Showing posts with label BSO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BSO. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

End-of-the-Summer BSO Blues continue under Broward Sheriff Scott Israel. Ethical, financial and management problems -and questions about his hiring so many high-priced political hires- hover over Sheriff Israel almost 10 months after his election, and are examined, separately, by Broward Beat's Buddy Nevins and Local10's Bob Norman; FL-101 Rep. Shevrin Jones, one of Israel's political hires, will be at Hollywood City Hall tonight at 7 p.m. to discuss crime; controversial Ben Gamla Hebrew Charter School will also be on tap tonight

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Local10 News video: BSO finance director defends work hours 
Local10 investigative reporter Bob Norman: Pembroke Pines Commissioner Angelo Castillo is one of many of Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel's hires who come from the world of politics.
Published On: Aug 26 2013 11:41:34 PM EDT, Updated On: Aug 27 2013 10:38:45 AM EDT
Related article and viewer comments at: 
http://www.local10.com/news/bso-finance-director-defends-work-hours/-/1717324/21660742/-/46em76z/-/index.html





Miami Herald Editorial Board
Reality check for Sheriff Israel  
OUR OPINION: Accomplishments overshadowed by perception of slip-shod ethics http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/26/3587435/reality-check-for-sheriff-israel.html
















One of the political hires referenced in the Bob Norman video above is state House Rep. Shevrin Jones, FL-101, who has been the subject of some degree of controversy himself. 

My blog post of August 20, 2013 details what in my opinion and the opinion of many other concerned and well-informed Hallandale Beach residents has been Jones' utter invisibility over the past 18 months -along with state Sen. Eleanor Sobel and FL-100 state Rep. Joe Gibbons- on an issue of great importance to HB citizens and business owners: the financial condition of the Hallandale Beach CRA and the need for a THOROUGH and INDEPENDENT audit of it after many, many years of waste and crony capitalism, which was labeled "gross mismanagement" by the Broward Inspector General's office.
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/complete-lack-of-concern-shown-by.html

This August 2nd post by Buddy Nevins discusses Jones' questionable ethical conduct, cozy relationship with lobbyists and his very sloppy way of comporting himself publicly: 





Jones will be at tonight's Town Hall meeting at Hollywood City Hall at 7 p.m., which most people will be attending because of the controversial Ben Gamla Hebrew Charter School application.

But Jones will be there for... well, rather than me explain it, here's what the city's official press release said last Friday:

Hollywood Commissioner Peter Hernandez to Host Town Hall Meeting with Special Guest Speaker State Representative Shevrin Jones 
Public Safety, Infrastructure Improvements and Proposed Doral Ben-Gamla Charter School on Agenda 

The District 2 Town Hall Meeting will provide residents an opportunity to get information and discuss issues relating to public safety, code compliance, utility infrastructure improvements and the proposed Doral Ben-Gamla Charter School. The meeting will be held Wednesday, August 28 at 7 p.m. at Hollywood City Hall, Commission Chambers (Room 219), 2600 Hollywood Boulevard. State Representative Jones will provide an update on his plans for a small business summit in October, crime prevention initiatives and his legislative agenda. 

Hollywood’s District 2 generally runs from Pembroke Road to Stirling Road between Dixie Highway to the east and the C-10 canal to the west, north of Sheridan Street, from N. Federal Highway on the east to 24th Avenue on the west, between Hollywood Boulevard and Sheridan Street and from S. Federal Highway to the east to I-95 to the west, south of Hollywood Boulevard. Neighborhoods in District 2 include Liberia, Highland Gardens, Parkside, Royal Poinciana and many others. 

For more information on this meeting, please contact the Office of the Mayor and Commission at 954.921.3321
 


In light of all the above information, it's hard not to think from the outside that at least part of what might be involved with Jones tonight is an attempt to engage in some public relations machinations, even though Hollywood has its own Police Dept., since everyone in Broward County pays for the Broward Sheriff's Office, and there will be few people in attendance tonight who will not have heard about all or most of the above by the time they walk thru the City Commission Chambers on the second floor.

I'll be there -carefully observing and chronicling the action to report back here soon.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Broward County Ethics in Action! Sometimes the gravy train of cronyism leads you and your family to a yacht vacation to The Bahamas; Local10 investigative reporter Bob Norman asks Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel to answer questions about his family's yacht vacation after the Sheriff claimed paying $1,500 settled the matter. But websites say the value of that yacht trip is MUCH MORE!; @CityEthics

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Local10 News video: Broward Sheriff Scott Israel won't talk about yacht vacation
Sheriff didn't disclose vacation, claims $1,500 footed bill
Bob Norman, Reporter, bnorman@Local10.com
Published On: Jul 23 2013 05:35:26 PM EDT   
Updated On: Jul 23 2013 11:00:00 PM EDT
http://www.local10.com/news/broward-sheriff-scott-israel-wont-talk-about-yacht-vacation/-/1717324/21129710/-/im030b/-/index.html

I love a good story as well as the next person, more than most, actually, but that said, there's no way that five days on a top-of-the-line yacht for Scott Israel, his wife and three kids to The Bahamas cost Broward's Sheriff less than twice the cost for me -alone- staying at a very nice B&B -with absolutely delicious breakfast but without elevators to my 3rd-floor room- for four days in the Södermalm neighborhood of expensive Stockholm.
In January, the coldest month of the year, and, yes, definitely off-season!
Just saying...

