Geller Grabs Endorsement From Gunzburger
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Big Steve has got the Big Mo.
Campaign momentum The Big Mo seems to be going former Senate Minority Leader Steve Geller’s way.
Pembroke Pines Commissioner Carl Shechter, who previously endorsed County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger, has flipped his endorsement to Geller.
Steve Geller
Gunzburger, who is locked in a political death match for Commission District 6 with Geller, has an interesting story about Shechter and what his endorsement means.
Read on:
Political campaigns should be like a race, with the winner building momentum through Election Day. Snatching an endorsement away from Gunzburger creates the impression that Geller’s political momentum is building.
That’s the story that Geller’s people are spreading.
Shechter is a much courted figure in Broward politics. He not only is an elected city commissioner, but a leader in the vote-rich Hollybrook condominium complex.
“I had endorsed Sue when there was nobody else in the race, Shechter says. “She asked me more than a year and a half ago.
Gunzburger is not worried about the switcheroo.
“If you think I’m shaking in my boots, I’m not…Hollybrook is a bastion of my support,” Gunzburger says.
Gunzburger said that switching endorsements is a pattern with Shecher.
“He did the same thing to (the late Pembroke Pines Mayor) Sue Katz,” she says. “He endorsed Sue and at the last minute, changed and endorsed Alex Fekete…What good did it do Alex Fekete?”
Fekete lost the election.
Gunzburger noted that the endorsement of Geller came after he won re-election in March.
“He was perfectly happy to use my name as endorsing him all through his re-election,” Gunzburger says.
Gunzburger also has some other key endorsements in Hollybrook, including the president of the condo and Shechter’s brothers — Saul and Ben.
Why Geller, Shechter was asked?
“He’s caring. He’s concerned. He works hard. He’s a big guy who gets it done, Shechter explains.
Shechter says Geller not only knows government but is intimately familiar with two issues that are vital in Broward County insurance and the gambling industry.
Geller specialized in the insurance and gambling industries while in the Legislature for two decades. Three of the state’s pari-mutuels are in Geller’s old House and Senate districts.
These specialties are also the source of many of the attacks on Geller. There have been newspaper articles tying Geller to the most unsavory aspects of both industries and to unproven allegations that he eased regulations.
“I’ve heard it all, Shechter says. “They write all these things about all of us.
When Gunzburger heard that Shechter was going to flip, she called him.
“She said she would take my name off her material when she used it all up. I said, ‘No, I want it off now.’ How do I know how much she had left? She could have had thousands of pieces left, Shechter says.
His name may be off Gunzburger’s brochures and flyers. His picture remains on her county website enjoying Pines Day Parade.
Shechter was unperturbed. He says:
“That picture is over 20 years old.
Sue and Carl, in happier times
(The county website actually dates the picture as eight years old)
If I was running, I rather have Carl Shechter’s support than not have it.
But condominium voters are not robotic drones. There is no evidence that Shechter can control anyone’s vote in this race.
These are high visibility campaigns. Every Hollybrook voter will receive brochures and see cable television ads from both candidates. They will have many chances to meet both candidates.
Hollybrook voters will make up their own minds.
The real value of Shechter’s endorsement is intangible. The endorsement creates the impression that Geller’s support is growing, while Gunzburger’s is shrinking.
That’s The Big Mo.
May 6th, 2010 at 7:47 am
People in the city know that Schecter is an odd bird. He does work in the community but the thinking is hard to follow from issue to issue. He has gotten the manager to hire many in his family in return for keeping his mouth shut about city issues.Then he got picked for the ethics board which gave me a laugh.
Even his closest friend Com.Ben Ferandino didn’t want carl to replace him as a comissioner. That should tell you something. He has become more easily confused now he flip flops on a county race endorsement. Nothing new.
May 6th, 2010 at 8:02 am
FYI – there is no way that photo is 20 years old. Sue Gunzburger is wearing a shirt with the “new” County logo.
May 6th, 2010 at 11:15 am
Carl is my neighbor and I voted for him along with about 90% of the residents of Hollybrook.
Carl recently invited me to meet Mr. Geller at an upcoming breakfast and I am looking forward to it. If he is endorsing Steve Geller that is all I need to know.
Shame on Sue Gunzburger. She looses Carl’s endorsement because he believes that Mr. Geller will be better for Hollybrook and all Sue can do is throw mud at Carl.
She won’t get 10 votes here now.
May 6th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
I was at Sue Gunzburger’s breakfast the other day along with 100 other people. I had only met Sue once before that but she’s got the 2 votes in this house! She was warm, open and very bright and knowledgable.
May 6th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Sue Gunzburger has been fighting over development and environmental destruction for two decades, while Geller made a living as a developers’lobbyist. Geller believes the beach and major roads should be filled with high rises like the intersection of I-75 and Pines Boulevard. Sue Gunzburger believes in preserving neighborhoods.
May 6th, 2010 at 5:41 pm
To nothing will help:
What are you talking about? I have never heard of Geller lobbying or supporting high rises on Pines Blvd. or along I-75? Are you just making up nonsense? Didn’t Sue vote to approve high rises on the beach as a county commissioner?
May 6th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
So Carl Shechter endorsed Sue Gunzburger when she was the only candidate… now he changes his mind. There’s nothing like a politician whose main strength is the weakness of his principles… I guess that proves that he and Steve Geller do make a good match. FOUR MORE YEARS!!
May 6th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
I’m a pretend Hollybrook resident, just like the two other fake Hollybrook residents above. And everyone knows that no Hollybrook residents read this blog, so these are just planted spin comments from the Gunzburger and Geller campaigns. (But Schecter does come off sounding like a snake.)
May 7th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
BETH REINHARD, breinhard@MiamiHerald.com
Sen. Steve Geller took Pompano Beach city commissioners to lunch and met with city staff to promote a client’s proposal to build a high-rise condominium on the beach.
But the Democratic legislator says he was acting as an attorney, not a lobbyist.
“It has been my view that attorneys representing their clients openly and publicly are not lobbyists,” said Geller, 47, whose law firm is in Hollywood. “Many of my legal colleagues believe that only the Florida Bar can regulate the conduct of attorneysGeller’s lawyer/lobbyist work also raises questions about whether the longtime legislator and incoming Democratic Senate leader should represent clients before city and county governments that depend on him to bring home the bacon from Tallahassee.
Geller serves on the Senate community affairs committee, which deals with local government issues, as well as on the banking and insurance, government efficiency appropriations, judiciary, regulated industries, and rules and calendar committees.
May 7th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Ron: Stop blogging on taxpayer time. It’s annoying enough that the County is paying you to run your mom’s campaign.
Also, when you post articles that are years old, you might want to clarify that they’re years old, and not give the impression that they’re current, or being posted by the reporter. But that would require you to tell the truth, something that you’ve sadly proven incapable of.
May 7th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Hey Steve;
Nice shirt. See you and Jack Seiler still like to wear those size mediums.