Tamarac city manager may be suspended
TAMARAC — Tamarac’s city manager, charged with a felony in an alleged scheme to make a profit for a pair of disgraced developers, could be out of his $272,000 job come Tuesday.
At least one commissioner said he will call for City Manager Michael Cernech to be fired at a hastily called special meeting on Tuesday evening.
“As city commissioner, my job is to protect the financial standing, safety and reputation of the city of Tamarac,” Commis
sioner Mike Gelin said in an email. “Michael Cernech was aware of the criminal convictions of the developers he teamed up with and their history of corruption with Tamarac officials in the past. In no way, shape or form should the city be associated with Michael Cernech.”
Cernech, 52, of Parkland, is charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering. Prosecutors allege he worked with real estate developers Bruce and Shawn Chait to force developer 13th Floor into paying them millions of dollars as hush money.
On Wednesday afternoon, Cernech was told to turn himself in to the Main Jail by Friday. He reported to the jail about 4 p.m. Friday and was released Saturday morning with an electronic ankle monitor, according to records. He is not prohibited from coming to City Hall, according to an email sent from the city attorney to city commissioners Saturday morning.
His criminal defense attorney, Larry Davis, said Cernech collected no money and had not been promised any money. He said whatever efforts he took were only to benefit Tamarac and not himself.
“He had no personal financial interest with anything involving the Chaits or the 13th Floor,” Davis said.
Bruce and Sean Chait, father and son developers, were each charged with six counts of extortion, two counts of racketeering and one count of organized fraud in March for their role in the alleged scheme.
Prosecutors say they carried out a plan to ruin 13th Floor Investments, the current land owner, with false allegations of soil contamination unless they were paid off.
Arnaud Karsenti, who owns 13th Floor, bought the Tamarac golf course properties from the Chaits and developed homes. Karsenti ended up getting the land at a discounted rate from the bank that held the note on the property, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which investigated the alleged extortion plot.
Prosecutors allege that text messages between Cernech and the Chaits show he was involved in the conspiracy. On March 1, Karsenti met with Shawn Chait in a meeting recorded by investigators. Shawn Chait described his father as a “bulldog” who would never go away until they got $3.4 million, according to court records.
The victim asked what would happen if the company didn’t pay, and Shawn Chait said they would file a lawsuit that would cost the company its pending housing project in the Woodlands section of Tamarac. Like the former Chait land, the pending Woodlands project is also on a former golf course.
On March 2, prosecutors say, Bruce Chait texted Cernech, “Shawn said you are totally amazing you’re a total game changer.” According to investigators, Cernech responded: “Surprised?”
On March 3, Chait told Cernech that there was a deal, according to court records.
Gelin, the Tamarac commissioner, said he has asked for the commission to discuss terminating the city manager for “malfeasance, misfeasance.” He also wants discussion of an “independent accountant to audit all transactions and deals associated with Michael Cernech.”
Cernech, a city manager with a previously stellar reputation, recently found himself at odds with Gelin after refusing to challenge a South Florida Sun Sentinel story about runaway commission spending.
A series of Sun Sentinel stories revealed that city commissioners had granted themselves lucrative perks and benefits and were on tap to consider even more. Gelin sent Cernech an email accusing the Sun Sentinel of degrading city leaders in an editorial on the opinion page.
Cernech refused to call out the Sun Sentinel. “I was unable to find any false statements,” he replied to Gelin.
As Tamarac’s CEO, Cernech worked for the City Commission but handled the day-to-day operation of the city as the boss of the department heads. His salary was $272,000 before benefits, including a phone and car allowance.
He was a top pick to become city manager in Clearwater earlier this year but backed out. In 2019, the Delray Beach commission had offered the manager job to Cernech, but contract negotiations failed.
Not everyone agrees that Cernech should be fired.
“The city manager should not be fired,” Commissioner Marlon Bolton said. “Everyone should be deemed innocent until proven guilty.
“The manager and I have always seen eye to eye on the vision for my district, despite his alleged moral failure. I am convinced he had my district residents’ best interest at heart. So I’d like to see how this unfolds.
“Our residents are expecting the leadership of this city to be unified. They deserve it. So, I look forward to a healthy conversation with my colleagues and will decide next steps from the dais.”
Mayor Michelle Gomez said Kathleen Gunn, the assistant city manager, should take over Cernech’s job, for now. She supports suspending Cernech but not firing him.
“He’s innocent until proven guilty. That’s what our system is based on,” she said. “The reality is he will be suspended, but you don’t terminate somebody when you don’t have all the facts.”
Gomez first came to the commission because of the Chait scandal. She was appointed in 2010 to fill the vacant seat of Patte AtkinsGrad, a former city leader criminally charged with bribery for accepting $6,300 from the Chaits to lease a BMW and pay for her election victory party. AtkinsGrad was acquitted.
The mayor at the time, Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco, also was arrested, charged and acquitted. Vice Mayor Marc Sultanof was charged although he died before the case went to trial.
The Chait drama extended beyond Tamarac. Broward County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion was convicted after he confessed he took over $20,000 in bribes from the Chaits and served 2½ years in federal prison. Former Broward School Board member Stephanie Kraft was charged and acquitted.
Coral Springs Mayor Scott Brook, who served on the Broward County Planning Council at the time, was accused of voting for the Chaits’ Tamarac project after accepting a boat ride — with a captain and food — from them. He was not criminally charged and instead the Florida Commission on Ethics imposed a $2,500 fine and public censure and reprimand.