Vice Mayor George Brummer retained his District 5 seat on the Pompano Beach City Commission in the March 9 election. He defeated Johnny Jones, Sr. by a large margin. Brummer received 884 votes and Jones received 341 votes.
Brummer first took office in June 2003 after winning a special election.
"I feel good about winning this election," said Brummer after the city commission meeting.
Brummer is enthusiastic about the city’s potential. "The key is development. We need to develop the northwest section and the casino."
He expressed concern about the police situation in Pompano Beach.
Brummer, 79, worked in life insurance and with actuarial consulting firms. He wants to continue working for revision of the zoning code. He would like to see formation of transportation corridor districts especially along Atlantic Boulevard, Federal Highway and Dixie Highway.
Brummer has also said he wants to see improved development of the city’s two Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) districts, the Northwest and the East.
"In the East District I would like to see more commercial redevelopment," he said during the campaign. "I want to see a focus on hotels and beach redevelopment. We need to see residential and business development in the Northwest district. We need to attract more tourists to the area. The city needs development and redevelopment for its tax base and to modernize the city."
He was instrumental in forming the Palm Aire Special Recreation Tax District.
Johnny Jones, a language arts and social studies teacher at Cypress Run Education Center and the pastor of United Glorious Church of Christ, Inc. in Ft. Lauderdale, campaigned on bringing more unity to Pompano Beach.
Tea in the Garden
It was almost a rainout, Saturday night at Parkway-Tedder Community Garden & Food Forest. Then, just before the 6 p.m. blessing and program, a rainbow appeared. Guests were free to stroll the tiki-torch lined rows of garden plots, citrus grove and banana trees, get a closer look at rain barrels and feast on specialty sandwiches, fruits, tea and breads, making use of items being grown in the garden. “This is an effort for my grandchildren and yours. Please consider working with us, getting your hands dirty. We have wonderful volunteers who have a heart for this type of thing,” said Pastor Jim Walling. “If you have an idea, this is a place where ideas are heard.” Kevin “Flavio” Sloat spoke of what keeps him coming back, day after day, weekend after weekend to the urban garden he was instrumental in creating.He called the almost 6-acre green space abutting I-95 “a Treasure in a Field.” Trustee Wayne Boswell said they are expanding little by little. Over the summer, 1,000 plants and trees and were planted, thanks to a $9,000 Broward Beautiful grant from the Tedder Neighborhood Watch.
Saturday, March 13, 9 a.m. to noon:Bring 1 lb. of your favorite veggies. The Fresh Produce Food Pantry Drive will supplement Food Pantry items. “It is sort of a promise, a layaway of items being grown here in the Food Pantry plots,” said Walling.
Deerfield Mayor takes a leap
By Diane Emeott
“Right now my heart’s beating 1,000 miles an hour,” said Deerfield Beach Mayor Peggy Noland minutes before skydiving on Monday, March 1.
By Tuesday night’s city commission meeting, she joked that her blood pressure was just coming back down. “Would you believe it? Yesterday she jumped out of a plane!” said Commissioner Marty Popelsky.
Skydiving with the Golden Knights was part of a team-building exercise for seven South Florida mayors this week. The jump was originally scheduled for
Saturday, Feb. 27, but was postponed due to weather.
“We were all geared up for Saturday. To have to come back again Monday…”
“The weather was beautiful yesterday. You could see everything … the everglades, the ocean… It takes about 2 minutes, it goes really fast… It’s incredible!” she said of the tandem jump with a Golden Knight.
Noland said one of the mayors from South Miami was in a wheelchair. “They took him… taped his legs… George H.W. Bush also jumped last year at [age] 85!”
Noland said she has jumped once before, as a commissioner for the City of Deerfield Beach.
There are currently about 105 Golden Knights. In addition to performing more than 230 days a year at air shows, state fairs and civic events, they have each known active duty. “They all just got back from active service in Kuwait,” she said.
“What the Golden Knights want us to do is thank our service personnel. I’d like to thank the American service men and women.”
A group of 13 men first formed the Strategic Army Corps Sport Parachute Team in 1959, to compete in what was then the communist-dominated sport of skydiving.
On Oct. 15, 1962, the team earned the nickname, the “Golden Knights.”
