When the definitive political history of South Florida is written, a chapter should be devoted to the dysfunctional political relationship between Fort Lauderdale and Broward County.
Their leaders work a few blocks from each other, but they’re worlds apart politically. They rarely talk to each other, and when they do, it never ends well.
Remember the cringe-worthy workshop on the question of a bridge or tunnel for commuter rail? How about the ill-fated talk of a city-county “gateway” headquarters?
They can’t get along living in the same zip code, let alone the same building.
Such friction shows a lack of political maturity. It cheats taxpayers. It’s not healthy for the region’s future.
Against these odds, Warren Sturman is trying to improve things.
In the midst of a tense re-election campaign, the Fort Lauderdale commissioner eagerly volunteered to be the city’s point person in talking with the county on managing homelessness, one of the area’s most intractable problems.
Homelessness hits Fort Lauderdale especially hard. As the county seat, it is home to the county jail. People who are released end up on city streets where a world-famous beach beckons.