Canceled town hall sparks friction between Pembroke Pines city commissioners
A canceled town hall sparked tension at the first Pembroke Pines City Commission meeting of the month, with Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz accusing city officials of overreach while Mayor Angelo Castillo and staff supported a new policy to prevent future scheduling disputes.
After a string of proclamations to open the meeting on Wednesday, March 4, Castillo initiated the regular agenda, pulling item 6 out of order.
The item pertained to a memo from City Manager Charles Dodge’s report in response to the Feb. 18 city commission meeting, “regarding town hall meeting requests by elected officials,” the agenda read.
Dodge wrote a Feb. 25 memorandum about a canceled town hall meeting promoted and organized by Schwartz, the District 2 Commissioner.
Dodge’s memo states that Schwartz abruptly shifted requests for the town hall’s date, citing concerns over unnecessary public expenditures, a lack of clear purpose and the inappropriate timing of a citywide meeting before the March 10 municipal elections.
The city manager later suspended all town hall scheduling after Schwartz walked out of the Feb. 18 meeting, which broke quorum and stopped discussion on the issue.
In response, Schwartz published a “modified version” of the town hall meeting through Facebook.
“The city administration has decided to not allow me to have use of the chambers. This was after the last city commission meeting to my disappointment,” Schwartz said in a Facebook video. “This is not the Pembroke Pines I love.”
On Wednesday, Dodge said staff worked with city attorney Samuel Goren to draft a policy to prevent a similar issue from transpiring and “make sure there’s no misunderstanding as to how town hall meetings are to be called,” he said.
“I think that this proposal simply gets you from A-Z by at least describing a methodology for calling town hall meetings, conducting town hall meetings, protecting the public’s right of access, protecting the public record,” Goren said.
Commissioner Maria Rodriguez, who was not at the Feb. 18 meeting, asked how moderators would be selected for citywide town halls and whether commissioners with subject-matter expertise could help guide the discussions.
Castillo said that citywide town halls can be called by the mayor or with the support from a majority of commissioners. The mayor said that moderators primarily welcome participants, are not exclusive speakers, and that commissioners and staff could present information or answer questions.
“No one will be kept from speaking, including commissioners ... but the main issue was, if a district commissioner calls a meeting, we want to keep politics out of it,” Castillo said.
Schwartz addressed the commission and outlined a timeline of emails and conversations he said showed the event was originally planned as a district-level meeting, not a citywide one.
He said the meeting was intended to address concerns from residents about utility work affecting yards in parts of the city, including projects by Florida Power & Light.
Schwartz said Dodge called him on Feb. 17 to ask whether the meeting could be moved because two commissioners were concerned about holding it so close to the election.
“That was the direct question I was asked,” Schwartz said.
He criticized the city manager’s memo, saying it did not accurately reflect events.
“Now we have a memo that doesn’t state fact, that is a clear overreach and I have concerns about why it is being put in a public forum like this,” Schwartz said.
Castillo strongly rejected Schwartz’s account and Dodge did not comment.
“I’m going to say this as directly but as kindly as I can: I don’t believe a word you said,” Castillo said, arguing the meeting appeared to be scheduled citywide shortly before the election.
Commissioner Thomas Good said part of the confusion may have come from whether the proposed meeting was described as district-specific or citywide.
“This may have been nipped in the bud at the last meeting had it been clear that you were talking about a district town hall,” Good said.
Good later made a motion to adopt the drafted policy as a baseline framework for future town hall meetings.
The motion passed unanimously and city staff will return with a formal resolution at the next meeting.
Up next
The next commission meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18.
Residents can tune into the meeting by watching the livestream on the city’s Pines Media channel on YouTube or attend in person at the Charles F. Dodge City Center, 601 City Center Way.
