Between masterminding a covert operation to steal catalytic converters from city vehicles and ordering subordinates to use government resources to remodel family members’ homes, reports about the tenure of former Plantation Public Works Director Steven Luther Rodgers read like a bad fanfic script of The Sopranos.
In the quiet, suburban heart of Broward County, Rodgers rose to director of the Plantation Public Works Department in 2019 and served until the city fired him in 2023, following charges of unlawful compensation, official misconduct, and dealing in stolen property. Public works employees, who typically maintain city infrastructure like roads and sewers, described Rodgers as a domineering boss who abused his power by coercing them to do his personal work, according to arrest affidavits from 2023.
But the monetary toll of his actions remained unclear until the Broward Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently announced Rodgers’ department misspent about $4.5 million in 2022 alone, according to the inspector general’s report of the investigation…