets are Langston Hughes and James Baldwin. They wrote about oppression and prejudice, but also about the wonders of freedom and equality, with hints of their homosexuality woven into their words, words that allowed eager young minds to gain awareness of themselves. In “Café: 3 AM,” Langston Hughes protests an early morning police bashing at a gay bar, not an unusual occurrence back in 1960’s America. In “A Lover’s Question,” James Baldwin writes about facing the truth of one’s own self, looking in the mirror, the mirror being the reflection from his lover’s eyes. Another of my favorites is Maya Angelou, especially her groundbreaking work in 1969, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” Those of us growing up with the labels of “faggot,” “nigger,” and

“low-life” and feeling marginalize and inferior as we searched to understand ourselves can gain inspiration, confidence, and self-assurance from this amazing work. Years later, Maya wrote a poem of the same name, which gives us the answer to why the caged bird sings, “… The caged bird sings for freedom.” I recently came across an amazing poem, entitled, “James Baldwin,” about the life of the gay black poet and author. Here are a few lines: They don’t have a holiday For the Black and Gay No one wants you if you don’t say The right things or belong to the right church. White Society has no use for you. You are not the Black Boogie man They can use to scare their women Into submission. Black Society is through with you. You are not the Brother man That can spread his seed And keep the race strong. You fight the causes, Longing to belong in your home, To live in your skin, Breathe your air, Sing your song. Wondering when will you be free? While we enjoy great freedoms here in wonderful Wilton Manors, able to be who we want to be, we must never take it all for granted. The rights we fought so long and hard to win must be cherished and guarded at all costs. Thank you, Michael Rajner, for leading the charge to display the Transgender Flag. Thanks to our Mayor and City Commission for their decision to have the Transgender Flag fly alongside the Pride Flag at Jaycee Park, showing support for members of our community who are faced with enormous obstacles to be free. Those who wish to chip away at our rights will begin with the weakest among us, and we as a community must unite and stand strong together. This is the only way everyone in Wilton Manors can continue to say “… Life is just better here!” WMG

Correspondents

NATALYA JONES • JOHN MCDONALD • JAMES OAKSUN

Staﬀ Photographers

J.R. DAVIS • POMPANO BILL • STEVEN SHIRES

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DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING • MIKE TROTTIER MIKE.TROTTIER@SFGN.COM SALES MANAGER • JUSTIN WYSE JUSTIN.WYSE@SFGN.COM SENIOR SALES ASSOCIATE • KEVIN HOPPER KEVIN.HOPPER@SFGN.COM ADVERTISING SALES ASSOCIATE • EDWIN NEIMANN EDWIN.NEIMANN@SFGN.COM ADVERTISING SALES ASSOCIATE • BRETT COPPOL BRETT.COPPOL@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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Real Estate Geek

Who Do You Trust? By James Oaksun For this column and the next, we are going to take a slight – but related – diversion from our annual exposition on community. This week I want to talk about two matters that popped up in the news and on my Facebook feed in the last couple days. In the next issue, I’m going to give some First Quarter 2017 pricing and sales data, fresh off the presses (or out of my analytical software anyway) for those who might have an interest in the current market situation. But today, let’s talk a little bit about trust. First, about who we trust with our money. Perhaps we don’t like to think about it too much, but we do trust politicians at various levels with our tax dollars, and that they will spend them on the purposes for which they were intended by means of enacted legislation. In the early 1990s the Florida state legislature determined that a worthy objective was increasing the stock of “affordable housing” here, and passed a bill (later signed) that earmarked a portion of the transfer tax on real estate deeds (one of those pesky “closing costs” that Realtors and mortgage brokers have to explain to people) to affordable housing projects. All well and good, except that over the years this honeypot of money has proven irresistible to the legislature and various governors. Since the start of the housing bust

