Audio By Carbonatix
The list of candidates for the Broward Health board is full of attorneys, contractors, politicians and health-care business owners. They are vying for at least one open seat — the one formerly belonging to Maureen Jaeger, who left this fall to join George Lemieux’s U.S. Senate staff. Commissioner Rebecca Stoll’s seat may also be open, considering she hasn’t attended a board meeting since July.
Of course, Crist’s appointments for the hospital board have been riddled by scandal. Commissioner Joseph Cobo is currently under criminal investigation for ethics violations. Commissioner Mike Fernandez may have broken ethical standards by not disclosing a conflict of interest of his own.
So as we look through the list that Crist has, let’s be on the lookout for potential conflicts of interest, if only because Crist’s office tends to have a blind spot for this.
I did very quick background research on the applicants, though I couldn’t immediately track down biographical information on them all. Let me know if the links are outdated and I’ll update.
- Alison Winfield
- John. R. Gillespie – a partner of the politically powerful law firm Broad & Cassell.
- Howard S. Dekkers – CEO for Diagnostic Professionals and a max contributor to the Crist campaign in August.
- Marvin Dejean – runs a public relations firm in Coral Springs, Markcom Industries.
- Carmen R. McGarry – mayor of Hillsboro Beach.
- Burnadette Norris-Weeks – a voting rights activist and attorney for various government entities.
- Joel K. Gustafson – former state legislator who has also served on the Florida Commission on Ethics.
- Jennifer O’Flannery Anderson – president/CEO of United Way Broward.
- Richard G. Paul-Hus – a contractor who was previously appointed to a small business committee by Crist and who is a generous donor to Republican campaigns.
- Mateo J. Martinez
- Layne D. Walls – former mayor of Oakland Park.
- Sidney C. Calloway – a partner at Schutts & Bowen, the law firm of megalobbyist George Platt.
- Priti Maheshwari
- Ray T. Berry
- David R. Maymon – Republican candidate for state House; he founded Advocate Home Care in Coral Springs.
- Harry G. Tangalakis – senior VP for industrial properties for development giant CB Richard Ellis.
- Dr. Rajendra P. Gupta – physician with a practice in Plantation who’s also a trustee at Florida Atlantic.
- William A. Webb – an accountant in Pompano Beach.
Commissioners Robert Bernstein and Dan Gordon have both applied to have their four-year terms renewed. Last week, I floated the rumor that Crist had already chosen two new commissioners to fill Stoll and Jaeger’s places on the board.
