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Endorsement: Keep Herbst, Glassman; elect Sorensen, in Fort Lauderdale City Commission races
June 28, 2024
12
Min
In Fort Lauderdale, voters will fill three city commission seats — District 1, 2, and 4 on November 5th. In District 3, Commissioner Pam Beasley-Pittman won without opposition to a four year term. For general election races, The County did not field questionnaires. Instead, we relied on publicly-available information, candidate forums, and what residents had to say. After much consideration, we decided to make endorsements in these races. Fort Lauderdale is a rapidly growing city faced with major issues, such as traffic congestion, development, flooding, and infrastructure.
Fort Lauderdale City Commission District 1 covers the Northern coast of Fort Lauderdale, and much of the northern portions of the city. The incumbent, John Herbst, won this seat in a 2022 special election to replace Commissioner Heather Moraitis, who opted to resign in the middle of her term. In this election for a 4-year term, he faces leadership coach and small business leader Norby Belz. We endorse John Herbst for the District 1 seat. Herbst, the former City Auditor of Fort Lauderdale for 16 years is extremely qualified. His laid back demeanor and financial astuteness is an asset for a city that is ever growing and on the move. Although he often clashes with others on the dais, we believe that he is well meaning. Residents say that he is responsive, he listens, and mostly — he shows up. One area of disapproval though, is his proximity to lobbyist Judy Stern who is not well liked in the city. This is a major red-flag, and voters should be cautious of this relationship. This endorsement was a close call, though. The challenger, Norby Belz, has an impressive resume. He speaks well, means well, and knows the district well. We don't believe that is enough to remove the sitting commissioner. We encourage Belz to remain involved in the city.
District 2, represented by Steve Glassman, covers much of Eastern Fort Lauderdale, including most of the beach, the Middle Rivers, Victoria Park, Flagler Village and part of the urban core. He succeeded now-Mayor Dean Trantalis. In this race, the incumbent faces challenges from Attorney Chad Van Horn, and former commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom. Without hesitation, we endorse Steve Glassman. Glassman, who has served as the District 2 Commissioner since 2018, is well liked and respected by residents in neighborhoods. That's important. In a city that is growing massively, elected officials need to be in touch with the people who live in their communities. His district is one of the fastest developing districts in Fort Lauderdale. Thousands of young professionals are moving to Flagler Village alone, because of the urban feel and walkability. If you ask residents on the ground how they feel, like we did, they will overwhelmingly say that they like Glassman.
There are challenges. Overdevelopment is occurring all across the city, while infrastructure crumbles. The pace of newly built high-rises isn't keeping up with the growing infrastructure needs of Fort Lauderdale. That's a shame. Glassman, who has voted largely to approve developments such as the pickleball courts at Snyder Park, the Lockhart Stadium, and other projects, should heed caution in his next term. On the bright side, we applaud the $1.6 billion investment in infrastructure, and Glassman's presence in his district and throughout the city.
There are challengers, too. Van Horn, is a Fort Lauderdale attorney who represents clients facing bankruptcy. He is impressive, all around. We encourage him to stay involved and consider this seat in 4-years when Glassman likely won't run for it. The other challenger, Charlotte Rodstrom was commissioner years ago. She left this seat in the middle of her term to unsuccessfully run for the Broward County Commission. She attempted a comeback, but was defeated by then-Commissioner Dean Trantalis. We applaud her humility, and her commitment to remain in politics, but we urge voters to move on from the past.
Fort Lauderdale City Commission District 4 covers the central parts of the city, including the urban core. It takes in all of Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Rio Vista, Beverly Heights, Collee Hammock, the Southwestern and Southeastern parts of the city — including the airport and seaport. The incumbent is Warren Sturman, who won a special election to succeed Ben Sorenson, who left this seat in 2022 to run for Congress. He lost the Democratic primary to Jared Moskowitz. Sturman won the special election to District 4 by 47 votes, against four challengers including Kevin Cochrane. In this race for a 4-year term, Sturman is being challenged by his predecessor Ben Sorensen, civic activist Ted Inserra, and business executive Kevin Cochrane. We urge voters to return Ben Sorensen to city hall. Sorensen, a U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander and business owner is a master in retail politics. He engages with residents, listen to the community, and knows what's on the civic mind. That's an incredible asset in a district that residents say have been neglected by Sturman who is hard to reach and hard to find.
Sturman, who practices internal medicine at Broward Health has to juggle his duties at his day job, and his duties at the city. He has been cautious on overdevelopment, and fought to protect the Las Olas median from being replaced. We cheer him on for taking charge of those initiatives. However, overdevelopment isn't the only issue on people's minds. In District 4, residents are concerned about flooding, infrastructure, homelessness, and responsive government. Homelessness and housing affordability is probably the top issue on residents minds. The city must now enforce a state law that took effect on October 1st, that bans sleeping in public. We urge whomever the winner is, to balance the law with compassion. There is no compassion in arresting and further displacing vulnerable homeless people.
In totality, we believe that Sorensen on the dais will be a more effective leader, capable of balancing the time consuming nature of this job. The other candidates, we applaud for their involvement. Cochrane lost this seat by 47 votes just two years ago. His story and his background would make him an asset in a few years, or maybe in a state house seat to the east. For Inserra, we urge him to continue being one of the "STP", or Same Ten People in the room.
Endorsements are the viewpoints of The County's Editorial Board members Elijah Manley, and Luc Saint-Genies. Endorsement may or may not reflect the personal beliefs and preferences of individual members of the Editorial Board, or The County's writers.
