For the Broward County Commission
Beam Furr provides charm, experience and common sense
Beam Furr is an incumbent Broward County Commissioner who’s pleased to have an opponent in the Aug. 28 primary election.
Campaigning, he said, gives a commissioner “a good chance to reconnect with everyone.”
Furr, 63, faces Plantation businessman Altaf Ahmed, 50, in the District 6 race. Because no Republican qualified to run, all voters are eligible to cast a ballot in this race.
Furr is a consummate politician. He’s smart, personable and able to disagree without being disagreeable. He’s reasonable, clear-eyed and dedicated to his work. Voters should return him to the commission for another four-year term. And Florida Democratic leaders should look at him for needed bench strength.
His colleagues on the commission elected him Broward County Mayor last November. Mayors serve one-year terms.
Ahmed, a Pakastani immigrant, has no political experience, according to the questionnaire he completed for the Sun Sentinel. Further, because he couldn’t make an endorsement interview at the paper, he was unable to make his case for unseating the incumbent.
It’s hard to imagine that Ahmed could mount a compelling case for voters to reject Furr, a Hollywood resident who served 12 years on the Hollywood City Commission before winning a County Commission seat in 2014.
Furr said he’s never met Ahmed and isn’t paying much attention to his challenger. “I’m running my own race.”
He’s eager to campaign and tell voters about some good things that are happening in Broward County:
■ The county is making progress getting Broward’s estimated 1,000 child-care centers accredited. Those that get accreditation must have trained employees able to prepare toddlers for kindergarten. A former public school teacher, Furr says it’s vital that children get educated as young as possible.
■ The county is working with Realtors and city, state and federal governments to ease Broward’s homeless problem. He is confident that businesses and government can find affordable apartments for people now sleeping on the street. The challenge is to find property owners willing to rent their apartments. To address their fears, the county may put money in escrow to cover possible damages.
■ The relationship between the county and city governments has improved. The new-found cooperation is enabling local leaders to discuss strategies to improve transportation, solve trash disposal problems and build an effective 911 emergency response system.
Furr is well aware that the county also faces daunting challenges. In his questionnaire, he lists affordable housing, transportation and the environment as the most pressing.
He is advocating that voters pass the proposed one-penny sales tax increase in November. He says the roughly $16 billion generated by the 30-year increase is essential to alleviate the county’s chronic traffic jams.
“I hear more concern about traffic than any other issue,” he said. “A good transportation system is vital to a strong economy. It is what businesses and corporations look for when they consider a location.”
Furr also is well-versed about threats to the county’s environment and drinking water, particularly from sea-level rise.
“We have to worry about the water coming from three sides: the ocean, the Everglades and from below,” he said in his questionnaire. “I have no doubt we are going to have to consider a number of ways to adapt to the new normal.”
The threat from sea-level rise is so severe that it will require considerable help from both the state and federal governments, he said.
Ahmed has his concerns, too. He listed these issues as the most pressing challenges for county government: economic development, affordable housing and incentives for small businesses.
He was clear in his questionnaire that providing food for the homeless is a bad idea. “Anything free leads to disaster,” he said. “We should create a little town with a small factory” where the homeless could work and earn money.
County commissioners earn $99,997 a year.