in 2007, more than $1.3 billion (yes with a “b”) of this “affordable housing trust” money has been swept up by our friends in Tallahassee and spent on other projects. Now, as you know from prior columns in this series, the affordability of housing stock here in WilMa and East Broward generally is a huge issue. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could trust elected officials to do what they promised? The Realtors, both locally and at the state level, have been lobbying the legislature on this for years. If you happen to see East Broward state legislators Gary Farmer and George Moraitis skulking about town, you might want to ask their opinions on this, as the legislature is in session and the budget is being discussed now. (Use the words “Sadowski Trust” for bonus points.) The second issue is a little more sensitive. What happens when there is a reciprocal currency of trust and good faith, that ends up getting broken? Admittedly this may end up getting a little philosophical, but it’s important and maybe related to the first issue. It’s something that happens all the time in the real estate and mortgage brokerage business. A mortgage broker friend worked on a complex transaction with a difficult client (no they are not all just done by a “rocket”) to have the

customer, at the eleventh hour, move to another service provider. What happens in a world where the foundations of trust have been compromised? You work, you develop relationships in what you assume is an environment of mutuality, only to discover that in reality there is no mutuality. Maybe it begins (or at least is fueled by) decisions by politicians at various levels when they break their word to us by sweeping up “affordable housing trust” money to spend on other pet projects. If no one complains and they get re-elected, there are no consequences. So there is no penalty. Perhaps some Realtors and mortgage brokers shot themselves in the foot, by not clearly demonstrating their value added. Or did a handful of “bad apple” Realtors and mortgage brokers do the damage to the whole industry? Did it happen slowly, subtly? And now, when really skilled counsel might be needed more than ever in special situations, can it be rebuilt before the next crisis occurs? WMG James Oaksun, Broward's Real Estate Geek(SM), is BrokerOwner 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).

Business

Metropolitan Faces Scrutiny At Commission Meeting Developers accused of lying about power lines

By Michael d’Oliveira Commissioners most likely won’t force developers of The Metropolitan to demolish their buildings to underground power lines, but they are disappointed it wasn’t done before construction started. Commissioners voted 4-0 to withhold issuing The Metropolitan’s certificate of occupancy and site plan adjustment. “I can’t support waving these conditions,” said Mayor Gary Resnick. Commissioner Tom Green abstained from the vote because he lives at The Metropolitan. Undergrounding the power lines was one of the conditions developers agreed to when they got the commission to approve The Metropolitan, a 179-unit apartment rental complex at 1224 NE 24 St., adjacent to Colohatchee Park, in 2014. “I respect you so much, but I’m disappointed,” said Commissioner Julie Carson to developers at the March 28

Photo: Facebook.

Commission meeting. She asked how she’s supposed to explain to residents that developers didn’t make good on their promise. “You made a commitment to us and I’m committed to the residents of Wilton Manors.” Commissioner Scott Newton was more blunt. “It’s got to be a flat out lie [you didn’t know you’d have to do this before you started construction].” Developer Michael Wohl said he and his partners deployed their best efforts but couldn’t get Flower Power & Light to approve the undergrounding of the utility lines. “We have been great citizens here,” he said. Attorney Robert Lochrie, representing developers, said his client shouldn’t be blamed for FPL’s actions. “FPL won’t do it where there’s residential [development],” Lochrie said. “You didn’t do your due diligence,” Newton said.

But as angry and disappointed as commissioners were, they still expressed appreciation for developers building the project which was previously home to a rundown trailer park with blight issues.

“I want to resolve this dispute,” Newton said. “I hope we can work this out,” Carson said. “This is not a period. This is a comma,” Vice Mayor Justin Flippen said. WMG

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Photos

y t i l i b i s i V g f la f r o e d n y e g s a n a r Trans D Wilton Manors votes to raise the t r to e times a yea re th d e is ra h. l be that a flag wil roudly to watc p d e d id re c e e th d a y g e y unit ion, th ity. The comm ors Commiss n n u a m M m n o to c il r e W d sgen ebate in the ant to the tran rt o p After much d im re a t events tha commemorate Photos By J.R. Davis

To see more photos by Carina Mask, visit the South Florida Gay News Facebook page.

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Community

Wilton Manors Votes to Fly Transgender Flag on Limited Basis By Michael d’Oliveira

Yahaira Barrientos, Kelley Winters , and Bishop S. F. Makalani-MaHee proudly pose beside the trans ﬂag that was raised in Wilton Manors. Photos by Carina Mask.

