Democratic force in Broward politics dies at 73
Born in Havana, Cuba, she came to the United States in 1960, became a U.S. citizen in 1970 and was the first Hispanic woman elected to two prominent Bro ward County government positions in the late 1980 sand early 2000s. She was also Broward County’s first official may or in 2002.
Diana Wasserman-Rubin became a longtime Democratic force in Broward County politics over the next 30 years. But her health deteriorated as she battled Parkinson’s disease, and she tooka turn for the worse weeks ago. She died Sunday at 73.
During her time in politics, her name was repeatedly mixed up with another Broward County Democra twho has a similar name — Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
“Everyone got a kick out of that, perhaps her most of all,” said Mitch Ceasar, the former 20-year chairman of the Broward Democratic Party.
Wasserman-Rubin had a sharp sense of humor, andwas a pioneer as a Hispanic woman in politics, Ceasar said.
“It was unusual then, and unfortunately still is unusual in Broward,” he said. “I found her to be of a good heart, whether she sat voting on children’s issues on the school board or social services issues on the county commission.”
She was fiercely proud of her heritage and helped found Hispanic Unity of Florida, a nonprofit resource for immigrants from other countries dedicating to easing their transition. That’s where Pembroke Pines Commissioner Angelo Castillo met her.
“In order toge tit going, she actually mortgaged her house ,” Castillo said. “That’s howmuch she cared about newly arrived people in the United States, that they had a chance to assimilate, get work and find the American Dream here. It was the kind of person that she was — she had a heart of gold.”
Wasserman-Rubin was very attuned to people’s needs andwas always eager to help them wherever she could, Castillo said. She was the driving force behind merging Bro ward fire rescue services with the county sheriff’s office back in 2003.
And when the county medical examiner appealed to the commission to help prevent child drownings inc anal sand swimming pools, Wasserman-Rubinwas allover the effort, Castillo said.
“Shewas one of the founders of this community’s SWIM Central, which had the legacy of saving who knows how many children from drowning deaths by making sure they could at least tread water by the time they were age two,” Castillo said.
Waserman-Rubin was one of the county commissioners whose career ended in the spate of corrupt Broward officials in the early 2010s.
While Wasserman-Rubin was a Broward commissioner representing Southwest Ranches, her husband, Richard Rubin, worked as a consultant for the town, selling controversial swamp land to the school district for $4.3 million for a newschool.
She retired in July 2010, hours before surrendering at the county jail on five felony counts of receiving unlawful compensation. Prosecutors accused her of voting in favor of grants that her husband wrote for the town of Southwest Ranches — votes that resulted in him receiving $45,000 in bonuses. The prosecution accused her of violating laws that require elected officials to abstain from voting on matters that pose a conflict of interest or might give them or familymembers a special benefit.
State prosecutors investigated her business dealings with Southwest Ranches. But her criminal trial was delayed indefinitely in 2012 so she could have brain surgery to treat symptoms of her Parkinson’s disease.
In 2013, she pleaded guilty to lesser misdemeanor charges of falsifying records. She admitted in court that she provided false information to the Broward County attorney’s office about whether her husband would receive bonus payments for matters she voted on while shewas on the commission.
Wasserman-Rubin, then66, was sentenced to three years of probation and a $3,000 fine. The years leading up to Wasserman-Rubin’s guilty plea were filled with trouble for her and her husband.
Richard Rubin was released from federal prison in May after serving about nine months for understating his 2005 income by about $120,000 when he filed the couple’s income tax returns in 2006. He spent three years on supervised release — the federal version of probation.
“It’s been very difficult for me,” Wasserman-Rubin said in 2013. She said she was “very stressed out” and that her health condition was affected by the constant worry of the trial.
Her lawyer, Fred Haddad, said he thought that a jury would have found her not guilty, but he worried she would not have survived the stress of preparing for trial and testifying in court.
“I’d love to have tried the case, but how could I? There’s no way she could physically withstand it,” Had dads aid then. “[This plea] will allow her to keep her dignity and her pension.”
Patty Wiesler, who was Wasserman-Rubin’s senior aide when she was on the county commission, said her disease had advanced and the isolation of quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic had been especially tough on her.
Wiesler said shewould remember her as a dear friend and as a pioneer for Hispanic woman in politics, especially as a Cuban American who was also a Democrat. “Even back when she first started, there weren’t many of those back then,” she said. “She was a force for change.”
Wiesler said she loved her heritage, music, loved to entertain and made a great paella. “Personally, she was a great friend,” she said. “Shewas kind and generous.”
She helped the city of West Park transition from being unincorporated to becoming a city by making sure the new city’s public safety and other resources were taken care of.
“So we weren’t just thrown completely to the wolves,” said Carolyn Hardy, who was employed as her constituent aide when Wasserman-Rubin was a Broward County commissioner. “Now15 or 16years later, we’re still thriving as Broward’s youngest city.”
Hardy said the two of them also bonded over being Nova Titan parents. And because of Wasserman-Rubin’s wit, Hardy would fondly call her Lucie Arnaz after the actress.
Felicia Brunson, a commissioner and the mayor-elect in West Park, looked at her as a dear friend and a mentor.
“Despite the indiscretions that she had, shedid right by us in West Park,” Brunson said. “Iwill forever be grateful to her.”
Wasserman-Rubin is survived by her sister Maria Bradman; daughter Jennifer Wasserman; son Michael Wasser man; husband Richard Rubin; his three children, Jason Rubin, Annette Rubin and Stefan Rubin; and five grandchildren.
“Her family above everything else was her priority,” Wiesler said.