Make way for a cavalcade ... it's the sheriff (Egomaniac Broward Shrimp Sheriff Antics)

Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel ^ | May 18, 2002 | Buddy Nevins

[PJ-Comix]

Cars were stopped. Roads were closed. Pedestrians were cleared off the crosswalks.

Then a sleek car with tinted windows sped by, escorted by at least 10 police motorcycles.

Was it a Third World generalissimo? A rich rajah? A self-important rock star?

No, it was Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne.

While thousands sweated through traffic when leaving the McDonald's Air & Sea Show, Jenne traveled in style. Sunrise Boulevard and other streets were closed for his motorcade.

[PJ-Comix]

Sheriff Ken Jenne is a real piece of work. He used to be the Demmycrat leader in the State Senate and then Governor Lawton Chiles appointed him to replace the former Broward County Sheriff who dropped dead. Since taking the Sheriff's post, Ken Jenne (aka Sheriff Ken-Ken) has gone on an egomaniacal rampage. This is only one such example. BTW, if you ever get a chance to actually see Sheriff Ken-Ken in the flesh, you are in for a great laugh. He is completely bald and stands about 5'2" when standing on his tip-toes. Last year I saw Sheriff Ken-Ken riding a horse in a Fourth of July parade. He was straining to keep from falling off. Atop that horse he looked like a small bowling ball wearing an oversized Sheriff's hat and dour expression but all the time you knew he was frightened of falling off that horsey. The funniest part of the scene was watching the other Sheriff's deputies who were straining not to laugh at the ridiculous spectacle of Sheriff Ken-Ken.

My guess is that Sheriff Ken-Ken got beaten up a lot in high school due to his dimunitive size and shmuck-like attitude so now that he is in a position of authority, he is trying to throw his weight around and get back at the world.

[Grut]

I'm looking forward to the Carl Hiaasen column on the matter.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

His appointment to the office of Sheriff of Broward County was such an obvious political payoff by our then (Dem)Gov. that it made me ill. There is nothing about Mr. Jenne that would inspire the public to feel safer, to think he is above graft, create confidence, or even to make one like him, he is a Napoleon without any of the charisma. Just a bad apple.

[PJ-Comix]

Sheriff Ken-Ken is supported by most Demmycrats....at least politically. I say most because even some elected Demmycrat officials here in Broward can't stand Sheriff Ken-Ken and his power-mad antics. Actually I think most of them can't stand Sheriff Ken-Ken on a personal level but are afraid to say so publicly although a few Democrats have done so. One such Demmycrat stated that once you get on the wrong side of Sheriff Ken-Ken on even a minor matter he comes after you forever. He has a reputation for never forgetting a slight, no matter how minor (such as laughing at him straining to keep from falling off a horsey).

[PJ-Comix]

...he is a Napoleon without any of the charisma....

BINGO! You hit the nail on the head---"Napoleon without any of the charisma." You can learn a lot about people simply by observing them in the flesh. When I saw Sheriff Ken-Ken at the Fourth of July parade (it might have been Memorial Day parade in Pompano Beach) last year, he was like an open book to me. I could see a lot of what makes him tick just by observing him. A humorless shmuck who, because he now has a position of authority, throws his weight around because of all the abuse he had to take when a kid due to his tiny size and crappy attitude.

[PJ-Comix]

Florida Freeper Sheriff Ken-Ken PING!

[clintonh8r]

Remember when he was pushing for a strong-mayor government in BC (with him in the role of strong mayor, of course), and the RATs on the county commission opposed him and they prevailed? I love to watch RATs eating each other. Did you ever notice how BC deputies all look like refugees from a New Jersey PD? Talk about greasy. Yeah, Ken-Ken is a real laugh, but that's what you get when Sheriff is an elected position, especially in a one-party county like Broward. Ultimately he wants to be governor, but that won't happen now that he won't be King of Broward. PS: I'm glad the FLPD officers spoke up.

[glock rocks]

"Being sheriff in a county this big is much like being a chief executive officer."
- Ken Jenne

[PJ-Comix]

Here is another ARTICLE about Sheriff Ken-Ken (before he became sheriff) written by Buddy Nevins in 1997:

• Say you live in Broward County and want a bill passed in Tallahassee. You've gotta see Ken Jenne. Say you want the governor to appoint you a judge. See Jenne, the Democratic state senator from Fort Lauderdale.

• If you are a candidate and need campaign contributions, Jenne's your man. Suddenly it has become abundantly clear that Jenne is the king of Broward politics.

