Latest Round In Battle Between Broward Mayor & Broward Sheriff
BY BUDDY NEVINS
The bad blood between Sheriff Scott Israel and Broward Mayor Barbara Sharief bled into Miramar’s election Tuesday.
When the results were counted it was Sharief who needed a transfusion.
Barbara Sharief
Here is the story:
The Miramar city election was a battle of robo calls between Israel and Sharief.
Israel recorded calls for incumbent Miramar Commissioner Yvette Colbourne. Sharief made calls for challenger Venessa Walker.
Colbourne, supported by the sheriff, won re-election easily – 4,240 to 2,847.
The defeat must sting Sharief even more than her past losses to the sheriff. Miramar is Sharief’s hometown and political base.
The feud between Israel and Sharief has been bubbling beneath the surface for months:
- In July, 2016, Sharief was reportedly boiling mad about comments that Israel made after an escape from the jail. The sheriff partially blamed the escape on inadequate security funding from the Broward County Commission.
“Philosophically, there’s a difference between Broward County and your sheriff. The county believes my job is to save dollars. I believe my job is to save lives,” Israel told the media.
Ouch!!!
- In January, Sharief clashed with Israel over his media appearances in the wake of the murderous Fort Lauderdale Airport shooting.
The following story is one that Israel conveyed to several others:
Sharief was reportedly furious that she was not getting the bulk of the media attention.
“Barbara began calling into TV shows and putting out false information,” said a Browardbeat.com source.
(RedBroward.com had a story on this aspect of the Sharief’s actions, too. It is linked here.)
Coverage of the sheriff continued. Sharief got so mad she called Israel yelling.
“You are not the face of Broward County. I am the face of Broward County,” she reportedly roared at Israel.
“This was a criminal attack and it involved a crime scene,” Israel fired back. “It is a law enforcement matter. Don’t ever call me and yell at me like I’m your employee.”
Both abruptly hung up.
- March 14, 2017, Sharief and Israel sparred again with competing robo calls. Israel’s candidate won.
So what’s next?
Watch for Sharief to make trouble for Israel during the 2017-2018 budget discussions later this year.
March 17th, 2017 at 3:25 pm
If only Mayor Sharief could stand up to the Florida Panthers the way Scott Israel stood up to her. Maybe thaT 8 million dollars that the commission handed to Vinny Viola for a new scoreboard could have gone to BSO.
March 17th, 2017 at 4:35 pm
Is the mayor knitting names into a scarf for future reference?