Amid ‘Turkey Gate’ controversy, Miami Beach passes early voting extension
Navigating a newly spawned political controversy, which he jokingly coined “Turkey Gate,” Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber received overwhelming support to pass a resolution Tuesday extending early voting ahead of next week’s runoff election.
Gelber overcame initial apprehension from some commissioners sensitive to complaints from two city commission candidates, who said the extra day of voting coincides with a city-sponsored turkey giveaway that an incumbent commissioner up for reelection had been invited to attend.
During a commission meeting Tuesday, Gelber said Turkey Gate had turned the city into a “Crazytown” of political hysteria over the course of 48 hours. He said allegations of election interference are “demonstrably false” and intended to cloak an underlying intention of suppressing Orthodox Jewish voters who otherwise would be limited by the city’s previously approved early voting dates.
“We beat this turkey dead,” Gelber said. “I’m not going to cancel our food giveaways to our food-insecure community because some frankly conspiratorial hi-jinks about this. This Turkey Gate is frankly nuts.”
Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, a former commissioner running in Group IV, is facing an observant Jew in the runoff election. Steven Meiner, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement attorney, cannot vote on Saturday because he observes the Sabbath. Gelber endorsed him.
Gelber’s resolution adds an extra day, Friday, to the previously approved early voting period of Saturday to Sunday. All three commission races are headed to a runoff on Nov. 19.
Early voting will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. all three days at City Hall and the North Shore Branch Library. Gelber included in his resolution a petition to make the early voting changes permanent.
Scattered laughter broke the tension inside city hall during the meeting, which was otherwise defined by Gelber’s stern disapproval for the Turkey Gate “conspirators.”
“I thought it was the most innocent and constructive thing we could do for our residents. That’s all,” he said. “But the truth is it’s not about turkeys.”
He recalled his time as the state House Democratic Leader, when in 2008 he convinced Republican Gov. Charlie Christ to extend early voting hours. At the time, members of both parties thought the extension could benefit the other party, he said.
“It may help one candidate or it may not,” he said. “We don’t know that.”
Commissioner Mark Samuelian proposed a motion postponing the turkey giveaway but approving the early voting expansion, but it failed. Commissioners Micky Steinberg and Góngora voted in favor.
“There’s no price to integrity. There’s no price to getting this right,” Samuelian said. “And there’s a couple weeks to go until Thanksgiving.”
Gelber accused Rosen Gonzalez of hiding behind straw-man arguments, but she said the voting changes will force her to redo campaign mailers sent out on Tuesday.
Jewish herself, Rosen Gonzalez said her resistance to the resolution had “nothing to do with my religion.”
“I was denied my right to have my materials go out with the correct information on them,” she said in an interview. “So this interference puts me at a disadvantage, even if we all benefit from one more day of voting.”
He directed Commissioner John Elizabeth Alemán, who organized the turkey giveaway with nonprofit partners, to attempt to move the event or reschedule it.
The Nov. 15 date was set in August. She said the “politicizing” of a charitable drive may lead to it being canceled. Finding a new location on city-owned property, along the Beach trolley line and with adequate shade for senior residents will be challenging, she said.
“It’s so critical that politics is kept away from these food-sharing events,” she said.
The city plans to provide a venue for the food drive, but the 700 turkeys and bags of food were provided by partners Baptist Health and Farm Share. Discussing the potential canceling of the event, Alemán became emotional.
She called Rosen Gonzalez “selfish” for alleging that the turkey giveaway was political. The city does not allow candidates to campaign at the events.
“No one should be politicizing these food giveaways,” she said. “It’s really just too important that our seniors get the food that they need.”
Early voting lasted two weeks ahead of Election Day on Nov. 5. Three runoffs were called because no candidate received more than 50% of the votes cast in their races. About 21% of registered voters cast ballots in the general election.
Arriola received 45% of the vote, nearly doubling Pacheco’s mark of 24%. Rosen Gonzalez was the top recipient of votes in Group IV, receiving 38% to about 24% for Meiner. In Group VI, Richardson received 48% to Gonzalez’s 38%.
Election Day voters must report to a designated precinct. The Miami-Dade County Elections Department mailed out absentee ballots last weekend. Voters can mail their ballots to the Supervisor of Elections office no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Commissioner Arriola, who is running for reelection, likened the debate to a “circus” sideshow. His opponent, Pacheco, said Arriola’s attendance at the turkey giveaway could influence voters. The giveaway is scheduled to take place at the North Beach Bandshell, about two blocks from an early voting site at the North Shore Branch Library.
Arriola, who said he was informed of the turkey giveaway when a Miami Herald reporter called him Monday, told the commission on Tuesday he would avoid the event to quash the “stupid controversy.” He endorsed Gelber’s resolution.
“What started out as an event that is held every year and is intended to serve the most vulnerable and in need in our community, has turned into a circus because of politics!” he said in a statement.
After defeating Pacheco by 21 percentage points on Election Day, he said he was confident he would win regardless.
“I don’t need to go to this event to get extra points,” he said. “Seniors already vote for me. This is stupid.”
The only dissenting voice on the dais, Commissioner Michael Góngora, said the process could be perceived as unethical. If he were a candidate who lost the runoff, he said he would sue the city.
“You added it as an emergency item over the weekend,” Góngora said. “That leads to the perception that you were trying to slip it through without the voters knowing, whether that is true or not.”
He said he agreed with expanding early voting beginning next election cycle. But expanding it in the middle of the election process could open the city up to legal challenges, he said.
On the “turkey controversy,” Góngora questioned why the giveaway was being held so far in advance of Thanksgiving.
“I’m concerned that the turkeys may smell as bad as this item,” Góngora said.
Meiner, who observes the sabbath and similarly cannot vote on Saturdays, supported Gelber’s resolution but did not comment on Rosen Gonzalez’s position.
“I can’t speak for Kristen,” he said in a statement. “My view is that voting is a fundamental right of our democracy and I am in favor of encouraging an increased voter turnout.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 6:26 PM.
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