Turmoil surrounds Broward sheriff


Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti invited his jail deputies recently to meet him at the San Isidro Catholic Church in Pompano Beach.

It wasn't exactly a shepherd with his flock. Lamberti was there to face questions about his proposal to close another jail wing and demote or let go 327 of the deputies working at the county jails.

"He was drilled mercilessly by his employees,'' said Sgt. Tony Marciano, a union leader.

In office just three years, the sheriff is facing tumult in all directions. And the rumble has only just begun. As Broward County wrestles with how to pay for government services in a recession, the public debate about how deeply the sheriff's budget should be cut will likely reach a screaming pitch. Internally, at Broward Sheriff's Office, morale is wounded and the sheriff's popularity waning.

"When you look at the landscape, on the surface, I'm fighting with everybody,'' Lamberti said Friday.

County commissioners are irate the sheriff's draft budget is too large, and are demanding millions more in reductions. They want him to cut 14 percent, the same percentage they'll be shaving. Meanwhile, the cities who pay Broward Sheriff's Office for policing are locked in a bitter back-and-forth with him over contract costs. The jail deputies' union is at an impasse with Lamberti on a job contract and gave him a vote of no confidence, a move he admits "hurt.'' That union is threatening to sue him, arguing his job cuts would hurt black employees the worst. The firefighters aren't happy, either; their union also is at an impasse with Lamberti. The road patrol deputies – the one group that just got raises – is wrangling with him over next year's pay; Lamberti asked them to agree to a two-year wage freeze.

"Sometimes I wake up and ask myself, is there anyone I'm not fighting with?'' Lamberti said.

The first deputy in BSO history to rise to the rank of sheriff, Lamberti wants to prove something – that the organization can be run by one of its own. Yet his budget face-off with the Broward County Commission led to talk of stripping him of his constitutional independence, and bringing the BSO in under the authority of county government. Lamberti shows no sign of concession; he said commissioners aren't showing leadership by ordering across-the-board cuts.

"Half of my life has been spent at Broward Sheriff's Office,'' Lamberti said. "I'm protective of the agency. I don't want to see it destroyed. I don't want to see it decimated, picked apart and destroyed.''

The Bronx-born Lamberti's ability to wear the uniform and carry a gun was a selling point to the employees.

"At the beginning, we figured a guy that's been here 30 years would probably be the best person for the job,'' Marciano said. But, "the road [patrol] gets treated like the golden children and everyone else gets treated second rate.''

The key issue in all of this is money. Employees want more of it. The cities want to pay less. And the county – and sheriff – don't have enough.

Maj. Keith Neely, a 23-year employee who is in charge of the main jail and has worked under five sheriffs, said it's unfortunate for Lamberti that he "stepped in at a time when the economy is at its worst.'' He thinks the sheriff is holding up well, and that it's unfair to judge him solely on his ability to give out raises.

"The overall perception of the sheriff is primarily driven by the economy,'' Neely said. " … I'm not saying money is the only factor, but it's huge. Huge. And it plays a big role in morale.''

Lamberti's Republican politics may also play a role in his conflict with county commissioners, all of whom are Democrats. He said it "bothered'' him when almost all of the commissioners endorsed his election opponent. Lamberti was appointed to the job in 2007 by Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, but ran for election and won in 2008.

When it came budget time, Lamberti felt strange sitting across from commissioners who hoped he'd lose.

"They have every incentive to make you look bad,'' he said.

Former Sheriff Nick Navarro, also a Republican, said, "I feel sorry for Al." No matter what you cut, he said, "you're going to be crucified. … I had the same problem." Navarro was sheriff from 1985 to 1992.

The most recent sheriff, Ken Jenne, "could do no wrong'' in county commissioners' eyes, Navarro commented. Jenne, a Democrat, lost the position when he was charged with public corruption crimes, and served a prison sentence. He declined comment for this story.

County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs said she's fed up with Lamberti blaming county commissioners for his budget troubles.

She and her colleagues said the sheriff should take responsibility for his share of the cuts, and they don't want to take the blame for his choices. The property tax roll, which determines how much income the government will get from property taxes, is 12.1 percent lower than last year's.

"It's not the county. The tax rolls are what they are,'' Jacobs said. "It's a declining tax base that has put everybody in this place."

The sheriff's pleas for public support might not generate the sympathy he hopes.

Fellow Republican Charles Palmer, a business CEO who heads the Broward Workshop of business executives, said he doesn't believe the sheriff can't cut without endangering the community, as he has hinted.

"He's got to bite the bullet,'' Palmer said.

"And unions have to face the facts that they can't keep asking and asking and asking. Most of us in private busineses haven't given raises in three years. It's survival time.''

Palmer said taxpayers in Broward won't stand for higher taxes.

"If this sheriff can't learn how to cut his budget,'' he said, "another sheriff is going to have to.''

Brittany Wallman can be reached at bwallman@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4541.Info Scoop