A well-informed friend writes me that after watching this video and thinking about the high level of endemic corruption and longstanding culture of wink-wink back-scratching attitudes among elected officials and their bankrolling friends here in Broward already, the most-corrupt county in the country's fourth-largest state, their sad prediction is that Sheriff Israel will be making a lot of headlines in the coming years for all the wrong reasons.
I tend to agree, absent something big happening in the next year that causes his judgement to fundamentally get better.

I sent an email with most of this info to lots of people throughout the state to get their take on it, as well as to blogger Robert Wechsler of cityethics.org up in Connecticut, hoping that he will consider giving this matter that at first blush fails the smell test, his usual careful ethical scrutiny and give it the column inches it deserves, which he has given other Florida ethical situations, including a few I first alerted him to.

Check out his blog on the website at: http://www.cityethics.org/Blog-RobWechsler

Robert's blog posts re Broward County: http://www.cityethics.org/search/node/Broward

The City Ethics Twitter feed of @CityEthics is at https://twitter.com/CityEthics

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Giving credit where credit is due is fine, but receiving a Pulitzer Prize because you earned it the old-fashioned way is even better: Well-earned Pulitzer Prize to Sun-Sentinel for devastating series by Sally Kestin & John Maines on South Florida's army of out-of-control off-duty cops driving at high speeds; @SallyKestin

Giving credit where credit is due is fine, but receiving a Pulitzer Prize because you earned it the old-fashioned way is even better: Well-earned Pulitzer Prize to Sun-Sentinel for devastating series by Sally Kestin & John Maines on South Florida's army of out-of-control off-duty cops driving at high speeds; @SallyKestin

Excerpt from New York Times article of April 15, 2013: 2013 Journalism Pulitzer Winners
The Pulitzer Prizes were announced on Monday. The list of winners in the journalism categories follows.
PUBLIC SERVICE
THE SUN SENTINEL, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The Sun Sentinel won its first Pulitzer Prize for a three-part series by Sally Kestin, 48, an investigative reporter, and John Maines, 57, a database editor, that examined the driving speeds of off-duty police officers in South Florida. Using data from highway tolls and GPS technology, the reporters found 800 police officers from a dozen different agencies driving at average speeds of 90 to more than 120 miles per hour.
As a result of the series, there was an 84 percent drop in the number of officers driving more than 90 miles per hour and many of the officers faced disciplinary action.
“I think we really ended up saving lives,” Ms. Kestin said.

And these were just the ones they wrote about!
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/speeding-cops/

If only we saw more enterprising reporting like this in South Florida, he said to himself...
http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2013-Public-Service

In late 2010, South Florida Sun-Sentinel reporter Sally B. Kestin wrote the following article as part of a series on questionable government spending, and within an hour of seeing it, I'd sent an email out with a link to it to friends around the state and the country because it was so accurate and fair. 
It was the first piece of hers that brought her to my attention.

(Yes, she's Northwestern Class of 1987, so she was in Evanston at the same time I was living there on the North Shore, when the first McDonald's there, next to the Hotel Orrington, was eat-in only, no take-out.)

It includes spot-on quotes from my friend, longtime Broward County civic activist and truth-teller  Charlotte Greenbarg, regarding South Florida cities continued refusal to bite-the-bullet on runaway Police Union contracts and stop giving away tax dollars in a tough economy thru a program that is more anecdotal than practical or economical.

Given how small the City of Hallandale Beach is, just 4.2 square miles, this problem of take-home cars is a real problem here, where few police officers actually live.
Which means we are spending more than most Broward cities as a percentage. 

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-11-13/news/fl-sheriff-take-home-car-20101111_1_patrol-cars-cars-home-pbso
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
South Florida deputies get take-home cars — and we pay
by Sally Kestin Sun-Sentinel
November 13, 2010

Sheriff's deputies in South Florida enjoy a perk almost unheard of in most jobs: take-home cars and in some cases unlimited free gas.

Employees of the Broward and Palm Beach County sheriff's offices are permitted not only to drive their department-issued vehicles for personal use but also to and from work, even if they live outside the county. Some log 100 miles or more each day on their commutes.

The rationale for take-home cars is that deputies are always on call, and having marked patrol cars on the roads helps deter crime. But even some managers and non-sworn officers get cars for commuting, and critics say the benefit is a luxury taxpayers can't afford, particularly in tough economic times.

The sheriff's vehicle policies in Broward and Palm Beach counties are more generous than those of other large police agencies in the state, which require employees to live within a certain distance to get a take-home car.

PBSO has 1,538 employees who drive cars home. More than 225 of them live outside the county.

About 2,900 BSO employees get cars, but the sheriff's agency said it cannot determine how many are non-Broward residents.

