http://southfloridagaynews.com/Local/in-depth-equality-florida-s-endorsements-under-scrutiny.html
(L to R) West Palm Beach Mayor Geraldine “Jeri” Muoio, Rand Hoch-
President of Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, Allan Hendricks-
Equality Florida's Balm Beach County rep, Scott Herman- former State
House candidate
In-Depth: Equality Florida’s Endorsements Under Scrutiny
Inconsistencies found in way state’s largest LGBT rights org backs candidates
By Jason Parsley, South Florida Gay News
March 25, 2015
Few people would dispute that West Palm Beach Mayor Geraldine “Jeri” Muoio is a champion of LGBT rights.
As mayor, and long before, she stood with the LGBT community on
issues like adding more health benefits to domestic partnerships; adding
gender identity and expression to the city’s equal opportunity
ordinance; extending family leave benefits to domestic partners; and
attending LGBT pride events.
Compass, the LGBT community center of Palm Beach County, even honored
the mayor with their Leadership Award in 2011 for her continuing
efforts.
So when the Equality Florida Action PAC endorsed Muoio’s opponent,
one of Palm Beach County’s leading LGBT rights activists, Rand Hoch, was
perplexed.
And then outraged.
“We worked so closely, and so hard with Jeri that for them to totally
ignore her and send out this list to their 20,000 subscribers in Palm
Beach County was an insult,” said Hoch, president of the Palm Beach
County Human Rights Council. “I just thought ‘I can’t believe we’re
going through this again.’”
After examining Equality Florida’s endorsement process, SFGN found
gaps and inconsistencies in the way it determines its candidates of
choice, and that it relies too heavily on questionnaires, as well as a
general failure to effectively work with local LGBT organizations.
This isn’t the first time Hoch has been upset with an Equality
Florida endorsement. His beef with them dates back to at least 2004.
And over the years he’s repeatedly told them to “Stay the hell out of Palm Beach County.”
In the week leading up to an election, Hoch said, it’s his job to
help elect those candidates PBCHRC endorsed. Because of Equality
Florida’s oversight, he instead had to shift into damage control mode
explaining to supporters and candidates why another LGBT group endorsed
Muoio’s opponent.
Allan Hendricks, Equality Florida’s PBC representative, admits his
organization made a mistake by sending out that email ignoring Muoio,
but says, it was corrected within 24 hours and so there’s no harm, no
foul done.
“It was a misstep. We shouldn’t have sent it out,” Hendricks
admitted. “I don’t know why it went out that way. I know we were quick
to fix it though. We jumped into solution mode within the hour. I don’t
think we’ll make that mistake again in Palm Beach County.”
As for Hoch he added: “I don’t know how it spiraled out of control. We’ve been doing good for the past few years.”
Hendricks, along with Stratton Pollitzer, Deputy Director of Equality
Florida, believe Hoch is just blowing the whole situation out of
proportion — again.
“Rand Hoch is well known for voicing his opinions at full volume,” Pollitzer said.
Needless to say, Hoch doesn’t see it that way.
He believes Equality Florida’s endorsements are often counterproductive.
After Hoch sent a flurry of emails to Equality Florida’s leadership
detailing Muoio’s accomplishments, the organization quietly changed
their online voter guide while sending out a new e-blast endorsing
Muoio.
“Thank you for sharing this information with us and for immediately
bringing our attention to the deficits in our Palm Beach voting guide,”
Stratton Pollitzer responded to Hoch in an email. “We have taken the
Palm Beach guide off of our website and will be reissuing information
once the PAC board has had the opportunity to review this additional
information.”
Endorsements and Recommendations and Checkmarks…Oh My!
Equality Florida has three ways in which they endorse a candidate — even though two of them aren’t true endorsements.
Sometimes they officially endorse a candidate, such as they did with
Muoio. Other times, Hendricks explained, they may recommend a candidate,
or just post a candidate’s answers to their questionnaire online.
