By Chip LaMarca, Lighthouse Point City Commissioner

What on earth is going on with our elected officials?

If you have been reading the papers or watching the local news, you have seen a dark cloud of corruption covering elected officials at many local levels.  Just today we saw that the Miami-Dade Public Corruption Unit arrested eight officials in their county, including three police officers, a city administrator and people working at local non-profit agencies.  The very fact that there is a need for a county level “Public Corruption Unit” is astounding.  What does this say to the voters?

Right here in Broward County, we have seen many embarrassing cases of public corruption.  Over the last year, there have been three elected officials that were arrested and then removed by Governor Crist.  At the City level, a former Miramar City Commissioner was arrested for making deals with what he thought to be a contractor, when it was actually a Federal Investigator.  He was the same commissioner that was removed previously by Governor Jeb Bush for reckless behavior.  He awaits sentencing for his illegal activities.  What he really compromised is the public trust and that cannot be replaced.

On the School Board, a member put her entire public service career on the line for numerous bribes by what she thought were also contractors.  What does that say about the role that our elected officials play in determining the contractors that will do the hundreds of millions of dollars in construction work for our school board?  The very idea that the School Board Members, who might be supported in their campaigns by lobbyists and contractors, would also be on the selection committee to determine what contractors are awarded these large contracts, is abhorrent.  The Governor made an appointment for this vacant seat and the person that he selected is the former Ethics Chairman for the Florida Bar.  His first order of business was to try to change the process and implement a complete new plan of ethics for the board.  I wish him well and commend him for his efforts to change the culture.

At our County Commission, there was similar activity going on with former Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion.  He was arrested for money laundering and for accepting the gift of a golf club membership from a developer that had a project before the commission for which he was also voting.  He is awaiting sentencing and is expected to receive between five and thirty years in jail.  Was it worth it?

The thought that there is a fine line in all of these decisions does not make sense to me.  People who ask the public for their trust are public servants.  The people are their bosses and we are there to serve them.  We are not here to enrich our personal lives or those of people that personally benefit from our decisions.  The question that everyone in elected office should ask themselves prior to each and every vote is simple: “Is this what is best for the people?”  If you can answer that question, then you have done your best as a public servant.

It was said many years ago that “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”  This was not said by a politician, but by Gandhi.  Maybe we should all keep this in mind as we move forward in our communities.

As always, I remain accessible to all residents so please contact me if you have any questions.  Thank you for the honor to serve.