NEAR FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) — A county clash in Broward between commissioners and the sheriff continued to escalate after county officials were denied entry to a Broward Sheriff’s Office facility.
7News cameras captured Broward County Mayor Mark Bogen and a handful of commissioners as they approached the front entrance to BSO’s Research, Development and Training Center, Monday morning.
The mayor pulled on the door, but it was locked. Moments later, he was met at the door by a uniformed deputy.
“We’d like to enter the building, and we’d only like to go to the gym, the unsecured area,” said Bogen.
“No. We are told to tell you that all tours have to be scheduled though the Office of the Sheriff,” said the deputy.
Shortly after, the deputy closed the door.
“Are you – you’re keeping me out here, right?” said Bogen.
Bogen said he and the commissioners showed up to the building uninvited after he tried to set up an appointment to tour the facility on Friday but did not receive an answer from Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony’s office.
This all comes amid rising tensions between the mayor and the sheriff.
“It’s his [modus operandi]: He tries to intimidate elected officials, he yells at them. He got the wrong person with me,” said Bogen.
Bogen and other city officials continue to raise questions over how Tony is spending his more than $870 million budget. The questions come weeks after the commission voted to pull fire rescue services from Tony’s control.
“All I’m saying is, he has to learn to live within his budget,” said Broward County Commissioner Steven Geller.
A major concern for city officials is how much was spent on the Research, Development and Training Center.
“You know, people say, ‘Oh, he’s engraved his name in the wood, which cannot be removed easily.’ You know, ‘He’s done all these things.’ I’d like to see it,” said Bogen.
On Friday, county leaders announced they’re directing the county’s auditor to investigate the sheriff’s spending. One of the areas that local officials want to look at is the department’s gym and training center.
A 2024 audit showed the area cost more than double its original price tag of $34 million.
County officials claim some of the money allocated for salaries was shifted over to cover the gym and training center’s bill.
On Monday, Tony responded to the allegations about the gym’s bill and why he thinks Bogen and the commissioners have taken these steps.
“False. Do you think if I took money from these men and woman’s pockets, that they would’ve endorsed me across the board this past election?” he said. “It has been nothing more than a disguise to distract from what is actually taking place: an unprecedented criminal investigation that expands beyond not one, two, three or four commissioners, but all nine. A criminal investigation that has included the county administrator, the deputy county administrator, attorneys.”
The criminal investigation claimed to be ongoing by the sheriff is connected to a September subpoena and state probe of the county’s feasibility study into removing BSO as public safety at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades.
His Monday news conference came after Tony posted various videos on social media responding to the ongoing dispute.
“I said this before, and I guess they’re not listening and learning. We keep every receipt,” he said in the video. “Public safety is not a joke,” he said in a video.
On Sunday, Tony even shared a video defending the use of the center with endorsements from celebrities and law enforcement.
County officials said they haven’t heard anything of a criminal probe.
“It’s nonsense. All it is is that they want to have documents of a consultant we hired. I’m not aware of any criminal investigation,” said an official.
Bogen’s next move will be to hold an emergency county commission meeting on Tuesday morning to discuss where they go from here.
“Tomorrow, just so you know, at 9 a.m., we will be meeting in an emergency meeting — that has been noticed — to take legal action if he doesn’t let us in our own building,” said Bogen. “Maybe the next thing is to take this building away and assign him another.”
As for Geller, he said it is more than just being denied a visit to the training center. He wants to work together toward a sustainable budget.
“Whether we get in and walk around or don’t walk around, it’s not the main issue. What we can do is exceed to something that will keep giving him a higher percentage of our budget and take away from mental health, parks, libraries, etc. We can’t do that,” he said.