But you wouldn’t be able to tell these subtle differences on Equality Florida PAC’s online voter guide where it simply states:
“Equality Florida Action PAC is the largest organization in Florida
devoted to electing pro-equality candidates to all levels of government.
Each election cycle
our endorsements are a valuable source for hundreds of thousands of voters statewide.”
Taking a closer look at the organization’s statewide endorsements
revealed other gaps and deficiencies in its endorsement process. Only
six or so — out of 67 — counties featured any endorsements at all. While
it’s unclear how many elections, were or are taking place in those
counties, two in particular stand out — Miami-Dade and Duval.
“The website purports to have all of this information that it doesn’t
have,” said Jamie Foreman, a former board member of Equality Florida
and a current member of PBCHRC.
As of press time, no endorsements have been made in Miami-Dade’s
upcoming elections. The online Voter Guide only links to the county’s
election website.
In Duval County though, Equality Florida did, however, recommend
several candidates in the Jacksonville city council race, but you
wouldn’t know it by looking online at their voter guide where none of
those recommendations are even listed.
Instead it appears they were only sent out in e-blast saying “the
following candidates support a fully inclusive HRO and are running
highly competitive campaigns.”
In this email the word “endorsement” is not used.
The subtle differences between Equality Florida’s endorsements,
recommendations and questionnaire’s may be lost on the average voter.
“When EqFL sends out notifications about elections and some
candidates’ names are followed by a row of huge checkmarks in their
signature green color — that makes a clear statement. Especially when
other candidates' names are only followed by barely visible dashes,”
Hoch explained. “They can call it a recommendation, call it an
endorsement, call it a penguin if they want to. It doesn't make a
difference. A picture speaks 1,000 words.”
Hendricks said a candidate will only get the organization’s
“official” endorsement if they feel comfortable with their members
giving money to that candidate.
In examining their endorsements in Broward County, two of the races
had “endorsed candidates” — involving Dean Trantalis and Bryan Caletka.
In three other races, only one candidate’s answers to their
questionnaire are featured. It’s unclear if the other folks in the race
did not fill out the survey on purpose, or it was an oversight on
candidate’s part. But not filling it out doesn’t mean those people are
anti-LGBT. Anything but. In fact in the case of Jeri Muoio it’s quite
the opposite.
“Jeri is an outspoken advocate for us,” Hoch said.
And that is the inherent problem with a questionnaire-based endorsement process, as Hoch, and others point out.
Hendricks though defended his group’s reliance on questionnaires.
“This way we’ll have people on the record,” he said. “If they’re not
willing to go on record they can tell you anything they want.”
Moving Forward
As for the solution going forward there might not be one – at least in PBC.
Hoch’s solution is for Equality Florida to simply stay out of the county. Hendricks said that’s not going to happen.
“We’re not leaving Palm Beach County, that’s out of the question.
It’s all way too connected to leave. It’s not the right thing to do.
That would be harmful,” Hendricks said. “It would be disrespectful to
our membership in Palm Beach County. The more information we put out
there – the better. People want us to work together.”
In the past Hoch has been amenable to finding a way to work together.
But not anymore.
“We cannot rely on what they say they will do in the future. Years
ago they said they would contact PBCHRC Voters Alliance before they sent
out anything having to do with elections in our county. I think they
did that in only one or two election cycles,” Hoch said. “They also said
at one time they would provide a link to PBCHRCVA endorsements on the
information they sent out. But again they stopped doing that.”
As for Equality Florida’s endorsement process Hendricks doesn’t think anything needs to change.
“I am completely comfortable with our process,” he said. “I think we have some really talented people on the [PAC] board.”
But sometimes, he admits, mistakes do happen as did with the case of the botched Muoio endorsement.
Pollitzer is also comfortable with the process.
“We put our candidates through a rigorous review process,” he said.
“Equality Florida has over 20,000 members in Palm Beach County who count
on us to be a trusted source of election information.”
