Wednesday, July 6, 2011
False alarm: At HB City Hall, Debby Eisinger nixes any mention of Broward League of Cities' jihad against strict ethics laws for cities, instead...
Possible efforts to weaken ethics rules for Broward municipalities and Wednesday morning's Hallandale Beach City Comm. meeting at 10 a.m.
REGULAR AGENDA (Supporting Docs)
CITY COMMISSION, CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH
WEDNESDAY, JULY 06, 2011 10:00 AM
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL
3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION (to be heard at 10:15 A.M.)
5. PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS
A. Presentation by Broward League of Cities President and Cooper City Mayor Debby Eisinger
TO BE HEARD AT 10:10 A.M.
B. Annual Presentation by the Marine Advisory Board (Presented by Sal Broccone, Vice-Chair) (See Backup) (Supporting Docs)
C. Annual Presentation by the Historic Preservation Board (Presented by William "Bill" Julian, Chair) (See Backup) (Supporting Docs)
D. Annual Presentation by the Planning and Zoning Board (Presented by Arnold Cooper, Chair) (See Backup) (Supporting Docs)
E. Annual Presentation by the Human Services Advisory Board (Presented by Lisa Colmenares, Vice Chair) (See Backup) (Supporting Docs)
F. Presentation Regarding Activities at the Villages at Gulfstream Park (Suzanne Friedman)
G. Recognition of Finalists in the Employee Division for the Inaugural 5K Police Athletic League (PAL) Run (Supporting Docs)
H. Recognition of Promotion of Division Chief Alex Baird to the Rank of Deputy Fire Chief (Supporting Docs)
I. Presentation of Florida Stormwater Association 2011 Outstanding Achievement Award - City of Hallandale Beach Stormwater Management Program (Staff Report)
6. CONSENT AGENDA
A. Approval of Draft Minutes - Regular City Commission Meeting of June 15, 2011 (Supporting Docs)
7. PUBLIC HEARINGS (to be heard at 10:30 A.M)
8. CITY BUSINESS
A. A Resolution of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida, in Support of Reapplication for a Local Government Funding Request through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection under the Beach Management Program Florida Long Range Budget Plan for Renourishment of Hallandale Beach Beaches from County Line to North City Limits.(Staff: Acting Director, Utilities & Engineering)(See Backup) CAD #035/97 (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)
B. Fiscal Year 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial and Compliance Reports - Strategic Plan of Action (Staff: Director of Finance) (See Backup) CAD#007/11 (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)
C. Discussion of the Procedure and Methodology for Hiring a City Attorney. (Mayor Joy F. Cooper)(See Backup) (Staff Report)
9. COMMISSIONER REPORTS
10. OTHER
11. PLANNING AND SCHEDULING MEETING (to be heard in Room 257)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Broward Coalition is pushing back against Broward municipal officials & cronies efforts to enact looser ethics laws for themselves
Just wondering.
Pressure's being put on the Commission to allow "ethics lite" for the cities. We need to do a full court press to tell the Commission to hold the cities to the same standards as the County is and the VOTERS approved. EMAIL THE COMMISSION NOW!The League of Cities doesn’t like the strong ethics requirements that an overwhelming majority of Broward voters approved. One commissioner actually said that he couldn’t even accept a bottle of water. That’s right. That’s exactly what we meant when we voted to approve the requirements. Don’t ask, don’t take.Follow the admirable example of Oakland Park Mayor Suzanne Boisvenue, who wants no part of what I’m going to label “ethics lite.”Get on with it, County Commissioners, and accept it, municipal elected officials. We’ve had quite enough of the fun and games that have gone on far too long in Broward County.One of our members, Orval Pintuff, expressed our position so well. This is what he wrote:“Dear Madam Mayor and fellow County Commissioners:There should be no tweaking for allowing a current city commissioner/politician to work as a lobbyist for issues that may come before the commission or their city government. If these elected officials believe that their lobbying would be more profitable then they need to move on and let someone else get on with the job of running the city government.If they must resign to pursue a better income, so be it. There is too much potential and tendency to help a bill or law to pass for the benefit of a favored son or friend.If accepting a bottle of water or soda at a fund raiser or implied political/business event, would appear as conduct unbecoming, then bring your own drinks. This goes for the offer of a lunch or dinner from a person who may or does business with the city or county government. If you cannot