Ellyn Bogdanoff, savvy Florida State Senator, speaks to James A. "Jim" Scott of TrippScott on issues before the 2011 Legislature in Tallahassee

Above, Ellyn Bogdanoff, Florida State Senator (R-25) speaks to James A. "Jim" Scott, former Broward County Commissioner -and Chairman of the TrippScott law firm of Fort Lauderdale- on her expectations for the 2011 legislative session in Tallahassee.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAt4yJKsbVw

Ellyn Bogdanoff was elected to the forty-member Florida State Senate last year from Senate District 25, which starts to the south in Fort Lauderdale -which she represented for six years in the Florida House- and goes north into Palm Beach County. It was formerly represented by current State Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, a former banking executive.

Bogdanoff Will Cut Waste in Government and Lower Taxes from Ellyn Bogdanoff on Vimeo.

Ellyn Bogdanoff for Senate 2010 commercial http://vimeo.com/15167627

Other videos of her talking about issues at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5oH8LUsgk4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPr0SOaKl7k

Bogdanff was mentioned frequently here on the blog last year for her very hard work to bring meaningful and responsive ethics legislation to government to Broward County, both at the county and municipal level, via an independent Inspector General, something that a lot of people talked about it, but that few actually did anything meaningful about.

Citations of Ellyn Bogdanoff here at HBB:
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search?q=%22Bogdanoff%22
Bogdanoff was also mentioned in many posts here about ethics where I couldn't quite fit her rntire name into the "tags" category, but she's there!

But Bogdanoff, along with Democratic State Rep. Ari Porth, did most of the heavy-lifting in Broward County and Tallahassee to try to make it a reality, against the efforts of many Broward County Democrats serving in Tallahassee.

Many, apparently, see their pals in local City Halls as both political and financial allies, and to return the favor, weren't about to make it easier for Broward County citizens to get the overdue justice they deserve and drop a dime on the legislator's pals if they weren't actually following the letter and spirit of this state's laws.
They don't call it the 'culture of corruption' for nothing.

To watch some of the dis-interested and oblivious Broward Dems debate this issue in person last year, as I did, you'd think that Ethics was NOT a legitimate concern of either African-Americans or liberals or retirees or... anyone they knew or got campaign checks from. Nope, just Broward do-gooders like me and Charlotte Greenbarg and Sara Case and Patti Lynn...

From my perspective in the room last year, some state legislators, like Perry Thurston, Chris Smith and Dan Gelber, only seemed to make matters worse by their wasting time at the Broward Legislative Delegation meeting to score cheap political points and bark at Broward State's Attorney Michael Satz, rather than showing a genuine concern to help stop the rampant corruption and abuse of Sunshine Laws at Broward's thirty-something city halls, where my own city of Hallandale Beach has been among the worst offenders during the ten-year reign of Mayor Joy Cooper.
But then you already know that last point, don't you?

The incredibly feeble attendance of the South Florida press at the meeting, a sign of the times in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, only seemed to empower this sort of dysfunctional behavior, as the Dem legislators talked and talked until... what do you know, there was less time for the public to speak than was thought.
Among those who didn't get to speak -me.


Ellyn Bogdanoff is very smart, friendly and personally charming and as I said earlier, a very hard-worker. That she also greatly resembles a particularly dear friend of mine from IU, who was about the best judge of people I knew, and a great personal sounding-board for me, meant that I was already inclined to like her to begin with, even before I knew what she was doing to make tougher ethics legislation here not just a priority, but a reality.

She is also not someone to let other people screw with her just because she is so engaging, as the Miami Herald article from last year, below, makes clear. That's a quality I like and look for since I really hate both bullies and those who use parochial cronyism to thwart the great societal good.
(Needless to say, yet another reason why I constantly oppose the depredations of the Joy Cooper Rubber Stamp Crew at HB City Hall.)

That's especially the case when Bogdanoff was fighting for MUCH STRONGER ethics against someone who just wants a pork project to sail thru.

Now some of these qualities and her reluctance to let others dictate the success of bills she feels are important rub some people the wrong way, and while I don't agree with her on everything, of course, Bogdanoff is a person of enormous personal character.

I mean she fought for ethics here, the most politically-corrupt county in the entire state, where there was almost a brazenness among some pols before they were caught and convicted, so unlike some places in the country, this was not exactly every legislator's idea of a fun assignment.
But she did it anyway -and made a tangible positive difference.

And not that you asked, but I'd replace bland and ineffective U.S. Senator Bill Nelson with Ellyn Bogdanoff in a heartbeat.

Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/02/1608918/rep-ellyn-bogdanoff-a-formidable.html
Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff a formidable opponent
By Christina Silva and Robert Samuels Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
May 2, 2010

Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, nicknamed the "Angel of Death'' in the Florida House, has been a bill-slayer for six years, but she wasn't about to let legislation important to her die without a fight.

Convinced that Rep. Janet Long had persuaded the Senate to hold one of her bills hostage, Bogdanoff stormed into Long's office and delivered a tongue-lashing in front of a knot of lawmakers. Long, a Democrat from Seminole, filed a complaint with the speaker's office that claimed Bogdanoff had made "threats of harm and retaliation.''

Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, said she was just doing her job.