• First there is the muscling of the School Board during the recent legislative session. Then there is his increasing influence in the past six months in three city halls where he snared legal work though his contacts. The School Board got a brutal lesson about Jenne's growing power this month. The seven members tried to block the changes Jenne wanted in the way board elections are held. Jenne steamrollered them. This year for the first time, Jenne has found a friend on the County Commission: Commissioner Ilene Lieberman, who was elected in November. The senator was blocked from having any influence on the County Commission for years by his rival, Commissioner Scott Cowan. Lieberman, who recognizes Jenne is a smart and savvy political operator, has opened the door of county government to Jenne.

• Jenne, 50, still controls appointments to the governing board running the public North Broward Hospital District as its general counsel. He also uses the district to solidify his political alliances, raising campaign contributions for his friends from wealthy physicians.

• And Jenne has the ear of the governor on other appointments, from the bench to the state Athletic Commission. Democratic boss Mitch Ceasar has power, but it's largely confined to the party organization and the votes it delivers. Nobody but Jenne covers so many bases and has influence that touches so much in Broward. Jenne's dark side.

• Jenne's power comes from his 16 years in the Legislature and his role as minority leader of the Senate. His power also comes from his law firm, Conrad Scherer and Jenne, where he earned $300,000 in 1995. The firm gives him entree into governments where it does work. First, there were the north Broward public hospitals. in the past half-year, his firm has moved into Lauderhill, Miramar, Sunrise and the School Board.

• And the former prosecutor has been walking the corridors of power a long time in Broward and knows just about everybody in politics. His Rolodex is legendary. But Jenne's power also comes from his willingness to extract a terrible political price for defying him. he can turn from soft-spoken friend to shouting enemy in seconds. Now, to have political power you must be prepared to use it against your enemies. Jenne, however, remembers every slight, every snub, every pol who told him "No."

• Jenne thinks Cowan attempted to sabotage the senator's political career about a decade ago. Jenne still holds a grudge, but he can't really get at the county commissioner.

• "The unusual thing about ken Jenne is that he can look squarely into the face of a friend and see an enemy. It has happened to me, "Cowan says. State Rep. John Rayson, D-Pompano Beach, voted against Jenne on legislation several years ago. He ended up with an opponent sponsored by Jenne in the 1994 Democratic primary. Jenne dismisses his power and the fear factor like this:"I'm not powerful. I'm just a little lawyer trying to do what's right for the public."

• I was talking to him on the phone, but I think I could hear his tongue stuffed firmly in his cheek.

[clintonh8r]

And of course, Scott Cowan did (and may still be doing) jail time for improper use of campaign funds. Gee, I wonder who could have been behind the investigation? But Cowan's a RAT just like Jenne and.....

I LOVE TO SEE RATS EATING RATS!!

[PJ-Comix]

Says Jenne, "It is totally untrue that I am whisked around town with an escort all the time."

Translated from the original Clintonian: "I am only whisked around town with an escort 99% of the time. The rest of the time I am whisked OVER the town in a helicopter."

[PJ-Comix]

Somebody should flag Rush to this info about Broward's Egomaniacal Shrimp Sheriff. A recital of Sheriff Ken-Ken's antics might make for some great comedy material on Rush's radio show.

[miamimark]

Broward=Capital of Corruption in Fla. remember Nick Navarro and all his antics?

[Clemenza]

Was Nick Navarro (consultant on the movie Scarface) the Sheriff who dropped dead?

[Clemenza]

Did you ever notice how BC deputies all look like refugees from a New Jersey PD?

Yeah, they do look like rejects from North Bergen or Bayonne, except instead of merely getting Lewinskied in the parking lots of Tonelle Avenue motels, they now merely "shake down" all the "gentlemen's parlors" in Pompano and Lauderdale.

[clintonh8r]

No, that was Ron Cochran, a decent cop but a terrible politician. He basically let his lawyer (who is so litigious I won't even mention his name here anonymously) run the administration and politics of the office.

[PJ-Comix]

Was Nick Navarro (consultant on the movie Scarface) the Sheriff who dropped dead?

Naw. It was another Sheriff. Navarro preceded the Sheriff who dropped dead. BTW, Navarro got involved in some sort of scandal involving drugs. I saw him a few years ago at a Greek Food Festival. I don't know if he is still alive.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

Hang in there, he will get his. He is not liked by anybody in local Gov't. He'll mess up and boom, his star will fall.

[PJ-Comix]

Yeah, Little Napoleon will meet his mini Waterloo. Will Key Largo be his St. Helena island?

[wingnuts'nbolts]

Much too good for him. Ft. Meyers would do.