A six-month Performance Report Card for our Mayor and Commissioners

A six-month Performance Report Card for our Mayor and Commissioners

Well, it’s been a bit over six months since our new Mayor and the four District Commissioners have been in office supposedly doing “the People’s Work” here in Fort Lauderdale. I’ve seen their 6-month performance report card. For the most part, their grades are not good.

It’s a good idea to periodically grade our local elected officials on how well they are providing for the common good of the residents of Fort Lauderdale. What follows is their report card that I am submitting to you for your review.

Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom  GRADE: B+

Of all the Commissioners, Charlotte seems to “get it”. Probably because of the fact that she is the senior Commissioner of the group and has the most experience of the five, Charlotte understands how badly bloated the current budget is, and has fought to reduce the spending of our City Manager. She also recognizes that the information and recommendations from the City staff and City Manager should never be followed blindly, but should be questioned and challenged from time to time. She has also seen the problems with the current pending FPL Franchise agreement. She has become more vocal about some of the problems that exist with our City Manager, and frankly, I’m glad she’s starting to be more vocal. Too many things go on behind “closed doors” that our City Manager tries to hide and that our residents never see. To have one of our elected officials come out about these problems I think is refreshing. The one thing she can do to improve her grade here would be to think more strategically on issues and to communicate those thoughts to the rest of her fellow Commissioners more often. She’s the senior “City Statesman” with more Commission experience and history than the rest of them combined. They should seek out her advice and she should give it.

Commissioner Bruce Roberts  GRADE: C+

The major flaw I find with Commissioner Bruce Roberts is that he is just “too much of a gentleman”. Bruce appears to do a good job of listening and understanding most of the issues during Commission meetings, but his manner of speaking at times seems to be too soft, even bordering on timid. His acceptance of the recently approved budget is very disappointing. He knows that budget is full of waste, yet he seemed to do little to challenge the City Manager’s assertion that it was a “zero-based budget”. Why? He has over 20 years of experience with the City as a police officer and former Police Chief. He has many contacts within City Government and Broward County, but is he using those contacts now to better serve his constituents? Bruce also has a unique perspective on our City Manager, having served under Gretsas as Police Chief and having resigned as “bad blood” surfaced between the two last year. His knowledge and experience with what goes on in City Government is strong. He needs to rely on that knowledge and experience to become more assertive and lead conversations, not just chime in from time to time.

Commissioners Bobby DuBose and Romney Rogers

GRADE: D

I am generally quite disappointed with both of these new Commissioners. During neighborhood campaign events, both spoke of the need for change, new direction for the Commission, and for fiscal reform. However since their election, both have been “bench warmers” at Commission meetings, doing little to initiate change, challenge City staff or question past policies. Both Rogers and DuBose seem to have come under the control of Gretsas, content to be “spoon –fed” by him and accepting whatever Gretsas says and recommends. They accepted the bloated budget by Gretsas without batting an eye. They are ready to sign FPL’s Franchise renewal contract for 30 years without investigating the issues and examining other alternatives. The energy they both exhibited when they campaigned as Commissioners has evaporated. That energy has been replaced with a yawn. They seem to be content to do what’s easy, not necessarily what’s right for their constituents. They need to wake up and start to question and challenge the City Manager on issues. To Romney & Bobby: In case you’re not aware of it, the City Manager reports to you. You manage him; it’s not the other way around.

Mayor Jack Seiler  GRADE: F

The biggest disappointment by far is Jack Seiler. With almost 15 years experience as a politician, Jack should have, (after 6 months), been able to effectively communicate to Fort Lauderdale residents what he would like to accomplish as Mayor and what his Vision of Fort Lauderdale’s future should look like. So far, he has done absolutely nothing to set a direction or tone for the new Commission, preferring to act as more of a glorified mid-level “administrator”. The only publicly written communication he has had with Fort Lauderdale residents (so far) was to promote advertising space for one of his campaign contributors, Dolph Map Company, and mislead the readers of that letter into thinking that the map was a city-sponsored project (which it was not). His reason for doing it? “Because previous Mayors had done it”. (If previous Mayors, like Naugle did it, then that should be reason enough to at least question the wisdom of following those footsteps.) Jack campaigned on the need to establish “a zero-based” budget, yet he accepted and voted for the current bloated budget knowing full well that it was NOT a zero-based budget. His only real directive during that recent budget process was to “not lay off city employees”. Earth to Jack: Your priority should be with Fort Lauderdale residents, not city employees. He too, (like Commissioners Rogers and Dubose) seems to accept what is placed in front of him by City Manager Gretsas. He seems distracted at times in Commission meetings; most recently wanting to quickly conclude the FPL Franchise contract renewal discussion and get it signed, without truly understanding the ramifications of that 30-year contract. His failed attempt to try to “wordsmith” the contract on the fly during the Commission meeting in order to get it signed is one of his low points thus far. Jack needs to understand that if he wants to get re-elected in 2+ years, he needs to start acting like a Mayor and start leading. If he doesn’t, people will remember that his campaign promises mean little. He’ll be tagged as one more politician just trying to keep his job.

Let’s see if he (and some of these other folks) start to improve. They need to. They will be getting another report card from me in six more months…

Earl Rynerson