Wilton Manors will “acknowledge the T,” as Vice Mayor Justin Flippen has become fond of saying, by flying the transgender flag. On Tuesday, commissioners voted unanimously to fly the transgender flag on International Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31), Transgender Flag Day (Aug. 19), Transgender Day of Remembrance (Nov. 20), and the week of the city’s Stonewall Festival in June. It will be flown at Jayce Park on the same pole used for the city’s Pride Flag. On Thursday the city held a flag raising ceremony to commemorate the occasion. Transgender ally Michael Rajner brought the issue to the commission in February with a transgender flag that had been donated Antonio Dumas, owner of To The Moon. Rajner said the transgender community was still struggling with basic issues they were 10 years ago, such as bathroom use. That issue of bathroom use caused him to bring the issue to the city after the Trump administration reversed an Obama administration guideline that asked public schools to let transgender students use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity. Trump officials decided it should be left up to the states. In his renewed call for the city to raise the flag, Rajner cited Boston Mayor Marty Walsh who raised the flag in May of 2016 in his city and vowed to keep it up until Massachusetts legislators passed equal protections for transgender individuals. Transgender author Dr. Kelley Winters

told commissioners that raising the flag was about raising visibility for the transgender community. “It’s time for the Island City to live up to its promise,” she said. Jen Laws said “it would be deeply meaningful” for him and other transgender individuals to see the flag raised because members of his community don’t always feel included or accepted by some, including the federal government. Although he supports flying the flag on the dates chosen and he respects the transgender community, Commissioner Scott Newton said he doesn’t want to see the flag flown permanently. Previously, he said he considers the transgender community represented by the Pride Flag. “They are in the LBGTQ ... it seems like we keep separating out [all these different groups].” Commissioner Tom Green said no other groups have come forward asking for their flag to be flown but that the transgender community represents “something unique” because it’s the most marginalized in the country right now. “This is way beyond bathrooms,” said Green, referring to the level of violence and discrimination faced by transgender individuals. According to the Human Rights Council, there were at least 21 transgender individuals who were murdered in 2015 because of who they were. In 2016, it was 22. Other groups, said Mayor Resnick, could also come forward and suggest the city fly their flag “if they feel marginalized.” WMG

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Community

Submitted photo.

Taking Over ‘Site 92’ City wants control

By Michael d’Oliveira Broward County Parks and Recreation officials have cleared the exotic vegetation on the 1.43 acre site known as “Site 92.” Now, parks officials are trying to figure out how to clear the site, located on Wilton Drive across from Richardson Park, from the county’s inventory of green space. “It’s a really small park for us. We don’t normally operate spaces that small,” said Dan West, Broward County's Parks and Recreation director. West said he and his staff are working with Patrick Caan, Wilton Manors Leisure Services director, and his staff to get the Broward and Wilton Manors commissions to agree to have the city take over the

park. “We’re kind of hoping we can work this out. Both commissions would need to agree that it’s closer to the city’s interest [for the city to own this park],” West said. Caan has said city staff wants to obtain the park but does not yet know how exactly what kind of park it would be used for or how it would be developed. It’s currently open to the public. Caan estimates that, if the city did take the land over, it would cost about $15,000 a year for general maintenance, such as emptying garbage cans and landscaping. If the city added amenities, that would increase the cost. Although it’s currently open to the

Community

public, West said that one of the problems with the park now is access. “The problem right now is parking. [There’s nowhere for people who drive to park].” But resident Stephen Newman said he hopes parking spaces aren’t added. “I’d prefer that it be a passive park site. I think if they did a parking lot it would be cold and unfriendly and an ugly way to enter out city . . . I would also be against a dog park

as that would alienate a lot of our residents such as myself,” wrote Newman in an email. He added that he’d like to see a garden-style park with benches and gazebos. “After all, we are the Island City and there is no other park that I am aware of that exists on or near the Drive that would encourage residence to walk there and get to know neighbors while enjoying the lovely views of water at that location.” WMG

Business

Commercial Recycling to Remain Voluntary

Free Wilton Drive Shuttle Launches

Vice Mayor Flippen prefers the ‘carrot over the whip’

By Michael d'Oliveira

By Michael d’Oliveira In September of last year, Commissioner Tom Green expressed an interest in possibly making commercial recycling mandatory in the city. But after a report by city staff, Green and other commissioners will keep commercial recycling voluntary, at least for now. Vice Mayor Justin Flippen said he prefers the “carrot over the whip.” David J. Archacki, Emergency Management/Utilities director, said a lot of the businesses don’t currently do recycling because of various reasons, including cost and space issues. Business owner Nick Berry said he takes recycled materials regularly from his businesses to the city’s 24-hour recycling center but doesn’t have the room for a bin. “If we had room for two bins we’d love to recycle.” Out of 290 commercial properties in the city, 54 participate in recycling, said Archacki.

