Sanity in Tamarac: The witch hunt is dead. But can it last? | Editorial

Sanity makes a cameo appearance at Tamarac City Hall. The question is, will it last?

Amid a growing furor among residents, four commissioners quickly dropped a reckless crusade to spend as much as $50,000 of taxpayers’ money on a potentially destructive witch hunt. It’s the first positive news to come out of the west Broward city in a while.

The original plan, on Wednesday’s city commission agenda, was to hire a law firm to find a city employee who might have given a Sun Sentinel reporter a draft city memo — a public record under Florida law — that listed mid-year budget changes, including grandiose compensation packages for commissioners at taxpayer expense.

But in a surprise reversal, all four beat a hasty retreat, thanks largely to the persistent reporting of the Sun Sentinel’s Lisa J. Huriash. In their last virtual meeting, the four sided with Mayor Michelle Gomez, who opposed the senseless plan from the start, and killed it, 5-0. Ding dong, the witch hunt is dead.

But the trouble in Tamarac is far from over.

The abrupt about-face might have been prompted by news, according to Commissioner Mike Gelin, that Broward County’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is taking an interest in the goings-on in Tamarac. If that’s true, it’s not a whistleblower who should be worried, it’s commissioners themselves.

The OIG presumably doesn’t care who gave us a memo, but rather how commissioners spend public money, like a $15,000-a-year slush fund for each of them to spend on local travel without having to provide receipts for expenses. That’s waste with no accountability. Commissioners already are reimbursed for travel, and they earn $50,240 a year ($60,540 for the mayor).

Another proposed perk, astonishingly, is health insurance fully paid for by the city. When is enough enough?

The inspector general’s job is to investigate allegations of misconduct, including “fraud, corruption, abuse and gross mismanagement” by the county or any of its 31 municipalities.

In a reminder that much more must change in Tamarac, Wednesday’s meeting featured the usual petty crossfire between commissioners, like the childish back and forth between Vice Mayor Elvin Villalobos and Commissioner Marlon Bolton on whether their jobs are full-time or part-time. “Gentlemen!” Gomez interjected. “Irrelevant.”

Irrelevant, and inarguable: The job is part-time.

An encouraging sign: Residents went online and voiced outrage at the recent turn of events. Mark Raskind told commissioners they were “caught in an embarrassing situation.” Elie Torres cited “bickering” and said other cities are well-run but “ours has been a joke for others to mock.”

Former Commissioner Julie Fishman was aghast that a city would turn against its own workers. “Talk about a hostile work environment,” she said.

Fishman is right. The gang of four owes the Tamarac work force a public apology.

It’s also more obvious than ever that commissioners must reject any more perks for themselves, especially a new $25,000 fund to pay for nebulous “personal initiatives.” Much bigger cities don’t have these giveaway programs because they don’t need them. It’s a waste of tax dollars that most politicians would never have the nerve to suggest for fear of being run out of town.

City officials should do what’s right, like Commissioner Debra Placko did Wednesday. She courageously admitted that her initial backing of the investigation was wrong.

“I reacted out of anger. I should not have done that,” Placko said. “I definitely know better, which is why I will be changing my vote.”

Good citizens will respect a public official for acknowledging their own flaws and for showing humility and honesty in a crisis.

Regardless of how it happened, city officials did the right thing. Maybe the best news of all out of Tamarac is that people now are watching — not just the local paper, but residents and a county ethics czar who can get the attention of prosecutors.

Commissioners are on notice. They know it now.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, Steve Bousquet and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.