robb ethics binder

7/30/2019 Robb Ethics Binder

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Friday, August 30, 2013

John W. Scott, Inspector GeneralOffice of the Inspector GeneralOne North University Drive, Suite 111

Plantation, FL 33324

Timothy "Chaz" StevensPO Box 1123Deerfield Beach, FL 33443

RE: Ethics Violation Against Deerfield Beach Mayor Jean Bitch with a Capital C Robb

Dear Sir or Madam:

Please accept this letter as my formal complaint against Deerfield Beach Mayor Jean Robb for violation ofthe Broward County ethics law.

In support of this allegation, I offer the following for your consideration.

Attached please find two (2) letters Robb sent out, on city letterhead, to local businessman JR Dunn,asking him for an $8,000 donation to Robbs favorite charities.

This activity is forbidden under the Countys ethics code (see attached), The County Ethics Codeprovides that no public resources or staff may be used in connection with the solicitation of charitable

contributions unless the action is sponsored by the Board."

The Deerfield Beach City Commission (Board) did not sponsor, endorse, nor sanction Robb. Robb, as isoften the case, was acting far off the reservation. We note, shes really old, so its not surprising shewanders.

Therefore, I ask the Broward OIG to fully investigate this matter, and where appropriate, apply theapplicable sanctions, fines, kicks in the ass, and if necessary, send Robb to a day spa shes in direneed of some massive exfoliation.

I stand ready to assist.

Happy hunting;

Timothy Chaz Stevens818-468-5433

Attachments (4)


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About the authors

ANTHONY MAN is the Sun

Sentinel's political writer.

Concentrating on local political

people, parties and trends, he also covers

state and national politics from a South

Florida perspective.

BRITTANY WALLMAN covers

Broward County and news. She has

covered local government andelections her entire reporting career --

including the infamous 2000 recount.

LARRY BARSZEWSKI covers

Fort Lauderdale and Wilton

Manors. In the past, he has

reported on Palm Beach County government

and schools, aging and social issues,

Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach and state

legislative sessions.

SUSANNAH BRYAN covers Hollywood,

Sunrise, Hallandale Beach, Dania Beach and

Pembroke Park.

LISA J. HURIASH covers communities in

northwest Broward.

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By Brittany Wallman9:54 a.m. EDT, July 31, 2013

Broward County Ethics Code: Read ithere

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It's not easy to find a "clean'' copy of the Broward County Code of Ethics.

Here it is, for your reading pleasure.

Sec. 1-19. Code of ethics for elected officials.

Statement of Policy. It is the policy ofBroward County that the Board of County

Commissioners work for the benefit of the citizens of the County and elected officials

of municipalities work for the benefit of the citizens of their respective municipalities.

County Commissioners and elected municipal officials shall not receive any personal

economic or financial benefit resulting from their service on their local governing

bodies beyond legally authorized direct compensation. It is the responsibility of each

County Commissioner and elected municipal official to act in a manner that promotes

public trust and confidence in government with complete transparency and honesty

in their services, and to avoid even the appearance or perception of impropriety.

Definitions. For purposes of this code of ethics (the "Broward County Elected Official

Code of Ethics"):

"Contractor" means any person or entity having a contract with the applicable

local governmental entity.

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"Covered Individual" means (i) any member of the Board of County

Commissioners; (ii) any member of a governing body of any municipality

within Broward County; (iii) any municipal mayor; (iv) any member of a final

decision-making body under the jurisdiction of the Board of County

Commissioners or the governing body of any municipality within Broward

County; (v) any individual directly appointed to a County or municipal

employment position by the Board of County Commissioners, by a governing

body of any municipality within Broward County, or by a municipal mayor; (vi)

any individual serving on a contractual basis as a municipality's chief legal

counsel or chief administrative officer, when such individual is acting in his or

her official capacity; (vii) any member of a selection, evaluation, orprocurement committee that ranks or makes recommendations to any final

decision-making authority regarding a County or municipal procurement; (viii)

any employee, any official, or any member of a committee of Broward County

or of any municipality within Broward County that has authority to make a final

decision regarding a public procurement; and (ix) the head of any department,

division, or office of Broward County or of any municipal government who

makes final recommendations to a final decision-making authority regarding

items that will be decided by the final decision-making authority. For purposes

of the prohibition on lobbying under section (c)(2) below, "Covered Individual"

also includes members of other local governmental entities within Broward

County, including taxing authorities, quasi-judicial boards, appointed boards,

and commissions.

"Elected Official" means any member of the Board of County Commissioners

and any Municipal Official as defined below.

