STEVE GONOT --

If you embark on a journey through Deerfield Beach’s political jungle, you will arrive eventually at what appears a savage habitation, where the corpses of the city’s past political rulers hang from trees like trophies.

[cleeng_content id="835518606" description="Why stop now? It's just getting interesting!" price="0.49" referral="0.10"]This is myactsofsedition.com, a domain ruled by a man whose myth strikes dread into the hearts of his enemies. They never see Chaz Stevens, but he sees them.

His methods may sometimes be unsound — Stevens taunts his political targets for months, even years, before going in for the kill.

But there’s no doubting his effectiveness.

In 2008, Stevens alerted prosecutors to corruption by Mayor Al Capellini and Commissioner Steve Gonot, both of whom were subsequently indicted and forced to resign. Both now face felony trials. In that endeavor, Stevens relied on Bob Norman’s reporting in New Times.

But this past year, Stevens has earned a much larger portion of the muckraking credit, having investigated a slew of nonprofit agencies that were loosely linked to Commissioner Sylvia Poitier, the former Broward County commissioner with a political career that spans three decades. Stevens has always had contempt for Poitier, whose photograph he once posted next to a shot of Jabba the Hut, noting the resemblance.

Stevens’ investigation into Poitier’s business dealings played a prominent role in convincing city commissioners that City Manager Mike Mahaney was not monitoring city spending as closely as he should have. In January, Mahaney was dismissed. Then an investigation by the new city manager, Burgess Hanson, into the city’s Community Housing Division led straight to Poitier.

- 2010 New Times Broward Palm Beach Best Gadfly
New Times Broward Palm Beach[/cleeng_content]