Coconut Creek Election: Manager Big Loser And Other Tidbits
BY BUDDY NEVINS
City Manager David Rivera was clearly on the ropes before Tuesday.
The election results put him on the mat.
Sandy Welch won a seat on the city commission.
Welch has promised to be more skeptical of Rivera in the future. She beat the handpicked candidate of perhaps Rivera’s biggest supporter on the current commission — retiring Commissioner Marilyn Gerber.
A seat filled by a Rivera stalwart has become a seat filled by a Rivera maybe. It’s not good for the manager since there are at least two votes against him already on the five-person commission.
Rivera, accused by opponents of destroying the morale in City Hall and arrogance when dealing with the public, has a contract that runs until 2014. His Commission opponents have been reluctant to move to fire him. They don’t want the city on the hook for a big golden parachute payment.
But they hope with Welch aboard now, Rivera will use the next year looking for a new job.
XXXXX
Winning Miramar commission candidate Yvette Colbourne had the support of many Democratic activists and U. S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar. The city’s Democratic Club, however, attacked her in a last minute e-mail blast. beat Miramar Republican incumbent Troy Samuels.
She won despite the opposition of the Democratic Club….or maybe because of it. What is clear is that the Miramar Democratic Club just didn’t count in an election where only 4,387 voters cast ballots.
XXXXX
Sunrise Commission candidate Neil Kerch is ahead by eight votes at this writing after getting political advice from one unusual source.
Unusual to regular readers of Browardbeat.com.
Sam Fields, a frequent author of out-of-the-ordinary pungent commentaries on Browardbeat.com, helped Kerch. It is not as crazy as it sounds.
He ran twice for judge. Did I fail to add that Fields lost one of those judicial races and the second one was called off when the open seat closed?
But Fields also was a strategist on many successful campaigns in the 1980s and 1990s as part of the political machine put together by then-County Commissioner Scott Cowan. The two are childhood friend.
Kerch and Fields are both criminal defense attorneys and met in the courthouse.
Neil Kerch
I don’t usually believe endorsements mean that much. In this crowded race with a low turnout and seven largely unknown candidates, endorsements carried more weight.
Kerch had two that might have given him that eight vote advantage: Former Commissioner Sheila Alu and the Sun-Sentinel.
The Sun-Sentinel is a shadow of its self just a decade ago, but it surely could sway enough votes to make a difference in this small race. The paper’s nod to Kerch was a guidepost to voters who needed help wading through the candidate-crammed ballot.
Alu, a prosecutor, could have helped, too. She was in office a decade in Sunrise.
Kerch was lucky that more wasn’t made of Alu’s quitting before the end of her term. Thus, voters didn’t tie her endorsement to the estimated $120,000 cost of the special election that was triggered by Alu’s departure.
Since Kerch had 696 votes to second-place James Tabeek’s 688, there will be a recount. If history is any indication, recounts usually don’t change the final result.
So Kerch is most likely the next Sunrise commissioner. He has a whopping mandidate of 696 votes…and that’s what is really sad in the city of almost 90,000 residents.
March 13th, 2013 at 12:46 am
Down goes Rivera!!!
Down goes Greenstein!!!
Down goes Sarbone!!!
Bring back John Kelly!!
March 13th, 2013 at 8:41 am
The real reason Cobourn won is race which you didn’t address. The city is changing from white to black. Cobourn is black while Samuels is white.
Mayor Mosley, white, has a short future after this election.
It is sad but true that people vote for “their own.”
March 13th, 2013 at 9:10 am
Poor Judy
Remember when she was the queen of Miramar. She sold poor Troy she controlled the black vote. Troy you should have called all of Judy’s losing candidates of 2012 and see how she did getting out the black vote for them.
Well at least Andre Eggelletion, brother of Felon Joe made money. You will see the expense to National Jingle, Andre’s company.
Why would a GOP golden boy like Samuels associate with the Eggelletions?
http://www.ci.miramar.fl.us/cityclerk/elections/archives/03-12-2013/Samuels.pdf
National Jingle: http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3692&Itemid=1
March 13th, 2013 at 11:27 am
to commenter above on race and color –
Hello! Read the 2010 Broward census – city by city as well as county wide. less than 50% white, ditto for some municipalities. compare it to the 2000 census. its happening. demographics, disposable income, education, etc. its all there for perusal. Broward in March 2013 is not the broward of 5, 10 or 20 years ago, and never will be again
March 13th, 2013 at 12:19 pm
Congratulations to Amy Rose, who was behind Sandy Welch’s big win in Coconut Creek.
March 13th, 2013 at 4:09 pm
sandy gets the credit for winning and so does lisa aronson. amy rose is a self promotoer, arent you new sheriff in town says. still gloating amy?
Lets get to work and get Rivera the heck out of Creek!
March 13th, 2013 at 5:01 pm
Wasn’t Dave Brown involved in the Coconut Creek Race, helping the person that out going Commissioner Gerber endorsed?
If so, Amy Rose might be the new go to campaign manager in Coconut Creek…. the times, they are a changing….
and that’s the bottom line ‘cuz Stone Cold says so!
March 13th, 2013 at 5:57 pm
Re. Miramar……
It is official. Commissioner Alexandra Davis is the ex officio Mayor of Miramar. She supported wholeheartedly and unabatedly 1000 percent, challenger Yvette Colbourne against incumbent Troy Samuels. Colbourne delivered a beat down of Samuels of biblical proportions, 65-35% or so. When Commissioner Davis originally won a couple of years back, she beat, what seemed like 100 challengers and won very easily, by thousands of votes.
Long time Mayor Lori Moseley is in deep trouble in 2 years. If Davis were to choose to challenge her and the election was held today, Davis would beat Moseley by the same margin as the above described 2-1 margin. Don’t let anybody kid, con you otherwise. Also, Davis, Messam and Colbourne are the new majority controlling the Commission.
Finally, City Manager Payton, who is Moseley’s and Winston Barne’s guy, is in deep trouble. He should have been fired when he indulged Fitzroy Salesman with contracts to cronies of Fitzroy when Salesman was in limbo on the sidelines. Also, Payton does not like to be questioned by his Commission bosses; he is like Coconut Creek Manager Dave Rivera in that way, a.k.a. as the Arrogance de Manager gene/chromosone.
Payton thinks the democratic process is a one way street that runs through him. He does not understand it is a two way street that deserves input from his Elected Officials, who the Citizens vote for, to oversee the governing body and offer vision outside the bureaucratic mindsets. To complete the record, neither does Mr. Rivera in Coconut Creek. Both of them need to hit the road.
March 14th, 2013 at 8:33 am
Although Sandy Welch may turn out to be a critic of Rivera’s management style, that was not the reason she was elected with over 50 percent of the votes cast.
Her campaign was largely person-to-person, with many of her former neighbors in South Creek helping to get out the vote (the South Creek 2-F precinct had the largest turnout in the City and Welch won 171 of its 201 votes).
She came off as a personable grass-roots candidate without an ax to grind or a huge ego.
It also helped that both of her opponents had flaws revealed in the run-up to the election.
March 14th, 2013 at 1:12 pm
My confidence in Broward voters is renewed now that I have found out they voted against electing lunatic Sam Fields for judge.
March 25th, 2013 at 2:18 pm
What about the other side