Palm Beach County, Florida
 A+
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
Contents |
Palm Beach County is one of 67 counties in Florida. West Palm Beach is the county seat.
- Year county was organized: 1909
- Square miles in county: 2,034
Palm Beach County's population as of 2010 was 1,320,134, making it the third most populous county in Florida.[1] It is one of 20 charter counties in the state. It became a charter county in 1985.[2] With a per capita personal income of $44,518 as of 2004, Palm Beach is also the state's wealthiest county.[3]
[edit] Evaluation of website
In 2011 Palm Beach County earned a Sunny Award for having a perfect website transparency score.
- Main article: Evaluation of Florida county websites
This website was most recently evaluated on 10 January 2012.
[edit] The good
- Budget is available.[4]
- County commissioners are listed with contact information.[5]
- Board schedule[6], agendas, and videos are available.[7]
- Building permits[8] and zoning information[9] is available online.
- Audits are available from the comptroller's office.[10] County audits are available. [11]
- Local tax information is available.[12]
- Posts lobbying registration guidelines and a listing of lobbyists that have registered with their principals.[13][14]
- Includes a public records search.[15] [16]
- Provides information regarding contracts, including a Contract Registry. [17].
[edit] Elected Officials
The Board of County Commissioners is composed of seven representatives who serve staggered four-year terms. The Board sets the legislation and policy for the county, authorizes expenditures, and serves as the Child Care Facilities Board, the Environmental Control Board, the Solid Waste Authority Governing Board and the Zoning Board.[18] Council members as of June 2011:[19]
| Member | Title | District |
|---|---|---|
| Karen Marcus | Chair | District 1 |
| Paulette Burdick | Commissioner | District 2 |
| Shelley Vana | Vice Chair | District 3 |
| Steven Abrams | Commissioner | District 4 |
| Burt Aaronson | Commissioner | District 5 |
| Jess Santamaria | Commissioner | District 6 |
| Priscilla Taylor | Commissioner | District 7 |
During the first meeting of each month, except for January and August, citizens can address the Board directly during Matters by the Public.
The county administrator implements the board's policies while managing a $4 billion annual budget and approximately 6,000 employees spread over 30 departments. Currently serving as county commissioner is Robert Weisman.
[edit] Public employee salaries
- Main article: Palm Beach County employee salaries
As of 2008, County commissioners earn $92,000 annually. The sheriff makes $163,000; the elections supervisor, $135,000; clerk, property appraiser and tax collector, $154,000.[20]
In March 2011, controversy erupted over Ethics Commission executive director Alan Johnson's 10 percent raise to $130,000 per year, though he had been on the job less than a year.[21]
[edit] Corruption
[edit] County commissioners
Three former Palm Beach County Commissioners served prison time for crimes committed in office:
- Tony Masilotti
- Warren Newell
- Mary McCarty
Former Commissioners Tony Masilotti and Warren Newell served prison sentences on public corruption charges.[22] Newell's five year sentence was reduced to three years because he cooperated in the McCarty investigation.[22]
Former Commissioner Mary McCarty received a sentence of three and a half years in prison for honest services fraud with a fine of $100,000.[22] [23] The judge decided not to sentence her to the maximum because her offense was less serious than the two other commissioners convicted of corruption.[22] McCarty plead guilty to mail and wire fraud conspiracy and admitted in her plea to misusing her position to personally enrich herself and associates through a series of municipal bond transactions and through her receipt of gifts and gratuities from entities and people doing business before the commission.[23] [22] She failed to reveal her financial interests while advocating for numerous matters before the commission, and failed to file or filed incomplete or false disclosure reports to conceal her true financial interests from the public.[23]
Her husband, Lawrence McCarty, was sentenced to eight months in prison and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine in March.[23] He pleaded guilty in January to participating in, and not reporting, his wife’s crimes.[23] [22]
[edit] Lobbying
- Main article: Florida taxpayer-funded lobbying
Palm Beach County has reported $1,040,000 spent on lobbying the federal government since 2000 (see table).
| Year | Amount spent on lobbying |
|---|---|
| 2010 | $114,000 |
| 2009 | $140,000 |
| 2008 | $120,000 |
| 2007 | $120,000 |
| 2006 | $120,000 |
| 2005 | $120,000 |
| 2004 | $120,000 |
| 2003 | $120,000 |
| 2002 | $100,000 |
| 2001 | $80,000 |
| 2000 | $80,000 |
[edit] Audits
For Palm Beach County, both the County and Clerk & Comptroller perform the internal audit. The County Auditor reports to the Audit Committee.[25] Audits completed by the Clerk & Comptroller are available on the Palm Beach County website.[26] However, audits completed by the county's Internal Auditor are not; more information about the Internal Auditor may be found on the County Internal Auditor's web site.
As of June 2009, Sharon R. Block, Esq. is the the county's Clerk & Comptroller. Block, like all Palm Beach County Clerk & Comptrollers, was designated as the County Auditor by the Florida Constitution and affirmed by the Palm Beach County Charter. As the Clerk & Comptroller, Block is in charge of "all auditing functions." As accountant, she performs the pre-audit function and as the clerk, conducts the performance audit function. Since the Clerk & Comptroller is an elected countyofficer, she reports only to the public. [27]
The Internal Auditor is Joe Bergeron, designated by the Palm Beach County Charter. The county charter requires that the Internal Auditor to be either a certified public accountant or a certified internal auditor. The Internal Auditor reports to a seven person committee as of Feb. 15, 2005.[28]
[edit] Limiting public comment
In June 2011, the Ethics Commission announced that it may ban public discussions about ethics rulings and other closed-door hearings during public meetings. The Ethics Commission is concerned that the public could sway ethics rulings, which are supposed to be decided upon by the Ethics Code and evidence brought forward at hearings. The new rules would allow the Ethics Commission chairman "to limit public comment as necessary, based upon time, manner and decorum considerations."[29]
[edit] Access to public records
The Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller maintain records for the county.
[edit] External links
- Official Palm Beach County Website
- Palm Beach Clerk and Comptroller
- Palm Beach Property Appraiser
- Palm Beach County on E-Reference
- Palm Beach County Convention and Visitor's Bureau
- Palm Beach County School District
- Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office
- Palm Beach International Airport
- Palm Beach County on Wikipedia
[edit] References
- ↑ U.S. Census Bureau
- ↑ Florida's charter counties
- ↑ Fun Florida Trivia
- ↑ Budget
- ↑ Commissioners
- ↑ Calendar
- ↑ Agendas
- ↑ Permits
- ↑ Zoning
- ↑ Clerk Audits
- ↑ County Audits
- ↑ Tax Collector
- ↑ Lobbying registration
- ↑ Lobbyist search
- ↑ Public Records Search
- ↑ Public Records - Clerk & Comptroller
- ↑ Contracts Registry
- ↑ Board of County Commissioners
- ↑ http://www.pbcgov.com/countycommissioners/ Board of County Commissioners]
- ↑ Commissioners salaries
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 "County commissioner sentenced to 42 months", June 4, 2009
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 South Florida Business Journal, "Former Commissioner McCarty sentenced to prison", June 4, 2009
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ PBC Clerk & Comptroller 5.30.07
- ↑ [3]
- ↑ Clerk and COmptroller as County Auditor, 12/5/06
- ↑ Clerk and COmptroller as County Auditor, 12/5/06
- ↑ Ethics Commission limiting public comment
| |||||
