The Mommy Monologue

When their daughter was born in May 2006, Key named her Erica, after her father. Mother and daughter moved into a home Haynes bought for them. Since he was giving Key a few thousand dollars per month, she saw no need to seek a judgment for child support.

But she was sick of playing the mistress. She says Haynes had begun another affair. Beginning in April 2007, Key says, she warded off Haynes' advances. When Key herself began to date, she says, Haynes became enraged. "He said, 'I'll stop paying the mortgage, and you'll go into foreclosure,' " Key contends.

She was so fed-up with arguing, Key says, she asked the court in early 2008 to mandate that Haynes make his payments through a child support agency, not directly to her. But in doing so, she says Haynes managed get his payment reduced to only $460 a month. Since Key couldn't afford an attorney she had difficulty proving that Haynes could afford to pay more.

Key says Haynes owned multiple cars and dressed in expensive clothes. He had taken her on expensive trips and on dates to upscale restaurants, she says. But he told the court that he counted on his wife to be the breadwinner. Haynes reported making only about $21,000 — the salary of a Lauderdale Lakes commissioner. According to Key, Haynes told the court he had not filed income tax returns since 2004.

Most elected officials file financial information with the Office of the Supervisor of Elections, but Haynes is one of a handful in Broward County who failed to file the so-called Form 1 financial disclosure worksheets between 2003 and 2005. For that, he faces $4,500 in penalties, says Kerrie Stillman, a spokeswoman for the Florida Commission on Ethics. Last year, the compliance rate among Broward officials was 98 percent.

Haynes did file Form 1 for 2007 in which he named Gemini Construction and Development as his primary and secondary source of income. The company is listed as the owner of several homes in the county. When asked to account for these, Haynes himself says, "Look at the depressed housing market. If anything, I'm paying money to stave off foreclosure."

He cautions against relying on Key's version of events, saying he has phoned police twice in the past year when she has harassed him.

After Key took Haynes to court and his checks stopped coming, she was herself unable to avoid foreclosure. In June, she and her 2-year-old daughter were evicted from their Plantation home and spent the next two months sleeping at the homes of friends or family. For two nights, Key says, the two slept in her car. She finally found an apartment in mid-August.

It has been a grueling year, but Key says she found strength within. "My head is so much clearer now," she says. "I've put so much behind me. It will work out."

Key claims that Haynes has spent no more than 40 hours with their daughter in the 28 months since she was born — barely enough to make him a familiar face. "She knows he's somebody," Key says. "But I don't think she's made the connection that he's her daddy." Beverly Key says 2-year-old Erica barely knows her father.