"Here's the thing: I am who I am,'' Bogdanoff said. "And I've been extremely successful because of who I am. I get along with most people and I have a lot of friends. And, once in a while, you come across people that maybe lack self-confidence and are intimidated by you based on their own character and makeup, and I can't help that.''

The recent scuffle illustrates the occasional alpha-dog politics used to advance legislation behind both closed and open doors within the Florida Capitol, where decorum and regimen usually rule.

TAX BREAKS

In the House, Bogdanoff successfully negotiated more than $218 million in tax breaks and economic incentives designed to stimulate the Florida economy. She interrupted floor debate to denounce any potential amendments to her sweeping condo relief bill, agitating some in her delegation. The bill passed.

Meanwhile, to the surprise of many, she announced she had killed a bill that would have banned texting while driving, calling the legislation "intellectually dishonest.'' Senate Republicans unsuccessfully urged the House to rise against Bogdanoff and pass the bill.

"She can move mountains in Tallahassee,'' said Rep. Ari Porth, a Democrat from Coral Springs who counts Bogdanoff as an ally.

The fight with Long grew from Bogdanoff's refusal to schedule Long's bill to change the governance structure of the Pinellas Park Water Management District Authority. Bogdanoff said it was too controversial.

That prompted Long's cosponsor in the Senate, Seminole Republican Dennis Jones, to stall Bogdanoff's bill that sought to establish a Broward County inspector general. It was a top priority for Broward lawmakers who asked Bogdanoff to carry the bill because of her influence.

Bogdanoff said Long made their exchange seem more confrontational than it was and defended her actions: "To have political retribution on a bill that is extremely important to my community, that is also being cosponsored by two Democrats, is patently unfair.''

A former political consultant with long ties to the Republican Party, Bogdanoff quickly rose through the ranks after she was elected to the House by 12 votes in 2004 to finish the term of Rep. Connie Mack IV, who resigned to run for Congress.

She served as the majority whip from 2006 to 2008, where she rallied votes for Republican causes under former House Speaker Marco Rubio.

The moniker "Angel of Death'' was originally a joke, she said.

"Speaker Rubio was up there and said, 'You know it's a good day in the Florida Legislature when you haven't been visited by Ellyn Bogdanoff, better known as the `Angel of Death,' '' Bogdanoff recalled.

Bogdanoff remains a formidable opponent. She chairs the Finance and Tax Council and sits in the front row of the House, where she shares a jar of Jelly Bellys with her seatmate, Rep. Ron Reagan, R-Bradenton, the House's lieutenant speaker.

NSU LAW SCHOOL

The mother of three children, Bogdanoff graduated from Nova Southeastern University's law school when she was 43. Colleagues on both sides of the aisle call her smart, tenacious and sharp-tongued. They disagree, however, on whether those are admirable qualities.

"There are many times when she has reached across the aisle to work with Democrats and overall she has been very fair,'' said Rep. Marty Kiar, D-Davie. ``I have nothing negative to say about her.''

Minority Leader Franklin Sands, D-Weston, said his relationship with Bogdanoff has been tense since she vowed to kill a local earmark he pitched if he didn't withdraw his call for a recorded vote on a stem-cell measure. They were freshmen lawmakers at the time.

FEATHERS RUFFLED

"I told her I was the worst person in the world that she should be trying to threaten because I just didn't give a damn,'' Sands said. "I guess that says you always have to stand up to a bully; otherwise, they own you.''

Bogdanoff could soon be ruffling new feathers. She is running for the seat being vacated by Senate President Jeff Atwater, a North Palm Beach Republican running for chief financial officer. She has the support of incoming President Mike Haridopolos, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and U.S. Sen. John McCain, whom she backed in the 2008 presidential election.

She said some people inflame her temper for "entertainment.''

"They start pushing my buttons and watch me go,'' she said. "Even [House Budget Chief] David Rivera said one time, 'I love to watch people push your buttons, because you bite every time.' And that's what I have to stop. . . . I take the bait. Every time.''

FL State Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff's official Member page:
http://www.flsenate.gov/senators/s25

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Below, a discussion on issues Ellyn Bogdanoff had last year -when she was still in the Florida House- with Ed Pozzuoli, President of TrippScott:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P-0J2yZSP0

Is Mike Haridopolos' ethical case the exception or the rule in corrupt Tallahassee?; Joe Gibbons continues to skate on ethical black ice re residency

Last Sunday's editorial in the Scripps-owned Treasure Coast & Palm Beach newspaper on ethics in the Florida state legislature in Tallahassee -or rather the lack of same amongst some so-called leaders- could hardly be improved upon.

I had meant to reference it here sooner as it is that rare newspaper editorial that is hammer squarely hitting nail with both precision and a minimum of fuss. And while it was ostensibly about the efforts of Mike Haridopolos to evade the law, it is, of course, apocryphal for all the other members and the culture of corruption that flourishes in that town hard by the Georgia state line.

The longstanding lack of leadership on ethical and clean government issues by the vast majority of Florida state senators and representatives, Democrat and Republican, save an Ellyn Bogdanoff or Ari Porth, is really a leading indicator of the rather pedestrian character and sub-standard quality of the lawmakers in Florida, the country's fourth-largest state.

