Our Mayor, the Lobbyist

Dilip Barot, whose West Palm Beach-based company, Creative Choice Homes, was ranked third, is also adamant that his proposal was much stronger than Pinnacle's. But Barot says he wasn't surprised by the city's decision. He says political insiders -- whom he wouldn't name -- indicated to him that Pinnacle would win the project because it had Lieberman on its team. Barot hired high-powered Pompano lobbyist Tom Johnston to represent his company to no avail. "They had a better political connection than we did -- the county commissioner [Lieberman] they hired played an important role," says Barot, who speaks with a heavy accent acquired in his native India. "The deal was already made before we even became involved."

Lieberman's real effect on the process isn't known, but Pompano is certainly a city where she has long had political power. In 2002, she was especially close to then-mayor Bill Griffin, a politician continually dogged by conflict of interest claims. Lieberman's relationship with Griffin, in fact, was founded in an ethics complaint; she and her husband Stuart defended Griffin before the ethics commission in a 1998 case. Their defense was successful, as was the countersuit to obtain legal fees from Ed Stanton, a political activist who filed the complaint.

Though he has no proof, Barot claims Lieberman and city officials were involved in a questionable political swap: In exchange for the city choosing Pinnacle, Lieberman would use her power as a member of the county commission to help approve Griffin's pet project, the International Swimming Hall of Fame, to be developed by controversial entrepreneur Michael Swerdlow. The project included two skyscraping beach condos on a public beach. Support among the populace was low, and Griffin's name was further sullied when New Times revealed that Swerdlow helped him get a job with a construction company vying for the contract. The county commission ultimately needed to approve the plan, making Lieberman's vote crucial.

Lieberman adamantly denies she made any political deals to help Pinnacle. "I was an outspoken critic of the Swimming Hall of Fame -- outspoken," Lieberman says. "I was on the Broward County Planning Council at the time and voted against [the project]. I disagreed vehemently with Bill [Griffin] on the Swimming Hall of Fame and told him I would not support it."

After questioning, she admitted she may have been mistaken about the vote and, in fact, she was. The planning council rejected the city's request to fast-track the project in March 2003, when the commissioner was no longer a member.

Lieberman did, however, strongly support Griffin's reelection effort in early 2003. She and her husband contributed $1,000 to his campaign, while Pinnacle gave another $500. The swim hall was the number-one issue in the race, but Lieberman says her support of the Pompano mayor had nothing to do with the project or Pinnacle. "Just because somebody votes for George W. Bush, does that mean they have to agree with the Iraq war?" she asks rhetorically. "I told [Griffin] that he was dead wrong on Swerdlow. There is no truth that I, in any way, shape or form, committed to support the Swimming Hall of Fame or agreed to remain neutral."

Since Griffin (who couldn't be reached for comment) is a Republican, Lieberman's fellow Democrats were both puzzled and angered by her cheerleading for the GOP mayor. The North Broward Democratic Club even passed a resolution condemning Lieberman for it. In the end, she was never put to the test regarding the swim hall. Griffin was ousted by voters, and the development was promptly killed by the new commission.

A.L. Stein, former head of the city's housing authority and long-time city appointee, says some developers complained to him that they felt the mayor's work for the company was improper. "I hear a lot of rumors, and I don't listen to them. I heard people say, 'Well, it looks like [Pinnacle] is in like Flynn,'" the 82-year-old chairman of the Pompano Zoning Board says in his southern drawl.

Stein says he twice saw Lieberman at City Hall on Pinnacle's behalf, once for a zoning matter and another time for a plat change. "I talked to her when she came to the board," he says. "She came up, hugged me, kissed me on each cheek, and I kissed her on each cheek. We're good friends."

Though he approved both changes, Stein isn't a fan of the deal. He says Pinnacle's price tag for the project, which has risen to $18.9 million, is too high. "But hey, it's public money that will pay for it, so who cares?" he quips.

And he says he believes Pinnacle owes its success in Pompano to Lieberman's involvement.

"I'm not critical of the county commissioner," Stein says, "but the county needed to sign off on the [Pinnacle] plan, and who at the county do you think is going to oppose it when their employee is Lieberman? Pinnacle was damn clever."