Council Watch

Astute observers of the ebbs andflows of the city’s bi-weekly municipal retention-pond skinny-dip will snidely note that those weeks that are top-heavy with awards, presentations and recognitions are usually weeks where nothing is happening. Such was the case this week, as nearly an hour was swallowed into a yawning void with talk about beautification and trees. Trees, it turns out, are sort of like infrastructure, in that who wants a $100,000 lawsuit if a branch falls down and bops somebody on the head? Answer: Nobody.

The mayor tried to make up for the mope with some updates – new SunRail, new bus routes – and even pulled out a phrase about a “great jewel in our wastewater system.” Did somebody lose his wedding ring?

Item: The city approves the application for the Fiscal Year 2012 U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance Protecting Public Health, Safety and the Economy from Counterfeit Goods and Product Piracy: The Intellectual Property Theft Enforcement Program Grant.

Translation: Remember a couple of weeks ago when the virtual world got whipped up into a tornado of acronyms like SOPA and PIPA? Sure, the apparent armchair outrage may have led Congress to reconsider a universal crackdown on any potential “intellectual property” being tossed between people with bad skin via the Internet, but it didn’t change the fact that piracy is still illegal and, therefore, actionable by the many facets of our country’s law enforcement machine. Back in 2010, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder formed the Department of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property to counter what the government saw as not just a torrent (ha) of illegal downloads, but the roots of a coming black market powered by organized crime. It’s a virtual mob out there! Anyway, the city – which apparently has one person assigned to hitting the refresh button on the federal government’s grants website – is proving itself hip to the latest online crime jargon and requesting $100,000 for the Orlando Police Department to better enforce intellectual property laws. Interestingly, the Bureau of Justice Assistance anticipated that it would be administering 12 grants in the amount of $200,000, but the city is asking for just half of that amount for “enforcing criminal laws related to intellectual property theft,” including overtime payments and the cost of storage for seized goods. Just because big business may have to wait a little while until it’s able to control how you use your computer doesn’t mean that Big Brother isn’t already doing just that. In other words, put down that porn and wash your laptop.

Item: The city approves the Publix Supermarkets Inc. transportation impact fee credit agreement, and approves an agreement with the state of Florida on behalf of Publix Supermarkets to receive an Economic Development Transportation Fund grant toward the project cost of the Hazeltine National Drive extension for a new refrigerated distribution warehouse.

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