Several South Florida elected officials may not be living in the districts where they were elected, a Local 10 investigation found.
Florida House Minority Leader Perry Thurston claims to live in a home on Northwest 7th Terrace in Fort Lauderdale (pictured right).
But Thurston's longtime home in Plantation (pictured above) is much bigger and in a nicer neighborhood. When he ran in a neighboring district and won, the Florida Constitution demanded that Thurston live in his new district.
Willa Mae Gibson, Thurston's neighbor in Fort Lauderdale, said she rarely sees him.
"That's his mama house. Perry's brother and his wife stay there," said Gibson. "I don't know where he (Perry) live at. He don't live nowhere in this neighborhood."
Local 10's Bob Norman found Perry at his Plantation home on a recent morning.
"Are you supposed to be living here, Perry? Can I talk with you a second?" asked Norman.
"Nah," replied Thurston.
"You're not in your district," said Norman.
"I am," said Thurston, who then shut the door on Norman.
"If you're going to represent the area, live in it," said Suzanne Leary, who lives in Lauderdale Lakes. "It's like live here and deal with what we're dealing with."
Leary said Florida Rep. Hazelle Rogers claims to live in her condominium (picture above). Leary said she rarely sees her.
"I think she maintains the condo because she's elected in this area," said Leary. "I think they have a house somewhere else."
Rogers owns a home a few miles away (pictured right). She didn't offer a comment to Local 10.
Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz won in a Coral Springs district, barring him from living in his home with his wife at the Parkland Golf and Country Club (pictured above). Moskowitz claims to live in an apartment several miles away.
"The apartment is where I live," Moskowitz told Norman by phone. "I woke up there this morning."
When Local 10 visited Moskowitz's apartment (pictured right) that same day, an envelope dated several days before was stuffed in the door crack. The property manager said he put the envelope there a few days before.
Moskowitz said he had never seen the letter.
"If you never saw the letter, that means you weren't at the apartment," said Norman. "Are you sticking by that you slept in your apartment this week?"
Moskowitz said that he sleeps at the apartment. Thurston told Norman by phone that he was only visiting his family home when Local 10 showed up.