Charlotte Greenbarg, president of the watchdog group Broward Coalition, said deputies should only be allowed to take cars home if they also live in the county they serve. "We've got terribly tough times, the money's very tight, the budgets are shrinking as our incomes are,'' she said.

The car perk is part of the contracts negotiated by unions representing sheriff's employees. At BSO, union members who are not assigned vehicles instead get a pay supplement of $453 a month, or $5,441 a year.

The sheriff's offices pay for maintenance of the take-home cars, and gas is subsidized by taxpayers.

BSO employees living in Broward pay nothing for the use of their sheriff's vehicle and gas up for free at county pumps. Last year, the sheriff's office began requiring employees who live in Palm Beach or Miami-Dade counties to pay $40 to $55 every two weeks, depending on the distance of their commutes.

"I realize that's a burden on the taxpayers,'' said Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti. "We are now asking them to pay for their gas for commuting so at least they're paying something if they live outside of Broward County.''

PBSO employees pay a fuel charge of $25 every two weeks if they live in the county and $30 for out-of-county residents.

They're allowed to drive the cars not just while on duty but also for personal errands. PBSO employees can use their cars on their days off and while on leave, as long as they remain in Palm Beach County.

BSO's policy says deputies are "encouraged to use their vehicles off duty'' while in Broward.

Taking cars home is a benefit to the public, sheriff's officials said.

"Deputies, even if they're going to and from work, they're still on duty,'' said BSO spokesman Mike Jachles. "It's a deterrent. You don't know how many crimes might have been prevented because that deputy is driving through a neighborhood or a car is in his driveway.''

Off-duty deputies have rescued people trapped underwater in cars, rendered aid at accidents and intervened in crimes, he said.

Deputies can also respond quicker in an emergency, Lamberti said.

"The positive side of it, it provides us the ability to respond when everybody has their own car whether it be a hurricane, Super Bowl, Orange Bowl,'' the sheriff said. "They don't have to go somewhere, get in their vehicle and then respond.''

Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said allowing deputies to take cars home actually saves about $9 million a year in "prep time'' costs the sheriff's office would otherwise have to pay. A federal court ruling said sheriff's deputies were entitled to time and a half pay for getting ready for work, including driving to get their patrol cars and loading their equipment, he said.

"The reality is, in economic times, it's a perception thing. It's like, 'Geez, I don't even have a job, how come they get take-home cars?' '' Bradshaw said. "Come strap on a gun, get involved in what these deputies do, risk your life every night, I'll give you a take-home car. I don't consider it a perk in any way.''

BSO spends about $19 million a year on fuel, maintenance and vehicle replacement, while the budget at PBSO is $14 million. The sheriff's offices can't say how much of those costs are related to taking cars home.

A 2007 audit by the city of West Palm Beach found that more than half the miles logged on its take-home vehicles were for personal commuting by the employees, including one who lived more than 80 miles away. The city restricted take-home cars to police officers living in or near West Palm Beach. About 80 employees lost vehicle privileges, saving the city $700,000 a year.

The savings would be higher at the sheriff's offices, which are much larger.

Many police and sheriff's departments in Florida allow employees to take cars home, but some large agencies are more restrictive.

Employees at the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, for instance, cannot use cars for commuting if they live more than 10 miles outside the county, and the cutoff at the Orange County Sheriff's Office is 20 miles.

In Hillsborough, employees living in other counties pay 50 cents a mile for the distance between the county line and their homes.

The Florida Highway Patrol gives troopers take-home cars, but they must live within 30 miles of the city where they're assigned. They can drive the cars to and from college if they're enrolled or a gym to stay fit, but other personal uses are not allowed.

BSO used to require employees to live in Broward to take cars home until the mid 1990s, Lamberti said. The sheriff's office recently renegotiated the union contract for road deputies but kept the car perk and other benefits.

Deputies at BSO and PBSO make $45,000 to over $100,000 a year, and some take in thousands more in overtime. They get a minimum of seven weeks in vacation, holidays and sick time – more for employees with longer service.

Like many other public agencies, sheriff's offices have been hard hit by plunging tax revenues. BSO recently cut $23 million from its budget, and Lamberti issued an ultimatum to 254 jail deputies – take a pay reduction and a demotion or be fired.

Sgt. Anthony Marciano, head of the union representing Broward jailers, said his members don't get cars to take home.

"I'm glad [road deputies] have that perk,'' he said. "But when you have budget cuts and you're cutting my union members' salaries. . . I don't think it's fair.''

WHAT: Take-home cars for deputies and other sheriff's personnel

COST TO US: Total vehicle budget is $19 million in Broward and $14 million in Palm Beach County; take-home cars represent an undetermined portion of that

-----
@SallyKestin  https://twitter.com/SallyKestin

http://topsy.com/twitter/sallykestin

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Hallandale Beach, failed Diplomat LAC proposal and Gunzburger v. Geller is subtext of Buddy Nevins post: BSO’s Latest Trip To Fantasyland


Disneyland Opening Day - Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rHjoimz5XI

Speaking of Fantasyland, a not-so-funny thing happened to the well-heeled legal and lobbying forces of development behind the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa's efforts to roll over the people of Hallandale Beach and Hollywood and make their Quality-of-Life go straight downhill.

