Looking for Commissioner Number Nine

A rep is missing from the Broward County Commission and District 9 is not happy about it

By STEVE LITZ

Updated 9:00 AM EST, Wed, Nov 18, 2009

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One representative is missing from the Broward County Commission and people living in District Nine are not happy about it.

"The seat has been poorly representated for the last eight to nine years, now we have no representation," Reverand Allen Jackson with the Living Word Community Church said yesterday.

Jackson and other church leaders from the district held a news conference outside Broward's Government Center yesterday morning, complaining that Florida Governor Charlie Crist is dragging his feet in making the appointment.

"My issues are being ignored, my concerns are not being addressed," said District Nine voter Michael Carn.

Back in September, the man who used to represent District Nine, Josephus Eggelletion, was arrested and removed from his seat amid corruption allegations. Not only are the people in his district frustrated, so is Broward's mayor.

"We've had a number of four-to-four votes, Mayor Ken Keechl said. "Under our charter nothing gets done, nothing passes, nothing fails, it just sits there."

Florida's Republican Governor is required to appoint a new representative in the heavily Democratic district. It took Crist about a month to replace the seat vacated by disgraced Broward school board member Beverly Gallagher, a Democrat who was replaced by a Republican.

Eggelletion, a Democrat, has been gone almost two months now. The Governor's office said a replacement should be named in about a week. Crist called the South Florida culture of political corruption astonishing.

"The opportunity we have is to clean that up to get people appointed to those commissions, whether it's Miami or Broward," Crist said. "The number one quality that I'm looking for is integrity by these people.