Dalai Lama graces South Florida with his presence
By Andrea Freygang
Reaching out to others in compassion is the way to true happiness and inner peace said the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet to a crowd of close to 3,000 inside FAU’s arena this past week. The Dalai Lama is now the exiled head of state of Tibet and their spiritual leader. Originally named Lhamo Dhondup, he was believed to be the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, and according to his website, “the Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and patron saint of Tibet. Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings, who have postponed their own nirvana and chosen to take rebirth in order to serve humanity.”
For many on Feb 24, it was a struggle to understand the Dalai Lama through his thick accent. Guidance on leading a peaceful life through compassion was the guiding principle. (The week’s theme at FAU.)
To those who think they can do nothing to advance peace he said, “you all have the potential for compassion and to seek inner peace.”
“When you talk compassion … you respect others lives and the mere essence of life,” said His Holiness. “We need to have more compassion toward other human beings.”
He talked about compassion on two levels — toward friends and toward enemies.
“It’s easy to have compassion toward friends, (compassion with attachment), but harder to have compassion toward enemies or people you don’t know (compassion without attachment),” said the Dalai Lama, who is a Buddhist monk (“The only real way to have inner peace is having compassion toward everyone. You must extend love to all creatures created by God.”
He called genuine compassion “a sense of concern with respect.”
The Dalai Lama is well-known for his spiritual wisdom. He has traveled all over the world, sharing his insights, while he attempts to influence peace -- despite living in exile in India after a Chinese invasion forced him to flee.
He told the avid crowd that if you have anxiety or stress, it doesn’t do any good to take a holiday or go on a trip, because when you get back to work, you’ll still be miserable
“You have to find inner peace to get rid of anxiety,” he explained.
Education
His holiness began his monastic education at the age of 6. The curriculum consisted of five major and five minor subjects. The major subjects were logic, Tibetan art and culture, Sanskrit, medicine, and Buddhist philosophy -- which was further divided into a five categories: Prajnaparimita, the perfection of wisdom; Madhyamika, the philosophy of the middle Way; Vinaya, the canon of monastic discipline; Abidharma, metaphysics; and Pramana, logic and epistemology. The five minor subjects were poetry, music and drama, astrology, motre and phrasing, and synonyms.
At 23 he sat for his final examination in the Jokhang Temple, Lhasa, during the annual Monlam (prayer) Festival in 1959. He passed with honors and was awarded the Geshe Lharampa degree, the highest-level degree equivalent to a doctorate of Buddhist philosophy.
“Some people are too formal and don’t have the ability to smile. It’s important to smile,” said His Holiness to the crowd. “Peace can’t come from the sky, but from inside ourselves.”
Application
The central theme was “Compassion as a Pillar of Peace,” a subject he speaks frequently on.
“Ultimately, the reason why love and compassion bring the greatest happiness is simply that our nature cherishes them above all else,” he has said. “The need for love lies at the very foundation of human existence.”
The Dalai Lama spoke for almost an hour and finished up with questions from FAU faculty and staff. When asked what will happen in 2012 (likely referencing various doomsday prophecies, including ones by the Mayan civilization, he said he didn’t know.
“I don’t know what will happen tomorrow,” he said, adding he doesn’t do predictions. “Let’s wait and see.”
FAU interim president said he was honored to host the Dalai Lama.
“(He) is a true messenger of peace, compassion and understanding,” said John Pritchett. “This is a historic moment for the university and truly a wonderful education opportunity for our students, faculty, staff and community.”
It was almost a rainout, Saturday night at Parkway-Tedder Community Garden & Food Forest. Then, just before the 6 p.m. blessing and program, a rainbow appeared. Guests were free to stroll the tiki-torch lined rows of garden plots, citrus grove and banana trees, get a closer look at rain barrels and feast on specialty sandwiches, fruits, tea and breads, making use of items being grown in 
the garden. “This is an effort for my grandchildren and yours. Please consider working with us, getting your hands dirty. We have wonderful volunteers who have a heart for this type of thing,” said Pastor Jim Walling. “If you have an idea, this is a place where ideas are heard.” Kevin “Flavio” Sloat spoke of what keeps him coming back, day after day, weekend after weekend to the urban garden he was instrumental in creating.
6-acre green space abutting I-95 “a Treasure in a Field.” Trustee Wayne Boswell said they are expanding little by little. Over the summer, 1,000 plants and trees and were planted, thanks to a $9,000 Broward Beautiful grant from the Tedder Neighborhood Watch.
“Right now my heart’s beating 1,000 miles an hour,” said Deerfield Beach Mayor Peggy Noland minutes before skydiving on Monday, March 1.