TL;DR At the Jan 2026 Deerfield Beach Commission meeting, BSO officials proposed funding a new fire-rescue study in exchange for a two-year contract extension—a move critics call a ‘delay tactic’ to avoid municipal independence.

I’ve been around Deerfield Beach politics long enough to know when a room gets nervous. Not loud. Not chaotic. Nervous.

That was the vibe at the last City Commission meeting.

Not panic. Not disorder. Just the quiet, unmistakable tension you get when a long-standing arrangement realizes the spreadsheet is no longer on its side.

The Headline Move: “This Study Doesn’t Count”

The most senior BSO official steps up to the mic—calm, careful, visibly rehearsed—and delivers the opening gambit:

The city’s fire-rescue feasibility study? Not really analysis. No, no. It’s an “advocacy memo.”

Er, blow me.

And because of that, Dr. Tony Drebin offers advocacy, er, a solution so generous it practically sparkles: BSO will pay for a new study. The city can pick the firm. (Well, sort of pick.) And while we’re at it, let’s extend the contract two more years.

When the vendor offers to pay for the audit, the answer isn’t ‘thank you’—it’s ‘get your hands off the scale.’

That wasn’t cooperation. That was a slow-walk wrapped in green cop’s uniform.

And let’s be honest: if three more studies came back saying the same thing, the opponents wouldn’t suddenly say “okay, now we’re convinced.” This fight isn’t about evidence. It’s about control.

If the study’s math were wrong, BSO would attack the math. They didn’t. They attacked the legitimacy of the paper and asked for time.

It’s the FONT SIZE!

That’s not confidence. That’s triage.

Independence isn’t radical—it’s normal.

Let’s talk about the part nobody defending BSO wants on the screen. Commissioner Plaut’s charts showed it cleanly: 88% of Broward County already uses a fire-rescue service other than BSO, and 73% uses a law enforcement agency other than BSO. Read that again. Independence isn’t radical—it’s normal. Deerfield isn’t proposing an experiment. It’s proposing to join the overwhelming majority of the county that already governs itself just fine.

When the Vendor Wants to Fund the Audit, Say No

Let’s dispense with the polite fiction.

A vendor offering to pay for the study that decides whether the vendor gets fired is not an olive branch. It’s a poison pill.

BSO isn’t afraid of losing a study. They’re afraid of losing the calendar—because once the vote happens, the grift clock stops.

Once BSO pays:

• The process is permanently tainted
• Any outcome can be disputed
• Delay becomes the default
• Leverage stays exactly where it is

Independence doesn’t start by letting your landlord hire the appraiser.

This isn’t complicated. It’s Procurement 101.

The Apology Tour Was a Tactical Retreat

Notice the tonal pivot.

Weeks ago, it was termination threats and chest-thumping. Now it’s apologies, ceasefires, and talk of reconciliation.

Not accountability—equivalence. The kind where the City is treated as equally responsible for a dispute sparked by BSO’s own threats and rhetoric.

And wasn’t there a problem with our City Manager working from home, concerned over his personal safety?

That doesn’t happen because someone had a moral awakening. It happens because the pressure campaign failed.

The numbers stuck. The public didn’t panic. And the commission math stopped looking friendly.

So now it’s, “Let’s slow down.”

As the great philosopher Bob Dylan taught us: “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”

How the Howard Noland Incident Influenced the BSO Debate in Deerfield Beach

Now let’s address the Howard Noland moment—because it was revealing, just not in the way some people want to spin it.

Noland is a longtime fireman, openly aligned with BSO’s position, and vehemently opposed to the City’s move toward independence. He also happens to be married to former Mayor Peggy Noland, which means this issue isn’t abstract for him—it’s personal, professional, and historical.

Noland wasn’t removed for challenging the City’s decision. He wasn’t even at the mic. He was removed because emotions boiled over on the wrong side of the argument.

The City wasn’t suppressing dissent. It was maintaining order while doing exactly what responsible government (well, 3/5 dais members) is supposed to do: evaluate contracts, follow the math, and prepare to vote.

If anything, the episode underscored how strained the defense of the BSO status quo has become. When the numbers stop working, behavior changes. When leverage disappears, discipline gets harder to maintain.

The City stayed disciplined. The opposition didn’t.

A Brief Memory for the Longtimers

Some of you may remember my ‘04 entry into Deerfield Beach politics—the crusade affectionately remembered as “The Peggy Sucks Campaign. Anybody But Noland.”

That wasn’t personal. It was structural.

It was about closed loops, legacy power, and a town that mistook familiarity for inevitability. Twenty years later, the names resurface, the reflexes remain, and the discomfort is identical.

When the math challenges the system, the system pushes back.

Soap Opera vs. Spreadsheet

Here’s the part that should make everyone pause.

When a meeting about $500 million turns into “who’s getting escorted out,” we’ve left the spreadsheet and entered the soap opera.

I’m not going to pretend I can read minds about why it happened. I don’t need to. The effect is the same: it drags attention away from the only question that matters—why the vendor is begging for two more years instead of rebutting the math.

Why the 20th Is the Real Battleground for BSO District 10

Make no mistake: the real objective of the night was to stop or delay a vote expected on the 20th.

Because once a vote happens:

• The direction locks
• Vendor leverage evaporates
• Delay stops being a strategy

That’s why the sudden offers appeared. That’s why the tone softened. That’s why time—not facts—became the ask.

Anybody But Peggy Howard.

If the study were junk, BSO would shred it with evidence. They didn’t. They asked for time.

If staying with BSO were the obvious choice, no one would be scrambling to slow the calendar. They are.

This isn’t about safety. It’s not about firefighters. Not about the cops. It’s not even about studies.

It’s about whether Deerfield Beach governs itself—or keeps renting essential services from a system that panics when its invoice finally gets audited.

Bring fire rescue—and yes, police—home. Break those white cop cars out of cold storage.

Friends, don’t mistake nervous systems for neutral ones.

PS Stay tuned for my campaign announcement!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Why did the BSO offer to fund a new fire-rescue study in Deerfield Beach?

The Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) offered to pay for a new, independent study to counter the city’s current feasibility study, which they labeled an “advocacy memo.” This offer includes a request for a two-year contract extension, which critics view as a tactical delay to avoid a vote on municipal independence.

2. Is Deerfield Beach the only city moving away from BSO services?

No. According to recent data, 88% of Broward County already utilizes a fire-rescue service other than BSO, and 73% uses a law enforcement agency independent of the Sheriff’s Office. Deerfield Beach’s move toward independence is consistent with the majority of the county.

3. What happened during the Howard Noland incident at the City Commission?

Howard Noland, a former fireman and BSO supporter, was removed from the meeting due to an emotional outburst. While some claim this was an attempt to suppress dissent, the city maintained it was an effort to keep order during a high-stakes $500 million contract deliberation.

4. What is the significance of the upcoming January 20th meeting?

The January 20th meeting is considered a critical battleground because a vote could officially lock in the city’s direction. BSO’s recent tone shift toward “reconciliation” and “apology” is widely seen as an attempt to delay this vote and maintain its contract leverage.