Cooper City commissioner bonds out after DUI arrest

The Miami Herald ^ | 11/29/2006 | BREANNE GILPATRICK AND KATHLEEN McGRORY

[Happy Valley Dude]

A Cooper City commissioner, one of several facing a state inquiry for allegedly drinking booze on the taxpayers' tab before public meetings, now has a more immediate problem:

Bartlett ''Bart'' Roper was busted on a DUI charge Tuesday night after police said they found him slumped over the wheel of his truck on a public road. When they roused him with a rap on the window, he flashed an obscene gesture at paramedics, police said.

Roper, 69, was stopped in Davie and taken to the Broward Sheriff's Office's main jail in Fort Lauderdale. Bond was set at $500, which he posted about 9 a.m. this morning, flipping a throng of journalists the same hand gesture as he was driven away.

Roper has no prior criminal record in Florida. And Broward court records show no previous traffic violations.

Cooper City Commissioner Linda Ferrara and City Attorney Alan Ruf declined to comment about the incident this morning. Mayor Debby Eisinger and Commissioners Elliot Kleiman and John Valenti could not be reached for comment.

According to the Davie police report, here is what happened:

Officers arrived at 11:19 p.m., responding to a report of a man dozing behind the wheel of his pickup truck in the northbound turning lane at 5700 South Pine Island Rd. in Davie

The police, joined by paramedics, knocked on the driver's side window of the silver Chevy, which had a shredded front tire. The driver lifted his head, smiled and gave paramedics ``the finger.''

Officers detected a ''very strong odor'' of alcohol when the man emerged.

Roper was given a road sobriety test, which he failed. He staggered when told to walk a straight line and swiveled his head when instructed to shift only his eyes back and forth, the report said.

Roper told officers he'd had ``a few drinks in Cooper City.''

Asked to produce his driver's license, Roper insisted it was in his right hand. But his right hand was empty. He refused to submit to a Breathalyzer test.

Roper's arrest comes amid allegations that he and other Cooper City commissioners and officials gathered at local bars and restaurants before meetings for taxpayer-funded dinners during which alcohol was imbibed. If public matters were discussed, the meetings would violate Florida's Government in the Sunshine Law, which requires commissioners to discuss city business only in public.

Earlier this month, Gov. Jeb Bush requested a Florida Department of Law Enforcement inquiry into resident allegations that commissioners violated the Sunshine Law and drove under the influence after those dinners.

That inquiry was ongoing as of today, and FDLE findings will determine whether the governor requests a full investigation.

City officials called the dinners a long-standing city tradition and said they were neither intoxicated nor discussing city business. On Nov. 14 Eisinger proposed an ordinance formally banning the dinners.

There was no scheduled Cooper City commission meeting Tuesday night. The commissioner's truck was towed.

[NonValueAdded]

Who does he think he is, a NFL player or something?

[JennysCool]

Asked to produce his driver's license, Roper insisted it was in his right hand. But his right hand was empty.

Oopsie.