As I extensively chronicled here earlier in the year to a fare-thee-well, a grass-roots coalition of concerned citizens in the community -including yours truly- organized themselves and beat back the Diplomat's efforts, despite being heavily out-financed and out-lawyered and the South Florida nes media largely ignoring the story.

Well, to be completely factual, we had no money and had no lawyer.
But everyone knows that the
Diplomat management and their owners STILL want another bite of the apple in the future.


Today,
Buddy Nevins gives us a peek at what was going on behind the scenes earlier this year and how the Broward Sheriffs Office was used in the election battle between Broward County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger and Steve Geller.

She voted "No" to development in the spring and she won the election in November.
But now we're learning how some of the dots were connected on the developer's side.

-----

Broward Beat
BSO’s Latest Trip To Fantasyland

By Buddy Nevins


It is the season of fantasy.


There is the story of Santa Claus. There is the Sugar Plum Fairy.


Then there is today’s astounding flight of fancy on Sun-Sentinel.com that the Broward Sheriff’s Office actually investigated an allegation of extortion over a union endorsement last year.


The story is more proof that Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti has no business investigating the county commission.

Don’t get me wrong. The story is great.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.browardbeat.com/bsos-latest-trip-to-fantasyland/



Disneyland Opening Day - Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf2TMwtCUr4&feature=related


Disneyland Opening Day - Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0S_r4m9Zhw

Monday, August 31, 2009

Tuesday's S.E. Broward Republican Club meeting: 9/12 Tea Parties and 2010 BSO Budget

Southeast Broward Republican Club

Dear Members and Friends,

Our next meeting is
Tuesday,
September 1st, 2009

Check In: 6:30 P.M.
-Meeting Begins: 7 P.M.
Hollywood Beach Culture & Community Center
1301 South Ocean Drive/ A1A
Hollywood, FL 33019

Topic of Discussion: The 9/12 Tea Parties
and the Broward County Sheriff's Office
2010 Budget

Please feel free to pass on our invitation to your
friends and family, all are welcome.


Take I-95 to Hollywood Blvd., drive East towards
the beach.
Drive over Hollywood Blvd. Intracoastal Bridge.
turn right/South.
The Hollywood Beach Culture and Community
Center
will be on your left-hand side at
intersection of Azalea Terrace.


Metered parking lot.
Refreshments served.

Tickets will be on sale for the "Heroes In Action"
-
Hollywood Police Athletic League-Boxing event.

If you have any questions, please feel
free to call me anytime.


Until then...Stay active, connected and informed!


Ed Napolitano, President
(954) 296-0041


----------
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1191012.html

Miami Herald

Details of Broward Sheriff's Office budget cuts expected

August 18, 2009

The budget battle between Broward County commissioners and Sheriff Al Lamberti could be near a resolution by Tuesday's end.

The Broward Sheriff's Office is scheduled to go before commissioners Tuesday with details of how it will trim $21 million from its spending plan. Most of the savings would come from cutting in-custody treatment programs, an unspecified number of layoffs and closing the Stockade, the minimum security jail.

About $3 million of the total would be made up in more money from fees.

Lamberti would reopen the Stockade in short bursts should the inmate population get too high. Broward is under a federal court order to stay beneath a jail population cap or face a fine.

If approved, the budget agreement would end months of wrangling between commissioners and BSO.

With property values down, county commissioners began this year's budget process with an approximate $100 million shortfall. They wanted Lamberti to shoulder about half of the burden and cut $46 million from his agency, the largest of its kind in Broward.

His proposal meets about half of the county's goal. Whether this is enough to please county leaders will be hashed out at Tuesday's workshop.

If Lamberti and commissioners don't reach a compromise before the start of the fiscal year Oct. 1, the sheriff could appeal his budget to the Florida Cabinet, a potentially lengthy process.

A presentation about BSO's spending plan is scheduled to go before county commissioners at 10 a.m. in room 430 of the Broward County Government Center, 115 S. Andrews Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. It will be the first in a full day of presentations from various county services.

--------------
Two columnists write on the no-win situation for
BSO with Maury Hernandez


sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/sfl-bso-maury-mayocol-b083109,0,514119.column

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

In real world, miracle deputy doesn't get dream ending

Michael Mayo

News Columnist

August 31, 2009


If the miraculous recovery of Broward Sheriff's Deputy Maury Hernandez were a movie, the ending would have Hernandez putting on his badge and holster and returning to his job as a street detective.

But this is real life, which means things aren't so tidy. Two years after taking a bullet to the head during a traffic stop, Hernandez walked into a recent meeting at the Sheriff's Office in uniform, and the reaction was discomfort.

Hernandez, 30, now confronts a tangle of insurance and pension issues. Instead of life-affirming triumph, there's soul-deadening bureaucracy. He has a lawyer. There's tension in the air.

"I'm not asking for a charity position," Hernandez wrote by e-mail Monday. "If the sheriff didn't really mean it when he said there would be something waiting for me then I just want him to tell me so. I will not have hard feelings."