"Filed for Public Inspection" means that the form is completed legibly and is

filed with the applicable governmental entity's chief administrative official orclerk, with a copy of the form or all information contained thereon inputted into

the applicable governmental entity's database, which database shall be

searchable by internet. For any municipality that does not maintain a website

sufficient to meet the requirements of this paragraph, the form or information

may be inputted into a database maintained by the Broward League of Cities,

provided that database is searchable by internet.

"Final Decision-Making Authority" means (i) the Board of County

Commissioners; (ii) the governing body of any municipality within Broward

County; (iii) municipal mayors; (iv) final decision-making bodies under the

jurisdiction of the Board of County Commissioners or under the jurisdiction of

the governing body of any municipality within Broward County; and (v) any

employee, official, or committee of Broward County or of any municipality

within Broward County that has authority to make a final decision to select a

vendor or provider in connection with a public procurement. For purposes of

the prohibition of lobbying under section (c)(2) below, "Final Decision-Making

Authority" also includes other local governmental entities within Broward

County, including taxing authorities, quasi-judicial boards, appointed boards,

and commissions.

"Immediate Family Member" means a parent, spouse, child, sibling, or

registered domestic partner.

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0 0Broward's Holness violates ethics code,is absolved by colleagues

August 28, 2013 | By Brittany Wallman, By Brittany Wallman

Broward Commissioner Dale Holness violated the BrowardCode of Ethics, sending out an email from his

government email account hitting up county vendors andothers for $500 donations to a favorite charity.

That kind of activity was forbidden under the ethics code.As the county put it in a memo Tuesday: "The County EthicsCode provides that no County resources or staff may be

used in connection with the solicitation of charitable

contributions unless the action is sponsored by the Board."

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Holness said he made a mistake, and Tuesday, his colleagues cut him a break.

Holness said he'd offered to help a young girl with sickle cell anemia, who was seeking to be a national"ambassador'' for the disorder. She needed people to vote for her, and he helped by texting a vote for her.The girl's mom called his office, then sent over an email for him to send out.He said he didn't look at it or he'd have realized it was a fund-raising email and that he couldn't send it

from his county email account .

Click here to see the email that Holness sent out.

Click here to read the ethics code.

Once Holness realized he'd broken the ethics code, he said he went to the county attorney to figure outwhat to do.

A path to forgiveness was laid out for him: The ethics code allows public officials in Broward to use theirpublic office to raise money for a charity if it's been officially sanctioned and sponsored by the board, inthis case the County Commission. (This is how the Oct. 26 Mayor's Gala benefiting the United Way isbeing conducted.)

So Holness had to get the county commissioners to retroactively endorse the cause.

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"The discussion was if this is inadvertent, that this is a way for us to more or less deal with it,'' Holnesstold his colleagues, "and, again, you know, I'm going to admit, we made an error in this. So I'd be gratefulif you could find in your heart the votes to approve this. It's not somethingthat was done deliberately.''

After a bit of preaching and chastizing, they unanimously voted Tuesday to do what he asked.Holness used the opportunity to complain about the ethics code, saying his constituents rely onnon-profits, and under the code, he can't use his official position and county resources to raise money forgood causes.

Commissioner Sue Gunzburger reminded him that under the ethics code, he can raise money for goodcauses without using his official title or the resources of the county.

"The reason this is here,'' she said, "is because I received phone calls from people all over the countywho do business with Broward County that were upset getting this email from your office, quite honestly.''Gunzburger said they were trained under the ethics code that "you cannot do it using taxpayers' money,

which you did by having your staff do it. ... Even if I make a phone call to raise money for a campaignthat I'm interested in, I put a document in to the attorney's office and declare it because that's the ethicslaw. I know there are people here who have not. That's a story for another day.''

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"Were you waiting for a gold star, Sue?'' asked Mayor Kristin Jacobs.

"No, I'm not waiting for a gold star,'' Gunzburger replied. "I'm just saying that those of us who have been

here since its inception know it and live with it, and we have to because it's there for a reason and it's for

transparency and for the public to have trust in us and trust in us not to abuse our office,and that's why I

would have a hard time voting for this action.''

Commissioner Lois Wexler echoed what Gunzburger said, adding that what disturbed her most was that

Holness's staff was so unfamiliar with the ethics code that they sent the email without realizing they were

violating the rules.

When the ethics code was formulated in 2010 by an independent board, then approved by the County

Commission in August that year, the prohibition was included because of complaints that public officials

leaned on vendors and lobbyists and others who needed their votes, pressuring them to contribute money

to the public officials' favorite charities.

Naturally, the vendors and lobbyists didn't like it, because they felt forced to donate.

Now it's still being done, even by Gunzburger, she said Tuesday. But with this change: When the officialasks for money, he or she just sends the mail from home and leaves off the "commissioner'' title.

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