afford the lunch ticket, don't go.There is no excuse for not saying no to a lunch or dinner offer, as well as tickets to a concert or sporting events.It is time for our elected leaders to lead and quit using their positions for self-adulation. It is time to make honest men and women of our elected leaders and give them an ethics code to work by.I find it disgusting that we really have to tell someone what is ethical and what is not. There is always the adage "When in Doubt, Don't Do It."These elected city and county jobs do not always pay a lot, but there are other options, get another job.It is time to stand up and be counted, please don't wait any longer to get this law started.Thank youOrval PintuffMargate FL”Member Broward CoalitionThe Broward Coalition has been in the forefront of reform for years. It’s part of our mission; to work for the best interests of our members on the local, state and national levels.We sat through the Ethics Commission meetings, gave our input, encouraged the members to stand strong for strong ethics, and advocated for a “yes” vote.We’ve come too far to be betrayed by timidity or political connections, and we’re urging our County Commissioners to get it done now.--------------------
Friday, October 9, 2009
Broward LWV's upcoming forum on Amendment 4, i.e. Hometown Democracy; Herald-Tribune: Managing growth a hot button topic
Carol S, Smith of the Broward League
of Women Voters, whom I first met at
the Broward Charter Review Commission
meetings early last year, about this item
that intrepid Genius of Despair ran at
Eye on Miami yesterday morning.
http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.
Amendment 4: Panel Discussion in Broward 10/26. By Geniusofdespair
Carol's quick response to my query is below.
After reading today's Herald-Tribune articlebelow about Amendment 4, I'm even more
inclined to attend, but...
The political culture down here being what it is,
where elected officials and pols think nothing
of regularly raiding taxpayers funds to engage
in what they jokingly call "awareness" campaigns,
but which you and I might more accurately call
one-sided campaign electioneering, I can't help
but wonder to what lengths they and their pals
at the Broward League of Cities and the
Broward School Board will go over the
next year to defeat Amendment 4.
No doubt they'll once again use public schools
at night for their one-sided pep rallies that they
euphemistically call "forums," where as I wrote
here last year, they intentionally don't invite
opposing points-of-views, which, in this case,
will be anyone from Hometown Democracy.
In advance of this coming issue campaign war,
it'd sure be nice to see some stories in the press
about what Florida cities spend on these sorts
of poorly-supervised activities, from a
historical perspective -and whom they hire-
since it's clear that whatever those numbers
were in the past, they'll likely be surpassed
over the next 13 months, as folks like
Mayor Cooper and Co. rally their cronies
by making sure their lobbyist/campaign friends
get involved to keep citizens at bay,
just like they did last year with certain proposed
Constitutional Amendments.
What's a little 'walking around money'
from taxpayers for pols' pals to engage
in one-sided campaign tactics?
Obviously, given who Hallandale Beach's
mayor is and her frequent use of City
Commission meetings to run pointless
resolutions past about internal
League of Cities and Mayors Conference
matters that actual Hallandale Beach
citizens and residents could care less about,
forcing city staff to waste their time
-and hence our money- on matters
designed solely for Cooper's personal
and professional benefit, to curry favor
and earn brownie points from her
fellow elected pals, this small city of ours
will likely be one of the first to cough-up
taxpayer funds to defeat Hometown
Democracy.
If you doubt what I say here, consider
this fairly recent example of Cooper's
use of HB City Commission meetings
for butt-kissing.
Ask yourself why it was so important that
it HAD to come before the HB City
Commission, but the actual re-hiring of
the HB City Manager, the HB Police Chief
and the HB Fire Chief, DIDN'T come
before them in front of the public.
As you all know by now, THAT actually
happened up on the 2nd floor of HB City
Hall, away from TV cameras, without
ANY legal formal notice.
That's no coincidence, it was done
that way intentionally by the mayor
and the city manger so that HB citizens
like you and I COULDN'T speak
about their very unsatisfactory
performance the past few years.
You say that the mayor of Pembroke Pines
is really named Frank Ortis, not
Frank Ortiz, as he is constantly
referred to in these official HB city docs?
Yes, I know.
After all, Ortis' name is constantly
in the newspaper or mentioned on TV,
given that Pembroke Pines is the second
largest city in Broward County.