My seven years back here in Florida, after 15 spent in the Washington, D.C. area, has informed me that, not surprisingly, with size comes not more quality as we might hope, but rather more of the middling mediocrities, male and female, with parochial self-interest as their number one goal, running from hopelessly gerrymandered districts.
Where never is heard a discouraging word.

Who better to be the poster boy for that sorry lot of self-involved, under-achieving ethically-challenged ne'er do-wells than my very own Florida state representative, Joe Gibbons, the former do-nothing Hallandale Beach City Commissioner?

I seriously toyed with the notion of penning an ode to Gibbons in this space on Christmas Day, wondering where-oh-where he was spending the holiday with his wife and kids: where they live and she works, in Jacksonville, or where he, supposedly, lives, Hallandale Beach.

In case you'd forgotten about Joe Gibbons...
April 18, 2010
In case you'd forgotten what sort of person Joe Gibbons was, here's a quick reminder: Y-O-U are at the bottom of his pyramid
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/in-case-youd-forgotten-what-sort-of.html

November 15, 2010
Do you recall me telling you months ago that FL State Rep. Joe Gibbons no longer lived in HB? Bob Norman hammers some more nails in that coffin! http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/do-you-recall-me-telling-you-months-ago.html

November 15, 2010
Bob Norman in The Daily Pulp blog
House Pro Tem Investigated for Homestead Fraud http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/11/joe_gibbons_investigated_homestead_fraud.php


But as indignant as I was, given the facts we already know with certainty, I didn't want to be cross in the blog on Christmas Day, and waste precious time and energy on someone whom I have so very little regard for, and who in another time and place would already be receiving calls from leaders in this community to either come clean on whether Gibbons actually lived where he claimed to live on his formal candidacy papers, as required by state law, or resign.

Instead, Gibbons continues to skate on thin black ice and the South Florida news media, save Bob Norman, continue to avert their eyes from what is right in front of them.

Why is everyone down here so deathly afraid of not only real competitive general elections, where issues matter, but in calling out politicians who have the gall and effrontery to actually fail the very low threshold that the state currently requires?

That quorum of mediocrity is why those FL state amendments that passed muster with the public in November, which made creating gerrymandered districts harder to draw in the future by these same ethically-conflicted legislators, a very important victory indeed.

Success that needs to be built upon in future elections and replicated at the local level.

Given the rather brazen and egregious acts and forms of self-dealing that seem to routinely go on in Tallahassee, often drawing nothing but blank stares, it's no wonder really that the vast majority of Sunshine State citizens regard every state legislator and staffer in Tallahassee as someone potentially on the make, with his or her hand extended waiting for a 'sweetener,' the only question being the amount.

This is made worse by their ridiculous high self-regard, and the outrageous sense of entitlement they possess, as if they were our betters, which they are not.
Sadly, this same unethical and anti-democratic sentiment is mirrored in most of the state's 67 county commissions, and many of their cities.

As if this was not enough of a burden for this state's citizenry to bear, it's made worse when some pols who were formerly thought to be on the right side of this ethical line-in-the-sand, begin to make noises and whine quite loudly amongst their friends in the chattering class and news media about the indignities they must bear when they are forbidden from so much as even taking a Mentos from a friend.
More on her and her new suffering soon.

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http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/dec/19/editorial-haridopolos-financial-disclosure-case/ Editorial
Haridopolos' financial disclosure case illustrates need to reform flawed system Editorial board
December 19, 2010

The coziness of it all makes the conscientious person want to scream.

Sadly, no one in the halls of power — in this case, the Florida Legislature — appears to be listening.

To wit, the complaint against Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, was heard recently by the state Commission on Ethics.

Haridopolos had stated in an October news release: "I acknowledge mistakes made on my financial disclosure form from past years. None of these were intentional and once pointed out, I corrected the mistakes. I have filed amended disclosure forms with the necessary corrections."

These omissions amounted to tens of thousands of dollars in income and personal property Haridopolos failed to report on financial disclosure forms from 2004 to 2008.

The ethics commission heard the complaint but took no action other than to refer the complaint to the Senate Rules Committee — this, in large part, because the commission has no authority to impose penalties. This can only be done by lawmakers. But guess what. The Senate Rules Committee is chaired by Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonsville — a Haridopolos appointee!

So which of the committee's options — do nothing, or recommend to the full Senate that Haridopolos be reprimanded or fined — do you think is forthcoming?

One thing is clear: The system currently in place to require financial disclosure by public officials, and to investigate and penalize alleged violations, is a joke.

What needs to change?

• Require public officials to type the information on their financial disclosure forms. Some forms completed by candidates and elected officials are handwritten and barely legible. The public shouldn't be left to guess at the meaning behind letters and words that are difficult, even impossible, to decipher.

• Provide basic instructions and guidelines for completing the forms properly. Explain to lawmakers what assets and liabilities are. For example, Haridopolos, who listed a $325,000 home as both an asset and a liability on his financial disclosure forms two years in a row, should know the outstanding mortgage on the home — not the home itself — is the liability. A simple explainer on the form might help.