Said Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti: "Emotions have overtaken everything."

On this there's agreement: Hernandez isn't fit to perform his old job. His mobility is compromised, his left arm partly paralyzed. Basically, a return to a weapon-carrying law-enforcement job doesn't appear possible.

During his rehabilitation, Hernandez got full pay through the county's worker's compensation system. But that's about to lapse. Lamberti said Hernandez has two options:

He can retire with a permanent disability pension from the state, which would pay him 65 percent of his salary for life, tax-free. The payments would start at $32,229 a year and rise with inflation. He'd also get lifelong health insurance.

He can take a civilian job with the Sheriff's Office, something like an investigative aide. But that would mean he'd be disqualified from getting disability benefits related to the shooting in the future.

"It's Maury's decision, but we just want to make sure he fully understands the ramifications," said Lamberti, who didn't attend the Aug. 5 meeting.

"So far, all that has been offered is disability retirement, which is not a job," Hernandez wrote Monday. I wanted to talk face-to-face, but his attorney wouldn't allow it.

"I loved working at the BSO, and my heart is there," Hernandez wrote. "It's a shame the way things are right now, but there is too much positive history and too many great friends there for me to say that my feelings have soured."

Lamberti said he wouldn't want Hernandez to return to the Sheriff's Office, get injured because of his condition and not be entitled to benefits. The sheriff said the meeting was meant to be a starting point, not an ultimatum.

"We want what's best for Maury," Lamberti said.

Lance Block, Hernandez's attorney, called the Aug. 5 session "a sales meeting to get him to take the disability option."

If Hernandez took the disability pension, Lamberti said he could remain involved with the Sheriff's Office as a motivational speaker or crisis-team volunteer. "Look, the guy is a true inspiration," Lamberti said.

Lamberti knows that Hernandez makes for the ultimate sympathetic figure, and this is a public-relations fight he can't win.

But it's not as if Hernandez is the first to get wounded or disabled on the job. If Lamberti makes an exception to let Hernandez keep his position, then lawsuits from other disabled deputies could follow.

Hernandez's shooter, David Maldonado, is now serving a life sentence.

A shame that Hernandez, as the victim, might also have to serve a life sentence, losing the job he loves.

"I don't know what my next step will be," Hernandez wrote.

Not exactly a Hollywood ending. But it could have been a whole lot worse.

----------------
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/columnists/daniel-shoer-roth/story/1199594.html

Miami Herald
August 24, 2009

BSO denies deputy his dream to serve again


E
ver since Maury Hernández emerged from a coma a year and 10 months ago he has received countless demonstrations of the community's affection and been highly decorated. He even got to throw the first pitch at a baseball game between the Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays.

Through it all, Hernández, the deputy shot in the head while on duty two years ago, has yearned for only one thing: to return to the Broward Sheriff's Office.

He was ecstatic when he was scheduled to meet with BSO on Aug. 5. The night before, he filled four notebook pages with new handwritten ideas. And in the morning, he suited up in his old uniform, which now includes a green honor medal usually presented posthumously to fallen officers. He came that close.

He was devastated after the meeting. He says BSO officials told him he would go on permanent disability retirement. "It's the worst betrayal of my life,'' said Hernández, 30, who suffers from motor-function problems on the left side of his body. "Everybody knew I wanted to go back to work.''

Jim Leljedal, a BSO spokesman, said no final decision has been made on Hernández's case. "We discussed his future, his options and his eligibility for a disability pension,'' Leljedal said. "Everyone here admires and loves Maury, and we want the best for him.''

BSO seems to think retirement would be best. Hernández says that was the only offer on the table.

"If they really want the best for me, they should have asked me, knowing that going back to work is what my heart wants,'' said the Cuban-American officer who lives in Hialeah with his parents. Hernández almost died protecting this community, and BSO, for all its proclamations of love and admiration for him, responds by shattering his dream of returning to the work he loves. Shameful.

It's deviously hypocritical coming after Hernández became Al Lamberti's poster child during his campaign for sheriff and never missed a photo-op next to the hero.

This injustice could stir Broward County's Hispanic community, which claims it is not adequately represented in Broward's police departments, said José "Pepe'' López, a member of BSO's new diversity committee.

"This is not well seen in the Hispanic community, especially among Cubans who went all out to support the sheriff with donations and votes,'' López said.

Doctors gave Hernández no hope of survival in August 2007, when David Maldonado, a motorcyclist he confronted for speeding past several red lights on Pembroke Road, shot him twice. Last year Maldonado was sentenced to life in prison.

The officer survived miraculously and gradually recovered, winning the hearts of South Floridians.

On Thursday, Hernández accompanied his father, Mauricio, to Dadeland Mall to buy a handbag for his mother, Rosa, for the couple's 32nd wedding anniversary Saturday. When they went to gift-wrap the present, Hernández said the clerk told him, "You are that cop! You have no idea how much we've prayed for you.''

Two years ago the Hernándezes spent their 30th anniversary at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, surrounded by their son's colleagues and superiors, who brought them a cake.

"In these two years, the BSO kept a very close relationship with us, almost like family,'' Mauricio said. "We don't understand why the case is now so tactlessly handled.''

