The eyebrow-raising pay hikes for two Fort Lauderdale police union leaders were quietly set in motion just two days after the union president showed public support for then-City Manager Greg Chavarria, city records show.
Mayor Dean Trantalis — who had been one of Chavarria’s most vocal defenders — says he now wants to know whether the show of support for Chavarria back in January was somehow tied to the out-of-the-ordinary raises for union president Scott Moseley and vice president Scott Hoffer. Trantalis told the South Florida Sun Sentinel he plans to ask the city attorney to look into the matter.
During a City Hall meeting on Jan. 9, Chavarria himself was up for a raise, but word quickly spread that some of his commission bosses might fire him instead. Supporters from across the city showed up en masse to back Chavarria — including Moseley. Two days later, Chavarria gave Moseley and the union vice president substantial raises.
“The whole situation doesn’t pass the smell test,” Trantalis said this week. “We need to do an audit and make sure it was not a quid-pro-quo situation for getting the union support.”