• Require public officials to post all financial disclosure forms online. Now, to obtain a copy of a public official's financial disclosure form, the public must e-mail a request to the Florida Commission on Ethics (disclosure@leg.state.fl.us). The public deserves immediate, online access to these forms. Haridiopolos has championed putting the state budget online. The Legislature should do the same with financial disclosure statements. Even better, create a Web-based form that lawmakers have to fill out online. This would give them fewer excuses when they make errors.

• Give the ethics commission authority to impose penalties. Deferring this step to the Legislature makes a mockery of such investigations.

• Eliminate inconsistencies in Florida's financial disclosure laws. For example, state law contains the following catch-all provision: "A person may amend his or her full and public disclosure of financial interests to add to or modify the information reported on the form as originally filed at any time after filing the disclosure form." There is no accountability when a statute allows a public official to amend a filing "at any time."

• Make it a crime for a public official to knowingly fail to disclose a financial interest in legislation he or she votes for. While this isn't the case in the Haridopolos complaint, it remains an issue that merits prompt legislative action. Not surprisingly, a bill that would have made it a crime for lawmakers to knowingly fail to disclose a financial interest in legislation they vote for was rejected by the 2010 Legislature.

The solutions needed to reform Florida's feeble financial disclosure system are transparent. However, fixing the problem requires honest evaluation and self-scrutiny by the Legislature — and these qualities are in short supply in Tallahassee.

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More TCPalm opinon pieces at: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/opinion/

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A few days earlier, The Florida Times-Union, based out of Jacksonville, published this spot-on editorial on the same subject.

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/editorials/2010-12-12/story/legislature-shoring-ethics
Legislature: Shoring up ethics
December 12, 2010 - 12:00am

NICE DEAL ... FOR THEM

- In most situations involving ethics violations in state and local government, the state ethics commission investigates and makes recommendations on penalties. The governor decides on the penalties.

- In the case of violations by state lawmakers, however, the ethics commission investigates, but it is ultimately state lawmakers who decide the penalties of their colleagues. The ethics commission is not allowed to even recommend penalties unless lawmakers ask them to do it.

Our take:
The Legislature shouldn't be deciding ethics penalties for its own members after commission investigations. Those conflicts and others could be avoided if penalties for lawmakers were up to the governor or a combination of the governor and state Cabinet.

The ethics case involving Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos exposes a flaw in the ethics system that lawmakers should fix.

The fox's friends are guarding the henhouse.

It surfaced after Haridopolos admitted he failed to fully note details about property owned and business ties he was supposed to list on his required financial disclosure form, which applies to elected local and state officials at all levels of Florida government.

The disclosures are important because they can help the public spot potential conflicts of interest.

They are safeguards against corruption that help enhance public confidence - provided officials share the details as required.

A Vero Beach man filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics alleging Haridopolos didn't comply. The omissions included a $400,000 investment home in Mount Dora and the names of two clients who paid him more than $120,000 over a five-year-period.

Haridopolos acknowledged the mistakes to commission investigators and then filed amended disclosures.

The ethics commission accepted the investigation findings but has no legal ability to recommend a penalty to the state Legislature unless lawmakers ask.

So, by law, the matter went to the Senate Rules Committee for consideration.

It could do nothing or recommend a fine or reprimand to the full Senate for action. And that spotlights a big defect in the system.

As Senate president, Haridopolos is the guy who appoints the committees and their chairmen.
The henhouse effect

In this case, the committee chairman is Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, most recently the head of the Republican Party of Florida and a key Haridopolos ally and friend.

But the ally part would be true of just about anybody Haridopolos would appoint to the committee.

Plus, the committee is now asked to weigh in on an ethics case involving someone who can - at whim - kill any future piece of legislation the members might offer.

In other words, going against the boss in this case is yanking hard on Superman's cape.

Haridopolos' attorney argues that embarrassment is enough of a penalty for his client, especially since Haridopolos admitted the mistakes and moved quickly to correct them.

But that misses the broader point.

A conflict of interest should not be built into the system, but that is the case in the Legislature.

An ethics enforcement system needs the ability to enforce independently and should be beyond the direct influence of anyone who is subject to a decision, whether it be the Senate president or a newly elected state lawmaker who has yet to find the restroom.

In fact, that's the way it works in most cases in state government.

For instance, the governor gets details from the ethics commission about problems with a sheriff and then decides, within the options outlined by law, what will happen - not a committee appointed by the sheriff.

Distance equals credibility If the complaint came in against the governor and the governor was in clear violation, the attorney general would ultimately decide what would happen, not some group the governor appointed that he could leverage or that depended on him for future success.

The governor would make the call on ethics penalties in most cases for the agriculture commissioner, attorney general or chief financial officer.

But state lawmakers get the privilege of deciding what will happen to their own - if anything at all.

Where's the impartiality?

It's like exempting themselves from full application of Florida's Government in the Sunshine Law.

Worse yet, the ethics commission - unlike with complaints against state and local constitutional officers - is barred by law from even recommending ethics penalties to lawmakers involving state lawmaker violations, unless state lawmakers request it.

In other words, the ethics commission is told, if lawmakers want your suggestions on penalties, they'll ask for them.

Adjustments needed

It's rare, though not impossible, for there to be an ethics finding by the commission against a Senate president or other legislative leader.

But infrequency is no reason to avoid upgrading the system.

