Declared the "working man's hero" in the
Sun-Sentinel this past January, City of Fort Lauderdale engineer Elgin Jones has filed lawsuits against his employer for racial discrimination, claiming he was passed over for a job because he's black. The 39-year-old also moonlights as a government reporter and columnist for the county's incendiary
Broward Times. Is writing about the people he's suing a conflict of interest? No way, he says. Reporting about the people he's suing is his right to "freedom of expression." Some say the issue of Jones's dual jobs is nitpicking: Former Broward Human Rights Board member Jeff Gorley, for one, believes Jones is Broward County's answer to
Braveheart, praising him for attracting the attention of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which recommended that the Justice Department review hundreds of city-employee discrimination complaints. Note to Jones: Look into blue face paint.