Appointed BSO Sheriff Al Lamberti is trying to beat the odds by running as a Republican in a Democratic county.
Sitting in his bedroom one night, 16-year-old Al Lamberti heard his mom screaming — then watched as a thief pulled her car out of the driveway, the tires squealing.
Lamberti dashed out and chased the driver as his mom dialed 911. Police caught the suspect.
It would be convenient for Sheriff Lamberti to say that’s what piqued his interest in police work. But he doesn’t. He only tells the story when asked after his mother proudly recounts it while door-knocking with her son.
Her version is more colorful. He offers the straight-up facts.
Not a natural politician, Lamberti has learned to navigate the game as he runs to keep his job as Broward sheriff.
His opponent, Democrat Scott Israel, is also a newcomer to politics. But Israel, a former Fort Lauderdale police captain and North Bay Village police chief, appears more comfortable in his political skin.
Lamberti’s supporters say he has led the agency in the right direction since taking over at a tumultuous time last year when Gov. Charlie Crist appointed him after Sheriff Ken Jenne resigned amid corruption charges. They point to Lamberti’s calm demeanor, long tenure at the sheriff’s office and support from the rank and file.
”He has always had a quiet competency,” said BSO Col. Edward Werder. “He does not necessarily beat his own drum, but he always tried to promote the mission he was on.”
Critics question how he could name an all-white transition team, an issue gaining currency as black voters line up by the thousands for early voting in the county. They also grumble that he carries the advantage of an incumbent: free advertising just by doing his job.
BSO spent about $95,000 on a public relations campaign about domestic violence in October that includes TV ads featuring Lamberti. The campaign coincides with a domestic violence awareness month — but also with the eve of the election.
”He waits three weeks before the election and puts out something on domestic violence?” Israel told a Hollywood Rotary Club. “I deplore domestic violence, too.”
Though Lamberti carries more name recognition and a bigger war chest than Israel, his party affiliation could hurt him in a county with twice as many registered Democrats as Republicans.
Campaigning on a recent afternoon in Margate, he paused before answering a reporter’s question about whether he believes he will win.
”I think so,” he said. “The numbers are daunting. That’s what everybody told me in the beginning.”
He has ignored entreaties from several elected officials who urged him to ditch the Republican label and turn Democrat — as Israel did last year.
”I thought about it,” Lamberti said. But the bottom line: He said the BSO job should not be political, so “if I switch parties, I am admitting it is political.”
Lamberti raised about $711,000 by mid-October while Israel raised $523,000, including a $60,000 loan. Israel and Democrats are taking issue with his party ties.
One Israel TV ad tries to link Lamberti to George Bush and highlights the support Lamberti received from Roger Stone, a political operative involved in shutting down the Miami-Dade 2000 presidential recount. Stone was one of the creative minds behind primary ads attacking Israel for switching parties — including parodies of Richard Nixon and Bush ‘’supporting” Israel.
LAMBERTI’S JOKE
Lamberti likes to tell a joke on the campaign trail to show why he thinks party politics are irrelevant. When crime victims call 911, he said, there is no recording that says “press 1 if you are a Democrat . . . press 2 for Republican.”
In truth, politics are part of the role of sheriff, the most powerful elected post in Broward. The sheriff can dole out lucrative contracts and oversees a budget of more than $700 million and a staff of more than 6,000 employees. Political neophytes could not survive.
Lamberti, a Margate resident, recently visited Oriole Gardens, a senior community in the city, alongside his New Yorker mother. He chose this neighborhood, in part, because Israel did not win it during his competitive primary.
When voters answer the door, he explains: “I am the sheriff now, but now I have to run for election.”
To win, Lamberti must convince thousands of Democrats to cross over.
One such voter is Janice Franklin, 55, a black nurse from Coconut Creek. She wears a hat showing her support for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama but says the Republican sheriff has her vote — in part, she says, because he shows support to families who have lost a loved one in the line of duty.
”I am voting for the incumbent, and I know he is a Republican,” she said at an Obama event. “He had to take over at a difficult time. He has tried to do a good job.”
Lamberti began his career as a jail deputy in 1977. He quickly rose through the ranks, working in narcotics and organized crime, and later serving as district chief of Deerfield Beach and interim chief in Hollywood and North Lauderdale.
Al Capellini, now mayor of Deerfield Beach, said he opposed the BSO takeover of his police department in 1990. But Lamberti won him over by cleaning up drug houses. ”He was able to heal the police department that we had and have the community feel confidence in his abilities to be the main constable,” he said.
Capellini, a Republican, is one of more than 30 city officials — many of whom are Democrats — to endorse Lamberti.
Lamberti was the subject of three internal affairs investigations in the mid-1990s and cleared of any wrongdoing in each case.
Appointed sheriff after Jenne’s fall, Lamberti inherited big challenges: budget cuts, the investigation of murdered BSO Sgt. Chris Reyka and high-profile lawsuits. But in many ways, those challenges were an opportunity. Lamberti could win praise for fixing problems others created.
For example, he recently launched a review of why the sheriff’s SWAT team didn’t handle a raid that led to the slaying of Deputy Todd Fatta in 2004. After BSO settled a lawsuit with Fatta’s family, Lamberti publicly criticized his own agency.
”Why a decision was made not to use a SWAT team kind of escapes me,” he said.
Lamberti cut about $33 million from the budget, including shutting down a boot camp and a leadership academy for at-risk youth.
He says the biggest challenge the next sheriff will face is jail overcrowding. Broward is under court order to prevent overcrowding but county officials want a cheaper alternative than building a new jail. Lamberti has supported expanding a pre-trial diversion program to keep some defendants out of jail.
Israel has hammered Lamberti for appointing an all-white male transition team when he became sheriff. Lamberti said he chose individuals who had retired from law enforcement to quickly offer advice on internal procedures. Three were hired permanently.
Lamberti notes that BSO’s ranks are diverse — 48 percent are minorities — but wants the agency to do a better job recruiting minorities to join fire/rescue.
DIFFICULT TO COMPARE
In North Bay Village where Israel was chief, 42 percent are black or Hispanic, according to the police department. But it’s difficult to compare the racial composition of vastly different-sized agencies: North Bay Village has 38 employees while BSO has more than 6,000.
Some Lamberti fans say he should spend more time attacking Israel. He did bash Israel in one ad for his internal affairs record — which includes 10 allegations, but none sustained, from his time in Fort Lauderdale.
But most of Lamberti’s advertising has been feel-good messages about his own career.
That approach appeals to Pat Porcelli, a 70-year-old Democrat in Margate. ”My husband and I both said this is the man we will vote for,” she said.
“He told us what he did, how long he had done it and how he liked his job.”
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