The answer may be in the budget. If Hernández is given a disability retirement, his pension, which would equal his salary, would be paid from sources other than BSO's budget. Except this is not about money, but about honor.

"At police departments there are enough positions assigned to officers wounded while on duty,'' said Alejandro Recio, a retired detective from the Hollywood Police Department. ``If Maury wishes to go back to work, he deserves that right.''

Hernández is not thinking of conceding defeat. He has hired an attorney.

These last few years, life has taught him to challenge all predictions. First he was told he would never walk again. But he walked. Then he was told he would walk only with a cane. He now walks without one, and strolls around a neighborhood lake.

"This is why I believe I can still make a difference in the police department,'' Hernández said. "There is nothing like getting up in the morning and doing the work you love.''

Reader comments at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/columnists/daniel-shoer-roth/story/1199594.html?commentSort=TimeStampAscending&pageNum=1

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Rising pension costs increase odds of BSO replacing Hollywood Police; South Florida's "excessively generous" benefits kill taxpayers

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-042409-hollywood-outsourcing,0,7689927.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Hollywood considering BSO for police, fire

By Ihosvani Rodriguez

April 24, 2009


HOLLYWOOD

Those blue police uniforms and black-and-white cruisers soon could change colors because of the bad economy.

Facing a $17.9 million deficit in next year's budget, city officials may hire the Broward Sheriff's Office to take over the police and fire services.

City Manager Cameron Benson sent a letter this week to Sheriff Al Lamberti, essentially asking him to make a proposal. The city has hired a consulting group to analyze what type of savings outsourcing would bring.

"The City of Hollywood has authorized [consultants] to begin the groundwork to determine what, if any, arrangements would make sense for both the city and BSO," Benson wrote.

"The public is not going to stand for this," police union representative Jeff Marano said. "If you look at other cities that have done this, there's a savings at first, but in the long run the cities fall hostage to the sheriff over what you can and can't do.''

A private company took over the city's sanitation department in January.

Reader comments at: http://www.topix.net/forum/source/south-florida-sun-sentinel/TANULA3N7LD0FT4VE

-----------------------------
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-hollywood-union-bn042909,0,3427722.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Memorial for Hollywood officer draws union fire

Police union says those who attend support outsourcing their department

By Ihosvani Rodriguez

April 29, 2009


HOLLYWOOD

Hollywood A memorial service for Hollywood Police Officer Alex Del Rio, killed last year in a fiery wreck, is scheduled for Friday, but the police union isn't welcoming everyone.

Union leaders are upset the city is studying the possibility of outsourcing the police department to the Broward Sheriff's Office as a cost-cutting measure. The city recently hired a consultant to analyze what type of savings outsourcing the police and other city departments would yield.

Del Rio, 31, died Nov. 22 after his cruiser hit a tree on Sheridan Street and erupted into flames.

In a letter sent to the mayor and commissioners on Monday, the union asked that anyone supporting the initiative not attend the fallen officer's ceremony, scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday in front of the police station.

"You will be perceived as just another hypocritical politician hiding behind another consultant," wrote police union leader Jeff Marano.

Marano said the proposal has dampened department morale. The thought of "being split up and sent to one of the four corners of Broward County has infuriated the rank and file," he said.

Union leaders got mad last week when they learned City Manager Cameron Benson sent a letter about the outsourcing proposal to Sheriff Al Lamberti. Benson said the city is facing a $17.9 million deficit in next year's budget.

Most commissioners contacted this week expressed disappointment at the union's letter. They emphasized there is a general consensus to look into outsourcing all city departments, not just police.

"The [union] leadership had an opportunity to say, 'You are all invited and we want you to attend [the memorial] to show your solidarity," said Commissioner Richard Blattner.

Commissioner Beam Furr, a previous union target for his vocal stance against high pension funds, said he will also attend. "I pay my final respects to whoever I want, when I want and where I want," said Furr.

In an attempt to restore morale and calm fears, Police Chief Chad Wagner this week e-mailed all his officers his thoughts on the outsourcing talks.

"It's no secret that the city is facing difficult financial times," he wrote in the e-mail, a copy of which was obtained by the Sun Sentinel. "I feel confident that we, as a city, will be able to resolve our budget issues without dissolving an entire police department."

Meanwhile, Hollywood police are not the only ones upset with their city leaders. This week, members of the Hallandale Police Department's union voted down the city's latest contract offer by a vote of 56-7.

Marano, who also represents Hallandale, said the turndown was part of a protest over the city's hiring practices. The union takes issue with rehiring high-ranking brass who have retired and continue drawing a pension, like Police Chief Thomas Magill.

"This double-dipping is creating animosity among the ranks because it hampers officers' ability to advance their careers," said Marano.

Related links

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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-accrued-time-p050309pnmay03,0,6588290.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Cashing out: Unused sick time and vacations turning costly in South Florida

Palm Beach County and some of its municipalities let workers roll over unused sick time and vacations from year to year. But now that times are tough and many are facing layoffs, payday is coming so

By Patty Pensa and Andy Reid

May 3, 2009


A high-level county employee built up almost $130,000 in unused sick and vacation time during his 30-year government career, logging the highest county payout in the past five years.


