South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
A very shaky ride for Tamarac taxpayers
For six years, an eyesore has slowly deteriorated on Commercial Boulevard in Tamarac.
All that’s left of the clubhouse at Shaker Village, a townhouse and condo complex, are bare walls and a concrete slab. The decades-old roof collapsed in a windstorm in 2017, and an inept homeowners’ association board did nothing, even after an insurance payout. It’s a symbol of stagnation.
But now, Tamarac taxpayers are being forced to come to Shaker Village’s rescue with a politically motivated, taxpayer-funded bailout, overshadowed by nagging ethical questions.
City commissioners voted 3-2 on July 12 to buy the decrepit site for $1.9 million and build a new clubhouse for upwards of $6 million. The city would own and maintain it, and all residents could use it — but why would they? Plans call for only 25 parking spaces, and besides, the city of 72,000, built as a retirement haven, has clubhouses everywhere.
The project’s champion is Vice Mayor Marlon Bolton. Acting in concert with an ally, City Attorney Hans Ottinot, Bolton met with Shaker Village residents and the city drafted a contract for sale that now includes an “addendum” with five more pages of changes.
Shady enough?
If that weren’t shady enough, Bolton lives in Shaker Village. He says he rents a townhouse there.
Who owns it?
According to property records, the owner is Praise Experience World Outreach Church in North Lauderdale, where Bolton is the founding pastor. A document from the homeowners’ association on the property appraiser’s website, dated May 30, lists Bolton on a certificate of approval to purchase the townhouse.
“My church purchased the property,” Bolton told the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board. “I rent from the church. I’ve never been an owner.”
The reason this matters is because the clubhouse, pool and parking lot are considered common elements, jointly owned by all Shaker Village property owners. Any improvements to the site could benefit Bolton personally, as well as other unit owners. In addition, the city plans to wipe out more than $12 million in unpaid liens and fines on the property.
In an interview, Bolton claimed Tamarac’s older east side has been neglected for too long by the city, and that rebuilding the Shaker Village clubhouse “gives people hope.” He added: “It is a public facility. It is not a bailout of a community.”
As Mayor Michelle Gomez, a real estate lawyer and a staunch critic of the project, points out, state law requires that 75% of unit owners must approve any transfer of common elements, and that hasn’t happened. The 75% requirement also appears in the faded condominium documents that created Shaker Village in 1973.
‘Shared use’ of what?
Tucked inside the five-page addendum the city attorney dropped on commissioners is a “shared use agreement,” which is not explained. That’s one more mystery. City documents say the new clubhouse will accommodate 75 to 100 people at a time. Why is a shared use agreement needed to watch TV or play mah-jongg?
“Why is the city entering into a shared use agreement with a private community for the use of a city facility?” asked resident Kate Johnson.
It’s one of many questions that Johnson, herself a homeowners’ association president, posed in a detailed letter to the Broward Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the county fiscal and ethical watchdog.
It is a hopeful sign that the OIG is now taking a very serious look at the Shaker Village controversy. The agency asked the city for a voluminous amount of information, such as a cost-benefit analysis of the clubhouse purchase (which, if done, has not been made public); any legal opinions on the transaction and Bolton’s involvement in them; and all emails and text messages between Bolton and city employees on the project.
The inspector general’s letter strongly suggests that the focus of its inquiry is squarely on Bolton — as it should be.
This one-off deal may be good for Shaker Village, but not for the entire city. It’s not the highest and best use of the site (housing is). It sets a bad precedent. It has not been vetted nearly enough by the city or the residents, and the role of the project’s champion, Bolton, raises ethical red flags.
A little bit of advice for Vice Mayor Bolton, who faces re-election next year: This suspect deal isn’t worth the aggravation. Call for a new vote and put it on hold.
The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.