Broward County Election Meltdown part II (Oliphant refuses, sister fired for on air tirade)

http://www.nbc6.net/news/1914563/detail.html ^ | January 17, 2003 | NBC

[longtermmemmory]

Oliphant: I Will Not Resign Broward Mayor Tells Oliphant To Step Down By Noon Friday NBC 6 News Team

POSTED: 6:51 p.m. EST January 16, 2003 UPDATED: 6:57 a.m. EST January 17, 2003

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Broward County Mayor Diana Wasserman-Rubin has asked embattled Broward County Elections Supervisor of elections Miriam Oliphant to resign.

Wasserman-Rubin made the request Thursday, asking Oliphant to step down by noon on Friday.

FeedRoom

Oliphant Told To Step Down

The mayor said she planned to hold a meeting with the county commission on Friday to request that they send a letter to Gov. Jeb Bush asking that Oliphant be suspended from her job. Wasserman-Rubin's request came on the same day Bush's office sent a letter to Oliphant demanding that she demonstrate by Jan. 25 that her office is prepared to conduct upcoming municipal elections in February and March without the problems that have plagued Broward since 2000.

Oliphant said in a statement released earlier Thursday that she would not resign and that her office remains dedicated to staging successful elections.

In a one-page statement, Oliphant offered no specific plan on how she intends to ensure smooth elections in February and March. She also said she had not received Bush's letter, and added that politics will not interfere with her commitment to voters.

"I have not resigned," the statement said. "I will not resign."

Oliphant overspent her budget by nearly $1 million during the past fiscal year, and she is under investigation for the alleged mismanagement. She has also come under fire for the conduct of the Sept. 10 primary and the general election last November, in which voting machine problems and other problems at the polls occurred despite a large expenditure by the state to fix the problems that plagued the 2000 presidential election.

Some Broward County officials have publicly called for Oliphant's dismissal regarding the budget problems plaguing her department

Bush wouldn't say Thursday if he would fire Oliphant or ask for her resignation, but said he hopes a state attorney's investigation of the supervisor is completed shortly.

"We're going to wait and see what the state attorney says, but this has got to get better," Bush said. "You can't operate this kind of way in public life."

Oliphant said in the statement that she is preparing for Tuesday's meeting of Broward County commissioners, for whom she is preparing a financial report to explain past overspending and the current financial plan.

Meanwhile, Oliphant's sister, Robin Darville, was fired Thursday morning from her $30,000-a-year job as a staff secretary inside the Broward County public defender's office. The public defender, Alan Schreiber, said he called Darville to inform her of the firing.

In a public tirade caught by a television news crew on Wednesday, Darville said employees of the elections office would not work for Oliphant because she is black, alleged that the male employees of the department are homosexual, and that the county engages in racial practices.

"This is a racist, racist county," Darville said just before police escorted her out of a government office building. "It's a shame what they're doing ... All that Mrs. Oliphant has done is try to help people and they're accusing Mrs. Oliphant of all this craziness."

Schreiber, who was Oliphant's boss at the same office in the mid-1990s and was the principal fund-raiser for her campaign to become supervisor of elections, said Darville's televised tirade was "the final determinator" in her dismissal.

"I tell you what, it was quite a performance," Schreiber said of Darville's outburst. "I don't know whether she thought she would impress the media or the voters. This woman, I wouldn't be surprised by anything. She's very unpredictable."

Schreiber said Darville had a history of missing work and was feared by co-workers because of her 300-pound frame and emotional outbursts.

Darville did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Oliphant did weigh in, however. "Although a family member, my sister does not represent or speak on behalf of myself or this office," she said.

[longtermmemmory]

I know this is dated. But, the radio had her sister's racist comments on the air today. She was venom. She said all the men were homosexuals and even said that the white people were refusing to work in order to sabotage oliphant. Her support is apparently evaporating. Even the local NAACP is backing off supporting her. Some cities in broward are now doing their elections via mail in order to circumvent Oliphants incompetence.

[longtermmemmory]

slight correction, all the men in oliphant's office are homosexuals. I know some wives, and children were shocked to find that out about their fathers.

[LasVegasMac]

her office remains dedicated to staging successful elections

Dedication does not equal knowledge and competence.

"I have not resigned," the statement said. "I will not resign."

Three....two....one....

YOU ARE FIRED!!!!!!

They need to toss this tax money sink hole.

LVM

[Rome2000]

The mayor said she planned to hold a meeting with the county commission on Friday to request that they send a letter to Gov. Jeb Bush asking that Oliphant be suspended from her job

LOL!

Oliphant is the Dems Frankenstein monster, they will have to get rid of her on their own.

[Uncle Sausage]

Why do the Rats promote the wonders of homosexuality
on one hand but are the first to demonize an opponent by insinuating they might be light in the loafers?

[expatpat]

(a) they want to attack the moral basis of the country, to weaken it, (b) they will demonize their opponents any way they can.

[SnuffaBolshevik]

Schreiber said Darville had a history of missing work and was feared by co-workers because of her 300-pound frame and emotional outbursts.

Wow! If her frame weighs 300 lb. how much does the rest of her weigh?

[RayChuang88]

Gee, and you wonder why Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties in Florida gave the entire state a really bad name during the 2000 elections.

[JRandomFreeper]

Dedication does not equal knowledge and competence.

I was told today by a REMF that "competence" is an opinion. She said it with a straight face. This attitude is rife among government workers employees.

/john

[RippleFire]

300 lbs bump

[Devlin]

Hmmmmmm... Chronic absenteeism, terrorizing coworkers, uncontrolled emotional outbursts, > 300 lbs... One might almost think that this fine lady has some issues with impulse control. Nah!

[browardchad]

This was written ten months ago: Oliphant is still in office. The corrupt local Dems (who put her in office) are still screaming, the local liberal rag editorializes about her on a weekly basis and she is still in office. Two weeks ago, she fired all remaining qualified staff and replaced them with her semi-illiterate unqualified cronies and she is still in office.

[mvpel]

She's got the "racist" card to play against anyone who dares oppose her. There's people like this all over government.

[Chu Gary]

"...fired all remaining qualified staff and replaced them with her semi-illiterate unqualified cronies and she is still in office."

Sounds like Cook County (Chicago), just a different Dem machine.

[TLOne]

We have a similar problem here in Pulaski County (Little Rock) Arkansas. The county clerk is in charge of keeping up the rolls of registered voters. She is unable to do her job and is being all but charged with a crime. And charges may even come.

The newspapers endorsed her challenger in the Dem. primary but she won. Then defeated the GOP candidate in the general.
The Dems have no one else to blame but themselves. This all happened with news of her sorry abilities to do the job well published.

Thats what you get when you have a strong one party system controlling a political area and the main reason why I vote Republican.

[wildbill]

Remember, It was a Republican plot that screwed up the Florida election process, not these bozos.

All you have to do is read the Federal Election Commission majority report by that horrid woman who is the chairman. majority

[Brian Allen]

<< Why do the Rats promote the wonders of homosexuality
on one hand but are the first to demonize an opponent by insinuating they might be light in the loafers? >>

Fascisolialist opportunism. [Your enemy is my "friend"]

Amorality. [AKA "moral" relativism]

Depravity.

Etcteras.

[Ophiucus]

Sam and Frodo once saw an Oliphant - very scary critters ;-)