The former police chief in Delray Beach retired last year with $109,000 in accrued time from city taxpayers.

In Boca Raton and Boynton Beach, top fire-rescue officials each left their posts recently with more than $50,000 from saved-up vacation and sick days.

Taxpayers in Palm Beach County and the three south county cities are responsible for almost $80 million of rolled over vacation and sick time for about 10,000 employees, records show. It's improbable the money would be requested en masse, but the policies could mean pricey payouts as budget cuts trigger more government layoffs.

"It can be quite a hit if it is somebody who has been around for a long time," said Janis Brunell, county human resources director.

Converting sick days into cash has been scaled back since the "massive payouts" to top county managers in the mid-1990s, Brunell said. County officials changed the rules in 1994 but still pay employees a percentage of their unused sick time. More than 7,000 county employees have racked up about $50 million of sick and vacation time, records show.

Policies in Palm Beach County mirror those in most municipalities, which pay employees for unused sick and vacation time at varying rates based on years of service and union contracts.

Broward County and most of its municipalities owed roughly 19,000 of their staffers more than $191 million for unused sick and vacation days as of Sept. 30, 2008, the latest records available. The bill for some of them may come due much sooner than anticipated if the economic crisis forces local governments to lay off workers.

An eye-popping payout came in Sunrise last year when City Manager Patrick Salerno resigned after 18 years with about $467,000 in accrued time, records show. Salerno could not be reached to comment despite messages left at his home.

One payment in Palm Beach County reached as high as about $130,000, records show. Earl Mixon, the former executive director of Palm Beach County's Housing Finance Authority, retired in 2008 with more than $122,000 in sick time and $7,000 in vacation time. He died the same year.

With cuts expected again as cities and counties crunch their 2009-10 budgets, some warn governments may have to go the way of the private sector, which generally imposes a use-it-or-lose-it policy.

If governments continue to allow employees to accrue unused time, "more taxes will be passed on to pay for the deficits," said Kim Stattner, an expert on absence management for Hewitt Associates, an Illinois-based human resources consulting service.

Dominic Calabro, president of Florida TaxWatch, a nonpartisan government watchdog group in Tallahassee, called the benefits "excessively generous."

"We are paying them millions of dollars when we can't provide teachers with more competitive wages or provide care for low-income citizens. It is so out of touch with the way taxpayers have to live," he said.

Government officials defend the payouts as tied to union contracts that cannot be nullified. The policies may be remnants of a time when government pay wasn't on par with the private sector, but officials say they still must offer competitive benefits to recruit.

What's more, officials say the payouts are an ever-changing liability, not a line item in the budget that can be neatly cut. In Boca Raton, payouts come from the city's general fund reserves so there is little impact on the money it takes to run the city, said Mike Woika, assistant city manager.

"From a cash-flow standpoint, it's not really an issue," Woika said. "Though it's a high amount, we're able within the personnel budget to make those payments. It's certainly something that can be handled by our funds."

Boca Raton taxpayers owe almost 1,200 employees $12.3 million in accrued time. That's almost the amount budgeted to run the city's financial and development services departments and the city manager's office combined. Changing sick and vacation time policies likely won't come up during upcoming budget meetings but officials may reconsider the perk during union contract negotiations.

Palm Beach County has no similar plans.

"It's not as big a factor as it used to be," said County Administrator Bob Weisman.

Staff Writers Jennifer Gollan, Susannah Bryan, Maria Herrera and Erika Pesantes contributed to this report.

Find out
Who gets the largest payouts? What does your city owe? Go to sunsentinel.com/payouts
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-accrued-time-b050309pnmay03,0,4500257.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Sun Sentinel Exclusive

Cashing out: Unused sick time and vacations turning costly in South Florida

Broward County and most of its municipalities let workers roll over unused sick time and vacations from year to year. But now that times are tough and many are facing layoffs, payday is coming soone

A former military man with a strong work ethic, C. William Hargett Jr. seldom took a sick or vacation day in more than 12 years as Pompano Beach city manager. When he retired in 2007, the city had to pay him $144,611.85 for 1,540 hours in unused time.

Hargett defended the city's accrued time policy as a way to encourage good attendance and attract top talent.

Although Pompano Beach now faces a $4 million revenue shortfall, "when we did this deal, it was not 2009 and an economic recession," he said. "That was what we agreed to."

Broward County and most of its municipalities owed roughly 19,000 of their staffers more than $191 million for unused sick and vacation days as of Sept. 30, 2008, the latest records available, a Sun Sentinel investigation has found. The bill for some of them may come due much sooner than anticipated if the economic crisis forces local governments to lay off workers.

"If we have to lay people off, they will all cash out their leaves and you will have more payouts," said John Pryor, Broward County's accounting division director. That will further strain budgets at a time when governments can ill afford it, local officials say.


These payouts are a ballooning expense for taxpayers because the sums build from year to year, with some local governments paying their workers in today's dollars for vacation time they actually accrued when they earned less.