But not everyone agrees. One candidate disputed Equality Florida’s “rigorous” process.
“No one interviewed me,” said Scott Herman, an openly gay Broward
politician, who has run twice for the Florida State House. “Everything
was based on a questionnaire.”
That wasn’t Herman’s only gripe with the process either.
He, along with James Eddy, a candidate for Jacksonville’s city
council in this election cycle, were especially upset with Equality
Florida’s fundraising requirement – they were told that unless they
raised at least one-third of the highest candidate’s total dollars they
would not be endorsed.
“We look at a lot of things, including the candidate’s ability to
raise money,” Pollitzer said. “If the candidate hasn’t raised any money
then we are not going to endorse them.”
Herman shot back: “They’re letting their community down and sending
the wrong message. There have been plenty of races where money did not
win the election.”
Herman added that Equality Florida has forgotten the principles they were founded on.
“Two decades ago they did not have the funding, but it didn’t stop them,” he said.
The first time Herman ran for office, in 2012, he raised little money and was not endorsed — neither was his opponent.
But Herman proudly filled out his questionnaire in that election, yet
it still took a phone call for them to finally post it online. His
opponent in the race, a long time supporter of LGBT rights, who
eventually won the election, did not fill out a survey.
The second time he ran, in 2014, he infused his own cash into his
campaign and received Equality Florida’s endorsement — yet still wasn’t
happy.
“I was an LGBT democrat, who supported LGBT rights across the board,
but the endorsement didn’t come until I funded my campaign, ” he said.
“Plus they didn’t send out an e-blast or alert the community. Even after
I funded my campaign I still had to call a couple of them to find out
what was going on.”
A History of Complaints
PBCHRC isn’t the only organization Equality Florida has butted heads
with over their endorsement process, and more generally speaking, their
involvement on the county level.
These complaints date back years, with the most public of such, being
in 2010 when several local groups across the state came together and
signed on to a letter
asking Equality Florida to stay out areas that had a local LGBT group
and instead focus their efforts on areas with no representation.
Those groups included SAVE (formerly known as SAVE Dade), Unity
Coalition, Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, Broward County
Council of Gay-Straight Alliances and the Leon County GSA Council.
SFGN reached out to most of the above organizations asking for an update on their relationship with Equality Florida.
The Unity Coalition sidestepped the question calling the point moot
as they no longer endorse candidates. SAVE also did not comment directly
on the situation, only saying they do not work with, or consult with,
any outsides groups on their endorsements and were not contacted by
Equality Florida about this election cycle.
However the founder of Broward County Council of Gay-Straight
Alliances, Ryan Terrell, who now serves at the Florida Democratic LGBTA
Caucus Region 1 Director, did have a few choice words.
“In terms of endorsements, Equality Florida for years now has been
making political decisions out of the blue without consulting local
activists on the ground,” he said.
Here’s a snippet of what the letter says:
We are writing to again express our displeasure and frustration with
Equality Florida’s endorsement process and unilateral engagement in
local political races…win or lose on your endorsements, Equality Florida
has the luxury of going home. For us, this is home. Since Equality
Florida bills itself as a state organization, we’re not even certain why
there is such a focus on local politics in our area. It would be a
different matter, of course, if no local organization existed to review
these important candidates and races. But this case, each of our local
organizations is well established and respected.
[See end of article to read entire letter]
“Why not focus on other counties?” Jamie Foreman asked. “Develop
those relationships there like PBCHRC has been doing for the past 20
years. Make a difference. Not just piggy back off of work that’s already
been done. Equality Florida has the resources to replicate this model
elsewhere and help new organizations get off the ground.”
When SFGN asked Hendricks if it might be a better use of Equality
Florida’s statewide resources to focus on those areas Foreman mentions,
he said no.
“The statewide organization needs to be a part of PBC and PBC needs to be a part of the state,” he said.
