Although a motion to avoid Israel bonds in he Palm Beach County Investment portfolio lost -- the fact that a very prominent local figure pushed hard in public to avoid these bonds is a sign that times are changing IMHO.
County adviser quits over Israeli bonds move
By HECTOR FLORIN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 19, 2007
WEST PALM BEACH — The county moved closer to investing millions of dollars in Israeli bonds Thursday, triggering the resignation of the investment policy committee's vice chairman - and the chiding of County Commissioner Burt Aaronson.
James Derba, a decade-long committee member and its vice chairman, followed through on his promise in July to quit because he opposes investing in the A-rated bonds, which he dubbed "The Aaronson Bond." The bonds are slightly less secure than investment vehicles county policy has allowed.
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Just before storming out of a committee meeting, Derba bellowed: "I'm not going to be on a committee that supports A-rated bonds. It's been a good ride. God save Palm Beach County."
After Derba left, Aaronson tempered his response: "Let's not have name-calling. Let's act as we should, as ladies and gentlemen."
With a vote Thursday, preceded by one in July, the committee supported a change in its investment policy to allow the purchase of A-rated Israeli bonds. County policy currently allows investments only in AA-rated bonds or better.
County commissioners as soon as next month will vote on the policy change. Clerk and Comptroller Sharon Bock's office will then decide when to purchase the bonds.
The purchase - likely to range between $10 million and $20 million - won't be made for a few months, Bock said. It would represent a tiny fraction of the county's $2.3 billion portfolio.
Gov. Charlie Crist signed a law this year that allows city and county governments in Florida to invest in Israel.
Derba, who was critical of Aaronson in articles in The Palm Beach Post and in a letter to the county, called the commissioner "ignorant" and "over his head" on Thursday.
He went so far as linking the investment to recent cases of county corruption that put "the people's interest last," although at times he confused cases involving city or county officials.
Moments before the vote to change the policy, Derba uttered his outburst and then stormed out of the 12th-floor conference room in the county governmental center.
In April, Aaronson, who chairs the seven-member investment policy committee, asked Bock to explore the purchase of Israeli bonds. "Is it a reasonable risk for us to take? Absolutely," Bock said in an interview late Thursday. "We would never invest in unsafe investments."
Aaronson opened Thursday's meeting by challenging earlier comments Derba made that the county should not invest in Israel because the area is "the most strife torn" and "tumultuous" in the world.
"Israel has been a friend of the United States," said Aaronson, adding that Israel has never defaulted on one of its bonds.
Police and firefighter pension funds in South Florida - including those in the Broward County cities of Pembroke Pines, Coral Springs, Hallandale Beach, Hollywood and Sunrise - have invested in Israeli bonds, according to the Development Corp. for Israel, which serves as broker between Israel and investors.
Palm Beach County is home to more than 255,000 Jewish people, one of the largest Jewish populations in the country, according to a survey conducted for the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County and the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County.
A good proportion of the population lives in the southern part of the county, within Aaronson's district. The 15-year commissioner, who is Jewish, faces reelection next year.
At a 5.12 percent interest rate, a $15 million investment in Israeli bonds would generate about $768,000 in interest per year.
"The fact is that the state does endorse purchasing Israeli bonds," Aaronson said. |
