Tag Archives: ben sorensen

Fort Lauderdale Mayoral Candidate Bruce Roberts Paid Sewage Company Rep For “Campaign Research”

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Something stinks in the city of Fort Lauderdale. For months, residents and business have dealt with overflowing sewage due to the city’s aging infrastructure. Last December, a sewer main break left residents of the Tarpon Bend neighborhood dealing with 2.5 million gallons of raw sewage. The Sun-Sentinel reported crews spent more than a month cleaning up the disgusting mess.

“It was covering everything that it touched, which is a bio-hazard,” said Jon Hines, of Cliff Berry, Inc., an environmental services company doing much of the work. “I wouldn’t want my kid picking that up, or my dog eating it or walking in it.”

Now, sewage pump trucks are a common sight in the city. Readers send pictures of the trucks to Sun-Sentinel reporter Brittany Wallman, who shares them on Twitter.

Since then, the sewer mess has become a major issue in the upcoming City of Fort Lauderdale elections. Even though angry residents blame the sitting commissioners for ignoring the problem, Vice-Mayor Bruce Roberts claims he will handle the matter if elected Mayor in 2018. Roberts recently sent a mailer to residents.

The Roberts mailer states “politicians like to point their fingers and place blame.” This appears to be a direct reference to Charlotte Rodstrom, one of his opponents. (Rodstrom sent a mailer with pictures of the sewer pump trucks.)

Declaring that “leaders takle action,” the mailer claims Roberts has been at the forefront of the sewer issue. The piece states Roberts is a “genuine” leader who is “doing what needs to get done.”

Apparently, one of the things that needs to “get done” is paying the regulatory compliance manger of a sewage pump company for “campaign research.”

ROBERTS PAYS CLIFF BERRY EMPLOYEE FOR “CAMPAIGN RESEARCH” WORK

According to campaign financial reports, Bruce Roberts’ campaign paid $375 to a Plantation company for “campaign research.” The report shows the campaign made the payment to Legal-Ease Professionals, LLC in September. According to State records, the company was founded in May 2016 by Kelly Brandenburg.

According to State and local records, attorney Kelly Brandenburg is the regulatory compliance manager for Cliff Berry, Inc of Fort Lauderdale.  According to their website, Cliff Berry, Inc. specialized in hazardous waste removal and “disposal management.” This is the same company hired to clean up the Tarpon Bend mess in January.

While her LinkedIn resume page states she stopped working for Cliff Berry, Inc. in 2016, other documents show Kelly Brandenburg working on behalf of the company in 2017.

Also, when REDBROWARD called Cliff Berry, Inc on December 4, 2017 and asked for Kelly Brandenburg, the operator said, “one moment please.”

BRANDENBURG CANNOT REMEMBER WHAT SHE DID FOR BRUCE ROBERTS

REDBROWARD spoke to Kelly Brandenburg while she was working at Cliff Berry. Inc office in Fort Lauderdale. When asked if she still works for Cliff Berry, Inc, Brandenburg said she is “doing work for them.” She claims to have many clients.

When it comes to her client in the Fort Lauderdale Mayoral race, Brandenburg did not have much to say.

When asked if Legal-Ease Professionals LLC usually performs “campaign research,” Brandenburg said, “not generally.” She stated her company usually reviews contracts for clients. When asked what she did for Bruce Roberts, Brandenburg said she would need to check her records. “I don’t know why [Roberts] said that,” she stated.

REDBROWARD asked Bruce Roberts for comment. As of publication, Roberts has not responded.

Does Bruce Roberts’ political guru Judy Stern know about this sewer pumping company-based campaign research? Why can’t the sewer pumping company manager remember the work she did for the City of Fort Lauderdale Vice Mayor just a few months ago?

Bruce Roberts is making the sewer issue part of his campaign. Like he said, “leaders take action.” Fort Lauderdale residents deserve answers about who is working for Bruce Roberts.

