Name: Ashira Mohammed
Campaign website: N/A
Date and place of birth: 11/09/1976, Brooklyn New York, USA
Office sought: Pembroke Park District 5
List, in order of importance, the three most important issues in your community and explain what you have done or would do about each.
1. The first issue that affects our community are the high cost associated with the building department and code enforcement division. Residents are currently being hit with code violations, many of which occurred prior to their ownership of their property. Residents are now forced to a) prove that a permit was pulled prior to their purchase or b)pay for engineering plans, pull expensive permits and pay fines. In addition, the process of pulling permits can be extremely slow with a permit taking upward of 45 days, with a timeline of completing repairs within 60 days and a fine of $50 per day after the 60-day deadline. This would mean that a resident only has 15 days to complete the repair. The first would be to implement a moratorium to stop the fines, while requiring a full audit of the department, including the fees accessed to make sure they are reduced to be in-line with neighboring communities… followed by a revision to the current code for fees and permits, as well as, an overhaul of the amnesty program which I introduced that somehow veered off course after my exit from Pembroke Park.
2. Public safety is a major issue affecting our community. As a decision maker we are responsible for our residents safety and determining if we are being fiscally responsible to our tax payers. With the recent increase in crime that the town has experienced, we need to review the current mayor’s plan that was introduced at the October 2022, meeting to make sure that we have adequate staffing levels and see where we can improve in reducing the crime rate. Currently, we have spent over three quarters of the annual overtime budget allocated for the police department, while we are currently entering the second quarter of this year’s budget. We need to access the current level of services we are receiving to make sure that they are meeting the needs of the community. We also need to access the employees physical and mental condition since the department is working mandatory overtime daily, which not only puts our community at risk but also our officers safety. Lastly, we need to ensure that the new department is fully trained in state laws, town codes and diversity, equity and inclusion when addressing the needs of this community.
3. Lowering cost for our community. The town has the second highest millage rate in the county while having the lowest per capita income. During my previous time on the dais, we were constantly looking for ways to reduce cost not only in the budget, but also daily cost to our residents. I reduced salaries to town employees so that they would be similar to our surrounding communities which resulted in almost 1 million dollars being added back to our annual budget. I reviewed contract cost and got a reduction in garbage fees for the Town resulting in a 30% reduction in fees to businesses in the community. I also discovered overcharges in our contract with BSO and took the steps necessary to recoup those cost. In addition, I worked with FEMA to reduce the need for flood insurance in our community by installing town wide drainage and then updating maps so that the town was no longer in flood plains thereby reducing home owners insurance policies. If we can continue to reduce town wide cost, we can not only lower the millage rate but also household expenses.
How serious a problem in your community is overdevelopment, and would you support or oppose specific growth limits, such as requiring a supermajority vote for land use amendments? Why or why not?
The town welcomes smart affordable development and currently does not have an issue with overdevelopment, with many lots still available for development and/or redevelopment. Unlike other communities the town does not have much in terms of high density. Our two elementary schools are below capacity, and the infrastructure we have in place is capable of handling more. Therefore, the town currently does not need to take steps to limit growth but should in fact work to support and encourage smart growth that meets the needs of the community and surrounding neighborhoods.
What is the most overlooked issue in your community and what would you do about it?
The most overlooked issue in our community are the lack of community services. Over the years I have worked hard to improve the services we provide to our community but there is still more that needs to be done. I worked hard with the state to acquire green space so that we have parks in our community. I worked with former County Mayor Barbara Sharif to provide lighting in the park so that it can be utilized after dusk. We have installed numerous exercise equipment in both parks to help residents maintain a healthy lifestyle, I have partnered with numerous entities to provide food on a regular basis to our community including Feed South Florida, Farm Share, Broward Meats and Walmart. I worked with former School Board Member Ann Murray to supply books for our residents with the town’s little free libraries. I have implemented several programs for our community including a scholarship program for residents; annual school supplies, toys for the holiday; as well as one of the largest health fairs in the county. I started the community garden with Maculae Brazilian Art Institute so our community has a place to go to grow their own vegetables. We worked with a group to provide new mothers support and lactation coaching. I also made sure we had weekly food giveaways during covid and had the first drive thru testing site in Broward for our residents.
We’ve been working hard to secure funding to build a new structure at the park and build a new city hall/multi-purpose facility. The town doesn’t have adequate facilities in place to be able to host any type of real indoor activities. Currently, the closest indoor facilities are in Miramar and Hallandale and a long waitlist. We do not have adequate facilities within our border to provide more services. Once elected I will see to it that we expand upon the programs that I initially started and provide more services to our community in our new facilities.
Voter participation in March municipal elections is historically very low. What should be done to improve voter turnout?
Education and reminders are the key to increase voter turnout. Whenever we program something into our calendar our phone usually sends us several reminders: 1 day,1 hour, 5 minutes, etc. In an office setting the secretary usually notifies the boss of any upcoming meetings. Today we have technology like those emergency broadcast networks where we can send a reminder that there is a municipal election. The next key to improving voter turnout is education. Voters need to know how the election personally impacts them. Most voters don’t know that municipal elections are key to determining daily costs like water bill, sewer bill and tax bill ; and that all of those fees are set by your local government every August during the budget meeting.
