Miramar Pols Campaign With Misleading Ads
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Two Miramar candidates can’t wait for the election to call themselves city commissioners.
Their misleading ads already claim the title.
One ad is from Barbara Sharief, who identifies herself as “City Commissioner of Miramar.” The ad has been printed in The Flyer.
Don’t you have to win the election first, Barbara?
A worse example is from Fitzroy Salesman. His ads state “Re-Elect Commissioner Fitzroy Salesman.
Salesman, facing jail after being accused of threating a Winn-Dixie customer with a gun, forgot to put the word “suspended” before commissioner in the ad.
Must have been an oversight. Yeah, sure.
His ad also states he is a “teacher: Dade Public Schools.
According to the Miami Herald, he was fired as a teacher in 2003. Everybody knows how hard it is for a teacher to be fired.
I guess I shouldn’t expect any better from Salesman. I believe he is one of the sorriest example of a politician in Broward.
Here is his resume from the Miami Herald, April 24, 2008:
- In 1986, Fitzroy Salesman , then living in Miami-Dade, said he feared a man tried to pull a gun on him when he accidentally stepped on the man’s sneakers in a Miami-Dade nightclub.
- In 1987, Salesman entered the U.S. Army. After five years, he received an honorable discharge.
- In 1998, Miami-Dade police arrested him on charges of resisting arrest without violence and disorderly intoxication outside a restaurant. Salesman said he was only standing up for his constitutional rights, but agreed to take anger management classes to avoid trial.
- In 2003, Miami-Dade Public Schools officials fired him from his substitute teaching job following complaints of lax supervision in his classroom.
- In 2005, Miramar police arrested him on charges of drunken driving and eluding a police officer on the morning of April 30. Gov. Jeb Bush suspended him from office two months later.
- On March 26, 2007, he was acquitted of the charges and reinstated to his commission post days later with full benefits.
- On Nov. 21, 2007, Salesman drew his gun on a teen at a Winn-Dixie store. He was arrested and later charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Gov. Charlie Crist suspended him a month later.
Salesman is due to go on trial for the latest incident on Monday, February 23.
February 22nd, 2009 at 8:12 am
Buddy,
I am not sure if it is the same today or exactly the same situation (though close), and I am not commenting on Salesmans other problems, but didn’t years ago the Florida Election Board rule that even if someone was an elected official, they then can use the term “re-elect” subsequently though they no longer hold that position today? Wasn’t it Bill Colon in Sunrise?
If true, then, unless the law has changed and irrespective of whether someone likes it or not, Salesman could say re-elect. Besides, he is suspended, not removed, and therefore may be legally allowed to say it anyhow. I am not aware of a law requiring the word “suspended” to be put in as well.
Whether the voters keep him or not, that’s another story and it is up to the voters.
FROM BUDDY: I don’t know about that decision and you might be right. But Salesman’s use of the language is creating a false impression, whether it is illegal or not.
February 22nd, 2009 at 8:39 am
Here’s the answer. According to the Florida election law, FS106.143(5) Political advertisements circulated prior to election; requirements
“No political advertisement of a candidate who is not an incumbent of the office for which the candidate is running shall use the word “re-elect.†Additionally, such advertisement must include the word “for†between the candidate’s name and the office for which the candidate is running, in order that incumbency is not implied.”
In English: Only a current incumbent may use the word “re-elect.” No ifs, no ands or buts, and NO FORMERS.
Anybody running for an office who is not the current incumbent must use the word “for” between the candidate name and the office sought.
February 22nd, 2009 at 9:12 am
Salesman is an embarrassment to Miramar, to the Caribbean community and to Broward County. Voters need to reject him.
February 23rd, 2009 at 7:05 am
There goes Marty again spinnin’ like a expensive set of ghetto rims. You’re telling us to believe you over our “lying eyes”.
You are a piece of work.
February 23rd, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Barbara Sharief has run in two races before and lost. She knows what the rules are. So if she’s publishing campaign ads that say she’s a city commissioner, that’s no mistake. It’s intentionally deceptive and somebody should file an elections complaint. Play by the rules or pay by the rules.
February 23rd, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Marty,
I think that while Salesman is suspended, he is also still the incumbent. Clearly, he is not “FORMER” until he is out of office, such as in removed from office.
If he beat the charges, he will be reinstated. Therefore, he must be the incumbent.
So, he may have a case in saying re-elect. The statute really doesn’t direct address this situation.
February 24th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Carl Lanke was elected in a Special Election after Mr. Salesman was removed from office by the governor. Mr. Lanke is the incumbant. Ms. Sharief’s literature also state her political affiliation, a violation of state statutes for nonpartisan elections.
February 25th, 2009 at 6:14 am
Well, we possibly will find out. Suspended Mayor Capellini of Deerfield Beach has been using “re-elect” and a complaint has been filed against him. However, there was no election to replace him on the Commission, and a member of the Commission is serving as Mayor.
Depending upon the result by the Election Commission we will know the answer.