“I thought it was much better than this. I’m disappointed,” Green said. “The Emergency Management/Utilities Department has begun to work with Waste Management on a comprehensive plan to encourage commercial recycling. In addition, staff will be working with Conceptual Communications [the city’s public relations firm] to highlight the volunteer recycling program in a public campaign to increase participation in voluntary commercial recycling. Results of those efforts will be reported to the Commission at a future meeting,” wrote Rita Sanz, administrative coordinator Emergency Management/Utilities Department in the report to commissioners. The state allows municipalities to enact mandatory recycling programs for businesses but each business must be allowed to choose its own waste carrier. City officials can’t force businesses to hire a certain waste removal company. WMG

The city’s free Wilton Drive shuttle service launched on March 30, and runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The shuttle, which was implemented by officials to help alleviate some of the parking problems along Wilton Drive, will run from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursdays to Sundays. The shuttle will travel up and down Wilton Drive and has eight stops – City Hall/Hagen Park parking lot, the Shoppes of Wilton Manors, behind the 2309 N. Dixie Hwy. parking lot at 2216 NE 11 Ave., Northeast 9 Avenue and Wilton Drive, the Northeast 8 Terrace parking lot, Northeast 7 Avenue and Wilton Drive, Northeast 22 Street and

Wilton Drive, and Richardson Park. “Join us [and ride the shuttle],” said Commissioner Tom Green. “Let’s use this shuttle and show people not only is it useful but it is necessary.” The shuttle is on a 90-day trial period and is estimated to cost about $7,000. City staff said the service can be extended if needed for an additional $17 per hour. “We’re going to use the 90 days to gather info to find what works and what doesn’t. If we find that it is working we will recommend to the city commission to extend the program,” said Bob Mays, city finance director. WMG

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April 5, 2017

Off The Wall

Now Wilton Manors Needs An Airport By Pier Angelo

Does Wilton Manors really need a train station? It looks as if the almighty city commission is preparing to submit a grant application of $205,000 to study and develop a plan on building a train station in the Island City. The application will be presented to the South Florida Regional Transit Oriented Development Pilot Program. Let me get this straight: the city, in its usual wisdom and foresight, can find the space to build a unnecessary train station but in more than seven years of “studies” it hasn’t been able to put together the much needed parking garage? The parking garage that residents and visitors have been begging and clamoring for? Where are the priorities here? How do these pipe dreams come up? According to Grant Manager Todd DeJesus, (with a name like that he should be able to make miracles happen), a potential station area has been located on a portion of the Tri-Rail Coastal Link Corridor. The program requires a match of up to 20 percent of the total grant requested. The maximum award is $205,000 and the minimum match $41,000. The commission

has set aside $50,000 of the general fund toward the station project. I guess the train station will go hand in hand with the other major plan the city commission has been floating: Building a Hotel over the retail space at the Shoppes of Wilton Manors. Great: added noise, added traffic, added competition for the small guest houses around town. These small businesses will suffer and eventually close. Perhaps this is the master plan to de-gay Wilton Manors. Gays began exiting South Beach several years ago after it started turning itself into Corporate America. Same thing has happened to Key West: guesthouses advertise as “straight friendly,” bars and clubs have vanished; gays have sold their homes and moved north. Will this happen to us? Most likely YES. You can bank on it. In the meantime I can’t wait for the city commission to come up with a plan to build a small airport in WM. With a train station, a hotel and an airport, economically, it would be a real boon to the city. The time is perfect for all three. Pack your bags. Time to start looking north again. WMG

PERHAPS THIS IS THE MASTER PLAN TO DEGAY WILTON MANORS.

