He knew he wouldn't be elected in Ft. Lauderdale as a republican so he changed parties and the democrats fell for it.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle gone in one year and counting

South Florida Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board

March 12, 2008

ISSUE: Mayor Naugle an embarrassment again.

The Jim Naugle Countdown Clock should be ticking in earnest now.

On March 9, 2009, the mayor — we use the term very loosely — of Fort Lauderdale will be term limited out of his job. Good riddance to the man who has thoroughly shamed his city.

Naugle's latest flap occurred last week, when his column in the city's bi-monthly publication — paid for with taxpayer money — was discontinued. This was after his latest subject matter, men having sex in parks, continued a shameless harangue he has been on for quite some time, and upset some colleagues and residents.

Naugle, as is his wont, refused to apologize, simply stating he was angry about the column, too, because he wrote it in October when it was "timely."

Earth to Naugle: your bile-spewing rants against one particular group in your city were never timely. They were only humiliating and insulting.

And that was never more true than last week, when the column came out just days after one gay person was killed and another was beaten in Fort Lauderdale. Naugle wasn't to blame for those incidents, but he should have shown a little class by holding a press conference condemning the attacks in the strongest way possible.

Remember, this is a guy who was holding press conferences about once a week last summer, using any excuse for another rant about men having sex in park bathrooms. But he never bothered to publicly vent against the brutality against two citizens. That would have taken leadership. Silence is what we got. Very weak, but Naugle hasn't given reason to expect more.

In case the mayor hasn't noticed, Fort Lauderdale is a sophisticated city of over 150,000 — people of all races, ethnicities, and yes, sexual orientation. Sadly, he is the public face of that city.

Happily, it is March, 2008. The Countdown Clock is at under one year and counting.

BOTTOM LINE: Thankfully, only one more year of this.