My sister even lives there, so I know its
good points and bad.
You'd think that Mayor Cooper would've
noticed something like that, wouldn't you,
since it was entirely her idea for this
parochial matter to come up before the
City Commission in the first place.
I mean it's a known fact that Ortis succeeded
her as head of the Broward League of Cities,
which makes her failure to even notice this
all the more curious.
But just as she does far too often with
genuinely important matters in which
she does have a say, she's barely paying
attention to what's right in front of her,
which explains the piss-poor state of
the city we see every day, where the
same simple problems fester for weeks,
months and years.
But she doesn't see it and neither does
the Rubber Stamp Gang.
job as it is in actually doing their own
homework, and taking their duties seriously,
since 4/5ths of the Commission seems
barely aware of self-evident problems
and unresolved issues in our own city,
county or state.
Their lack of curiosity and unwillingness
to actually exhibit any initiative or oversight,
and his staff, makes me think of baby chicks
in a nest waiting to be fed.
in South Florida like I do and not come
away with the vivid impression that many
city officials who are deeply involved with
the League continually manage to direct
their own city's attorney and staff to do
the League's bidding, since you rarely
-if ever- will find an amicus brief filed
by a city that is not 100% aligned with
whatever the League espouses,
either locally or statewide.
I don't think so.
For instance, why did HB file an amicus
brief here?
Just to grab power?
http://www.4dca.org/opinions/Jan%202009/01-28-09/4D02-3636.reh.pdf
It's typical of the anti-democratic
mindset at Hallandale Beach City
Hall and the League of Cities.
http://www.law.fsu.edu/
city or Hollywood would think if they
knew that their City Commissions and
City Attorneys/outside counsel were
urging such a thing, i.e the city trying
to pre-empt state laws in favor of their
own self-serving ordinances,
which would make it easier for cities
to seize personal vehicles and be left
unable to exercise their legal rights,
but instead be forced to deal with the
city's own regulations?
Well, as it turned out, the professionals
behind this particular municipal power
grab LOST!
Judges ruled Hollywood's ordinance was
constitutionally deficient, as among other
things, it violated both the separation of
powers and due process clause.
But sadly as we've seen time and again,
those particular concepts mean little to
the folks who run things at Hallandale
Beach City Hall.
When you read the proceedings, you can't
help but wonder how in the world they ever
thought they'd pull that off.
By the way, there's one other thing that's
particularly noteworthy about this case of
Colon Mulligan v. City of Hollywood,
and I know that this will not surprise the
majority of you reading this one bit.
Having checked their archives today,
I can tell you that neither the Miami
Herald or the South Florida
Sun-Sentinel have ever written a
single updated story on this case since
July 7, 2006, by Marc Caputo.
Which is to say that they have NONE
of the important questions about how
the case was finally decided against
the City of Hollywood has ever appeared
in either newspaper.
Which also explains why there is so
much bad information about this case
all over the Internet.
If everything goes as planned,
I'll have a blog post this weekend
about Attorney General candidate
Dan Gelber getting a Rogue's
Gallery of anti-democratic Broward
pols to endorse him, per this
Broward Politics blog post from
Wednesday by the Sun-Sentinel's
Anthony Man.
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.
My comments will highlight this common
anti-democratic element shared by these
other folks, as well as Mayor Cooper's
well-known aversion to public transparency
and accountability.
For example, her galling chutzpah in suing
a HB citizen for trying to access public
records he's legally entitled to examine
by virtue of the Florida Constitution,
which Cooper knows full-well will
reveal her personal carelessness,
and her very troubling behavior with
regard to ethics,is a gross insult to all
Hallandale Beach citizens and taxpayers.
Mayor Cooper has quite a lot to
worry about, as you will soon be
hearing and reading about.
I'm also planning to finally post
that much-delayed post that really
hammers the seemingly clueless
and oblivious Gulfstream Park,
which, to be charitable, seems to
be a serial sleep-walker.
----------
Carol: Can you please fill me in on the Amendment 4 meeting you all are hosting on the 26th?
Dave,
Carol
---------------
www.lwvbcfl.org
---------------------------------
Managing growth a hot button topic
October 9, 2009
The vote on a ballot measure giving residents more say in how their local governments manage growth is still a year away. Yet it is already shaping up to be one of the most contentious issues ever placed before Florida voters.
