Candidates

Letter to the Editor

February 28, 2018

RE: Article Entitled “Dolphin Dems Accused of ‘Rigging’ Their Endorsement.”

I am writing in reference to your article entitled “Dolphin Dems Accused of ‘Rigging’ Their Endorsement.”  The reason Mr. Smith was not on the ballot for endorsement at the February meeting is because he did not comply with the endorsement process as stated in the bylaws and was therefore ineligible to be endorsed.

The Dolphin Democrats is undergoing major changes in its leadership and community involvement. Membership has more than doubled in the past year and new board members are actively engaged in rebuilding the organization.  In November 2017 the Bylaws Committee met and completely reviewed the bylaws of the organization and proposed amendments to update them.  The revised bylaws were submitted to the membership and voted on at the January 10, 2018 meeting.

One amendment says candidate endorsements are made for one race only and candidates seeking endorsements must request to be endorsed for each race separately. Primary, general and special elections are all separate races. All amendments were publicly available on the Dolphin Democrats’ webpage prior to the January 10th meeting. An announcement was made at that meeting that all candidates seeking endorsements for the upcoming Fort Lauderdale race in March had to submit their request by January 22, 2018 to be eligible for consideration at the February 21, 2018 meeting.

The bylaw amendments were approved by a 2/3 vote of the members attending the January 10^th meeting. Mr. Smith voted for the bylaw amendments. Mr. Steven Glassman was the only candidate who correctly followed the bylaw endorsement process. Thus, Mr. Glassman was the only candidate eligible for the endorsement vote at the February 21^st meeting.

Although Mr. Smith was not endorsed, his contributions to the organization and the LGBTA community should not be diminished. We wish Mr. Smith luck in his campaign and hope we may continue to receive his long-standing support in the future.

Thank you,

Scott Herman

President of the Dolphin Democrats

Dolphin Dems Letter to Editor Re Tim Smith

February 25, 2018

For Immediate Release

Dolphin Democrats Determine Tim Smith Not Eligible for Endorsement

There are questions as to why Tim Smith was not on the endorsement ballot at the February 21, 2018 meeting. Mr. Smith submitted an endorsement request for the January Fort Lauderdale Primary Race for District 2. At the December 2017 General Membership Meeting, candidates Tim Smith, Steven Glassman, Chad Maxey, and George Castrataro were considered for an endorsement by the organization. Endorsements require a 2/3 vote of the members attending the meeting. After two rounds of voting, no candidates for this race received the required 2/3 vote. Therefore, no endorsements were granted for that race.

At the next meeting in January, the Dolphin Democrats’ bylaws were amended to state that candidate endorsements are made for one race only. Candidates seeking endorsements must request one for each race separately. All the draft amendments were made available to the public on the Dolphin Democrats’ webpage prior to the meeting. The bylaw amendments were approved by a 2/3 vote of the members attending the meeting. Mr. Smith attended that meeting and voted for the bylaw amendments.

An announcement was made at the same meeting that all candidates seeking endorsements for the upcoming Fort Lauderdale General Election race in March had to submit their request by January 22, 2018 to be eligible for consideration at the February 21, 2018 meeting. The only candidate who submitted their endorsement request by the deadline was Mr. Steven Glassman. Therefore, Mr. Glassman was the only candidate eligible for the endorsement vote at the February 21^st meeting.

It is unfortunate that Mr. Smith did not submit his endorsement request by the required deadline, but that should not diminish his contributions to the organization and the LGBTA community. Just because he did not receive an endorsement from this organization, does not preclude members from voting for him. Our bylaws state that all members of the Dolphin Democrats are free to support any registered Democrat who is a candidate in any way they so choose, so long as they do so as individuals and not identifying as members, board members and/or Officers of The Dolphin Democrats. We wish Mr. Smith luck in his campaign and hope we may continue to receive his long standing support in the future.