The Lobbyist

Josephus Eggelletion's political career was born in Lauderdale Lakes, a city of 32,000 where he raised his two now-grown children and lives to this day. A teacher and barber by trade, the Florida native made his maiden voyage in politics in 1990, when he was elected to the Lakes commission. Just two years later, he ran unopposed for the state legislature, where he spent eight years before term limits forced him from office in 2000. That same year, he won a seat on the County Commission, to which he was reelected in November.

Eggelletion has been a successful politician, but he's seen more than his share of controversy. While a state representative, he spoke of championing the poor people in his district but was oft-criticized for his coziness with Big Sugar. His populist message also rang hollow in light of the fact that he collected a mid-five-figures Broward County School Board salary despite spending half the school year or more in Tallahassee, where he picked up another paycheck on the public dime. When he became a county commissioner, he made an $80,000-plus salary in addition to the School Board pay. He defends his extracurricular lobbying work by saying he has a family to support, but his wife, Carolyn, does just fine: She's an elementary-school principal who takes home $100,000 a year.

But the family salary of more than $200,000 apparently still wasn't enough for Eggelletion to pay his bills. In 2001, he used his county-issued credit card to buy lavish meals, trips abroad, and personal items like a $659 Bally's leather briefcase. During one sojourn to Brazil, he missed several days of work at the School Board, where he was listed as sick. The State Attorney's Office and the Florida Commission on Ethics each probed the matter, and both cleared him of breaking the law after he paid $2,600 to the county.

Also in 2001, he made $15,000 for lobbying the City of Miramar on behalf of Waste Management, the trash-hauling giant. While still contracted with the company in 2002, Eggelletion voted to give Waste Management tens of thousands of dollars in county business. Again, the Commission on Ethics began an investigation, which is ongoing.

"I've been investigated by the State Attorney's Office and the attorney general," Eggelletion said at Dillard. "And do you know what came of it? Bullshit."

While the credit card and Waste Management investigations made the newspapers, his work for Cornerstone remained out of the public eye. The developer hired Eggelletion in 2001 to help maneuver its $26 million project -- which was located on State Road 7 near City Hall and dubbed the St. Croix Apartments -- through the Lauderdale Lakes commission. Eggelletion won't say how much he was paid, but his 2001 financial disclosure form shows that his private lobbying firm, Egg Consulting, brought in $65,000 that year. Minus the $15,000 from Waste Management and barring any unknown clients, that leaves a potential Cornerstone fee of $50,000.

On September 28, 2001, Eggelletion appeared before Lakes commissioners to persuade them to approve the Cornerstone project. After he finished speaking, another special visitor addressed the commission on the developer's behalf: Lennard Robinson, who was then the director of the Broward County Housing Finance Authority (HFA).

The problem is that Robinson's agency was run by the county and overseen by Eggelletion's commission. Further, Robinson and Eggelletion happen to be lifelong friends who attend the First Baptist Church of Piney Grove in Fort Lauderdale. That Robinson is also the stepson of Congressional aide Art Kennedy, an Eggelletion political appointee and campaign contributor, only reinforces the bond.

Like Eggelletion, Robinson is no stranger to trouble. He quit the HFA in December 2002 after a county audit found that the agency had mismanaged funds and that Robinson's girlfriend and other associates were given HFA grants. Robinson also was investigated by the State Attorney's Office, which determined that there was no criminal wrongdoing.

If Eggelletion solicited Robinson's help in representing Cornerstone or if he helped the company obtain county bond financing, it would fly in the face of the state's unlawful-compensation statute. Robinson initially denied ever attending the meeting or discussing the Cornerstone project with Eggelletion. After he was told that Lauderdale Lakes commission meeting minutes showed he was there, Robinson acknowledged his attendance. "I had forgotten about it," Robinson explained.

He insisted that his city hall visit had nothing to do with Eggelletion. "Any time a developer came and asked me to explain bond financing, I would do it," he said. "I wasn't there on [Eggelletion's] behalf. I was there on behalf of a developer. Most government entities don't understand what bond financing is, and I went there to explain it. I wasn't aware that [Eggelletion] was a lobbyist for the developer at the time, if he was.

"The only reason I would talk to [Eggelletion] about it was because it was in his district," he continued. "He never talked to me as a lobbyist about the project. He basically wanted to talk about projects in his district. I know that Commissioner Eggelletion has always had an interest in affordable housing, and I saw [St. Croix] as a good, affordable-housing project."

Lakes commissioners voted unanimously to approve the site plan. "Eggelletion promoted Cornerstone both publicly and privately," long-time Lakes Commissioner David Shomers says. "It was one of the reasons we approved it, because of our reliance on a county commissioner's credibility. I didn't think it was appropriate. It just didn't feel right to me. But this gave Cornerstone some instant credibility with us since a county commissioner had vetted them."