If you are a concerned voter, attached is Mr. Curran’s deposition
where in you can see for YOURSELF that he has, under oath, admitted that he
does not often do any research, read or study the resolutions that he votes
on. He simply relies on staff to fill
his head with information of their choosing rather than do his own research.
Contrary to his campaign slogan "Curran Works", Mr.
Curran does NOT work for the resident/taxpayers, rather he lets others do the
work that we assume he should be doing himself. Mr. Curran skates by on the
shoulders of the city staff. While that might appear to be ok for some people,
Commissioner Curran lets others do the work that he has been elected to do. Over
the recent years it has been obvious Mr. Curran by his testimony shows that he
does NOT have a basic working knowledge of the city budget!
I hope that you will take a few minutes to read the
following lines from Mr. Curran's deposition. It is a real eye opener.
Your vote can and will have an impact the future of our Cooper City!!!
********Your vote can and will have an impact the future of our Cooper City!!!
Excerpts from the Deposition of James C. Curran, Commissioner Cooper City Dist.4
THE WITNESS: I
wouldn't know how to answer that question only for one reason.
BY MR. FRANKEL:
Q. What is that?
A. I rely heavily on staff, Horacio and the
City manager for their advice on this. I'm not an expert in it.
Q. As a commissioner, do you think you have a responsibility
to become fully informed or are you entitled to just rely on what your City
staff says?
A. I rely on my staff.
Q. Do you do any
kind of research yourself? Do you read the resolutions?
A. Some.
Q. There are times
when you may be voting on something that you haven't read fully?
A. On some resolutions.
Q. How about on the
resolutions for 2008 and 2009 which you voted on?
A. I wouldn't remember. I can't recall.
Q. If you have a concern that maybe the information you are
getting from one source isn't completely accurate, would you go to any place
else to get better information?
A. No.
Q. You wouldn't?
A. I would not leave this office over the City
manager for anything.
Q. So you're
completely reliant upon --
A. Completely.
Q. When you say
City manager, do you mean the entire staff?
A. Yes
Q. That includes
Mr. Montes de Oca?
A. Yes.
Q. And the City's
attorneys?
A. Yes.
Q. When you voted for the resolution in the year 2008, other
than what you have told us, did you go back to inform yourself about what the
resolution was based on?
A. Once
again, I relied on the City manager, the finance manager and the staff.
A. I relied on the staff for all my information
when I met with staff.
BY MR. FRANKEL(attorney for the Plaintiff) Q. All right.
But by voting for this, do you agree that you agreed that the resolution
constitutes the Final Assessment Resolution as defined in Ordinance No. 99-7-1?
MR. MANDEL: Object to
form.
THE WITNESS: No.
BY MR. FRANKEL:
Q. You don't agree
with that?
A. No.
Q. Even though it's in here, you don't agree
with that?
A. Just leave it at no.Q. Can I ask you
honestly, if you had known any of what was discussed here in the last few
minutes at the time, would you have still voted for it?
MR. MANDEL: Object to form.
THE WITNESS: Yes.
Q. Would it be a
fair statement to say that you really don't understand the intricacies of the
City's budget?
A. Sure.
Q. That's a fair
statement?
A. Yes
[No further excerpts are shown.]
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