Judy Stern Desperately Seeking Control Of Fort Lauderdale Commission

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Desperate to turn around her losing record, controversial lobbyist/consultant Judy Stern is going “all in” with several candidates in upcoming City of Fort Laudedale Commission elections. Candidates for the Mayor’s seat and nearly every commission seat will face off in a January primary. The top vote getters will then square off in March 2018. Earlier this month, Republican Heather Moraitis won her District one seat unopposed.

Yesterday, BrowardBeat.com detailed Judy Stern’s involvement with Bruce Roberts’ campaign for Mayor. With the extremely popular Mayor Jack Seiler term-limited, Roberts, Commissioner Dean Trantalis and Charlotte Rodstrom are running to be the next leader of Fort Lauderdale. Stern has been spotted squiring Bruce Roberts at candidate forums and fundraisers.

Writing that the upcoming election may be her “Waterloo,” Buddy Nevins revealed how Mama Stern is a lobbyist for the controversial Bahia Mar project. “Judy has gone all in on Roberts. She needs him to win,” according to one BrowardBeat source. REDBROWARD heard a similar sentiment from a source close to Stern.

Nevins wrote, “some politicians are sick of Stern’s tactics. The nasty whispering campaigns. The backbiting.” It’s clear Roberts is not sick of her tactics.

In June, REDBROWARD revealed how Bruce Roberts, a longtime Republican, quit the GOP before the November 2016. Seven years earlier, Roberts declared,”“I’m a life-long Republican. Make no doubt about that.”  In March 2016, Bruce Roberts opened his campaign to replace the term-limited Mayor Jack Seiler. In an email response to REDBROWARD, Bruce Roberts admitted he left the Republican Party a few months later. “My NPA voter registration card was issued 7/15/16,” Roberts wrote. The Commissioner did not respond to questions about his reasons for leaving the party he has called home since October 1969.

At the time, several political insiders believed Stern, a staunch Democrat and supporter of Hillary Clinton, was behind the move.

When the Sun-Sentinel asked about his party switch in October, Roberts laughably claimed it was illegal for him to discuss the move. After the State of Florida said he could discuss the matter, Roberts still refused.

“Whoever I voted for in any national election or state election or county government has nothing to do with city government,” he said. “I stand on my record. … In today’s world, no matter who I voted for, it creates an inappropriate boxing in of who I am.”

Despite her involvement with Bruce Roberts, Judy Stern is helping other Fort Lauderdale Commission candidates.

BEN SORENSEN ON TEAM SALAMI?

Ben Sorensen

District four candidate Ben Sorensen has documented ties to Judy Stern. He is running against Warren Sturman and Walter Duke to replace the term-limited Romney Rogers. This not Sorensen’s first election. In 2014, Sorensen was a Democratic Party candidate for the Florida House District 100 seat serving Hollywood, Hallandale Beach and parts of Miami.

Published reports from 2014 documented how shadowy PACs (funded with Republican money!) attacked Sorensen’s Democrat opponent, Joe Geller. When asked about the PAC support, Sorensen told the Sun Sentinel, “I want to be the representative of everyone in District 100…not just the Democrats.”

In 2014, BrowardBeat wrote the PAC attack mailers were “full of lies.”  Buddy Nevins wrote, “These mailers were done by a group that has done a pro-Ben Sorensen ad.” Nevins wrote the same group behind the mailers had done work for Broward County Commissioner Tim Ryan.

In 2012, this reporter revealed the close ties between Tim Ryan and Judy Stern. Judy Stern signed a large advertising contract on behalf of Tim Ryan’s campaign for the Broward County Commission, showing Ryan was misleading voters when he tried to deflect attention from a campaign scandal by saying Stern “is not on my payroll.” The contract, obtained exclusively by Media Trackers Florida, shows Stern authorized a $40,000 television advertising purchase on the Ryan campaign’s behalf.

Will Fort Lauderdale voters allow Judy Stern to control the City Commission? Will these candidates explain their ties to a lobbyist who appears before the City Commission?