Tamarac Commissioner: Recall Agt. Me Failed
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Commissioner Patte Atkins-Grad announced today that the recall against her failed, falling short by 18 votes of obtaining the signatures necessary to go to the next step in the process.
The recall committee turned in petitions containing 1,468 signatures. When they were checked by the Supervisors of Elections Office, many were found ineligible.
Ninety-eight did not live in Atkins-Grad’s district as required by law and 92 were not registered to vote.
Only 1,232 were valid — 18 short of the 1,250 needed. That’s 10 percent of the vote in Atkins-Grad’s district.
“We’ll take a look at some of the disqualified ballots, but in all likehood its over,” recall leader Al Entin said. “In the end, I believe we did the right thing.”
Entin, a long-time Republican activist, quoted a liberal Democratic presidential nominee : “I feel like how Adlai Stevenson felt when he lost in 1952. He said, ‘It hurts too much to laugh, but I’m too old to cry.'”
Entin said, “If this woman (Adkins-Grad) has one iota of decency, she would resign her seat.”
The recall formed shortly after Atkins-Grad was acquitted of corruption charges.
She conceded that she received gifts and favors from a developer, but said she didn’t know such gratuities were illegal. The jury found her not guilty.
The breakdown of the invalid ballots are below. Click to enlarge.:
Here is the news release from her organization:
TamaracTruth.Com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Commissioner Patte Atkins-Grad has been informed by the City of Tamarac that the effort to recall her from office has failed. After the Broward Supervisors of Elections office excluded ballots for various reasons the recall effort came up short by 18 votes. has been informed by the City of Tamarac that the effort to recall her from office has failed. After the Broward Supervisors of Elections office excluded ballots for various reasons the recall effort came up short by 18 votes.
March 6th, 2013 at 5:17 pm
TamaracTruth beats TamaracTalk.com. Take that Al Entin and Sharon Baron.
March 6th, 2013 at 5:18 pm
She should now quit because she doesn’t belong on the commission
March 6th, 2013 at 5:21 pm
Patte Atkins-Grad: She’s not the commissioner that Tamarac wants, she’s the commissioner they deserve.
March 6th, 2013 at 5:50 pm
The smart money knew this was going to fail. You made it look obvious by pounding Atkins-Grad to resign before the petitions were certified that it was obvious you didnt have enough petitions. Guess you regret now turning in those petitions a couple of days early.
Check out http://www.tamaractruth.com and see the breakdown of all the bullshit ballots the Recall Committee tried to pass off as legit.
Guys, dont play poker anytime soon, you have no ability to bluff.
P.S Does Gomez get a refund?
FROM BUDDY:
This comment refers to an earlier allegation by Atkins-Grad that Michelle Gomez, who was appointed to replace her when she was indicated and had to leave office when she was acquitted, was paying for the recall.
Recall leader Al Entin called the allegations a ridiculous “conspiracy theory” and said, “We did this whole thing for $150.”
March 6th, 2013 at 6:01 pm
I see this as a new opportunity for the recall committee to do it right next time. If the recall group were to add Mayor Talabisco to their effort, it would be a slam dunk.
March 6th, 2013 at 6:18 pm
You have made a big splash in local politics
Lost with Cynthia Busch
Lost to Lauder
Lost to Atkins-Grad
Seriously get out of politics and stick to writing about the need for a Starbucks in Tamarac.
FYI – Can we finally say RIP Bob Norman? Even all his free pub and these losers still cant pull off a recall.
March 6th, 2013 at 7:30 pm
None of you probably live in our district or have had the incredible displeasure of meeting Patricia Atkins Grad. She is not only my neighbor, but she’s my commissioner and this is very sad news that we have to see her around for another 2 years. She is not liked by anyone here. We are getting the short end of the stick because no one wants her at a public event nor do we call her with questions. She’s uninformed and useless. Congratulations!
Karen
March 6th, 2013 at 8:00 pm
Ok so now lets move on. Magic number is 18. What did you think of Ilene Lieberman adding her two(2) cents in regards to how nasty this Tamarac comm is etc. I mean red please, since you where basiccly knee deep in this drama to begin w/. I know red you got Immunity(lucky you)….
March 6th, 2013 at 10:37 pm
#8 Robert, you should stop sticking your 2 cents on things you know nothing about. Stick to Fort Lauderdale where you live. Oh, I forgot, they don’t take you seriously either.
