Posted on 01/29/2003 7:43:28 AM PST by tomball
SEEKING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE: Miriam Oliphant, Broward County supervisor for elections, answers questions Tuesday morning before the County Commission. Behind her stands Mary J. Halper. EMILY MICHOT/HERALD STAFF
By 5-4 vote, Broward OK's Oliphant bailout
Funds should see her through Feb. 11
Supervisor pledges to be prudent with the taxpayers' money
Broward Supervisor of Elections Miriam Oliphant got another financial bailout from reluctant county commissioners Tuesday, after more than three hours of tense public negotiations.
Ultimately, on a 5-4 vote, they agreed to a $179,000 cash advance to carry her through the Feb. 11 city primaries.
The new advance will be handled much like the $1.4 million she received last year to pay for the Nov. 5 election. All spending must be approved by both the elections office and the county, to ensure that all of the money goes toward expenses related to the February election.
That assurance wasn't enough for the four commissioners who voted against fronting the money.
Oliphant simply hasn't proved she has implemented some of the fiscal belt-tightening suggested in the county's audit, said Commissioner Lori Parrish, who was joined in her ''no'' vote by Suzanne Gunzburger, Ilene Lieberman and Jim Scott.
''We have to have some accountability,'' Parrish said. ``You can't issue a blank check without some accountability.''
But Oliphant wouldn't agree to more stringent oversight, and a majority of commissioners said they felt an obligation to make sure there was enough money to run the Fort Lauderdale and Dania Beach primary elections. That primary is now two weeks away.
''If Mrs. Oliphant was gone tomorrow and someone else was standing there and in her stead, we would still have an election,'' Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion said. ``At some point, you would still have to fund that office. None of that changes.''
Although five commissioners voted to advance her the money, Oliphant and her staff were roundly criticized for what was described as a vague $200,000 budget request.
Commissioners didn't get a detailed breakdown of the request until just before their 2 p.m. meeting, and when they did get it, it included $21,000 to run the now-canceled condominium elections in Sunrise Lakes.
The estimates are rough numbers, said Ken Leb, Oliphant's interim deputy supervisor, who took much of the fire for Oliphant during the meeting. He argued that the office is understaffed, underfunded and completely focused right now on the Feb. 11 elections. As a result, no one had the time to revise the numbers.
''There is no realistic number at this point,'' Leb admitted to commissioners.
''Best guess is just not going to cut it,'' said Commissioner Kristin Jacobs. ``I cannot approve fluff.''
`NO. 1 PRIORITY'
Oliphant defended her staff's numbers, saying they were focused on elections and not on the budget.
''We are in election mode,'' Oliphant said. ``Our No. 1 priority is these elections. There's not enough time in the day for my staff to be pulled away from election preparations.''
Commissioners finally agreed to subtract the $21,000 cost of the Sunrise Lakes elections and give Oliphant a $179,000 advance. The money will come in the form of an advance on her $5.8 million budget, which is normally doled out in a monthly allocation.
Oliphant thanked the commissioners after the meeting and pledged to be prudent with the money.
''There were some concerns there about accountability and responsibility,'' Oliphant told reporters. ``And that's what the taxpayers of Broward County want to hear. More accountability and more responsibility.''
Oliphant will still have to come back to the commission to ask for more money to run the March 11 elections with 12 Broward cities.
''You will run out of money,'' said Commissioner John Rodstrom. ``It's a fact, as sure as I'm sitting here. You will run out of money.''
''It's not a good position to be in,'' said Oliphant, who was so flustered during the meeting she couldn't remember the name of her new financial advisor, Dick Wallsmith.
Oliphant has already received more than $4.1 million of her $5.8 million budget and the county auditor has predicted she will run out of money by June, with four months left in the fiscal year.
She started the year in debt, by overspending last year's budget by $921,263. That forced her to get a $1.4 million advance to run the November elections.
FINANCIAL CHAOS
To address some of the financial chaos in her office, Oliphant reassigned her finance director and hired Wallsmith, who helped former Broward Clerk of Courts Bob Lockwood straighten out his finances in 1990.
Throughout the meeting, Oliphant was also flanked by two of Broward's most prominent black female politicians: state Sen. Mandy Dawson, D-Fort Lauderdale, and former Commissioner Sylvia Poitier.
A group of activists also attended the meeting, but it was much smaller than the crowds that have jammed the Broward County Governmental Center in the past to support Oliphant.
Six people showed up on Tuesday morning in front of the governmental center for what was billed as a demonstration of black grass-roots community activists. Carrying signs that said, ''Love you, Miriam'' and ''We voted for you. We support you,'' the group, calling itself the People Coalition, walked back and forth outside the county building.
Herald Staff Writer Brad Bennett contributed to this report.
Conventional wisdom has Janet Reno sweeping the black vote, but two of Florida's three black members of Congress, all Democrats, are not hopping on the Reno bandwagon. "Janet Reno can't win," said U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings of Broward County, a Reno stronghold. "I told her that if she hadn't seen Waco burning enough, Bill Clinton kissing Monica enough, and Elian being snatched enough, then she should run for governor." He favors Bill McBride.
The Sun Sentinel adds this after the election:
U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, said nothing Oliphant is accused of rises to the level of misdeeds he thinks were committed by former Secretary of State Katherine Harris in the 2000 election. He said Bush would face the wrath of black voters in the November election if he removes Oliphant.
"I dare the governor to remove her," Hastings said. "He'll create a firestorm that will eclipse the one he created in the One Florida plan. He'll need Katherine Harris to count the votes for him again."
Huh? Is this a threat that blacks will vote Democrat?
Six people. Call out the National Guard.
She is pretty foxy though and that's gotten her this far.
Funny, I thought it was a portly Andrew Young in drag.
Let me guess:
Woman
Jewish
Hispanic
Black
Lesbian
Handicapped
Come on, let us know what the trifecta is ;-)
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