John W. Scott unanimously selected as Broward's Inspector General: An ethical journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

South Florida Sun-Sentinel Politics blog video:
Sun-Sentinel reporter Brittany Wallman speaks with former Broward States Attorney Phil Shailer, a member of the Inspector General Commission that was chosen to help select a new IG for Broward County to restore ethical reform and integrity in county and municipal government, per the overwhelming vote of Broward County voters in November 2010 to the culture of corruption here.
March 9, 2011.
http://youtu.be/8-rk4O4XxF4

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Broward Politics blog
Broward's first-ever corruption watchdog Inspector General selected
By Brittany Wallman
April 16, 2011 07:30 PM

John W. Scott, a man who says he has spent his career "fighting corruption, fraud, waste and abuse,'' will be doing that for Broward County, as the county's first-ever Inspector General.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2011/04/browards_firstever_corruption.html

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To quote myself in my last post:

There's a new sheriff in town who goes by the name of John W. Scott.
The eyes, ears, mouths and memories of Broward County activists and bloggers are about to be deputized.
Time to Cowboy up!



Enter The Lone Ranger: The Lone Ranger, Season 1, Episodes 1-3 (1949)
http://youtu.be/jNtJ6wFdHis


And who would know better when it's time to cowboy up than someone like me whose ancestors were in south central Texas in 1855?

U.S. House Ethics chair Jo Bonner blasts predecessor for idling of lawyers in Maxine Waters probe; postponing of Waters’ trial until AFTER election?

Not that this story ever got the attention it deserved by South Florida's news media in the first place when it actually happened -despite it involving the former U.S. Ambassador to The Bahamas from 1994-'98, and his very prominent wife, Rep. Maxine Waters- but one of Congress' s most vocal liberals, Zoe Lofgren of California got a tart smack-down this month on her efforts while House Ethics Comm. chair to help fellow liberal Calif. lawmaker Waters make it thru one more election cycle, and silence Ethics Comm. staff lawyers investigating Waters' personal efforts to help her husband's business and financial interests, despite numerous examples of conflict-of-interest rules being broken -over-and-over.

Yes, it's as if Waters got a Hall Pass from the principal who was supposed to be investigating and punishing her for her egregious behavior.
Conduct that led to this Washington Post headline on August 3rd: "Rep. Maxine Waters of California probably broke ethics rules, House panel finds"

And the person who did it is Jo Bonner, the new Ethics chair who succeeded Lofgren in that position in January and who was among the committee members who prevented Lofgren from actually firing the attorneys for, perhaps, being so good at their job.
But she did unilaterally punish them.

I definitely want to hear and see more about this story and am particularly interested in seeing how the non-Beltway media handles the story.
Poorly I'm sure, despite how telling this story is about how things really work in Washington if you have power -and influential friends.


The Washington Post
House ethics chair blasts predecessor on idling of lawyers in Waters probe
By R. Jeffrey Smith,
Monday, March 14, 7:05 PM

The Republican chairman of the House Ethics Committee has accused his Democratic predecessor of violating House rules and acting without cause in forcing two staff lawyers to take paid leave amid a contentious committee probe of alleged misconduct by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) last year.

Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.), who moved into the chairmanship in January, made that claim about former chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) in a letter he sent early this month to the two lawyers, who played lead roles in the Waters probe. They were idled just as Waters was to be tried by the committee over her actions involving a bank in which her husband had a financial interest.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-ethics-chair-blasts-predecessor-on-idling-of-lawyers-in-waters-probe/2011/03/14/ABWZVqV_story.html

Latest on Broward County ethics debate, inc. Verbatim Minutes of June 18th, 2010 Broward County Ethics Commission meeting

In case you never got around to seeing it the first time I mentioned it, please take a moment to look at Robert Wechsler's excellent take on the transparently self-serving excuses being foisted on Broward's citizen taxpayers in the fight against getting meaningful ethics legislation here with real teeth, and consider bookmarking his blog, too.
http://www.cityethics.org/Blog-RobWechsler

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

(He had a newer post on Monday relating to something I have below,
A Second Constitutionality Opinion in Broward County, Just Like the First http://www.cityethics.org/content/second-constitutionality-opinion-broward-county-just-first

His first post was written on the 18th, the same day as the Broward Ethics Commission meeting -which I missed, unfortunately.

I have the Minutes to that meeting, including the Verbatim Minutes, the Real McCoy as it were, to use a phrase I've never used in a blog post before.
Guess I'm just in an idiomatic mood!

While not exactly a Stieg Larsson page-turner, it makes for some interesting reading.

I've also included Brittany Wallman and Scott Wyman's spot-on Broward Politics posts from Friday and Monday afternoon on the latest development in the ethics power play that has slowly morphed into a morality play -and jobs bill.
That is to say, jobs for the commissioner's spouses and family if they can finesse it.

