Geller Grabs Another Union Endorsement

 

BY BUDDY NEVINS

Former State Sen. Steve Geller is on a roll.

Geller grabbed another endorsement in his county commission race from a union representing county employees.

If the election was decided on union endorsements, Geller would win hands down. 

His score is now 4 to 1.

County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger, his opponent, has one endorsement from the hotel workers.

The Fraternal Order of Police, Broward County Deputies, Lodge 32, is Geller’s latest. 

He already had support from the county firefighters union, the Port Everglades longshoremen and the Hollywood fire fighters.

Geller says the support from county employees is particularly telling since these are the workers who know Gunzburger best. She’s been a county commissioner since late 1992.

Early endorsements require a unanimous vote of the union’s board of directors. 

The Democratic primary, which will decide the race in this heavily-Democratic district which includes Hollywood and much of southeast Broward, is next August.



14 Responses to “Geller Grabs Another Union Endorsement”

  1. Hollywood Resident says:

    Geller is on a roll. More like, Geller is eating a roll slathered with butter.
    All these union endorsements are a concern. Do we really want a commissioner beholden to unions and isn’t that what has hurt us in the past?

  2. Broward Voter says:

    These endorsements will be distant memories when the FBI has concluded its investigation of Scott Rothstein. Right around election time, I suspect Senator Geller’s “friendship” will become more evident.

  3. Funny says:

    I bet Rothstein had pending agenda items when he gave Gunzburger money.

    I can’t wait until they pop her for pay-to-play politics in Broward County.

  4. look at the facts says:

    Geller is a pig. why would Broward voters re-elect a pig and a corrupt individual? Just look at his ties with Cooper City Mayor Debby Eisinger and the Ocean Land Development land deals, and her connection with the school board, more particularly, Linda ferrara and Cooper City Commissioner Lisa Mallozzi…

  5. broward reader says:

    Gunzburger doesn’t get the union endorsements because she is tight with a dollar. I bet she even wants to cut back on the unreasonable pensions the unions have forced down governments throats.
    The endorsements are a negative, not a positive.

  6. Geller On A Roll says:

    …with mustard on the side, please.

  7. Geller On A Roll says:

    …with mustard on the side, please. Who gives a rat’s ass about unions anymore? That entire thing is sooo yesterday.

  8. Fat Stevie G - The Lobbyist says:

    This is pure politics-as-usual crap. FOP doesn’t represent any police officers in any city in the district (Hollywood, Hallandale, Pines) nor at the County. All of those officers working in the district are represented by PBA. This just sounds like another desperate Geller who is scrambling to call in an old Tallahassee favor (and one not worth anything in terms of real votes within the district) on the day after Gunzberger was unanimously selected to become County Vice Mayor (meaning Sue becomes our County Mayor again next year). Yaaaaawn, Steve, you’re way too predictable.

    Stick to your day job — lobbying — because you ain’t going to win this race. Your ponzi pals Scott Rothstein and Joel Steigner are criminal weights around your neck.

  9. j says:

    Unions dont win elections in Broward County

  10. Why? says:

    If Gunzburger hates Unions so much then why did she accept the endorsement of Unite Here?

  11. Silly Headline says:

    Hey Buddy, sorry man, might be a slow news day. But Geller getting union endorsements isn’t news, and it sure is not significant. Unions are just not where it is at anymore, they don’t fund like they used to and can’t turn out the vote like they once did.

    To rival your headline, I will offer some additional sleepers. Geller runs out of toilet paper. Geller nearly trips over his slippers. Geller gets his oil changed.

    Who cares? Want to give me some news? Tell me Geller decided to promise not to lobby or practice law in any governmental sense if he gets elected. That would be interesting and impressive news to hear. I doubt seriously that we would ever hear that, though. Geller’s hidden agenda for wanting to be a county commissioner isn’t so well hidden. It’s obvious actually.

  12. Tommy the Fry Cook says:

    I can’t believe you GONESburger people. Is attacking Geller’s belly the best that you can do?!? 18 years on the Broward Commission and all you’ve got to promote your candidate is to call her opponent a fat pig? SHAME ON YOU.

    As for claims that unions don’t mean anything, that’s just wishful thinking from the GONESburger camp. As John Kerry said, “Just because you say it, doesn’t make it so.”

    What moron worries about where a union member WORKS when it’s where they live, campaign, and VOTE that matters?!? You don’t think any of those FOP members LIVE in the commission district?? Or talk to friends and family members that live in the district?

    Before I retired and came to Hollywood, I’d always see posted union flyers and try to support their endorsed candidates. Even now, I still look at the candidates’ mailers and do the same.

    If I have a choice between supporting a candidate that supports average working people versus one that supports lobbyists and millionaire developers, I’m going with the blue-collars every time.

