With the announcement Friday that 106 Deerfield Beach workers were being laid off, tonight's commission meeting was going to be a madhouse no matter what. But that's not quite enough of a guarantee for Commissioner Sylvia Poitier, who has been using her phone to raise the rabble and ensure that chaos descends upon commission chambers.
According to a source with knowledge of these things, Poitier has been calling former city employees and other folks with a reason to heckle. Curious as to her reasons, I left a message with Poitier, but I haven't heard back.
Layoffs suck, but they're an unfortunate consequence of this economy, and it's not immediately clear what remedy Poitier prefers. A dramatic increase in taxes?
But as usual, her true motives are fairly clear.
Poitier thrives on chaos. She likes to whip her residents into a frenzy,
and she isn't too proud to use the race card to do so. The more emotion
she injects into a debate, the better her chances at poisoning the
methodical, rational, objective means by which a government is supposed
to make a decision.
Of course, Poitier also has the antidote to that poison: If she gets her
way and the city stops trying to figure out whether she's been
illegally profiting from public housing programs and city festivals,
well, then maybe the angry mobs will go away.
But the forces of reform in the city -- Commissioner Bill Ganz and City
Manager Burgess Hanson, to name a few -- have made it this far. Here's
hoping they summon the strength they'll need to get through tonight.
