Who Will Get Your Vote for City Commissioner? More Sharing Services Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print October 20, 2014 | By MargateNews.net Margate Commissioner Le Peerman up for re-election Three candidates are running for Margate City Commission Seat 3 on the November 4th ballot. Following are pros and cons of voting for incumbent Commissioner, Le Peerman, the way we see it at MargateNews.net.* Opposing candidates Eddie DeCristofaro and Anthony Caggiano to follow. __________ Pros: Peerman has been a Margate resident for 18 years and a city commissioner for three. She’s has been a strong advocate for parks and recreation and donates a portion of her annual salary to a residents project fund each year. Peerman has been highly responsive in returning residents’ calls and emails, and as a lesbian married in New York appeals to gay voters. Albeit amounts insignificant to taxpayer wallets, Peerman has voted to lower the city’s millage rate on numerous occasions. In her interview with the Sun-sentinel, she said she’ll still be involved in the city whether she gets re-elected or not. Peerman attends all city meetings as required by her position. Cons: Peerman voted yes to replacing Margate’s public safety dispatch system with a county-wide system that has resulted in frustration for residents and public safety workers. Reports of the system’s failure are widespread. Margate terminated the employ of 22 communication specialists to make the change, some of whom lost their jobs in the transition to the county. That said, Peerman told the Sun-sentinel in an interview that the city didn’t have to cut people to lower the millage rate when in fact it did. Twenty-two people were cut from city payrolls when Margate lowered its millage rate to offset increased millage by the county this year. Since, public safety dispatch in Margate has suffered in contrast to what Peerman told the paper in her interview. “Ive fought to lower the millage rate the last three years, and been successful, but I still think we should continue to lower our millage rate within the bounds of still being able to provide the service that we have. We havent had to cut people to do it,” she told the Sun-sentinel. Peerman voted yes to the Big League Dreams project - a parks project that provided a California developer with nearly a half million dollars of interest-free taxpayer money for two years. Subsequently, the project was voted down by fellow commissioners. During her three years in office, Peerman has voted positively to spending $40,000 of taxpayer money yearly on Tallahassee lobbyists to duplicate efforts by both the Broward and Florida League of Cities. Each year, lobbyists return to Margate only to report that the city didn’t get much of what it asked for in its legislative priorities. Peerman is proud to be endorsed by the city’s fire union. Meanwhile, the commissioner sits idly over costly sick leave abuse and overtime by firefighters, and has been ineffective in moving a contract forward with the union despite contract expiration nearly a year ago. During this time, fire rescue workers have evaded paying their fair share of health insurance increases to the city, while members of Margate’s three other labor unions have accepted the increases. A statement regarding firefighters made by Peerman on her website is patently false: These are the people who put their lives at risk, for us, every day. Margate firefighters do not put their lives at risk every day, though we understand some are prepared to do so. In fact, its quite possible that a Margate firefighter gets hurt recreating more so than on the job. Regardless, the majority of injuries in the department dont result from life-threatening scenarios. Moreover, Peerman was endorsed by the fire union, not firefighters in general. By not making this distinction her endorsement misleads voters. Peerman, who ultimately will vote on a fire union contract, received campaign cash from the union. Historically, the payoff typically results in a yes vote by commissioners when approving fire union contracts. The practice is ethically unsound and is not representative of good government. These payoffs have resulted in city commissioners looking the other way with regards to hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime and sick leave abuse, inefficient fire rescue scheduling, lax policies within the department and inflated fire rescue salaries and minimum requirements. Peerman voted yes to giving outgoing City Manager, Jerry Blough, a 2% pay raise months prior to his retirement. Simultaneously, she granted City Attorney, Eugene Steinfeld - who earns in excess of $300,000 annually in pay and benefits - the same 2% pay increase. Peerman finances her campaign with money from contractors that do business with Margate. Many of these contracts commissioners vote on. Although the practice is common among incumbents in Margate and other cities, the perception is one of special interest. Peerman agreed to have taxpayers foot the bill for the health insurance of non-married partners of city employees. The estimated cost increase to taxpayers was $150,000 a year when the city commission approved the policy this year. Peerman has been a board member of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency for three years. In that time she has failed to move downtown development forward while voting to terminate negotiations with two capable developers. Additionally, she voted to replace the Agency’s Assistant Director with a management firm for twice the price. Having been employed by the city for a year, the firm has accomplished little for the CRA and has neglected to properly maintain its own properties. To boot, Peerman and the CRA have been found misappropriating tax money by the Broward Inspector General. While Peerman boasts lowering the millage rate and willingly contributes $8,000 of her salary to a residents project fund, she’s the first to spend taxpayer money on conventions, hotel rooms and miscellaneous fundraising events, which throws into question her fiscal earnestness. Peerman voted yes to eliminating food truck events over summer - some of the most successful continuous events in the history of Margate. Peerman has been caught numerous times speaking badly of residents, fellow commissioners and city commission candidates. An attempt by her to censure a commissioner on an unsubstantiated ethics charge failed last year. The attempt contradicts statements made by Peerman on her campaign website: You will notice I say We. That is because the present Commission is a very different one from the Commission I first served with. No one person can accomplish anything all by him or herself. We have a great Commission now, with excellent working relationships and with wonderful ideas for the future of Margate. Additionally, Peerman campaigned against elected commissioner Joyce Bryan in the August primary when Peerman endorsed Bryans opponent, Brian Donahue. This leaves voters wondering if Peerman is referring to the present commission with Joyce Bryan, or the commission it would have been with Brian Donahue. Peerman was recently seen moving the campaign signs of candidates running against her in the current commission race. She dismissed her actions as “fair.” This, in conjunction with Margate Mayor Warns of Campaign Signs in the Wrong Hands, indicates some type of obsession with campaign signs and points to a conflict of interest both ethically and professionally for a sitting commissioner. A heavy smoker, Peerman calls for smoke breaks during city meetings. Peerman votes yes time and time again to spend taxpayer money to support a failed bus service in the City. Margate Inner City Transit is a proven failure with fewer than seven riders an hour at peak times. Peerman was integral in recent attempts to have the city’s fire chief terminated. She manipulated senior residents at local condominiums into thinking the fire department oversaw incidents of vandalism and criminal activity - a police duty. She attempted to frame a cover up where there was none and was disingenuous in her actions. In violation of Florida State Statute 106.113, Peerman used government resources to promote a candidate she endorsed for Broward County Commission. The following month she refused same for a state candidate she did not endorse. To the chagrin of a Margate city commission candidate in August, Peermans endorsement failed to win the candidate his seat. Peerman has no education beyond high school with the exception of government workshops. She has issues with speaking, reading, writing and arithmetic, and has been criticized by citizens for lacking business sense and knowledge of basic economics. *The above article includes the views and opinions of MargateNews.net, its Editor and Publisher.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 18:25:17 +0000