PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. — Pembroke Park commissioners held a special meeting Thursday where their outspoken colleague, Commissioner Geoffrey Jacobs, faced a public reprimand.
Jacobs, who has also served as the town’s mayor, was previously censured by fellow commissioners in 2023 after accusing him of “toxic and abusive” behavior. This time, he’s accused of “threaten(ing) the life and home” of a fellow commissioner.
Commissions are hoping that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will step in and remove Jacobs from the commission.
5 p.m. report:
“We’re going to be hopeful that the governor will look into this,” said Mayor Ashira Mohammed. “The option of recall is always on the table.”
Speaking after the meetings, Jacobs conveyed confidence that he would remain at his post.
“I feel fine and I’m very confident,” he said. “I do not believe the governor is going to remove me from office.”
Thursday’s censure motion claimed that Jacobs told fellow Commissioner William Hodgkins that “he would be homeless and dead ‘soon.’”
The motion alleged that Jacobs made the remark before an Oct. 9 commission meeting.
It comes after Jacobs officially filed a lawsuit seeking $1 million in damages from Mayor Ashira Mohammed, another town official and the town itself on Friday over accusations against him alleging he called 911 saying the mayor was armed, which he claims were false.
The suit claims that Mohammed, former police Chief Ra Shana Dabney-Donovan and others knew that Jacobs never called the emergency line. The charges were later dropped.
Jacobs says he’s been targeted by Mohammed and others because he’s “refused to condone the corruption and abuses of power by the Mayor and other Town officials in betrayal of the public trust.”
His attorney said in September, “I think that it will be very clear in a court of law that (town) officials and the police put pressure on the state to charge Commissioner Jacobs falsely.”
Jacobs has had numerous clashes with commissioners and other town officials during his time on the dais, calling for the resignation of a human resources director, a town manager and a town clerk.
He was also accused of sending a “homophobic” TikTok video to the then-town attorney, who is openly gay. She later sued the town.
As for Jacobs and his own lawsuit, in September, he said it was “absolutely” fair for taxpayers to foot the bill for any legal judgment he may win against the town.
Censure motion:
Lawsuit:
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