That volatility was evident Thursday as nearly 300 people watched the battle lines being drawn during a fiery debate at the Sarasota Tiger Bay Club.
Read the rest of the article here:
Reader comments at:
http://forums.heraldtribune.com/eve/forums?a=dl&f=3941081465&s=3341001365&x_id=910091040&x_subject=Managing+growth+a+hot+button+topic&x_link=http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20091009/ARTICLE/910091040
Friday, April 3, 2009
Another Disaster for Broward's Ilene Lieberman. But's who's counting? (Me and many others!)
At 5 p.m. on the day of what I was assured by the Broward County Govt. Center would the LAST public meeting of the Broward County Courthouse Taskforce, the webpage the county specifically constructed for purposes of communicating with the public STILL didn't have today's meeting information on it. The meeting's already over.
Another great moral victory(!) for Broward County Comm. Ilene Lieberman, who, last year, wanted to prevent the mass transit-riding public from actually populating a proposed MTA, since it would/could actually result in regular citizens using that group to occasionally holding her, the Commission and the Broward MPO to account for the disastrous transportation planning in this county that I've cited so many times.
The longstanding disconnect between connecting Tri-Rail and Fort Lauderdale Stadium for events there being the most obvious to anyone who's actually paying attention.
Of course, now, the Orioles have flown the coop, probably for good.
Paging Mayor Jack Seiler!
See my August 25th post of last year on how Lieberman's fingerprints were all over that particular effort, which South Florida's media completely ignored.
Naturally, right in the middle of things, because it's the way things are done in Broward County, was someone from the Broward League of Cities, one of the most ardent opponents in the state of grass-root citizen participation in any kind of oversight capacity.
In this case, the elected head of the organization for this year, Margaret Bates.
But they are just the two most visible targets of sheer incompetency and mis-management
on this effort.
Below is the rest of the list of today's culpable parties.
See anyone you know?
The next time you run into one of these characters, why don't you look them straight in the face and ask point blank: "Why should YOUR opinion count for anything if you're paying SO little attention to this matter, that you didn't even notice that your own group's webpage hasn't been changed in five weeks, and made accurate for the public?"
http://www.broward.org/courthousetaskforce/members.htm
Broward County Courthouse Task Force Members
|
The Courthouse Task Force Members are: |
• Broward County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman, Chair
• Margaret Bates - President, Broward League of Cities
• Scott Chitoff - Brinkley, Morgan, Solomon, Tatum, Stanley and Lunny
• Greg Durden - Greg Durden, P.A.
• Howard Finkelstein - Broward County Public Defender
• Howard Forman - Clerk of Courts
• Jose Izquierdo - Izquierdo and Marin
• Chuck Morton - Chief Assistant State Attorney
• Linda O'Neil - Judicial Assistant to Judge Robert Lee
• Eugene Pettis - Haliczer Pettis and Schwamm
• Scott Rothstein - Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, Adler
• Chief Judge Vic Tobin - 17th Judicial Circuit
• Circuit Court Judge Peter Weinstein
|
Sunday, January 25, 2009
My mayor went to the Inaugural but all I got was the bill and her imperious attitude!
Broward County officials are traveling on your dime
Conventions are only miles from home, but South Florida officials bill taxpayers for luxury hotels and chauffeured rides
- By Jennifer Gollan
- January 11, 2009
Although the national mayors convention was only 34 miles from his home, Lauderhill Mayor Richard Kaplan decided it would be too difficult to commute. So he billed taxpayers $995 to stay five nights in June at the four-star InterContinental Miami hotel.
"I would have to get up at 3 or 4 in the morning to miss the rush-hour traffic," Kaplan said. "It gets to be very time-consuming."
Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper also attended that convention. Instead of making the 20-mile trip, she charged taxpayers $796 for four nights at the hotel.
Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis, with a commute of 25 miles, billed taxpayers $889.48 for four nights.
When asked about it six months later, Ortis said "it doesn't make any sense to stay overnight in Miami," and reimbursed the city for his hotel bill.
Indeed, while not expressly prohibited under their formal policies, Pembroke Pines, Hallandale Beach and Lauderhill generally bar employees from staying overnight in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. Cooper, however, declined to repay the city for her stay, saying it was a business-related expense.