You also want to be sure to read the reader comments, too, since one of the folks who read it and had something to say is Comm. Stacy Ritter.
She and that "gifted" golf cart and what many Broward citizens believe is her larger-than-life sense of entitlement were the subject of Michael Mayo's Mayo on the Side blog column on Friday, also at the bottom.

And not that you asked, but I like the Netherlands to win the World Cup.

I have a few World Cup-related posts on the way that I've heretofore chosen to keep in Draft, including one on the England National Team (ENT) that I'll be calling, modestly,
The Bungle in Bloemfontein: How English football culture's weaknesses were exposed again, with nary a silver lining to be found.

1. June 18th, 2010 Broward County Ethics Commission Meeting Minutes http://www.broward.org/EthicsCommission/Documents/06182010Minutes.pdf

2. June 18th, 2010 Broward County Ethics Commission Verbatim Minutes
http://www.broward.org/EthicsCommission/Documents/06182010MinutesVerbatim.pdf

Code of Ethics Ordinance - Final Approval
http://www.broward.org/EthicsCommission/Documents/CodeofEthics2010%20-%20Final%20%20Approved.pdf

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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Broward Politics blog
Broward's ethics ordinance legally wobbly but could be adopted, lawyer says

Posted by Brittany Wallman on June 28, 2010 04:25 PM

The proposed cleanup of Broward County government could move forward despite questions about its constitutionality, under a scenario proposed by an outside attorney hired by the county.

Attorney Bruce Johnson weighed in Monday with a memo to the county, saying that parts of the proposed overhaul of Broward County Commission ethics rules would probably not withstand a constitutional challenge. The problematic part, in particular, he said, is a proposed lobbying ban in Broward that would apply not just to county commissioners but also to their family members and spouses or domestic partners.

Read the rest of the post at:

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/06/outside_lawyer_browards_ethics.html

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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Broward Politics blog
County attorney defends role in ethics code controversy

Posted by Scott Wyman on June 25, 2010 09:00 AM

Nothing to see here. That’s the official response from Broward County’s attorney concerning the week of controversy that surrounded the botched move to go to court over long-sought ethics reform.

In a memo sent to county commissioners Thursday, County Attorney Jeff Newton rejected allegations that he had been part of a conspiracy to derail reform. He said the concerns he raised about the ethics legislation was, instead, a legitimate response to an inquiry made by Commissioner Ilene Lieberman before the June 15 board meeting.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/06/county_attorney_defends_role_i.html
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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Michael Mayo
Mayo on the Side blog
Stacy Ritter: Husband asked for golf cart from developers

Posted by Michael Mayo on June 25, 2010 11:37 AM

Before she was elected to the Broward County Commission in November 2006, Stacy Ritter got a golf cart from the father-and-son developer team of Bruce and Shawn Chait.

"I didn't ask for it," Ritter told me this week. "Russ asked for it."

Russ is her husband, lobbyist Russ Klenet.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2010/06/stacy_ritter_husband_asked_for.html

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.
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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

Broward County Charter Review Comm. meeting April 9 @ 1 p.m.

South Beach Hoosier/Hallandale Beach Blog will probably be attending the Broward County Charter Review Commission (CRC) meeting on Wednesday afternoon unless something unexpected comes up.

You also might want to consider bringing a shoe box along, so you can show all the attendees that you are one of those rare folks who can, in fact, "think outside of the box," and are not at all interested in maintaining the status quo that's clearly not working very well for anyone, most of the county's residents.

If you're thinking of attending, or, submitting questions via email, you might want to consider reading the Minutes of some recent meetings beforehand, so that you are up to speed and don't ask something that's already been "asked and answered."

Minutes of Broward County Charter Review Commission,
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
http://www.broward.org/charter/pdf/121207_crc_final.pdf

CRC homepage is at: http://www.broward.org/charter/

By the way, in case you were wondering what the hell "The Broward Workshop" was -unskilled actors pretending to be leaders?- join the club.

Unflattering Sun-Sentinel editorial on them is at the bottom of page.

http://www.browardworkshop.com/
105 E. Davie Blvd. Suite 200,
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316
Phone: (954) 462-9112
___________________________________
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbmayor0228sbfeb28,0,2209022.story?track=rss

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Charter board delays decision on Broward mayor proposal
By Scott Wyman
February 28, 2008

Business executives have begun exploring a petition drive to force a vote this fall on whether to elect a mayor countywide, frustrated by waffling and inaction from a board assigned to update the Broward County charter.

The Charter Review Commission on Wednesday delayed any decision on a proposal to change the mayor's job until early April, following a pair of public hearings. The charter board has vacillated over the past two months on a countywide mayor and Wednesday's nondecision went against its own rules to craft all proposed charter changes before the hearings on March 12 and April 9.

