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Mayor seeks seat on bench to round out legal career, but says it’s not about politics
 Name: Steven Feren
Born: 1950, New York, N.Y.
Education: Law degree, St. John’s University School of Law, New York, 1979; bachelor’s degree in anthropology, Queens College, City University of New York, 1974
Web site: None
Current job: Solo practitioner
Career experience: Mayor, city of Sunrise, 1996- present; Law Offices of Steven B. Feren P.A., 1997-present; Associate counsel, Clerk of Courts 2001-2005; Broward County Value Adjustment Board, 1995-2002; city of Deerfield Beach, special master, 2001-present; Partner, Altman Shnider & Feren P.A., 1993-97; Assistant city attorney, city of Lauderhill,1991-96; Solo practitioner, Law Offices of Steven B. Feren P.A., 1981-93; Representative, Florida House of Representatives, 1992-96; Member, Sunrise city council/commission, 1987-92; Private practice, Law Offices of Keith M. Krasnove P.A., 1980-81; New York Civil Court, 1979-80.
Endorsements: AFL-CIO, Broward 10-13 Club of retired New York City police officers, Broward County Council of Professional Firefighters, Broward County Police Benevolent Association, Fraternal Order of Police No. 80, Metro Broward Professional Firefighters No. 3080, Miami Herald, Palm Aire Civic Association and Sun-Sentinel.
Ratings: Broward County Bar Association lawyers poll rated him 31.03 percent not knowledgeable, 11.49 percent highly knowledgeable, and 16.09 percent knowledgeable. They also rated him 13.79 percent highly patient, 13.79 percent patient and 25.29 percent impatient.
Quote: “After practicing law for almost 30 years, and being a public official who has helped to write the law, I now want to complete my career as a judge, who is responsible for interpreting and enforcing the law.”
Judicial Survey
Profile
If elected to the Broward County Circuit Court bench, Sunrise Mayor Steven Feren would round out an active, 29-year political and legal career.
He said his experience gives him an edge over his two opponents. He said his legal career has been so broad-based that he could transition into handling cases in any division in the court.
“I do everything that is handled in circuit court,” he said. “I have about as much full-time legal experience as my two opponents combined. While I’ve been doing all of that for the last 21 years, I’ve also been a public servant.”
Feren has 21 years of public service as a former representative in the Florida House of Representatives, a former Sunrise city council member and now mayor of Sunrise. He is active in several political and community organizations. He currently is president of the Florida League of Mayors and is a member of the board of directors of the Broward League of Mayors.
Feren added that if he were to win the three-way race, his political career would complement his judicial career.
“I think that my experience in dealing with people, with the local people in my community, not with clients who pay me and not just with attorneys, but just the people who come up to me and look up to me to help make their lives better would make me a better judge than someone who wasn’t involved in the community,” Feren said.
His involvement has garnered him several significant endorsements from organizations, but he didn’t fare as well in the minds of lawyers who responded to the Broward County Bar Association judicial survey. Because few of the county’s attorneys voted, he called the survey “statistically meaningless,” but said endorsements from respected organizations help voters decide who is best.
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