A member of the Broward Republican Executive Committee was overruled tonight when he tried to make a motion to hold a straw poll about the U.S. Senate race.

Patrick Castronovo, one of 200 some people at the meeting at a Fort Lauderdale hotel, stood up and tried to make a motion but was quickly drowned out. If others in the room support Castronovo's proposal

Of the seven names on Gov. Charlie Crist's shortlist for a U.S. Senate appointment, one has a particularly eclectic mix of memberships on her gubernatorial questionnaire: Jennifer Carroll, the first black Republican elected to the Florida Legislature.

How many people do you know that belong to both the National Rifle Association and the NAACP, who belong to the black Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority as well as the American Legion?

At the state party's meeting this morning, she gave an energetic speech about outreach to minority voters. “We don't want to concede voters any longer to the other side,'' she said.

One of her chief promoters

While Broward County employees will be taking furloughs to help balance the budget, county commissioners Tuesday are poised to raise the salary range for the director of public works.

The salary range boost coincides with a plan to hire a new public works director who had a mysterious — and lucrative — exit from his last public sector job.

County Administrator Bertha Henry proposed lifting the salary range for the job up to $211,000 and paying Thomas Hutka $183,000. He will earn about 10 percent more than the current employee who is filling in on that slot after the last permanent public works director took a job in county administration.

Henry said Hutka will earn less than his counterparts in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach who earn $194,794 and $198,631.

But Will Vargas, a union leader, questions the timing of the pay hike.

“How can they be hiring an employee at a higher rate when we are going to have to lose money on furlough days?''

Broward didn't struggle to fill the slot — nearly 100 people applied. But unlike in his last government job, Hutka isn't getting a contract that includes severance.

Hutka quit his city manager job in Port Huron, Michigan in 2006 citing personal reasons, according to the Times Herald, and later attributed his exit to a spat with business leaders about development. Though he didn't have the support of several council members,

The truth about the recent healthcare protests — as in most highly charged political debates — lies somewhere in the middle, in between the Democratic account of angry mobs orchestrated by special
interest groups and the Republican portrayal of spontaneous grass roots unrest. Column here.

Read the original here:
Town halls turned town brawls?

Broward Chief Judge Victor Tobin has organized a forum about the Clerk of Courts office to be held at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the courthouse.

But Clerk of Courts Howard Forman said he isn't coming.

“I will not be in attendance at your inappropriate and unprecedented August 6th Forum,'' Forman wrote in a letter to Tobin today. “Please correct immediately your website notice that implies that this forum will be held in conjunction with the Clerk of Courts. This was never discussed with me and I did not give you permission to announce my attendance or participation.''

Forman said he's happy to meet with Tobin — but not at this forum which is open to the public. The duo have been feuding about Forman's management of his office for months.

Read more:
Howard Forman says he’ll be a no-show at forum about him

The honeymoon is over. Barack Obama doesn't bring me flowers anymore. “You don't mind taking a cab home from the airport, do you, honey?'' he asked the last time I boarded a late-night flight.

It's not just I me who sees the bloom coming off the Rose Garden. A handful of polls this week show the president's popularity slipping. Voters are increasingly concerned that health care reform will leave them worse off, that the economic stimulus plan isn't working, and that the administration is trying to
do to much at once.

Yes, Obama is proving to be what many of us knew all along: He's a mere mortal, unable to leap two wars, a recession and the conflict in the Middle East in a single bound. The soaring rhetoric of hope and change gives way to dull press conferences about a “health insurance exchange.'' The smoothest of operators, Obama even speaks from the heart instead of the head now and then, as he did when he said the Cambridge police “stupidly'' arrested a black Harvard professor for disorderly conduct in his own home.

In Florida and elsewhere, the shaken confidence in Obama is coming from the left and the right. Keep reading here.

See more here:
Is Obama the same man we married?

Broward Administrator Bertha Henry's budget proposal expected to be released later tonight will suggest furloughs for county workers.

Henry could not be reached for comment but County Commissioner John Rodstrom said that Henry told him the furloughs will save about $4.5 million. Rodstrom said he believes the furloughs are for all county workers.

Rodstrom said

While Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti has come up with a plan to attempt to reverse two of his most painful budget cuts through voluntary furloughs — layoffs and closing a jail — he hasn't announced any intentions to save drug treatment programs for inmates.

Earlier this year Lamberti announced he would end drug treatment and other programs for inmates in the jail by Aug. 1. Everyone — including Lamberti — agrees about the importance of the programs, but he says he can't afford it while being ordered to cut $50 million from his budget. Lamberti has refused to cut that amount but has taken steps to reduce growth in spending, such as axing treatment.

The Broward Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is organizing a public forum about the jail programs at 1 p.m. July 24th at the courthouse. President Russell Williams said he plans to start a petition drive and hopes that the public turns up the heat on the county commission and the sheriff to find a way to pay for the programs.

“Everybody knows that the programs

Broward Republican Party Chair Chip LaMarca issued a news release today accusing the nine-member Democratic County Commission of playing politics with Republican Sheriff Al Lamberti's budget.

