So Broward County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman won't say why she's gone AWOL from commission meetings, telling the Sun-Sentinel (the WofP, actually) that she is "dealing with some personal matters, and I'm not at liberty to discuss them at the moment."
Not at liberty? That implies that someone has forbidden her to speak. We know she's under criminal investigation for her involvement with dirty developers Bruce and Shawn Chait (as well as the involvement of her husband, Stuart Michelson, who recently announced his resignation from his job as city attorney in Sunrise). But she says it has nothing to do with the State Attorney's Office. Michelson jumped off the phone when he was contacted by the S-S yesterday.
After the jump, a quiz about the Lieberman case and my ultimate conclusion.
Question: What would your boss do if you didn't show up for work for several weeks and refused to say why?
Answer: It would never happen because you'd probably be fired within the first few days.
Who is Ilene Lieberman's boss?
OK, so what are you going to do about it?
Look, if she's got medical issues, then that's unfortunate. Nobody wishes her ill health. But if she's going to stop working for us -- a job we're paying her $92,000 to do -- then she needs to at least send in a doctor's note.
I don't know what to believe at this point. A very good source tells me that there are no serious health issues, that it's "bullshit." Another tells me Lieberman is going through some kind of medical tests. Obviously there's a lot of speculation about the ongoing SAO criminal investigation.
Whatever the case, she's gone over the line with her lack of accountability -- and she needs to resign.
-- Regarding the statewide grand jury's corruption investigation: A source close to the probe tells me that state investigators are still working on the case, which is focusing on the Broward County School Board's construction department. The source used the term marathon. I guess that's good news.