The ethics commission should be able to recommend penalties about lawmaker violations like they can for everyone else.

But they should be directed to the governor or the state Cabinet for penalty consideration, not lawmakers themselves.

Should lawmakers be able to legally change that process by themselves, they should do it.

If, for some reason, it should require a state constitutional amendment, lawmakers should propose one.

If they won't, shame on them.

Then various citizens groups that advocate for strong ethics and more transparency in government should band together and seek a constitutional amendment as part of a broader move to strengthen the state ethics commission in general.

Having the foxes guard the henhouse never worked on the farm, and it isn't good for state government, either.

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Because I have the Florida Commission on Ethics as a daily Google Alert, I not only saw these editorials the day they came out, but also caught an excellent Dec. 17, 2010 Letter to the Editor of Florida Today, the Gannett-owned newspaper in Melbourne, FL, i.e. the Daytona Beach area for those of you reading this from out-of-state, on the sort of character of the attorney hired by incoming Florida State Senate President Mike Haridopolos when the evidence was overwhelmingly against him.
A petty one!

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20101217/OPINION/101216030/1004/
Attorney’s comments were unprofessional

Attorney Pete Dunbar, who represented state Sen. Mike Haridopolos in a hearing earlier this month before the Florida Commission on Ethics, made inappropriate and caustic comments against Eugene Benson, a citizen who first noted Haridopolos had failed to report key financial information for the past five years.

Dunbar’s remarks leaves a sad mark on the legal profession.

Even though Haridopolos quickly admitted guilt, somehow Dunbar felt the only way to represent his client was to imply that Benson was the problem by stating, among other things, “Basically, what you’ve got here is a harassing complaint.”

Several other negative comments were also made by Dunbar.

Is this what our legal profession has sunk to, that even if your client admits guilt, someone else should be blamed?

Alan Zoellner
Merritt Island

See, people really are paying attention to what is going on in the Sunshine State.

Meanwhile. days earlier...

Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/04/1956721/senate-chiefs-mistakes-remain.html
Senate chief's mistakes remain an issue
By Marc Caputo Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos admitted he made an "embarrassing'' mistake when he repeatedly failed to properly fill out financial disclosure forms.

On Friday, the Florida Commission on Ethics accepted Haridopolos' formal admission that he violated the state Constitution by neglecting to detail his investments, a $400,000 home and a consulting job that earned him $120,000 from 2004 through 2008.

But Haridopolos wasn't fined Friday. The commission can't do that under constitutional rules.
That job is up to Haridopolos' fellow senators. And they might not fine him at all.

Haridopolos' attorney, Pete Dunbar, said they shouldn't make him pay any more because the errors were minimal, unintentional and were corrected as soon as Haridopolos learned of them.

"He has paid enough. This is deeply embarrassing,'' Dunbar said Friday after the commission approved Haridopolos' acknowledgement of guilt. "This was a clerical error.''

But it's not going away.

Regardless of what penalty -- if any -- Haridopolos' Senate levies against its boss, the issue is sure to haunt him on the campaign trail.

POSSIBLE RUN

Haridopolos is already putting out feelers for a possible 2012 run for the U.S. Senate against Democrat Bill Nelson, putting the Merritt Island Republican on a crash course with fellow Republican U.S. Sen. George LeMieux. LeMieux's deputy staff chief, Vivian Myrtetus, sent out an electronic Twitter message Friday that linked to a blog with the headline, "Haridopolos guilty in ethics violation.''

Democrats also pounced. Shortly after the commission approved Haridopolos' settlement agreement, the Florida Democratic Party sent out a press release with the headline "Haridopolos Kicks Off 2012 Senate Campaign By Pleading Guilty To Breaking Ethics Laws.''

The ethics case against Haridopolos was brought by a sharp-eyed retiree, Vero Beach resident Eugene H. "Bucky'' Benson, who noticed that Haridopolos failed to write the addresses of his employers, the Legislature and the University of Florida. Benson also spotted discrepancies in the way Haridopolos reported income through MJH Consulting Company, which performed work for a public-relations firm called Syntax Communication and the marketing arm of an appliance company, Appliance Direct.

'BIGGEST FARCE'

In an e-mail to reporters, Benson groused that the ethics commission was "the biggest farce in the world. . . . The Florida Legislature snookered Florida taxpayers into thinking that it governs `in the sunshine' and the Ethics Commission is the taxpayer's watchdog.''

But Haridopolos said he's committed to transparency and open government, which he said is what mortified him about his mistakes. Also, he noted to ethics investigators, he's a college teacher and should've filled out the annual financial disclosure forms properly. He said that after he improperly filled out the forms in a matter of minutes the first time, he repeated his errors year after year.

"I thought I did it correctly,'' he told reporters last month. "I turned in the paper. No one turned it back with a red mark on it saying you did this wrong. And so for 10 years, I thought I did this right. My wife's not happy with me. My newspaper's not happy with me. And I'm not happy with me. It was a mistake.''