New LGBT Group in Northeast Florida Forms
This year Carrington “Rusty” Mead, a Jacksonville attorney and LGBT
rights activist, along with others, formed a political action committee
— the Northeast Florida LGBT Leadership PAC.
Despite being such a new group they’ve already offered up a slew of endorsements in the Jacksonville area races.
“It wasn’t hard for us to do, as we all live here and are all
familiar with the local politics. The board is made up of a group of
very active individuals,” she said. “We just realized there wasn’t a
local voice for our community or a consistent voice that could speak
with knowledge and integrity. And provide a certain depth of knowledge
about the candidates. We needed a more effective message to get out to
folks.”
One such endorsement this cycle was James Eddy, a candidate who
Equality Florida passed over, because he didn’t meet the fundraising
requirement.
“He meets our definition of a qualified candidate,” Mead said. “He’s
openly supportive of LGBT issues and has a willingness to advocate on
our behalf. That was an easy endorsement.”
Eddy, who’s openly gay, was disappointed that he did receive an endorsement from Equality Florida.
Jacksonville does not have an LGBT-inclusive Human Rights Ordinance
and so that has been a hot button issue in the city. That’s why Equality
Florida’s e-blast recommendations highlighted the candidates who
support an inclusive HRO and who are running — what they consider — a
competitive race.
“I was definitely surprised since I work hand in hand with them. And I
am on the front lines of LGBT issues,” Eddy said. “I have been fighting
for the HRO since 2010.”
In 2012 one candidate who scored 100 percent on his questionnaire,
Johnny Gaffney, a city councilman, later voted against the HRO.
Mallory Garner-Wells, Equality Florida’s public policy director, called it a fluke.
“We work really hard to ensure people stick to their commitment,” she told Watermark, the LGBT newspaper of Central Florida.
So who did Equality Florida choose this time around over Eddy? That
would be Marc McCullough — whose history includes selling cocaine to an
undercover detective, pleading guilty to motor vehicle theft, and being a
felon in possession of a firearm.
But, as mentioned above, these weren’t “official” endorsements anyway.
Eddy said he just didn’t raise enough money to meet Equality
Florida’s threshold, even though when he spoke to SFGN, he had raised
more than $6,000.
But Hendricks said the fundraising requirement isn’t actually set in stone.
“It’s not a requirement and it’s not the only thing we look at,”
Hendricks said. “Do they have a ground game? What is their voting
record? If there was a really big gap [in fundraising] we came up with a
process where we would recommend and not endorse.
Hendricks said they also rely on information from local organizations
when making their endorsements, pointing to groups such as PBCHRC and
PBC National Organization for Women.
Despite Eddy’s lack of fundraising, the Northeast Florida LGBT Leadership PAC chose to endorse him.
When a pro-equality measure was up for a vote in Atlantic Beach, Mead
said, Eddy “showed leadership” on the issue and was there to support
the bill.
“Our endorsements aren’t based on a bank account or contributions,”
she said. “The candidates have to leave us with a feeling that they’re
being honest about their positions — Not just support us while they’re
running.”
Nor will their endorsements be based on questionnaires.
“Checking the right box is not the way to go. We need to have an intense conversation with the candidate,” she said.
Mead added that it is important to build relationships with
candidates even if they don’t get your endorsement the first time
around.
Hoch agreed saying his organization builds relationships with
candidates that spans years and even decades, so face-to-face interviews
are an essential part of that process.
“We have a long time relationship with these people,” Foreman added.
“We know their strategies. Some of these things are so nuanced you can’t
really get that from a survey. This isn’t about who looks best on
paper.”
Neither of the other two groups that SFGN spoke with, SAVE and PBCHRC, have a fundraising requirement.
“SAVE has a strong and transparent endorsement process that is driven
by the community that includes sending questionnaires to candidates and
then having panel interviews with them. Members of each endorsement
panel live in the municipality that we are endorsing in. This process
and methodology helps us ensure that the endorsements that we offer the
community are authentic and representative of the LGBT voice in each
municipality,” said Tony Lima, executive director of SAVE.
