UPDATED: Sunrise’s Wishner, Alu, Rosen and Sofield Vote To Pay Themselves $1,750-$2,186 Per Meeting!
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Sunrise Commissioner Joey Scuotto gets it.
He wisely turned down a raise this week.
After all, what politician would be foolish enough to vote themselves a raise in the middle of a deep recession?
His Sunrise City Commission colleagues, that’s who.
Mayor Roger Wishner and Commissioners Sheila Alu, Don Rosen and Lawrence Sofield voted themselves a 4 percent raise. In doing so, they arrogantly thumbed their nose at the public.
Not only is the raise wrong at this time. It is a stupid political blunder.
But Wishner, Alu and Rosen have stumbled from one political slip-up to the next in the past year.
Sofield is a new comer, but I’m sure this won’t be the only misstep he makes.
Alu, Rosen and Sofield will now get $1,750 per meeting based on the number of times they met last year!
Wishner gets $2,186 per meeting!
Public servants? The only ones they are serving are themselves.
This raise shows me that Boss Wishner and his three flunkies treat city hall as their own private piggy bank.
Governments everywhere are complaining that they don’t have enough tax money to pay for basic services.
People are being laid off. People are having their pay and their hours cut.
Wishner, Alu, Rosen and Sofield act like the boom times are still here.
Their salaries will now range from $37,000 to $38,500 depending on experience, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
Last year, the Sunrise City Commission met 22 times.
I estimate that amounts to maybe 12 hours-a-month of meetings.
That means Alu, Rosen and Sofield are now earning more than $267-an-hour for their part time jobs!
Wishner gets an extra $9,600 for about $334-an-hour.
Sofield is the biggest offender of the bunch. He was appointed and hasn’t ever gotten the approval of the voters.
This pay raise comes after two major political gaffes by the commission, minus Sofield, last year:
(1) Hiring a city attorney in a no-bid deal. The attorney just happened to represent Alu and Wishner personally in law suits.
(2) Robbing the voters of a chance to vote for mayor by canceling the election. Instead they appointed Wishner.
This pay raise vote is an example of what’s wrong with government. They are too quick to spend money and too slow to change their ways despite the gloomy economic times.
The problem with government boils down to this: When The Sunrise-Gang of Four voted themselves a raise, it was not coming out of their pocket.
It was coming out of yours.
UPDATE: The Sun-Sentinel says Scuotto is giving his money to charity. Read it here.
(I have privately offered Wishner his own post to write any type of reply he wishes. I now make that offer publicly. )
March 28th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
The Sunrise Syndicate is on a Witch Hunt against anyone who opposed them in the last election and they will take all their enemies out before the next cycle of elections, which Wishner, Alu and Scofield have to run. That is, unless Michelson finds another flaw in the City Charter and they can be appointed for life.
March 29th, 2009 at 6:13 am
Sunrise’s new construction is at a stand still. The east part of their town is filled with foreclosures. Do these commissioners ever get out of city hall?
March 29th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Why should they get out of city hall,they get major devlopement money,The citzen here all kinds of bogus info and then reelect these people,people were left hanging for years with the hurricane also.
presenly there are two appointed people on the city commission .right now there is a mayor and commissioner who has not been accountable to the public,all the other cities Plantation,Deerfield,Davie and mirimar caught on.
numerous citzens voted for one of the incumbants,she said I DONT LIKE HIM BUT HE FIXED MY PIPES DURING THE HURRICANE.
It is also amazing how Don Rosen told everybody during his last 3 election cycles how he supports districting,term limits and that he wants to start an advisory board,after he wins he fibs and never brings up the topic again,but the frist meeting after he wins he votes himself a pay raise knowing he is safe for 4 years,when he voted for the raise people were furious,and then said but he fixed my pipes.
March 29th, 2009 at 7:26 am
Does this mean Alu is going to have another long-winded post on here responding?
March 29th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Feeley and Green Now LLC seem to be on their way to getting their new garbage transfer station in west Sunrise now. Feeley is Wishner’s drinking buddy, Rosen’s employer and big time supporter of their election cause, TV ads and contributions. He was heard at Rosen’s victory party stating he has his first municipal contract. Several guests were offended at the gesture by him and asked if that was what the whole campaign was about.
FROM BUDDY: Very, very interesting!
March 29th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Buddy I know that there is so much here so I forgive you but you forgot that the raises are RETROACTIVE. Sweet mother of mine if that is not outrageous. They voted down their raises before the election cycle last time because they knew that after the ELECTION they would make it RETROACTIVE!!
FROM BUDDY: I did forget this. Just one more reason why these four Sunrise commissioners are out of touch little piggies with their snouts in the public trough.