"I am not there fluffing my own feathers," she said. "Rather than dragging through traffic it was just easier to stay overnight. ... Why would I reimburse the city for part of my job?"
A Sun Sentinel review of expense records filed by taxing district board members and elected officials representing Broward County and its 31 municipalities since January 2007 also found charges for some spouses and children to attend conference functions.
Taxpayers also footed the bill for chauffeured rides to the airport, in some cases paying almost double what it would have cost had the officials driven themselves and parked at the airport's most expensive lot. Such expenses are small in relation to the city budgets.
But they add up and raise questions, especially amid a recession that has governments cutting spending and public services.
"Local officials are obligated to avoid abusing or exploiting opportunities for self-indulgence on the public dime," said Anthony Alfieri, director of the Center for Ethics and Public Service at the University of Miami School of Law.
"That means engaging in cost-saving conduct, such as commuting rather than incurring hotel bills" for local meetings. Some officials disagree,saying the sums in question are small, and perks of the job. For example, five Central Broward Water Control District officials billed taxpayers $380 so their spouses and children could join them at two parties in Key West and Key Largo during two conferences in 2007 and 2008.
Commissioners and staff also spent $538.11 so they, their spouses and children — a total party of 10 — could dine at a restaurant in Key West on July 12, 2007.
District Board Chairman Cris Fardelmann said he didn't see why he should cover his wife's expense. "I definitely don't think there's any abuse here," said Fardelmann, who is paid $4,800 per year to maintain secondary canals in six cities. "I'm not going to leave [my wife] sitting in the hotel room while we go to dinner. I do not make a lot of money at this job, and having your spouse along makes it much more possible to go."
The district does not have a formal policy prohibiting commissioners from billing taxpayers for expenses incurred by their spouses and children. State law allows local governments to set their own travel polices and decide who can travel on public business.
"State law seems to authorize travel by someone beyond the elected official or officer, but trying to define exactly who fits within that other category is where the cities must make their own decision," said Eric Hartwell, assistant general counsel for the Florida League of Cities.
- Reader comments at:
- Palm Beach County officals billing taxpayers for luxury hotels and chauffeured rides
- Conventions are only miles from home, but officials bill taxpayers for luxury hotels and chauffeured rides.
- By Jennifer Golla
- January 11, 2009
- It was only an 80-minute drive each way, but Palm Beach County Commission Chairman Jeff Koons said it was crucial that he and three other commissioners stay at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa for a statewide conference in June.
"I know people might think it's not good to send a group, but it was a very good investment," Koons said, adding that they weren't there for the spa and other amenities. "People expect us to be knowledgeable, and that's the purpose of these trips."
Koons and commissioners Addie Greene, Karen Marcus and former commissioner Mary McCarty billed taxpayers a total of $1,350.70 to stay at the four-star resort during the Florida Association of Counties conference.
McCarty stayed one night for $130.
Marcus and Greene billed taxpayers $390 each for three nights. Koons' three-night stay cost a bit more, $440.70, because he paid the hotel bill and tax before being reimbursed by the county, missing out on tax exemptions granted when a government pays bills directly.
Because each commissioner serves on the association's board, Koons said it would have been impractical to send one commissioner to represent the others. Further, Koons said he and the other commissioners didn't discuss any county matters as required under the Sunshine law, which bars two or more officials on the same board from talking about pending public business outside a publicly noticed meeting.
A Sun Sentinel review of expense records filed by South Florida elected officials and taxing district board members since January 2007 also found taxpayers footing the bill for hotels as close as 20 miles away. In other cases, they paid for spouses and children to attend and dine at conference functions.
Such expenses are small in relation to the city budgets. But they add up and raise questions, especially amid a recession that has governments cutting spending and public services.
"Local officials are obligated to avoid abusing or exploiting opportunities for self indulgence on the public dime," said Anthony Alfieri, director of the Center for Ethics and Public Service at the University of Miami School of Law. "That means engaging in cost-saving conduct such as commuting rather than incurring hotel bills" for local meetings.
Some officials disagree,saying the sums in question are small, and perks of the job.
When the Florida League of Cities held an awards banquet in Orlando in November 2007, Delray Beach sent Mayor Rita Ellis and Vice Mayor Woodie McDuffie, Commissioner Fred Fetzer and former commissioner Brenda Montague.