The county has asked Lamberti to cut $50 million. He has refused, although he has taken steps to reduce growth in his budget by laying off 177 workers by the end of this month.

LaMarca says that the County Commission has turned the budget date into a ''political circus.''

“The last straw was when the Democratic Mayor went before a partisan group of Democrats to criticize the sheriff,'' he wrote.

LaMarca called on elected officials in cities that have BSO contracts to also speak up.

“Or, will they remain silent out of fear of political reprisals from the Democratic Party?''

Commissioners have said their fight isn't about partisan politics despite the fact that nearly all of them endorsed Lamberti's opponent last year. They argue that its about money: if Lamberti doesn't cut, they will have to cut more from their side of the ledger.

The rest is here:
Broward GOP chair to county: quit playing politics with sheriff

Broward commissioners tonight voted to direct county officials to hit up city managers to see if any are interested in running the stockade, the jail facility Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti plans to close at the end of July as part of his budget cuts.

It seems unlikely that cities wrestling with their own budget woes would want to step into the middle of this fight and take over operating a jail.

Commissioners also voted to hire a consultant to study taking over BSO's entire jail system, but its unlikely that will resolve the budget dispute with Lamberti this year. That would give commissioners control over nearly one-third of Lamberti's $722 million budget.

Commissioner Kristin Jacobs argued that her peers were sending the wrong message as they attempt to continue negotiations with Lamberti. She said her colleagues need to meet with Lamberti in person.

“Enough of us aren't doing that,'' she said.

But Jacobs was outnumbered by commissioners who said its time to collect information to determine if the county could save money by operating the jails.

“For me its not a power grab,'' said Mayor Stacy Ritter.

Original post:
Broward want ad: anybody out there want to operate a jail?

Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti said in an interview today that raising the tax rate to the rollup amount — just enough to recoup much of the loss in property values — combined with using reserves would be a ''reasonable'' solution to resolve the county's more than $100 million budget shortfall.

In the past, Lamberti has emphasized that Broward voters approved Amendment 1 and want tax cuts.

When pressed about supporting a tax rate hike, he said that the decision lies with county commissioners. The commissioners are expected to talk about the reserves in more detail Tuesday.

Lamberti and county officials disagree about the amount of reserves the county has — but in both cases the amounts add up to more than the shortfall in the budget.

Read more here:
Broward sheriff says a tax rate hike may be ‘reasonable’

David Maymon, a Fort Lauderdale attorney who is active in the Broward Republican politics, announced Thursday that he has formally joined the race for the state House seat now held by Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale.

Maymon, 32, is deputy director of communications for the Broward Republican Executive Committee and has volunteered on several campaigns. The Broward native also leads Fort Lauderdale's Community Services Board.

Bogdanoff's announcement last month that she plans to run for the open state Senate seat created by Senate President Jeff Atwater's run for chief financial officer has created a scramble for her House seat.

House District 91 runs up the coast from Dania Beach to Boca Raton, and as the only predominately-Republican House district to include a large portion of Broward, it is expected to generate a heated Republican primary in a county otherwise dominated by Democrats.

In addition to Maymon, Soil and Water Commissioner Oliver Parker and marketing company president Yomin Postelnik also plan to run.

As a young Republican, who is well known in Republican activist circles,
Maymom could be the fresh face Republicans are looking for, but he will
need to work hard to make his name known to those outside local party
politics.

See below to read the full text of Maymon's announcement.

MAYMON TO SEEK BOGDANOFF SEAT

]]> http://callsforaction.com/blog/fort-lauderdale-attorney-officially-enters-republican-race-for-bogdanoffs-house-seat/feed/ 0 http://callsforaction.com/blog/commissioner-to-broward-sheriff-you-cant-bully-me/ http://callsforaction.com/blog/commissioner-to-broward-sheriff-you-cant-bully-me/#comments Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:46:36 +0000 Josh http://callsforaction.com/blog/commissioner-to-broward-sheriff-you-cant-bully-me/ At a budget workshop today, Broward commissioners continue to take swipes at Sheriff Al Lamberti for refusing to cut more than $50 million from his budget. Lamberti isn't here.

At a budget workshop today, Broward commissioners continue to take swipes at Sheriff Al Lamberti for refusing to cut more than $50 million from his budget. Lamberti isn't here.

Lamberti's proposed budget is a slight increase, but reduces growth by laying off 177 workers and axing drug treatment in the jails. He says he can't cut more, but commissioners say they could simply give him a certain amount of money and let him decide what to cut.

“Last time I was bullied I was in the third grade,'' said commissioner Joe Eggelletion. “I ain't going to be bullied.''

If Lamberti and county officials can't agree, he can appeal portions of his budget to the Cabinet.

See the original post here:
Commissioner to Broward sheriff: you can’t bully me

For months, Broward commissioners have been talking about slashing more than $100 million from their budget to make up for declining property tax revenues, but is such a move really likely?

Simply put — no.

Next week commissioners will receive details about a budget cut scenario that involves raising the tax rate just enough to bring in the same amount of tax revenues as this year. That would still lead to a cut — about $45 million. If commissioners don't raise the tax rate, the cuts would be as high as $129 million.

“As hardline as some of them have been about this issue,