Broward mayor and sheriff trade barbs as budget battle escalates

Both sides in a Broward County budget battle claim the other side is lying. 

Broward County Mayor Mark Bogen and county commissioners have demanded a detailed audit of Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony's budget, questioning how the law enforcement agency spends taxpayer dollars.  

"They're lying to you, and we have to put videos together to check them," Tony said. 

"He's hiding in his office and doing videos," Bogen said.

Tony and Bogen were trading barbs, like a text message from the mayor to Tony on Saturday that said, "Hey Greg. Hope this text finds you well. I will be on TV tomorrow at 11 a.m., talking about you. Let me know if you think I did a good job."

"I told him I was going to be interviewed today on TV. I want him to know straight from me," Bogen said. "I'm not intimidated by him, I'm not scared of him. I want to let him know I'm going to be talking about him, investigating him."

"We do our thing here in terms of posting videos, but our videos are based on the comments that they're making in public. They're lying to you," Tony said. 

At issue, Bogen and several commissioners plan to show up at BSO headquarters on Monday morning. They want to visit the fourth-floor gym in the training building. They allege the sheriff used taxpayer money for wasteful spending and to build a luxury gym and spa. 

"I want to see if for myself," Bogen said. "I want to see all these allegations that he's embedded his name in the wood, how his name has been changed all over to add doctor."

Tony said they will not be allowed into BSO's secure areas because of an ongoing state investigation into the commission. He posted late Sunday, calling it an "unauthorized visit" that compromises the commission's due process protections in the investigation. 

"It's not a game. Now I'm exercising and put this executive order out to respect the statewide prosecutor's current investigation amongst this entire damn county commission," Tony said.

Bogen wants Tony to open the books to see how he spends the money given to him by the commission. 

"If he doesn't let us in, you gotta answer why. What's he hiding? Everything is a game; it's like, just show us. I'll be in and out of there in 15 minutes," Bogen said.  

"When will the rest of the good people that are sitting on this commission, when are you gonna stand up?" Tony asked. "You're allowing your commission to be shamed, embarrassed and now criminally investigated."

The mayor said if he and the commissioners are not allowed in, there will be an emergency meeting on Tuesday to begin legal proceedings.