Hallandale leader faces misconduct, ethics inquiry
HALLANDALE BEACH – Anthony Sanders used his position as a Hallandale Beach commissioner to approve nearly $1 million in funding to a nonprofit thatmade monthly payments to the church he founded and also paid his immediate family, according to a Broward Inspector General’s report obtained by the Sun Sentinel.
Sanders, 56, failed to disclose the payments he, his wife and two sons received from the Palms Community Action Coalition, according to the Inspector General’s preliminary report. Sanders’ wife at one point served as executive director of the nonprofit, which had amission of job train-
ing, job placement and community outreach.
“Sanders engaged in a pattern of misconduct that violated Florida ethics laws, the Hallandale Beach city charter and the Broward code of ethics for elected officials,” the report says.
Sanders, pastor of Higher Vision Ministries in Hallandale Beach since 1999, said he has until Aug. 7 to respond to Inspector General John Scott.
“They left out some things,” Sanders said of the report. “It’s not so much incorrect but incomplete.”
Sanders, a commissioner since 2008, commented brieflyonMonday, sayinghe hired an attorney whom he declined to name.
Among the inspector general’s allegations:
• The nonprofit knownas Palms Community Action Coalition, or PCAC, made payments to Higher Vision Ministries and employed one of Sanders’ sons. PCAC also made other consulting and employment payments to the commissioner’s wife, Jessica Sanders. The payments occurred regularly during the same three-year time period during which Sanders voted to award money to PCAC.
• From January of 2013 through December of 2015, the city commission — including Sanders— approved giving direct grants toPCAC three times. The commission also approved development contracts seven times that encouraged developers to make donations to community nonprofits, including PCAC. In all, Sanders voted to approve or facilitate grants and development contracts on 10 occasions that ultimately benefited PCAC nearly $900,000 in total.
• During the same time frame, PCACmade monthly payments of $1,000 to Higher Vision Ministries to transport job trainees to classes. Neither the church nor PCAC documented rides, but the Inspector General found that PCAC paid $27,000 to Higher Vision Ministries for 613 miles of transportation services — or about $44 for each mile.
• In all, PCAC paid Sanders’ church and family a total of$38,688over the three-year period. PCAC paid Jessica Sanders for consulting and grant writing and two of the commissioner’s adult sons for part-time employment. PCAC paid all three relatives a total of $7,588 between January 2013 and December 2015.
• While at City Hall for a commissionmeeting involving a development vote, Sanders solicited a developer to make a direct contribution to the Higher VisionMinistrieschurch. That developer gave $600 and asked a second developer to make a $500 donation.
• Sanders was aware of the nature of these conflicting relationships, but did not disclose these relationships or payments to the public at any time during the period he voted to benefit PCAC.
Hallandale Beach funded thePCACnonprofit directly through $202,000 in grants and indirectly via private developers through the city’s community benefit program.
The Inspector General’s report says Sanders “continued taking a salary from his employer [the church], continued accepting significant payments from [the nonprofit] on behalf of his employer, failed to abstain from voting, failed to disclose the voting conflicts to the [city commission] either verbally or in writing, directly and indirectly solicited developers to give contributions to his employer, and accepted those contributions on behalf of his employer.”
Florida law prohibits an elected official fromaccepting “anything of value” baseduponany understanding that his vote, official action or judgment would be influenced. It also prohibits a municipal elected official from voting on any matter that would benefit him or one of his immediate family members. State law also requires elected officials to abstain from voting on matters that present a conflict of interest. Hallandale Beach requires elected officials to disclose any such conflict of interest in writing.
For frequently recurring conflicts, state law requires the public official to refrain fromthe activity or to terminate the conflicting relationship.
Mayor Joy Cooper, Sanders’ lone ally on the fivemember commission, said she had not yet read the 70-page report in detail.
“I’ve known Commissioner Sanders for many years and he’s always put our community before himself,” Cooper said. “I believe this will play out. I’m surehe will respond. He’s a smart individual and I respect him.”
The Inspector General is referring the matter to the Florida Commission on Ethics and the Hallandale Beach commission and also plans to file a Broward County ethics complaint against Sanders, the report says.
CityManagerRoger Carlton sayshe ordered an internal review of Hallandale’s community benefits program just weeks before the Inspector General’s Office released its preliminary report toCityHall on Friday.
In a June 5memoto commissioners, Carlton says he will make a “maximum effort to recover any misused funds.”
It was unclear Tuesday just how much money might have been misappropriated, he said.
Carlton, who took the reins as city manager five monthsago, plans topresent recommendations to the commission in early September that would likely include a plan to recover any misused dollars.