McDuffie and Montague stayed overnight at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport Hotel, costing taxpayers a total of $286. Ellis and Fetzer went for the day only.
The overnight stay in Orlando was not unreasonable given the distance. But did Delray need to send four elected officials as well as the city manager? "Our city was nominated for the Florida City of Excellence award," Fetzer said. "It was quite an honor for the city, and the Florida League of Cities asked us to have as many representatives there as we could. We felt it was an important enough event for the city that we wanted to be well represented."
McDuffie said he also participated in meetings on pending legislation on tax reform.
"The sole purpose of the meeting was not the awards banquet," said McDuffie, noting that, at the time, he sat on the league's Fiscal Stewardship Council. His council meeting ran from 10 a.m. to noon on Nov. 8 and the conference ended about noon on Nov. 9, just before the awards banquet.
Taxpayers also paid $1,641.96 for Fetzer, McDuffie and Montague to stay two nights at the Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington, D.C., April 30-May 2, 2008. They were there for the so-called Washington Fly In, where local elected leaders meet with lawmakers in Washington.
Sending three commissioners made sense, McDuffie said, because they split up, which afforded them more time for meetings.
"One person can't cover every legislator in the time that we're up there," McDuffie said.
But Fetzer said he had a "very productive" trip when he traveled alone to Washington on the same trip in 2006 [the trip has traditionally taken place every other year]. He returned to share the highlights of his trip with the commission, which he said "sparked some interest," from other commissioners to join him in 2008.
Delray commissioners last fall decided to forgo out-of-state travel this fiscal year.
While they don't tend to travel in groups, other officials in South Florida cities and taxing districts have billed taxpayers for travel closer to home, and other questionable expenses.
Although the national mayors convention was only 34 miles from his home, Lauderhill Mayor Richard Kaplan decided it would be too difficult to commute. So he billed taxpayers $995 to stay five nights in June at the four-star InterContinental Miami hotel.
"I would have to get up at 3 or 4 in the morning to miss the rush-hour traffic," said Kaplan. "It gets to be very time consuming."
Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper also attended that convention. Instead of making the 20-mile trip, she charged taxpayers $796 for four nights at the hotel. And Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis, with a commute of 25 miles, billed taxpayers $889.48 for four nights. When asked about it six months later, Ortis said "it doesn't make any sense to stay overnight in Miami," and reimbursed the city for his hotel bill. Indeed, while not expressly prohibited under their formal policies, Pembroke Pines, Hallandale Beach and Lauderhill generally bar employees from staying overnight in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.
Cooper, however, declined to repay the city for her stay, saying it was a business-related expense.
"I am not there fluffing my own feathers," she said. "Rather than dragging through traffic it was just easier to stay overnight ... Why would I reimburse the city for part of my job?"
Some officials charged taxpayers so their spouses and children could attend conference functions. For example, five Central Broward Water Control District officials billed taxpayers $380 so their spouses and children could join them at two parties in Key West and Key Largo during two conferences in 2007 and 2008. Commissioners and staff also spent $538.11 so they, their spouses and children — a total party of 10 — could dine at a restaurant in Key West on July 12, 2007.
"I definitely don't think there's any abuse here," said District Board Chairman Cris Fardelmann, who is paid $4,800 per year to maintain secondary canals in six cities. "I'm not going to leave [my wife] sitting in the hotel room while we go to dinner. I do not make a lot of money at this job, and having your spouse along makes it much more possible to go."
District policy does not prohibit officials from billing taxpayers for expenses for their spouses and children.
State law allows local governments to set their own travel polices and decide who can travel on public business.
"State law seems to authorize travel by someone beyond the elected official or officer, but trying to define exactly who fits within that other category is where the cities must make their own decision," said Eric Hartwell, assistant general counsel for the Florida League of Cities.
Reader comments at:
Corruption in Broward, Palm Beach counties: Same behavior, different results
By Michael Mayo, News Columnist
January 11, 2009
In Palm Beach County, commissioner Mary McCarty voted on bond deals that benefited her husband's firm. She resigned last week, indicating she will soon plead guilty to a federal charge of honest services fraud. In her resignation letter, McCarty called her bond votes "criminal acts" and wrote that she expected to serve "a significant term of incarceration."
Similar behavior. Far different results.