March 6th, 2013 at 10:43 pm
So no second time by law or statute? This is a shame. And if we are not prohibited from a “do over” then we should. also lesson learned hear that ANYONE signing on must produce their voter registration card so the number can be copied on the signature petition page. Othwerwise complete waste of time talking to ‘just a resident’ who is not ‘a voter’
March 6th, 2013 at 11:12 pm
It is not about 18 petitions..
Lets start with the 98 petitions that were not the District
Then lets move on to the 92 petitions signed by those not registered to vote.
Or 7 with a duplicate signature
The 3 signed and not dated?
Where Entin, Baron and the rest of the Committee doing anything to verify these people were eligible to sign the petition? Obviously No.
How much in taxpayer dollars of Tamarac residents were wasted on their City Clerk checking in the initial petitions?
How much taxpayer money from all Broward residents was wasted having a brigade of BSO deputies transport the petitions from Tamarac to SOE?
How much of taxpayer dollars from all Broward residents was wasted by SOE having to verify these bogus petitions?
There should be a law that the Recall Group should have to reimburse the taxpayers for wasting everyone’s time when if they had done due diligence they would have known they didn’t have enough legitimate petitions.
How hard would it have been to check to see if someone lived in the District? They submitted petitions signed by people who lived in Sunrise, Lauderhill and Pompano. Why were these even submitted? Did they double check this stuff?
Shouldn’t the Recall Committee have asked those signing the petition to show a voters registration card? 92 people were not registered to vote, how can they justify submitting these petitions without taking some measure to know they were eligible voters?
The poster above is right, it is obvious the last 200+ voters came from anyone with a pen. They figured if Grad saw them throw down 1400+ petitions she would run. Problem for the Committee is she allowed the process to play out and she won.
Anyone with half a brain could see the Recall Committee knew they didn’t have enough petitions that is why the resorted to try and bully Grad out.
The law should be changed, if people are going to waste taxpayer time and money on a recall they should be on the hook for all or part of the expense of having to verify these petitions. This Recall Committee knew they submitted invalid petitions from out side the district or those not registered to vote. So why are we Broward tax payers stuck with the bill?
March 7th, 2013 at 10:00 am
#11 wrote “There should be a law that the Recall Group should have to reimburse the taxpayers for wasting everyone’s time when if they had done due diligence they would have known they didn’t have enough legitimate petitions.”
I’m surprised Buddy didn’t comment on here to the uninformed person who posted on #11, because it was public record that the recall committee paid $150.00 to the Supervisor of Elections to verify the signatures, therefore costing the taxpayers not one dime. That is their job. Ten cents per name to make those verifications.
FROM BUDDY: I agree with this comment. There was no cost to the public.
March 7th, 2013 at 11:10 am
@Make the committee pay
So then, if the Committee is successful, do you make the recalled pay?
In reality, all of this could have been avoided if Tamarac didn’t elect a full-blown-retard in the first place.
March 7th, 2013 at 11:35 am
As a friend of Ms. Gomez, I can assure you two things. 1) She had nothing to do with the recall and wanted to stay as far away from it as possible, and 2) If she decides to run against Positively Corrupt Patte, she not only will do our city a favor, she will kick her ass!
March 7th, 2013 at 1:34 pm
They brought the action against Grad. Like it or not she had no obligation to anything more then let the recall process play out under the law. If the Committee was successful they would have the result they wanted, an election.
The problem here is that it is quite obvious they submitted faulty petitions that they knew or should have known were not up to snuff. They wasted taxpayer time and money.
Buddy, can you honestly say $150 dollars covered all the time and expense over the couple of weeks SOE was veryifying the petitions? Just because that is the fee, no one can seriously think that was the real cost.
What about BSO? How much was wasted having a caravan drive the petitions to SOE like they were envelopes containing the Oscar winners?
Most telling, where is Entin, Baron or Stroker to explain how they failed to attempt to verify those who signed the petitions lived in the District and/or were registered voters at all. Maybe the can also explain why petitions were submitted of those who lived in Sunrise, Lauderhill and Pompano.
Their silence on this speaks volumes.
