Broward County Commission Meeting - March 26, 2026
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Broward County Commission Meeting - March 26, 2026
The Broward County Board of County Commissioners met on March 26, 2026, at 10:03 AM in Room 422 of the Governmental Center East. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Mark Bogen and adjourned at 1:37 PM. The board addressed a wide range of consent items, several regular agenda items, and supplemental items, including a major FIFA World Cup sponsorship discussion and the appointment of a new County Attorney.
Consent Calendar
- The Consent Agenda (Items 1–43) was approved unanimously (9-0) after Items 9 and 32 were withdrawn. Item 43 (conflict of interest procurement policy) was pulled by Commissioner Geller and considered separately; it was approved 9-0.
- Numerous routine approvals, grants, contracts, and appointments were approved without separate debate.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Joshua Freeman (LSN Partners): Opposed Item 44 (Duty Free extension), arguing that a competitive procurement would yield higher revenue for the county, citing disparities in minimum annual guarantees compared to similar airports. He stated the current provider's contract was originally awarded without competition.
- Matthew Sacco and Jared Rosenstein (for Duty Free 360): Supported the extension, emphasizing that the operator had worked through COVID and construction delays and had made significant capital investments. They urged the board to follow staff's recommendation.
- Michael Rayner: Supported Item 50 (AIDS Drug Assistance Program resolution). He described recent state funding changes and urged the county to build system capacity for premium assistance.
- Cheryl Robinson: Expressed concerns about community neglect, lack of support for local entrepreneurs, and lack of transparency in funding allocation.
- Additional public speakers on Item 47 (Port Everglades consultant rankings) included representatives from Moffatt & Nichol, Hatch, Bowman Consulting, and Volkert, who addressed the ranking process.
Discussion Items
- Item 44 – Duty Free Concession Extension: The board debated a three-year extension for Broward Duty Free, LLC. Commissioner Furr expressed concern about not going to competitive bid after 20 years, but recognized that procurement would take 2-3 years. Commissioner Geller supported the extension, noting that the current operator was a good partner and that the FAA had approved a shorter extension due to COVID and construction impacts. The item was approved 9-0.
- Item 47 – Port Everglades General Planning Consultant Rankings: After two evaluation committees produced differing rankings (Moffatt & Nichol first in both; Bowman/Hatch tied for second in first, but Hatch fell to sixth in the second), the board considered legal risks. By a motion from Commissioner Udine, after all three top firms agreed to waive their protest rights, the board approved a re-ranking with Moffatt & Nichol as first and a two-way tie for second (Bowman and Hatch), authorizing up to three contracts. Approved 8-0 (Commissioner Furr absent).
- Item 49 – Appointment of County Attorney: The board discussed and voted to appoint Annika E. Ashton as County Attorney effective September 10, 2026, subject to execution of an employment agreement. The motion passed 8-0 (Vice-Mayor McKinzie absent).
- Item 53 – FIFA World Cup 2026 Sponsorship: The board debated a $2,000,000 sponsorship from Tourist Development Tax funds. An initial motion to authorize up to $2M conditional on deliverables failed 2-0 (Davis and Geller in favor). After further discussion, an amended motion to approve the full $2M was passed 8-0 (Commissioner Furr absent). The County Administrator was authorized to negotiate the agreement with deliverables.
- Item 54 – Community Feedback: Mayor Bogen reported that the business community's primary concern is Broward County's lack of a clear identity for external marketing.
- Item 55 – Resiliency Plan Funding: Mayor Bogen noted the need for a billion-dollar funding source to address canal flooding risks and indicated future discussions.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda: Approved 9-0 (Items 1–43 with withdrawals).
- Item 43: Approved 9-0 – directed County Attorney to draft amendment on employee conflicts in procurement.
- Item 44 (Duty Free Extension): Approved 9-0 – three-year contract extension for Broward Duty Free, LLC.
- Item 45 (Janitorial Services): Approved 9-0 as amended with scrivener's corrections.
- Item 46 (Cisco Products Contracts): Approved 8-0 (McKinzie absent).
- Item 47 (Port Consultant Rankings): Approved 8-0 (Furr absent) – Moffatt & Nichol first, Bowman and Hatch tied for second, with waivers; procurement code waived to allow up to three contracts.
- Item 49 (County Attorney Appointment): Approved 8-0 – Annika E. Ashton appointed, subject to contract.
- Item 50 (AIDS Drug Assistance Resolution): Approved 8-0 (McKinzie absent) as amended.
- Item 53 (FIFA World Cup Sponsorship): Approved 8-0 (Furr absent) – $2,000,000 sponsorship from Tourist Development Tax funds.
- Item 54 and 55: Discussed; no formal votes, but board acknowledged feedback and resilience funding needs.
Meeting Transcript
Speakers must appear in person. No further speaker sign ups will be accepted after an item has been called. Show respect for others and refrain from making impertinent, slanderous remarks or personal attacks. Boisterous behavior, including applause, booing and cheering is not permitted. Thank you for joining us. The meeting will begin shortly. And the and where I got to see him a lot was I was teaching I was not teaching I was coaching softball. And he was as chair, he was um in charge of opening day, which is why I did opening day for the music today. Um he was in charge of that, and and it was like something he loved doing. He would in Hollywood you have all the teams parade out on opening day. Everybody from T ball all the way to high school, he'd do all the announcing um of it. And then he asked if I wanted to throw the first pitch. Oh, cool. Which was uh something I always wanted to do. I I obviously wanted to burn one in and sure I still had it. Uh yeah. You know, uh unfortunately I threw it right over the catcher's head. You know, the k the catcher was only about that big but um he gave me another chance, but uh it w it was uh one of my highlights of being able to do it. And he just did just did a lot of work there. He was your classic Boston politician. He'd worked in in Boston government a lot. Um and when I decided to run for county commissioner, he asked if I needed a driver to help that because he had helped Tim Ryan do all that. He had helped Tim drive around. He went through a couple of the transmissions of Tim's driving. Um But he would but he he drove us, you know, drove around and knock, and uh he was always t always telling me like Tim would hand out emory boards everyone. Beam, you gotta be handing out emory boards, you're not gonna win. You know, he and all the different things that Tim had done, he he kept saying, You gotta be doing this. Um but for the last uh eleven years he's been he has helped a lot of people. And uh knowing government, knowing that he he worked at he worked in the property appraiser for a while as well. But he knew government inside and out, up and down. And so when he when anybody called our office, he knew exactly where to go. And he was a pit man. He he would not he would not take no for an answer. And I know and apologi I was always apologizing to some staff somewhere, because he would always he would push and push and push until he got the answer that you know, until he could help somebody. He would always tell people right when he wrote when he would ha get ready to hang up, the difficult we can do today, the impossible may take us a little bit longer. And that's the way that's the way he approached it. And he just did a tremendous amount of good. He worked since I've been here from the first day. Uh he's been so 11 years, eleven and a half years. Um and he would be uh you know, when when he was apologizing to people, he would write a letter. Old school, he'd do he'd do letters, then he'd invite him to lunch. And he would have lunch with everybody. Hey, I he'd tell me I'm not and that's the one time he would take off during the day, and he'd be having lunch with city managers and mayors. I'm going, I haven't even had lunch with those guys yet. But he I'm going, well, okay. But that's the that's what Frank did. Um he would always for all our newsletters, and you guys know our newsletters, he always got the last read, because he was a printer at one time. And so he was the last last one to approve read. Um and he wondered if he might have to go back to school after November so that he could get retrained to stay working for the county. At 97 years.
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