Confused?
"It's not simply bewildering from a civics standpoint," said Anthony Alfieri, director of the University of Miami Center for Ethics and Public Service. "It's also corrosive to the public; it undermines their faith in government."
Best I can tell, the big difference between the two cases — and for that matter, Broward and Palm Beach County politics — is federal scrutiny.
The FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office have spent the last few years digging to our north, and they've unturned enough unsavory business to topple three county commissioners and two West Palm Beach city commissioners. All four convicted officials have gone to federal prison.
Makes you wonder what would happen if the feds fixed a keen eye here.
"There's a number of people who fit into the behavioral pattern of the McCartys [in Broward]," said County Commissioner John Rodstrom. "The problem is there's a big difference between state and federal law, and elected officials haven't been well trained on the federal law."
Thanks to Florida's weak corruption laws and long tradition of almost anything goes, some public servants think day is night and wrong is right.
Or as McCarty wrote in her letter, "I allowed myself to interpret ethics codes and statutory responsibilities in the light most favorable to the outcome I desired."
That seems to be a common malady among local politicians.
In Broward, commissioner Josephus Eggelletion once voted on a county contract involving a trash company while he was a paid lobbyist for the company. Commissioner Ilene Lieberman uses one name when she's sitting on the dais and another (Ilene Michelson) when she has appeared before other elected bodies as an attorney. Lieberman, Wasserman-Rubin and commissioner Stacy Ritter have husbands who do (or have done) legal, grant-writing and lobbying work involving local municipalities and the county.
Wasserman-Rubin's 2003 votes on the Southwest Ranches grants, which helped her husband get a raise and a $15,000 bonus, are being investigated by the Broward State Attorney. "Our office is still looking at it," spokesman Ron Ishoy said.
Wasserman-Rubin said she didn't know her votes would benefit her husband, who no longer writes grants for the town. She said she has not spoken to state or federal investigators.
"I've learned a lesson, and I'm trying to move forward," she said Saturday. "It would be a concern to me if they go backwards and go over things that the ethics commission has already gone over. My family has suffered enough."
If the feds were digging here, or if these commissioners served in Palm Beach County, would they find themselves in trouble?
Alfieri, a law professor, said: "Because of Florida's history of under-regulation and neglect in ethics, state and local systems are replete with conflicts of interest. The culture is dominated by self-dealing and self-enrichment."
Part of the blame belongs to politicians who should know better. As in, if you vote or push for something and you or a family member has a stake in the outcome, you probably shouldn't be voting or pushing for it.
And part of the blame belongs to the Legislature, which needs to bring state corruption statutes in line with stricter federal law.
As it stands, Florida law has huge wiggle room when it comes to public corruption. State prosecutors must prove "corrupt intent" to get criminal convictions for official misconduct. That's a high bar to clear.
And state ethics law is laughably vague and toothless. Ethics violations are not necessarily crimes and punishment is usually a token fine, capped at $10,000 per offense.
Once the Feds take aim, it's a different story. The broad "honest services fraud" provision and a host of tax and mail laws can snag politicians who thought they were doing no wrong. Things that might have been brushed off by state investigators or settled with a fine can bring lengthy prison terms.
So far, federal investigators have focused on Palm Beach County, with the exception of former Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne, who pleaded guilty to federal mail and tax charges after a lengthy probe.
You have to wonder if Broward's day is coming.
Michael Mayo's column runs Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
By Jennifer Gollan
January 18, 2009
Officials in Lauderhill, Pembroke Pines and Tamarac said they are considering stricter limits on travel, after a Sun Sentinel review found some elected officials billed taxpayers for stays at nearby hotels and for their families to attend conference functions.
While travel expenses account for a relatively small part of municipal budgets, their cumulative cost raises questions of propriety.
"At a time when staff are being laid off and programs are being cut, it is incumbent upon all of us to do all we can to minimize the expense to taxpayers," said Pembroke Pines Commissioner Angelo Castillo.
In Lauderhill, where Mayor Richard Kaplan billed taxpayers $995 in June for five nights at the InterContinental Miami hotel, commissioners on Jan. 26 will consider nearly halving their travel budget to $35,188, down from $66,100.
"I'm in favor of reducing the budget to whatever level is necessary," Kaplan said.