    In Hollywood, it practically took a coup d’etat, but we finally reduced the influence of the Bernie Friedmans and Alan Koslows of the world. Sue GONESburger is so beholding to them and their ilk that she has and will continue to rubber stamp everything they want.

    I met Steve Geller a few years ago at a luncheon and, frankly, found him to be loud, abrasive, and borderline obnoxious. But, for as shallow and superficial as politicians can be, he spoke and seemed very sincere on some issues dealing with families, healthcare, and funding for education that were important to me. I looked into it more and found that his voting record matched his rhetoric.

    Sure, he’s practically a walking cartoon of a “Typical Politician”, but as long as he supports the issues that are important to me and affect my life, he’s going to have my attention. And as long as he keeps giving more importance to working families and union workers rather than political insiders and lobbyists, he’s going to have my vote.

    Let’s not kid ourselves: in Broward County, every politician knows every other politician, so loose references to Geller’s “ties” to others is ridiculous. I’d bet dollars to dimes that Sue has the same “ties”.

    And for these claims that Geller is corrupt, either put up some facts or STFU. With his personality and aggressive style, if anyone had something on him, they’d have made it public long ago. The fact that RON GONES-BURGER hasn’t made something public should be prima facie evidence that it doesn’t exist.

    When it’s all said and done, Steve Geller is closer to representing ME than Sue GONESburger ever will be. On election day, I think she’ll find out that there’s a lot more people like me than she realizes.

  13. Tommy's Argument says:

    Tommy’s argument basically boils down to his belief that electing Geller is worth the risk. That all apppearances aside, Geller is a good guy and we should go for change.

    But he doesn’t say why. What’s so wrong with staying with Gunzburger, whose name he unnecessarily chooses to contort?

    Why should we take any risk at all? Exactly what does Geller offer that is worth taking the risk for? In what public policy areas do they so vastly differ that taking the risk is worth the effort? I don’t see it.

    Also, aside from whether Geller is or isn’t a crook, we have the issue of his being a lobbyist. He has refused to state that if elected he will stop being a lobbyist. That worries me very much and if only for that reason I would not vote for him.

    I will not vote to put somebody into public offices so that they can use the power of that office to make a living for themselves on the side. No sir. Unless I hear Geller say “no lobbying if elected” then I cannot even treat him as a serious candidate.

  14. Tommy the Fry Cook says:

    To “Tommy’s Argument”:

    I’m not trying to make a fight, but your points are inconsistent. Geller has gone on record, and no one has disputed, that while in the legislature he never lobbied on matters on which he had to vote. To my knowledge, he never broke a law or an ethical rule.

    Did people expect Ben Graber to stop practicing medicine because he voted on medical benefits for county employees including himself? Did people ask any of the countless attorneys that have served on the Commission to give up their livelihoods? I don’t care if Steve Geller lobbies as long as it’s not a conflict under very stringent ethical guidelines.

    I agree that many county commissioners have crossed the ethical line between their elected positions and the professional positions of themselves or their spouses. That’s obvious and, hopefully, it’s going to be legally -even criminally- addressed. But I’m not going to assume that Geller will cross the same line simply because others have, particularly when his record shows he goes to careful measures NOT to cross that line. Therefore, I don’t see Geller as any sort of “risk” from an ethical standpoint.

    Just the opposite, you have Sue whose husband made a fortune from a county contract that was funded by tax dollars SHE voted to acquire from the taxpayers, you have her son whose is paid by the Property Appraiser’s office whose budget Sue votes to approve, you have her daughter being paid by BSO whose budget Sue votes to approve and then her daughter sues BSO in hopes of gaining even MORE tax dollars.

    How does her family keep receiving all these county tax dollars that she votes to acquire via the millage rate? How did they get those jobs? Who else competed to ensure it was fair and not political paybacks?

    If you’re asking Geller to pledge not to lobby, why aren’t you asking Sue to make her son Ron resign from his cushy job with the tax appraiser’s office?

    Steve Geller’s clean ethical record is a FACT. The huge number of county tax dollars enjoyed by the GONESburger family is a FACT. Sue’s political connections to the offices that employ(ed) her children is a FACT. Sue’s budgetary oversight for the offices that pay her children’s salaries is a FACT.

    In defending Sue’s 18-year record on the commission, the best her supporters can do is speculate about what Geller MIGHT do and insult his weight.

    In contrast, I see a man whose voting record mirrors my own beliefs based on the issues that affect the lives of me and my family.

    To me, the only “risk” is maintaining a hapless, unaccomplished status quo and the “safe” bet is to support a change.

    Let’s face it: neither one of them is going to win based on personality. But I don’t have to like Steve Geller (I don’t know him well enough either way) as long as I like the way he votes.