The sums can be hefty. For example, former Sunrise City Manager Patrick Salerno last year received $466,708 for his unused time when he resigned after nearly 18 years on the job. It was the largest payout in the county in the past five years. Salerno could not be reached to comment, despite three messages left at his home.

Southwest Ranches and Lazy Lake are the only two local governments that do not allow workers to roll over any time from year to year, primarily to save money. Hillsboro Beach allows workers to carry over sick time, but not vacation days.

By contrast, the private sector generally imposes a use-it-or-lose-it policy and some warn that cities need to follow suit.

If governments continue to allow employees to accrue unused time, "more taxes will be passed on to pay for the deficits," said Kim Stattner, an expert on absence management for Hewitt Associates, an Illiniois-based human resources consulting service.

Dominic Calabro, president of Florida TaxWatch, a nonpartisan government watchdog group based in Tallahassee, called the benefits "excessively generous."

"We are paying them millions of dollars when we can't provide teachers with more competitive wages or provide care for low-income citizens. It is so out of touch with the way taxpayers have to live," he said.

Some cities are starting to rethink the benefits for new hires.

"To keep [costs] from spiraling in the future, we need to talk with the unions," said Phil Rosenberg, director of human resources in Miramar, which owes about 830 workers nearly $13 million in accrued pay.

Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Pembroke Pines said they may also consider it.

"Everything is up for discussion because we are looking at potential revenue shortfalls," said Matt Little, a spokesman for Fort Lauderdale, which owed more than 2,300 workers about $16 million. That is nearly equivalent to this year's budget for the city's parks division, which totals $17.2 million.

Local governments vary as to how many hours they allow workers to accumulate. Payouts are based on a formula that takes into account years of service, pay and various union contracts.

Broward County allows most of its employees to roll over up to 280 vacation hours from year to year and cash out at full pay. There is no limit on sick time — which is paid out at half the rate of an employees' most recent salary when they leave.

Yet the Broward County Property Appraiser's office has a more stringent policy, which allows employees to carry over about 113 hours of vacation from year to year. The maximum they may cash out when they leave is 225 hours. There is no limit on the amount of sick time they can accrue and cash out, but for the employees who qualify, it is generally paid out at 25 percent of their current rate of pay.

"Vacation. You're supposed to use it. You're not supposed to hoard it for a second retirement," said Broward County Property Appraiser Lori Parrish, who tightened accrual policies when she took up her post in 2005. "For sick days, everybody catches an occasional cold. But it's not the government's job to fund benefits that exceed the public's. I also don't want to book that kind of debt in tight budget times."

Jeff Marano, senior vice president of the Broward County Police Benevolent Association, defends the benefits as just reward for public servants.

"If an officer called in sick, and someone was called in to replace him, the city would be paying time and a half," he said. "It is the industry standard [in the public sector] that people are allowed to accrue vacation time. The private sector probably has a much better package and they are not shot at."

But compensation analysts disagree over whether civil servants earn less than their counterparts in the private sector, especially when retirement benefits are considered. While few private companies still offer traditional pensions, they are widely used in the public sector. Under these plans, retirees receive monthly payments, instead of payouts subject to market fluctuations.

Even some city leaders acknowledge the benefits are a legacy from a different era.

"Previously, government employees' salaries were less, now they are more competitive," said Pembroke Pines City Manager Charles Dodge. "They were benefits that the bargaining units negotiated years ago. In the last three or four years, we haven't been recruiting employees, in fact we have been downsizing. We have never had a problem retaining employees."

Susannah Bryan contributed to this report.

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For more on the police pension angle, see Michael Mayo's blog post of May 28, 2008 titled Police pensions strike a nerve
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Per the comment made at the end of the first article, according to
a very reliable source that that Hallandale Beach Fire Chief Daniel
Sullivan also "retired" and was instantly "rehired" a few months ago.
Don't recall seeing that in the local newspapers.

That's the same process employed by HB Police Chief Thomas Magill,
as alluded to in the second article.
Most of you who come to this blog regularly already know that I think
he ought to be in prison because of his unethical behavior, wherein he
tried to frame not one but two innocent people, using city resources
and funds to accomplish this, in an apparent attempt to ingratiate
himself with City Manager Mike Good.

And isn't that the same exact process that HB City Manager Mike
Good went thru in December during a HB City Commission meeting
where the issue was never properly noticed to the public, didn't
appear on the printed agenda and where the vote took place away
from the city's own cable channel TV cameras?
Yes.

H-m-m-m... do you see a pattern?

But wouldn't the city have been legally required to publicly
advertise for those jobs if these individuals had, in fact, legally
retired?
Also a big yes.

It's yet another in a very long line of cases where HB City
Attorney David Jove has winked at the law rather than actually
performing the job that taxpayers pay his salary for:
making sure the city is following the letter and spirit
of the law.

But though you may think he works for you and other Hallandale
Beach citizens and taxpayers, the truth is, in his mind, he works
for Mike Good, and as long as that's the case, he's going to
continue to be oblivious to all the self-evident ethical mis-behavior
taking place around here.