The Lobbyist

Josephus Eggelletion's people wait. The Broward County commissioner has called a town hall meeting at Dillard High School, and about 40 residents have shown up to hear what their man in office is doing for them. The 55-year-old politician, dressed in a gold-colored, U.S. Open golf shirt and black slacks, strolls into the school about 7 p.m., when the thing is supposed to start. Slow and sure, with a slight Everyman's slump in his stride, he glad-hands a couple of constituents, helps himself to an Oreo cookie from a refreshment table, and walks toward the auditorium.

Eggelletion plans to talk about street improvement projects in the predominantly black neighborhoods over which he presides. It fits his practiced image. He often portrays himself as the voice of poor minorities. But the former state representative has also become a champion for a decidedly unoppressed demographic group: deep-pocketed and opportunistic Miami developers who've flocked to Broward County during the past few years.

They specialize in affordable housing, which has become increasingly necessary in Broward as median home prices have soared beyond $300,000. The developers rely on millions of dollars in government subsidies to build apartments -- and to bring in hefty profits. Eggelletion has been one of their leading advocates, publicly demanding that the Broward County Commission give them more public money.

But Eggelletion's interest in the developers isn't selfless. His support, in fact, seems to originate in an all-too-predictable place: his wallet. Even as he uses his considerable influence to help developers reap windfalls, he's gone on their payroll. A few years ago, when Miami-based Cornerstone Group Development came to Eggelletion's district to build a townhome project in Lauderdale Lakes, it hired the commissioner. The county has since given Cornerstone hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money and millions in tax-exempt bonds.

Though his work for Cornerstone -- which earned Eggelletion an estimated $50,000 -- never made the newspapers, he did it in the open. His more recent work for another Miami developer, United Homes International, appears to have been done completely behind the scenes. Well-placed sources say United Homes, which has a history marred by corruption, hired the county commissioner to help it secure a $100 million contract to build a "downtown" for Lauderdale Lakes, where Eggelletion once served in public office.

But the county commissioner isn't talking about the deal. For weeks, he didn't return phone messages and detailed, e-mailed questions. Then came the November 30 town hall meeting at Dillard. As he strolled toward the auditorium, he was asked about his employment with United Homes. "I'm not going to answer those questions tonight," he said, quickening his stride.

There's good reason to keep his business with United Homes quiet. The city banned lobbying on the project, and a violation could disqualify the offending firm from competition.

While taking a break from the town hall meeting, he entertained some questions but answered only a few. "I work for a company and provide services for that company," he said cryptically when asked again about United Homes. He evaded specific queries about his work but promised to reply in detail to questions e-mailed to him.

"All I care about is those people in there," he added, motioning to the auditorium. "Those are the people that don't have what you and I have."

When pressed about his work for developers and the potential ethical and legal problems that could come with it, he asked pointedly, "Is it illegal?"

He obviously believes the answer is no. Such work certainly isn't without precedent. Fellow commissioner Ilene Lieberman worked for Pinnacle Housing Group, another well-heeled Miami developer, for at least two years (see "Our Mayor, the Lobbyist," Parts 1-4). However, Florida's unlawful-compensation statute, which forbids politicians from profiting from their public positions, is very broad, and the right answer may be more problematic than either commissioner realizes.

Even if Eggelletion's efforts for Cornerstone and United Homes aren't unlawful, several Lauderdale Lakes officials contend it should be. Deputy Vice Mayor Barrington Russell, for one, calls for an investigation of the commissioner's work. "I think it's inappropriate for any elected official to lobby any city," Russell says. "It must be prohibited. It's offensive, and it sets a bad example for government... It is morally and ethically wrong and must be legally wrong as well."

Russell is particularly offended that Eggelletion appears to have marketed his political influence to a developer at the same time the county commissioner was quietly working to destroy Lauderdale Lakes' effort to annex several predominantly black neighborhoods. Lakes commissioners allege that Eggelletion ran a stealth campaign against the city's ambitious plan to expand the city to include some 15,000 residents in the poorest neighborhoods of central Broward.

Annexation is widely perceived as the best way for those areas to achieve self-rule and get the tax dollars the county has long denied them. But Eggelletion worked against the measure, which was defeated by voters on November 2. Several black community leaders say Eggelletion betrayed them. They wonder if his actions were dictated more by his love of developers than by his dedication to the people. And they're waiting for him to prove otherwise.

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Josephus Eggelletion's political career was born in Lauderdale Lakes, a city of 32,000 where he raised his two now-grown children and lives to this day. A teacher and barber by trade, the Florida native made his maiden voyage in politics in 1990, when he was elected to the Lakes commission. Just two years later, he ran unopposed for the state legislature, where he spent eight years before term limits forced him from office in 2000. That same year, he won a seat on the County Commission, to which he was reelected in November.

Eggelletion has been a successful politician, but he's seen more than his share of controversy. While a state representative, he spoke of championing the poor people in his district but was oft-criticized for his coziness with Big Sugar. His populist message also rang hollow in light of the fact that he collected a mid-five-figures Broward County School Board salary despite spending half the school year or more in Tallahassee, where he picked up another paycheck on the public dime. When he became a county commissioner, he made an $80,000-plus salary in addition to the School Board pay. He defends his extracurricular lobbying work by saying he has a family to support, but his wife, Carolyn, does just fine: She's an elementary-school principal who takes home $100,000 a year.

But the family salary of more than $200,000 apparently still wasn't enough for Eggelletion to pay his bills. In 2001, he used his county-issued credit card to buy lavish meals, trips abroad, and personal items like a $659 Bally's leather briefcase. During one sojourn to Brazil, he missed several days of work at the School Board, where he was listed as sick. The State Attorney's Office and the Florida Commission on Ethics each probed the matter, and both cleared him of breaking the law after he paid $2,600 to the county.

Also in 2001, he made $15,000 for lobbying the City of Miramar on behalf of Waste Management, the trash-hauling giant. While still contracted with the company in 2002, Eggelletion voted to give Waste Management tens of thousands of dollars in county business. Again, the Commission on Ethics began an investigation, which is ongoing.

"I've been investigated by the State Attorney's Office and the attorney general," Eggelletion said at Dillard. "And do you know what came of it? Bullshit."

While the credit card and Waste Management investigations made the newspapers, his work for Cornerstone remained out of the public eye. The developer hired Eggelletion in 2001 to help maneuver its $26 million project -- which was located on State Road 7 near City Hall and dubbed the St. Croix Apartments -- through the Lauderdale Lakes commission. Eggelletion won't say how much he was paid, but his 2001 financial disclosure form shows that his private lobbying firm, Egg Consulting, brought in $65,000 that year. Minus the $15,000 from Waste Management and barring any unknown clients, that leaves a potential Cornerstone fee of $50,000.

On September 28, 2001, Eggelletion appeared before Lakes commissioners to persuade them to approve the Cornerstone project. After he finished speaking, another special visitor addressed the commission on the developer's behalf: Lennard Robinson, who was then the director of the Broward County Housing Finance Authority (HFA).

The problem is that Robinson's agency was run by the county and overseen by Eggelletion's commission. Further, Robinson and Eggelletion happen to be lifelong friends who attend the First Baptist Church of Piney Grove in Fort Lauderdale. That Robinson is also the stepson of Congressional aide Art Kennedy, an Eggelletion political appointee and campaign contributor, only reinforces the bond.

Like Eggelletion, Robinson is no stranger to trouble. He quit the HFA in December 2002 after a county audit found that the agency had mismanaged funds and that Robinson's girlfriend and other associates were given HFA grants. Robinson also was investigated by the State Attorney's Office, which determined that there was no criminal wrongdoing.