b"SW RANCHES CORNERSetting the record straighton our Town's legal costsThis month we have a re- $736,000, which was increased for one year only by nearly $300,000 printfromtheSouthwestto have extra funding for the CCA trial, which had been expected to Ranchernewsletterwrittenoccur this fiscal year. This will not be additional money merely the byCouncilmemberJablonskisame money held ready when and if needed.thataddressessomemisinfor- From October 1, 2018 through March 15, 2019 the Town has mation about the Towns legal costsonly paid approximately $115,000 in legal fees.and provides clarifications on use of the legalOf that amount, only $38,000 was paid for general legal ser-budget.Inmyview,itsespeciallyimportantforourneighborsvices. $77,000 was paid for defending the Town in major litigation areprovidedaccurateinformationtounderstandhowtheirtaxrelating to Pembroke Pines, and frivolous actions filed by residents, money is spent. such as an action filed against the Town by a property owner who claims that they should be able to place a fence adjacent to a road, despite the fact that their survey and the Broward County Property Recently, some residents and non-residents have been circulating in- Appraiser clearly show that they dont own the land. In addition, the correct information concerning our Towns legal budget, which byTown has had to defend itself against a completely senseless election the way includes code enforcement and local governmental relationsviolation complaint, filed by a resident who could have easily found services. I would like to give out some current information that willout that a violation did not exist by simply calling the Town Clerk. It hopefully clarify and stop the inaccurate information that hurts theis important to note that as a result of our legal counsels quick re-Town by being divisive and inflammatory. sponse, this frivolous election complaint was immediately dismissed.Every facet of operating a municipality has a legal componentThe Town is currently involved in more than a dozen lawsuits filed to it. Since our Towns administrative staff is small, in Southwestagainst the Town by residents and their mortgagees. To date, the Town Ranches we ask legal counsel to be even more active with the day tohas been 100% successful in defending itself against such actions. day operations of the Town. This is done by Council request to helpIn addition, the Town is routinely forced to defend itself against at-protect the Town. tempts to take its sovereignty, including Pembroke Pines' recent at-Every Contract, Opinion, Publication, Resolution, and Ordi- tempt to de-annex a major portion of the Town out west.nance must be reviewed from a legal prospective. Being a Council Member I have had the unique advantage of see-The legal department has the obligation and the responsibilitying what the Towns legal department does on a day to day basis, and to protect the Council, Staff, and our Town from all the legal issuesI am sometimes amazed as to what they do to protect our Town.that arise daily. From potholes to loose livestock, our legal counselWhen we became a Town, we knew that preserving our lifestyle must be available at a moments notice to assist the Town with instan- and our sovereignty would not be easy. Having one of the largest mu-taneous decisions that may substantially impact the Town. nicipalities in Broward in terms of land mass, but one of the smallest It should be noted that in the past 5 years, our legal counsel haspopulations, means that all of us must be willing to go above and be-also been incredibly successful in securing more than 3 million dol- yond to maintain our quality of life. Every day there are attempts by lars in grants for the Town. This amount does not include the morerealtors and developers to take advantage of the last remaining por-than one million dollars that is slated in this years State budget,tions of open space in Broward County. I couldnt be happier with which includes funds for incredibly important drainage projects andour legal services and would ask our residents who have questions to funds to acquire land for the Towns future EEOC, (Emergency Op- please contact your Council member or myself to clarify incorrect eration Center). information that ultimately hurts our Town. The correct information Our legal counsels hourly rate of $175 per hour is the low- is often only a phone call or email away.est charged in Broward County for similar services. Although weIts my Honor and Privilege to serve you. Gary Jablonskionly pay for the hours that we use, we do set an annual budget for legal expenditures. Currently, our legal department is tracking ap-proximately $350,000 less than the current budgeted amount ofBY COUNCIL MEMBER BOB HARTMANN32 #361MAY 201930TH ANNIVERSARY DRWMAG.COM"