What happened in City Hall yesterday (and early this morning) was shameful and an affront to the Citizens of Fort Lauderdale. It is appalling and scandalous that the Mayor of Fort Lauderdale and the City Commissioners would hold a momentous quasi-judicial hearing lasting nine hours late at night, until 3:00 am in the morning, to decide upon THE MOST IMPORTANT land use issue in the history of Fort Lauderdale. This was an abuse of power and a flagrant violation of their fiduciary duties by the Mayor and the City Commissioners of Fort Lauderdale. Dozens of Citizens were denied the due process of their right to speak and voice their opinions and witness the Commission’s decision about the fate of Public Land for private use at Bahia Mar. Dozens of Citizens, who were exercising their civic duty, attended the Commission meeting and signed up to speak. As the hours dragged on into the night most were forced to leave because of work, family, security or health concerns. If so many Citizens appear for a hearing that they cannot be heard without extending the hearing until 3:00 am something is wrong. In this case, the hearing should have been adjourned and reconvened the next day. Worse, it was not until after 2:00 am that the Mayor and Commissioners closed the hearing, voiced their opinions, made their decisions and voted in the presence of only a few Citizens who were able to remain to the end. No Court or judicial proceeding would be conducted in this manner. It would be adjourned and reconvened at an appropriate time. There was no urgency and no deadline to make a decision. In fact, there was so much testimony, evidence and supporting documentation presented that none of the Commissioners could have possibly digested this information in order to make an informed and intelligent decision at 3:00 in the morning. How can this be justified as a proper decision making process for a quasi-judicial body? It can’t! This is not the first time Mayor Seiler has conducted late night-early morning Commission meetings in this manner when the controversial issue of Bahia Mar was the subject of public scrutiny. This proceeding and the Commission’s decision must be set aside. A legal and proper Commission session should be scheduled to allow all Citizens who registered to speak to be heard and the Commissoners should then have their debate and vote in the light of day. Until then, serious doubt is cast on the legitimacy of this proceeding.