Broward clerk to admit fault in probe

Broward Clerk of Courts Brenda Forman is set to resolve a state ethics probe this week by admitting she misstated her financial status for four straight years, starting when she first became a candidate for public office.

Forman, 62, and the Florida Commission on Ethics reached a proposed agreement in which she will pay a $5,000 fine for apparently blurring her financial assets and debts while omitting bank account information — Forman admitted the errors and said she overlooked some instructions and didn’t understand others. She denied deliberately misleading the commission.

The full commission meets on Friday and will either adopt or reject the agreement.

Asked to clarify what she was admitting and to offer context about the proposed agreement, Forman declined to comment on Monday. Her attorney, Chad Marcus, said the agreement speaks for itself.

The Florida Constitution re

quires financial disclosure statements from all who seek or hold public office for transparency and accountability — the ethics commission’s website portrays it as a way of deterring corruption and informing the public about possible conflicts of interest.

Forman filed her first report in 2016, after announcing her intention to succeed her then-husband, Howard Forman. Her net worth in 2015, she reported, was $60,513. A year later, reporting the mortgage on three properties as assets and only a leased vehicle as a liability, she said her net worth was $669,025. In 2017, she listed her net value as $656.

“She clearly doesn’t know how to fill out these forms,” said Judith Stern, a political operative who filed the ethics complaint that led to the formal investigation.

Stern is a personal adviser to Forman’s ex-husband and political adviser to Paul Backman, one of two former judges challenging Brenda Forman’s re-election bid.

Forman