March 29th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Wishner+Alu+Rosen=Lomelo
Sunrise City Commission-Scuotto=Corruption
March 29th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
A simple public records request to City Manager will confirm my comments regarding the Garbage Transfer Station off 52 St. and 109 Ave. Request all documents between Green Now/Know, Feeley’s partner Baker and the Sunrise City Manager. With that Waste disposal option in place, then Feeley can use that to lock up a long term agreement for solid waste collection and disposal. All under the disquise of recycling. There is plenty of tape showing Rosen at Feeley’s place in Davie working.
March 30th, 2009 at 6:31 am
No, Buddy, Scuotto’s just doing this for a show. If he had any political brains at all he’d have proposed an amendment EXEMPTING HIMSELF from the raise completely. If he had even more brains, he’d have proposed an amendment EXEMPTING ALL COMMISSIONERS from the raise.
He did neither because that would truly be a man of the people.
Meanwhile, his portion still gets taken from the taxpayer’s pocket.
March 30th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Don Rosen is telling all his lies,stating he is for districting, term limits,adisory boards,college degrees that dont exist in biology no less,doing no wrong in hacinda village.could we see if Mr Rosen has a high school diploma after all he is a credible man.
No the one who should have had the guts to bring this up is Larry does he speak Sofield,here is an appointed commissioner who is at his second meeting not realizing all the pressure he voted himself a pay raise, apparently he got his marching orders from the king,the same man who was telling everybody that when he got on the commission he would change the loop holes in the election laws,now sit there shut up and talk when the king gives you permission.
This has to be the fastest pay raise of an appointed official that I have ever seen,I guess you earned it larry
March 30th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
From a fellow City Commissioner in a ciy that DOES NOT give raises to its elected officials: YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES!
Our City Commissioners ar paid $150 per month, or $75 per meeting. We have the 4th lowest millage rate in the county and one of the lowest levels of crime county wide.
How can you justify this to your residents as they are foreclosed and laid off?
JUST SICKENING!
March 30th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Come on, leave larry alone. Everyone knows he’s just wishner’s slut-puppy. It doesn’t matter anyway because he doesn’t have a support base. The Jews? The west side? Who? Oh you tell me the east side residents who he was a president of! Well, Wright-Muir runs against him and poof! there goes that.
Soffield better enjoy his taxpayer funded vacation while he can.
March 30th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Thats fine,This commission takes its self a pay raise and then they pay this clown 2 years appointed pay 38000$ plus7200$ expense which comes out to $900000 for two years for being a puppet for the king,I look at it as tax welfare
March 30th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
No one who has had to watch the Terrible Trio (now the Gang of Four) should be surprised at this. A couple of comments/corrections:
1) The pay raise is 6 1/2 percent retroactive to 1/1/08, because it includes a 2 1/2 percent “merit” increase, which all city employees get.
2) They also gave themselves another raise of 6 percent (3 1/2 percent COLA and 2 1/2 percent merit), retroactive to 1/1/09.
So the total raise is 12 1/2 percent.
3) They also gave themselves a $150 per month pension increase, starting when they leave office or are defeated for re-election (we should be so lucky), for medical insurance. This means they get $350 per month on top of their pension.
4) If you listen to the tape of the last meeting, you hear them all give the same lame excuse that they are giving themselves the raises so they will be more in line with the general employees. There is no problem with limiting their “future” raises, but there was no reason they had to make it retoactive to 1/1/08. Wishner, Alu and Rosen all said last year that they would not take raises for 2008, because of the “TOUGH TIMES”. But they didn’t mean the economy….they meant that it wouldn’t look good to take a raise when Wishner and Rosen were up for election. Of course, this was when Wishner was running for Mayor, and before they decided not to let the people of Sunrise vote for their new Mayor.
5) Speaking of the Mayor’s seat, the Commission had the ability to postpone the city elecion for commissioner (i.e. Rosen and Scuotto) and to reset it a couple of months in the future, so that there could be an election for Mayor also. It would have cost the same whether it was held in March or May. Or they can call a special election now, since Wishner and Sofield should both have to run, and not get a 1 1/2 year free ride. It’s worth the cost, to give the residents the right to vote for who is running “their” City.
6) Lastly, check out the 11/25/08 commission meeting. Alu said on the record that after she found out there didn’t have to be a Mayor election, she called up Joe Scoutto to tell him. A violation of the “sunshine” law ?????, since this was the subject of an ordinance that night, which had a lengthy and heated discussion.
April 7th, 2009 at 6:46 am
[…] The editorial follows Browardbeat.com’s criticism of Sunrise. It can be found here. […]
April 9th, 2009 at 10:16 am
this whole thing stinks to high heaven! They are ALL greedy ho’s with our hard earned money. wait, wait, do I sense a crying jag coming on from one of our infamous commiss-con-artists Alu? wah-wah…..tough times right honey?