March 7th, 2013 at 2:19 pm
As a nenmber of the recall group who still feels very strong about the issue of recalling a corrupt, lying, incompetent, nasty, and unprofessional commissioner, the time spent by us was well worth it. I
March 7th, 2013 at 3:27 pm
As one of the very dedicated recall group members, I still very strong about recalling a corrupt, lying, incompetent, unprofessional commissioner. The time and money was spent by us. Anyone who has ever gone door to door to collect signatures woukd know how difficult it can be to just get someone to open the door for you. Many of the residents were very eager to sign the petition. We asked everyone if they were a registered voter in our district. We had no way of knowing if they were registered or not. We had a surplus of signatures because we knew that a numbe of them would be disregarded, however, we had no way of knowing how many, how would we? Also we had a time limit, we arranged our time around work and family matters to do this. Also know that we had even more signatures come in after the petition was submitted, so we know that we have what we needed. #11 it is obvious you never attempted or have done anything like we have, otherwise you wouldn’t say that we wasted other’s time and we should have known about the the qualified signatures. Come out with us and see what is involved before you put us down for our efforts…
March 7th, 2013 at 3:32 pm
>>Maybe the can also explain why petitions were submitted of those who lived in Sunrise, Lauderhill and Pompano.
Simple…
Folks who live in Pompano, Sunrise, and Lauderhill don’t want this turd in office.
Hell, I live *elsewhere* and I think PAG needs to go.
March 7th, 2013 at 4:33 pm
It is very unfortunate that the recall campaign failed. The recall committee’s efforts should not be in vein. Any proposal introduced by Ms. Atkins-Grad should be defeated by the remaining members of the Commission making any of her legislative efforts in the City null and void. She should be marginalized and avoided like the plague.
March 7th, 2013 at 4:48 pm
Seems Simple you are not understanding what was involved in this process. First of all we had maps of Tamarac showing us what areas encompassed district 2. We also canvased our own developments, condos, neighbors, so we knew what district the residents were in. Once it was established that we were in an area that was part of district 2, we went there to obtain signatures. We asked eacher person who would signed if they were a registered voter in Tamarac. We did not have the luxury of a lot of time. Do you have any idea how long and how much leg work is involved trying to obtain over one thousand signatures? We did over that unfortunately some people signed without knowing iof they could or not. Sharon, Alvin, George and the rest of us deserved to be commended for our efforts not yelled out for trying. Seems simple, if you could do a better job, then you can get involved and be part of the solution not be on the bitching committee
March 7th, 2013 at 6:09 pm
I too am disgusted at the cost to the taxpayer incurred by this recall election petition gathering process!
I cannot believe that I had to pay for the luxurious counting of petitions by paid staff at the Supervisor of Elections Office.
Not to mention the gratuitous shipping of petitions in an ARMORED TRUCK by the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
But this pales in comparison to the emotional PAIN it caused me to imagine paying for a SPECIAL ELECTION, in MY CITY.
The very idea of all of those PAID Poll Workers getting MY tax dollars, it’s enough to make me want to SUE.
March 7th, 2013 at 7:37 pm
NotoCorruption offers a valid solution for the remainder of her unfortunate term on the dais. By limiting any actions by PAG she will at least be neutralized if not ostracized by citizens. concerned citizens need to attend city comm mtgs to monitor and oversee what all will do till next election.
a real clear message can be sent that we are watching, we want wise, prudent and honest represenattion and if we do not get that across the dais you will be replaced.
meanwhile find qualified candidates that will not shame us and make fools of us paying the tax bills
March 7th, 2013 at 8:44 pm
I commend you for at least stepping up and trying to defend the Committee actions unlike Sharon, Alvin and George who are probably in hiding somewhere.
As you say yourself “you asked voters if they were registered to vote in Tamarac” unfortunately this reasoning is why almost 100 petitions got tossed, you didn’t even confirm they were in the District! Did you even ask to see a voters registration card?
Luxury of time? Seriously, how many more seconds did it take to see a voter ID card or take some step to confirm they were an eligible signor?
Here is the problem, I am not doubting you and others worked hard in your efforts. The problem is that your leaders tried to talk to the talk and failed. Maybe all the hubris by Sharon, Alvin and George is why your group is a laughing stock. You cant try to bully someone out of office saying you have the win in the bag and then when you fail not expect a few laughs at your expense.
March 7th, 2013 at 9:10 pm
Well I guess you told me off Ms.Emily Rubin-. Yeah any time you want to step up to the Podium, Ft.Lau(City) or County-be my guess.Oh I’d bet your life savings($$) that my two cents is worthy. Oh I know I’m an idiot.Please. Probably one of Ilene Lieberman kiss-ass friends(plenty)…..
March 8th, 2013 at 10:30 am
@Chaz Stephens:
Chaz, everybody knows you NEVER go Full retard…..