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Community

Health

Marijuana Doctor Office Opens

Check out what’s happening

Around Town

First one in city

By Michael d’Oliveira

Shred Event (correction) In the last issue of The Gazette, it was incorrectly stated that the April 15 Shred Event, sponsored by Adrienne Foland and the City of Wilton Manors, was from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The correct time is 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The event will be held at Hagen Park, 2020 Wilton Drive. Proof of residency is required. For more information, call 954-205-6594. WMG

Photo credit: Green Health, Facebook.

Renovation of Fire Station 16

On March 28, commissioners approved a $169,989 contract with Republic Construction to perform interior renovations for the city’s fire station. According to city staff, Republic was the lowest of six bids. The project will consist of remodeling the bathrooms to meet ADA requirements, renovating the kitchen, relocating the air conditioning units from the roof to the ground level, replacement of aging sewer lines, installment of an ADA ramp at the front entrance, replacement of ceiling tiles, installment of an impact front bay window, and patching and painting of interior walls.WMG

Island City Canoe Race

Sign-up is now open for the 26th Annual Island City Canoe Race. The event will be held on May 20 at 10 a.m. as part of the city’s 70th annual birthday celebration. The 7-mile relay race will start at Colohatchee Park and end at Richardson Park. The cost to enter is $150 per team before April 15 and $200 after April 15. There is a men’s, women’s, and co-ed division and each team must consist of 10 people. The co-ed teams must have at least three male and three female members. For more information, call 954-390-2130 or visit wiltonmanors.com/parks. WMG

Piling work won’t close Colohatchee

A project to repair 110 boardwalk pilings at Colohatchee Park won’t interfere with the park’s operating hours, said officials. On March 28, commissioners approved a $66,000 contract with B&M Marine Construction. The work involves reinforcing each piling with a concrete post and will be performed on Tuesday’s and Wednesdays when the park is already closed. WMG

City extends risk assessment contract

On March 28, city commissioners voted to extend the contract of Burns & McDonnell Engineering to provide a security risk assessment. Originally hired in December of 2016, the original contract expired March 31 but city staff recommended that more time was needed. The goal of the assessment is to improve public safety by developing a master security plan for employees and city facilities and identifying funding sources for needed security upgrades and adjustments. WMG

Block Party

As part of Mayor Gary Resnick’s efforts to get residents to ditch their cell phones and participate in face to face social networking, the city’s Block Party event will be held on Thursday, April 6 at 5:30 p.m. at Coral Gardens Park, located at Coral Gardens Drive and Northeast 27 St. Attendees are asked to bring food. The city will provide games, activities, light refreshments, tables and chairs. WMG

Wilton Manors doesn’t have a marijuana dispensary yet, but the city does have its first marijuana doctor office. Green Health – Marijuana Doctors, 1749 NE 26 St., opened March 1. “We like the small town vibe and community of Wilton Manors. We felt this service would be a great addition to the community. We have gotten overwhelming support,” wrote Green Health representative Doug Waun in an email. The company also has offices in Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, St. Petersburg, and Tallahassee. According to Roberta Moore, Community Development Services director, it’s the only marijuana doctor office open in the city. Because only prescriptions are issued and no medication is given out on the premises, Green Health is classified as a professional medical office and is located near other medical offices,

including a chiropractor and a dentist. Waun estimates the office’s one doctor has seen 150 patients as of March 30. Another will be joining the staff on May 1. To prescribe medical marijuana, physicians have to complete an eighthour CME Medical Cannabis course provided by the Florida Medical Association. “We see people from all walks of life. Patients battling cancer, patients with epilepsy and other seizure disorders, PTSD, chronic pain and a fair amount of terminal patients looking for end of life care and relief,” Waun wrote. In August, the city commission voted to allow dispensaries to open in the city but placed restrictions on where they could be located. This was done in anticipation of the expanded use of medical marijuana throughout the state. “These are coming and you need to zone them before you can’t control where they’re located,” said Mayor Gary Resnick in August. WMG

WAUN ESTIMATES THE OFFICE’S ONE DOCTOR HAS SEEN 150 PATIENTS AS OF MARCH 30.

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