“We don’t
rely on anyone else’s endorsement. Since our work is focused on the
local community in South Florida, after we endorse, we continue to work
with municipalities to be their resource and voice when it comes to LGBT
issues. We’ve been doing this work for 22 years.”
SFGN News Editor John McDonald contributed to this report.
________________________________________
***A request of corrective action for the 2010 elections
We are writing to again express our displeasure and frustration with
Equality Florida’s endorsement process and unilateral engagement in
local political races.
As leaders of local lesbian and gay rights organizations, our
membership and focus is often at the city or county level. Because of
our local focus, we care deeply about who represents us in these offices
and believe we have valuable experience, insights and history with many
of the candidates or elected officials seeking local office.
Not for the first time, Equality Florida has issued formal
endorsements in some local races in our communities without discussion
or even notice, even after many of us specifically reached out Equality
Florida to express the importance of your attention to certain local
campaigns & candidates. In some cases, we learned of Equality
Florida’s endorsements from the candidates themselves who, because they
had support from Equality Florida, expected our default support. In many
cases, our organizations had not even concluded our screening and
support process.
In addition, we know in several cases where Equality Florida issued
unilateral endorsements in local races, there was no process at all. Not
all candidates for these local offices were even invited to seek
Equality Florida’s support.
While Equality Florida may not see this as a problem, we have to deal
with the consequences. Win or lose on your endorsements, Equality
Florida has the luxury of going home. For us, this is home.
Since Equality Florida bills itself as a state organization, we’re
not even certain why there is such a focus on local politics in our
area. It would be a different matter, of course, if no local
organization existed to review these important candidates and races. But
this case, each of our local organizations is well established and
respected.
In addition, when Equality Florida endorses a local candidate without
collaboration or consultation it puts our organization in an impossible
position. What are we to do when we reach a different conclusion than
Equality Florida? Issuing our own, often more informed, endorsements
will inevitably expose disagreements in our community and weaken our
common purpose.
We know collaboration is possible. When national gay and lesbian
organizations such as Victory Fund or HRC are considering even national
endorsements in our area, they reach out to us and seek our opinion. And
yet, even on local races, Equality Florida seems to reach out by press
release.
To be clear, we fully support collaboration on races and political
action where we have common purpose such as state legislative races in
our areas. We are certain we have valuable information to share about
these opportunities that we believe any thorough process would seek to
include. This year, even in state legislative races, Equality Florida
issued endorsements on its own exposing us to the consequences of
disappointed, irate or confused candidates and office holders.
We clearly understand that Equality is not required to meet with any
local group to give out endorsements, but collectively, we are again
asking that Equality Florida actively seek our input on political
actions and endorsements which impact us as residents and our
organizations and where possible refrain entirely from issuing exclusive
endorsements in local races.
With hope that Equality Florida can correct this action over the
remainder of the 2010 elections and in the future, we look forward to
being a continued partner in the fight for equality.
Sincerely,
J. OrtunoSAVE Dade Action PAC
Herb SosaUnity Coalition|Coalicion Unida
Rand HochPalm Beach County
Human Rights Council Voters Alliance
Ryan Terrell, FounderBroward County Council of Gay-Straight Alliances
Brandon Young, PresidentLeon County GSA Council
"For more than two decades, West Palm Beach has been in the forefront,
protecting the civil rights and ensuring equality for the LGBT
community," said Muoio. "Until Indiana's discriminatory law is amended or repealed, West Palm Beach taxpayers will not subsidize legally-sanctioned discrimination against LGBT people."
In
West Palm Beach, with strong support from the PBCHRC Voters
Alliance, Mayor Jeri Muoio and City Commissioner Keith James -- both
strong advocates for our community -- were re-elected in landslide
elections.
