Let me tell you a story about what happens when you squeeze.
Years ago, I was in the middle of exposing Steve Gonot. You remember Steve — the guy who eventually spent 365 days behind bars in Broward County. During that campaign, his public campaign manager, Brad Chalker — a community service aide for Coconut Creek — decided it would be a good idea to access my records and my mother’s records through Florida’s DAVID system. Then he made a comment about it. Made himself real comfortable with information he had no business touching.
I filed a complaint with Coconut Creek. Chalker was fired. Not directly because of the records pull — but because when you start pulling on threads (in Brad’s case, setting up three ways and porn), other threads unravel. Turns out he was running setups and doing all manner of things (hello YouPorn!) on the city’s dime. That’s what happens when you squeeze. You never know what falls out.
I have not forgotten that lesson. Neither should Deerfield Beach.
Tom Nolan. Little Tommy Nolan, who back in the day was stealing campaign signs. Cute stuff. You know what Tommy’s doing now? He’s a BSO firefighter — pulling somewhere in the neighborhood of a quarter million dollars a year. And before you clutch your pearls: he is not an outlier. BSO firefighters across Broward are regularly booking deep into six figures. Compensation packages that would make your eyes water. This is the taxpayer-funded reality nobody wants to say out loud. I’m saying it out loud.
Look, Deerfield’s a great gig.
Not a ton of violence. Quiet neighborhoods. When’s the last time we had a significant fire? The job, in practice, consists largely of transporting elderly residents to the hospital and debating the merits of the Publix deli counter for lunch.
Nothing wrong with that. But a quarter million dollars a year — plus benefits, pension, and overtime — deserves a little scrutiny when the city is in the middle of a seven-figure contract negotiation over who provides those services.
Josh Brody has been vocal. Sharp, loud, and seemingly the outlier on the question of Deerfield Beach’s move away from BSO. He’s exercising his First Amendment rights — and I categorically encourage that. The First Amendment is sacred. Ask anyone who’s watched me put a Festivus pole in the Florida Capitol rotunda. But here’s my public question: Why is Brody the loudest voice on this particular issue? And is he making those comments on his own time, on his own equipment — or is the public paying for his soapbox? I’m not alleging anything. I’m asking. In my experience, the answer to that question tends to be interesting.
The Stevens Method. You identify the decision nodes — the specific moments where public resources, authority, or trust were exercised — and you anchor your public records requests directly to those nodes. Multiple identifiers. Document everything. File, follow up, publish.
We have filed Chapter 119 Public Records Requests with the City of Deerfield Beach targeting Tom Nolan’s compensation records and Josh Brody’s communications records. The PRR documents will be published in full upon receipt.
This isn’t harassment. This is transparency. The system working exactly as designed — assuming someone bothers to use it.
Deerfield Beach has been taking body blows for years. Self-interested actors, connected insiders, loud voices pushing agendas that serve everyone except the people who live here and pay the bills. The city just absorbs it … and these are good people working for us. From the top down … hell, I have the best trash men in the galaxy.
So I guess they’re sending me in. By “they,” I mean me.
The records are filed. The clock is ticking. Stay tuned.
Chaz Stevens is a civic activist and municipal governance consultant based in Deerfield Beach. He runs REVOLT Insights (revolt.training). He is not an attorney. PRR documents will be embedded upon receipt.
