A Case For Study

Trails In The Sand by Peter Traceit, the Street Detective

Ol’ Peter Traceit has been dredging through old police files to sort through some pretty interesting trails left in the sand for easy discovery. Seat 1 of the Broward School Board has quite the soiled past, sodded present and potential for quite the grimy future.

Ann Murray, the Seat 1 board member recently ousted by Governor Ron DeSantis was able to win Seat I in November 2008 and has held onto it for three consecutive re-election cycles in 2010, 2014 and 2018. Murray announced last year that she would not seek 2022 re-election. She could not leave quietly, however. DeSantis removed Murray along with three of her board member counterparts on Friday, August 26, 2022, citing incompetence, misfeasance and malfeasance.

Representing the southeast part of the county, mostly Dania Beach, Hollywood Beach and West Park, Murray has been able to find most of the support from “old Hollywood” even when faced with sharp public criticism. During each of her re-election campaigns, Murray’s confirmed use of the N-word was used to dirty up her chances, yet each time she was able to shake the mud off her face and emerge as victor. While one would think a public official’s use of the most hurtful word in history would be grounds for removal or a lack of support from voters, Murray survived almost 15 years. Come on Black voters, what’s up?

Street Detective is learning that Murray’s appointed replacement isn’t quite the squeaky-clean alternative. DeSantis appointed Ryan Reiter to Seat 1 through the November 2022 primary election where two candidates in a runoff will compete with voters for the seat. Within days of Reiter’s appointment, the respect was taken off his name and smeared with muddy accusations. Details of a restraining order filed against Reiter five years ago surfaced in the sand. A former love interest of Reiter alleged emotional and verbal abuse which resulted in a Broward judge granting her a series of short-term protection orders that specified Reiter to stay away from her. A final order of protection that lasted a year was eventually slapped on Reiter. For the record, Reiter vehemently denies the dirty claims.

Reiter’s alleged dirt is minuscule when considering what could happen in November. The Seat 1 August race resulted in a runoff of two candidates: Marie Murray Martin, the daughter of Anne Murray and Rodney “Rod” Velez. In fairness to Murray-Martin, her mother’s dirty characterization of Blacks should not be displaced onto her character; however, Detective Traceit is hearing rumblings that Mommy Dearest’s characterization in the Grand Jury Report that led to her removal is soiling up her daughter’s chances to replace her. So much so, the President of the BTU, Anna Fusco and Murray-Martin, are scheduled to have some sort of versus was reported by Red Broward and they ain’t singing. They are debating and this forum is a first.

But her opponent might be caught in a sandstorm of his own which might make Murray-Martin the cleaner of two tainted options for Seat 1. It took some deep digging to uncover a police report from 1994 that describes how the competitor for Seat I, Rodney “Rod” Velez, committed aggravated battery when he pistol-whipped a man in Hollywood causing him “great bodily injury” as detailed in the police affidavit. While the victim lay “semi-conscious and bleeding profusely from the head”, a weapon was found under the seat of his car. Velez was ultimately adjudicated guilty of a second-degree felony—- aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, placed on probation for two years and ordered to pay a $200 fine.

Now, this is where things get muddy. Some concerned constituents are questioning whether Velez is eligible to run for and hold an elected office being that he is a convicted felon.

Traceit went digging in the Florida Constitution and learning that once Velez completed the terms of his probation and paid his fine, he was eligible to register and vote. But what of holding elected office?

Under new clemency rules, ex-felons are automatically entitled to have their rights restored, including the right to hold political office, but they must submit a formal request to the Florida Commission on Offender Review and Office of Executive Clemency. Rights are restored automatically, without a hearing, but the application is required for rights restoration.

This is not the first time this has happened in Florida. Jason Mariner of West Palm Beach was an admitted convicted felon who won the GOP nomination in the special election for Alcee Hasting’s US House seat. Jason admitted he had not filed a request to restore his rights to run for and hold an elected office. Questions quickly swirled around whether he could legally be sworn into office, but thanks to Sheila Cherfilus McCormick, we will never know. Once Cherfilus McCormick left five Democrats in the sand-dust who abandoned seats to run for the Hasting’s US House Seat, she then buried the Republican nominee, Mariner, to seal the deal to take office.

Without definitive answers, Traceit has composed a few questions in the sand regarding Velez:

• Since this occurred more than 25 years ago, were Velez’s rights restored under a different process?
• If not, has Velez submitted the application for rights restoration to the Office of Executive Clemency?
• Can Velez run for an elected office without having his rights restored?
• If Velez wins in November and has not applied and been granted a restoration of his rights to hold office, can he be sworn into office?
• Does submitting a request suffice alone or must Velez be fully processed and restored to run for and/or be sworn into elected office?

Currently, Velez cannot volunteer in a school because of his violent felony conviction. But, as an elected official, is it permissible for him to go in and out of schools in his capacity as an elected official?

On Monday, September 5, Velez, and Murray Martin had a date in the sandbox on a talk show hosted by Red Broward.  First up for a sandbagging question was Murray Martin. She was asked point blank if she believed DeSantis should have suspended and removed her mother from office as recommended by the Grand Jury for incompetence, misfeasance, and malfeasance. Murray Martin did a graceful dance but surprisingly gave a slow and calculated yes.

An attempt was made to bury Velez in the sand next.  He was asked about his felony conviction and unlike a cool, calm, and collected Murray Martin, Velez was noticeably heated in the long exchange. At one point, Rosalind Osgood’s felony conviction was brought into the discussion and Murray Martin was quick to distinguish Osgood’s felony conviction from Velez’s. She explained that Osgood’s felony conviction was around drug use which is a nonviolent crime. State statute and district policy address violent and nonviolent convictions differently. Velez attempted to play in the sand and say that his conviction had nothing to do with a weapon and the moderator swiftly corrected him and read the actual charge and conviction which was aggravated battery with a deadly weapon to which Velez became frozen in quicksand. Velez later said that if he wins the election, he will push the Board to revisit policy on people with felony convictions to make it a case-by-case decision when it comes to volunteering and employment.

Broward School Board’s Seat 1 is quite the place for Case Study.

The sand is a difficult place to find evidence; however, if you search hard enough something can be discovered. Peter Traceit is in the sand to find out.