The leaders of the business round table called the Broward Workshop expect to decide within the next week whether to begin collecting more than 65,000 signatures needed for a referendum. They worry the charter board decision will come too late for them to have time to meet the extremely difficult election rules to add the countywide mayor to the November ballot.

"I'm having a hard time understanding what is wrong with letting the electorate decide," said George Mason, chairman of the Broward Workshop.

The proposal under debate would replace the largely ceremonial post of mayor that now rotates annually among county commissioners. The commission would be enlarged from nine to 11 members with the mayor and one other person being elected countywide.

The mayor question was the last remaining item for the charter board, which is assigned to propose changes to voters in how the county is governed.

The board has been heavily lobbied by both business leaders and county commissioners over what to do, and Wednesday's meeting was chaotic as a result.

One charter board member called in from work in a hospital emergency room. Another tried and failed to call in from a sailboat in the Caribbean. The board voted to ask the public to comment about the mayor question during the hearings, but agreed to distribute preprinted pamphlets that don't mention it.

The proposal charts a middle course between the current system and a strong mayor who would control day-to-day operations of the county. The post would have no more authority than it does today, and a professional administrator would remain in charge of county agencies. Advocates say the mayor could use the post as a bully pulpit to bring a countywide perspective to issues.

County Mayor Lois Wexler and Commissioner Ilene Lieberman accused elected mayor supporters of ignoring the county's economic realities. The county must cut spending in light of the January constitutional amendment requiring tax relief while adding two more commissioners will mean more bureaucracy.

"I'm looking for what's best for the governance of Broward County, and that's not choosing two more elected officials and all their support staff over the adequate funding of human services,"

Reader comments are at:
http://www.topix.com/forum/county/broward-fl/T5B9R7EMN32OJUQ3R

_________________________________________
From http://www.broward.org/charter/pdf/publichearings03and0408.pdf

Your Opportunity to Express Your Views on Potential Changes to the Broward County Charter

Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at 1 p.m.
115 S. Andrews Avenue, Room 422
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301

• Creation of a Metropolitan Transit Authority


• Non-Interference in County Administration

• County Commission Meeting Rules & Voting


• Broward County Housing Council

• Broward County Regionalism Policy Statement


• Broward County Park Preservation

• Broward County Environmental Policy Statement


• Broward County Ethics Commission

• Redistricting Process


• Children’s Services Recommendation

• County Commission to provide Responsive Report to Management and Efficiency Study Committee

• One year hiatus between end of Management and Efficiency Study Committee and beginning
of Charter Review Commission


• Still under consideration: Composition of Broward County Commission

Please visit www.broward.org/charter to review the proposed Charter Amendments or call 954-357-8890 to request copies of proposed amendments.

Both public hearings will be televised on participating cable stations and webcast on www.broward.org.

The Commission will accept questions via email at charterreview@broward.org.

Public input on additional topics is welcome.

The Broward County Charter provides a blueprint for the operation of a countywide government that serves all residents in Broward County.

The Charter Review Commission is created for the purpose of conducting a comprehensive study of any or all phases of County government in conformance with Article VI of the Charter of Broward County, Florida.

Broward County Charter Review Commission
115 S. Andrews Avenue-Annex B
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-357-8890 • FAX: 954-357-8889
charterreview@broward.org
_______________________
http://www.theledger.com/article/20080324/NEWS/803240330/1023

The Lakeland Ledger
March 24, 2008
Hiding Homeless Won't Work

An editorial from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale:

Downtown Fort Lauderdale would be more pristine without homeless people sleeping on benches, picking through garbage and urinating on sidewalks. No doubt about it.

But sweeping disheveled people out of the vicinity just so restaurant customers, condo dwellers and business owners won't have to tolerate seeing them is dehumanizing. And it would only transfer destitute people from one location to another.

Don't think so? Count the number of Broward cities that have passed ordinances banning people from sleeping in cars, largely in hope of pointing homeless people somewhere else.

The issue is nothing new in Broward County, where last year there were 3,154 homeless people, 701 living on the streets, according to a survey.

While the county is far removed from its Tent City days, when the homeless lived in a makeshift shelter in front of the Broward Boulevard bus terminal, it obviously still has a long way to go.

But the solution does not lie in sweeping the homeless under the rug or locking them up for sleeping on the streets. It requires public policy to effectively deal with issues that lead to homelessness - poverty and mental illness for example - and adding more beds to shelters.

Unfortunately, business power brokers who met recently to brainstorm about how to get rid of the nomads missed an opportunity to show real leadership. Sponsored by the Urban Core Committee of the Broward Workshop, the event focused on "safety, security and quality of life," not for the homeless, but for the downtown crowd who don't want them nearby when "spending $100 for lunch," as one developer so bluntly put it.

Instead of fretting about homelessness, Broward's business leaders should use their resources and influence to help address the socioeconomic issues that lead to the problem. Homelessness is best addressed as a condition, not a crime.