Local Politics

Honor Thy Women

Mavericks High Schools Hope to Profit From Education – But at What Cost?

Earl Rynerson Gets a Supporter to Run for Fort Lauderdale Mayor to Force a Primary

​Earl Rynerson, who's running for Fort Lauderdale mayor (again) against current Mayor Jack Seiler, deployed an interesting campaign strategy in his effort to get elected -- admittedly convincing someone else to run for mayor to force a primary election.Rynerson doesn't specifically use the word, b ... More >>

Southwest Ranches, Pines Residents Rally Against Immigrant Pen and "Cone of Silence"

Photos by Stefan Kamph​The Pulp tried to attend last night's meeting of the Southwest Ranches town council, but BSO Deputy Lee Roselli and Cmdr. Wallace Haywood wouldn't let us inside the council chambers. So we remained outside with the 50 or so local residents who were loudly protesting an immig ... More >>

West Palm Beach Grandmother Gives 8-Year-Old's Teacher a Loaded Gun -- As a Gift

flickriver.comProbably not the teacher's pet​Apparently elementary school teachers don't like getting loaded guns as presents from their 8-year-old students or their grandmothers.Regardless, that's what Palm Beach County School District officials are saying happened at the Allamanda Elementary ... More >>

Hollywood Faces Budget Crisis Surprise; City Manager Hit with Corruption Investigation

The Miami HeraldCameron Benson​Cameron Benson has worked for the City of Hollywood since 1995 and as city manager since 2002. Historically, he has shunned attention -- newspapers are still referencing interviews he gave in 1995 -- despite periodic allegations of questionable behavior.He's known ar ... More >>

UPDATE: Talabisco Arrest Affidavit Details Election Plot

BSO Talabisco's mug shot ​ UPDATED: The arrest affidavit for just-arrested Tamarac Mayor Beth Flaunsbaum-Talabisco lays out an intricate plot to deliver the 2006 mayoral election to the 57-year-old politician. Blacktie South Florida Talabisco and Lieberman before ... More >>

Mysterious "Jedi" Plays Shady Role in Plantation Races

There's a mysterious force at work in the Plantation City Council races -- and they call him the Jedi.The Jedi is being blamed for a recent negative ad on council candidate Lynn Stoner, who is getting backing by certain Republicans. The ad, which attacks Stoner's dismal voting record, comes with no ... More >>

Riviera Beach Accused of Violating Sunshine Law in Fight Over Marina

Photo by C.StilesLozman has been fighting the marina deal.​The plan to privatize a portion of Riviera Beach's public marina refuses to die. Voters tried to kill it last November. They passed a referendum against a deal to lease the marina to a megayacht company. It was a victory for the little guy ... More >>

Seiler's Mobile Office Hours: Got a Complaint? Catch Him if You Can

timsmith.com​Imagine a society in which citizens must work to air their grievances, where every complaint to city hall requires a bit of physical effort. Would this weed out the gadflies? Apparently not.Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler's new "mobile office hours" involve a monthly jog/walk throug ... More >>

Hallandale Mayor Still Tiptoeing Around Controversial Consultant's Deal

Photo: City of Hallandale BeachMayor Cooper says Kessel played a role in the city's purchase of land at Sunset Park.​It's been awfully hard to get Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper to talk about the consulting contract that her city manager gave to real estate agent Joe Kessel in 2008. When I reac ... More >>

HUD Sucker Proxy: Deerfield Officials Reveal Past Violations in Housing Program

Looks like Deerfield Beach forgot to tell its taxpaying citizens that in early 2009, it paid nearly $100,000 to the feds to make up for its misuse of public housing dollars. In fact, those city officials nearly forgot to mention this to the forensic auditing firm specifically investigating how Deerf ... More >>

Hallandale Mayor Knew of City's Controversial Contract With Real Estate Agent

FlickrJoy Cooper​Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper says she was aware that a real estate agent, Joe Kessel, had been contracted by the city manager as a consultant, but Cooper refused to answer a question about whether that consultant should have disclosed his contract before testifying in support ... More >>

Despite Ghostly CityPlace South Tower, County Still Wants New West Palm Hotel

Photo by C. StilesCityPlace South Tower is next door to the convention center.​Here's a riddle of government wisdom: Palm Beach County commissioners have been itching for a hotel to prop up the convention center in downtown West Palm Beach for years. Industry experts warn that the center will neve ... More >>

South Florida and Gov2.0

Time To Engage Us​A new wave of how local government works with people in communities around the nation is happening. In several large metropolitan areas such as San Francisco, New York, and Seattle, mobile phone applications that allow users to submit trouble reports to municipalities for repair ... More >>