Other Florida stories at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/index.html

Bob Norman's take on the 28 charges against Broward County Comm. Stacy Ritter, noted misanthrope

Commissioner Stacy Ritter's Nov. 10th video press release concerning findings of the Florida Elections Commission on an elections violation complaint.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqDU4a1rsYA

Bob Norman of the BrowardPalmBeach NewTimes is really on top of things in Broward County today, even more so than usual, as he reports that Broward County Comm. Stacy Ritter, the same indignant person who sent a comment to my blog in June telling me that I should've contacted her to get her side of a story before I simply linked to a newspaper story on ethics legislation by the Sun-Sentinel's Brittany Wallman -featuring a quote from FL State Rep. Ari Porth, as if Ritter would've even responded- now thinks it might be time to prevent Broward County citizens and interested parties from taking photos of the County Commission during public meetings.
Yes, the same Commission that supposedly works for them.
My post from June:
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/broward-county-commissioner-stacy.html

Ritter seemingly only wants a taxpayer-paid photographer who serves as a PR tool for the ruling political class to be allowed to snap-snap at public meetings.
Perhaps that person, whoever it is, knows Ritter's 'good side.'

The side Ritter certainly didn't show when she showed nothing but contempt when she ripped my friend, Charlotte Greenbarg, President of the Broward Coalition -who wanted the most stringent and far-reaching ethics legislation possible- when Ritter appeared before the Broward Country Ethics Commission.
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/bestof/2009/award/best-political-activist-845585/

Almost as if Ritter didn't even consider that her comments at a public meeting of great civic importance would be recorded, or that a transcript would be made.
Typical.
As I remarked later:

I wonder if Comm. Ritter is still angry about the public finding out via my email to Bob Norman of the Broward Palm Beach New Times a few months back about what she said about civic activist and Broward Coalition President Charlotte Greenbarg before the Broward Ethics Commission, one of the few meetings of theirs that I missed towards the end, where I was often the only member of the public present for the entire meeting?

Knowing that nothing actually beats seeing her own sarcastic words in print, I emailed those indignant words of Ritter's over to Bob Norman, who had the good sense to run them in his January 25th, 2010 blog column for everyone to read for themselves.http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/01/monday_quick_takes.php

Personally, after being back down here for seven years, and having attended many Broward County Commission meetings, I have yet to see a good side of Ritter's personality, or even see some sterling quality demonstrated by her that commends her for her current job.
But then that pre-supposes that one actually exists.
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BrowardPalmBeach NewTimesStacy Ritter Hit With 28 Election Charges, Complains She Feels "Stalked"
By Bob Norman, Wednesday., Nov. 10 2010 @ 3:00PM

The Florida Elections Commission found probable cause this morning to charge Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter with 28 election violations.

​The nature of the charges aren't clear, but they are based on a voluminous complaint filed by Hollywood attorney Brenda Chalifour, who was present at this morning's hearing at the Senate Office Building in Tallahassee.

Ritter did not attend the hearing, though her Tallahassee lawyer, Mark Herron, was there in her stead.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/11/stacy_ritter_hit_with_28_elect.php76 comments as of 9:40 p.m.

See also:

Previous NewTimes articles on Stacy Ritter:
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/search/index/collection:all/keywords:%22Stacy+Ritter%22/limit:50/

Previous Hallandale Beach Blog posts re Ritter: http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Stacy%20Ritter

Stacy Ritter's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/stacyritter3

Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter's indignant response to my post "Rearguard action against Broward County ethics proposals"

So imagine my surprise earlier tonight at hearing from Broward County Comm. Stacy Ritter out-of-the-blue -at bottom- after mentioning in my blog yesterday what some local news reporters have said on the record about the current fight over the Broward Ethics Commission's very sensible proposals.

Frankly, to be honest, compared to other things I've posted in the past, it was nothing terribly original on my part, per se, just connecting-the-dots a bit with some added facts I'd gleaned so that folks reading my blog would have some additional context for understanding the arguments and what was happening now.
Obviously, I also had my opinion on what was happening.http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/rearguard-action-against-broward-county.html

(But unlike Comm. Kristin Jacobs a few months ago, who had an indignant aide telephone me a few times because she was upset that I'd written that in the opinion of myself and many others South Florida transportation advocates, she was a poor choice for the Broward MPO, given her lack of attendance at ANY of the high-profile public transportation meetings that I and dozens of other transportation advocates had attended over the past 4-5 years, Comm. Ritter -apparently- contacted me herself.)

The thing that makes no sense to me -and perhaps will seem non-sensical to you as well- is why does Comm. Ritter think I should've contacted her directly before I linked to a news story about what State Rep. Ari Porth specifically said to the Sun-Sentinel'sBrittany Wallman?

I'm a reasonably skeptical person about almost everything I read or hear from the news media, but without any actual proof that Porth would have a reason to lie -and why would he, since he has nothing to gain from saying something that could be easily disproved?- why would I doubt what's written in Wallman's blog post, per se, especially since Rep. Porth has been entirely consistent about wanting stricter scrutiny of elected officials in Broward?

I saw Rep. Porth in person at the Broward Legislative Delegation meeting in January on the Ethics proposal, and he and Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff were singing from the same hymn book on much-stricter ethics and accountability.

January 26, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Above, crowds milling around before the Broward Legislative Delegation meeting of January 26th, at the Broward College HQ on East Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, which met to discuss a bill creating an Inspector General to be an ethical bloodhound tracking Broward's many miscreant pols. 

