15095: Hermantin: Sun-Sentinel-Minority voters in Miramar courted (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Minority voters in Miramar courted

By Milton D. Carrero Galarza
Staff Writer
Posted March 9 2003

MIRAMAR -- In a booming city struggling to unite its various minority
groups, even a routine campaign event can turn into a controversy.

When Wilner Valcin, a producer for Haitian radio station WLTY, decided to
hold an educational forum for Haitian voters, he invited four of the 13 City
Commission candidates, the only ones he said have been continuously involved
with the community.

"Some people called at the last minute," he said, "but we invited those who
come to us, people we know. If you're coming only in election time, you're
too late."

Minority groups, who in the past were on the fringe of Miramar politics, are
being actively courted this year. Reaching them has been relatively easy for
the six candidates of Haitian, Jamaican or Hispanic descent. But many of the
other seven candidates, most of whom speak only English, are struggling to
find ways to get their message out.

During the last decade, Miramar's population doubled to about 87,000, with
blacks and whites each making up about 43 percent of the population.
Hispanics, who can be considered black or white, make up nearly 30 percent
of the residents.

The four guest speakers at Valcin's forum were candidates Linda Cesar, Jean
Marcellus, Troy Samuels and the incumbent mayor, Lori Moseley. Cesar,
Marcellus and Samuels are fluent in Creole. Moseley says she has been active
with the Haitian community for years.

Commissioner Sallie Stephens, who is giving up her Seat 3 to run for mayor;
incumbent Marjorie J. Conlan, who is running against Cesar for Seat 4,
George S. Pedlar, running for Seat 2 against Samuels, and Robert "Bob"
Rubin, who is seeking Seat 3, were not initially invited but attended
anyway.

Carl Lanke, Winston Barnes, Jean Sulzback, Mercedes Santana Woodall and
Frank Espinosa did not come. Some were unaware of the event.

Rubin called Valcin at the last minute hoping for an invitation to last
week's forum and mentioned there were other candidates who had not been
invited.

Valcin said he welcomed Rubin and the others to attend the private event.

Still, Rubin said he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.

"They relegated us to the back and I thought it was completely distasteful,"
Rubin said.

Conlan said she felt compelled to go as soon as she found out the event was
a voter's educational forum. Stephens said she didn't realize she was there
uninvited until she heard the candidates speaking in Creole. "It caught me
by surprise," Stephens said.

Rubin was upset. "They could have been saying, `Get your machetes and kill
the white people,'" he said. "They say it was a private party, but when
there are people there who don't speak the language. That's as rude as it
can be."

Creole was not the only language spoken at the event. Valcin said the host
acknowledged Stephens, Rubin and Conlan by name and Moseley spoke in
English.

Pedlar, a Jamaica native, said the event organizers should have invited all
the candidates but the complaints are a symptom of frustration.

"They are courting the minority media now," he said about the other
candidates. "In the past they didn't think about supporting them. Now they
are beating their chests to get to the minority communities."

Rubin also said it was unfair that Barnes, one of his Seat 3 opponents, has
a radio show at WAVS 1170 AM, which targets Caribbean listeners.

Rubin said he had to pay $300 for a 23-minute interview at the station.

"Everyone is paying for their time," he said, "but Barnes gets it for free."

Barnes said that after he was approached by his employer about a possible
conflict of interest, he decided to avoid mentioning his campaign during his
radio show. Barnes said he sought a legal opinion and determined that
because the station employed him before he ran for office, he would not be
liable for a conflict of interest.

It is wrong to assume minority candidates have a monopoly on their
constituents, says Vice Mayor Fitzroy D. Salesman, a Jamaican.

"If they come with a platform that is inclusive, then they shouldn't have
any problem reaching any minority group," he said. "But if they try to use a
cynical approach, people will see that they're there for their own gain."

Stephens, a black retired principal, says racial issues should not be
driving the campaigns in a city that is striving for harmony.

"We talk about diversity and then when look around you see the divisions,"
she said. "Bring us together. We have been talking the talk, but when it
goes out to the real deal, they're all on a road of their own."

Milton D. Carrero Galarza can be reached at mcarrero@sun-sentinel.com or at
954-385-7912.





Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel






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