Patte Atkins-Grad is absent from Monday’s City Commission Workshop

By: Sharon Aron Baron

Patte Atkins-Grad will not resign, and a special election will now be held to decide if she will be legally recalled.

Last Thursday, Recall Attorney Joshua Entin spoke to Atkins-Grad’s Attorney Stuart Michelson after they had received the certification of the petitions, and asked Michelson point-blank if Atkins-Grad would be resigning.

“Unequivocally no,” stated Michelson.

Even if Atkins-Grad had decided to resign, the five day period for her is now over. Now Circuit Court Judge Peter Weinstein must decide when to set the date of the election.

“We have requested that the Judge set a date.  It will be anywhere from 30 to 60 days from tomorrow’s date,” said Entin.

The City Clerk announced last week that volunteers that were part of the recall effort were successful in obtaining enough signatures during two rounds of the recall process. During the final round in which 15 percent of District Two of Tamarac’s signatures were needed, they achieved 2,296 signatures, which were 421 more than the 1,875 required.

In 2010, Atkins-Grad was charged with accepting illegal payments from father and son developers Bruce and Sean Chait to lease a BMW and pay for her election victory party in exchange for voting for their project. Although she was acquitted by a jury last December, residents felt that her “stupid” defense didn’t add up, and no longer wanted her to represent them, forming a legal recall effort to remove her from office.

Atkins-Grad did not appear at the City Commission workshop this morning due to being out for minor outpatient surgery.