Former Tamarac Commissioner Ed Portner — best-known as Stacy Ritter’s dad — claimed in yesterday’s Sun-Sentinel that he took no money from criminally convicted developers Bruce and Shawn Chait before his vote for their controversial housing project on two golf courses in his city.This after the Chaits’ political operative, Beverly…

UPDATED: Sylvia Poitier, the controversial former Broward County commissioner who is now an elected official in Deerfield Beach, has been charged with five misdemeanors related to her family’s involvement in a city-sponsored housing organization, according to the South Florida Times. ​The newspaper didn’t specify the charges but reported that they stem…

So the Sun-Sentinel is reporting that political consultant Beverly Stracher defended Broward County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman under oath, telling prosecutors that Lieberman would never sell her vote. The way Stracher sounds, you’d think Lieberman was a paragon of virtue, which is nonsense. Of course Lieberman’s vote is for sale, certainly in…

The Fort Lauderdale Tea Party is out at gun shows rousing its base to come out for an April 15 tax day protest planned at the federal courthouse to favor a government shutdown — and they are promising an appearance by Congressman Allen West. The Tea Party is hopping mad that,…

UPDATED: The pill mill problem in Broward County may have just hit a new low. Today, Broward Sheriff’s Office Sgt. John Goodbread, 42, and his wife, 37-year-old Heather, were arrested on charges of Oxycontin trafficking and prescription fraud and booked into the Palm Beach County Jail. ​Goodbread was arrested by a…

​If the government shuts down at midnight tonight, it won’t be the first time. The same thing happened at the end of 1995, when a U.S. House led by Newt Gingrich pulled the stunt on Bill Clinton. We all know how that ended. The public blamed the Republicans for the shutdown, and…

So why did Feren hire the go-to guy for for politicians in trouble with the law? Well, the truth is that rumors of a criminal investigation have been floating around Sunrise for many months. ​There’s only one indication of what it may be about. Two years ago, I reported here about…

Vicente Thrower was once a rising star in local politics.But unfortunately the 31-year-old political activist was a ​Thrower was arrested in a sting that was part of the production of the TLC show Police Women of Broward County, which is done in conjunction with BSO. The idea of the show is…

Coming up on April 15 is a local conference on political corruption that will have among its speakers dubious former state Sen. Steve Geller, Broward County Judge Ken “Mr. JenJen” Gottlieb, and lobbyist/fake ethics champion Norm Ostrau.With folks like that on board, there should be no shortage of corruption experts…

We all knew that Broward Commissioner Ilene Lieberman — once perhaps the most powerful woman in the county — disappeared for a few months, missing commission meeting after commission meeting without explanation.  After weeks of questions, Lieberman claimed her AWOL status was due to a health problem. Then we found out…

Outgoing Chief Judge Victor Tobin called a closed-door meeting of all 90 Broward judges this afternoon to discuss a budget shortfall that is threatening to shut down courthouses across the state. During the meeting, the idea was raised to “call the bluff” of Rick Scott and the Florida House and shut…

On Friday we learned that the state Legislature was planning to form a committee with appointments from the governor and other Republican leaders to oversee the Broward County School Board’s response to the grand jury report. The School Board’s lobbyist, Georgia Slack, went into full “frantic” mode and, with the help…

Rick Scott never rests. Every day, he comes up with another assault on the senses of good Floridians.  ​Today, in another example of Scott’s incredible disdain for all that is good and holy, the governor appointed attorney Linda Robison to the Florida Commission on Ethics. Who is Robison? Well, she’s…

A fine Monday-morning quote comes from Carl Hiaasen: “I once referred to a past Legislature as a festival of whores, which in retrospect was a vile insult to the world’s oldest profession. Today’s lackluster assemblage in Tallahassee is possibly the worst in modern times, and cannot fairly be compared to anything…

When the Florida Senate prepared earlier this week to take direct oversight of the dysfunctional Broward County School Board earlier this week, the board’s lobbyist, Georgia Slack, went into overdrive. ​Slack wrote in an email to board members that she began “frantic lobbying” and engaged the help of Broward state Sen…

Simple question: How are Broward County Commissioners Stacy Ritter and Ilene Lieberman even still in office? ​Seriously. Both voted for dirty developers Bruce and Shawn Chait, and both received something from them in return. Lieberman is now a state’s witness testifying against her former political protégé, suspended Tamarac Mayor Beth Talabisco,…

The garbage contract is up in North Lauderdale — and suddenly there’s a lot of family involvement in the business. ​Long-time Mayor Jack Brady announced at the January 11 commission meeting that his grown son got a job with a subsidiary of Republic Services, the company that currently provides garbage service…

The idea to make the Broward superintendent’s job an elected position was trotted out on a couple of TV news stations last night. It’s a horrible idea. As bad as the Broward County School Board is, unfortunately, voters are worse — and just as easily manipulated. It would force the superintendent deep into…

A group called Public Policy Polling (PPP) discovered the obvious: Floridians are having some dramatic buyer’s remorse when it comes to electing fraudster Rick Scott as governor. A poll of 500 Floridians found that his approval rating from diehards remained about the same as a similar PPP poll in December –…

Jim Notter couldn’t even tell the truth as he was going out the door. The Broward schools superintendent made a surprise announcement that he was retiring yesterday, leaving three years left on a contract that pays him $299,000 a year. The resignation was a much-anticipated move after the scathing grand jury report blasted…

Murray and fellow dais-sitter Jennifer Gottlieb both said the solution is obvious: Get rid of the staff! That’s right, they want to privatize the facilities department with contractors. These two discredited elected officials want to bring in private contractors — and possible campaign contributors — to come in and make more public profits by actually now running the schools…