Within a few weeks of the United Homes vote, Eggelletion was branded a traitor by the City Commission because of the annexation issue. Only Williams and Rogers defended their county rep.
Hadley Hooper
Colby Katz
Josephus Eggelletion, like fellow county commissioner Ilene Lieberman, has made good money lobbying for Miami developers.
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On October 26, Lakes commissioners publicly excoriated Eggelletion, who they believed was likely behind a well-financed smear campaign to discredit the city. Mayor Samuel Brown, a bespectacled and normally reserved man, told his city that he had been "wounded" by Eggelletion, though he didn't mention him by name. "I did not expect to be this hurt," Brown said gravely. "I'm wounded because of what our commissioner has done."
Referring to Eggelletion, he added, "This is a place that gives you your start in life, and then you turn around and try to destroy it."
Then, one by one, each commissioner spoke on the matter. Vice Mayor Eric Haynes decried the "lies and deceit" of the anti-annexation crowd. John Billingsley, an Eggelletion appointee on the Broward County Planning Council, said it was a "disgust" that an elected official would spread damaging rumors about his city.
Shomers then recounted his chance meeting with Eggelletion at Office Depot. About that time, Eggelletion walked into City Hall. He sat down and stared at those who criticized him, not uttering a word. But his presence only seemed to intensify the criticism. A deeply upset Russell pointed out that Eggelletion was in the audience and then proceeded to tell the story of the ambush meeting. Then he gave an impassioned speech about political responsibility -- aimed squarely at the man staring at him.
"There is nothing in politics that requires you to be dishonorable...," he declared. "We have no right to be here [in public office]. It's a privilege, and we need to execute this privilege with care and decency. Come what may, the truth will always prevail."
Rogers and Williams defended the target of the criticism. "Commissioner Eggelletion, everyone knows, is a friend of mine...," Williams said. "In America, people are innocent until proven guilty... Let's not denigrate someone's character when you do not know where it's coming from."
One week later, the residents of the unincorporated areas voted by a two-to-one margin against annexation.
But that wasn't the only victory for Eggelletion. On November 16, he ejected Billingsley from the county planning board and replaced him with a more friendly Lakes commissioner: Levoyd Williams. And with that, Eggelletion once again proved his clout both in Broward County and in his home city, Lauderdale Lakes.