What factor most distinguishes you from your opponent(s) and why?
For the past 17 years I have had the privilege of serving this community as the district 5 commissioner jointly with several other positions. In 2003, I served as the deputy clerk commissioner, followed by the vice mayor in 2007, and in 2010 I was appointed as the mayor, a position I held for three terms due to my colleagues’ confidence in my ability to lead our community. I’ve sat on various boards including the NLC, FLC, and Broward League of Cities, sharing experiences and learning how to be a resource for my community. I am thankful for having the ability and time to participate as it better prepared me to be a successful leader.
I also attended law school while serving on the commission which was an experience to see how to interpret the laws and how it affects people. After graduation it helped me to be a better leader because the knowledge empowered me to be able to do more, ask the right questions and find solutions. When people come to city hall for help it’s usually because they have run out of options and don’t know where to turn for assistance. As a taxpayer they have every right to utilize us as a resource as we are there to serve and I will never turn any resident away who requests help.
When you serve for so long, you acquire a lot of knowledge on the issues and the history behind the issues. For example, the town has a history of flooding, we took a lot of steps to correct the problem and know that we have to limit developers from filling in all of the lakes, as they have subterrainean drains. If you fill one it upsets the balance and floods the east side of town. Looking at a piece of paper will never replace firsthand knowledge. Having the knowledge, history, education and willingness to serve my community distinguishes me from my opponent, making me the better person to lead our town.
List in reverse chronological order all colleges or universities attended, with year of graduation and degree awarded.
St. Thomas University December 18, 2010 Juris Doctorate
Florida Atlantic University June 2003 Bachelor of Science International Business
Kingsborough Community College 1999 Associate of Applied Science Data Processing
Kingsborough Community College 1998 Associate of Applied Science Accounting
List in reverse chronological order your work history for the past 15 years.
Consilio LLC
FTI Consulting
Troy & Banks Inc.
Town of Pembroke Park
Law Office of Ashira Mohammed, PLLC.
Rumrell, Bate, McLeod & Brock
Synergy/Huron
St. Thomas University Immigration Clinic
Have you ever been a party to a lawsuit, including bankruptcy or foreclosure? If so, provide details of the case and disposition.
Yes
CACE20016293. The current mayor sued to have me removed from office two weeks prior to my resignation’s effective date of November 4, 2020. Florida statute 99.012 requires that a local elected office who runs for office must submit a letter to the qualifying officer or authority, the governor and the Department of State 10 days prior to qualifying or else they will be removed from the ballot in which they seek office for the sole purpose of advising the agency of an impending vacancy. In May, I mailed out several letters: one to the governor’s office, one to the DOS and one to the town commission which was logged by the mail clerk but never delivered to the commission. The only issue before the court was whether I had complied with Florida’s resign to run statute by mailing a copy to the town commission and hand delivering a copy to the city manager’s office in May of 2020, when the statute states that the letter needs to be sent to the officer or authority which appoints them i.e., the town clerk. The town did not have a town clerk at the time I mailed my letter in May due to the town clerk’s promotion to the administrative service director/assistance city manager position. The mayor thought that I should have addressed the letter to him, as the then clerk-commissioner and emailed it to him. Clearly, the court disagreed with him as his temporary injunction was denied on October 14, 2020, and the case was eventually dismissed in June of 2022, two years after I was out of office and according to the statute the only legal remedy afforded by the statute was the removal from the August 2020 ballot, which had already passed.
Have you ever been charged with or convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, including case of withheld adjudication? If so, provide charge(s), dates and terms of sentence.
NO, I have never been charged with a misdemeanor or felony.
Why should voters elect you instead of your opponent?
As a 24-year resident of the town and community advocate, I’ve seen the progress we’ve made and all the good things that we have done in the community and how many lives we have affected by practicing good government. During my time with the town, we had a vision for our community to stay, play and work. We developed the largest per capita affordable housing than any other community in the state. We developed a significant amount of park area for the community: 3 acres of greenspace per 1k residents. I brought in Broward College to provide free workforce training so that our residents can attract higher paying jobs. The town had stable growth and a healthy contingency fund.
Lately, I’ve been watching the town fall into a downward spiral, with numerous mistakes being made while no longer operating to benefit the residents. During my time in the town, we ‘ve never raised taxes, nor did we take out loans, nor did we even consider implementing fire or police fees and we always balanced the budget. We always operated within our means and have worked hard to attract and maintain businesses in the city. The role of good government is to not balance the budget on the backs of your citizens and squeeze everyone out. We need to go back to lifting our residents up and being responsive to our community.
My 17 years’ experience on the town commission coupled with my legal background make me the ideal person to get in there and get the job done. I’m a resource with an open door for whatever problems that occur whether it’s securing special needs housing, writing letters to whatever agency troubles them, lowering taxes thru value adjustment board visits, performing wellness checks and delivering food and water door to door when the need arises. This is what I’ve done in the past and will continue to do. Let me continue to be your voice!