That's Miami Herald reporter Amy Sherman on the far left wearing the red top and blue jeans.

Besides, it's not like I'm a fact-checker -at yes, The New Yorker- and nobody will ever read Wallman's story unless I give the okay about everything that's written.

I'm simply alerting people to what is being said about an issue of great importance, but I have no control over what was said or its truthfulness.

I wonder if Comm. Ritter is still angry about the public finding out via my email to Bob Norman of the Broward Palm Beach New Times a few months back about what she said about civic activist and Broward Coalition President Charlotte Greenbarg before the Broward Ethics Commission, one of the few meetings of theirs that I missed towards the end, where I was often the only member of the public present for the entire meeting? http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/01/monday_quick_takes.php


My own post on this was on January 23rd, Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter Unplugged on Ethics
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/broward-county-commissioner-stacy.html

Then again, I'm sure Ritter never paid much attention to that the same way that she and some of her colleagues never paid attention to a lot of things over the past few years, judging by the sad state of the county and the self-evident animus even formerly-apathetic residents have now for the county govt. and its myopic policies that far too often in retrospect appear to be shallow and self-serving in the extreme.

Above, January 26, 2010 photo of the Broward County Government Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL by South Beach Hoosier.

But then I'm so old-fashioned that way, since I don't personally believe that Broward County Commissioners should be able to get two bites of the same apple, serving on the Broward Planning Council and voting on a matter, and then voting on it AGAIN a few weeks later wearing their Commissioner hat, as Comm. Ritter did on the unpopular and controversial Diplomat LAC proposal in Hallandale Beach that Mayor Joy Cooper and the Hallandale Beach City Commission tried to cram down the throats of residents.
In that instance, the city only gave citizen taxpayers access to the Diplomat's already-filed public documents -and changes- via the city's website about 28 hours before the first vote of consequence, the city's P&Z Advisory Board. 
And the very next day, the HB City Commission voted 3-2 for the Diplomat.
A week before Christmas!
I consistently brought up the city's behavior before both the Planning Council and the County Commission to show the city's bad faith, an argument that apparently fell on deaf ears with Comm. Ritter, since I believe she voted for the development every single time.

While some civilian members of the Broward Planning Council who live some distance from HB were conscientious enough to actually visit the neighborhood to see what kind of negative
effect having four or five 25-30 story condos in what is largely now a single-family home and three-four story low-rise area would have, Comm. Ritter never bothered to see it for herself.
To be honest, based on how she's voted in the past, that's what my friends and I who worked so hard against the Diplomat plan expected -and she didn't disappoint.

I've deleted the Blogger comment email address below after Ritter's name so that I don't get any spam in the future, as I already get more than enough.
-----

For more on Broward County Comm. Stacy Ritter you may want to see previous Broward Palm Beach New Times stories and blog posts at
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/related/to/Stacy+Ritter 
or you can see her bio on her official web page on the county's website at http://www.broward.org/stacyritter/

Also be sure to read Robert Wechsler's government ethics blog at
http://www.cityethics.org/Blog-RobWechsler

This particular post of his from last week deals with the subject at hand:
The Broward County Commission Should Not Be Challenging the Constitutionality of a Lobbying Provision http://www.cityethics.org/content/broward-county-commission-should-not-be-challenging-constitutionality-lobbying-provision

Also check-out and consider Bookmarking http://www.sunshinereview.org/ and http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Florida and the Broward County page at http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Broward_County,_Florida
And finally, this Broward Beat post from Monday the 21st,
Legislators Must Take Up Ethics Reform
By Buddy Nevins

Only one thing could unite the badly-divided Broward Legislative Delegation: Disgust with the Broward County Commission.

Legislators’ revulsion at the commission is understandable.Anybody with a sense of decency is sickened by commissioners maneuvering for 10 years to avoid ethics reform.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.browardbeat.com/legislators-must-take-up-ethics-reform/

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Stacy Ritter
Date: Mon, Jun 21, 2010 at 9:46 PM
Subject: [Hallandale Beach Blog] New comment on Rearguard action against Broward County ethics pro....

Stacy Ritter has left a new comment on your post "Rearguard action against Broward County ethics pro...":
60 days ago I said I would vote for the Broward County Ethics Commission proposal. Today, nothing has changed. I have proposed a Broward County Inspector General to be voted on by the commission in August. As for Rep. Porth's assertion that I lobbied against the bill - it isn't true. I do believe that Ari was used by Republicans, some in elections of their own, to make this a partisan issue. What better way for Republicans to point fingers at Democrats than to have a Democrat, unwittingly, do it for them?

I have invited anyone who has questions about my personal or professional life to call my office (954.357.7003) and either speak over the telephone or come into the office and chat. To date, no one has taken me up on that offer. I guess it's just easier to make allegations and spew vicious lies than to actually care about the truth. I don't know who writes this blog, but you never contacted me and asked me if what Rep. Porth allege is true, which it is not. Had you bothered to call or e-mail me and printed my response, you would have known that. I take offense at being accused of things I haven't done. No doubt you would feel the same.
S
tacy Ritter

Posted by Stacy Ritter to Hallandale Beach Blog at June 21, 2010 9:46 PM

Reminder: Broward County Ethics Commission meeting is tomorrow, Wednesday, from 9-11:30 a.m.

