Judge blocks Broward town from removing mayor over residency concerns

Despite serious questions into whether the mayor of a Broward town actually lives there, he’ll get to keep his job — at least for now, a judge says.

Just 20 minutes before commissioners in Pembroke Park, a town south of Hollywood, were set to hold a special meeting at 1 p.m. to consider removing Mayor Geoffrey Jacobs from office, the mayor’s attorney secured a temporary injunction from Judge Shari Africk-Olefson to cancel the meeting. Instead, there will be a hearing in court to discuss the matter within 10 days.

“The good news today is that in the Town of Pembroke Park, democracy lives and the rule of law lives,” said Michael Pizzi, Jacobs’ attorney, at a press conference Tuesday.

The controversy boils down to one question: Does Jacobs live in Pembroke Park or in Fort Pierce, a city 100 miles away?

An investigation by Local 10 News found that Jacobs claimed several homestead and other tax exemptions on a home in St. Lucie County that require permanent residence, saving him upwards of $500,000 in tax assessments. But under the town charter of Pembroke Park, elected officials must live within town limits. The town charter reads: “Any Commissioner who shall cease to possess the qualifications required herein shall forfeit his or her office.”

The Local 10 investigation lead to the St. Lucie County Property Appraiser’s Office opening a formal homestead fraud investigation into Jacobs and his wife. Meanwhile, town officials moved to vote on potentially removing Jacobs from the dais, scheduling a commission meeting for Tuesday afternoon. Jacobs, who is registered to vote in Broward, is nowhere near South Florida at the moment. He’s in Alaska for his job as a pilot, Pizzi said.

When asked by several reporters where the mayor lives, Pizzi said the mayor “absolutely, 100% lives in Pembroke Park” while his wife and children live in Fort Pierce to avoid harassment.

“He’s made it very clear. His wife and kids are in St. Lucie County out of concern for their safety and because of the trauma they experienced. And that’s his family business with all due respect,” Pizzi said. “[...] If any of us wants to buy a house in New York, a house in St. Lucie County, we’re allowed to do it.”

Pizzi went on to say Pembroke Park Town Manager David Lynch acted inappropriately to get a second opinion from a lawyer besides the city attorney on removing Jacobs’ from office. The lawsuit Pizzi filed on Monday alleges that Lynch is orchestrating a “political coup” and that Lynch lacks the legal authority to remove Jacobs as mayor or declare his office vacant without a court order. The meeting was scheduled with less than 72 hours’ notice while Jacobs was in Alaska, the complaint says.

“If they want to say Geoff Jacobs isn’t properly living in Pembroke Park, which is completely false, then you know what? Do the right thing under the American system of justice,” Pizzi said at the press conference. “Go in front of a judge, give due process., have a hearing, and it’ll all be fleshed out.

Just last week, Local 10 reported that Lynch told police he feared for his life and alleged that Jacobs threatened him over the phone and blamed him for the news investigation.

Pembroke Park Clerk Commissioner Bill Hodgkins told reporters that while he was disappointed by the judge’s decision, he will wait to see what happens. He argued that under the town’s charter, it is legal for the commission to vote to remove the mayor under these circumstances. “It’s pretty cut and dry,” he said.

“As far as I’m concerned and from I could see, Mr. Jacobs moved out of town a year ago without anybody being informed of the fact,” Hodgkins said. “We continue to pay him as a mayor and as a commissioner [...] $70,000 for a year, and he probably wasn’t entitled to it. I’m gonna let the lawyers figure that one out. It’s a sticky situation for the town.”

Hodgkins said he wants to see the town “move forward” from the situation.

“How can you represent a town when you’re 100 miles away?” he said.