UPDATED: Eggelletion to Enter Guilty Plea

Eggelletion​Former Broward County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion has agreed to enter a guilty plea in the federal corruption case against him.UPDATE: Just got off the phone with Eggelletion's former colleague, Commissioner John Rodstrom. "I think it's just a tragedy," he said of Eggelletion's f ... More >>

West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel Took on Community Activists, and Dreams for Northwood Village Died

Jupiter Official Worked for Company That Got Town's Backing for 350K Loan

Why go through all the trouble of vetting a company that wants a big pile of cash from the town when the town has a high-ranking official who can vouch for them?If you said "conflict of interest" then congratulations! But you'll never make it in Jupiter.Today's South Florida Business Journal has an ... More >>

Larry Deetjen Puppet Show a Hit in Oak Lawn

Deetjen​Yes, that Larry Deetjen -- the former Deerfield Beach city manager who was practically joined at the hip with mayor-turned-felony-suspect Al Capellini. Despite rumors that Deetjen would be swooping back around to take his old job back from Mike Mahaney -- Mayor Peggy Noland doesn't like th ... More >>

Despite Budget Cuts, Pines City Manager Still Earning Big

Flickr user: ZenTraveler​Governments all over the country are slashing their budgets to survive the New Depression. Last month, the city of Pembroke Pines took the drastic step of axing its entire building department -- laying off at least 33 employees, and outsourcing building inspection duties t ... More >>

Six-Digit Discount

Wilton Manors is strapped for cash, but the city gives a developer a $160,000 discount on fees.

Will Deerfield Beach City Manager Get Axed Tonight?

Mike Mahaney, the Deerfield Beach city manager who has been straddling a political fault line since the March 10 municipal election, is in danger of being fired at tonight's special meeting of the Deerfield Beach City Commission, according to a source.There's no mention of Mahaney on the agenda rele ... More >>

Grand Jury Details Palm Beach County's Sins

Flickr user: HeneghanYour money, wasted by Palm Beach County officials.How corrupt is Palm Beach County government? A grand jury report released today counts the ways. From overpriced land deals to shady bond underwriting practices, to slush funds that allow public officials to spend millions on the ... More >>

It's Great to Be Good: Hallandale Beach City Manager Has Sweatheart Deal

hallandalebeach.orgMike GoodWell, it sure looks like a sweetheart deal. In 2008, Mike Good, city manager of Hallandale Beach, collected a gross income of $422,000 and change.I say "looks" only because thus far, neither Good nor Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper, who signs Good's contracts, has retur ... More >>

There Will Be Blood: Jean Robb to Run for Deerfield Beach Mayor

In Deerfield Beach, they don't do Democrats and Republicans. Rather, you've got the Indicted Party, which nominated Al Capellini, who resigned as mayor last month after corruption charges were filed against him. And you've got the Nearly Indicted Party, which recently chose Jean Robb as its nominee. ... More >>

Politicians in Sunrise have plenty of mud to sling

Trick Daddy

Mein Klinton

Muddy Politics

A sure-fire technique to rile a city: Accuse people of anti-Semitism

Rambo and the Phantom

Investigating a gun-slinging city commissioner and the mayor who hides in the bathroom

Hooray for Hollywood

Even with a housing bust and bad court verdicts, the show goes on.

Political Links

Fairway for Investors, Dead End for You

The Mayor's Spin Zone

Letters for May 18–24, 2006

Oh, Canada

We objected to John Canada's abuse of power. But the state didn't.

Letters for February 2-8, 2006

2005's Egregious Eleven

The scam artists/malfeasants come at you in waves in South Florida

Best Political Protest

Fort Lauderdale city employees'wearing gags

The Mayor's Trial

Did one of Broward's biggest developers rip off Parkland residents and pay off the mayor?

Bad Connections

And you thought Mayor Griffin's other transgressions were worthy of indictment

Swimming in Trouble

Pompano Beach Mayor Bill Griffin is, well, conflicted over the Swimming Hall of Fame deal

Activist, Interrupted

Pompano Beach's top dog managed to gag his chief tormentor by playing politics

Letters to the Editor

Letters for August 16, 2001

Emerging Elitism

American Heritage School survives despite near financial collapse, angry neighbors, and a questionable relationship with a Plantation politician

Cruisin' for a Bruisin'

With politicians in its pocket and more than a few violations under its belt, SunCruz sails into a port near you

Sonny's Last Stand

Coming soon to a courtroom near you: dueling conspiracy theories that pit Fort Lauderdale's finest against their political bosses. One certain verdict: There's a price to pay for tangling with civic activist Sonny Irons.

Forgive Them, Father, For They Know Not Where to Pray

The ACLU will file suit against Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle for his proposed prayer meeting in the city commission chambers.

Letters

Undercurrents