Just a reminder that the next Broward County
Ethics Commission meeting is tomorrow,
Wednesday morning from 9:00 - 11:30 a.m.
115 South Andrews Avenue, Room 430,
Ft. Lauderdale.

Public testimony at 11 a.m.

Tomorrow's agenda at:
http://www.broward.org/ethicscommission/12092009agenda.pdf

Not mentioned below?
That Genentech was ranked the seventh-best
company in the U.S. to work for.
That's not by accident.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2009/snapshots/7.html

Number of Florida companies on that Top 100 list?
LOL!

Zero! That's also not by accident.

Top 100 Headquarters

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2009/full_list/

South Florida's longstanding culture of corruption,
entrenched cronyism and and pay-to-play city and
county governments, where lawyer lobbyists often
run the roost and keep unqualified people in office
thru their fundraising largesse, on top of all the other
well-known problems, chase companies away.

If you attend their meetings or read the Minutes
of the meetings, it's apparent that that the Broward
Ethics Commission and the county's top administrators
haven't gotten that memo yet.

Consider this email from one of the county's top
administrators, which I mentioned previously on
my blog on Nov. 25th at
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/ilene-lieberman-churlish-chronic-self.html

From: Cepero, Monica
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2009 1:13 PM
To: 'Alfreda Coward'; 'Carl Shechter'; 'Comm. Carl Shechter'; 'Felicia M. Brunson'; 'Howard Bakalar'; Jardine, Arlene; 'Julie Lakosky'; 'Kenneth Fink'; Leu, Leah; Cepero, Monica; 'Neal de Jesus'; Robert Wolfe; 'Robin Rorapaugh'; Russo, Jean; Seff, Bradley; Teitler, Robert; 'Washington Collado'; 'William Scherer'
Subject: Broward County Ethics Commission verbatim minutes

Attached are the verbatim minutes from the last Ethics Commission meeting. The summary minutes will be forthcoming next week.

Have a nice weekend,

Monica

Monica M. Cepero

Assistant to the County Administrator

115 South Andrews Avenue, Room 409

Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301

Phone: (954) 357-7354

Fax: (954) 357-7360

mcepero@broward.org

www.broward.org

Well, today, 18 days after Monica Cepero wrote
that letter, the Minutes of that last meeting, the ones
that were supposed to be made available, STILL
don't appear on the county's Ethics Committee
web page for the public to see.
http://www.broward.org/ethicscommission/schedule.htm

You know, in case facts actually matter.
---------------
Speaking of the power of lobbyists, in case you
missed it last month...

New York Times
In House, Many Spoke With One Voice: Lobbyists’

By Robert Pear

November 14, 2009

WASHINGTON — In the official record of the historic House debate on overhauling health care, the speeches of many lawmakers echo with similarities. Often, that was no accident.

Statements by more than a dozen lawmakers were ghostwritten, in whole or in part, by Washington lobbyists working for Genentech, one of the world’s largest biotechnology companies.

E-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that the lobbyists drafted one statement for Democrats and another for Republicans.

Read the rest of the story at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/us/politics/15health.html

-------------

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/elections/fl-ethics-code-prosecutor-20091126,0,1228111.story
Panel calls for ethics prosecutor in Broward

But commissioners' attorneys say task force overstepped its authority in asking Legislature to create position

By Scott Wyman, Staff Writer

November 26, 2009

A state prosecutor would be permanently assigned to the Governmental Center to root out corruption by Broward County officials under a proposal that an ethics task force is pushing.

The task force assigned to write a first-ever conduct of conduct for county commissioners has asked state legislators to require a permanent prosecutor. The request comes as state and federal prosecutors are investigating possible corruption in local government.

But attorneys for the commissioners have accused the task forcel of overstepping its authority in seeking the legislation.

The task force has until early March to complete its work. The group zeroed in on giving the power to prosecutors over creating a full-time ethics agency or relying on county lawyers.

"You can write all the rules in the world you want, but it is meaningless without enforcement," said Robin Rorapaugh, a Hollywood-based political consultant and task force member.

Voters amended the county charter last fall to create the task force after commissioners failed to follow through on an earlier charter requirement that they draw up an ethics code.

State Rep. Ari Porth, a Coral Springs Democrat who heads the county's legislative delegation, said that if asked, lawmakers would be willing to look at legislation requiring a full-time prosecutor.

The task force is suggesting the prosecutor be paid through fees that the county collects from lobbyists to register each year.

Fort Lauderdale attorney Bill Scherer, a member of the ethics panel, said he suggested a full-time prosecutor as a cheaper alternative to an ethics agency like that in Miami-Dade County.

"It seems so simple if you had a prosecutor whose sole job is work at the county offices, has subpoena power to investigate and ensure compliance with ethics laws and does not report to the commission," Scherer said.

But county attorneys say the task force acted improperly in making the request to the Legislature.

"It is quite clear in terms of the charter what the charge of the ethics commission is and that charge is to develop an ethics policy for the board of county commissioners," County Attorney Jeff Newton said. "Anything else is outside their scope."

Reader comments at:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/elections/fl-ethics-code-prosecutor-20091126,0,6098208,comment-display-all.story