March 8th, 2013 at 3:55 pm
No. #23 In the last two days the volunteers have been on TV and in the paper – where have you been? They aren’t hiding here. Our neighbors know that many are contemplating doing it again. That’s what a crook your friend is and how hated she is in her own neighborhood! You don’t even live here so go troll in another district. AtkinsGrad is the most hateful vengeful person ever and this was before the recall. I know – I’ve known her for years. She lied about her involvement in this crime to everyone. She’s no representative of ours. She doesn’t even have 5 supporters here. You are either her paid troll, her friend’s troll husband and you aren’t represented by her.
March 8th, 2013 at 4:01 pm
Over at Bob Norman’s blog, Bob Bearse is quoted as saying he’s ready to gather recall signatures again: “I want to do it again,” said Bearse. “I’m ready to do it right now.”
If there is a new recall drive, the lessons learned should not just be about gathering enough signatures, but also about bringing enough petitions. One petition to recall Atkins-Grad, one petition to recall Talabisco, and one petition to recall Glasser. It may even be possible to print all three petitions on the same sheet of paper! Then redo the signature drive, ensuring that everyone signs three times (once for each recall).
This way, the whole ethically challenged Chait crew gets dumped – the special election will fire THREE Chait groupies for the price of firing one!
March 8th, 2013 at 4:38 pm
If you need to recall some one from Sunrise or Lauderhill or Pompano call the crack staff from the woodlands. Al Entin will scoot door to door on his golf cart. George Stroker will populate blogs with anonymous comments. Sharon Baron will daydream about all the folks she pissed off in imagination farms.
March 8th, 2013 at 7:34 pm
aka Official Woodlands Dist 2 Res
Do you get it, your recall leaders dropped the ball and lost all credibility.
They never checked the ID of anyone?
They submitted petitions from those who lived in Pompano, Lauderhill and Sunrise.
They could have had the 18 vote if they were not lazy and turned everything in 2 days early.
March 8th, 2013 at 8:20 pm
The recall people looked like fools for not going after Talibisco.
Mayor Beth just had oral argument on the State’s appeal of the granting of the Motion to Dismiss.
Curious, if the 4th overrules the dismissal, beth is suspended again.
More interesting, what if Beth loses at trial and takes a plea, will she and her attorney Larry Davis have to pay back all the money they have been paid by the city to date?
Why would the City permit Talibisco to be paid all that money while the appeal is still pending?
March 8th, 2013 at 8:49 pm
How come Ritter is off the radar all of a sudden? There must be too many criminals to track all the time.
March 8th, 2013 at 10:56 pm
One thing is clear, either PAG still has supporters or the committee truly pissed off some members of the community
March 8th, 2013 at 11:37 pm
Hey Mitch, your buddy Patte is a crook and your wife is a two-time loser for school board. Sorry she couldn’t help you pay the bills. Why don’t you both get a job so you keep your foul mouth off Facebook so the world doesn’t have to look (or laugh) at your idiotic posts.
March 9th, 2013 at 6:55 am
Next time, the recall committee needs to go to the Supervisor of Elections office and get the list of registered voters in the district. The list that also shows who voted in the last election.
Target only those who are registered voters. Don’t waste time on those who are not registered. Use the list. Plan the work, and work the plan.
Please get rid of Talabisco, Adkins-Grad, and Glasser. They have put a stain on professional women, are seriously ethically challenged, and should be shown the door.
March 9th, 2013 at 8:53 am
Sorry #29 you know so little about out community for someone who is such a big supporter of AtkinsGrad, but let met educate you: I am not Sharon, not everyone that lives in the Woodlands is Sharon – we have 885 homes here. I live in one of the largest sections where so many residents signed. Over 400 people signed the petition in just the Woodlands alone to recall your beloved commissioner/friend. When we get the go ahead to do it again, we will double this number.
Oh, check the records-only 200 residents voted for her here. So basically, Patte can live with the knowledge that more people voted her out than in.
March 9th, 2013 at 11:38 am
Dear #28 Anonymous: Regarding your comment “George Stroker will populate blogs with anonymous comments” … If I post, you will see my name. Let me see your name.
March 9th, 2013 at 6:28 pm
Tell us why the Committee submitted petitions from people who lived other cities and why your committee never bothered to check id’s? I will await your silence
March 10th, 2013 at 9:28 pm
Chaz, I know you think you’re edgy and a genius, but you’re a white knuckled drunk bore. Who uses the word “retard” these days? If you were less impressed with your self, you’d be far more succesful.
March 11th, 2013 at 12:05 pm
#38
It’s a cloak for his rampant insecurity.