2007 letter questioning Pompano Beach Mayor Lamar Fisher doesn't stop corruption
The Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency in Broward County, Florida is made of the exact same members as the City of Pompano Beach Commission. Over time as new candidates are elected to the Commission, those changes are duplicated in the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency. However the election time changing of the guard does not really seem to change very much, as most incumbents are well-positioned. Nor does the occasional election of a newcomer seem to have any impact on the Pompano Beach CRA’s questionable practices. Even though a July 2007 court ruling found that the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency wasn’t a legal agency and didn’t have the power of eminent domain to take properties, it continued in its seizing of properties and is still carrying on those actions today. It seems new Commission and CRA members perpetuate the sins of the old and the only solution to break up the political status quo may be the wave of federal investigative stings and subsequent arrests now occurring in South Florida.
Long-time Broward County Commissioner (and ex-Mayor) Kristin D. Jacobs was aware of the questionable practices of the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency in her district. She wrote letters of inquiry to two different Pompano Beach Mayors (and Commissions)
Jacobs was correct to write those letters, as the Broward County Commission is the agency that is supposed to oversee the City of Pompano Beach among other cities in its districts. Over time however, letters or not, it has failed to stop the illegal Pompano Beach CRA from stealing property from private citizens, churches, and businesses under false auspices of eminent domain to sell to private developers. The Broward Commission seems to suffer from the same problems as the city it oversees, as its members also tend not to change much through elections. South Florida has become known as a good ole boy network of political inbreeding and in the past year, a 19th Statewide Grand Jury on Public Corruption was convened at the behest of the Florida Supreme Court upon request of Governor Charlie Crist to begin to address the immense corruption and racketeering problems of the state, and specifically Broward County.
In the land grab case of Gil Eriksen Properties as mentioned in Jacob's letter, even though the CRA did not have the power of eminent domain, and a Constitutional Amendment was passed against the taking of private property for private development, the CRA seized the property and was not stopped at any point by the Broward County Court or the Broward County Commission. This is being seen as Constitutional offense and it is now thought that the Statewide Grand Jury arrests may be the only hope to clean up government in South Florida.
The case of Pompano Beach CRA v Gil Eriksen Properties LLC is still open and unresolved after five years, which many are calling out as a further obstruction of justice, blockade of due process, and cover-up. The property owner is still owed $4 million dollars in restitution, even though the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency took possession of the private property four years ago, and has since destroyed it.
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Was your property taken by the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency?
Find information and resources at http://www.wojspubs.com
Report your complaint to the 19th Statewide Grand Jury on Public Corruption at http://myfloridalegal.com/
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