Along with trimming overtime costs and shedding up to 10 vacant positions, the travel cut is intended to plug a $1.4 million budget hole.
Tamarac also may impose more stringent travel restrictions, with spending cuts and comprehensive reforms.
For her part, Mayor Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco said she is now having her husband drive her to the airport instead of hiring a chauffeur. She spent $584.46 on eight chauffeured rides of about 16 miles each to or from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport since January 2007. The same trips would have cost about $336 by taxi, or if she had driven herself, about $280.21.
"I can save the city some money," she said. "As an issue, travel will be looked at, not because anything has been done incorrectly, but because we are being fiscally responsible."
Pembroke Pines also likely will review commission travel expenses, Castillo said.
He stopped short of suggesting a ban on overnights in local hotels, such as Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis's four-night stay at the InterContinental Miami that cost taxpayers $889.48. Ortis reimbursed the city when questioned by the Sun Sentinel.
In Margate, Commissioner Pam Donovan said she expects her fellow commissioners to show more restraint. Both David McLean and Joseph Varsallone stayed extraneous nights in hotels.
"I don't think they'll do that again," said Donovan. "They saw that it didn't look good."
Neither McLean or Varsallone could be reached for comment despite two messages each at their offices.
However, officials in some cities and taxing districts brushed off any notion of reform.
"We're not in the same category as city employees," said Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper, who charged taxpayers $796 for a four-night stay at the InterContinental Miami in June. "We are already extremely frugal on our travel. I don't perceive us changing it."
Neither will Coral Springs Commissioner Claudette Bruck, whose 13 chauffeured rides to or from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport cost $908. Bruck could have driven herself and parked for $400, or caught taxis for $717.
Still, Bruck stood her ground: "The city probably is about as tight on that as they can be."
Central Broward Water Control District Director Mike Crowley also dismissed policy reforms or cuts as unnecessary. Five district officials billed taxpayers $380 to register their spouses and children for two conferences in Key West and Key Largo. Commissioners and staff also rang up a tab for $538.11 dining with their spouses and children — a party of 10 — at a Key West restaurant.
"I have no intention of reimbursing [the district]," Crowley said.
She's right that she's not in the same category: When I took in-service training a few before my retirement, I had to add three hours to my work day, for travel time, because the city refsed to pay the hotel tab when the course was being held. What a hypocrite for a city official she is.
Costly overnights can be wasteful
OUR OPINION: Broward County officials' expensive hotel stays a mistake
In ordinary times a mayor's hotel bill for $995 for attending a national convention wouldn't raise eyebrows at City Hall. But these aren't ordinary times. A deepening recession is forcing cities to tighten their belts during a long period of low revenue.
Mayors of some Broward cities should have considered this when booking Miami hotel rooms to attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors convention in Miami last June.
Budget cuts coming
In a review of expense records filed by Broward taxing-district board members and elected officials, the Sun Sentinel found that Lauderhill Mayor Richard Kaplan didn't want to make the daily commute from central Broward to downtown Miami, figuring rush-hour traffic would keep him from getting to events on time. So he took a room at the four-star InterContinental Hotel for a total cost of $995.
For the same reason Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper and Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis billed their cities' taxpayers $796 and $889.48 respectively for Miami hotel stays.
Knowing that their cities are facing budget cuts, the notion that the mayors rejected driving 20 or 30 miles in favor of costly overnights in Miami is troubling. Usually when such meetings are held in South Florida, local public officials drive to them. Gas prices were higher in June, but the cost of driving wouldn't have been as high as those hotel tabs. The mayors could even have commuted by Tri-Rail and Metrorail to the convention.
Next time, the mayors should be more sensitive to economic conditions when deciding how to attend a locally held convention.
Family expenses
The newspaper also found charges to taxpayers for officials' spouses and families at out-of-town events. For example, five Central Broward Water Control District officials billed taxpayers $380 for their spouses' and childrens' stays at two conferences in Key West and Key largo in 2007 and '08.
While bringing along the family at taxpayer expense to official functions may seem a justifiable perk for officials with modest salaries, the practice should be adopted or rejected as official policy by governing bodies only after a hearing during which the taxpaying public can weigh in on how to spend its money.
Hallandale Beach is conveniently located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami, next to Aventura with access to the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood and Miami International airports, Port Everglades, Port of Miami, and I-95.