HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A Hallandale Beach commissioner is being accused of using his elected position to financially benefit him, his church and his family.
Hallandale Beach City Commissioner Anthony Sanders has another position as a pastor, but the Broward County Inspector General said Sanders voted to allow money to go to a non-profit, which was benefiting his church and family.
“I’m a pastor, so this is what we call an attack from the enemy,” Sanders said. “It is an assassination on my character.”
7News obtained a copy of a preliminary report that states Commissioner Sanders voted to give non-profit Palms Community Action Coalition almost $900,000.
The organization helps people get jobs and improve the community, but investigators found that the non-profit paid Sanders’ church, Higher Vision Ministries, thousands of dollars for “transportation services,” paid his wife for consulting services and even employed his sons.
When 7News crews asked Sanders if his son received payments from the organization, he said, “My son received payments from the non-profit, he worked three hours a week, three days a week at the non-profit.”
However, the Inspector General said the non-profit paid Sanders’ church and immediate family more than $38,000 between 2013 and 2015.
“I did disclose it, and they vetted, and said it was proper to vote on,” Sanders said.
He insisted that the city manager and city attorney at the time gave him the green light, but the new report said, “Sanders engaged in a pattern of misconduct that violated Florida ethics laws.”
Hallandale Beach is already plagued with controversy as well as a commission that doesn’t get along.
“You’re such a wackadoo,” said Vice Mayor Keith London in a meeting.
Two months ago, London was caught on camera in a crude conversation with a worker. “How many times you go to prison?” London said in the video. “What was it? Did you like it? Did you suck…?”
Investigations are piling up in what’s become a political minefield.
“It’s not over,” Sanders said. “You will see more to come. It’s just not over. It’s a sad state in the City of Hallandale Beach.”
The Broward Inspector General will now forward its findings to the Florida Commission on Ethics. Meanwhile, Sanders said he will fight this case every step of the way.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.