Broward needs a strong county mayor

Broward County has a mayor, but you’d hardly know it.

Every year, the County Commission rotates the post among its nine members, except for Chip LaMarca, the only Republican, but that’s another matter.

Quick, ask yourself. Who’s Broward’s mayor? Who’s the face of the nation’s 17th-largest county?

Unless you’re an insider, you probably don’t know Barbara Sharief is this year’s mayor.

From the outside, people see Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler as Broward’s go-to politician. And if people don’t know who’s in charge, who can make decisions and who can set direction, that’s a problem.

To create a stronger structure of county leadership, we encourage members of this year’s Broward County Charter Review Commission — appointed every 10 years to consider governance changes for a rapidly growing county — to let voters decide whether to create the position of a strong county mayor.

And by strong mayor, we don’t mean someone who sets the meeting’s agenda, casts one of nine votes and cuts ribbons at grand openings. We mean someone who leads the executive branch, proposes the county’s budget for commission approval and vetoes wayward proposals, with checks and balances.

As things stand, one year is not nearly sufficient for a revolving-door mayor to advance an agenda. For a county this big, this urban and this fractured, we need the maypole of a strong county mayor.

Today, not one of Broward’s commissioners is elected countywide. Rather, each is elected from separate districts and generally defer to one another on issues within their districts. We mean no disrespect to today’s commissioners, but it’s just wrong that Broward elects no one to rise above parochial interests and focus on the greater good.

A decade ago, the charter review commission considered placing a mayoral question on the ballot, but decided against it. The idea met pushback from county commissioners who didn’t want to play second fiddle to a mayor. Plus, it had only been seven years since voters rejected a strong mayor in 2000, the same year the county revised its charter and went to single-member districts.

This year, consensus seems to be growing that Broward needs an elected county mayor. The question is whether the position should be defined as strong or weak.

We like the idea proposed two years ago by attorney George Platt, a former county commissioner and Broward Workshop member. His plan would give the position all the powers of a typical strong mayor — the ability to appoint a county administrator and veto commission votes — but with one important caveat: a supermajority of commissioners — at least 6 of 9 — could overrule the mayor’s vetoes or choice of an administrator.

It’s a perfect compromise. Allowing a supermajority of commissioners to override a veto eliminates the fear of a rogue mayor acting against the county’s best interests, but still puts someone in charge who’s accountable to voters.

Today, the power lies with the county administrator, an appointed job now held by Bertha Henry. Again, we mean no disrespect to Henry, who, with some exceptions, is generally seen as doing a good job.

But the county administrator is accountable only to a majority of commissioners. That’s five people — in a county of 1.9 million.

It’s the structure, not the person, with which we have issues.

At a recent meeting of the review commission’s Governance Subcommittee, members appeared to favor a weak-mayor form of government, though they never used that term.

Most said they want a mayor who can be the face of the county and meet with the business community — especially out-oftown businesses who don’t have relationships with commissioners. But they spoke of making the mayor a voting member of the county commission and adding an atlarge commissioner for a total of 11, to prevent ties.

More than a glad-hander, we’d argue the mayor needs to be a decision maker. And making the mayor one of 11 votes would do nothing to advance the voice of leadership.

In weighing a structural change, people sometimes jump ahead to who would run for that office, and what if we don’t like them? We’ve also heard concerns about businesses getting on the wrong side of the winning candidate, putting government business at risk for four or eight years. Yes, there’s a risk in selecting a singular leader, but remember this about politicians: once elected, their primal instincts are to be re-elected. And to be re-elected countywide, they have to be responsible to citizens, businesses and communities countywide.

Critics also point to Miami-Dade County, which has created a strong mayor form of government. They noted that former Miami-Dade mayor Carlos Alvarez was recalled in 2011 following allegations of mismanagement.

But we’d argue the system worked — that a bad mayor was recalled. And today, under the leadership of Mayor Carlos Gimenez, Miami-Dade is much farther ahead of Broward on solutions to transportation and sea-level rise. Plus, it has a strong voice of leadership on issues of the day, like Zika, immigration, growth and so much more.

Only one subcommittee member, attorney Burnadette Norris-Weeks, spoke against advancing a ballot question for an elected county mayor. She believes the structure would disadvantage minority communities, which would find it tougher to fund and elect a candidate.

We would note that African-American leaders have been elected countywide, including Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes and Clerk of Court Brenda Forman. And let’s not forget President Obama was elected nationwide.

Rather than let voters decide, Norris-Weeks believes it’s the commission’s job to decide whether an elected county mayor is good public policy. From her vantage point, the system isn’t broke and doesn’t need fixing.

But ask any businessman or woman what it’s like to get something done in Broward County and you’ll hear the frustration of dealing with County Center, where no one can make a timely decision you can count on. Instead, you have to hire a bevy of lobbyists — people who have good relationships with one or two of the nine commissioners — not an easy process for those who simply want to build a business, champion a cause or solve a problem.

Broward needs a focused agenda, the kind that comes with a strong mayor who can set direction and be held accountable for carrying it out.

Charter review members should let county voters decide whether our leader should be more than a figurehead.

Broward needs a focused agenda, the kind that comes with a strong mayor who can set direction and be held accountable for carrying it out.