It appears as though the lawsuit by the Chabad could have been prevented.
That’s right this whole messy thing might have been prevented.
When the issues first arose Cooper City had a chance to reflect on the possibility that one of its codes was in error. Zemel, attorney for the Chabad, wrote to Cooper City Mayor Debby Eisinger and strongly urging that the city retain an independent counsel to ensure its codes comply with the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
However, our intrepid Mayor had another view and we quote Mayor Eisinger, who stated at that time to the Sun-Sentinel, “I feel that the city's codes are not discriminatory in any way.” Well Debby, a federal judge saw it very differently. The judge ruled that the city ordinances did in fact violate the law.
It is as we see it an egregious error that the Mayor, in this case chose to act as an attorney for the city, chose not to consult with competent legal counsel, did not attempt in any apparent way to look out for the best interest of Cooper City. Was this simply an error in judgment or was it the arrogant, ‘I am right at all times‘, attitude that we have come to know as the Debby Eisinger’s leadership style?
What makes this absolutely mind-boggling is that this series of events occurred in July 2006. After that as we have been advised no further effort was made to resolve this issue.
As one might reasonable expect a lawsuit was filed. At this point outside legal consul was contracted to handle this suit. What then transpired for the next 14-16- months is vague and difficult to find out. What is known is that the is that the attorney for the Chabad wanted to sit down with Cooper City to some how resolve this issue. (It also appears that the law required mediation in order to attempt to resolve this matter and Cooper City did not respond).
The recent closed door meeting in December of 2007, some 18 months later, of the city attorney with contracted outside consul and the city commission was also disappointing. Sources in the room have indicated that an attempt was made to silence the inquiry of the two commissioners by the mayor. However that was not to be and questions were asked and direct statements were made that indicated there were specific directions to resolve this problem were demanded. (Due to the nature of the confidentiality of those discussions and in order to protect our sources we are not at liberty to comment on them.)
Within a month or so items were placed on the commission agenda by the mayor that were intended to change the ordinances. Fortunately Commissioners Mallozi, Sims, and Kleiman were alerted to this deceptive maneuver and rejected making any changes at this time.
What appears to be on the horizon for the tax payers in Cooper City is a cost of $120-280
per household to settle this. We can only assume that the leadership demonstrated by the Mayor on a very important and critical issue to come before the commission, which could have been resolved before it reached the lawsuit state, and could have been resolved by meetings of the parties, was obviously a $2,000,000.00 failure.
Thanks, Mayor Eisinger. Oops, someone just handed me a recent news item that says Cooper City is being sued about excessive garbage/recycling fees. It starts out by describing how the city clerk has refused to meet with and discuss the issue with the business who are affected.
Holy Cow, here we go again. We wonder what this one will cost.
Let me ask you, Can we really afford to rehire Mayor Eisinger for another term?
You will make the call next Tuesday when you vote for a new Mayor.
2 comments:
I believe the events surrounding the Chabad lawsuit and Debby Eisinger's actions or lack thereof only further demonstrate why we need to vote her out of office. For all those people who want to site her "years of experience," it's even more disturbing that the mayor would allow things to get so out of control. Yes, her ego and arrogance have become a major problem. She always believes she's right and she has surrounded herself by people who go along with her, never question her, and rubber stamp their approval at every turn. And, to those people who think I was "out of line" at the commission meeting when I brought up Lindsay Layer's death, I can only respond by saying, "How dare you not be outraged by this!" I can only imagine how incensed you would be if it had been your son or daughter who died, how frustrating it would be for you if you saw nothing resulting from the police investigation, knowing that the mayor was pulling strings and receiving special consideration because of her power. Why shouldn't every citizen in Cooper City be treated equally? Isn't that what our country is supposed to be founded on?
Sherry Ibbs
There's a great letter in The Readers' Forum, in today's Herald, from Diane Sori, Candidate for Commissioner, District 4. In it she clarifies her civic involvement over the past 26 years in Cooper City. The Herald, in their recommendation of the incumbent candidate, misrepresented the facts.
Sherry Ibbs
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